Do you know the story about the longest story in
the world?
Once upon a time there lived a chief who liked to listen to stories. And he knew
so many stories that sometimes he stopped the storyteller and finished the story
himself.
One day the chief sent his servants everywhere to find a good storyteller.
"Our Chief will give many presents to the man who will tell him the longest
story in the world and make him laugh," the servants shouted in the
streets.
Many people came to the chief and told him very long stories. They tried to make
him laugh, but nobody could do that. The chief always said, "That is not
the longest story and there is nothing to laugh at."
Once a boy came to the chief and said, "Oh, my Chief, let me try to tell
you the longest story in the world and make you laugh."
The chief said, "Well, sit down and begin your story!"
The boy began: "Long, long ago there lived a man, Ubanbau by name. He ate
so much that no man could feed him full. The chief of that country heard about
Ubanbau and said, "Bring him to me, I shall feed him full." And he
ordered his people to bring hundreds of thousands of pots of soup, meat, and
fruit. Hundreds of camels carried the pots on their backs. The camels stopped in
front of the chief's house. Many people came to see Ubanbau's dinner. Then
Ubanbau came. The drummers began to drum, the musicians began to play, and the
people sang songs. Ubanbau made a bow to the chief and said to the people,
"Now look at me! Look at me! Look at me! With these words Ubanbau began to
eat soup. And he ate, and he ate, and he ate, and he ate, and he ate,..."
"Well, what then?" asked the chief. "He ate, and he ate, and what
then?"
"Oh, my Chief," answered the boy, "this is only the first pot and
there were many thousands of pots! Wait a little.
And he ate, and he ate, and he ate,..."
Evening came. The boy went on with his story; "...and he ate, and he ate,
and he ate,..." At last the chief ordered him to stop until the next
morning.
In the morning the chief asked the boy to go on with his story. "Now what
can you tell us about your Ubanbau?" he asked.
"Oh, my Chief, he not only ate, but drank too, so he drank and then he ate,
and he ate, and he ate,..."
The storyteller said louder and louder "And he ate, and he ate, and he
ate,..."
The chief looked at the boy and began to laugh. "Well, my boy, your story
is the longest in the world! Have a rest now! Stop!"
And the young storyteller stopped his story, got many presents from the chief,
climbed up on a camel, and rode away with these words: "And he ate, and he
ate, and he ate,..."