Chapter - 4: In the Kingdom of Fools
I. Answer the following questions.
1. What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?Ans: The two strange things the guru and his disciple found in the Kingdom of Fools are the following:
- Everyone sleeps during the day and does work and other regular chores at night.
- Everything costs the same - one duddu, i.e. one rupee; whether one buys a measure of rice or a bunch of bananas, it costs a duddu.
2. Why does the disciple decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?Ans: The disciple decides to stay in the Kingdom of Fools because everything was cheap in that kingdom. He wanted to have good, cheap food.
No, it was not a good idea. The guru even warned the disciple that it was the Kingdom of Fools and it wouldn’t last very long. He said that one can’t tell what the people of this kingdom would do next.
3. Name all the people who are tried in the king’s court, and give the reasons for their trial.Ans: The people who are tried in the king’s court are: the merchant, the bricklayer, the dancing girl, the goldsmith, and the merchant (second time).
- The merchant was tried because the burglar died when the wall of the merchant’s house fell on him.
- The bricklayer was tried because he was the one who built the wall so weak that it fell upon and killed the burglar.
- The dancing girl was tried because she distracted the bricklayer by walking up and down the road with jingling anklets while he was building the wall.
- The goldsmith was tried because he did not complete the jewellery orders given by the dancing girl, and that’s why she had to go numerous times to check if the order was ready.
- The merchant was tried again because the goldsmith could not work on the dancing girl’s orders as he was completely occupied with the jewellery order of the merchant’s father. As the merchant’s father was dead, the merchant was the one to be punished.
4. Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment?Ans: The real culprit according to the king was the merchant himself. Although the merchant’s father was the one to be blamed, the person to be held punishable was the merchant, as the merchant’s father was already dead, and someone had to be punished for the crime.
He escapes punishment because he is too thin to be executed on the stake.
5. What are the Guru’s words of wisdom? When does the disciple remember them?Ans: The Guru’s words of wisdom were: “This is a city of fools. You don’t know what they will do next.”
The disciple remembers them when he is ordered to be executed without committing any crime. He was to be executed on the stake, the reason being that he was fat enough to be executed on the stake.
6. How does the guru manage to save his disciple’s life?Ans: The guru tells the king that he wants to get executed first. Surprised at the wish of getting executed, the king expresses his desire to know the reason.
The guru responds that the stake belongs to the God of justice. It’s new, and it has never had a criminal on it. So, 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.
The foolish king wants to avail this opportunity. He tells his minister that they should not let their kingdom go into the hands of others in the next life. They decide to go on the stake themselves thinking that they would be reborn as the king and the minister of the kingdom. They release the guru and the disciple. That’s how the guru manages to save his disciple’s life.
