Rope money
Minister Appaji went for a country visit along with His Majesty the King of Vijayanagar. It was very late when they returned to the palace. The king saw that the door of his bedroom was closed. He thought the queen must have slept as it was late.
When he knocked on the door “Dear! Pls, open the door”. “No, I won’t open” replied the queen angrily.”Pls don’t behave like a child” said the king. “But you promised to appoint my brother as a minister in your royal court. You seem to be enjoying with Appaji all the time” She was rude this time.
Though he was the king of Vijayanagara, He was afraid of his wife.”Dear, you know already that your brother is a fool. How could I appoint him in court? He failed 3 times already?”. But the queen insisted that her brother needs another chance. “I don’t care. He may be a fool. But he is my brother. As though Appaji doesn’t fail you anytime”. The King was angry now had no choice but said “Ok! I would appoint him. Just open the damn door”
The next day he appointed his brother in law as a minister in his royal court. He insisted Appaji not to come to the palace for a week. Appaji could sense the king’s stance. So, he quietly left the palace.
Two days later, the king handed over a rope to his new minister..his brother in law and ordered him to earn 1000 gold only using the rope. The minister was shocked. He said “ A rope can be used to tie animals or to take water from a well. There’s no way I could earn with this useless rope. You are a useless king.”
Furthermore, he went to his sister the queen, and described what had happened in the court that day. The queen understood that the King was trying to test him. She asked him to think of a way to impress the king and pass the test this time. He was angry and left the place. The queen tried to think of a solution but couldn’t guess it.
So that night the queen asked the king whether he gave the test to her brother to embarrass him to fail. The king smiled and said “If he could only use his brain. Where there is a will, there is away! This time If he doesn’t pass the test within a week, He will lose his position in the court”
After a week, the minister returned the rope saying that there was no way to earn money with the stupid rope. The king ordered Appaji to be brought to court. He handed the rope to Appaji and gave him orders to earn 1000 gold within a week. Appaji happily accepted the challenge and left the palace.
The next day Appaji , came in a cart with an announcement saying “The king has ordered to demolish houses built more than the size of this rope. Hence I need to measure your houses with the rope. If you want to save your house, you need to pay 10gold per feet for every extra feet.”
He started measuring houses and within a day he earned much more than 1000 gold and returned to the palace. The King was excited and praised Appaji’s presence of mind. He gave him all the gold earned.
The queen learned a lesson and understood about Appaji’s smartness and the King’s respect for him.
Many of us are like the new minister. There’s a solution to every problem. But poor human minds we only complicate life by overthinking without trying to simplify it. We either ignore saying there’s no solution or simply lazy enough to think of a solution.
This is one of the stories that I read and enjoyed. More to come!!
