The Slippers of Buffalo Skin
Once, in a time long past, there were a pair of slippers made of buffalo skin belonging to a prince. When the prince took them off, he put them on a rack in the kitchen, where the kitchen mice stared at them hour after hour, for they wished to eat them.
These were no ordinary slippers, since they had the power of speech, and they spoke to one another exactly like husband and wife. One day the Husband Slipper said to his spouse, “Wife, if the mice stare at us this way, day and night, in the end we are going to be devoured by them. What do you think? Could we perhaps change ourselves into mice?”
The wife only replied, “As you wish, Husband.”
The Husband Slipper sent up a prayer to the Almighty for them to become mice, and at once their prayer was heard and their wish granted.
As mice, however, they discovered that their slightest movement caught the attention of the cats, which made them feel very unsafe, and so they asked to become cats.
This request too was granted them; but as cats, hardly had they set their paws outside the house when they were set upon by dogs. They therefore sent up an entreaty to become dogs, and as before, they were granted their wish.
When the newly created dogs came in the vicinity of men and women who were stamping rice, they were immediately beaten with the rice stampers and chased away. They decided then that it would be more advantageous to become human beings, and this too they were allowed to become.
They were then called upon by the village chief to perform a variety of tasks for him, among others, to carry heavy loads of rocks. Their dissatisfaction increasing, they asked to become courtiers; and the very next moment they were courtiers, in which capacity they had to carry out the commands of the Prince, night and day. They were even awakened from a deep sleep to perform some duty or other for His Majesty.
Of course the courtiers now felt how convenient it would be to become Prince and Princess, for then there would be no one over them to issue commands – and this too they became. But they were not at peace, for a Prince from another principality attacked their princedom, and they were continually surrounded by enemies.
More concerned than ever, the Slipper Prince said to his wife, “My fear is great that we will be defeated, and if, we are, we will be imprisoned and ordered to cut grass for the horses. What shall we do? If I could become God, we would have no enemies, and we would be all-powerful.”
And the wife replied, as always, “As you wish, Husband!”
But that was the limit. At the very moment that the Husband asked to become God, both he and his wife became slippers again, back in the kitchen, on the rack, as when their story began!
Adapted from: Alibasah, 1999
Question :
1. What are the main characters of the story?
2. What made the slippers want to become something else?
3. Were they satisfied by being mice?
4. What did they want to become after feeling unsafe of becoming cara?
5. How many changes did they experience before asking to become God?
6. Was their wish to become God granted?
7. How did the story end?
8. What do you learn from the story?
Once, in a time long past, there were a pair of slippers made of buffalo skin belonging to a prince. When the prince took them off, he put them on a rack in the kitchen, where the kitchen mice stared at them hour after hour, for they wished to eat them.
These were no ordinary slippers, since they had the power of speech, and they spoke to one another exactly like husband and wife. One day the Husband Slipper said to his spouse, “Wife, if the mice stare at us this way, day and night, in the end we are going to be devoured by them. What do you think? Could we perhaps change ourselves into mice?”
The wife only replied, “As you wish, Husband.”
The Husband Slipper sent up a prayer to the Almighty for them to become mice, and at once their prayer was heard and their wish granted.
As mice, however, they discovered that their slightest movement caught the attention of the cats, which made them feel very unsafe, and so they asked to become cats.
This request too was granted them; but as cats, hardly had they set their paws outside the house when they were set upon by dogs. They therefore sent up an entreaty to become dogs, and as before, they were granted their wish.
When the newly created dogs came in the vicinity of men and women who were stamping rice, they were immediately beaten with the rice stampers and chased away. They decided then that it would be more advantageous to become human beings, and this too they were allowed to become.
They were then called upon by the village chief to perform a variety of tasks for him, among others, to carry heavy loads of rocks. Their dissatisfaction increasing, they asked to become courtiers; and the very next moment they were courtiers, in which capacity they had to carry out the commands of the Prince, night and day. They were even awakened from a deep sleep to perform some duty or other for His Majesty.
Of course the courtiers now felt how convenient it would be to become Prince and Princess, for then there would be no one over them to issue commands – and this too they became. But they were not at peace, for a Prince from another principality attacked their princedom, and they were continually surrounded by enemies.
More concerned than ever, the Slipper Prince said to his wife, “My fear is great that we will be defeated, and if, we are, we will be imprisoned and ordered to cut grass for the horses. What shall we do? If I could become God, we would have no enemies, and we would be all-powerful.”
And the wife replied, as always, “As you wish, Husband!”
But that was the limit. At the very moment that the Husband asked to become God, both he and his wife became slippers again, back in the kitchen, on the rack, as when their story began!
Adapted from: Alibasah, 1999
Question :
1. What are the main characters of the story?
2. What made the slippers want to become something else?
3. Were they satisfied by being mice?
4. What did they want to become after feeling unsafe of becoming cara?
5. How many changes did they experience before asking to become God?
6. Was their wish to become God granted?
7. How did the story end?
8. What do you learn from the story?
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