The Man with Bad Manners

by Idries Shah

Narrator 1: Once upon a time, many, many years ago, when birds flew upside-down, there was a
village.
Narrator 2: Everyone who had a house in the village also had a field.
Narrator 3: And in their fields they grew potatoes and carrots and cabbages and all kinds of other
crops.
Narrator 1: Now, all of the people who lived in the village were very courteous and well behaved,
All of the Narrators: except for one man who had very bad manners.
Narrator 2: Whenever anybody said
Anybody in the Village: good morning
Narrator 3: to the man with bad manners, he would say
The Man with Bad Manners: blah, blah, blah.
Narrator 1: And when anybody said
Anybody in the Village: good evening
Narrator 2: to him, he would say The Man with Bad Manners: blee, blee, blee
Narrator 3: The people would become annoyed when he did this, and they would say
The People of the Village: Why do you have such bad manners?
Narrator 1: But he would just say The Man with Bad Manners: blah, blah, blah
Narrator 2: Except, of course, when he said
The Man with Bad Manners: blee, blee, blee
Narrator 3: For a long time, the people weren’t too bothered by the man’s behavior.
Narrator 1: They knew good manners from bad manners,
Narrator 2: and most of the time they didn’t take much notice of the man with bad manners.
Narrator 3: But one day he got worse.
Narrator 1: He began to go out at night and stand outside different houses,
Narrator 2: and he would beat tin cans and make terrible noises. (Man with Bad Manners beats the tin
cans.)
All of the Narrators: Bang! Bang! Bang!
Narrator 3: This would wake the people up, and they would lean out of their windows and say,
The People of the Village: Why are you making such a racket?
Narrator 1: But he would just beat the cans harder. (Man with Bad Manners beats the tin cans.)
All of the Narrators: Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bong! Bang! Bing! Bang!
Narrator 2: The people simply didn’t know what to do with him.
Narrator 3: Now, one day, the man with the bad manners went to stay with some friends in another
village.
Narrator 1: The people were so glad he was going away that they all gathered to watch him walk out
of town.
Narrator 2: Among those watching was a very clever boy.
Narrator 3: As soon as the man was out of sight, the clever boy stood on a box and called all the
people to come together.
Narrator 1: And when the people had gathered, the clever boy said
The Clever Boy: I want to talk to you about the man with bad manners.
Narrator 2: Everyone spoke at once.
The People of the Village: He’s gone! Thank Goodness! Yes, he’s gone! What a relief! Why should
we talk about him?
The Clever Boy: But he’s going to come back!
The Old Woman: You’re right. He’s going to come back, and then he will just annoy us all over again!
An Old Man: Yes, indeed.
The People of the Village: What can we do?
The Clever Boy: I have an idea. I’ve thought of a way to make him change his ways.
The People of the Village: Tell us quickly!
The Clever Boy: Well, the man has a field, and in his field he is growing potatoes. While he’s away,
we’ll take the potatoes out and put carrots in their place. Then when he comes back, we can pretend
that it isn’t his field and that this isn’t even his village.
The Old Woman: What about his house? He’ll go to his house, and he’ll know that this is his village
because he’ll see his house right there.
The Clever Boy: His house is red. We’ll paint it green so he’ll think it’s some other house.
The Old Woman: What if he goes inside?
The Clever Boy: I’ve thought of that, too. We’ll paint the walls a different color, and we’ll paint the
furniture a different color, and then we’ll rearrange it. He’s sure to think then that it’s somebody else’s
house.
Several of the People of the Village: What good will that do?
The Clever Boy: Well, he’ll either go away or he’ll change his ways.
The Old Woman: You know, it may just work!
Narrator 3: And so the people got together and worked very hard. They dug up all the man’s potatoes
Narrator 1: and put carrots in the ground in their place. They painted the walls outside his house.
Narrator 2: They painted the walls inside his house. They painted all the furniture.
Narrator 3: And they rearranged everything so that it all looked quite different.
Narrator 1: Not long afterwards, the man with the bad manners came back. As he walked into the
village, he said
The Man with Bad Manners: blah, blah, blah
Narrator 1: and
The Man with Bad Manners: blee, blee, blee
Narrator 2: to everyone he saw, and he hit tin cans just as loudly as ever. (Man with Bad Manners hits
the tin cans.)
All of the Narrators: Bang! Bang! Bang!
Narrator 3: The people gathered around him.
The Clever Boy: Hello there! Who are you?
The Man with Bad Manners (while banging on a can): You know who I am.
The People of the Village: Oh, no, we don’t!
The Man with Bad Manners (pointing to his field): Yes, you do! This is my potato field.
The Clever Boy (pulling a carrot out of the ground): But there are carrots in this field. This can’t be
your field.
The Man with Bad Manners: But my house is right over there!
The Clever Boy: What color is your house?
The Man with Bad Manners: You know perfectly well that my house is red.
The Clever Boy: But this house is green.
The Man with Bad Manners (looking carefully at his house): Good heavens! That house is green.
Narrator 1: And then he ran over to the window and looked inside and saw that everything was quite
unfamiliar.
The Man with Bad Manners (scratching his head): Dear me! Maybe I don’t come from this village after
all.
Narrator 2: He looked around at all the villagers, and then looked down at the ground,
Narrator 3: and all of a sudden, he became very sad.
The Man with Bad Manners: But, if I don’t come from this village, where do I come from?
The Clever Boy: It’s a secret, but we can tell you the secret only on one condition. You must promise
to use good manners and speak courteously and behave properly from now on. If you promise that,
we’ll tell you the secret.
The Man with Bad Manners: I promise! I promise! Please tell me!
All of People of the Village: We painted your house on the outside. We put carrots in your field. We
painted it on the inside. We painted all your furniture. And, then, we rearranged it.
The Clever Boy: We did it all to teach you a lesson. But now that you have promised to behave
yourself, we’ll change everything back, and we can all live happily ever after.
Narrator 1: So, the man with bad manners promised again to change his ways.
Narrator 2: He promised, and he promised, and he promised.
Narrator 3: And then the people changed everything back for him.
Narrator 1: From then on, when anyone said
Anyone in the Village: Good morning
Narrator 1: to the man, he replied cheerily
The Man with Bad Manners: Good morning to you!
Narrator 2: And when anyone said
Anyone of the Village: Good evening
Narrator 2: to the man, he replied courteously
The Man with Bad Manners: Good evening to you!
Narrator 3: And he never banged another can…
All of the Narrators: ever. And, so, indeed, everyone did live
All of the cast: happily ever after.
THE END
 The Lion Who Saw Himself in the Water
by Idries Shah

Narrator 1: Once upon a time there was a farmer’s wife.

Narrator 2: One day when she was picking apples from a tree,
Narrator 3: one of the apples fell into a hole in the ground
Narrator 1: and she couldn’t get it out.
Narrator 2: She looked all around for someone to help her,
Narrator 3: and she saw a bird sitting on a nearby tree.
The Farmer’s Wife: Bird, Bird, fly down the hole and bring back the apple for me!
Narrator 1: But the bird answered The Bird: Tweet, tweet, tweet
Narrator 2: which means “No”.
All of the Narrators: He was rather a naughty bird, you see.
The Farmer’s Wife: What a naughty bird!
Narrator 3: And then she saw a cat
The Farmer’s Wife: Cat, Cat, jump at the bird until he flies down the hole and brings back the apple
for me.
Narrator 1: But the cat said A Cat: Miaow, miaow
Narrator 2: which means “No” All of the Narrators: She was rather a naughty cat, you see.
The Farmer’s Wife: What a naughty cat!
Narrator 3: And then she saw a dog
The Farmer’s Wife: Dog, Dog, chase the cat until she jumps at the bird, until he flies down the hole
and brings back the apple for me.
Narrator 1: But the dog said
The Dog: Bow-wow -wow
Narrator 2: which means “No”
All of the Narrators: He was rather a naughty little dog, you see.
The Farmer’s Wife: Good gracious, what a naughty little dog!
Narrator 3: Then she looked around and she saw a bee
The Farmer’s Wife: Bee, Bee, sting the dog until he chases the cat, until she jumps at the bird, until
he flies down the hole and brings back the apple for me.
Narrator 1: But the bee said
The Bee: Bzz-bzz
Narrator 2: which means “No”
All of the Narrators: He was rather a naughty bee, you see.
The Farmer’s Wife: Good gracious! What a naughty bee!
Narrator 3: Then she looked around and she saw a beekeeper.
The Farmer’s Wife: Beekeeper, Beekeeper, tell the bee to sting the dog, until he chases the cat, until
she jumps at the bird, until he flies down the hole and brings back the apple for me.
Narrator 1: And the beekeeper said The Beekeeper: No, I won’t.
The Farmer’s Wife: Good gracious! What a naughty beekeeper!
Narrator 2: And she looked around again. This time she saw a rope on the ground.
The Farmer’s Wife: Rope, Rope, tie up the beekeeper until he tells the bee to sting the dog, to chase
the cat, to jump at the bird, to fly down the hole and bring back the apple for me.
Narrator 3: But the rope didn’t take any notice at all. It just lay there.
The Farmer’s Wife: Good gracious! What a naughty rope!
Narrator 1: And then she looked around and she saw a fire.
The Farmer’s Wife: Fire, Fire, burn the rope until it ties up the beekeeper, until the beekeeper tells the
bee to sting the dog, to chase the cat, to jump at the bird, to fly down the hole and bring back the
apple for me.
Narrator 2: But the fire said nothing at all. It just didn’t take any notice. It wasn’t going to burn the
rope.
The Farmer’s Wife: Good gracious! What a naughty fire!
Narrator 3: And she looked around again and she saw a puddle of water.
The Farmer’s Wife: Water, Water, put out the fire, because it won’t burn the rope, because it won’t tie
up the beekeeper, because the beekeeper won’t tell the bee to sting the dog, because the dog won’t
chase the cat, because the cat won’t jump at the bird. And because the bird won’t fly down the hole
and bring back the apple for me.
Narrator 1: But the water didn’t take any notice at all.
The Farmer’s Wife: Good gracious! What a very naughty puddle of water you are!
Narrator 2: And then the farmer’s wife looked around and she saw a cow.
The Farmer’s Wife: Cow, Cow, drink up the water, because it won’t put out the fire, because the fire
won’t burn the rope, because the rope won’t tie up the beekeeper, because the beekeeper won’t tell
the bee to sting the dog, to chase the cat, to jump at the bird, to fly down the hole and bring back the
apple for me.
Narrator 3: But the cow only said The Cow: Moo, moo
Narrator 1: which means “No”
The Farmer’s Wife: What a naughty cow!
Narrator 2: And then the farmer’s wife looked around once more and she saw the bird again.
The Farmer’s Wife: I want you just to peck that cow a little.
The Bird: All right, I don’t mind pecking that cow. As long as you don’t expect me to fly down the hole
and bring back the apple for you.
The Farmer’s Wife: You just peck the cow.
Narrator 3: So, the bird, who was a bit naughty, pecked the cow.
Narrator 1: And the cow started to drink up the water
Narrator 2: and the water started to put out the fire
Narrator 3: and the fire started to burn the rope
Narrator 1: and the rope started to tie up the beekeeper
Narrator 2: and the beekeeper started to tell the bee
Narrator 3: and the bee started to sting the dog
Narrator 1: and the dog started to chase the cat
Narrator 2: and the cat started to jump at that very same bird that had pecked the cow.
Narrator 3: And then the wind flew down the hole and brought back the apple for the farmer’s wife.
All of the cast: And everyone lived happily ever after.
THE END
Neem the Half-Boy
by Idries Shah

Narrator 1: Once upon a time, when flies flew backwards…

Narrator 2: …and the sun was cool…
Narrator 3: …there was a country called Hich-Hich…
Narrator 1: …which mean “nothing at all.”
Narrator 2: This country had a king, and it also had a queen.
Narrator 3: Now, the queen wanted to have a little boy for a son because she didn’t have
one.
The Queen (to the King): How can I get a little boy?
The King: I don’t know, I’m sure.
The Queen (to all the people): How can I get a little boy?
Village People: We are very sorry, but we can’t tell Your Majesty how to get a little boy.
Narrator 1: They called her “Your Majesty” because you always call queens – and kings
too – Your Majesty.
The Queen (to the fairies): How can I get a little boy?
The Fairies: We could go and ask Arif the Wise Man.
Narrator 2: The wise man was a very clever man, and he knew everything.
Narrator 3: So the fairies went to the place where Arif the Wise Man lived.
The Fairies: We are the fairies from the country of Hich-Hich. That country has a queen,
and she wants a little boy, but she doesn’t know how to get one.
Arif the Wise Man (smiling): I’ll tell you how the queen can have a little boy for a son.
(Picking up the apple and giving it to the fairies.) Give this apple to the queen and tell her
to eat it. If she eats it, she will have a little boy.
Narrator 1: So the fairies took the apple and flew back to the queen.
The Fairies (giving the apple to the queen): Your Majesty, we have been to see Arif the
Wise Man, who knows everything, and he says that you should eat this apple. If you eat it,
you will have a little boy for a son.
Narrator 2: The queen was very pleased. She started to eat the apple…
Narrator 3: …but before she had finished it…
Narrator 1: …she forgot how important it was and started thinking about something else.
All of the Narrators: And she dropped the apple, only half eaten.
Narrator 2: And she did have a little boy. But, because she had eaten only half of the
apple…
Narrator 3: …the boy she had was a half-boy.
Narrator 1: He had one eye and one ear, one arm and one leg, and he hopped wherever
he went. Narrator 2: The queen called him Prince Neem, because “neem” means “half” in
the language of that country.
Narrator 3: As he grew bigger, Prince Neem went everywhere on a horse.
Narrator 1: As a half-boy, he could get around better on a horse, because he didn’t have
to hop.
Narrator 2: He became very clever at riding his horse, and he grew to be a very clever
little boy in every way.
Narrator 3: But he got bored with being a half-boy, and he used to say…
Prince Neem: I would like to be a whole boy. How can I become a whole boy?
The Queen: I’m sure I don’t know.
The King: I have no idea at all.
The Fairies (amongst themselves): Perhaps we should go and ask the wise man, who
knows everything, how Prince Neem can become a whole boy.
Narrator 1: So the fairies flew through the air to the place where Arif the Wise Man lived.
The Fairies: We are the fairies who came to see you about the Queen of Hich-Hich who
wanted a little boy, but he is only a half-boy, and he wants to be a whole boy. Can you
help him?
Arif the Wise Man (sighing): The queen ate only half the apple. That is why she had only a
half-boy. But, since that was so long ago, she cannot eat the other half. It must have gone
bad by now.
The Fairies: Well, is there anything that Neem, the half-boy, can do to become a whole
boy?
Arif the Wise Man: Tell Neem, the half-boy, that he can go to see Taneen, the fire-
breathing dragon. He lives in a cave and is annoying everyone around by blowing fire all
over them. The half-boy will find a special, wonderful medicine in Taneen’s cave. If he
drinks it, he will become a whole boy. Go and tell him that.
Narrator 2: So the fairies flew into the air, and they didn’t stop flying until they came to the
palace where the king and the queen and Neem, the half-boy, lived.
Narrator 3: When they got there, they found Prince Neem.
The Fairies: We have been to see Arif the Wise Man, who is very clever and knows
everything. He told us to tell you that you must drive out Taneen the Dragon, who is
annoying the people. In the back of Taneen’s cave you will find the special, wonderful
medicine which will make you into a whole boy. Narrator 1: Prince Neem thanked the
fairies, got on his horse, and trotted it to the cave where Taneen the Dragon was sitting,
breathing fire all over the place.
Prince Neem: Now I am going to drive you out, Dragon!
Taneen the Dragon: But why should you?
Prince Neem: I am going to drive you away because you keep breathing fire all over
people and they don’t like it.
Taneen the Dragon (in a sad tone): I must breathe fire because I have to cook my food. If I
had a stove to do my cooking on, I wouldn’t have to do it.
Prince Neem: I could give you a stove to do your cooking on. But I must still drive you out.
Taneen the Dragon: Why should you, if I stopped breathing fire over people?
Prince Neem: I would have to get you to go because you have got a special, wonderful
medicine in the back of your cave. If I drink it, I can become a whole boy, and I want to be
a whole boy very much. Taneen the Dragon: But I could give you the medicine, so that
you would not have to drive me away to get it. You could drink it, and you would become a
whole boy. Then you could go and get me a stove, and I would be able to do my cooking,
and I wouldn’t have to blow fire all over people!
Narrator 2: So Neem waited while the dragon went into the back of his cave.
Narrator 3: Presently Taneen came back with a bottle of the special, wonderful medicine.
Narrator 1: Prince Neem drank it all down…
Narrator 2: …and in less time than it takes to tell…
Narrator 3 (as Neem begins to remove the material covering half of his body or turning to
show his “whole” self): …he grew another arm…
Narrator 1: …another side…
Narrator 2: …another leg…
Narrator 3: …another ear and everything.
All of the Narrators: He had become a whole boy! And he was very, very pleased.
Narrator 1: He got on his horse and rode quickly back to the palace at Hich-Hich.
Narrator 2: There he fetched a cooking-stove and took it back to Taneen.
Narrator 3: After that, Taneen the Dragon lived quietly in his cave and never blew fire over
anyone again…
All of the Narrators: …and all the people were very happy.
Narrator 1: From then on, Neem, the half-boy, was called Kull…
Narrator 2: …which means “the whole-boy” in the language of Hich-Hich.
Narrator 3: It would have been silly of him to be called a half-boy when he was a whole
one, wouldn’t it?
All of the cast: And everyone lived happily for evermore.
THE END
 The Boy Without a Name
by Idries Shah

Narrator 1: Once upon a time, long, long, long ago, in a country far from here, there lived a
boy who had no name.
Narrator 2: It is very strange to have no name, and you might ask…
One of the Participants: Why didn’t he have a name?
Narrator 3: Well, it was like this.
Narrator 1: On the day he was born, his parents were just about to choose a name for him…
Narrator 2: when a very wise man came to the house.
The Wise Man (to the parents): This is a very, very important boy, and I am going to give him
something marvelous one day, but I will have to give him his name first. So please don’t give
him a name yet.
The Parents: All right, but when will he get a name?
The Wise Man: I cannot say now, but remember, he is a very important boy and you must be
careful not to give him a name.
Narrator 3: So the parents called him “Benaam”…
Narrator 1: which means “Nameless” in the language of that country.
Narrator 2: For he was a boy without a name.
Narrator 3: One day Nameless went to see his friend who lived in the next house.
Nameless (to his friend Anwar): Everybody has a name, and I would like to have one, too. Do
you have a name you can give me?
Anwar: I only have one name. It is Anwar. That’s my name, and I need it. If I gave it to you,
what would I do for a name? Besides, what would you give me if I did give you my name?
You haven’t got anything. Nameless: I’ve got a dream I don’t want. I could give you that.
Anwar: But how can we find out how to get a name and how to pass on a dream from one
person to another?
Nameless: I know, let’s go and ask the wise man!
Narrator 1: Now, the wise man knew everything, and fortunately he didn’t live very far away.
Narrator 2: So Nameless and Anwar went to his house and they knocked on the door.
Narrator 3: As soon as he saw them, the wise man said…
The Wise Man: Come in, Nameless and Anwar…
Narrator 3: even though he had never seen them before.
Nameless and Anwar (in unison): How did you know who we were?
The Wise Man: I know many things. And, besides, I was expecting you. Sit down here, and I’ll
see what I have in my magic boxes. (Nameless and Anwar sit down on the cushions beside
the wise man.)
The Wise Man (picking up the small box of “names”): This is a magic box, and it’s absolutely
full of all kinds of names. You just see.
Narrator 1: And when he opened the lid of the box, the boys could hear all the names in it.
All Other Participants: (in unison, whisper the names written on the pieces of paper in the
box…have each participant pick a different name to whisper.)
Narrator 2: There were all kinds of names.
All of the Narrators: Names, names, names.
Narrator 3: Names saying themselves…
Narrator 1: names saying other names.
Narrator 2: Names saying names from all the countries of the world.
Narrator 3: And the wise man picked a name out of the box and handed it to Nameless…
Narrator 1: and the name jumped onto his hand…
Narrator 2: ran up his arm and sprang onto his shoulder…
Narrator 3: and then it went into his ear…
Narrator 1: and right into his head.
All of the Narrators: And suddenly he knew that he had a name!
Nameless – now known as Husni: Hooray! Hooray! I’ve got a name. I am Husni!
Narrator 2: Husni was his name.
Anwar: But I want the dream that Husni promised me!
The Wise Man: Patience, my boy! (Pick up the box of “dreams that people don’t want” and
open it) This is a box of dreams that people don’t want. You just stroke your head to take the
dream out of it, Husni, and then put the dream into this box.
Narrator 3: And Husni did so, and, sure enough, when he stroked his head he found that the
dream came into his hand…
Narrator 1: and when he put his hand down near the box, the dream popped into the box.
(Husni holds the picture that the class made of the dream he didn’t want and puts it in the
box.)
The Wise Man (picking up the box of “wonderful dreams” and opening it): This box is full of
wonderful dreams!
Narrator 2: And the two boys could see all sorts of marvelous dreams inside.
All of the Narrators: Wonderful, wonderful dreams!
All Other Participants: (pick out of the box the images of dreams that they created.)
The Wise Man: I am going to give you one dream each. Pick a dream.
Narrator 3 (as the boys pick a dream out of the box): And the dreams, as soon as they caught
hold of them…
Narrator 1: ran up their arms, onto their shoulders, into their ears…
Narrator 2: and right into their heads…
Narrator 3: just as Husni’s name had done. And after that…
All of the Narrators: forever and ever, Husni had a name…
All of the cast: and the two boys, Husni and Anwar, always had wonderful dreams.
THE END
The Silly Chicken
by Idries Shah

Narrator 1: Once upon a time in a country far away, there was a town…
Narrator 2: and in the town there was a chicken, and he was a very silly chicken
indeed.
Narrator 3: He went about saying…
The Silly Chicken: tuck-tuck-tuck, tuck-tuck-tuck, tuck-tuck-tuck.
All of the Narrators: And nobody knew what he meant.
Narrator 1: Of course, he didn’t mean anything at all, but nobody knew that.
Narrator 2: They thought that…
The Silly Chicken: tuck-tuck-tuck, tuck-tuck-tuck, tuck-tuck-tuck…
Narrator 3: must mean something.
Narrator 1: Now, a very clever man came to the town, and he decided to see if he
could find out what the chicken meant by…
The Silly Chicken: tuck-tuck-tuck, tuck-tuck-tuck, tuck-tuck-tuck.
Narrator 2: First he tried to learn the chicken’s language.
Narrator 3: He tried, and he tried, and he tried. But all he learned to say was…
The Clever Man: tuck-tuck-tuck, tuck-tuck-tuck, tuck-tuck-tuck.
Narrator 1: Unfortunately, although he sounded just like the chicken…
All of the Narrators: he had no idea what he was saying.
Narrator 2: Then he decided to teach the chicken to speak our kind of language.
Narrator 3: He tried, and he tried, and he tried.
Narrator 1: It took him quite a long time, but in the end, the chicken could speak
perfectly well…
All of the Narrators: just like you and me.
Narrator 2: After learning to speak as we do, the chicken went into the main street of
the town and called out…
The Silly Chicken: The earth is going to swallow us up!
Narrator 3: At first the people didn’t hear what he was saying…
All of the Narrators: because they didn’t expect a chicken to be talking human
language.
Narrator 1: The chicken called out again…
The Silly Chicken: The earth is going to swallow us up!
Narrator 2: This time the people heard him, and they began to cry out…
First Group of People: Good heavens!
Second Group of People: Good gracious!
Third Group of People: Dear me!
First Group of People: The earth is going to swallow us up!
All of the People of the Town: Yes, indeed! The chicken says so!
Narrator 3: Thoroughly alarmed, all the people packed up their most precious things…
All of the Narrators: and began to run to get away from the earth. [All of the People of
the Town, and the Camel, run from one side of the room to the other, and around in
circles.]
Narrator 1: They ran from one town...
Narrator 2: to another. They ran through the fields…
Narrator 3: and into the woods and across the meadows. They ran up the mountains…
Narrator 1: and down the mountains. They ran down the world and up the world…
Narrator 2: and around the world. They ran in every possible direction.
All of the Narrators: But they still couldn’t get away from the earth.
Narrator 3: Finally they came back to their town. And there was the chicken…
Narrator 1: just where they had left him before they started running.
Narrator 2: They asked the chicken…
Second Group of People: How do you know the earth is going to swallow us up?
The Silly Chicken: I don’t know.
Narrator 3: At first the people were astonished, and they said again and again…
Third Group of People: You don’t know?
First Group of People: You don’t know?
Second Group of People: You don’t know? [All of the People of the Town glare at the
Silly Chicken.] Narrator 1: And they became furious, and they glared sternly at the
chicken and spoke in angry voices. Third Group of People: [in angry voices] How could
you tell us such a thing?
First Group of People: [in angry voices] How dare you!
Second Group of People: You made us run from one town to another!
Third Group of People: You made us run through the fields and into the woods and
across the meadows!
First Group of People: You made us run up the mountains and down the mountains!
Second Group of People: You made us run down the world and up the world and
around the world! Third Group of People: You made us run in every possible direction!
All of the People of the Town: And all the while we thought you knew the earth was
going to swallow us up! [The Silly Chicken smoothes his feathers.]
The Silly Chicken: Cackle. Cackle. Well, that just shows how silly you are! Only silly
people would listen to a chicken in the first place. You think a chicken knows
something just because he can talk?
Narrator 2: At first the people just stared at the chicken, and then they began to laugh.
[All of the People of the Town laugh in the background.]
Narrator 3: They laughed, and they laughed, and they laughed…
All of the Narrators: because they realized how silly they had been, and they found that
very funny indeed.
Narrator 1: After that, whenever they wanted to laugh they would go to the chicken and
say…
First Group of People: Tell us something to make us laugh.
The Silly Chicken: Cups and saucers are made out of knives and forks!
[All of the People of the Town laugh.]
Second Group of People: Who are you?
Third Group of People: Yes, who are you?
The Silly Chicken: I am an egg. [All of the People of the Town laugh in the
background.]
Narrator 2: The people would laugh at this, too, because they knew he wasn’t an egg.
First Group of People: If you’re an egg, why aren’t you yellow?
The Silly Chicken: I am not yellow because I painted myself blue. [All of the People of
the Town laugh in the background.]
Narrator 3: The people would laugh at this, too, because they could see he was not
blue at all.
Second Group of People: What did you paint yourself with?
The Silly Chicken: With red ink. [All of the People of the Town laugh and give a big
‘Hah-hah!’]
All of the Narrators: And at this they laughed the hardest of all.
Narrator 1: And now people everywhere laugh at chickens…
Narrator 2: and never take any notice of what they say…
Narrator 3: even if they can talk…
ALL: because, of course, everybody knows that chickens are silly.
All of the Narrators: And that chicken still goes on and on in that town, in that far-away
country, telling people things to make them laugh.
THE END

The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal

by Idries Shah

Narrator 1: Once upon a time there was a very clever boy who lived
in a village.
Narrator 2: Nearby was another village that he had never visited.
Narrator 3: When he was old enough to be allowed to go about on
his own, he thought he would like to see the other village. So one
day, he asked his mother…
The Clever Boy: May I go and see the other village?
The Clever Boy’s Mother: Yes, as long as you look both ways
before you cross the road. You must be very careful!
Narrator 1: The boy agreed and set off at once.
Narrator 2: When he got to the side of the road, he looked both
ways. And because there was nothing coming, he knew he could
cross safely.
Narrator 3: And that’s just what he did.
Narrator 1: Then he skipped down the road towards the other
village.
Narrator 2: Just outside that village he came upon a crowd of
people who were standing in a field, and he went up to them to see
what they were doing. As he drew near, he heard…
The Crowd of People [looking frightened]: Oooo…Ahhh…Ohhh!
The Clever Boy [going up to one of the men in the crowd]: Why are
you saying ‘Oooo’ and ‘Ahhh’ and ‘Ohhh,’ and why are you all so
frightened?
The Man: Oh dear me! There is a terrible, dangerous animal in this
field, and we are all very frightened because it might attack us!
The Clever Boy [looking around]: Where is the terrible, dangerous
animal?
The Crowd of People: Oh! Be careful! Be careful!
The Clever Boy: Where is the terrible, dangerous animal?
Narrator 3: And so the people pointed to the middle of the field. And
when the boy looked where they pointed, he saw a very large …
All of the Narrators: WATERMELON!
The Clever Boy [laughing]: That’s not a terrible, dangerous animal!
The Crowd of People: Yes, it is! It is! Keep away! It might bite you!
Narrator 1: Now the boy saw that these people were very silly
indeed, so he said to them
The Clever Boy: I’ll go and kill this dangerous animal for you.
The Crowd of People: No, no! It’s too terrible! It’s too dangerous! It
might bite you! Oooo! Ahhh! Ohhh!
Narrator 2: But the boy went right up to the watermelon…
Narrator 3: took a knife out of his pocket…
Narrator 1: and cut a large slice out of it.
All of the Narrators: The people were astonished.
The Crowd of People [with astonished looks on their faces]: What a
brave boy! He’s killed the terrible, dangerous animal!
Narrator 2: As they spoke, the boy took a bite out of the large slice
of watermelon.
The Clever Boy: This tastes delicious!
The Crowd of People: Look! Now he’s eating the terrible,
dangerous animal! He must be a terrible, dangerous boy!
Narrator 3: As the boy walked away from the middle of the field,
waving his knife and eating the watermelon, the people ran away.
THE END