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The Three Princes of Serendip is an old Persian fairy tale about three men who were on a mission but they always found something that was irrelevant but needed in reality. They discovered things by serendipity and sagacity. Serendip is the Persian name for Sri Lanka. Later, the word serendipity was coined by Horace Walpole.

The fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip is based upon the life of Persian King Bahram V, who ruled the Sassanid Empire (420-440). Stories of his rule are told in epic poetry of the region (Firdausi's Shahnameh 1010, Nizami's Haft Paykar 1197, Khusrau's Hasht Bihisht 1302, parts of which are based upon historical facts with embellishments derived from folklore going back hundreds of years to oral traditions in India and The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. With the exception of the well-known camel story, English translations are very hard to come by.

In the camel story, the Three Princes use trace clues to precisely identify a camel they have never seen (lame; blind in one eye; missing a tooth; carrying a pregnant maiden; bearing honey on one side and butter on the other). This result of abductive reasoning is not what is meant by serendipity (the discovery of something not sought). Because of their cleverness and sagacity, they are accused of stealing the camel and are about to be put to death by Bahram Gur. Suddenly and without anyone seeking him out, a traveler steps forward to say that he has just seen the missing camel wandering in the desert. Bahram spares the lives of the Three Princes, lavishes them with rich rewards and appoints them as advisors. These rewards are the unsought (serendipitous) results of their sagacious insights.

There are other examples of the Princes receiving unsought rewards (marriage to a beautiful princess, kingdoms, wealth, etc.) from their accidental discoveries. The fact that they can make clever or accidental discoveries and breakthroughs is a result of their intelligence, wisdom and reasoning. The unsought rewards come later. Thus, stumbling upon a captive slave girl in a forest is a serendipitous occurrence. Deducing that the slave girl they rescued is actually a princess is not the serendipitous moment – rather, this occurs later when they receive lavish gifts as a reward.

• The meanings of "Serendip"
• Link to Amazon listing of "The Three Princes of Serendip, by Elizabeth Jamison Hodges (out of print)

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