In The KIngdom Of Fools

In the Kingdom of Fools

An Extract from:-

A.K.Ramanujan's Folk Tales

Contents

1}Caracter's Sketch

3}The Trial

4}THE DISCIPLE AND THE STAKE

2}About the kingdom

1}Caracter Sketch

The guru was a very wise man who never succumbed to any temptation.He flattered the king with false praise and obtained the freedom of both his disciple and the kingdom.He earns readers’ appreciation for his intelligence and presence of mind.

Guru

The disciple was a simple but greedy fellow.He followed his guru everywhere and listened to him. However, once he could not resist the temptation of good and cheap food available.He did not pay heed to his guru's warning and stayed back.

Disciple

Disciple

The king was a fool who owned a beautiful kingdom.He could go to any length in order to be different from others.His orders were foolish and his ideas stupid. Turning day into night and ordering execution of those who disobeyed are examples of his silliness.

King

The minister was equal partner in the foolish orders passed by the king.The king consulted him on different matters but the minister could never give any accurate advice.He was a dumb character who was responsible for his own death.

Minister

2}About The Kingdom

@ About the kingdom...

It was a beautiful city,it was a sunny day but they could not find anyone around,They were surprised.Everyone was asleep and there not a mouse was stirring,even the tiniest creatures were asleep. The people had also taught their cattle to sleep during day time. So everyone- human as well as animals were sleeping.

@ Guru and Disciple visits a Shop...

Guru and Disciple saw the tranquil state of the kingdom and were amazed of the changes made by the ruler.So,the two men were hungry. Now that the shops were open, they went to buy some groceries. To their astonishment, they found that everything cost the same, a single duddu — whether they bought a measure of rice or a bunch of bananas, it cost a duddu.So,the guru realized that this was a kingdom of fools and it wouldn’t be a good idea for them to stay there.So,the guru left the kingdom.But,his disciple was greedy for cheap things,he refused to leave the kingdom.

3}The Trial

The merchant

The merchant:-He was pronounced guilty because in his house the wall was weak.So,It fell upon the burglar and killed him.

The bricklayer

The bricklayer:-He had built a wall in the merchant's house which was weak and it collapsed, killing the burglar.

The Dancing girl

The dancing girl:-She was tried for distracting the bricklayer with her jingling anklets by walking up and down the road where bricklayer was laying the wall.

The Theif

The Theif:-He was responsible for the entire circumstances happenedbecause stealing is a sin.But,his brother went to the court and said merchant was responsible for the theif's death.

The Gold Smith

The Goldsmith:-He was very poor man and he kept delaying and making excuses to the dancing girl.He said that it was because there was a wedding in a rich merchant's house and he had to complete their order quickly

The king then came to the conclusion that the goldsmith should be punished and summoned him. But when he was summoned to the court he in turn shifted the whole blame on to the merchant’s father who pressurised him for completing his order first due to which he (the goldsmith) could not complete the girl's order in time.

Then the king came to know that the merchant was to who was on the blame,his son was none other than the merchant whose house was plundered.So,the king gave the statement that the merchant should be hanged because he had inherited his father's wealth has also inherited his father's criminal sins.So,the king ordered the merchant should be executed.

4}The disciple and the stake

the minister felt that the merchant was very thin and he could not be executed in this way. He told this to the king and king got worried.“What shall we do?” he said, when suddenly it struck him that all they needed to do was to find a man fat enough to fit the stake.The king got an idea that they should catch hold of a man who was fat enough to be executed with the stake. The merchant would not be put to death because he was too thin to be executed with a stake. They thought of punishing another person instead of the merchant - one who was fat enough to be executed with a stake.The servants were immediately sent all over the town looking for a man who would fit the stake, and their eyes fell on the disciple who had fattened himself for months on bananas and rice and wheat and ghee.

Then they came to him and apprehended him.he said;“WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG? I’M INNOCENT. I’M A SANYASI!” HE CRIED. “THAT MAY BE TRUE. BUT IT’S THE ROYAL DECREE THAT WE SHOULD FIND A MAN FAT ENOUGH TO FIT THE STAKE,” THEY SAID, AND CARRIED HIM TO THE PLACE OF EXECUTION.HE REMEMBERED HIS WISE GURU’S WORDS: “THIS IS A CITY OF FOOLS. YOU DON’T KNOW What they will do.The helpless disciple prayed to his guru and asked him to come to his rescue. The Guru could visualize the disciple’s message due to his magical power. He could see everything. He could see the future, the present and the past, he could see everything in the vision.

When the guru and disciple started arguing that who would die first, the king got confused. He asked the guru that why did he want to die. They had caught the disciple because he was fat and they wanted a fat man who could be executed with the stake.

The guru refused to reply. He said that he wanted to die befoore his disciple died.“Why? There’s some mystery here;As a wise man you must make me understand.”The king felt that there was some mystery behind it. The guru wanted to die before his disciple and was so eager to die. There must be some reason behind it.“Will you promise to put me to death if I tell you?” asked the guru.The guru asked the king to promise him that he would execute him first if he told him the secret about why he wanted to be executed first.The king gave him his solemn word. The guru took him aside, out of the servants’ earshot, and whispered to him, “Do you know why we want to die right now, the two of us? We’ve been all over the world but we’ve never found a city like this or a king like you. That stake is the stake of the god of justice. It’s new, it has never had a criminal on it.The one who would die next would be reborn as the minister of the kingdom. The guru added that he was tired of the life of a sanyasi. He and his disciple wanted to live the life of a king and a minster. So he says that the king execute him first so that he is reborn as a king and after him, his disciple be executed so that he is reborn as a minister.

After listening to the guru, the king was in deep thought. He did not want that in the next life, his kingdom be snatched away from him. He discussed this with his minister.“It’s not right for us to give over the kingdom to others in the next life. Let’s go on the stake ourselves and we’ll be reborn as king and minister again. Holy men do not tell lies,” he said, and the minister agreed.He added that the person was a holy man and holy men did not speak lies. He says that they should die first so that they are reborn as king and minister of the kingdom.So he told the executioners, “We’ll send the criminals tonight. When the first man comes to you, put him to death first. Then do the same to the second man. Those are my orders. Don’t make any mistake.”The king told his executioners that he would send the criminals at night. Firstly, they should execute the person who came first and then execute the second person. They should be careful and not make any mistake.

At night, the king and his minister went to the prison where the guru and his disciple were kept. They wore the clothes of the guru and his disciple so that they resembled them. As it was told to the servants, they came and took them along and put them into the stake for execution. In this way, with his intelligence, the guru was able to execute his foolish king and his foolish minister.

When the dead bodies of then king and his minster were taken away, to be thrown, the people trembled to see the dead bodies of their king and his minister.The city was in confusion.Everyone was trembling because the dead bodies were not of the guru and his disciple, instead they were the bodies of the king and his minister.All night,they mourned and discussed the future of the kingdom.

In the morning, some people thought of the guru and his disciple and felt that they should go to them. As the guru and his disciple were planning to leave the kingdom, the people stopped them.The people of the kingdom thought that they needed a king and a minister and so,they requested the guru and his disciple to be the new king and minister of the kingdom.It didn’t take many arguments to persuade the disciple, but it took longer to persuade the guru.They finally agreed to rule the kingdom of the foolish king and the silly minister, on the condition that they could change all the old laws.From then on, night would again be night and day would again be day, and you could get nothing for a duddu. It became like any other place.Finally, the guru converted the kingdom of fools into a normal kingdom.

Theme of the story:-

The story is based on the theme that foolish people are unpredictable and can be very dangerous. So, one must stay away from the even if they offer benefit for some time. The disciple got tempted by the availability of all items for one duddu each and stayed in the Kingdom of Fools in spite of warning by his wise guru.

MORAL:-THE STORY IS A FOLKTALE AND GIVES TWO MESSAGES. *THE FIRST MESSAGE IS THAT ONE SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM FOOLISH PEOPLE; ELSE ONE IS BOUND TO SUFFER. *THE SECOND MESSAGE IS THAT IN ORDER TO TACKLE FOOLISH PEOPLE ONE SHOULD EMPLOY WISDOM AND NOT LOGIC.