Once upon a time, there lived a wise man by the name of Mamad. He never lied. The king ordered his subjects to bring him to the palace. The king was about to leave for the forest. The king held his horse by the mane; his left foot was already on the stirrup. He ordered Mamad, “Tell the queen I will be with her for lunch. You will have lunch with me then.” Mamad went to the queen.
Then the king laughed and said, “We won’t go hunting and now Mamad will lie to the queen.” But wise Mamad went to the palace and said, “Maybe you should prepare a big feast for lunch tomorrow, and maybe you shouldn’t. Maybe the king will come by noon, and maybe he won’t.” “Tell me weather he will come, or not,” asked the queen. “I don’t know whether he put his right foot on the stirrup, or he put his left foot on the ground after I had left.” The king came the next day and said to the queen, “The wise Mamad lied to you yesterday.” But the queen told him about the words of Mamad. And the king realized that the wise man never lied.
