Caliph Stork

Caliph Stork

Long ago in Baghdad lived a caliph named Hasid. He loved order in his realm, good coffee, remarkable books, and anything unusual.

One warm day, the caliph was resting in the palace when his grand vizier, Mansor, came to see him.

“Why do you look so thoughtful?” Hasid asked.

“There is a traveling merchant beneath the palace walls,” replied the vizier. “He has so many strange objects that you hardly know where to look first.”

The caliph immediately brightened.

“Bring him in!”

Before long, a short, sun-browned man entered the hall carrying a large bundle. He spread rings, combs, bowls, ancient coins, and carved boxes across the carpet.

Hasid was about to dismiss the merchant when he noticed a tiny drawer-like box.

“What is in there?”

The merchant took out a snuffbox filled with dark powder and a scrap of paper covered in unfamiliar letters.

“I do not know, my lord. I bought it from another traveler. Perhaps it is a recipe, or perhaps someone’s old message.”

The caliph bought both the snuffbox and the paper.

“We must find someone who can read this.”

Mansor remembered a scholar named Selim who knew many languages. He was summoned to the palace at once.

Selim studied the letters for a long time.

“This is Latin, my lord.”

“Then read it!”

The scholar translated:

“Whoever takes a pinch of this powder and says the word ‘Mutabor’ may turn into any animal and understand the speech of beasts and birds. To become human again, one must bow three times toward the east and repeat the word. But there is one condition: while in animal form, one must not laugh. Whoever laughs will forget the magic word.”

The caliph’s eyes gleamed.

“Mansor, we must try it!”

The next morning, they went beyond the city. Two long-legged storks were walking near a pond.

“What shall we turn into?” asked the caliph.

“Storks,” Mansor suggested. “Then we can hear what those two are talking about.”

The caliph repeated the rules once more:

“A pinch of powder, then the word ‘Mutabor.’ To return, three bows toward the east and the same word. And most important of all, no laughing.”

Each of them inhaled a small pinch of powder.

“Mutabor!”

At once, their arms became wings, their legs stretched long and turned red, and their noses lengthened into great beaks.

Caliph Stork stared in amazement at Vizier Stork.

“What legs!”

“And have you seen your own neck, my lord?”

They strode solemnly toward the pond.

Nearby, the two real storks were discussing frogs, nests, and dances.

One of them suddenly began stepping comically from foot to foot, flapping its wings and bowing.

Mansor began to tremble.

“Do not laugh, my lord…”

But it was too late.

The caliph burst out laughing. Mansor looked at him and could not hold back either.

They laughed so hard that they nearly fell into the reeds.

Then they fell silent.

“What was the word?” asked the caliph.

“Muta… Mutar… Muba…”

They bowed toward the east three times.

Nothing happened.

The magic word had vanished from their memories.

The caliph and his vizier remained storks.

At first, they tried to return to the palace. But what could two storks possibly explain to people? When they flew back toward the city, they saw banners in the streets and heard the news: Baghdad had a new ruler named Mizra.

“Mizra!” Mansor cried indignantly. “He is the son of the sorcerer Kashnur, your old enemy!”

Now everything made sense. The merchant with the powder had been part of a trap.

The two birds flew away from the city. They traveled for a long time over rivers and deserts until, one evening, they saw ancient ruins.

“We’ll spend the night there,” the caliph decided.

Inside a half-ruined hall, they heard quiet weeping.

A large owl sat on a stone.

“Who are you?” the caliph asked in the language of birds.

The owl looked surprised.

“You understand me?”

“Unfortunately, yes. We are men who were turned into storks by magic.”

“Then perhaps we can help one another,” said the owl. “I was not born a bird either. I am Princess Lusa of India. The sorcerer Kashnur tried to force my father to approve a marriage I did not want. When we refused, he turned me into an owl and imprisoned me in these ruins.”

Mansor nearly jumped.

“The very same Kashnur!”

“Once a month, he and his companions hold a feast here,” Lusa continued. “They boast about their magic. Perhaps if you hide nearby and listen carefully, you will hear the word you forgot.”

“When is the next feast?” asked the caliph.

“Tonight.”

The owl led them through narrow corridors to a crack in a wall.

“Now be quiet,” she whispered. “Even if you hear something funny, do not laugh.”

Before long, sorcerers entered the great hall. Kashnur was among them.

They ate, argued, and boasted about their tricks.

“I taught the caliph of Baghdad a fine lesson,” Kashnur said. “I sold him powder that turned him into a stork. And he was careless enough to laugh, so he forgot the word that would turn him back!”

“What word?” someone asked.

Kashnur replied:

“Mutabor.”

Behind the wall, the caliph nearly shouted for joy.

Mansor nodded urgently. Remember it!

When the sorcerers had gone, the three birds came outside.

“Lusa,” said the caliph, “you saved us. How can we help you?”

“My enchantment has a different condition,” replied the owl. “I can return to human form when someone agrees to accept me as I am without knowing what I will look like after the spell is broken.”

The caliph thought for only a moment.

“You have been brave and kind, and you helped us without demanding anything first. If you wish it too, I am ready to be your friend and ally no matter what form you may have.”

The owl bowed low.

Then the caliph and Mansor turned toward the east.

One.

Two.

Three bows.

“Mutabor!”

Their wings became arms, their beaks disappeared, and their long bird legs turned human again.

Beside them, instead of an owl, stood a young princess named Lusa.

“It worked!” cried Mansor.

This time, they were free to laugh as much as they liked.

The three of them set out for Baghdad. Along the road, the caliph met people who had remained loyal to him. Before long, a guard force gathered outside the city.

Mizra had not had time to secure his rule. When the people saw the living caliph, the truth quickly came to light. The impostor was arrested, and Kashnur was found through the evidence brought by Hasid, Mansor, and Lusa.

The caliph did not wish to answer magic with more magic.

“They will be judged for deception and seizing power,” he said. “And the magical objects they used to harm people will be destroyed.”

Kashnur and Mizra were stripped of power and escorted out of the country under guard.

Princess Lusa stayed in Baghdad for some time. She and the caliph talked, argued, laughed, and gradually became very close. Only later, when both of them wished it, did they decide to marry.

As for the snuffbox with the remaining magic powder, Hasid locked it in the safest chest he owned.

“Perhaps one day we should turn into storks again?” Mansor joked.

The caliph shook his head.

“No. I know very well now how easy it is to lose one’s head when sudden power is placed in your hands.”

“But now you remember the word.”

“I do.”

“What is it?”

Hasid straightened solemnly.

“Mutabor.”

They both burst out laughing.

And this time, nothing terrible happened.

And this time, nothing terrible happened.