What did the terrible khan do?
What the terrible khan did
Kiyo was going from one end of Japan to the other. He was walking because he had no
money and could not buy a horse.
Nor could he buy food. He had to beg for it.
The same for a bed, He could not pay for one; he had no money. He could not stay in an
inn. As night fell, he would stop at a house.
Please may a poor man sleep in your house?
He would say, if the answer was `yes’, he had a bed for the night. If the answer was `no’,
he would say,
`Then may I sleep in your barn?
If the answer was still `no’, he slept under a tree, or in a cave.
And so he went on his way.
One night, he came to a large house.
He knocked at the door. A woman answered.
`Please’, say Kiyo.
May a poor man sleep under your roof for one night?
No! The woman Said.
It was cold and Kiyo did not want to sleep outside. So he said, `then I fear I must do what
the terrible Khan did’. He put his hand on the dagger he carried.
What did the terrible Khan do? Asked the woman Kiyo did not answer. He drew his
dagger and looked at it.
Perhaps there is room for you, said the woman. `Come in.’
Kiyo did so and then he said, `please’. Have you a small bit of food to spare for a poor
man?
`No,’ said the woman.
`Then I fear I must do what the terrible Khan did,’ said Kiyo. He put his hand on the
dagger.
What did the terrible Khan do? The woman asked.
Kiyo did not answer. He drew his dagger and looked at it.
Perhaps there is food for you, said the woman. She gave him rice and fish and Sukiyaki.
He ate it all.
`Now tell me,’ she said.
What did the terrible Khan do?
Kiyo did not answer. He was already asleep.
Next morning he was up early.
`Please tell me before you go’, said the woman.
What did the terrible Khan do?
`Why’, said Kiyo, `he went hungry and slept out in the rain. I am glad to say that I did not
have to do what the terrible Khan did.’
*Khan – a title given to a ruler in Asia
*dagger- a sort pointed knife used as a weapon
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