In The Kingdom of Fools Summary In English
The kingdom of fools
In the kingdom of fools the king and the minister were idiots. They ordered all things to be reversed. They decided to change night into day and day into night. They ordered people to do day’s work in night and sleep in the day. Anyone not obeying was to be punished with death. So people out of fear did ’ as they were asked to do. This delighted the king and the minister.
A guru and disciple see the city
Once a guru and his disciple arrived in the city. They found everyone asleep during the r day. No activity was observed. It amazed them. They wandered till evening. Then the people woke up. They started doing their nightly businesses. Now the two were hungry. They bought some food items. The price of everything was same, a single duddu. This surprised and delighted them. The guru realized that it was really a kingdom of fools.
The guru decided to leave the city of fools. He asked his disciple also to leave the place. But the disciple didn’t want to do so for cheap food. The guru advised the disciple that nothing could be predicted of fools. But the disciple didn’t care. He remained behind. Time passed on. The disciple ate to his fill. As a result he became very fat.
One day a thief broke into a rich merchant’s house. He was taking out the stolen things. Just then the wall of the old house fell on his head. He was killed instantly. The brother of the thief complained to the king about his death. He blamed the owner of the house for his brother’s death.
The king heard the accused. He accused him of killing the thief. But the owner said that he was innocent. He said that the person who built the wall was responsible. He didn’t make the good wall. The king decided to summon the bricklayer.
The king summons the bricklayer
The king asked the bricklayer if he had built the wall. He accused him of killing the thief. Before the king could order his death, the bricklayer pleaded innocence. He told the king that he could not concentrate while building the wall. A dancing girl moved in the street. So she was responsible for it.
The king charged the dancing girl of killing the thief. The dancing girl said that the goldsmith was responsible for it. She had given some gold to him. He had to make some jewellery for her. He was lazy. He did not make the jewellery early. So she had to walk up and down the street. So it was the goldsmith’s fault.
The goldsmith and his plea
The king now ordered to summon the goldsmith. The goldsmith replied that there was a wedding in the rich man’s house. He had to make jewellery for him. So he could not finish the jewellery of the dancing girl in time.
The rich man is summoned before the king
The king declared the rich man to be the murderer. He was also the owner of that house. But he said that his father had ordered the jewellery. The king consulted his minister. He decided that the owner be punished in his father’s place. The king asked for a new stake to be made ready for the owner to die. But the owner was very thin. He could not be executed. The king was worried about it. Then he ordered to search a man who was fit for the stake. He should be executed.
The disciple was found fit for the stake. He was brought to the place of execution. The disciple now remembered his wise guru’s words. He prayed to his guru. The guru had magic powers to see the past and the future. He saw everything. He arrived at once to save his disciple. He told his disciple something in a low voice. The disciple understood this.
The guru’s trick to save his disciple
The guru and the disciple now started fighting. The guru wanted to die first. The king asked the guru why he wanted to die. The guru told the king in his ears that their city was unique. This was the stake of god of justice. The stake was new. It was never used earlier on crimirfals. Whoever died on it first, would be born a king. Whoever died next, would be born as a minister.
The king decides to die
The king thought over the whole case. He didn’t want to lose the kingdom even in his next birth also. So he talked to his minister. The king said that they would go on stake themselves. Thus they would be reborn as king and minister again. The king and minister went secretly to the prison. They released the guru and the disciple. They put themselves in their places. So they were taken to the stake guru and disciple become the king and the minister
The dead bodies of the king and the minister were taken down. The people mourned their deaths. They discussed the future of the kingdom. Suddenly some people thought of the guru and the disciple. They’ were secretly leaving the city. People saw them. They requested them to be their new king and the minister. But they put one condition. It was to change all the old laws. So they changed the laws.
Page No: 27 Think About It
1. What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?
Ans: The two strange things that the guru and his disciple observe in the kingdom of fools are:
▸ Everyone sleeps during the day and carries out his work at night
▸ The cost to purchase anything from the market was the same, one duddu (one rupee).
Whether it was a measure of rice or a bunch of banana it cost the same.
2. Why does the disciple decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?
Ans: The disciple decided to stay in the Kingdom of Fools because he was delighted that everything cost a single duddu and everything was very cheap. All that he wanted was good and very cheap food. According to the Guru, staying there was not a good idea as they were all fools and so he felt this situation would not last long and was not sure about what they would do in the future.
3. Name all the people who are tried in the king’s court, and give the reasons for their trial.
Ans: Following people were tried in the king’s court:
▸ The merchant whose house was burgled: Because his house wall was weak and it fell upon the burgular and killed him
▸ The bricklayer who built the wall: Because he built a wall which was weak and which collapsed killing the burglar
▸ The dancing girl: Because she distracted the bricklayer with her jingling anklets by walking up and down the road where bricklayer was laying the wall
▸ The goldsmith: Because he didn’t complete the dancing girl’s order on time and so she had to go to the goldsmith a dozen times.
▸ The merchant whose house was burgled (second time): because his father persuaded the goldsmith to finish his order first thereby delaying the dancing girl’s order. Since the merchant’s father died, the merchant had to be executed in his father’s place
▸ The disciple: Because the merchant was too thin to be executed by the newly made stake and a fat man was required to fit the stake. The disciple was very fat, hence he was caught.
4. Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment?
Ans: The real culprit according to the king is the merchant because although his old father was the real murderer he was dead and someone had to be punished in his place. He escapes the punishment because he is too thin to be properly 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 that it was the city of fools. He advised the disciple to leave the city because he would not know what they would do next. The disciple remembered this when he was going to be executed.
6. How does the guru mange to save his disciple’s life?
Ans: The guru tries to confuse the king by expressing his desire to be killed first. Then to further confuse the king he tells the story of becoming the king in the next incarnation. Apparently it may sound like a case of pure lie to save your dear one’s life. But if we go deeper consciously or unconsciously the sage is trying to save everybody’s life in the kingdom. Ultimately he is able to pull everybody out of the misery of living in the kingdom of fools.
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