The Cannibal's laughter
Long ago Caliph Ahmad was the ruler of Bagdad. He nursed an ambition for conquering a few other lands around his country. Thereby he could become famous as a hero and an emperor. But he had a wise and intelligent daughter who did not like wars. She waited for an opportunity to convince her father about the futility of conquests. The princess grew up to be a beautiful young lady. Many were the young men who desired to marry her. Her fame spread to nearby Sultanates. One day the Caliph told the princess, "My daughter, it is time for you to be wedded to a suitable young man. I will soon find out one." "Father!" said the princess, "I must be allowed to choose my husband myself. You may see any candidate to me. But I will marry only him who can answer a question of mine." The indulgent father had no objection to this condition. Several young men from the nobility came forward to marry the princess. But all excepting one backed out upon hearing the condition. They were not sure about the nature of the question which the princess would set for them. They were afraid of the possible humiliation that would be theirs if they failed to answer. The one who did not backout was the son of a sultan.
The young man was ushered into the Caliph's court. The princess sat down facing him. The Caliph and his courtiers waited in eager silence. "I will tell you a story before putting you my question," said the princess and she went on: Long ago, there was a certain Sultan who desired to become an emperor. With a trained army he marched into the continent of Africa. Small areas of Africa were ruled by several kings who hardly possessed any army to protect their territories. The sultan subdued them easily, thereby expanding his empire. But there was one young king who was brave and clever. He did not surrender to the conqueror. Instead, he retreated with his soldiers into the forests and hills and pounced upon the sultan's army when the latter came out to the open. A fierce battle took place between the two armies. The African army was at last routed and their king killed, but not before a large part of the Sultan's army had been destroyed. After the battlefield had been quiet, the sultan desired to find out the dead body of the African King. He visited the field over which numerous dead bodies lay scattered. Among them loitered a strange fellow, who seemed to be a forest-dweller. "Who is that fellow?" the sultan asked one of his African officers.
"My lord! He belongs to a tribe of cannibals. He is perhaps waiting to eat a corpse," answered the officer. "Why don't you eat as many corpses as you wish? What are you waiting for?" the sultan asked the cannibal. "I want only one corpse. But how can I take away someone else's food without his permission? The killer of all these people must be having a terrific appetite," replied the stranger. The sultan laughed and said, "I have killed them. But not for eating them, do you understand?" "I don't understand. If you are not going to eat them, why did you kill them?" asked the stranger with great surprise. The sultan could not give an answer. The cannibal laughed wildly and ran away. The princess stopped for a while and asked the young suitor, "Can you say why the cannibal laughed?" The young man replied, "The cannibal killed human beings only when he was hungry. He was surprised that someone should kill thousands of men with no intention of eating them. He laughed because he concluded that the sultan was mad. He ran away, shunning the contact of the mad fellow!" "You are right," said the princess. They were duly married. But needless to say, the princess had another motive in telling the story. Her father now realized the futility of wars and the mass killing of soldiers and innocent people, by listening to the story. He gave up his desire to go out for conquest.
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