A Tame Tale

‘Tell us a story, Dadaji’ the children insisted.

‘I have no story to tell’ I said,

‘Then, make up a new story from an old one’ they said.

I mulled over their suggestion and began -

Once upon a time, there lived a wicked Queen;

Her stepson, the Prince, was the heir to the throne.

She did not want him to succeed,

So, she devised a plot with the help of her chambermaid,

To whom she promised immense wealth in return.

‘Dadaji, what made the Queen wicked?’

‘I don’t know.’

One day, the King was found dead in his bed.

The verdict was – death by suffocation.

The deceased was loved and venerated; his death was a big blow.

The chambermaid accused the Prince of murdering his father,

She swore she saw the Prince enter the royal bedroom,

On the night the King died and stealthily emerged after an hour.

‘Dadaji, the maid lied, isn’t it.?’

‘Yes, she did.’

That night the Prince did not enter his father’s bedroom;

He was confined to his quarters and soon put on trial.

‘What happened to the maid? Tell us.’

The chambermaid was furious,

She was not paid her due to the lie she told.

She exposed the Queen’s role,

She said it was the Queen who had smothered the King.

The Prince set free was duly crowned.

‘Why did the Queen smother the King?’

‘I do not know.’

‘Come on Dadaji, for once you have not spun a new tale with the old one. You have cheated us.’

I kept quiet and after some time, said –

‘I think so.’

Without any exception, everyone laughed.