Summary of Abu Nawas : A Bet to Butt The King

So, in the additional English class of mine, I told the class about this amazing yet quite uneducational story. It was called “Abu Nuwas : A Bet to Butt the King” or in Indonesian “Abu Nawas : Taruhan Memantati Raja”. To this day, Abu Nuwas can never stop to amaze us with his intelligent wit. And in this post, I’m going to give you a short version of this story.

Once upon a night, Abu Nuwas was having a get-together with his friends. Abu Nuwas back then was so renowned of his mind capability to brought down the King to his knees. And he was also the most celebrated courtier the King had ever had. Knowing this, his friends wanted to test his worth and his incredible brain to outwit everything. So that night, one of his friends said, “Abu Nuwas, you are truly a man of intelligence. But we bet, no matter how intelligent you are, you can’t even try to butt the King and make Him laugh for it.”. Seeing this as a challenge, Abu Nuwas then replied, “There is nothing impossible in this world.”. His friends were suprised, but then finally confirmed, “Oh really? Then, would you like to share most of your fortune?”. Abu Nuwas answered without dilly-dally, “Deal.”

The next day, Abu Nuwas got invited into a banquet hosted by the King. Every nobles and courtiers had arrived, but there was no news of Abu Nuwas. This concerned the king, but he finally at peace seeing Abu Nuwas arrived in a rush. “Where have you been, dear Sir? Have a seat.” said the king. Abu Nuwas then took a seat, but this suprised the king as he was sitting on the floor, rather than the luxurious carpet the king had preserved for him. The king then asked with curiosity, “My exalted courtier, why would you sit down on cold floor while I had preserved you a warm, carpet seat next to me?” Abu Nuwas then replied, “If it’s a matter of advisability, then it doesn’t matter. If it’s a matter of my own convenience, it doesn’t matter either. I have on me already a warm, proper seat, of which it also wasn’t a form of disgrace intended to you, sire.” The king grew curioser than ever as he asked, “What is this magical warm and proper seat that you had on you?”. Abu Nuwas then satisfy the king’s curiosity. The king then laugh, “My, my, what an ingenious idea! A portable carpet seat on your buttocks! Truly brilliant!”

One of the friends Abu Nuwas made bet to was also invited to the party, so, in the end, you pretty much knew: although the banquet was over, it could never stop the smile on Abu Nuwas’ face while collecting the money as his friends sadly got themselves on the line.