| Category: | Shaggy Dog Stories |
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One day in ancient Egypt, the Pharoah received an emisary from the Hittites. The Hittite ambassador entered the throne room, accompanied by his guards.
"Pharoah, my master the king demands your immediate and unconditional surrender. Egypt will become part of the Hittite empire and you will be a vassal. If you refuse our armies will slaughter your people and burn your cities!"
The Pharoah was furious. "How dare you!"
The ambassador smirked. "Before you say anything rash, perhaps a demonstration of our might?" He beckoned forward one of his guards.
The guard lifted a stone and before their eyes he crushed it to powder with his bare hands.
"This is one of our weakest soldiers," the ambassador declared. "How will you fare against our strongest troops?"
The Pharoah and his advisers were terrified, and were about to surrender when the Pharoah's youngest daughter, a beautiful maiden called Rose suddenly stepped forward.
"That's nothing!" she declared boldly. She picked up a rock and to their astonishment lifted it to her mouth and took a bite out of it. Before the ambassador's stunned gaze she bit chunk after chunk off the rock, crunching it in her teeth and swallowing each piece until there was nothing left.
"I'm not a soldier at all! If I, a mere girl, can do this, think what our troops could do to your armies!"
The Hittite ambassador left in a hurry, and returned to his master where he advised that under no circumstances should they try to invade Egypt.
The Pharoah and his entire court were overjoyed, and very impressed at the princess's feat. To commemorate it, the Pharoah had a large slab carved with the tale that it might be remembered for ever more.
This slab can still be seen today, and the story is still repeated. If you go to the British Museum, the tour guide will stand beside the slab and tell you how Rose ate a stone.