In a distant land, there was once a Rajah who always wanted to be right. This went so far that he once said to his advisors: "From now on, you must always say yes, otherwise I will have you killed!" The Rajah meant it, and it wasn't long before he no longer had a single advisor. The people in this land only called the Rajah King Yes. The ruler desperately searched for new advisors, but no one dared to come near him. But there was a lazy man in the country who said to himself: "It can't be that difficult to always say yes. I'll go to the royal palace, surely there's always enough to eat there."

He had himself taken to the Rajah and bowed low, he was too lazy to talk. "Good, you are to be my new advisor," the Rajah called out. "What do you think, will I get even richer if I sow gold?"

"Yes, Mahipati," said the lazy man, as tradition demanded.

"Good, then have the field prepared and the seed sown!"

"Yes, Mahipati," said the lazybones and set off for the next village. There he fetched tamarisk seeds. Then he had a field prepared, sowed the tamarisk seeds and returned to the king.

"Is the field ready?" the king wanted to know.

"Yes, Mahipati," said the lazy man.

"Then take the gold here for sowing!"

"Yes, Mahipati," said the sluggard, loaded the sacks of gold coins onto a cart and took them to his house, slept for a while and then returned to the palace.

After a few days, the Rajah called him in. "Has the seed already sprouted?"

"Yes, Mahipati," replied the lazy man.

"Good, then show me how the gold grows."

"Yes, Mahipati," replied the lazybones and took the Rajah to the field. The young seedlings of the tamarisk shone like gold in the sun and the Rajah was delighted. It was very hot on the way home. As they passed a river, the Rajah called out: "I want to bathe in the river!"

"Yes, Mahipati," said the lazy man and helped the king take off his clothes and gold jewelry.

"Wait here and don't move until I come back," ordered the Rajah.

"Yes, Mahipati," replied the lazybones and lay down under a tree. The king jumped into the water. However, he had not seen that the river had a strong current. "Help, the river is pulling me away!" he shouted.

"Yes, Mahipati," said the lazy man, but by the time he had risen, the king had already been carried away by the river, nobody knows where.

The lazy man waited and waited, but the Rajah did not return. Towards evening he became cold. So he slipped into the king's cloak, put on the gold jewelry and returned to the palace.

From that day on, the lazy man ruled the country. He made sure that the people of the country were well off and even forgot about being lazy.

Fassung Djamila Jaenike, nach: Elena Chmelova, Ceylonesische Märchen, 1988 Slovart/Dausien, englische Übersetzung Lysander Jaenike © Mutabor Märchenstiftung