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Class 9, In the Kingdom of Fools, Introduction to the lesson, Kannada is a regional language mainly spoken in the state of Karnataka. This story is a Kannada folktale., Folktale is a story which is passed on from one generation to another. It is taken from the book ‘Folk, Tales from India’ written by AK Ramaujan., First of all let us discuss the title of the story ‘In the Kingdom of Fools’ which means the state where, people are not so wise, they are not intelligent. In this story the king, his ministers and his advisers are, fools. That means thay they are not wise and intelligent. When this kind of people rule the kingdom,, then what all happens has been told in this story., Summary, ‘In the kingdom of fools’ is an interesting story of a kingdom run by a foolish king. One day, a saint, and his disciple reached the kingdom. The saint was astonished to see that the people were sleeping, during the day and worked during the night. He was disturbed to see that all the food items in the, kingdom costed the same- one duddu. He analysed that it was a kingdom of fools and ordered his, disciple to leave the place. The disciple did not leave with his guru as he was lured by the abundance of, cheap food., One day, a man approached the king for justice. He claimed that his brother was committing his ancient, trade of theft and during that, the wall of a man‘s house fell on him and he died. He asked the king to, get him compensated. As the king was foolish, he did not analyse that the dead man was a criminal. On, the contrary, he tried all the people who were involved in the death of the thief- the rich merchant, who was the owner of the house whose wall had broken, the man who had built the wall, the dancing, girl due to whom the builder had built a weak wall and the Goldsmith because of whom the dancing girl, had to move around in the street that day. Finally, the king decided that the merchant’s father was, the real culprit. As he was dead and his son had inherited all his property, so, he would also get, punished in place of his father. Another turn of events takes place when the minister feels that the, merchant is too thin to be killed by the stake. The king orders his men to find a fat person who could be, punished in place of the merchant. As the disciple had become very fat, the men took him to the king., The innocent man prayed to his guru for help . The guru visualizes that his disciple is in trouble and, reaches to save him. He uses his Intelligence and wisdom to trap the foolish king. Finally, the king and, his minister get themselves killed by the stake in place of the Guru and his disciple. The people of the, kingdom beg the guru and his disciple to become their new king and minister. The guru agreed on a, condition that the kingdom would function normally like all other kingdoms did., Vocabulary words, Till: here, to cultivate land for farming

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Duddu – money in Kannada language, Summoned – To call upon someone, Scoundrel: a dishonest person, Impaling: to push a sharp pointed post through something, Decree: order, Scrape: a difficult situation that one has got into, Clamour: to Insist on something, Persuade: convince, Question and Answers, 1. What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?, A. When the guru and his disciple reach the kingdom of fools, they find the following two, strange thingsa) All the people sleep during the day and work during the night time. They have, trained the cattle and all the other animals also to do the same as they fear, punishment at the hands of the king., b) Everything in the kingdom of fools- a bag of rice or a bunch of bananas costs, one duddu. The guru is astonished and his disciple is excited to realize that, food is so cheap in the kingdom., 2. Why does the disciple decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?, A. The disciple loves food. He gets excited to see such cheap food available in the kingdom, of fools. As he wants to relish more and more food, he stays back in the kingdom of, fools. His decision was not a good one as he got into trouble. Although he was innocent,, the king’s men took him for execution as they needed a fat person who could be killed, easily by the stake., 3. Name all the people who are tried in the kkin's court, and give the reasons for their trial., A. The names of the people who were tried in the king’s court are as followsa) The rich merchant who was the owner of the house was tried because the, wall that collapsed onto the thief belonged to him. Later, on he was again, tried and held guilty on behalf of his dead father who had ordered the, goldsmith to deliver the ornaments in a haste due to which the goldsmith, could not deliver the dancing girl’s ornaments in time., b) The bricklayer who had built the weak wall was also tried for constructing the, wall that collapsed and killed the thief., c) The dancing girl was tried for distracting the bricklayer. As she walked in the, lane again and again, the jingling sound of her anklets distracted the, bricklayer because of which he constructed a weak wall.

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d) The goldsmith was tried because it was due to him that the dancing girl had to, walk up and down the lane again and again., e) The rich mmerchan's dead father was tried because he had ordered the, goldsmith to deliver his ornaments first as there was a wedding with his, family. Due to his order the goldsmith was unable to make the dancing girl’s, ornaments in time., 4. Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment?, A. According to the king, the real culprit was the merchant’s dead father. As he was dead,, he could not be punished and in place of him, his son who had inherited all his property, would be punished., The merchant escapes the punishment as the minister feels that he is too thin to be killed by the stake., 5. What are the Guru’s words of wisdom? When does the disciple remember them?, A. The Guru had told his disciple that the place was a kingdom of fools and they was unsafe, for them. He had asked his disciple to leave the place at once. The disciple is reminded, of his Guru’s words of wisdom when he lands into trouble. When the king’s men take, him for execution, he prays to his Guru and asks him to save his life., 6. How does the guru manage to save his disciple’s life?, A. The guru is a wise and intelligent man. He traps the foolish king in his talks. He says that, as he is the Guru, he is senior to his disciple and so, he should be killed first. The king, gets confused to see the Guru‘s eagerness to die. He asks him the reason for it. On, being promise that he would be killed first, the Guru says that as the stake is a new one,, it has not killed any criminal. He adds that the person who would be killed by the state, first would be reborn as the king of the kingdom. The second person who would be, killed by the stake would be reborn as the Minister of the kingdom. The king considers, the Guru to be genuine and so, tells his minister that they should not lose their kingdom, in the next birth. In this way, the king decides to save his kingdom and get himself and, his minister killed by the stake in place of the guru and his disciple. Hence, the Guru, saves his disciple’s life.