Outwitted

The land of Smallmount was ruled by a King called Chitrasen. Though he was young, he was extremely clever and never made hasty decisions.

Smallmount was bounded on the west by another country called Bigmount. Parakrama, the King of this land, had long desired to invade and annex his neighbor’s territory. But as long as Chitrasen’s father was alive, he could do nothing, so he bided his time. When young Chitrasen became king after the death of his old father, Parakrama revived his plans for the conquest of Smallmount. He thought his task would be easy because Chitrasen was only a stripling with little experience in waging frontier wars. So, he called his ministers together and outlined his plans for the invasion. The ministers agreed with his proposal but first wanted to test the young king’s mettle. It was wise to know the enemy before engaging him in battle. The king thought this a good idea, and a letter was drafted to be sent to Chitrasen. The king and the ministers thought they would find out all about Chitrasen’s courage and wisdom from his reply to their letter.

In due course, Chitrasen received his powerful neighbor’s missive, which instructed him to send “some intelligence to the land of Bigmount or else”!

The young king and his ministers were not a little astonished at the strange request. The ministers realized that the request was no ordinary one and that some sinister motive lay behind it. Chitrasen was baffled to the extreme. Just then, Madiyugi, a minister in the court, stood up and said, “Sire, give me but three months’ time, and I shall solve the riddle of this letter.”

Chitrasen assented and wrote back to Parakrama that he would send what was requested in three months.

Three months were nearly over, and a day remained to complete the period.

Madiyugi came to the palace bearing a large sack on his shoulders and said to the king, “Sire, the intelligence that Parakrama wanted is right here, inside this sack. Let us send it to him at once.”

Everyone wondered what was in the sack, but no one dared ask. Even the king was silent. Then the sack was sent off to Bigmount.

Parakrama was surprised to receive the sack and, in the assembled court, ordered that it be opened. When the sack was opened, they found a small-necked mud jar. Inside the jar was a big watermelon which hugged the sides tightly. The tendril of the melon sprouted through the narrow mouth and swung to the ground.

The jar was new, smooth, and round all over, not a crack anywhere! Inside, the king found a letter which the chief minister read out loudly, “As requested by King Parakrama, we have enclosed ‘intelligence’ inside this jar. Please take out the melon without breaking the vessel.”

The king finished reading this and looked around at his courtiers. They pondered over the riddle of the melon inside the jar and wondered how anyone could have placed it there. Intelligence could be had only when they took the melon out of the jar without damaging the latter.

As no suggestions were forthcoming, Parakrama turned to his ministers and said, “It seems that Chitrasen is not as foolish as we thought. We must be careful in dealing with him.”

Then Parakrama wrote back to Chitrasen, “Thank you for your thoughtful gift. I shall always treasure your friendship more than anything else.”

Chitrasen was delighted to receive such a nice letter from his formidable neighbor. Then he called Madiyugi and said, “Oh! Madiyugi! The intelligence you sent Parakrama has saved us from an invasion. Tell me now, what did you send him to change him so?”

Madiyugi bowed low before the king and said, “Your Majesty! I sent very ordinary things. Four months ago, I grew some watermelons. When the tree began to yield fruit, I fed one bud into an earthen vessel. The fruit began to grow inside the jar and filled it up. Then I cut off the tendril, closed the mouth, and sent it to Parakrama with the message that ‘intelligence’ was inside the vessel and it was up to him to take it out without breaking the jar.”

King Chitrasen laughed at the cleverness of his minister, who had outwitted King Parakrama of Bigmount and had saved Smallmount from disaster.