King Nagverma went into the forest for hunting. He was accompanied by his general and a few soldiers.
They decided that in case they moved away from each other in the course of hunting, they would meet under a mango tree near an ant hill.
They got separated from one another. When it was noon, each became eager to reach the appointed spot. But they could not remember the location of the tree and the ant-hill.
One of the soldiers of the king saw a hermit seated under a tree. At the sound of the horse’s trots, the hermit goggled his eyes. The soldier could understand that he was blind.
Bringing his horse to a halt, the soldier asked the hermit, “Listen to me, you fellow, being blind, you could not have seen anybody, but did you hear the sound of anybody passing by this way?”
Said the hermit, “No, my son, I did not hear anybody passing by this way.”
The soldier rode away. Soon thereafter the general happened to see the hermit.
“Holy man, have you heard anybody galloping by this way?”
“Yes, commander, sir, a soldier rode by this way a little while ago,” said the hermit and he showed the direction in which the soldier had gone by pointing his hand.
The general rode away. Soon thereafter the king was there. He got off his horse and went near the hermit and asked, “O respected hermit, I am looking for the members of my party. Did you take note of anybody going
by this way?”
“Your Majesty, at first a soldier of yours passed by this way. He was followed by the general of your army. Both of them went in this direction.” The hermit pointed the way they had gone by his hand.
The king was about to mount his horse, but he stopped and went back to the hermit once again and asked, “O noble soul, had they introduced themselves to you? How otherwise did you know that one of them was a
soldier and the other one was a general? I’m afraid, you have lost your eyesight.”
“Your Majesty, they did not introduce themselves to me. From the manner of the first man’s speech, I understood that he was an ordinary soldier. The second man’s language was polished. I understood that he was the general,” replied the hermit.
“But my minister too would have used polished language. How could you be so sure that he was the general and not the minister?” queried the king.
“While using polished language, the man spoke with authority and in a commanding voice. The minister’s tone is expected to be mellow.”
“Very well. But how did you know that I was the king?”
“My lord, I had heard that the king of this land is kind and courteous. Your words revealed these qualities. When you said that you were looking for the members of your party, I knew that you were the king. Nobody
else could have referred to the party as ‘my party’,” explained the hermit.
“The king thanked the hermit and praised his high common sense and went away.
Moral: Your behaviour reveals your identity and true nature!
