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NandiSootra
for reward. The king was impressed by his astonishing wisdom and rewarded him by appointing him as his minister.
10. Court Jester - A king had a favourite court jester whom he! Gave too much liberty. The king always praised his wife before this! Man. He also stressed that she was very obedient. One day the jester commented - "Sir! The queen's behaviour is guided by her self interest. If you don't believe, you may verify this by some test.
Provoked by the jester the king one day asked his queen - "Darling! I have this wish of marrying again and make the offspring from this marriage my heir apparent. The queen replied - "My lord! You are well withinyour rights to marry once more and you are welcome. But as per the tradition the heir apparent can only be the eldest son." When the jester's opinion was confirmed the king i laughed heartily. The queen asked the reason for this laughter and the king told her about his discussion with the jester. The queen got! Infuriated and forced the king to issue orders for the jester's exile.
The jester could guess who was at the back of this order. He! Collected a heap of shoes, made a large bundle, lifted it on his head and went to bid farewell to the queen. The queen asked with surprise - "What makes you carry so much weight on your head?" The jester replied - "Your Highness! I have collected as many pair of! Shoes as I could in this bundle. As long as this whole lot lasts I will walk far and near to different villages and towns and tell everyone I meet about who exiled me and why."When the queen heard this she was apprehensive about her possible disrepute. She at once requested the king and got the exile order rescinded. The jester saved himself with his Autpattiki Buddhi.
11. The Shellac Ball - A little boy playfully inserted a shellac ball in his nostril and it got stuck there. It was painful. The boy had difficulty in breathing. The disturbed parents started searching for a doctor. Just then a goldsmith happened to pass by. When he saw the boy crying he asked "what was the problem?" When the parents told him about the incident he reassured them - "Don't worry. I will just take out the ball." He asked for a thin steel rod and heated it. When it gained the required temperature he carefully pushed it into the shellac ball inside the nostril. The shellac melted a little and the rod stuck to the ball. Now he carefully pulled out the ball.
12. The Pillar - A king required a sharp-witted minister. In order to find such a man he planned a strange test. In a large pond outsidethe town he got a pillar erected at the centre of the pond. After thishe made an announcement that any person who ties a rope aroundthis pillar without getting into the water will be rewarded.
After the announcement, many persons came and tried to find some way to tie to the piller. Many days passed but still no one was able to accomplish this seemingly imposible task. At last one day a witty individual came and carefully looked at the piller and all around the pond.
He thaught a liitle to find a solution and brought a very long rope and a large spike. First of all he selected a point and hammered the spike in the ground and then tied one end of the rope to the spike. Now he took the coil of rope in his hand and started walking. As he took a step he realesed a short length of the rope in his hand. This way he walked around the pond and returned at the starting point. The rope had now encircled the piller. He tied the second end of the rope with the first and proceeded to get his prize from the king. Aagam- 44 - Nandi Sootra
66 - Compiled by- Deepratnasagar
