The Sindbad Stories: The Two Sindbads
The story
There was once a man called Sindbad – Sindbad the porter, for he carried other people’s belongings on his back for a living. It was trying work and on this particular day he was feeling particularly sorry for himself as he carried a particularly heavy load. But then he stopped in his tracks at the sound of music floating down from an overhead window. The window was high up, belonging to a beautiful house that was resplendent and remarkably well-kept.
Perhaps moved by the beauty of this house or perhaps simply by the sound of the birds singing he fell to his knees and began to pray to Allah, and he spoke of how God made some rich and others poor but how it was not the place of Sindbad to question the ultimate will of God, just that it seemed odd how these differences had come to us though we are all made the same. He made his prayer in song. Not long after he had finished, a boy came down from the splendid house and invited Sindbad in to meet his master.
Task Question: Is it right that some people have so much and others have so little?
Nested Questions:
- Is it right? Is it fair?
- Is right the same as fair?
- Can it be unfair but still right?
- TX (see page 7) equal money: If you had the power to make everyone have the same amount of money as each other, overnight, would it be right to do it?
- If you could do TX equal money, would you? If you could, should you?
- If you could do TX equal money what would happen?
- Does hard work justify inequality?
The boy’s master was also named Sindbad and he had heard the song of Sindbad the porter and wished to hear more. When Sindbad the porter had finished reciting more of his song the second Sindbad looked at him and said in a delighted voice, ‘I would like to tell you a remarkable tale about how I came about my riches, because it was not without hardship and toil’.
Sindbad the porter sat down, reached for a date and prepared to listen as the second Sindbad began his tale.
Themes: Justice
