Once upon a time, there lived a jeweller in a town that was the capital of a kingdom. Named Dantil, the jeweller was very fair in his dealings and spoke very gently to everyone. These two qualities had endeared him to the people and made him popular with the royal family and the nobles of the court.
Now, Dantil had a beautiful daughter named Saukanya. She had grown up into a charming lass. Dantil had fixed her marriage in a rich family. Along with other people, he invited the entire royal family and the nobles to attend the marriage.
On the day of the marriage, the royal party reached Dantil’s house. He welcomed them with open arms and entertained them nicely too. Suddenly, Dantil saw the royal sweeper sitting among the nobles. The jeweller did not like it at all. So, he went to him and scolded him. Not only this, he turned him out of the hall wherein the gentry were sitting.
The royal sweeper felt keenly hurt at heart. Though he left the place silently, yet he made up his mind to avenge this insult. He went home thinking how to teach the jeweller a lesson. At last, he decided to have the jeweller’s approach to the palace barred by the king. But how to do it was a grave problem.
One day the king was having his mid-day nap after having his lunch. The sweeper reached there and saw the king drowsing sleepily with his eyes half-shut.
He had come late on purpose indeed. So, he murmured softly such that the king might hear it, “How fortunate the jeweller is indeed! He is able to embrace and kiss the Charming queen.”
The king, half-awake as he was, overheard the sweeper’s words. He sent for him and asked him in an angry tone, “What were you saying just now ?” The Sweeper with his folded hands said, “Your Majesty! I didn’t say anything at all.”
But his way of speaking was mischievous. So, it sowed the seeds of suspicion in the king’s mind. He said to himself, “This old royal sweeper is working in the palace for decades now . He must have seen the jeweller embracing the queen and also kissing her. He is not telling the truth openly out of fear.”
After thinking over the matter, the king banned the jeweller’s entry to the palace. At the same time, he became indifferent to the queen as well.
Before long, the jeweller came to know of the ban imposed on his entry to the palace. The queen also felt very upset at the king’s indifference to her.
Dantil, the jeweller, could not understand why after all, his entry to the palace had been banned. He thought hard over the matter and at last came to realize that the royal sweeper must have been the cause. He felt sorry for the sweeper and said to himself, “I have no right to insult the royal sweeper like that in the presence of all. He must have taken his insult to heart. He is in the royal service after all and he had every right to accompany the royal party. Moreover, he is so near to the king. It is very likely that he had done some mischief to avenge his insult. So, I must call him and win him over.”
Thinking so, Dantil sent for the royal sweeper and apologizes to the him for what he had done. Not only this, he gave him new clothes, sweets and some money also. The sweeper felt pleased and he promised to solve the jeweller’s problem.
A few days passed silently. Then one day, the sweeper went to the palace to do his duty as usual. But he had come late knowingly, at the time when the king went in for his mid-day nap. When he saw the king drowsing sleepily with half-shut eyes, he murmured, “What a bad habit with our king ! He eats melons while easing himself in the toilet. How dirty indeed! If anybody chances to see him and comes to know of his bad habit, how shall he feel ?”
The king again overheard the sweeper’s murmur and was very furious. He sent for the sweeper and asked him in a thundering voice, “What were you sayıng just now? Did you ever see me eating a melon while sitting in the toilet ?”
The sweeper folded his hands and said, “No sir, I never said anything like that. But his tone was quite different this time.
So, the king came to realize that his suspicion about the jeweller and the queen was just unfounded. He became sure that the sweeper was in the bad habit of murmuring baseless things. He warned the sweeper to be careful in future. At the same time, he decided to remove the ban on the jeweller’s entry to the palace. Not only this, he felt sorry in his heart of hearts for his indifference to his dear queen.
So, the king went into the palace and apologized for his indifference to his charming queen. She was all smiles at this indeed. The very next day, the king sent for the jeweller and honoured him in a befitting manner. Also, he allowed him to come to the palace as before.
So, children, learn a lesson from this story. Never insult or look down upon anybody just because they do a lowly job. All human beings are equal. Hating a person or creature means hating God Himself.
