Notes. For more stories of this type, see Dan Ashliman's collection: Air Castles, and you can find out more about Sheikh Chilli at Wikipedia.
Summary: Sheik Chilli daydreams about future profits as he walks along carrying a pot of oil.
Read the story below:
SHEIK CHILLI
The hero of this story was one day walking along with a vessel of oil upon his head. As he walked he kept thinking of the future.
"I will sell the oil, and with the money I shall buy a goat, and then I shall sell the kids, and then I shall buy a cow, and sell the milk, till I get a large sum of money; then I shall buy a pair of buffaloes, and a field, and plough the field, and gain more money, and build myself a house, and marry a wife, and have many sons and daughters. And when my wife comes to call me to dinner, I'll say: Dhur, away! I'll come when I think fit!" and with that he held up his head suddenly, and away fell the chattie [clay pot] with the oil, and it was all spilt.
This upset Sheik Chilli so much that he began to yell: "I have lost my goats, I have lost my cows, I have lost my buffaloes, and my house, and my wife and children."
That such dire calamity should befall a man caused great pity, so the bystanders took Sheik Chilli to the Rajah, who asked him how it had all happened.
When he heard the story he laughed, and said: "This boy has a good heart, let him be given a reward to compensate him for the loss of his oil."
