Once upon a time, the king was seated on his throne when an ambassador arrived from a distant land. Without saying a word, the ambassador drew a circle around the throne, then sat down and remained silent. The king was puzzled. He summoned all his counselors and asked them what the envoy meant. But none of them could give him an answer.
The king was upset and offended. Was there not a single wise man among his courtiers and advisers? He gave his courtiers strict orders to find a man in his kingdom wise enough to know the answer; otherwise, he promised, he would slay them all.
With the incentive of keeping their heads if they succeeded, the courtiers wasted no time going around the city looking for such a man. In a poor part of town, they happened to enter a house where they saw a cradle with a baby in it rocking by itself. There was no one else in the house. They saw the same thing in the next house: a cradle rocking by itself and nobody in the building. When they went up to the roof, they saw a stick moving by itself to frighten away birds from grain that was washed and spread out to dry in the sun.
The king's courtiers were amazed. They went down one floor below, where they saw a weaver working at his loom. He had a string tied to one end of the shuttle, a string to the other end, and a third string tied to the comb. As the shuttle moved back and forth over the loom, the two cradles and the stick set on the roof for frightening the birds away moved with it. A clever weaver indeed.
"An ambassador has come from another land and drawn a circle around the king's throne, but refuses to speak," the courtiers said to the weaver. "We do not know what he means. Maybe you know. Come with us. The king will reward you well if you can solve this puzzle."
The weaver thought it over for a moment, then agreed to go with the courtiers to the king's castle. But he said he had to get a few things first. He took a couple of knucklebones and a young hen and put them in his coat. Then he set off to the king's palace with the courtiers.
On reaching the palace, the weaver took out the knucklebones and threw them before the ambassador. The ambassador took a fistful of millet from his pocket and scattered it on the floor. At this, the weaver pulled out his hen from under his coat and let it eat the grain.
The ambassador then stood up and departed, without saying a word.
The king and the courtiers were all amazed at this series of events. "What does it mean?" they asked the weaver.
"By drawing a circle around the king's throne, the ambassador meant that his king is coming to besiege our city," answered the weaver, "and he wanted to know whether our king would submit or fight. When I threw my knucklebones before him, I meant they should go and play with knucklebones—they are nothing but children to us, and it is foolish of them to pretend they could fight our king. By scattering the millet on the floor, he meant that his king has innumerable warriors at his command. However, when my hen ate all the millet, the ambassador understood what I meant—that one of us can slaughter a thousand such warriors."
The king was so pleased with the weaver that he wanted to make him the new chamberlain. But the weaver respectfully declined, preferring to go back to his loom.
"But I implore you, O King," the weaver said, "not to forget that among your humblest servants there are men wiser than your counselors, and I hope from now on your courtiers will treat the weaver and the cobbler with respect."
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