Folktales from India: Teaching the King a Lesson

“There was once a king that spent most of his time hunting. In fact, he was hardly in court at all. His courtiers had to keep him company, so very little work was ever done.

One day, the king set out to hunt as usual. It was very early in the morning, and there were almost no people around. But as left the palace gates, he passes one solitary farmer, who folded his hands respectfully and wished the king a good morning.

But it did not seem to be one of the king´s good days. He missed his shots, and the animals ran away in relief. The king didn´t want to give up, and rode and rode all day. But still, he had no luck. He was hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. So were his courtiers. The king was also very frustrated. He wanted someone to blame.

‘You know what it is,’ he said to his courtiers. ‘It´s that stupid farmer who was in the palace gate when we left this morning’.

‘Yes, yes,’ said the courtiers, who were used to agreeing with the king about everything.

‘So what are you waiting for, you fools?’ the king said angrily. ‘Go and find him and chop off his head. He has brought me the worst luck of my life.’

So the courtiers searched everywhere for the unfortunate farmer and finally found him. The farmer was shocked by what they said, and he pleaded for his life. But the courtiers would not listen.

Finally, the farmer said, ‘Please let me see the king before I die. I will fall on my face in front of him and then die happy.’ So the courtiers took him to the king.

The king ranted and raved when he saw the farmer who had brought him such bad luck. When he finished, the farmer said, ‘I too, have had bad luck, your majesty. Your face was the first thing I saw this morning, and you are now going to kill me.’

The king understood what the farmer was saying, and felt ashamed. He let the farmer go.