# Anyone remember a folktale about a ruler putting a treasure in the middle of a carpet and whoever could retrieve it without setting foot on the carpet could keep it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 26, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064 "2021-06-26T15:19:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/1 "2021-06-26T15:19:46Z")
Or possibly it wasn’t a treasure, just some object, but if you could get it without walking on the carpet, you’d become the next ruler or something like that? The way to do it is to roll the carpet up from the edge until you could reach the object. I’m trying to find a copy of this story. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/2 "2021-06-26T15:31:22Z")
Never heard of that. But I’ve seen bar bets where someone did that with a glass or coin and a sheet of paper ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/3 "2021-06-26T15:31:55Z")
Well, it appears in issue #23 of _Knights of the Dinner Table_. ( Available from your local comic book store.) The story’s called _It Takes A Thief_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/4 "2021-06-26T16:50:23Z")
It’s not in the Motif-Index of Folk Literature (at least, not under ‘carpet’ or ‘treasure’). There’s a more specific index to the Arabian Nights which I don’t have; maybe in there? [Motif Index Site](https://sites.ualberta.ca/~urban/Projects/English/Content/Motif_Help.htm) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/5 "2021-06-26T21:37:26Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Or possibly it wasn’t a treasure, just some object, but if you could get it without walking on the carpet, you’d become the next ruler or something like that? > > The way to do it is to roll the carpet up from the edge until you could reach the object. > > I’m trying to find a copy of this story. Was it an _apple_ that the ruler challenged folks to pick up — and none of them figured it out, and so the ruler _himself_ showed them the trick? [Sultan Mehmed?](https://www.mysteriumtours.com/the-ottoman-concept-of-kizil-elma/) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/6 "2021-06-26T22:41:31Z")
Yes, that’s it! It’s been decades since I read the story. Thanks so much! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/7 "2021-06-27T01:02:08Z")
Hope there’s no heavy furniture on the carpet. I’d sit on a serving tray and slide to the middle. I didn’t walk on it. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/8 "2021-06-27T15:35:33Z")
When I read this story originally, I was a kid. I remember thinking that I could have crawled across on my hands and knees. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/9 "2021-06-27T17:27:09Z")
Maybe you could just pay a kid (the equiv. of) $5 to fetch it for you. That ruler should come up with some challenges that don’t have a million ways to defeat them. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/10 "2021-06-27T19:44:58Z")
I’d probably have found a long pole, or something I could use as one. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/11 "2021-06-27T20:18:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’d probably have found a long pole, “Stretch” Pulaski, tallest Pole I know. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-a-folktale-about-a-ruler-putting-a-treasure-in-the-middle-of-a-carpet-and-whoever-could-retrieve-it-without-setting-foot-on-the-carpet-could-keep-it/945064/12 "2021-06-30T19:34:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > “Stretch” Pulaski, tallest Pole I know. Is he ten feet tall?