MERCY IS MELODIOUS
There was a king. He had a queen who was self willed, stern-spirited and stubborn and given to making all kinds of demands every now and then. The king was weak-minded and just could not say no to her. Often he and his subjects were hard put to fulfil her demands.
One day the queen asked the king to get a new palace built for her – a palace with walls lined with colourful feathers of birds. It set the king thinking – hundreds of thousands of birds will have to be killed to get the required number of feathers. He couldn’t do it. No. But the queen was adamant and took to the dark room in protest, refusing to eat.
"I will starve to death if you do not fulfil my wish," she said. At last the king gave in and much against his good sense, he sent for the chief of birds. The message was duly delivered. The chief of birds was intelligent; he sensed that there was going to be trouble. They say birds have special antennae to divine things in advance. He sent his deputy to the king, to convey that the chief was extremely busy and would see the king soon.
Arriving in the court, the deputy chief of birds bowed low and said, "Your orders? What’s the matter, Maharaj?"
"Well, nothing for you. You just go and tell your chief to come as soon as possible."
After a couple of days the chief of birds presented himself before the king. After the usual bowing and kow-towing and salutations, he said, "Maharaj, I am sorry I could not present myself before Your Highness earlier. There was too much work to be done. I didn’t have a moment’s respite. I have just completed it and have come post haste."
"What work was it that kept you busy?"
"Maharaj, a question arose whether in our kingdom, we had more males or females? All my birds were engaged in collecting the figures. The counting was finished only yesterday."
"What was the result of your compilation of the figures?"
"Maharaj, females far outnumber males."
The king was surprised and said, "But how is it so? We had got a census made and it showed that males were slightly more than females; more or less equal males certainly had an edge. Only last year we got these figures. How was the number of females gone up so much so soon?"
The chief of birds bowed his head and folded his hands and said, "Maharaj, we have counted those males who always act according to the wishes of their wives, among females. What sort of man is if he who remains a slave to his wife doing her bidding?"
The king kept quite. He didn’t know how to respond. The bird’s remark had cut him deep within. He didn’t say a word about the proposed palace and motioned to the chief of the birds to leave.
Thus, the cleverness of a bird not only saved the lives of several birds but also changed the nature of the king who refused to listen to any unreasonable demands of his wife henceforth.
There was a king. He had a queen who was self willed, stern-spirited and stubborn and given to making all kinds of demands every now and then. The king was weak-minded and just could not say no to her. Often he and his subjects were hard put to fulfil her demands.
One day the queen asked the king to get a new palace built for her – a palace with walls lined with colourful feathers of birds. It set the king thinking – hundreds of thousands of birds will have to be killed to get the required number of feathers. He couldn’t do it. No. But the queen was adamant and took to the dark room in protest, refusing to eat.
"I will starve to death if you do not fulfil my wish," she said. At last the king gave in and much against his good sense, he sent for the chief of birds. The message was duly delivered. The chief of birds was intelligent; he sensed that there was going to be trouble. They say birds have special antennae to divine things in advance. He sent his deputy to the king, to convey that the chief was extremely busy and would see the king soon.
Arriving in the court, the deputy chief of birds bowed low and said, "Your orders? What’s the matter, Maharaj?"
"Well, nothing for you. You just go and tell your chief to come as soon as possible."
After a couple of days the chief of birds presented himself before the king. After the usual bowing and kow-towing and salutations, he said, "Maharaj, I am sorry I could not present myself before Your Highness earlier. There was too much work to be done. I didn’t have a moment’s respite. I have just completed it and have come post haste."
"What work was it that kept you busy?"
"Maharaj, a question arose whether in our kingdom, we had more males or females? All my birds were engaged in collecting the figures. The counting was finished only yesterday."
"What was the result of your compilation of the figures?"
"Maharaj, females far outnumber males."
The king was surprised and said, "But how is it so? We had got a census made and it showed that males were slightly more than females; more or less equal males certainly had an edge. Only last year we got these figures. How was the number of females gone up so much so soon?"
The chief of birds bowed his head and folded his hands and said, "Maharaj, we have counted those males who always act according to the wishes of their wives, among females. What sort of man is if he who remains a slave to his wife doing her bidding?"
The king kept quite. He didn’t know how to respond. The bird’s remark had cut him deep within. He didn’t say a word about the proposed palace and motioned to the chief of the birds to leave.
Thus, the cleverness of a bird not only saved the lives of several birds but also changed the nature of the king who refused to listen to any unreasonable demands of his wife henceforth.
