In The Kingdom Of Fools

So students, welcome to today's English lesson. I'm so happy to see you all here, ready to learn something new and wonderful. Today we're going to read a very interesting story from your NCERT textbook, Chapter 4, titled "In the Kingdom of Fools." This is a folktale from Karnataka, a southern state of India, and it has been translated into English by the famous scholar A.K. Ramanujan. Now, let me ask you something before we begin — have you ever heard stories about foolish kings and wise servants? Of course you have! We have many such stories in our Indian tradition, like the stories of Tenali Rama or Birbal. Well, this story is in that same tradition, but with a twist that will surprise you. So let's begin, shall we?

First, let me tell you a little about the setting of this story. Imagine a kingdom where the king and his minister are both complete fools. Now, what do fools do? They make ridiculous decisions, isn't it? And that's exactly what happens here. The king and minister decide that they don't want to follow the normal way of living. They want to be different. So they order that night should become day and day should become night. Can you imagine such a thing? They tell everyone that they must stay awake at night, work in their fields and run their businesses only after dark, and go to sleep as soon as the sun rises. Anyone who disobeys this order would be punished with death. Now, students, think about this — what would happen if suddenly everyone had to sleep during the day and work at night? The whole system of the kingdom would be turned upside down, wouldn't it? But the people were afraid of the king, so they followed this foolish order. The king and minister were very happy, thinking what a great success their plan was.

Now, one day, a guru, which means a spiritual teacher, and his disciple arrive in this strange city. It was broad daylight, but there was no one to be seen anywhere. Everyone was asleep — not just people, but even the cattle had been taught to sleep during the day! The two strangers were amazed. They wandered around the empty town until evening, when suddenly the whole town woke up and went about its business. This was the first strange thing the guru and his disciple found — the reversal of day and night.

The second strange thing was even more surprising. When they went to buy groceries, they found that everything cost the same — just a single duddu, which was a small coin. Whether they bought a measure of rice or a bunch of bananas, it cost exactly one duddu. Now, students, think about how unusual this is. In normal markets, different things have different prices, isn't it? But here, everything was equally cheap. The guru and his disciple were delighted. They could buy all the food they wanted for very little money. They cooked and ate to their heart's content.

| But the disciple wouldn't listen. He was too greedy — too greedy for cheap food. Finally, the guru gave up and said, "Do what you want. I'm going," and he left. The disciple stayed behind, eating bananas and ghee and rice and wheat every day, and he grew fat like a street-side sacred bull.

Now students, let me pause here and ask you something. Why do you think the disciple wanted to stay? Yes, because everything was cheap. But was this a good decision? Of course not. The guru had warned him that the fools could do anything, and the disciple should have listened. This is a good lesson for all of us — sometimes what seems too good to be true probably is too good to be true. We should always think carefully before making decisions, especially when something seems unusually attractive.

Now, let's move on to the next part of the story. One day, a thief broke into a rich merchant's house. He made a hole in the wall and sneaked in. But as he was carrying out his loot, the old wall of the house collapsed on his head and killed him on the spot. Now, students, this is where the foolishness of the king really shows up. The thief's brother went to the king and complained. He said, "Your Highness, when my brother was pursuing his ancient trade — meaning theft — a wall fell on him and killed him. This merchant is to blame. He should have built a good, strong wall. You must punish the wrongdoer and compensate the family for this injustice."

Now, think about this logically. A thief enters someone's house to steal, and he dies because of a weak wall. Is the house owner responsible? Of course not! The thief was breaking the law. But the king, being a fool, decided to hold a trial. He summoned the merchant to the court.

The king asked the merchant, "What's your name?" The merchant replied, "Such and Such, Your Highness." Then the king asked, "Were you at home when the dead man burgled your house?" The merchant said, "Yes, My Lord. He broke in and the wall was weak. It fell on him." Now, the king, in his foolish wisdom, declared, "The accused pleads guilty. Your wall killed this man's brother. You have murdered a man. We have to punish you."

The merchant was helpless. He said, "Lord, I didn't put up the wall. It's really the fault of the man who built the wall. He didn't build it right. You should punish him." The king asked, "Who is that?" The merchant explained that the wall was built in his father's time, and he knew the bricklayer who was now an old man living nearby.

So the king sent messengers to bring the bricklayer, and they brought him tied hand and foot. The king questioned him, "Did you build this man's wall in his father's time?" The bricklayer said, "Yes, My Lord, I did." The king declared, "What kind of a wall is this that you built? It has fallen on a poor man and killed him. You've murdered him. We have to punish you by death."

Now, students, before the king could order the execution, the poor bricklayer pleaded, "Please listen to me before you give your orders. It's true I built this wall and it was no good. But that was because my mind was not on it. I remember very well a dancing girl who was going up and down that street all day with her anklets jingling, and I couldn't keep my eyes or my mind on the wall I was building. You must get that dancing girl. I know where she lives."

The king thought this was reasonable. He said, "You're right. The case deepens. We must look into it. It is not easy to judge such complicated cases. Let's get that dancer, wherever she is."

The dancing girl, now an old woman, came trembling to the court. The king asked her, "Did you walk up and down that street many years ago, while this poor man was building a wall? Did you see him?" She said, "Yes, My Lord, I remember it very well." So the king declared, "So you did walk up and down, with your anklets jingling. You were young and you distracted him, so he built a bad wall. It has fallen on a poor burglar and killed him. You've killed an innocent man. You'll have to be punished."

Now, students, this is where the story becomes even more ridiculous. The dancing girl thought for a minute and said, "My Lord, wait. I know now why I was walking up and down that street. I had given some gold to the goldsmith to make some jewellery for me. He was a lazy scoundrel. He made so many excuses, said he would give it now and he would give it then and so on all day. He made me walk up and down to his house a dozen times. That was when this bricklayer saw me. It's not my fault, My Lord, it's the damned goldsmith's fault."

The king thought, "Poor thing, she's absolutely right. We've got the real culprit at last. Get the goldsmith, wherever he is hiding. At once!"

The king's bailiffs searched for the goldsmith, who was hiding in a corner of his shop. When he heard the accusation against him, he had his own story to tell. He said, "My Lord, I'm a poor goldsmith. It's true I made this dancer come many times to my door. I gave her excuses because I couldn't finish making her jewellery before I finished the rich merchant's orders. They had a wedding coming, and they wouldn't wait. You know how impatient rich men are!"

Now, students, pay attention here. The goldsmith is saying that he was busy making jewellery for a rich merchant, and that's why he kept the dancing girl waiting. The king asked, "Who is this rich merchant who kept you from finishing this poor woman's jewellery, made her walk up and down, which distracted this bricklayer, which made a mess of his wall, which has now fallen on an innocent man and killed him? Can you name him?"

The goldsmith named the merchant, and students, guess who it was? It was none other than the original owner of the house whose wall had fallen! Now, justice had come full circle, thought the king, back to the merchant. When the merchant was summoned back to the court, he arrived crying, "It wasn't me but my father who ordered the jewellery! He's dead! I'm innocent!"

But the king consulted his minister and ruled decisively, "It's true your father is the true murderer. He's dead, but somebody must be punished in his place. You've inherited everything from that criminal father of yours, his riches as well as his sins. I knew at once, even when I first set eyes on you, that you were at the root of this horrible crime. You must die."

And so the king ordered a new stake to be made ready for the execution. Now, students, a stake is a sharp wooden post used for execution in ancient times. The servants sharpened the stake and got it ready.

Now, here's where the minister's foolishness shows up again. He looked at the rich merchant and thought that the merchant was too thin to be properly executed on the stake. He told the king this. The king also worried about it. They wondered, "What shall we do?" Then suddenly it struck the king that all they needed to do was find a man fat enough to fit the stake. So the servants were sent all over the town looking for a man who would fit the stake. And whose eyes fell on? The disciple! The disciple who had fattened himself for months on bananas and rice and wheat and ghee. He was now fat enough to fit the stake perfectly.

The disciple cried, "What have I done wrong? I'm innocent. I'm a sanyasi!" But the servants said, "That may be true. But it's the royal decree that we should find a man fat enough to fit the stake," and they carried him to the place of execution. Students, think about how unfair this is! The disciple hadn't done anything wrong, but because he was fat, they wanted to execute him instead of the thin merchant. This shows how foolish the king and his minister were.

The disciple remembered his wise guru's words: "This is a city of fools. You don't know what they will do next." He realized that the guru was right all along. While he was waiting for death, he prayed to his guru in his heart, asking him to hear his cry wherever he was.

Now, here's where the story takes an amazing turn. The guru had magic powers. He could see far, and he could see the future as he could see the present and the past. He saw everything in a vision and arrived at once to save his disciple, who had got himself into such a scrape through love of food.

As soon as he arrived, he scolded the disciple and told him something in a whisper. Then he went to the king and addressed him, "O wisest of kings, who is greater? The guru or the disciple?" The king said, "Of course, the guru. No doubt about it. Why do you ask?" The guru said, "Then put me to the stake first. Put my disciple to death after me."

When the disciple heard this, he understood what the guru was planning. He began to clamour, "Me first! You brought me here first! Put me to death first, not him!" The guru and the disciple now got into a fight about who should go first. The king was puzzled by this behaviour. He asked the guru, "Why do you want to die? We chose him because we needed a fat man for the stake."

The guru replied, "You shouldn't ask me such questions. Put me to death first." The king said, "Why? There's some mystery here. As a wise man you must make me understand."

The guru asked, "Will you promise to put me to death if I tell you?" 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. Whoever dies on it first will be reborn as the king of this country. And whoever goes next will be the future minister of this country. We're sick of our ascetic life. It would be nice to enjoy ourselves as king and minister for a while. Now keep your word, My Lord, and put us to death. Me first, remember?"

Now, students, this was a clever trick by the guru. He told the king that dying on the stake would make them reborn as king and minister. The king didn't want to lose his kingdom to someone else in the next round of life. So he ordered the execution postponed to the next day and talked in secret with his minister. He said, "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." The minister agreed.

So the king 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."

That night, the king and his minister went secretly to the prison, released the guru and the disciple, disguised themselves as the two, and as arranged beforehand with loyal servants, were taken to the stake and promptly executed.

When the bodies were taken down to be thrown to crows and vultures, the people panicked. They saw before them the dead bodies of the king and the minister. The city was in confusion. All night they mourned and discussed the future of the kingdom.

Some people suddenly thought of the guru and the disciple and caught up with them as they were preparing to leave town unnoticed. They said, "We people need a king and a minister." Others agreed. They begged the guru and the disciple to be their king and the minister. 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. And that, students, is how the story ends — with the wise guru and his disciple becoming the new king and minister of the Kingdom of Fools, and they changed all the foolish laws.

Now, let's look at some important words from the story. The glossary tells us that a bailiff is a law officer who makes sure that the decisions of a court are obeyed. In our story, the bailiffs were the ones who went to search for the goldsmith. A scrape means a difficult situation that one has got into. The disciple got into a scrape because he was too greedy for cheap food.

Now, let's answer the "Think About It" questions together.

Question number one: What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools? Students, the first strange thing is that the kingdom has reversed the natural order — everyone sleeps during the day and works at night. The second strange thing is that everything in the market costs the same — just one duddu, whether you buy rice or bananas or anything else. These two things show that this is indeed a kingdom of fools, where nothing makes sense.

| Question number two: Why does the disciple decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea? The disciple decides to stay because everything is so cheap there. He can eat to his heart's content without spending much money. He grows fat on bananas, ghee, rice, and wheat. But is it a good idea? No, it is not a good idea. The guru had warned him that this is a kingdom of fools and they might do anything unpredictably. The disciple should have listened to his guru and left with him. Greed for cheap food got him into trouble, and he nearly lost his life. This teaches us that we should not be greedy — we should not be greedy — and we should always listen to wise advice.

Question number three: Name all the people who are tried in the king's court, and give the reasons for their trial. Let me list them one by one, students. First, there is the rich merchant whose wall fell on the thief. He is tried because his wall killed the thief. Second, there is the bricklayer who built the wall. He is tried because he built a weak wall that killed the thief. Third, there is the dancing girl. She is tried because she distracted the bricklayer with her anklets jingling, which made him build a bad wall. Fourth, there is the goldsmith. He is tried because he made the dancing girl walk up and down his shop many times, which distracted the bricklayer. Fifth, there is the rich merchant again. He is tried because his father had ordered the jewellery from the goldsmith, which kept the goldsmith busy and made the dancing girl walk up and down. So, in total, five people were tried in the king's court.

Question number four: Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment? According to the king, the real culprit is the rich merchant, because his father had ordered the jewellery, and the chain of events started from there. But the merchant escapes punishment because his father is dead. The king decides to punish the son instead, saying that he has inherited his father's riches as well as his sins. However, the king doesn't punish the merchant properly either, because he is too thin for the stake! This shows how foolish the king's justice is.

Question number five: What are the Guru's words of wisdom? When does the disciple remember them? The guru's words of wisdom are: "This is a city of fools. You don't know what they will do next." The disciple remembers these words when he is caught by the king's servants and taken to be executed. He realizes that the guru was right — the fools in this kingdom did something completely unpredictable and unjust. He nearly loses his life because he didn't listen to the guru's advice.

Question number six: How does the guru manage to save his disciple's life? The guru uses his cleverness and magic powers to save his disciple. First, he sees the disciple's danger in a vision and rushes to the kingdom. Then, he whispers something to the disciple. After that, he asks the king a question: who is greater, the guru or the disciple? When the king says the guru is greater, the guru asks to be executed first. Then he takes the king aside and tells him a lie — that the stake is magical and whoever dies first will become the king in the next life, and whoever dies second will become the minister. The greedy king doesn't want to lose his kingdom, so he postpones the execution and decides to go on the stake himself with his minister. They disguise themselves as the guru and the disciple, and they get executed instead. This is how the guru saves his disciple's life.

Now, let's talk about the "Talk About It" question. In Shakespeare's plays, the fool is not really foolish. If you have read or seen Shakespeare's plays such as King Lear, As You Like It, or Twelfth Night, you may have noticed that the fool character is often the wisest person in the play. The fool uses humor and wit to point out the truth and criticize the powerful. In our story too, the title "In the Kingdom of Fools" is ironic. The real fools are the king and the minister, who make ridiculous laws and give ridiculous judgments. The guru and his disciple, who are called fools by the king, are actually the wisest people in the kingdom.

Do you know any stories in your language about wise fools, such as Tenali Rama or Gopal Bhar? Tenali Rama was a court poet in the Vijayanagara empire, known for his wit and wisdom. He often outsmarted the king or others through clever tricks. Gopal Bhar was another wise fool from Bengal, known for his humorous stories. These stories are part of our rich folk tradition, and they teach us that sometimes being clever and wise is better than being powerful.

Now, students, let me give you a complete summary of everything we have learned in this chapter.

This story is a folktale from Karnataka, translated by A.K. Ramanujan. It is about a kingdom where the king and minister are fools who reverse day and night and make everything cost the same. A guru and his disciple arrive there. The guru senses danger and wants to leave, but the disciple stays because of the cheap food. A thief dies when a wall falls on him, and the foolish king puts many innocent people on trial, including a bricklayer, a dancing girl, a goldsmith, and the merchant. The chain of blame goes around in a circle until it comes back to the merchant. The king decides to punish the merchant, but the merchant is too thin for the execution stake. The servants find the disciple, who has grown fat from eating cheap food, and take him to be executed. The guru arrives with his magic powers and saves his disciple by tricking the king into believing that dying on the stake will make them reborn as king and minister. The greedy king and minister go on the stake themselves and die. The guru and disciple become the new king and minister and change all the foolish laws.

The story teaches us many important lessons. First, we should not be greedy for material things. Second, we should listen to wise advice. Third, true wisdom is often found in unexpected places. Fourth, foolish leadership can lead to chaos and injustice. And fifth, cleverness and wisdom can overcome even the most difficult situations.

So students, always remember the guru's words: "This is a city of fools. You don't know what they will do next." Be wise, be careful, and never stop learning.

That's the end of our lesson for today. Thank you for listening so patiently. See you next time!