Fairy Tales, Stories & Games for Kids Fairy Tales, Stories & Games for Kids
Bald Kabil and Yelli — wit in the contest of lies
Daz Qabil nağılı — Introduction & the king’s contests
Once upon a time, in a vast kingdom, there lived a king who every year held grand contests across his land.
Members of court, viziers and nobles watched and enjoyed these spectacles.
Yelli and the contest rules
The king had a beloved bay horse named Yelli. Before each contest he announced:
— Whoever wins this contest shall have my beloved Yelli.
Yet the king and his vizier arranged matters so that no true winner ever emerged.
The defeated were thrown into prison for life.
One day the king proclaimed:
— Now I hold the contest of lies. Whosoever tells me three lies I have never heard before, none of which contain a single truth, shall be rewarded with Yelli. But if I uncover even one truth, the speaker shall be executed!
Bald Kabil’s decision & journey
In that kingdom there lived a clever shepherd named Kabil; since his head was shaved he was known as Bald Kabil.
Hearing of the king’s contest, he said to himself:
— I must try my luck. Perhaps I will win that swift bay horse Yelli— and become a man of standing!
He told his friends; they tried to dissuade him:
— Fool! Why are you heading into that contest? No one ever wins. Sit in your pasture! You might fall under the king’s wrath.
Bald Kabil didn’t listen. He informed his grandmother:
— Grandma, prepare the journey. I am going to stand before the king. I will tell three lies and claim the fine horse Yelli.
His grandmother begged him not to go.
— My dear boy, leave this alone. The king’s contest is no place for you.
But he persisted. His grandmother packed his provisions, blessed him and sent him off. Bald Kabil carried his sling bag and set out.
At court and the challenge begins
After three days and nights of travel he arrived at the palace. He found that nine contestants had already been defeated and executed.
The king called out:
— Who is next?
Bald Kabil stepped forward:
— Long live the king! It is I who stand next.
The king said:
— Come forward and tell your lies.
Bald Kabil replied:
— I will, but on one condition.
The king asked:
— What is your condition?
Bald Kabil said:
— I shall not tell all three lies in one day— but one per day. Three days, three lies.
The king consulted his vizier and agreed:
— Very well. Tomorrow you shall tell your first lie.
First lie
The next morning Bald Kabil had eaten the breakfast his grandmother prepared, drank water and came before the king.
The king said:
— Tell your lie.
Bald Kabil began:
— Long live the king — said I was walking with a friend. I had a bag of kohl; he had sticks for drawing brows.
We reached a spring, buried them beside it. Instantly three date-palms grew, rising seven levels to the sky.
All around was farmland; people were farming. I asked one man for land. He refused. Another refused.
I looked up and saw each date-palm had three or four acres of farmland atop it.
I told my companion, “Let us herd the cows here.”
We raised the cows up the tree and began grazing aloft…
The king asked in astonishment:
— From kohl and sticks you say a date-palm grew?
Bald Kabil answered:
— Long live the king — it is a lie, I’m telling a lie.
The king asked:
— And cows grazing in the tree?
Bald Kabil:
— Long live the king — it is a lie, I’m telling a lie.
The king said:
— Very well, your first lie is accepted. Tomorrow you shall tell your second.
Second lie
The following morning Bald Kabil again came. He had eaten the bread his grandmother baked and fastened his belt.
He spoke:
— Long live the king — I imagined that I was herding cows on the top of a tree with a friend. I saw people eating watermelon and melon.
I said to my friend: “We have a garden. Let’s go to our garden.”
We arrived. On the trellis-tops vines grew melons and watermelons the height of house roofs.
Each weighed ten or twenty puds. We found a good melon and placed it before us.
I drew my knife and struck it. The melon split; my knife vanished inside.
I searched. A street appeared. I walked along it to a market.
I looked one way, no knife; the other way, no knife.
I passed another street, entered another market.
I saw a camel caravan approaching. My knife was on a camel’s hump.
I snatched it and rushed to your highness.
The king stopped him and asked:
— You say streets and markets were inside a melon?
Bald Kabil replied:
— Yes, your majesty — inside it.
— And the whole city too?
— Yes, your majesty — the whole city.
The king cried out in fury:
— Enough! You lie! Such a thing cannot exist!
Bald Kabil calmly answered:
— Long live the king — I too know it cannot happen. But when one tells a lie, it can. Now permit me to go; tomorrow I will tell my third lie.
Daz Qabil nağılı — third lie & outcome
Bald Kabil went away. Meanwhile, the king summoned his vizier before dawn:
— Vizier, the youth has unsettled me. He’s about to tell his third fabrication. Make sure this time we find a truth in his words—or consider yourself dead! Understood?
The vizier trembled shyly:
— At your service, sire. I shall do whatever is necessary.
When the time came, Bald Kabil stepped forward, greeted and said:
— Long live the king! My late father and your late father were once the closest of friends.
In a war the king’s father lacked coins; he borrowed a sack of gold from mine.
Do you see this sack?
The king
