From Five Minute Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald

A poor farmer was once digging in his field when Bonk! His hoe struck something hard. What could it be? He thought. He dug and soon unearthed a large jar. “Oh, this might be like in the old stories! Maybe it is full of gold!”

The farmer was so excited. He quickly pulled off the lid of the jar. Whoosh! A cloud of smoke rushed out of the jar! The farmer shrank back in fright. Then the cloud of smoke began to form itself into the shape of an enormous GIANT! The farmer dropped to his knees in terror.

 

But the giant simply bowed and put his hands together respectfully in a polite wai; Master, I have come to serve you. I will do any task you ask.

 

The farmer sat up. This sounded good! “But I must warn you, continued the giant, if you do not keep me busy will have to eat you.” The man was terrified all over again. “No problem,” said the giant. “As long as I have something to do, I can control my urge to gobble you up.”

 

The farmer thought, “I can use help on my farm. I am sure I can keep this creature busy.” So he ordered: “Remove all the rocks from this field. And hoe the entire garden.

 

“Yes, Master.” The giant chanted, “Ohm piang!” In an instant, the rocks were removed and the garden was hoed. “Finished, Master. Next task?”

 

The farmer hadn’t thought the giant could do this task so quickly. This time, he had better think of something that would take longer. “Giant, build me a house. It must be built of wood from the distant forest…The wood must be selected with care…The walls must be… The farmer gave many directions.

 

“This should take him quite a while,” thought the farmer. But, “Ohm piang!” A new house stood before the farmer.

 

“Finished, Master. Next task?” All day long the farmer though up task after task for the giant. But no matter how complicated the work, the giant completed it in a flash. “Ohm piang!” Finished Master. Next task?”

 

The farmer was desperate. As long as he was awake, he could keep thinking up tasks for the giant. But as soon as he fell asleep, the giant would run out of chores and eat him! Suddenly the farmer had an inspiration! He issued an order that the giant could never complete! Then he lay down and fell asleep with relief.

 

Here is your riddle: What was the order that the farmer gave to the giant?

                             What was the task he could never complete?

 

Share your answers with me by emailing them to jim@hearttales.net and I will post all the answers, along with the answer that comes with the story in next month’s newsletter.