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| Sunday, 8 January 2006 |
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Features |  |
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A cure for
the Queen
Sunday Parable by Sunanda Mahendra 'The Queen of the King of the hill country is seriously ill, and the royal physicians have failed to cure her so far. The King is in search of a clever physician, who can save her life, and is ready to give a handsome gift of land.'
Announcement "Shall we see the King, and tell him that we are ready to help him if he allows us to see the Queen." asked one member. "But the point is that the King will not like to entertain any foreigners unless we reveal that we are a team of native physicians come from an adjoining country," said another. "How are we going to do that; we don't have any documents to prove that we are a team of physicians". "Documents don't matter so much. Let's say that we are a team of physicians who have come to investigate the nature and medical conditions of various aspects relating to medicinal plants in this country and that we are in a position to help Him." Punishment "That is going to worsen the situation, for the King will punish us for not obtaining prior permission to enter the country." "Anyway, let's see the King and check what we can do," said the leader. This view was approved unanimously by the others, and they walked towards the palace. "We want to see the King," said the leader of the group of physicians to the palace guard, who did not want to have a group of bearded foreigners entering the palace. "We have come to know that the Queen is seriously ill, and as we are a group of physicians we felt it our duty to see the King, and seek the possibilities of curing her. Please inform the King that we want to see the Queen's condition." As one of the palace guard went to the King and informed him of the request, "let them in," said the King. When the palace guard ushered the group of bearded native physicians in, they stood calm and steady and informed the King about their mission. "How am I to know whether you are a group of physicians?" asked the King solemnly. "If you permit us, we may enter the chamber of the Queen and diagnose her sickness in order to prescribe her medicine," said the leader. "That I cannot possibly do." "But then how are we going to test her pulse." "All I want to know is whether you are physicians, for that I need to test you." "You may hold any test to find this out," said the leader physician. "Can you test the pulse of my Queen from a distance without entering her chamber?" asked the King. "Then you may tie a knot to her hand with a thread and allow us to touch the other end of the thread, for we may be in a position to tell the pulse beat through that." The King nodded his head in agreement and told secretly to one of the royal maids in charge of the sick Queen to tie the thread to the leg of a chair and hand over the other end to the physician concerned. The maid did as told by the King and handed over the other end to the leader of the physicians. The leader who was mindful of pulse beats said looking at the face of the King. The thread "There is something wrong somewhere for I am positive that the thread is not tied to a human body." At this the King became amazed and went once again to the chamber and told the maid in charge secretly to tie the knot to the leg of the royal pet dog. The maid having tied one end of the thread to the leg of a pet cat and handed over the other end to the physician. The physician who held the thread smiled. "What makes you smile?" asked the King solemnly. "Surely, your majesty, your Queen cannot be a cat," said the physician. The King was once again amazed and went in and met the maid in charge. "Now that is enough, we shall tie the thread to your hand and see what he says." The maid did that accordingly, and got the King to hand over the other end of the thread to the physician. The physician who held the thread was serious about what he said "Now at last it is a human pulse beat and a female possibly. But this cannot be your Queen consort for this is a normal pulse beat of a person who is not sick at all." The King was happy and went to the chamber and asked the maid to tie the thread to the hand of the Queen. Once again the physician held thread the pulse and said "Oh this can be your Queen. This is definitely the pulse of a female sick person, and we can now diagnose the sickness if you permit us." The King was happy and asked further questions as to from where they come and where they are going. "Now I can see that you are not fake physicians." Said the King, and added "I allow you to enter into the chamber of my Queen." The team of physicians found that the Queen needs special care and they got the medicine available and cured her. When she was cured, the King gave them the title of "Rajakaruna Vaidyatilaka Gopala" and appointed them as royal physicians allowing them to serve the palace as well as the public bestowing them with land and money. Recorded history It is recorded that they are descendants of a Muslim group of physicians who had come all the way from Africa and settled down in the region known as Gopal in ancient India. From India, they had come to ancient Sri Lanka. It is also recorded that they have not only served the King of the hill country as physicians but also as protectors of the nation and ultimately settled down in the areas of Kegalle, until the last King was captured by the English rulers in 1815. (I am indebted to Shan Muhammad, the editor of the Muslim- Sinhala magazine titled Seylani from where I gathered this source material) |
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The announcement was sent all round the country through a drummer. At
this time there was a group of visitors who had come from a foreign land,
and they were resting at a wayside resort. They were a team of native
physicians who were travelling from place to place. When they heard the
announcement, the leader of the group discussed the matter with the rest of
the group members. 
