THE KING WHO STRIPPED

THE KING WHO STRIPPED.

(This old story has been rewritten by Sammy Frank.)

There was once a king in a far away land. His subjects feared him so much. Nobody ever dared to question his authority. He was called the spring of wisdom. His people prostrated before him whenever he passed. He was really harsh. His advisers also feared him so much. They never wanted to give him counsel that would not please his royal ears. Only one year earlier and the king had humiliated his most trusted aide by having him flogged in public. The aide had just informed the king that a certain section of his kingdom was planning to revolt against him.

The all knowing king judged that nobody in the whole kingdom would even think of questioning his wisdom. “Have I not given this kingdom much more prosperity than any other king who ruled here before?” he asked. “It must be your own creation. You will get flogged at the public squire for having allowed profanity into your mind.”  And so the poor man was flogged. It pained. And they continued with the flogging. He cried like a baby. Oh poor man, the kings aide. The story of the flogging spread throughout the kingdom. And even beyond the borders of the kingdom. The people feared the king. Ooh yes, the king was really feared.

One day two very handsome men came to the city. They came from the famous marvelous kingdom of the north. They rented one of the shops near the public squire. They started a tailoring business. They would open the shop in the morning and work till evening. Let me tell you, these gentlemen worked hard. Many days passed. They would wake up early, open the shop and work till evening. They had really nice machines. The machines would hum gently as the work progressed. But something was unusual about these two men and their garments. After three months, no one would see the apparels. No one saw the garment they were working on. People came to the shop to see these strangers who spent their days rolling their sewing machines without any output. Didn’t they look strange? Then they told the whole story. “If you can’t see the dresses we have made, the magnificent robes we have displayed outside the shop, and this most expensive apparel that we are stitching now, then you must be part of the evil men who are planning a coup against the king.”

“Evil people cannot see the work we are doing.” the two handsome men said. Curious citizens visited the shop. They saw nothing. But no one dared to say that they couldn’t see a thing. They would be thought of as evil. “Oh, this one is really beautiful,” the kingdom people would tell each other. They would see nothing but they didn’t want to be called evil. So they pretended.

The advisers of the king heard of the visitors from the fascinating land of the north. They were also told of the wonderful clothing that the people from the north were making. They visited the shop at the public square. They also marveled at the beauty of the robes. They admired the dresses outside the shop. The hum of the machines continued as the men from the north made more clothes, nay ‘clothes’. They would wake up early, open the shop and work till evening.

The king heard of the exploits the men of the north were doing at the shop near the public square. He came to visit the shop in the escort of a big convoy. They all saw the garments in display. They liked them very much. But there were no garments in display. They didn’t want to be called evil for they feared the king very much. The king also admired the clothes in display. He even instructed the men from the north to make him a robe. He would wear it in the forth coming festival, he told the men from the north. It had to be the most fabulous of all the robes that the men from the north had ever made. Four months had passed since the men from the north opened shop. The hum of the machines had not stopped. The fame of the men from the north increased across the hills. They worked hard. They would wake up early, open the shop and work till evening.

The day of the great kingdom festival came. The king came to the shop near the public square. He would fit in to his new robe and match along the adjacent street greeting his people. Inside the shop, the men from the north helped the king to fit in to his new robe. It took some time to fit in to this wonderful robe. The officials waited outside the shop. Then the king walked outside the shop in his new robe. Salutes and ululations followed. Everyone liked the king’s robe. They prostrated and told him that he is the greatest king ever. The match along the central street began.  You should have seen the king in his brand new robe. All people in the kingdom had come for this great festival. Who could fail to attend such a great occasion when the king was to visit in his great new robe? The old people and the young alike were there.

They liked the robe of the king very much. They shouted in joy and they clapped as the king walked along in his great new robe.

Mischievous Gamin had accompanied his mother to the celebration. Before leaving their suburban home the mother warned him to keep his mouth shut as the king was passing. The mother knew the boy could say embarrassing things and put her in to trouble with the feared king.

So the king came along greeting his people. They all admired his new robe. Gamin saw the king. He was excited. He started jumping in amazement. The king was naked! When he couldn’t contain himself any longer, Gamin shouted at the top of his naughty voice, “Heeeeey! The king is naked, the king is naked!”The mother frantically tried to cover his mouth. It was too late. The king had heard the shouting.

At that very moment, the king realized that he had been cheated. He ordered for the men of the north to be arrested. The men of the north had fled. The following day, the king was stripped of his authority. He had stripped naked before his own people.

©Sammy Frank is the pen name for Samuel Mwangi. He is a Chemistry teacher in Kenya. He is currently (March 2011) a student for Msc. Chemistry at The University of Mysore, India. All rights reserved.