The Man Who Never Lied
An African Folktale
By: Nicolette Marino
Once upon a time...
There lived a wise man by the name of Mamad. He NEVER lied. Everyone in all of the land knew about Mamad.
The king heard about Mamad and ordered him to the palace. He looked at him and said:
"Mamad, is it true, that you have never lied?"
"It is true."
"And you will never lie in your life?"
"I am sure in that."
The king told Mamad to continue telling the truth but to be careful, because it is often very easy to tell a lie.
A few days later, the King called Mamad back to the palace. The King ordered Mamad:
"Go to my summer palace and tell the queen I will be with her for lunch. Tell her to prepare a big feast. You will have lunch with me then."
Mamad bowed down and went to the queen.
The King laughed and said, "We won't go hunting and now Mamad will lie to the queen. Tomorrow we will laugh on his behalf."
But the wise Mamad went to the palace and told the queen, "Maybe you should prepare a big feast for lunch tomorrow, and maybe you should not. Maybe the king will come by noon, and maybe he won't."
"Tell me! Will he come? Or won't he?" asked the queen.
"I don't know whether he put his right foot on the stirrup, or he put his left food on the ground after I left."
Everyone waited for the king. He came the next day and said to the queen, "The wise Mamad, who never lies, lied to you yesterday."
But the queen told him about the words of Mamad. And the king realized, that the wise man never lies, and says only that, which he saw with his own eyes.