The Wise King – a kindergarten fable
King Owl was in a dilemma — he was against the motion but reluctant to object, fearing it might upset the hawk. Dim-witted he might be, the hawk had been useful to King Owl.
Yussof Condred
Once upon a time, in a land called the Avian Kingdom, there lived a wise monarch named King Owl. He wore a crown, a symbol of authority, and a monocle, a symbol of wisdom; for he knew that he couldn’t possibly rule his land possessing one without the other. And he possessed both – authority and wisdom.
In Avian Kingdom the population were of diverse species. Their king belonged to the species of owls who were of the aristocratic class. At the lowest end of the hierarchy were the garrulous common sparrows, the so-called ‘untouchables’, often despised by the elite.
In his royal court, a meeting was taking place in earnest between the king and his trusted advisers. One adviser was a hawk; the other, a dove.
With blazing red eyes, wide open beak and quivering tongue sprinkling saliva, the hawk screamed excitedly, “Your Majesty, today our kingdom is in dire straits! Yes, we allow freedom of speech …. too much freedom of speech has led to wanton spreading of lies, threats and fear mongering among us so that distrust between our different flocks now threatens to split our kingdom asunder. We must stop this before it is too late.
Your Majesty, I therefore humbly propose that we pass a law to banish anyone found guilty of lying. Have no mercy for liars. Banish them to the Feline Kingdom!”
The irascible King Owl thought this idea was outrageously puerile, if not funny. Fretfully, he adjusted his monocle with his right hand … er … wing, and shaking his head, hooted querulously to himself, “With a nincompoop like him, I don’t need a court jester.” The king was against this draconian proposal, but kept his counsel.
He then turned to the dove for her support and said, “Now Madam, let me hear your views.”
“Your Majesty, with due respect to my colleague, I find the punishment suggested severe. As you know the habit of lying is inherent among the avian kind. With such a law I fear our population would soon be decimated. Banish them to Feline Kingdom? And leave them to the mercy of those marauding cats? Heavens, no!
Our present laws, which allow for incarceration in our kingdom’s numerous aviaries for different specific durations commensurate with the gravity of the lies perpetrated, are sufficient deterrent.
Besides I am most confident that our flocks are now mature. They can decide for themselves who is twittering or parroting lies and who is not” the dove cooed, nodding her head with apparent composure, betrayed only by an uncontrollable fluttering of her false eyelashes from a paroxysm of blinking, set off by her strenuous exhortation.
Now King Owl was in a dilemma — he was against the motion but reluctant to object, fearing it might upset the hawk. Dim-witted he might be, the hawk had been useful to King Owl. He had, in the past, as Director of War, courageously led his flock to repel ferocious attacks by the feral cats from the neighbouring barbarous Feline Kingdom.
At this juncture, King Owl, to buy time for himself to think, called for a break for refreshment, the avian kind, during which King Owl swallowed, with regal aplomb, several squealing pinkies (baby rats). The hawk, using his claws to pin a rabbit’s back leg down, savagely attacked it with his vicious beak. In contrast, the ladylike dove pecked, daintily, at a tiny mound of grains, but unfortunately committed a faux pas by wiping, as she was habitually wont to do, her cosmetic-painted beak on the floor after eating!
After the break, during which King Owl had experienced a “rush of Adrenalin to the head”, he became enlightened.
Addressing the hawk, King Owl hooted sonorously, “Your proposal have some merits, but I am not confident with enforcement. There is much work to be done here. I suggest we apply this law to a select-sample of our population initially for a trial period of 3 years. If the experiment proved successful, then we implement it Kingdomwide.”
Sensing victory, the hawk, in triumphant delight, screeched, “Your Majesty is most wise to have suggested so!” He raised his right claw, as was dictated by their military courtesy, in salute to King Owl. Clearly visible on his raised leg was a band of an exquisitely-designed ring, an equivalent of the American ‘Medal Of Honour’, bestowed by King Owl on him for “acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty” during the famous Avian-Feline Battle of 1970. In that battle the hawks defeated the cats due solely to their superior aerial prowess!
As a War Director and War Hero, he harboured the hubristic notion that he and his family clan were immune to any law. To him, laws were only applied to others, especially the noisy ‘untouchables’ he so despised.
But the hawk’s euphoria was short-lived.
In conclusion King Owl said to the hawk, “As you are more comfortable with this proposal I suggest your immediate family be picked as the select-sample for our experiment under the supervision of my security officials. Come and see me in two days if you agree.”
Henceforth, the hawk never brought up the same matter with the king again.
