THE STORY OF THE THIRD ROYAL MENDICANT - A Tale from the Arabian Nights

Baba Indaba’s Children's Stories - Issue 256

ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 256
In this 256th issue of the Baba Indaba’s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the story of “THE STORY OF THE THIRD ROYAL MENDICANT”.
In Issue 253, “THE STORY OF THE PORTER THE LADIES OF BAGHDAD”, three visitors knock on the door of the house of the three beautiful women. They claim to be mendicants and visitors to the city and have become disoriented and lost on their way back to their lodgings. In reality they were the Kaleefeh (King), his Vizier, or Jafar, and They are invited in and given refreshments the porter during this time they hear the stories of the porter and of two of the ladies.
After this the lady of the house invites the three mendicants to relate their stories. This they do, and this is the story of the third of the three mendicants.
He too was was a King, and the son of a King; and when his father died he succeeded to his throne, and governed my subjects with justice and beneficence. He took pleasure in sea-voyages; and as his capital was on the shore of an extensive sea, interspersed with fortified and garrisoned islands, which he planned to visit; he embarked with a fleet of ten ships, and took provisions sufficient for a month. They proceeded twenty days, after which there arose a contrary wind; which ceased at daybreak. They arrived at an island where they landed and rested for two days. They then continued their voyage; and when twenty days more had passed they found ourselves in strange waters, unknown to the captain and his crew. The lookout said he saw what he thought was an island looming in the distance, so they decided to head for that.
It soon became apparent that the mountain was of black stone, called loadstone and the current was bearing them violently towards it and fear began to grip the crew.
The next day, with no wind to sail away from the mountain, the ships ran aground on the rocks and broke up. In the chaos of the wrecking, he lost touch with his captain and crew and managed to hold on to a few planks and kick for the shore which he reached after many hours of swimming and paddling.
What happened next you may well ask? He obviously survived the shipwreck, but how was he rescued and by whom? How did he lose his eye? Why didn’t he return to his kingdom to resume his royal duties instead of becoming a poor, travelling, one-eyed mendicant? What other adventures did he have and what jobs did he have to do to feed himself?
Well the only way to find out is to download and read this story for yourself, or, read it to some of the “little people” in your family.

Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories".

Each issue also has a "WHERE IN THE WORLD - LOOK IT UP" section, where young readers are challenged to look up a place on a map somewhere in the world. The place, town or city is relevant to the story. HINT - use Google maps.

33% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities.
INCLUDES LINKS TO DOWNLOAD 8 FREE STORIES