The king of Iran loved flowers. His garden,built after spending a large fortune,had many rare flowers with enchanting fragrance.
Once the king came to know that his precious flowers were being stolen from the garden. He called for the gardeners."Bring before me the thief who steals the flowers from my garden,"ordered the king.
The gardener mounted a watch around the garden and guarded it day and night. One morning,they noticed a hand coming in through the fence from the outside and plucking flowers from the taller plants.
The alarm bells rang,they gardeners and the guards ran towards the corner where the hand was seen. They surrounded the thief. But all of them were shocked when they looked at the thief's face,it was the son of the king's minister.A thief had to be punished whether he was beggar's son or a minister's son. The guards and the gardeners led the young man towards the king's Court.On the way,they ran into the minister himself,who was on his way to the court for an important meeting with the king.
The minister knew of his son's fondness for flowers. From a glance into the arrested young man's pockets, the minister guessed the whole story.
"Your mouth will save you", commented the minister with no change of expression on his face as he walked past the group of men. The minister's son quickly understood what his father meant. He started eating the flowers in his pocket one by one without letting the guards see.
"Your majesty,we have caught the thief who used to steal the royal flowers. It is none other than our minister's son," declared the chief gardener as the guards pushed the young man forward into the center of the floor.
"Take the flower back from him", ordered the king. The guards began to search the young man's pockets,but could not find even a single petal in them. Now the minister's son faced the king,the nervous guards and gardeners beside him.
"Your majesty,I was admiring the beautiful flowers of the royal garden from the outer pavement when these men arrested me. Please save me".
"How dare you arrest and bring this young man to me by calling him a thief?Make a mistake like this again and none of you will have a head over your shoulder" .
His mouth indeed saved the minister's son. But he never stole flowers again. Not that he loved flowers less. He knew he couldn't eat those terribly bitter flowers if caught again.
Answer the following questions correctly
•what flowers were there in the garden of the king of Iran?
•What did the gardener do to find out the flower thief?
•Whom did the guards catch as the thief?
•How did the minister's son save himself?
