Sinimmar’s Reward – A Short Story
Hasan A. Yahya, Ph.D
This story is from Baghdad, the story is similar to old Arabian Nights stories, a king wished for himself to build a secret hiding place for himself, to secure himself in case of revolt. The King was a frugal man, and wanting the job done, he was a stingy person, where he will not give generously to the hiding place builder. He secured the services of a poor famous philosopher, builder called Sinimmar who newly on his own after years of apprenticeship to another King.
In order that the hiding place might know how to get at the palace, should he be inclined to be with the revolt people, he should keep the secret. -- the King waited until Simimmar completed the palace.
So it was, that Sinimmar knew the secret of the king., but did not tell thee king of the secret of the palace. Which stone might lead to conquer the palce by revolt people. After completing the palace, Sinimmar was with the King on the top of the tower, in that moment, the king asked Sinimmar, about the weakest side of the palace and the less secure to defend himself in case a revolution against him takes place. The King offers Sinimmar a ton of gold if he told him. Sinimmar smiled and said:
- Well, I can tell you more about a stone in the palace, if you remove it, the whole palace will collapse.
- What stone? The king asked Sinimmar! “ how can it protect me?
- I will tell Your Majesty where is it and how in few seconds the stone moves to get in, and later the palace will fall on the heads of your enemies. Sinimmar walked to a big stone in the palace, and showed it to the king. The king was pleased with the secret. To save himself from paying Sinimmar for his great work, he asked him:
- Does anyone else knows about this secret? Sinimmar!
- No! Your Majesty, I am the only one who knows about this secret. The king order the guards to throw Sinimmar from the tower. In few minutes he passed away. The king, to himself said:
- This is the price of the smart builder. He forgot to protect himself by keeping the secret.
Hasan Yahya, is an American Arab scholar, a professor of Sociology, a columnist at wfol.tv, Malaysia, and TINA International News Agency, Chicago, USA. www.hasanyahya.com
