Whom does the destiny favour?

Once lived a boy in a village with his widowed mother. He was a simpleton but sincere and hardworking. The village used to be peaceful and abundant but unfortunately it suffered unprecedented natural calamities, one after the other — cyclones, floods, earthquakes and droughts. Life became very hard.

So the boy decided to leave the village with his mother in search of work and a better livelihood. They arrived in a prosperous kingdom where there was no dearth of jobs or food. 

But the boy knew no art or craft and hence the best possible work for him was to cultivate the land of some rich farmer. So he started working as a labourer on a farm. 

The king of that kingdom had recently died. There was nobody who could become a proper ruler of the kingdom. The queen used to keep unwell. They had only one daughter who was too young to become a ruler. Hence, the queen had promptly vested the responsibility of conducting the affairs of the state to the council of ministers. The people, however, were not satisfied with the style of governance. They often went to the queen with their grievances and appealed to her to give them a clean rule. They were fed up with the existing corruption, nepotism and mismanagement. The queen was at her wit’s end. She too had noticed the deteriorating standard of her kingdom. She was sad at heart but who could she turn to for help?

The ministers were not trustworthy. In such a situation only a courageous and strong king could give them stable governance. But who could be made a king?

After thinking hard on the subject, the queen concluded that enthroning a competent person from among the public could be the only solution to the problem. He could be crowned king and her daughter would be married to him. This way, the kingdom could be saved from disintegrating. Another difficulty cropped up — who from among the public should be selected? On what criteria? She was anxious. She spent few days thinking about it. Ultimately, she found the way. 

She called a meeting of her council of ministers and discussed her plan in detail. Then she got it proclaimed thus:

“As there is no prince in our kingdom, the queen wishes to select a person from the public as the king. Any young man belonging to this kingdom or from elsewhere, who wishes to become the king can try his luck. There will be a test for which they have to be present in the royal fields on a particular day. It will be an open contest and the king will be selected instantly, in front of the gathering.” 

The competition was to be held in the huge ground of the royal palace. One side of the ground was earmarked for the competitors while the remaining area was kept open for the public. In a corner of the competition area, numerous pieces of long bamboo sticks were placed. 

The mode of competition was also set — the participants were required to stand within the demarcated area. Each participant would need to pick one bamboo stick and be ready. 

A skylark bird would be released that would hover over the area. The effort of the competitors would be to make it descend on their respective stick. The winner would be the one on whose stick the skylark would sit. 

On the appointed day, men, women and children from all over the kingdom came to watch the event. They were curious to see how the selection was made and who would be the lucky chap to get the kingdom and the princess. Young aspirants braced themselves for the trial of luck. 

The queen announced the rules and made it clear that the one on whose stick the skylark bird would perch, would be the winner. She then said, “Come on, young aspirants, enter the area and pick up your sticks. But mind you, stay within the marked area, otherwise you are out.” 

The widow’s simpleton boy also sat among the spectators. He was a stranger and an outsider. Some of the men goaded him just for fun, “Come on, young boy, you too try your luck.” He cringed. But people around him kept teasing and insisting. 

The boy was too simple to realize that people were merely pulling his leg. So he got up. Everyone laughed but kept saying, “Go! Go! Maybe the bird will favour you!”

Each aspirant picked up a stick. The boy too imitated them. The skylark was released and it hovered over them

With their eyes turned up, the young men moved their bamboos holding them as high as they could. The bird was scared and it wanted to fly away but with so many sticks dancing around, it was completely puzzled. It flew desperately hither and thither. As it hovered overhead, the young men too began running after it helter-skelter within the delineated area. Each wanted to outsmart the other. The more they moved, the more the bird got frightened. 

In the whole medley, the blockhead stood still in a corner. He was too perplexed to enter the fray, but he was within the demarcated area and his bamboo stick was held high. 

The entire event was exciting and the public kept laughing. It was hilarious to see the young men collide and fall, rise again and pursue the bird. It was a little short of a stampede. 

Ultimately, the skylark was exhausted and desperately wanted to sit and rest after flying frantically. It was impossible to perch on any stick as all the bamboos were moving.

Where would it rest? It hovered over their heads and swooped down to sit on the bamboo stick that was steady. It was the bamboo held by the simple boy. The spectators cheered. A thunderous applause followed as the boy was led to the queen.  

After ascertaining the whereabouts of the boy, his mother was summoned to the royal palace. The young man was duly married to the queen’s only daughter and enthroned with royal pomp and glory. The boy once dubbed as a simpleton became a superb ruler, a popular king and the kingdom regained its peace and prosperity.