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THE STORY OF BOUBU AND THE BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES.
This is the story of BouBu and the beautiful clothes. You, or your mum and dad, may read the story or you can listen to me telling the story. I am telling the story for Danielle, Olivia and all those boys and girls who like interesting stories from other lands. You may listen to the story here: BOUBU AND THE BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES
One: Meet Boubu Boubu was an Arab boy who lived on the edge of the Arabian desert. His grandfather wanted him to grow up to be a fashion designer and to make beautiful clothes for people in the desert places. ‘Make clothes, silks and satins to make people beautiful,’ he told Boubu. So Boubu thought only of how to make people beautiful. He became very skilled in designing and making clothes. His grandfather kept reminding him only to make people beautiful. So Boubu thought of nothing else but to make people beautiful. 
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Danielle
Prince Boubu grows up
Two: Boubu grew up into a fine princely young man and the time came for him to travel across the desert to distant markets where people met to buy and sell things. His granddad bought him a camel. Boubu called him Bupi. He was a very fine looking animal and could travel hundreds of miles across the desert without needing to drink water. Deserts are very dry places where the sun bleaches the sand white and water holes are few and far between. Only camels can cross deserts. It was Boubu’s very first camel and he made friends with Bupi very quickly. He talked to Bupi about his plans to take and sell all the clothes he had made in distant markets. ‘I want to make people beautiful,’ he told Bupi. Bupi liked to listen to Boubu but he wondered how the clothes he would sell were going to make people beautiful. Bupi had seen many people in fine clothes but although the clothes were beautiful the people were not beautiful at all. Perhaps, he thought, these are magic clothes. So Bupi was very curious to know how people who bought Boubu’s fashion clothes would become beautiful. |
Three: Leaving home
The time arrived for Boubu to leave home. He placed all the clothes he had made in cartons of wicker woven materials to keep the clothes from getting too hot and dry and hung the baskets across Bupi’s back. He said good bye to his granddad and set out on the long journey to the market towns.
They traveled across wide open spaces of sand and sky with no company at night but the stars and the burning sun by day. Boubu had studied the stars and knew how to read their position in the sky, which were north stars or south, east or west and during the day he knew how to read the suns rising in the east and setting in the west. So he knew exactly where he was all the time.
The time arrived for Boubu to leave home. He placed all the clothes he had made in cartons of wicker woven materials to keep the clothes from getting too hot and dry and hung the baskets across Bupi’s back. He said good bye to his granddad and set out on the long journey to the market towns.
They traveled across wide open spaces of sand and sky with no company at night but the stars and the burning sun by day. Boubu had studied the stars and knew how to read their position in the sky, which were north stars or south, east or west and during the day he knew how to read the suns rising in the east and setting in the west. So he knew exactly where he was all the time.
Desert track with BouBu and Bupi
Look Bupi a town
Boubu thought of his fashion clothes and his plan to make people beautiful, and Bupi kept wondering how his master was going to make people beautiful. At last they arrived at a market town in the middle of the desert where high mountains circled the town and a lake supplied the town with water. After Boubu and Bupi had satisfied their thirst and rested, they went to the market.
Boubu laid out his beautiful clothes for people to see and waited for customers. A rich man came and stopped to look at the lovely fashion clothes that Boubu had made. The rich man chose a silk dress and a sash for his daughter.
‘How much are these?’ asked the rich man.
Boubu considered the rich man’s clothes and his carriage and his two servants who were with him and named a high price.
‘So much!’ exclaimed the rich man.
‘These are fashion clothes to make people beautiful,’ Boubu replied, smiling.
‘Then I will buy these and also the red robe,’ he said.
Over the next few days many people gathered to look at Boubu’s fashion clothes but few dared ask the price for they knew that only the rich could buy them.
‘He is an expensive trader,’ one lady said. ‘I would like to buy a veil for my daughter who is getting married,’ she said.
Boubu heard her say this.
‘Which veil would you like?’ he asked her.
‘’I would like to buy that one,’ she said pointing to a light blue silk veil,’ but I am sure it is too expensive for me to buy.’
‘How much can you afford?’ Boubu asked her.
She named a price.
‘500 Riyals.'
‘Then I will sell it to you for 500 Riyals.’
The woman was overjoyed. The veil was made of silk with sequins and beads around it. Everywhere the lady went she told her friends that there was a trader who had sold her the veil for only 500 Riyals, a veil that was worth 2000 Riyals.
Four: Boubu meets the Mayor
Soon rich and poor people came to buy fashion clothes from Boubu. The rich thought how much they might make if they bought a veil for 500 Riyals and sold it for six times that amount. The poor people counted how many riyals they could afford and came to see what Boubu would sell them.
Boubu became the talk of the town. To rich customers he charged a high price, to poor customers a low price. He charged everybody according to how much they could afford.
The mayor of the town heard of Boubu and he was very angry. He called a meeting of counselors and said,
If this trader is allowed to trade in this town, soon the other traders will go out of business. He has no fixed prices. If he charges more to one customer he should charge more to all his customers. And, how are we to tax him for trading in our town if he has no fixed prices?’
All the counselors agreed that what Boubu was doing was illegal and if it wasn’t illegal they would make a law and make it illegal to sell the same goods at different prices.
The town mayor approached Boubu and told him, What you are doing is not allowed in this town. Why are you selling fashion clothes with no fixed prices?’
‘I sell fashion clothes to make people beautiful,’ Boubu replied. ‘I sell to the rich at a higher price than the poor because they can afford to pay more, and I sell to the poor at a lower price because that is all they can afford. I design and make my clothes for everybody. I don’t make them for the rich or the poor but for rich and poor.’
‘Then you should make cheaper clothes for the poor and better clothes for the rich,’ the mayor said, angrily.
‘But that will not make them beautiful,’ Boubu said. ‘The rich are not more beautiful because they are rich or the poor less beautiful because they are poor. I want to make everybody beautiful. My grandfather says that to be really beautiful, the rich must not only wear fashion clothes but pay more for them so that the poor can pay less.’
The mayor became very red in the face and hot tempered.
‘I have never heard of such nonsense. Who is your grandfather?’
‘My grandfather is BeiBu, the ruler of the desert regions and the whole of Arabia.’
The mayor suddenly felt faint. He saw his life disappear in a dungeon for treating his grandson with disrespect.
‘My Lord,’ he said, ‘I had no idea you were the grandson of our ruler. I am at fault. If the rich give to the poor in this way then our town will be peaceful as well as beautiful!’
‘Real beauty is not in what you wear but in what you are, whether selfish or generous, kind or cruel. If you allow kindness and love into your town then I will not report you to my grandfather.’
When people, rich and poor, heard that Boubu was the grandson of their ruler, they were delighted. The rich began to help the poor and the poor had better food and clothes. The rich learned what true beauty was in their hearts and not in their clothes.
Boubu laid out his beautiful clothes for people to see and waited for customers. A rich man came and stopped to look at the lovely fashion clothes that Boubu had made. The rich man chose a silk dress and a sash for his daughter.
‘How much are these?’ asked the rich man.
Boubu considered the rich man’s clothes and his carriage and his two servants who were with him and named a high price.
‘So much!’ exclaimed the rich man.
‘These are fashion clothes to make people beautiful,’ Boubu replied, smiling.
‘Then I will buy these and also the red robe,’ he said.
Over the next few days many people gathered to look at Boubu’s fashion clothes but few dared ask the price for they knew that only the rich could buy them.
‘He is an expensive trader,’ one lady said. ‘I would like to buy a veil for my daughter who is getting married,’ she said.
Boubu heard her say this.
‘Which veil would you like?’ he asked her.
‘’I would like to buy that one,’ she said pointing to a light blue silk veil,’ but I am sure it is too expensive for me to buy.’
‘How much can you afford?’ Boubu asked her.
She named a price.
‘500 Riyals.'
‘Then I will sell it to you for 500 Riyals.’
The woman was overjoyed. The veil was made of silk with sequins and beads around it. Everywhere the lady went she told her friends that there was a trader who had sold her the veil for only 500 Riyals, a veil that was worth 2000 Riyals.
Four: Boubu meets the Mayor
Soon rich and poor people came to buy fashion clothes from Boubu. The rich thought how much they might make if they bought a veil for 500 Riyals and sold it for six times that amount. The poor people counted how many riyals they could afford and came to see what Boubu would sell them.
Boubu became the talk of the town. To rich customers he charged a high price, to poor customers a low price. He charged everybody according to how much they could afford.
The mayor of the town heard of Boubu and he was very angry. He called a meeting of counselors and said,
If this trader is allowed to trade in this town, soon the other traders will go out of business. He has no fixed prices. If he charges more to one customer he should charge more to all his customers. And, how are we to tax him for trading in our town if he has no fixed prices?’
All the counselors agreed that what Boubu was doing was illegal and if it wasn’t illegal they would make a law and make it illegal to sell the same goods at different prices.
The town mayor approached Boubu and told him, What you are doing is not allowed in this town. Why are you selling fashion clothes with no fixed prices?’
‘I sell fashion clothes to make people beautiful,’ Boubu replied. ‘I sell to the rich at a higher price than the poor because they can afford to pay more, and I sell to the poor at a lower price because that is all they can afford. I design and make my clothes for everybody. I don’t make them for the rich or the poor but for rich and poor.’
‘Then you should make cheaper clothes for the poor and better clothes for the rich,’ the mayor said, angrily.
‘But that will not make them beautiful,’ Boubu said. ‘The rich are not more beautiful because they are rich or the poor less beautiful because they are poor. I want to make everybody beautiful. My grandfather says that to be really beautiful, the rich must not only wear fashion clothes but pay more for them so that the poor can pay less.’
The mayor became very red in the face and hot tempered.
‘I have never heard of such nonsense. Who is your grandfather?’
‘My grandfather is BeiBu, the ruler of the desert regions and the whole of Arabia.’
The mayor suddenly felt faint. He saw his life disappear in a dungeon for treating his grandson with disrespect.
‘My Lord,’ he said, ‘I had no idea you were the grandson of our ruler. I am at fault. If the rich give to the poor in this way then our town will be peaceful as well as beautiful!’
‘Real beauty is not in what you wear but in what you are, whether selfish or generous, kind or cruel. If you allow kindness and love into your town then I will not report you to my grandfather.’
When people, rich and poor, heard that Boubu was the grandson of their ruler, they were delighted. The rich began to help the poor and the poor had better food and clothes. The rich learned what true beauty was in their hearts and not in their clothes.