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92. HOW TO AVERT DISTRACTION
In a certain city there lived a merchant. He had several sisters, their daughters and sisters-in-law living in his house. But they would hardly stay at home and help his wife in the household work. Their big attraction was a band-stand near the house where the royal musicians played delightful music three times a day. The merchant was worried and once he asked a friend whether he could suggest any way to keep the women indoors. The friend suggested that he should build a small temple of a tribal god in his house and start louder music there as part of the ritual of that god. He accordingly constructed a temple and hired some tribal musicians and asked them to make a hell of a noise exactly at the time when the royal musicians started their music. Soon enough the royal musicians stopped their performance and complained to the king that they were being disturbed by the terrible noise that came from the adjoining house of the merchant. When the king asked the merchant about his noisy pūajās, his explanation was that he could not help it, it was a religious injunction. The king only asked his musicians to select another site for their performance.
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