Folktales from India: King Dabschelim

“Once upon a time, there was a king called Dabschelim, who was deeply interested in astronomy. Every night he spent his time studying the stars and the planets. He built an observatory, got himself the largest gadgets, and carefully wrote down his observations each night. During the day, he slept.

The only problem with his love for the stars was that they took up all his attention and he didn´t care a fig for his kingdom. People were poor, trade was bad, roads were a mess, and the crops failed every year. But no one dared to say anything to the king. If his ministers tried to talk to him, he would yawn and fall asleep. If his subjects complained or disturbed him in any way, he threw them in prison or chopped off their heads, depending on his mood.

One day, the sage Bidpai decided that he had had enough. Something had to be done, he told his wife at breakfast. She told him not to be stupid. No one had ever been able to do anything about the king. But Bidpai insisted that things could not go on the way they were.

So off he went to the king. Not surprisingly, he soon found himself thrown into prison.

That night the king saw a shooting star and thought it was an omen. He finally went to bed as dawn was breaking, and he had a dream in which he was told to go to a place far away where he would find a treasure.

In the morning, the king got his guards and courtiers together and they set off. After many days of hard riding, they reached the place the king had seen in his dreams. They could hardly believe their eyes: rubies, diamonds, gold, silver, emeralds, pearls — all lying in huge heaps.

Dabschelim allowed each of his followers to take as much as they wanted. Even so, there were crates and crates left to take back to the palace.

But is was in the large gold crate that Dabschelim found the greatest treasure. There was a rolled-up scroll in it, and on it were the words ‘From a King of the Past to the King of the Future.’ The King of the Past said that it was important to be a good ruler and that to be a good ruler there were several things he must do. ‘Be mild,’ the letter said. ‘Be merciful. Don´t dismiss your courtiers or ministers just because somebody has asked you to do so.’ The letter ended with these words: ‘There are many stories to illustrate what I am saying. But only Bidpai knows them.’

The king was ashamed to think that he had thrown Bidpai into prison. He and his courtiers rode back at a furious pace with the treasure to release the sage.

When the had been brought out of the filthy dungeon, cleaned up, and given some food, he was taken to meet the king. This time the king served him with a sherbet, which he brought with his very own hands.

‘So begin,’ said the king smiling, and Bidpai began. He told the king a great many stories. Listening to stories was an easy way to learn wisdom. The king didn´t yawn at all or fall asleep. The stories were almost as interesting as the stars he watched every night.

Every day the king and Bidpai would meet, the king would bring in the sherbet, and then Bidpai would begin. He told stories of friendship and betrayal, tricks and tricksters, goodness and wickedness.

And every day the king said, ‘Come again tomorrow, Bidpai, I am becoming wiser by the day.’