(Bilingual English-Portuguese edition) 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.

(edicao bilingue em ingles-portugues) Quando um garotinho acorda com a garganta seca, aqueles ao seu redor correm tentando descobrir o que causou a condicao. Um por um, empregados domesticos, medicos e estudantes de medicina tentam remedios que so complicam a situacao e pioram a condicao, ignorando o que os leitores verao como a solucao obvia. Este e um de uma serie de livros ilustrados para jovens escrito pelo filosofo e educador afegao Idries Shah, cujas colecoes de narrativas e historias de ensinamento tem cativado os coracoes e mentes de pessoas de todas as esferas da vida. Ele pertence a rica tradicao de contar historias do Afeganistao, Asia Central e Oriente Medio, que tem mais de 1000 anos. Esta historia ilustra de uma forma muito bem-humorada o quao tolas as pessoas podem ser quando nao consideram uma situacao antes de entrarem em acao.