In the Kingdom of

Fools
Page No 27:
1:What are the two strange things the guru and
his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?

Answer:When the guru and the disciple reached

the Kingdom of Fools, the first strange thing
they noticed was that there was no one
arund.Everyone including the cattle slept during
the day and worked at night. The second strange
thing was that everything cost the same in the
Kingdom of Fools i.e., a single duddu , the local
currency.

2:Why does the disciple decide to stay in the

Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?
Answer:The disciple was a glutton. In the
Kingdom of Fools the price of all food items
was one duddu , the local currency which
seemed very cheap to him. As he wanted to
enjoy a comfortable life by getting good and
cheap food for a nominal price he decided to
stay back in the Kingdom of fools.

Staying there was not a good idea as the

Kingdom was run by fools and so this situation
would not last long. It was uncertain what they
would do in future.The way of life which
seemed beneficial now might change as hostile.
His decision put him into trouble later. Although
he was innocent, the king's men took him for
execution only because he was fat and they
needed a fat person who could be killed easily
by the stake.
3:Name all the people who are tried in the
king’s court, and give the reasons for their trial.

Answer:Four persons were tried in the king’s

court: the rich merchant who was the owner of
the house, the bricklayer, the dancing girl and
the goldsmith.
The merchant, the owner of the house in which
the theft had occurred, was the first person to be
summoned to the court. The wall of his house
was weak and it fell on the thief as a result the
thief died.According to the king it was his fault
to have such a weak wall. The merchant passed
the guilt onto the bricklayer by saying that it
was actually the bricklayer who had built such a
weak wall in the first place.The bricklayer on
the other hand accused the dancing girl. He said
that she kept going up and down the street
where the bricklayer was laying the wall , with
her anklets jingling and he got distracted . As a
result, he lost his concentration and built a weak
wall.In her defence, the dancing girl said that at
that time, she had given some gold to a
goldsmith to make some jewellery for her. Since
the goldsmith didn't complete her order on time
she had to walk up and down to his house a
dozen times and that was when the bricklayer
had seen her.When the goldsmith was
summoned to the court, he claimed that a rich
merchant forced him to complete his order first
so he couldn't complete the dancing girl's order
in time. Incidentally, this merchant was none
other than the father of the owner of the house.
Since the merchant's father had died long ago ,
the merchant was pronounced guilty at last.
According to the king he had inherited all his
father's wealth as well as his sin.
4:Who is the real culprit according to the king?
Why does he escape punishment?
Answer:At first the king considered the
merchant’s father to be the culprit as he was the
one who forced the goldsmith to complete his
order first and because of this the whole cycle of
events started. Since he was dead, the king
applied his weird logic and decided that as the
merchant inherited everything from his father he
should also share his father's sin as well. Thus
finally the merchant became the real culprit.
The merchant was too thin to be properly
executed on the new execution stake. The king
then realised that they needed a man fat enough
to fit the stake. He then let the merchant go and
ordered his men to look for a man fat enough to
fit the stake.
5:What are the Guru’s words of wisdom? When
does the disciple remember them?
Answer:The guru’s words of wisdom were that
all the people in that kingdom were fools. No
one knew what they would do next.This
situation would not last long. The system which
seemed beneficial now might change as hostile.
The disciple remembered these words when he
was arrested by the king's men and was carried
to be executed just because he was fat. He then
prayed to him in his heart asking him to hear his
cry wherever he was.
6:How does the guru manage to save his
disciple’s life?

Answer:The guru was a wise and intelligent

man. He made a plan with his disciple to
confuse the king by showing eagerness to be
killed first on the stake. The guru said that as he
was the Guru, he was senior to his disciple and
so, he should be killed first. Immediately the
disciple also demanded to be killed first.The
king got confused to see the guru’s eagerness to
die and considered this to be mysterious. He
asked him the reason for it. The guru told him
the stake was the stake of the god of justice. It
was new and no criminal had ever been put on
it. He added that the first two people who would
be killed by the state would be reborn as the
king and the Minister of the kingdom
respectively.He further said that they were sick
of their ascetic way of life and now wanted to
enjoy a luxurious life of a king and a minister.
The guru knew the foolish and power hungry
king would never allow anyone else to be the
king, not even in another birth.The king
considered the guru to be genuine and so, told
his minister that they should not lose their
kingdom in the next birth. They decided to be
executed on the stake instead of the guru and the
disciple to save his kingdom.They secretly
released the guru and the disciple then disguised
themselves as the two. The executioners who, as
ordered by the king earlier, executed the
prisoners one by one. Thus the guru saved his
disciple’s life.