The Cunning Courtier and the Red Peacock - Stories for Kids
King Krishnadev Rai of Vijayanagar was very fond of collecting unique and extraordinary things. Every courtier used to search for such rare things to keep him happy so that he can become a well-wisher of the king by giving him that thing and also extract money from him.
Once a courtier played a unique trick. He got a peacock painted red from an expert of colours, and with that red peacock he reached the court of King Krishnadev Rai directly and said to the king- "Maharajah! I have brought a wonderful and unique peacock for you from the dense forests of Madhya Pradesh."
King Krishnadev Rai looked at that peacock very carefully. He was very surprised... "Red peacock... you have really brought a wonderful thing for us. We will keep it in the national park with great safety. Well... tell me how much money did you have to spend to get this peacock?"
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When the courtier heard his praise, he became happy. He spoke to the king very politely, "Maharajah, to bring this unique thing for you, I had sent two of my servants on a journey across the country. They were engaged in the search of some wonderful thing for years. Then, this unique red coloured peacock was found in the forests of Madhya Pradesh. I have spent about twenty-five thousand rupees on those servants of mine."
On hearing the words of that courtier, King Krishnadev Rai immediately ordered the minister, "Minister, give twenty-five thousand rupees to this gentleman from the royal treasury."
After giving this order to the minister, the king again said to that courtier, "This is the money that you have spent. Apart from this, you will also be given a suitable reward after a week."
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What else did the courtier want? He started smiling at Tenali Ram with a cunning expression. Tenali Ram understood the meaning of his smile, but considering the time, he thought it better to remain silent. Tenali Ram also understood that the red coloured peacock is not found in any country. It is not found anywhere. He thought, this is definitely a trick of this courtier.
Then what happened? The very next day Tenali Ram found the colour expert who had prepared the red peacock.
Tenali Ram reached the painter with four more peacocks. He got them painted in red color and the same day he took them to the court and said to the king, "Maharaj, our friend courtier had ordered only one red peacock for twenty-five thousand and I have brought four red peacocks which are even more beautiful than that for just fifty thousand."
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The king saw. Indeed, all the four peacocks of Tenali Ram were much more beautiful and of bright red color than the peacock of the courtier.
The king had to give the order, "Fifty thousand rupees should be immediately given to Tenali Ram from the treasury."
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On hearing this order of King Krishnadev Rai, Tenali Ram pointed towards a man and said to the king, "Maharaj, this artist is the right deserving for the award, not me. This man is a unique painter. He is adept in the art of changing the colour of any object. He has shown the art of changing the colour of blue peacocks to red.''
Now it did not take long for the king to understand the whole fraud. He understood that on the first day the courtier had cheated him by fooling him. The king immediately ordered the courtier to return twenty-five thousand rupees and also imposed a fine of five thousand rupees and rewarded the painter.
Stories for Kids
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