Serendipity

“In ancient times there existed in the country of Serendippo, in the Far East, a great and power full king by the name of Giaffer. He had three sons who were very dear to him, and being a good father and very concerned about their education, he decided that he had to leave them endowed not only with great power, but also with all kinds of virtues of which princes particularly are in need (p.57). It took them no time at all to be trained in the sciences and in other matters useful and necessary for princes. So, not long after, the king asked his sons individually to succeed him as the new king. However, all the three sons refused to do this and the king evaluated in his mind their wise and prudent answers, and decided that to make them completely perfect he would send them around the world, so that they could confirm reality and experience the knowledge they had already received from books and teaching of their preceptors (p.60).

One day, the three princes encountered a camel driver who had lost his camel, and who asked them if perchance they had seen his camel on their way. The first brother told him: “Tell me, brother, was the camel you lost blind in one eye?” “Yes,” answered the man. Then the second brother asked him if, in addition to his blindness, the camel had not a tooth missing. “Yes,” answered the man. Then the third brother asked him if perchance the camel was not lame. “Yes,” answered the man. “Certainly then we met him recently on our way, and it is quite a time ago that we left him behind.” (p.61).

The next day the camel driver met the three brothers again and complained that he was unable to find his camel. “I got from you the very best information about the camel; nevertheless, I cannot but believe that you deceived me.” To his statement the first brother answered the following: “You can well judge from our information if we made fun of you or not. And in addition, I want to give you the information that your camel had a load of butter at one side and of honey on the other.” As he heard all the above, the camel driver went to see the judge, and accused them of having stealing his camel on the high way, the three brothers were convicted and sent to jail (p.62). However, the camel was found by a neighbour of the camel driver who was going on the same highway for his own business.

After the Emperor heard what had happened, he was chagrined for having sent to jail the three brothers who had committed no crime (p.63). So, he gave orders for their immediate release, asking to have them taken into his presence. He expressed his curiosity to know how they could guess so many details of the lost animal, and he insisted they tell him.

The first brother said: “I noticed that on one side the grass had been eaten in spite of the fact it was very bad, while it was not so on the other side of the road where the grass was very good.” The second brother said: “I had noticed on the way many cuds of chewed grass of such a size that they could have come out only from the empty space of a missing tooth.” “And I,” added the third “clearly noticed the tracks of only three camel feet, while at the same time I noticed the trace of a dragged foot.” Finally, the first brother said: “Sire, I had noticed on one side of the highway a great number of ants, who are very found of fat, while on the other side I noticed a great number of flies, who are very found of honey.” (p.65).

Abbreviated and based on; “Serendipity and the Three Princes, from the Pregrinaggio of 1557” (Remer, 1965:56-65)