Calila e Dimna
Calila e Dimna is an Old Castilian collection of tales from 1251, translated from the Arabic text Kalila wa-Dimna by the order of the future King Alfonso X while he was still a prince.
The fact that Alfonso is called "infante" (he was crowned in 1252) leads to set the date of composition in 1251 what would convert the book into the first prose-fiction work written in the Iberian Peninsula.
However, on arrival the ox and the lion struck up a friendship and as days passed, their bond grew and Shatrabah took Dimnah's place as the main confidant of the king.
Dimnah, knowing the plan would be unravelled if they were allowed to talk, told the lion that if Shatrabah's limbs were trembling and if he was moving his horns as if preparing to charge, then there was no doubt regarding his treason.
Meanwhile, a leopard from amongst the closest members of the king's court was prowling in the dark, when he came upon Kalila admonishing Dimnah for his deception and he overheard the whole thing.
A man was travelling in the wild when he saw a threatening wolf, so in order to escape he ran but came to a ravine with a river preventing safe passage to the village on the other side.
Sub-story nine - The Wolf, the crow, the jackal and the camel - Told by Shatrabah to Dimnah after he suspects that it is the members of the lion's court that want him dead.
An onlooking bird knew that it was a glow worm and not fire and so called out to them to stop their futile chase, as it would not give them the warmth they desired.
Sub-story thirteen - The merchant, the iron and the mice - Told by Kalila to Dimnah, scolding him as his image will be forever ruined if he is found out.
A merchant was leaving his city for a while on a business trip, and he had a large amount of iron in his possession, so he left it in trust with his friend for storage until he returned.
After freeing the tortoise, the friends regrouped, and the hunter, now without any caught game, realised his predicament and became convinced that he was in a land of djinn or going insane, so he left.
The crows conspired to carry dry firewood and dump it into the burrows before setting them alight, therefore killing all the owls by fire or by the smoke.
Sub-story two - The pious man and the goats - Told by the fifth crow advisor to the king to prove that trickery is superior to war.
The neighbour suggested that when her husband turtle returns, she should pretend to be ill and say that the doctor has prescribed the only cure as the heart of the monkey.
When the husband turtle was told about the cure, he returned to his friend and invited him to his home, a lush island with many trees laden with fruits, with the intent to kill him.
However, after entering the house, he found the child was alive and safe, and saw a dead black snake next to the cot, that had been attacked and killed by the weasel.
Sub-story one - The pious man, the fat and the honey - Told by the wife to the husband not to tempt fate by declaring the unborn baby a boy, as it is something beyond his knowledge.
The same day, the rat left his home in search of his daily needs, when suddenly he was faced with a weasel intent on eating him, and an owl behind him ready to swoop down and catch him.
The lion then summoned the jackal to defend his own case, but the other ministers sent a rude false reply back to the king, infuriating him.
They told the king he must kill his wife Irakht, his child Juwayr, his nephew, his close friend Iladh, his scribe and secret keeper Kaal, his great white elephant, his battle horse, two other great elephants, his fast strong Bactrian camel and the wiseman Kabariyoon, who was responsible for the death of the monks.
One day the king's advisors suggested that they close the tunnel and stop the winds, to make the palace area into a paradise.
The advisors believed it may be impossible, but the king ordered all the people of the area to gather and block the hole with rocks, wood and soil.
Six months had not passed, and all the springs and crops had dried up, all the animals had died, and a barren wasteland was left for hundreds of miles.
Once slightly opened, the six months' worth of trapped air burst out of the hole, taking the large fire with it and spreading it to all corners of the kingdom.
The snake then asked his djinn friend to make the prince believe that the only cure was if the tourist read an incantation over him, as they had wrongly punished him.
The prince was summoned and told the people of his ancestry and lineage and how his brother had usurped the throne after their father's demise, so he had fled the city.
During his coronation procession he passed the gates of the city and ordered for it to be written that “Hardwork, beauty, intelligence and any good or bad one gains in this world is due to the decree of God”.
Sub-story five - The crow and the serpent - Told by Dimnah to Kalila, defending his ability to take on the mighty ox with wit, despite his small frame.
"Sub-story nine - The Wolf, the crow, the jackal and the camel" - Told by Shatrabah to Dimnah after he suspects that it is the members of the lion's court that want him dead.
Sub-story thirteen - The merchant, the iron and the mice - Told by Kalila to Dimnah, scolding him as his image will be forever ruined if he is found out.
