|| An Indian folktale ||
Once a fisherwoman passed by the royal palace calling out, “Fresh fish! Fresh fish!”. The queen appeared at one of the windows and called her to come near and show what she had. At that moment a very big fish jumped about in the bottom of the basket.
“Is it a he or a she?” inquired the queen. “I wish to purchase a she fish.”
On hearing this the fish laughed aloud. The queen was offended. “It’s a he,” replied the fisherwoman, and continued on her way.
The queen continued to be upset and narrated the incident to the king. The king too was puzzled and asked his cleverest minister to deduce the meaning of the laughing fish. “Reward or Punishment! You have six months”, the king had said.
The poor minister thought the whole thing was unbelievable and ridiculous, but dared not question the king. He consulted many scholars and learned men but he did not get an answer.
As the time started running out, fearing that the king might punish his family, the minister sent his son away on travels. His son, a clever young man, travelled for many days and met a farmer going the same way.
They continued travel together since traveling with company is better than traveling alone. The day was hot and the journey was long.
“Don’t you think it would be more pleasant if you and I sometimes gave one another a lift?” said the youth.
“What! How could I lift him!” thought the old farmer, but said nothing.
They passed through a field of corn ready for harvest. “Is this eaten or not?” said the young man. Not understanding the meaning, the old man replied, “I don’t know.”
After a little while the two travellers arrived at a big village. They walked about the bazaar and went to the mosque, but nobody saluted them or invited them to come in and rest. “What a large cemetery!” exclaimed the young man.
“What does the man mean,” thought the old farmer, “calling this largely populated city a cemetery?”
On leaving the city their way led through a cemetery where a few people were praying beside a grave and distributing chapatis and kulchas to passers-by, in the name of their beloved dead. They beckoned to the two travellers and gave them as much as they would.
“What a splendid city this is!” said the young man.
By this time the farmer understood that the young man was very unusual. He was either a genius or mad. Calling cities cemeteries and cemeteries as cities!
Thinking that his wife and daughter would be amused by this man, he invited him to his house. The young man agreed and accompanied him.
The farmer told his daughter, ” We have a guest, a strange young man who will stay with us. But he speaks most unusually. While we were walking, he asked if we should carry each other”.
The daughter said, “Father, all he meant that you two exchange stories to pass the time pleasantly”
“Oh! Well, we were passing through a corn-field, when he asked me whether it was eaten or not.”, said the father.
He simply wished to know if the owner of the field was in debt or not; because, if the owner of the field was in debt, then the produce of the field was as good as eaten to him; that is, it would have to go to his creditors.”
“I see,” said the farmer. “While we were walking over the city we did not see anybody that we knew, and not a soul gave us a scrap of anything to eat, till we were passing the cemetery; but there some people called to us and put into our hands some chapatis and kulchas; so my companion called the city a cemetery, and the cemetery a city.”
“This also is to be understood, father, if one thinks of the city as the place where everything is available, and of unfriendly people as worse than the dead”, explained the daughter.
“The city, though crowded with people, was as if dead, as far as you were concerned; while, in the cemetery, which is crowded with the dead, you were saluted by kind friends and provided with bread.”
The explanation seemed simple enough once explained. “True, true!” said the astonished farmer. “Then, just now, when we were crossing the stream, he waded through it without taking off his shoes and pyjamas.”
“I admire his wisdom,” replied the girl. “I have often thought how stupid people were to venture into that swiftly flowing stream and over those sharp stones with bare feet. The slightest stumble and they would fall, and be wetted from head to foot. This friend of yours is a most wise man. I should like to see him and speak to him.”
She called a servant and sent him to the young man with a present of a basin of ghee, twelve chapatis, and a jar of milk, and the following message:—”O friend, the moon is full; twelve months make a year, and the sea is overflowing with water.”
Half-way the servant met his little son, who begged his father to give him some food. His father foolishly complied. Then he went to the young man, and gave him the rest of the food and the message. “Give your mistress my salam,” he replied, “and tell her that the moon is new, and that I can only find eleven months in the year, and the sea is by no means full.”
Not understanding the meaning of these words, the servant repeated them word for word, as he had heard them, to his mistress; and thus his theft was discovered, and he was warned not to disobey again.
The young man, was treated as a treasured guest with utmost respect even though no one knew that he was the minister’s son. The daughter came to meet him and they had a wonderful conversation. The young man told her about the problem of the laughing fish.
The daugher thought for a while and said, “The fish that laughed when they spoke of its gender, indicates that there is a man in the queen’s chambers who is plotting against the king’s life”.
The young man started home the very next day to save his father, the minister from his punishment.
The minister conveyed the message to the king.
“Your Majesty,” replied the minister; “and in order to prove the truth of what I have heard, I pray you to call together all the maids in your palace, and order them to jump over a pit, which must be dug.
We’ll soon find out whether there is any man there.”
The king had the pit dug, and commanded all the maids belonging to the queen’s chambers to try to jump it. All of them tried, but only one succeeded. That one was found to be a man!!
Everyone was shocked. The man in disguise was captured and imprisoned. Thus was the queen satisfied, and the faithful old minister saved the king’s life and was handsomely rewarded for it.
Afterwards, the minister’s son went back in search of the old farmer’s daughter. They were married and lived happily ever after!
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