The Royal Spy

Once the King ofValpore had
a bitter quarrel with the King
of Talpore. Each ruler fearing
an invasion from the other forti-
fied his frontiers and was in
battle readiness to ward off any
sudden attack.

One day a spy sent by the
King of Valpore went round
searching for spies coming from
Talpore. As he neared the fron-
tiers of his land the strap of his
sandal broki. He looked about
and saw a cobbler und^r a tree.
He took it to the cobbler to
have it mended. Just then'
anotiier man came over to the
cobbler and said. "Well old
man, so you mend shoes here?
Do you know ;iught about the
tearing of the card?"

The old man lepiivd, "Yes,
indeed ! A while back thr^e
walked by on t' eir forelegs Th;
bun's heit melted the cards
from h im*, t-ie who died
three years ago burnt them to

ashes."

Then the passerby said,
" Then the measurement seems
alright! "

The old man replied, " Ah !
Yes. I am expecting the young
ones of the sea. Then only will
the stomach of the Earth be
full."

The spy waited patiently all
this while but as the passerby
prepared to leave, pounced on
him. The old man protested
and said, "Sir, why do you beat
that man so? He asked me
some silly questions and 1
humoured him by giving ;ome
cranky answers. How else car.
you deal with a mad man?"

The spy siorted and said.
"Mad man, my ,'not! Vvhr ma'c
you trying to fool? I shan't
leave either of j ou."

Th.-n He dugg-.d the r before
the Kii.g ard sa : d. ' oji




Majesty! These men are the
spies of the King ofTalpore."

The King looked at his Minis-
ter blankly who hastened to get
the full information from the
official who had made the arrest.

Then he turned to the King
and said, "True, Sire, these men
are indeed spies of the King
of Talpore. They were talking
about how all the wells on the
route of our army's march have
been poisoned."

Surprised, the King said, ''Is
that so? .But these two talked
a lot of gibberish."

The Minister said, "Sire, let
me explain. This old man
pretended to be a cobbler. The
question, whether the card was
torn, meant whether anyone
had died. The three who walked
on their forelegs actually meant
a pregnant woman carrying ano-
ther child on her hip. Th? sun's
gift is water, and the three died
on drinking that. An old tree



which had fallen three years ago
was used to cremate them. The
measure referred to the correct
quantity of poison mixed with
the waters. The young ones of
the sea referred to the water
wells and tanks. They expect
our troops to die if they drink
of their water. Then they would
all have to be buried. Only
then can the stomach of the
earth be filled. This is the
meaning of their gibberish. All
this 1 learnt from our royal spy,
who is the most intelligent man
in our kingdom."

The King heaved a sigh of
relief to hear this. Then he
ordered the execution of the
two spies and rewarded the royal
spy handsomely.



A wise man will make more
opportunities than he finds.