The Quite Answer

The prince of Sonapur, Swarna-
kjamar, was young and hand-
some. Many princesses, natu-
rally, were eager to marry him,
although he would have none
of them. Each day brought new
proposals from kings of distant
lands and the court officials
found it difficult to cope with
the flood of requests from fond
fathers who wanted to marry
off their daughters to the prince.

Harrassed by all this, the
prince hit upon a novel idea
to forestall the unwelcome atten-
tions of the kings. He declared
that any princess desiring to
marry him must ask him three
questions. If he failed to answer
even one, he would admit de-
feat and marry that maiden.
He announced that he would
visit each city by turn and sent



his couriers ahead to announce
his arrival.

In this manner, he went from
kingdom to kingdom and daz-
zled the courts with his brilliant
wit and wisdom. No problem
was difficult for him and his
answers were always right. Thus
in all the lands no princess
could defeat him with her
questions and Swarnakumar
continued to travel all over the
world, still a bachelor.

At last he came to the city of
Ghandrapura and met the char-
ming princess, Chandravathi.
She was very beautiful and the
prince fell in love with her. He
thought he would like to marry
her. But first he had to
complete the test set forth
by him.

Came the day, when from
behind a soft silk curtain the
princess shot her first question
at Swarnakumar.

"How can man find three
kinds of fulfilments in life and
what are they?"

"Good education is the first
fulfilment, marriage is the
second and final fulfilment is
to be found in death," answered
the prince briefly.

Chandravathi asked next,
"What can't be achieved by
money or power?"

Swarnakumar replied, There
are many things which defy
both money and power. For
example, you cannot turn coo-
ked rice into grains again nor
can the cow's milk be milked
back."

Chandravathi despairing of
winning over the prince she



neard of and fallen in love,
asked at last, "What must one
do if a quarrel develops with a
fool?"

At this Swarnakumar remai-
ned silent and conceded defeat.

The King of Chandrapur de-
clared that his daughter had
won and requested the prince
to marry her.

After they were married
Chandravathi asked her hus-
band in private.

"Of course a silly one."
"Why didn't you answer my
last question?"

Swarnakumar replied laugh-
ingly, "The answer to your last
question is that iq a quarrel
with a fool one should remain
silent. Had I answered, I could
not have married you. As I
very much wanted to marry
you, I kept quiet."