In ancient times, a monarch named Kaid ruled over the realm of India—a sovereign whose sole quest was the acquisition of wisdom and enlightened judgment. Possessing the mind of a philosopher and the imperial stature of high priests, King Kaid beheld ten astonishing and cryptic visions in his sleep over ten consecutive nights. Waking in deep turmoil, he summoned the most illustrious astrologers, sages, and counsellors across India to his royal court. He laid bare every secret of his nocturnal visions, yet even the most learned scholars were struck dumb, their faces paling as they failed to unravel the mysteries.
Among the gathered assembly, a wise counsellor stepped forward and spoke of a renowned hermit named Mehran. This holy man had renounced all human companionship and worldly grandeur, retreating to the solitude of high mountain crags where he lived peacefully among wild gazelles and mountain goats, subsisting solely on wild herbs. The counsellor advised the king that only this devout, elevated soul possessed the divine insight required to interpret such visions.
Without delay, King Kaid swung into the saddle and rode out into the wilderness accompanied by his retinue of sages. Reaching the remote mountain realm of Mehran, the king hailed the ascetic with profound reverence and poured out his account of the ten dreams: first, a monstrous war-elephant passing effortlessly through a microscopic opening, only for its trunk to remain inexplicably trapped behind; second, his royal throne left vacant, whereupon a strange monarch assumed the imperial crown; third, a sheet of fine silk pulled violently from four corners by four men whose faces turned lapis-blue, yet the cloth never tore; fourth, a parched man standing by a running stream fleeing in terror as a fish splashed water upon him; fifth, a thriving city filled entirely with blind citizens engaged in prosperous commerce without discontent; sixth, a city of terminally ill citizens nursing and offering medicine to the healthy; seventh, a swift steed with two heads and four legs that grazed from both ends simultaneously while lacking any excretory outlet; and eighth, three earthenware vessels placed side by side—two filled to the brim, endlessly splashing water into one another while the bone-dry jar in the middle received not a single drop.
Thus did King Kaid lay his mysterious dreams before Mehran, awaiting the hermit's divine wisdom to unveil the shadowed destiny of his kingdom and the world to come.