Friends

A folk tale

Translated by: Fateh Kassab

© 2010-2015 Ali Taha Alnobani rights reserved

It is said that a young man was the only son of his parents. The young man always returned home late at night. When his father asked him why he was late, he always gave the same answer.

 "I was with my friends!"

When the father asked him about the number of his friends, the young man told him that they were too many, that it was difficult for him to count. The father was puzzled about his son's answer and said to him

"I am seventy years old, and did not have more than one true friend and you know him very well."

The son said "My many friends are more loyal to me than your one friend."

The father decided to teach his son a lesson. After a few days, and while the son was having fun with his friends, the father brought a goat, slaughtered it, cut it, and put it in a bag after he tarnished one of the rooms in the house with blood. When the son returned home late at that night, his father whispered to him:

"Listen son, a thief tried to steal our house, but I killed him when I was trying to stop him, and here is his body in the bag!! Go and get any loyal friend of yours and bury the corpse before dawn, before people wake up and see it!"

 The boy went to his friends one by one; they refused to come with him, and even reprehended him. He returned to his father very sad and disappointed. When the father saw his son, he said:

"Go to my friend and ask him to come."

The friend came quickly and helped them bury the bag without asking what the bag contained, then returned to the father's house as if nothing had happened. After that the father told the truth to his son and his friend.