There lived many years ago a great Rajah in a country far away from our
village; and he was a very enlightened and clever man, and used to
travel about to add to his information and knowledge.
On one of his journeys he met a man who told him that there was at no
very great distance off, a city where everyone was wise, from the King
on the throne to the poorest beggar in the street.
“That is impossible,” said the Rajah, but the man persisted in the
truth of his statement, and said, “If you do not believe me go and see
for yourself.” This the Rajah had determined in his own mind to do, but
for the present he returned to his own Palace.
Calling for his favourite minister he told him of what he had heard,
and said, “I should much like to visit that city, and acquire some
further experience and wisdom; for knowledge, I find, can only come
from what one sees; and you must accompany me on my travels;” to which
the minister readily assented.
Conversing again together some few days afterwards, they began to
arrange about the time and manner of going. “It will not do, oh King!”
said the minister, “for your rank and title to be known, nor indeed for
me to appear as your Vizier. We must throw a veil over all this, and go
in disguise, or we shall never succeed in getting to know the wisdom of
this wonderful people and city. Let us go as respectable travellers
only; then we shall be able to go in and out of the streets without
anyone molesting us.”
This idea pleased the Rajah, so they had some dresses secretly
prepared, and on a propitious day they took their departure from the
Palace. The Rajah knew the road, and in a few days they reached the
spot where he had met the man who gave him this piece of news. “From
hence,” he said to his Vizier, “the city cannot be far, for the man
assured me it was at no great distance from where we are now standing.”
They pushed on, and in two or three days a city, surrounded by a high
wall, was in full view before them. “This,” said the Rajah, “is sure to
be the place, for it has an air of solidity about it. See! there are
gates to go in and out of it!”
Before, however, venturing into the city, the travellers sat down to
rest on a little mound of grass just outside the walls. They got into
conversation together, and observed a shepherd, or “Ajuree,” who was
grazing his goats and sheep very close to where they had sat down. The
Rajah said to his minister, or Vizier, “I should like to put to you
four questions, just to sharpen our wits a bit.”
The narrator of the tale then turned, and said to his hearers, “You
know that the shepherd is of all classes the most stupid and ignorant;
he takes his goats and sheep each morning into the jungles, tends and
feeds and guards them, and before night-fall he returns with them to
the city; so he hears no information, and has no means of picking up
knowledge of any kind.”
The Rajah then, within hearing of the Shepherd, of whom he took no
apparent concern, propounded his questions as follows to the minister:
“My first question is: Of all lights, which, say you, is the best
light?” “Well,” replied the minister, “that is not difficult to answer,
for there is no light equal to that of the sun which is indeed the
centre of all light.” “Now for my second question,” said the Rajah. “Of
all waters, which is the best water?” “That again is of simple
solution, for what water can be compared to that from the Ganges? for
in life we Hindus worship it, and at death, when put into our mouths,
it insures to us mercy at the last.” “Very good: now I come to my third
question. Of all sleep, which is the best sleep?” to which the minister
replied, “What sleep can be more refreshing than to recline on a soft
couch after a fatiguing day?” “Now,” said the Rajah, “for my fourth and
last question. Of all flowers, which is the best flower?” “This,”
replied the minister, “requires little thought, for the “Gul,” or rose,
has been the favourite flower from all ages; it is beautiful to look
at, and has the sweetest of all perfumes.”
After the Rajah had finished his interrogations he overheard the
Shepherd laughing aloud, and he thought he caught the word “fool,” so
he turned to him and asked, “What was that you said?” To which the
Shepherd replied, “I was talking to my goats, and not to you.” “But you
did say something referring to us; what was it?”
“Well,” returned the Shepherd, “I do not mind telling you that I heard
the questions you put to that man, whoever he is, and the silly replies
he gave you. You asked him which was the best light, and he said the
Sun. No, sir; the best light is that of your eyes, for what use is the
Sun to you if you are blind? Again, you asked him which was the best
water, and he replied, that from the Ganges, the beloved Ganges; but he
should have said, the little store of water in a dry and thirsty land
when the far-off Ganges would be of no avail. Then you asked him of the
best sleep, and how foolish his reply! He should have said, the sleep
of health, which will come to refresh you on whatever you may recline;
and as to the last question, of the flower, he praised the “Gul” as the
best of all, whereas he should have said, the flower of the cotton
plant, for the rose fades and leaves no useful trace behind, but with
the cotton plant we have both a beautiful and fragrant flower, and when
that falls off, there succeeds a pod which supplies a substance from
which we weave our cloth, to provide us and our descendants after us
with necessary garments.”
As soon as the Shepherd had concluded this little speech the Rajah
turned and thanked him; and then looking at his minister he said
quietly, “What think you of that for an ignorant shepherd caught
hap-hazzard near the place? And if he can make such fools of us both,
who knows what may happen to us when we enter the city? What think you?
Have we not had evidence enough of the wisdom of this people? So my
advice is that we retrace our steps to our own country, and try and
educate and improve our people, even as they have done.” To this the
Vizier at once consented, and they journeyed homewards, wiser men than
when they set out upon their expedition.
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