A tale of Wisdom, a King and a wise Bedouin

Once upon a time there was a wise Bedouin who lived by the main road in a small tent and stood guard over a large wooden chest. It was tradition for the wealthy to throw a gold coin into the chest as they headed off on their travels, as it would bring them good luck. Then when a poor traveller passed the wise Bedouin would give the traveller a gold coin to help them on their journey. It was a tradition that had been in existence for many many years and no one knew how old the wise Bedouin was.

Then one day the King passed  with a huge army heading to war and he threw in many gold coins, returning a few months later triumphant having defeated his enemies and taken over their lands.  Several years later the King and his army passed again and this time he just threw in a small token coin worth almost nothing as he was now confident of winning the war against his old enemy. Again a few months later he returned triumphant having yet again defeated the enemy and destroying their army.   Then as is the way he had to return yet again to suppress yet another uprising by his old enemy a few years later. But this time the King and the Army thundered past on their camels leaving no coin in the wise Bedouin's wooden chest.  Again the King returned Triumphant and the people of the kingdom cheered and all was well.

However news that the King had not left a gold coin in the wise Bedouin's large wooden chest and he still prospered and won his battles soon spread across the Kingdom, so less and less well off travellers were willing to throw a coin in the chest. And it became more and more difficult for the wise Bedouin to help the poor as they headed on their way as they looked for work or something to eat.  Discontent spread among the poor and news of this then spread to the Kings enemies who thought that all must not be well in the Kingdom.

So encouraged by this the Kings enemies once again marched towards the Kingdom and the King and his army rode past the wise Bedouin to defeat the enemy, but they were older and not as fit or as fast as they had been in their youth and the King was defeated.  The King was then forced to flee for his life with nothing, dressed as a beggar, but he knew that the wise Bedouin has a large chest full of gold coins and would help him. When he arrived he found that the wise Bedouin was packing up his tent and the large wooden chest was empty and broken.  The King confused asked were all gold coins had gone and the wise Bedouin explained that no one had left any coins for a long time and he had given the last to an old man the day before and was now leaving the Kingdom to help others in far off lands.

The King still pursued by his enemies vanished into the desert and was never seen again, but it is said he is still dressed as an old beggar looking for the wise Bedouin with the large wooden chest.