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| Sunday, 15 August 2004 |
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A beggar's unheard story Sunday parable by Sunanda Mahendra "It looks as if all my royal story tellers, court jesters, wise men are old fashioned narrators", said a certain King who summoned all his men to the royal chamber.
"Do you want us to go in search of a person who can come out with a story your majesty has not heard so far?" asked the wise man who disliked to see the King in a sad mood. "Yes, I would prefer to hear a new story. A story I have not heard so far. Go and get me a person who can do that, for he or she would be rewarded with hundred gold coins". So an announcement was made by the royal crier who got up earlier than the usual time. He went around the city and suburbs proclaiming that the King of the country wished to hear a story he had not heard so far. The people who listened to the crier made various enquiries. Some asked whether the King was going mad, and some others asked whether the King had acquired a new learning. The royal crier could only say: "Don't ask me questions. This is just an announcement. If you have a new story, go and tell it to the King. If the king decides that it is a story he had not heard so far he will reward you with hundred gold coins". "But what is a story he has not heard so far?" murmured the people. Some narrators with creative skills concocted various types of stories. But they all found that the stories they created had been told before and that there was nothing new about them. Some poets in the country came before the King and narrated ballads that revolves round love stories. But the King in disgust said, "Oh no. This is a story I have heard in the past. I want to hear a story I have never heard before." Wandering ascetics and priests appeared before the King and narrated stories about gods, goddesses, demons and devils, but the King kept his eyes closed and responded: "This story may be new to you, but it is as old as the mountains and oceans. I want to hear a story that I never heard before." The learned people who lived in various places discussed what they should do. The sad news about the King gradually falling ill also came to be known to them, "We can't allow our king to die," said one "The only remedy is to relate a story he had not heard before," said another. At this juncture a certain beggar who heard all about the King's ailments appeared before the King. "I have a story to tell you, great majesty," said the beggar, in a pensive voice. "Go on," said the King. "I am a poor beggar in your Kingdom," commenced the beggar. "I can see that", said the King. "Who made me a beggar?" asked the beggar. The King stood perplexed. "You made me a beggar," said the beggar. "How?" asked the King. "My father"s father's father gave thousand gold coins to your father's father's father. But your father's father's father never returned that thousand gold coins to my father's father's father...". he claimed. "I have never heard of that," said the King in surprise. "So, it looks as if you have not heard that. If that is so give me that hundred gold coins promised by you." The King had nothing to say but to reward the beggar with hundred coins for the unheard story related by the beggar. |
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| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
"What do you want us to do our great majesty?" asked the
wisest of all King's men. "Don't you know that I am tired of your
tales, legends and stories? They are repeated over and over again, and
there is nothing new about them. So I want to listen to a story that I
have not heard so far," said the King silencing all those who
gathered around him.
