IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS

Introduction
A K Ramanuja was an Indian scholar. Ramanuja was a poet, scholar, professor, philologist,
folklorist, translator and playwright. The prose ‘In the kingdom of fools’ is a Kannada folktale
taken from A. K. Ramanunja’ s ‘Folk Tales from India’.

The story is all about a kingdom of fools. This kingdom is ruled by a foolish king and a
minister who ordered that night should be considered as day and day to be considered as
night. One day a guru and his disciple visited the kingdom and were surprised to find the
entire kingdom asleep. The guru immediately decides to leave the kingdom but the disciple
was attracted to the cheap food available in the kingdom and refuses to go with his guru. The
guru had warned his disciple that the kingdom was not safe to live. Unfortunately, the guru’s
words come true when the disciple is brought to court to be executed, without any crime.
Explanation
The kingdom of fools:
In the kingdom of fools the king and his minister were idiots. The king wanted to stand out
from the other kings so he ordered all things to be reversed. He decided to change night into
day and day into night. He ordered people to 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 visit the city:

Once, a guru with his disciple visited the city. They found everyone asleep during the day.
No activity was observed. It amazed them. They wandered till evening. Then the people
woke up. They started doing their nightly businesses. Both of them were hungry so they
bought some food items. The price of everything was the same, a single duddu. This
surprised and delighted them. The guru realized that it was a kingdom of fools.
Guru leaves the city but disciple remains behind:

The guru was wise and understood that it was not safe to remain in the city for long. He
decided to leave the city of fools. He also asked his disciple to leave the place with him. But
the disciple was allured to the cheap food available in the kingdom. 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.
A thief breaks into a rich merchant’s house:

One day a thief broke into a rich merchant’s house. As he was taking out the stolen things
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 and wanted justice for him.
The owner was summoned:
The king accused the merchant of killing the thief. But the owner said that he was innocent.
He said that the person who built the wall was responsible for the death of the thief. He didn’t
make the good wall.
The king summoned the bricklayer:

The king asked the bricklayer if he had built the wall but 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 up and down in the street and thus he got
distracted. So, he held the dancing girl responsible for it.
The dancing girl was summoned:
The king charged the dancing girl of killing the thief. The dancing girl said that the
goldsmith should be held responsible for it. She had given some gold to him. He was lazy
and did not make the jewellery early. So she had to walk up and down the street for the
jewellery. So it was the goldsmith’s fault.
The goldsmith pleaded not guilty:

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 was summoned before the king:

Ultimately, the king declared the rich man to be the murderer. He was also the owner of
that house. But he said that it was his father who had ordered the jewellery. The king
consulted his minister and decided that the owner should be punished as he had inherited
his father’s wealth. 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 fell into trouble:

The king’s men found the disciple to be 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 magical 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 it.
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 criminals.
Whoever died on it first, would be born a king and whoever died next, would be born as a
minister in his next birth.
The king decided to die:

The king thought over the whole case. He didn’t want to lose the kingdom even in his next
birth. So he talked to his minister. The king said that they would go on the 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.
They were taken to the stake and executed.
The guru and disciple became the king and the minister:

The dead bodies of the king and the minister were taken down. The people mourned their
deaths. They discussed about the future of the kingdom. Suddenly some people thought of
the guru and the disciple. They were secretly leaving the city. People saw them and requested
them to be their new king and minister. They accepted their request on the condition to
change all the old laws. Thus, the laws were changed and people started living a normal life.
Answer the following questions:
1. What were the two strange things that the guru and his disciple found in the kingdom
of dreams?
2. Who was the real culprit according to the king and how did he escape the execution?
3. The desire to be different must not be illogically achieved. Justify.