Ghazal Mhanna, 15 — Trainers’ Academy, Tulkarm
He sat on his bench in the garden sipping his coffee quietly, enjoying the warm sunshine and the gentle spring breeze. Usaid glanced towards the wall to find that its shadow had disappeared…
The Thing…
Bayan Zuhair Al-Sharawna, 15 — Deir Samet
In a certain kingdom, the king held a grand celebration. He invited the highest officials of the state, the dignitaries of the cities, and the most important men of the realm. That king was just and loved his subjects, and his subjects loved him — or so he believed, especially those invited to his feast.
The party began. One man danced, another enjoyed the finest food, two exchanged conversation, one watched with interest, another sipped his drink quietly… and the king observed them all with happiness and delight.
Suddenly a strange man entered the hall, carrying in his hand a small crimson cloth pouch. The man snapped his fingers, and at once all those present froze in their places as though they were wooden statues. All of them froze except the king, who stood astonished, watching what was happening with bewilderment, fear and curiosity. The strange man approached the king, and without a word handed him the small cloth pouch.
“Who are you, and what is this?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am. This is called the Thing.”
“The Thing?!”
“Yes. The Thing is the Dust of Truth.”
“The Dust of Truth? What do you mean?”
“Yes, my lord, the Dust of Truth… All you have to do is scatter some of this dust over any person, and he will speak the truth of his feelings towards you… But be careful — after exactly one hour, everyone will wake as though nothing had happened.”
The king took hold of the pouch and began to open it. Indeed, inside he found dust the colour of gold, like gold dust. Then he raised his head to speak to the strange man, only to find that he had vanished. The king felt fear and bewilderment, but he decided to try it out and scatter some dust on one of his guests to see what would happen. The king approached his minister Sharaf al-Din and scattered some dust over his head. As soon as he did, the minister spoke and said, “I cannot wait for the king to die so I can seize the throne.”
The king was shocked by the minister’s words, and the minister froze once again. The king took some dust and went to his son Prince Salih, scattering it over his head. At once Prince Salih spoke, saying, “How will I tell my father that I love my teacher’s daughter and that I wish to marry her, and that I don’t want to marry a princess of my own rank as my vile father wishes?!”
The king was surprised by his son’s words, and turned to one of the great merchants of the kingdom, scattering some dust on his head. The merchant spoke at once, saying, “Tomorrow I will buy up all the wheat in the kingdom and store it in my warehouses and keep it from the people, then raise the price and sell it at many times its value.” The king was stunned by this merchant whom he had thought an honourable and trustworthy man.
The king took some dust and scattered it on the head of one of the judges, who spoke at once and said, “I will devise a plot against the owner of the orchard and ensnare him and throw him in prison, and I will seize his orchard and his house and turn his wife and children onto the streets, and I will make sure the king never learns of it.” Then he scattered the dust on a fifth person, and a sixth, and a tenth, and each time he discovered how deceived he had been by his subjects and how ignorant he had been of what was happening in his kingdom.
The king sat on his throne, and as soon as the hour had passed, everyone came back to life — eating, drinking, laughing and chatting as though nothing had happened. The king ordered the musicians to stop playing and asked everyone to leave the palace at once. The guests found the king’s behaviour strange, but they did not dare disobey his orders and left immediately.
The next day the king summoned his minister Sharaf al-Din and ordered the guards to throw him in prison. Then he summoned his son Prince Salih and told him that he agreed to his marriage to the girl he loved. Then he ordered his guards to bring the wicked merchant at once, and when they brought him, he commanded them to throw him in prison. Then he ordered the chief of police to arrest that corrupt judge and throw him in prison until his case could be examined. And likewise he ordered his guards to bring all the corrupt men, the criminals, the thieves and the hoarders, and throw them in prison.
From that day on, the kingdom became better and fairer. And whenever the king needed to know the truth about someone, he would summon him and scatter some of the magic dust over him to hear the truth of his feelings and intentions.
The End
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