(Bilingual English-Spanish edition / Edicion bilingue ingles-espanol) When a little boy wakes up with a dry throat, those around him run about trying to work out what caused the condition. One by one, servants, doctors, and medical students try remedies that only complicate the situation and make the condition worse, ignoring what readers will see as the obvious solution. This is one of a series of illustrated books for the young written by the Afghan philosopher and educator Idries Shah, whose collections of narratives and teaching stories have captivated the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life. It belongs to a rich storytelling tradition from Afghanistan, Central Asia and the Middle East that is more than 1,000 years old. Teaching stories are designed specifically to foster thinking skills and perception. They suggest in their structure and in the movement of their characters ways of looking at difficulties that can help solve them. This story illustrates in a very humorous way just how foolish people can be when they fail to consider a situation before springing into action.

Un nino se despierta con la garganta seca, y todos corren de aqui para alla tratando de averiguar que le causo esta condicion. Uno por uno, sirvientes, medicos y estudiantes de medicina prueban remedios que solo complican la situacion y la empeoran, ignorando la obvia solucion, que los lectores si conocen. Esta historia es parte de una serie de libros ilustrados para ninos, escritos por el filosofo y educador afgano Idries Shah, cuyas colecciones de narraciones y cuentos didacticos han cautivado los corazones y las mentes de personas de todos los ambitos de la vida. Pertenece a una rica tradicion narrativa de Afganistan, Asia Central y Oriente Medio de mas de 1.000 anos. Estas historias no solo son entretenidas: estan disenadas especificamente para fomentar las habilidades del pensamiento y la percepcion. Sugieren, a traves de su estructura y del movimiento de sus personajes, formas de mirar las dificultades de manera que puedan ayudar a resolverlas. Esta historia ilustra de una manera muy divertida cuan tontas pueden ser las personas cuando no consideran una situacion antes de entrar en accion.