How the Prince Ate Rice Chaff
There once lived a prince. He was already over fifty years old, but he had never once left his palace. He spent his entire days with his wives, eating, drinking, and amusing himself.But finally, he grew tired of this and decided to see what the world was like. That very day, taking a servant with him, he left the palace. On the way, he encountered a peasant. The prince was so frightened that he stepped back.
"Why are you afraid, Prince?" asked his servant.
"Look, a monster with long arms is coming toward us."
"No, Prince, that's not a monster, it's a man. Calm down, let's move on." The prince looked closely at the passerby.
"But why does he have such long and thick arms?" he asked.
"Those are the sleeves of a cloak the peasant has thrown over himself because of the rain," the servant replied, laughing.
"Ah, so it's a man wearing a cloak," the prince nodded and continued on his way.
Along the road, he kept asking his servant strange questions: if he saw a chicken, he asked what it was; if he saw a pig, he asked again. And when they came across a bull with long horns, the prince was even more amazed. The servant had to explain everything to him over and over.
Finally, they approached the bank of a small river. There stood a water mill, and the sound of grinding stones and splashing water could be heard. The prince, curious about the sounds, went closer. There he saw an old woman sifting rice husks. The prince stopped: he sensed an unfamiliar, wonderful aroma. It was the smell of rice husks. The prince stood there, inhaling the pleasant scent with delight until his mouth watered. He squatted down, began scooping up handfuls of husks, and started chewing them. But how could one swallow dry husks? The servant and the old woman were surprised but didn't dare say anything. The servant fetched water so the prince could wash down the husks. The prince puffed, gasped, and shook himself off: he was covered in husks from head to toe.
At that moment, the woman filled a basket with husks and tried to slip away home unnoticed.
The prince called out to her:
"Hey, hey! How do you eat this stuff?"
"It's boiled first, then fed to pigs and dogs; people don't eat it," the old woman replied, laughing.
Hearing this, the prince became furious. His face twisted with rage, but he said nothing. And when the woman left, he threatened his servant:
"Yan-san! Don't you dare tell anyone about the mistake that happened here. If you do, you'll lose your head!"
The servant bowed respectfully. But upon returning to the palace, Yan-san couldn't eat or sleep; he could only think about how to tell someone about how the prince had eaten rice husks. But who could he tell? At home, he feared the hearth spirit might hear him. In the Buddhist temple, it was also impossible: the lama's ears were sharp, and his eyes were keen. So, he decided to go out to sea and tell the story there.
By the evening of the second day, he secretly set out on a small bamboo raft to the sea and was about to shout about what had happened when he suddenly remembered that there was a sea spirit in the ocean, so he couldn't speak aloud there either.
Finally, deep in the mountains, he found a quiet, secluded spot and prepared to shout:
"The prince ate rice husks!" But then he remembered that even in the mountains, there was a spirit. What to do? Yan-san was about to return home when he suddenly saw an old tree with a hollow. He stuck his head into the hollow and, gathering his courage, shouted three times:
"The prince ate rice husks!"
"The prince ate rice husks!"
"The prince ate rice husks!"
And Yan-san, now cheerful, returned home with a light heart.
Three weeks later, a festival was to take place. For this occasion, the prince ordered skilled carpenters and drum makers to craft a large new drum. The craftsmen took their tools and went into the mountains to find material for the drum. They searched several mountains, inspected many trees, but couldn't find anything suitable. Suddenly, they saw an old hollow tree—just the kind they were looking for. They cut it down, and by the deadline, the drum was ready. It turned out large and beautiful.
The prince was very pleased. He immediately ordered all his subjects to come and listen to the sounds of the new drum.
People gathered from all the villages. At the prince's command, the kingdom's best drummer rolled up his sleeves and struck the drum. And with the very first sound, everyone heard:
"The prince ate rice husks!"
"The prince ate rice husks!"
"The prince ate rice husks!"
Uncontrollable laughter erupted all around. The prince turned red with shame and, clutching his head, ran back to the palace. He immediately ordered the drum to be burned and the skilled carpenter and excellent drummer to be executed. But it didn't help: even today, when people hear the sound of a large drum, they remember the story of how the prince ate rice husks.
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