“That is a fine tale!” exclaimed the king. “There is nothing better than a good friend in this world.” “That is true, great king,” answered the storyteller, “but one has to be careful to choose a friend who is intelligent.  Otherwise, one might be killed by him.” “How is that possible?” asked the king.  The storyteller began to speak.

The man and the baboon. “A man lived alone in the woods, and one day he met a baboon who also lived alone.  They became friends and lived in peace for a long time.  One afternoon, when it was very hot, the man fell asleep while his faithful friend the baboon watched over him.  Suddenly a fly settled on the man’s nose and made ready to suck some blood and perhaps make the man sick.  The baboon could not tolerate that.  He picked up a stone and squashed the fly.  Of course the nose started bleeding, so the man lost more blood than the fly would have gotten.  The man woke up angry, with a hurting nose that bled profusely.  He chased the baboon out of his house.  If you want a friend, make sure he is not too stupid!”

The king reflected on this, then spoke.  “A simple story, but with a useful lesson.  Tell me, however, how does one know that a man is not stupid?” The storyteller answered, “If you wish to know whether a person has intelligence, sire, you will have to watch his behavior, like those fish.” “Which fish?” asked the king, and the storyteller spoke as follows.

The three fish. “Three big fish lived in a lagoon near the shore of the ocean, with which it was connected by a narrow creek. The three big fish found plenty of little fish to eat in this lagoon, so they had no wish ever to swim into the ocean.  One day two fishermen arrived on the bank of the lagoon and said to each other, “Tomorrow, we will dam this creek and drag our net through the lagoon, so we get all the fish.’ The three big fish heard this, for they could understand human language.  One of them thought, ‘I will not wait for this disaster to happen.  I will get out now.’ He swam through the creek into the ocean and disappeared.

“The second fish thought, “Tomorrow will be time enough to take the necessary action.’ The next morning the fishermen got up early, and when the fish swam up the creek it already was blocked.  The fish kept his nerve though and thought of a stratagem.  He let himself float upside down, with his belly up, at the surface.  The fishermen picked him up and threw him away on the beach.  Then they spread their nets in the lagoon.  The fish was lucky to land near the ocean.  A few jumps and wriggles brought him to the edge of the water and salvation.