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Many years ago, the great city of Baghdad was ruled by a wise and kind Caliph. In the afternoons, the Caliph liked to walk through the marketplace. One day, he noticed a strange box being sold by an old man.

“What is this box?” the Caliph asked.

“Ah…“ replied the old man. “It is just some box I found on my travels. I think it is very ancient, but I am sure it is nothing that would interest your highness…”

The Caliph liked strange objects, especially ancient ones, so he immediately bought the box.

When he got back to his palace and opened it up, he saw there was a tiny scroll hidden in the lid, and as he held this up to a candle, a secret message was revealed:

“Mubatoro is a word most strange
He who says it will by magic change
And become whatsoever creature he wishes
Then he shall talk with beasts, birds and fishes
If he wants his home at the end of the day
Then Mubatoro once more must he say”

“I have always wanted to understand the speech of animals!” he said. “I must try this – perhaps it truly is magical.”

“Mubatoro!” he shouted, and sure enough, he felt himself slowly change into a stork.

He left the palace and had the most wonderful afternoon. He flew high into the sky and dived amongst the clouds. He danced with the other storks, and he listened to the conversations of many animals, and as the evening came, he realised he was very hungry!

“Storks eat frogs” he thought to himself “I do not think I want to eat frogs. I think its time to become myself again.”

And so he said the magic word, to change back into a human. But nothing happened.

“Mubatoro!” [high voice] “Mubatoro!” [deep voice]

But however he said the word, he was still a stork!

“What have I done!” he wailed. “Now I am stuck as a stork!”

He flew back to the palace where everyone had been looking for him all day –but of course nobody could recognise him and nobody could understand what he said either – not even his brother could recognise him.

Tired and hungry, the Caliph flew back to the lake. He was wondering if he could bear to eat a frog, when he heard crying coming from a nearby tree. He looked up and saw an owl.

“Why are you crying?” he asked the owl.

“Because I am stuck here and I shall never be able to go home again… ” said the owl, and “You see, I’m not truly an owl. I’m a princess. But an evil sorcerer changed me into an owl and the only way I can become myself again is if a noble man promises to marry me! But why am I telling you this? You are only a stork, you could not understand…”

“Actually, I’m not really a stork at all!” exclaimed the Caliph, and he told her how he too had been tricked by a wicked sorcerer.

“Perhaps I can help you” said the owl when she heard his story. “But if I do… will you promise to marry me?”

“If you help me to return to my human form”, said the Caliph, “ I will marry you a thousand times”. And then he added, “if indeed the magic on you works!”

“Then, follow me,” said the owl.

“Where are we going?” asked the Caliph.

“There can be only one man who did this to you, the same man who did this to me, that is Kashanar the sorcerer!”

They then flew to his house, and inside it was the sorcerer talking to a man.

“That is the old man who sold me the magic box!” whispered the Caliph, “and wait – he’s talking to my brother!”

The sorcerer spoke: “And now your brother has changed forever - probably into a monkey or something, and you can now be the Caliph – the ruler of Baghdad”

“Good” said the wicked brother “but how do you know he won’t turn back into the caliph again?”

“Because” said the sorcerer, “to change back, he would have to say the magic word…backwards! And I did not tell him that! “HAHAHA!”

Now the Caliph knew what to do, and they flew back to his palace.

“I must say the magic word backwards!” he said. “What was the word? Mubatoro. So… what's that backwards? Oro… Orota…

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And straight away he changed back to normal. How all the people of the palace rejoiced to see their Caliph again! Straight away he ordered the arrest of his wicked brother and the old sorcerer and they were locked up in the darkest prison.

Then the Caliph turned to the owl.

“I have made a promise to you”, he said, “so I will marry you to set you free”.

And at these words, the owl changed into a beautiful woman, and how happy she was to no longer be stuck as an owl!

From that day on, the Caliph and the Princess lived a long and happy life. When he was an old man, the Caliph liked to tell many stories to his grandchildren, but the one they always wanted to hear most was the story of the owl and the stork.