Set aside in the little town where he lived.
There were luscious trees and beautiful blossoms.
Little Ben wanted,
As sometimes childish boys do,
To knock the blossoms off of the trees.
He started by thwacking a stick about,
But he could only reach the lowest branches,
So instead he picked up some stones from the ground,
And begun to hurl them at the trees,
Trying to knock off the blossoms,
Which was a rather foolish thing to do,
For tucked away in the tree,
Was a wasp nest.
One of the stones he threw knocked the nest,
Clean off the branch,
And sent it hurtling down,
Zooming towards the floor,
Where it did crash,
And crack open.
Out came hundreds of wasps,
Angry at what had happened to their home.
They saw Little Ben and decided to play a trick upon him.
Swarming around,
They formed and morphed,
Into the shape,
Of a human-like being,
And announced themselves to Ben,
As a Djinn.
“Boy, you have set me free,
And now as a reward I will offer you,
Wishes, have two.”
He could not believe his luck.
He thought to himself and then replied,
“I am poor but the nobles are rich,
I wish I was richer than the nobles.”
The swarm of wasps nodded,
And broke off and away,
They flew high and far,
Travelling to the homes of the nobles,
Where they did each take one of their golden coins,
And carried them back all the way to Little Ben’s house.
He hurried home,
Seeing from afar what was happening,
And could not believe his eyes.
The swarm reformed into the Djinn,
“Granted you, we have tipped the scales,
Hear their wails and cries evermore,
You are richer, the nobles now poor.”
“…and for your second wish?”
But Ben was not stupid,
He knew to save that wish,
For now he had piles of money,
It would be enough for him to have whatever he wanted.
The Djinn once again nodded,
And so disappeared.
Time passed,
And the nobles soon realised their money was gone.
Fuming,
They questioned every one of their staff,
Who alarmed them by saying,
Wasps had come,
And taken it away,
Over the hills,
And to a house by the gardens,
Little Ben’s house.
The nobles got on their horses,
Armed with their guards,
They rode across the hills,
And towards Ben’s house,
Where they did knock,
And pound upon the door,
Relentlessly.
Little Ben peeked out of his window,
And spotted the angry nobles,
Panicking,
He jumped out the window and snuck away,
Back to the garden.
Calling out he said,
“Oh Djinn, oh friend! Help me please!
I wish to be safe from the nobles!”
The swarm reformed and once again nodded.
They pointed Ben towards a farm,
Where they led him to a barn full of pigs.
“Remove your clothes,
And roll in the mud would be wise,
You will be in a pig disguise.”
He did as the Djinn said,
Taking off his clothes and rolling around,
Until he was filthy and covered.
“It’s no good!” He said,
“I still look like me!”
No sooner had he spoken,
Did the Djinn break up once more,
Back into a swarm of wasps,
Which circled Ben,
And began to sting him,
On his ears,
On his nose,
Until his face swelled up,
And he resembled a pig.
The swarm spoke,
“Now act like a pig and you will see,
They will not find you, you will be free.”
The swarm left,
And Ben did act,
By wrestling around,
And snorting with the other beasts.
When the nobles arrived to the farm,
In search of Little Ben,
They could not find him,
Only a drove of pigs.
This fuelled their anger again,
And in an attempt to quell their fierceness,
The farmer whose barn they were in,
Offered his lords a feast in their honour.
The idea of a full belly swayed the nobles,
And they began to calm.
Looking around,
They noticed a rather large looking pig,
That looked tasty and good to eat.
They pointed at Ben,
And the farmer grabbed him,
Dragging him away, ready to be cooked.
Little Ben stayed silent,
For he did not want to break his disguise,
And so was prepared,
And cooked,
And served to the nobles on a plate.
There is a moral to this tale.
Be wary of the calmness from one you have angered,
They may be leading you into a vengeful trap.