Sumarry of story of A barber outwitted! by A Nepali folktale
Answers
Explanation:
prince loved to listen to his barber talking. Every morning, the barber came to have him shaved, and, while doing so, would narrate all the different stories and gossips he had heard amongst the townsfolk.
But, somehow, the barber did not like the court Pundit (priest), whom everybody else looked upon with great respect and reverence. When the barber could [not] endure the Pundit any longer, one fine morning he hit upon a plan to get rid of him.
When he went to the prince that morning, he was not as talkative as usual. "What's wrong with you today? Why don't you talk?"
At last he came out with these words, "Sire, last night I had a dream. I was in the paradise where I came across your late noble father and loving mother. But both of them were plunged in a deep anxiety."
"Why? What was troubling them?" asked the prince.
The cunning barber put up a sorrowful apppearance and replied, "Sire, they were in great need of a priest to look after their spiritual needs. They have asked me to tell you if you could spare the services of the court Pundit and have him despatched to paradise forthwith."
"But how?"
"That should not be too difficult, Sire," replied the barber. "He has simply to be put into a coffin and then into the grave. He will soon awake in paradise."
"Oh, I see. I will do that."
The priest came to know what had transpired between the prince and the barber, and also came to know what was in store for him. But the shrewd and clever fellow that he was, he made a request to the prince to give him a month's time to make preparations for his heavenward journey.
He chose a suitable spot in his garden for his grave, and employed a dozen faithful men to dig an underground tunnel from there, right upto the bottom of his house. Then he had the place concealed with wooden planks, grasses and weeds.
When the great day arrived, the priest was laid down in a coffin and the coffin lowered into the grave prepared earlier. Once the coffin was covered with earth, the priest opened the coffin by means of a secret device, and made good his escape through the tunnel to his house.
Three long years passed. All this time, the priest allowed his hair, beard and nails grow as long as they could. One day, he emerged from the house and presented himself before the prince - to the utter shock and amazement of everybody present in the court.
"When did you return from Paradise?" asked the prince, adding, "and why are you wearing such a shabby look, with unkempt hair, face, beard and so very long nails?"
"That is exactly why I am here today," replied the priest. "For, who would otherwise leave the pleasures of paradise to return to this miserable earth, if it were not for a special reason? You see, till about a year ago, your revered father had an excellent barber who was for some reason sent away from paradise some months ago. Finding nobody to replace him, your honourable father ordered me to return to you, and to ask you to dispatch your own barber immediately so as to help him meet his daily toilet requirements."
As expected, the prince ordered his barber to proceed to the paradise right then and there!
Utterly aghast at this sudden turn of events to his great disadvantage, the barber was speechless for a long while. But, of course, he could ignore the prince's orders at his own peril. Besides, the soldiers started preparing the grave for him the very next moment, the poor fellow was laid into a coffin and buried alive!
MORAL: As you sow, so will you reap!
The Nepali folktale A Barber Outwitted! was published in Nagendra