Select the tale Contents Two brothers The happy cobbler The invincible Cock Lazy Hoory The paradise flower The hunter that lied A big pot of gold The master and the labourer The carnival Brother axe The foolish man The king & the peddler Travelers Nazar the brave The fox that lost its tail The dog and the cat The handless girl Black kiddy Unlucky Panoss The liar One drop of honey The sparrow The death of Kikos The talking fish The end of the wicked The Miller- King Zangi Zrangi

THE MILLER-KING

Once upon a time in ancient Armenia there was a poor miller who was barely able to make ends meet. One morning he went out to start up the waterwheel in his mill and, when lie returned, the piece of cheese he had left on the table had disappeared.
At the end of the day, he went out to shut off the waterwheel, and when he returned, this time the piece of crusty bread he had saved for his supper had disappeared.
"What is this?" wondered the miller. "Who is stealing my bit of food?" And that night, he set a trap.
The night passed. When morning came, the miller found a fox caught fast in the trap.
"Ho! You miserable thief! I'll show you what it means to steal my food!" shouted the miller and went after the fox with a broom.
The fox begged for mercy. "Don't kill me," he pleaded. "What is a piece of cheese or a crust of bread that you wish to kill me for that? Set me free... I promise to pay you for your kindness."
The miller listened, and being a kindly man at heart, set the fox free. At once, the fox hur-ried to the royal stable belonging to the king of that land. Searching carefully, he found a gold piece on the stable floor. Quickly he presented himself at the palace and was ushered before the king.
"Long live Your Majesty," said the fox, bowing low! "I have come to ask a favor. My mas-ter, the miller-king, who lives not far from here, is engaged in counting his gold, but alas, he has no proper means of measure. Would you kindly lend us your measuring basket? I promise you we will return it promptly."
"I have never heard of this miller-king," fronted the king. "Who is he?"
"To be sure, you do not know him yet, Your Majesty," replied the fox. "He is a very rich king, and I am his vizier. Please lend us this measuring basket to measure his gold and then you shall meet him."
The king agreed. Taking the basket out of sight of the palace, the fox carefully placed the gold piece which he had found in the stable at the bottom of the basket. Later that evening he returned the basket to the king.
"0-h-h-h," he said, pretending to be weary, "My master thanks you so much. We're both so tired, but thanks to your basket, we finally finished measuring the gold."
The king rubbed his chin. "Can it really be that this miller-king is so rich he measures his gold by the basket?" he wondered. Taking the basket, he shook it. The gold piece fell out.
The next day, the fox appeared one e again before the king.
"Long live Your Majesty." he said, bowing low. "My master, the miller-king, has some pre-cious jewels he needs to count. May we impose on your Majesty's kindness and borrow the measuring basket once more? I promise to return it by nightfall."
Once again, the fox took the basket out of sight of the palace. He had found a pearl some-where behind the king's stable, and he placed it at the bottom of the basket.
When evening came, he returned the basket to the king.
"0-h-h-h," he moaned, "how tired I am! We had such a time measuring all the jewels. My master deeply thanks Your Majestry for the use of the basket."
The king reached for the basket. As he did so, the pearl fell out. The king wondered how anyone could be rich enough to measure precious jewels by the basket.

Several clays passed. Then the fox reappeared at the palace, and this time asked the king for the hand of his daughter, the princess, as wife for the miller-king.
Remembering the riches of his neighbour, the king happily agreed to the match and ordered the palace staff to prepare at once for the wedding. All was confusion in the palace as hasty plans got under way.
Meanwhile, the fox hurried to the flour mill and congratulated the poor miller. "I have received the king's permission for you to have his daughter as your wife," lie said. "Come! Hurry and make ready! We are going to your wedding."
"What!" exclaimed the bewildered miller. "Have you gone out of your mind? What have you done? Who am I to marry a king's daughter? I have no decent means of livelihood, no house, and not even any clothes other than the wretched things I am now wearing!"
"Don't worry. Leave everything to me." The fox assured the miller, and lie hurried back k to the king.
"Your Majesty, a most terrible tragedy has taken place," he announced. "The miller-king and his retinue were on their way here for the wedding when suddenly enemy soldiers attacked and robbed him of everything.
"Fortunately, my master escaped. He was able to take refuge in the broken-down mill not far from here. But you must give me clothes and horses that he may come to his wedding inproper style. Then he plans to hurry on to take revenge on those who attacked him."
The king immediately gave the fox some clothes fit for royalty and sent enough horses and guards to bring his future son-in-law properly to the bride's home.
The fox hurried back to the mill with the clothes. Long before the guards and the horses arrived, he had dressed the poor miller in the princely garments. Then he helped him mount one of the royal horses.
Escorted by the palace guards, the miller arrived at the palace in a solemn, dignified pro-cession. The poor miller, who had never seen a palace before in his life, was tongue-tied. He looked about in amazement. He stared first at his own clothes, then at the finery about him, and was unable to utter a word.
"Why does your master stare about so, brother fox? asked the king. "You would almost think he had never seen such clothes or even such a palace."
"Oh, no, Your Majesty, it isn't that at all! He is simply comparing your palace with his own. Of course, he finds cm.... difference," answered the fox.
Next came dinner to celebrate the coming wedding. So many courses of rich foods were served that the bewildered miller did not know which to take, nor indeed how to eat them.
"Why does your master not eat, brother fox?" asked the king. "Isn't he hungry?"
"How can he eat, Your Majesty? He is thinking of the thieves who robbed him on the road. You cannot imagine how much they took, nor what a blow the attack was to my master's dig-nity. How can he eat?" replied the fox.
"Ah-h-h, try not to worry, my dear son-in-law," the king consoled him. "Such things hap-pen. Let us hope future tragedies will be as small as this one. Now the wedding... Let us be merry and gay and forget sad things."
And so the wedding took place. For seven days and seven nights there was feasting and dancing and merriment. The fox acted as best man. The king presented his daughter a fine dowry, and after the seventh day he bade her farewell as she prepared to leave with her hus-band. According to custom, the wedding guests formed a procession in order to escort the bride and groom to their own home.
"Do not hurry," said the fox to the guests. "Let me go on ahead and prepare the house a little to receive the bride." And he hurried on before them.
Soon he came to a hillside of vast fields where herds of cattle were grazing.
"Who owns these herds of cattle?" the fox questioned the nearby farmers.
"Why, the shah, of course," they replied.
"Bah! Never speak of the shah again - or it will go ill with you. The king who follows right behind me with his guards is very angry with the shah and orders anyone beheaded who men-tions his name. If he should ask you who owns these herds, answer. "The miller-king", or your heads will suffer!"
With this warning, the fox hurried on. Soon he came upon grazing flocks of sheep.
"Who owns these flocks of sheep?" asked the fox.
"Why, the shah, of course," replied the shepherds.
The fox warned them too and hurried on. He came to vast acres of farmland being tilled by hard-working farmers.
"Who owns these farmland?" he asked.
"Why, the shah, of course," was the answer.
The fox repeated his warning here too.
He came upon hayfields where men were gathering hay.
"Who owns these hayfields?" the fox asked, and received the same answer: "Why, the shah, of course."
Once again the fox repeated his warning. Finally, he reached a beautiful palace which was the residence of the shah himself.
"0 shah, most honourable shah," said the fox, "do you see the cloud of dust in the road yonder? It is the king who comes with his soldiers. How can you sit so calmly? The king is angry with you and comes to kill you and take over all your possessions. Flee now, while there is yet time! Once I enjoyed your hospitality here, and I have never forgotten your kindness, since I have come to warn you."
"What shall I do? Where shall I go?" cried the frightened shah, who could already see the king and his company far off in the distance.
"Go anywhere as far from here as possible. Flee for your life," urged the fox, and he helped the shah escape from the back door of the palace.
In the meantime, the wedding procession continued down the road. It was led by the