Upon the road of Zaad a traveler met a man who lived in a nearby village, and the traveler, pointing with his hand to a vast field, asked the man saying, “Was not this the battle-ground where King Ahlam overcame his enemies?”
And the man answered and said, “This has never been a battle-ground. There once stood on this field the great city of Zaad, and it was burnt down to ashes. But now it is a good field, is it not?”
And the traveler and the man parted.
Not a half mile farther the traveler met another man, and pointing to the field again, he said, “So that is where the great city of Zaad once stood?”
And the man said, “There has never been a city in this place. But once there was a monastery here, and it was destroyed by the people of the South Country.”
Shortly after, on that very road of Zaad, the traveler met a third man, and pointing once more to the vast field he said, “Is it not true that this is the place where once there stood a great monastery?”
But the man answered, “There has never been a monastery in this neighborhood, but our fathers and our forefathers have told us that once there fell a great meteor on this field.”
Then the traveler walked on, wondering in his heart. And he met a very old man, and saluting his he said, “Sir, upon this road I have met three men who live in the neighborhood and I have asked each of them about this field, and each one denied what the other had said, and each one told me a new tale that the other had not told.”
Then the old man raised his head, and answered, “My friend, each and every one of these men told you what was indeed so; but few of us are able to add fact to different fact and make a truth thereof.”