Page 132 - The Book of Rumi

Camel and Drummer Boy

n the Persian countryside, farmers used to teach their sons how to play the
Idrums to scare away birds and other small animals that might otherwise
threaten their crops. Young boys spent entire days and nights in the fi elds and
played their drums to their hearts’ delight. One of the drummer boys had
been learning the skill since he was so small he could barely hold the instru-
ment in his hands. He loved the sound as well as the motion of his fi ngers
as he caressed the drum’s skin. He also took delight in frightening the birds,
especially when they all took fl ight simultaneously.
Sultan Mahmood, the ruler of the land, was quite fond of waging wars.
He arrived with his massive army and set up camp close to the boy’s family
farm. Alongside the usual war-making equipment, the soldiers also brought a
camel who carried their enormous war drum. The army’s drummer thumped
on the noisy instrument during times of war, day in and day out, without a
break. Consequently, the camel was almost completely deaf and could hear
nothing other than the sound of the great war drum. As the sultan’s vast army
spread its camp across the land, the camel happily strolled farther and farther
away from his keeper, grazing on the fresh green grasses that he rarely had a
chance to enjoy.
The morning after the army’s arrival, the young farm boy left for work as
usual, but a surprise awaited him—a camel, contently nibbling on his family’s
crops. He was quick to react. He picked up his drum and began to thump on
it as hard and as fast as he could. On and on he drummed, and the sound car-
ried for miles until everyone working in the fi elds could hear him. The camel,
though, in its deafness, continued to calmly eat with great appetite, destroying
the valuable crop of the boy’s family.
When the boy’s drumming had continued ceaselessly for hours, an exas-
perated farmer working nearby decided to walk over and fi nd out the reason
for all the clamor. When he found the boy and saw the camel close by, he fi g-
ured out the problem. He walked over and knelt down beside the boy, putting
his arm around the boy’s weary shoulders.
“My young lad, are you drumming to scare away the camel?”

108