Tuesday, October 1, 2013

The King's Magic Djembe

There once lived a great king in the region of Segou.  His kingdom never knew war, because of his magic djembe.  When he played the drum, food magically appeared. To avoid war he would invited delegations to his village for a feast.  His enemies became friends with full bellies. The drum's magic came with rules,  The drummer must always share the food that magically appeared, and never play the drum after midnight.  300 jinn would appear and beat the drummer and his guests with sticks until dawn if the rules were broken.  A blacksmith wanted the drum so bad that he tricked the King into giving it to him.  But the King never told him the drum's rules.  At first the blacksmith played the drum and shared with those who came to feast with him.  The more he played the more people came to eat.  Not wanting to share his food any longer the Blacksmith waited for many of his guest to leave before he played the drum. From the darkness appeared  300 jinn who beat the drummer and his guests until morning.  When the King awoke the next morning his drum sat in front of his hut.  On top of the drum was a bag of kola nuts as an offering to the King. Moral: To whom much is given much is required.

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