The 10,000 Golden Pots (Part 1 and 2)

By Kumar Shaurya Singh

10,000 Golden Pots - 1

A very long time ago, at a place quite far away from here, there once lived, in a town, two brothers who went by the name of Gapp and Gnot. Both of them lived in exquisite luxury and relished the wealth of their parents. They themselves did not earn a thing, but their parents were the wealthiest merchants of the town who had so much that they made sure to give half of their wealth weekly; and these two brothers had the time of their life when they lived with their parents. However, one ghastly winter, a terrible storm brewed up in the sky and covered the stars, and these thunder clouds burst apart and there was a great flood. The whole town was thrown into chaos and the white bearded oracle was found screaming: ‘Brace yourself! Everything is about to flip upside down. Get ready to embrace the real burdens of life!’. The torrent was so disastrous that it devastated the entire town, and even the tallest towers were thrown into utter ruin. Many living members had perished and many were now without homes and provision. It was a time of utter chaos and depression, and it is from here that our story really starts. For Gapp and Gnot had both survived the calamity; however, their parents had perished and even there house was destroyed. The great flood had come and taken all that their parents had been accumulating - ancient heirlooms, family treasures, thousand golden pots, and innumerable other things were swept off by the water. In the end, not even a single coin was left for them.

Then being smitten by utter hopelessness and dread, Gnot said, ‘My parents had worked all their life and gathered so much wealth in great stores and tankers. These abysmal waters have taken everything away from me! It was said that water purifies everything and removes all impurities, but in what book is it written that the wealth of our parents is impurity? Alas I’ve had enough of this cruel world and now I must depart.’ After having said this, the brother of Gapp found a wild horse amidst the ruins of the town, and after petting his neck, he mounted it; but before he was about to leave, he spotted, amidst the rubble, floating in the waters, a pot filled with coins of gold, and he recognized it as his father’s golden pot. Then for a second he thought about calling out to his brother, but the circumstances got the worse of him and he put the pot on his horse and departed forever.

Meanwhile Gapp suffered alone and miserably he shed tears upon tears for the loss of his parents and for the departure of his brother. Whole night long he wept; however, when the morning sun came, brining glorious light at dawn, he ruminated upon the rays and said this to his heart: ‘A sacred lesson has life taught me today and I will never forget this. Thus, I will work hard and increase my estate until I have so much that I may give my wealth with as much love and charity as my parents had given.’ Then having written these words out in his journal, he too found a horse and left his ruined home to find lodgings at some other town.

***

The tides of time came and changed everything. Seasons upon seasons were swept away and that which had been broken was healed and new things sprung from the soil to blossom under the light of the shining sun. Such was also the case with Gapp, for he too had found a town where a noble lord had hired him as a labour. Every week, Gapp bent his back and smote the rocks with his pickaxe until he finished his share of the work and mined the earth for radiant gems and shining rubies. These ancient treasure he deposited to his lord and each week, the lord of the land gave to Gapp a small golden pot which was filled with golden coins. Gapp took these golden pots and deposited them in a tunnel under his hut, where he had been given lodgings by the master. Initially, he found their economic culture strange, for in his own town people had always been frugal, but gradually he accepted that the standard currency here was the golden coins and golden pots. Everyone, who worked hard, received these golden pots and the golden coins were in abundance, for hard work was in abundance.

As time went by, Gapp’s determination to work increased, and he begged the lord to give him more and more work. The lord had no extra work for him, but he knew the local writer of the town who urgently needed someone to scribe and copy the contents of his works so that they may be distributed among the masses. To him, the lord sent our young Gapp, and it was there that Gapp spent years upon years in writing and there he also developed a passion for reading and exploring books. The mode of payment in this town was still the same, and each week, Gapp received small golden pots from his two masters, and he deposited all these pots into the tunnel below his hut, which had now become his permanent home, and he never spent any of it. Every day, each week, for all months of the year, he worked hard with these two gentlemen. Even during holidays, celebrations, feasts, and other glorious events like marriages, he cut himself off from all others, and picked up his pickaxe or the quill and dedicated all his time to his work. Often, the sound of laughter or singing would seep through the roofs of the caves in which he worked, and his heart yearned to join the merriment, but he would remember his resolve, and bending his back, he would set himself to work again. In such wise, he kept on getting golden pots from his two masters and he deposited every single coin into the tunnel, without even counting how much he had or how much he needed. Each day he woke up and carried himself to his work space, and every night, he returned with some golden pots and stored them under his hut.

Now he worked in this fashion for five years and after five years, his writing master advised him to get a proper house so that he may build a library and consume books. The master said, ‘Many a one there are who gather gold coins and keep them in their pockets. But gold coins are finite and once spent they leave behind only emptiness. Books, however, offer you a treasure, that once absorbed, keeps on increasing and never runs out, and upon sharing, increases ever the more. So, if you desire to become very rich, then needs must that you read and learn from a great many books and store them in your mind. In this wise, you will truly become wealthy: wise in thoughts and rich in your pockets.’ Gapp kept the words of his masters to his heart, and thus he went to his cave and took out from it 100 golden pots and gave them to the minister of the town. In such wise, he obtained a nice wooden house for himself and, in it, he installed a many shelved library which he filled with all the books that his master had given to him. For another 5 years he worked each day, every week, all the months of the year with his two masters and he never took even a single day off, choosing to dedicate even his sundays to work. In fact the two masters found some more masters for him who would employ him for a short time; and in this wise, he continued to obtain golden pots upon golden pots. He collected all of them in the tunnel, under his hut, and he reserved his wooden house only for the purpose of storing books. He developed the habit of gathering books on various subjects and he kept those in his library, and would often read them at night before sleeping. However, one day, when the novice potion-maker asked him to teach her something from the book, he said: ‘I am sorry. I want to hep you, but I cannot. I have so much work load on my mind that I cannot really find time to share my knowledge with you. From morning till night I am busy and even in my dreams it feels like I am working. I work so much that I don’t even have time to calculate how much I work. So please come to me at some other time, because I have to go to work now.’ When the little town beggar girl, who was playing nearby, heard these words, she said, ‘But O Old Man why do you work so hard? Everyone in this town is a deep lover of Music and Poetry. Even the poorest of us have the luxury of enjoying plays and listening to beautiful music because The King has allowed all these luxuries for free. Why don’t you too join us and give us your company? Why do you have to work so hard?’ Then Gapp said, ‘Old Man! Who are you calling old man? I am not old! I am young. I am so young that I haven’t even married!’ The girl shrugged her shoulders and said, ‘You look older than my grandfather to me because your back is bent and your beard is so shabby.’ ‘Very well then. If I look old so let it be. But I’ll tell you why I work so hard. I do this so that I may obtain a lot of money. It grieves me in my heart to see people suffering because of loss of money. I myself have encountered that loss. Thus it is my dream to help all the people I can with my money. This is why I work so hard O lovely girl.’ The poor girl, called Ameena, upon hearing this became delighted and that happiness shone on her face, and she did not hesitate before asking, ‘Hey nice man. If you want to help someone, then help me. My father is suffering from jaundice but the healers haven’t been able to fix him. They say that its not normal jaundice...its something else. But we have lost everything in trying to heal him. Please help me O nice man. I’ll forever be grateful to you.’ Then compassion pierced his heart and he struggled hard to control his tears, but when he put his hands in his pockets, he realised that they were empty and he felt even more dreadful. Then he said: ‘I have no money with me right now little girl. But I promise you that I will get you the required sum by this evening and I assure you that your father will recover.’ After saying this, he rushed towards his hut, thinking only of the poor girl and her warm smile, and intended to give her as many pots as she wanted. But he couldn't do so. For when he reached his hut, he found that his master was waiting for him, his face white as milk, hair dishevelled, and he looked like a man who had been swept off by a hurricane.

'Master?' Gapp whispered anxiously.

The Master looked at him with madness in his eyes and in a shaky voice, he exclaimed: 'Gapp! Please help me! My s...son...The messenger says that he collapsed from fever about two weeks ago and hasn't recovered yet. Please Gapp...I don't want him to leave me alone. All this wealth that I've gathered...what's the point of it all if he leaves me? I left my houses and settled here so that I may develop my estate and share it with him. It's all been for him! What use will I have for this wealth if he departs? Please Gapp! Assist me in transporting all my golden pots. I'd like to travel to my native place immediately. Please help me Gapp.'

Upon seeing his master’s face streaming with tears, Gapp's heart couldn't say no and the image of the poor girl slipped out from his mind, as he helped his master for the journey and rode out with him so that they may carry as many golden pots as they could to the master's native place.

Yet, their travels proved to be fruitless, for by the time, they reached the place, the son had perished and the moment the Master saw his son's decorated body on the pyre, he flung the golden pots in anger and tore his beard, and rolled on the ground.

The sight of his crying master brought the image of the poor girl back to Gapp's mind, and with a sudden jolt, he recollected his promise to the girl. So, he left his master to his condition and hastened back to the town. There, he immediately went to the tunnel to retrieve some pots and went straight to the girl to give her the gold.

But his quest was entirely useless. For when he reached her, he saw that she had sunken eyes and her face had a blank hollow look. Impassively she said to him, ‘Now all the money in the world cannot help us, O nice man. Now, The Healers say that he is beyond recovery. Their knowledge and medicine has failed them.’ The pots of gold fell from his hand and the gold coins rolled on the floor and nobody bothered to collect them at all. Gapp felt so miserable that he immediately left the place and went to his house where he locked himself in his library and fell flat on the ground and cried like a child. But, as he regained his senses, he looked around him and saw the books, and decided to seek the knowledge that could heal Ameena’s father.

Then for the first time in his life, he amassed in his head the volumes upon volumes of book that he had been collecting and decided to go through his library. He searched fervently to find the right knowledge that could tell him something about the jaundice, but his case was hopeless. For years had he been collecting and gathering knowledge on various subjects, and now his library had become one big rubble of books and parchments. Papers and notes were scattered all over the floors and many books were stacked in uneven orders on the shelves. Gapp searched like a madman to find the right page that would reveal some knowledge to him but there was no hope of finding anything in that mess.

For years, all he had done was gather the books, but he had never taken a pause to reflect on what he already had. He kept on collecting and hoarding, ever hungry for more information, but not even once did he pause to think about all that he already possessed. Thus, now he was lost in a labyrinth of his own possession and it was impossible for him to find that which he sought the most.

Nonetheless, there, at his library, he flipped pages upon pages and searched feverishly for some knowledge on jaundice. Whole night he read but found nothing. Later when darkness passed and light appeared from the dawn, the ray of sun fell on an old notebook that had surfaced on account of his rummaging and suddenly he realised that it was his journal in which he had written only one note. He opened that journal and saw the words scrawled in his own writing: ‘I will work hard and increase my estate until I have so much that I may give my wealth with as much love and charity as my parents had given.’ Tears swelled up in his eyes upon reading this and he remembered everything that had happened to him since that incident of the flood. So, for the first time in his whole life, he decided to not go to his work and sent a letter to his two masters and decided to reflect back on everything that had happened to him. He sat quietly in his library and allowed the memories to flash through his mind. It was difficult. A lot of things had happened. But he had a journal in his hand and a beautiful quill that was given to him by the master. So he opened the journal and started writing his own story in it. He wrote about his parents, his brothers, and his desire to become wealthy. As he wrote, he realised that for the poast 10 years, he had worked continuously without taking even a single pause or a break. He had dedicated both his mind and body to the job, but he had no idea about the kind of wealth that he made from his work. He had never reflected upon his possessions. So, as he brought his story to its end, he closed the journal, went to the tunnel, and, finally, reflected upon what he had been gathering.

***

Just like the library the cave was also filled with thousands and thousands of things that he had been collecting. For the past 10 years he had been bringing the golden pots filled with the golden coins to this tunnel and never had he ever bothered to count even a single one of them. There, in the depth of the cave, the golden coins gleamed in the dark and wherever he looked, he saw nothing else but gold. Some pots of gold had tumbled and fallen down, and their coins had spilled to the ground such that it looked like a little stream of river filled with gold. Golden light gleamed inside the cave and there were so many pots that in his thoughts a thousand numbers came but none of them he found sufficient to calculate the count.

There he spent the entire dawn and morning, and noon, and afternoon, and even the first half of the evening in just calculating one fraction of his gathered wealth. In the end he gave up counting. Then he said: ‘O my sweet lord. Thank you for this wonderful treasure. For years and years had I worked and worked and done nothing else. Never did I ever look back and reflect upon that which I was gathering. In this little tunnel, each and every single effort of mine was being collected. I kept working and the little pots of gold grew. Yet never did I take a pause and considered my estate. Never did I stop to think about what I had accomplished, and spent each day as a slave to my resolution. ‘Thus, now I am but a little grieved in my heart to see all this wealth. There is so much here that I could have helped every one in the town. I could have helped the poor girl and I could have helped everyone whom I had seen and met on my little journey. I could have joined the folks in their celebrations and I could have contributed to all feasts that I had missed on account of working in the mines. ‘This condition of mine with my wealth is just like my condition with my books and knowledge. Never had I bothered to take a break from what I was doing. Never did I reflect back on what had I read. Never could I recollect. Thus that poor girl could not avail any service from me. Thus she ended up suffering, and in her suffering, I suffered as well. ‘So I take an oath, O God! At this blessed moment, I take an oath that I will never make this mistake again. I will always reflect on what I have worked upon and never will I work again without reflecting on what I already have. Thus from now on, I shall distribute all this wealth of mine. From now on, I shall achieve my dream of sharing my wealth with loving charity.’

Then he wrote all these things in his journal, where he had written his life story, and he put the journal inside one of the pots. After that he took some pots with him and rushed immediately to the girl in order to see what he could achieve. In such wise he began his new endeavour. He finally quit his job and dedicated his life to making gifts and sharing wealth and knowledge. But the ways of fate are hard and much there is in the book of destiny that does not agree with the will of humans. The moment our Gapp had realised the reality of his wealth, fate intervened and wrote a different chapter for his life’s story. In the very first week of the month in which Gapp had quit his job, many messengers and soldiers were seen running to and fro from the town hall; and in the evening it was revealed: “The nearby kingdom has declared a war upon the living lands. Their first assault shall be on this town. The civilians are ordered to abandon their houses and evacuate immediately!”

Utter chaos spread once again in Gapp’s life and once again he saw the demise of well functioning town. People gathered all their belongings, as much as they could, and loaded it onto donkeys and horse carts. But of course, they couldn’t take everything and thus a lot of their wealth was left behind. And poor Gapp! He was seen running left and right carrying his pots of golds and giving it to anyone who was interested in taking it. He put gold in his pocket and he put gold in his sleeves and carried great bags of silk filled with golden coins and gave away all his gold freely. But mattered not how much he gave, there was still tons of gold left back at his cave. People were running desperately, trying to gather as much as they could possess, but in this times of desperation not many were thinking about hoarding coins. Thus in the end, just before the battle was about to ensue, Gapp found that he still had two fifths of his estate left with him, even after he had given away the pots of gold to all the living members of the town. So he decided to hire the remaining donkeys and horse carts that would carry the gold. But none were willing to bear that burden for there was much else, more valuable than gold, that had to be carried. Then, the horse master said, ‘These little pots of gold are so valuable to us. Almost all of us work all our life to obtain these. But their true value is in the joy and merriment that they bring when we spend these. Our town was rich and luxurious in wealth, but only because it was a house of wisdom and was home to great festivals, celebrations, marriages, music and plays. ‘People, even the poor ones, used to enjoy the gatherings and parties. They participated to make music, danced in rhythms and feasted on brilliant dishes. Now in this time of war, all these things have gone away. Thus the true value of these golden pots have also gone away. That is why O old merchant, your little pots of golds have no value for anyone. It is my suggestion that you leave these dead weight back here only and take only that which you deem valuable, for the horses will definitely shake off this unnecessary load if you won’t.’ Then great black spots came in front of Gapp’s eyes as sadness gripped him and he recollected all those days when he had worked hard in the mines and had heard, from the darkness, the sound of laughter and the voice of melodies. Nonetheless, he recovered from his initial blow, and said, ‘ I worked hard all my life so that I may help those who are in need. I did help many. I could not help them all. Yet, my true lesson cannot be measured by these pots of golds. My true lesson is the wisdom that I bear forever with me, in my mind, heart, and soul. I won’t mind departing from this gold, for as you say, it is of no value to me. Yet I will not leave it hidden here either. I will give it all to the flow. I will surrender it completely.’ Then he shifted all the golden coins from the pots of gold to wooden barrels and in his haste he accidentally put his journal in the wooden barrel as well. Then, when the wooden barrels were filled, he tested them by throwing them to the river. The barrel of wealth did not drown. Ultimately, the waters came and took all his wealth, just like years ago, it had taken the wealth of his parents. So he surrendered all his wealth to the rivers indeed and took only a portion of it with him and went with the horse master to some other town. Later, when the war had ended and when peace had settled in once again, with the wealth that he had maintained, he opened a certain library in the town and invited great scholars to give him company. He took part in great discussions and developed the habit of writing everything. In such wise he launched out books upon books that helped the masses in all sectors of life. He even made routine visits to other towns in order to get the stories of struggling people and always attempted to help them with the wealth that he would gather and by sharing his wealth, knowledge and wisdom.

In such wise, he achieved his dream and continued to reflect back on his achievement everyday such that he came to realise that: Achievements are not what you measure in a period of one’s lifetime, but that which you measure in periods of moments, hours, and days. Thus he achieved his dreams on a daily basis and lived each and every single moment as a rich and wealthy person. But his brother had a strangely different fate.

End of Part 1

10,000 Golden Pots The tale of 2 brothers Part 2

10,000 Golden Pots - 1I

It has already been told that when Gnot’s parents had perished, he had acquired, from the floating rubble, a pot that was filled with golden coins and with that pot he had left his home town. He travelled long and hard, and for many days, he faced the heat of the sun as it smote his back. Then after a long test of time, he finally found a town that was suitable to his liking, and therein he deposited the pot of gold coins to the minster’s desk and purchased a house at the market place of the town. Now, during his travels, Gnot had encountered a lot of shady folks and had to resort to a lot of cunning tricks to keep his gold safe. Thus his mind had become sharp and he himself had developed a shrewd personality. It was this shrewd personality of his that attracted the mind of a certain accountant called Kalkulus to him, and as time passed both of them developed a very strong bond with each other. They would talk about business and would often conspire cheap tricks to rob other merchants off their products. At night they would attend the alehouse together and would drink from the same cup. So Gnot was not surprised when one day Kalkulus proposed: ‘Hefty sums of money you have; and in this cobblestone business of yours you make a lot of profit. But this profit of yours is nothing when compared to that which I can make for you. Allow me to manage your accounts and you will find that your profits will have increased by ten times.’ To this, Gnot agreed happily and truly indeed, in just a month, the cunning wit of Kalkulus opened a running river of money for him such that a stream of gold coins kept on coming to Gnot. The flow of wealth increased to such a quantity that Gnot had to purchase a private souterrain for himself, wherein he decided to deposit all his money. He converted all his estate to thousands pots of gold that were filled with golden coins, and he purchased some slave labours who put the heavy load on their backs and carried the gold to the aforementioned tunnel. Thus, in the end, Gnot had all his wealth stored in the pots and Kalkulas kept a good count of all the gold, lest any misfortunes befalls them. Then Gnot said to him, ‘Many there are who obtain so much wealth from unknown sources that it makes their head spins and they lose track of what they have and what they do not. But even if these dunderheads avail the benefit of your friendship then nothing can go wrong in the department of calculations, because, my dear friend Kalkulas, you truly are a prodigious masters of numbers and with your aid, I have tenfolded my wealth in just a matter of few years. ‘Now, it is my wish to build a palace for myself; for I have dwelt too long on these market streets and the space of my house has become too less for me, now that I am married and have a wife and kids. So with this money that you have helped me gather, I shall endeavour to build such a mansion for myself as will make even The Prince jealous and by the end, I will live my life like a king.’ Kalkulas smirked, and said, ‘O dear friend of mine. You truly are a remarkably fortunate being, for never have I encountered such a person who is not so well equipped with art of numbers, but has yet managed to maintain all his wealth, and that too in such a large degree. However, as your friend, it behoves me to ask you to not pursue this desire of yours. ‘For hitherto, I had always been by your side and had helped you in your transactions, but, now, fate has written a different chapter for me in the book of destiny and needs must that I take leave from you and depart this town forever. Without me, you will not be able to manage the enterprise, so please, O beloved friend of mine, do not consider to get yourself a palace and remain content in what you have.’ The words did leave a bitter taste in Gnot’s mind but he chose to value their friendship and spoke nothing in return. Then after a while, Kalkulus left the town and went to some other kingdom, while Gnot hired another accountant for himself who was a bald headed fat man with a round chin, and who sported a bushy brown beard with a moustache. This new accountant was called Los and from then onwards Los maintained the counts on the gold coins that Gnot had.

***

Gnot went ahead with his plans. No one in the entire town had enough money to even dream about such a project. But ambition had planted its seed in the heart of Gnot and now no one could deter him from pursuing his desire. So he hired merchants and instructed builders and called craftsmen from all other town to help him build his dream palace. It was a dreamlike project indeed, and even though initially it was said that the project would take 2 years, the palace building lasted for complete 6 years. In this period builders, craftsmen, merchants, labours, artisans, engineers, bricklayers, plumbers, and many-many others were employed in achieving the perfect design of the palace. Los was found running to and fro from the souterrain filled with pots of golds to the merchants house and other funding places. So much gold was exchanged that it was difficult even for the royal treasurer from the minister’s house to keep a track of who owed whom what. Los too was dumbfounded and at a loss about the financial exchanges. He calculated all the numbers on his fingers and even used his abacus to keep a count, but his results were always confusing. He tried to make a chart in his notebook, but ended up cutting it so many times that it was rendered illegible. His plump face went red as he attempted to process the digits in his mind, but he could not get a good account on the numbers and ended up pulling his moustache and beard in sheer frustration. Ultimately, he decided to round off all the figures, and, thus, he said to Gnot: ‘The first floor renovation cost us 75 golden pots last week and another 35 are due for the balustrade designers. I think that we require 17…no…14…no..no… wait a minute…Yeah, we have to receive 170 golden pots from the chief architect and have to give 45 to the metal suppliers, but we cannot give any before we receive the sum from the -’ Gnot raised his palms in irritation and retorted: ‘Just apply for the damned loans if you are running short. We’ll reimburse everything once the palace is done. Stop bothering me with your nonsense.’ Los knitted his eyebrows in confusion and scratched his head as he departed.

***

At the end of 6 years, 10 years after Gnot had run off from his home town, the dreamlike palace was done. It was mighty to behold and looked, even to the princes, more prince like than their own house of dwelling. Then they were jealous indeed and from that jealousy, there awakened envy, and they become so angry in their hearts, that they commanded all their ministers to set an inquiry upon he who had dared to tread upon such an endeavour. Then a committee was established indeed, and people began to inspect where had all the gold come from. And in the end it was found that The Town Government itself had paid for more than 30% of the sum! The wealthy merchant Gnot had kept on applying for loans from the town and the foolish people down at the bank had continued to give him that money! The princes were shocked and angry to find these. One of them, the eldest one, said: ‘Seize the mortgagor and demand all the money back from him. The people of town don’t pay taxes so that the rich may live in exquisite luxury! Seize him.’ And his voice rose to a terrible shrill note and the palace guards all rushed to Gnot’s house and seized him, saying: ‘Time has come for you to return that which you had received from others.’ Then Gnot said, ‘Worry not! I have many thousands pots of gold, filled with thousands of golden coins, waiting for me in my souterrain. I will return every single coin that I had borrowed from thee. But first, let us all go to my accounts’s house. His name is Los and it is only he, who knows the true count of what I have and what I need to give. Then the party all gathered together, Gnot and his labours with the town soldiers and guards, and together they moved in a file and proceeded towards Los’s house.

***

Los was sitting at his balcony, a little worried in his head, but enjoying his evening tomato soup. As he took the first sip from the cup, his eyes became big and he sputtered all the soup out in the air, and the mug fell from his hands. He had spotted the little party marching towards his house. Then he rushed back to his house and while packing all his stuff up in his sack, he said: ‘A fool my master was to hire such a dimwitted idiot like me; and fool I was too to not report the losses that my master had concurred on account of me, but he who would stay here to endure the punishments given by The Prince would be the most foolish of them all. So needs must that I leave everything and run away from here.’ Thus, in such wise, Los left all his reports and account books and log books at his house only, and fled away from the place as like a hare flees away from the wolves when they do catch its scent.

***

All the account books read: Zero. In some log books it was written: Master owes thousand coins to this builder, and he owes a hundred coins to this builder. In the table that was titled: Loan from bank; there were a lot of scratches and, in dirty scrawls, numbers had been written then rewritten and they had been rubbed so many times that the paper was torn in between; and Gnot could see that Los had cut out many tables, and had made a mess of things. He himself had no idea about even a single thing. The prince broke out into a evil smile. Gnot gulped.

***

At the town court, The Judge’s voice could be heard: ‘...you have wasted a lot of precious tax money on building a palace that is of no use to anybody now that the builders have not been paid completely. You have committed multiple scams, have indulged in double dealing, and have involved yourself in fraudulence, dupery, and treachery. The town court holds you accountable for all of these aforementioned crimes and by the power that has been vested to it, it declares that you are found guilty and you shall be hanged by the neck until death.’ ‘But my lord,’ Gnot’s sputtered, ‘please do believe me. It is not in my nature to commit treachery. It is true that I am not a native of this town, but that is because I come from a family whose name is...was quite famous, and my parents were well renowned in our town for their gift making and charity. I am their blood indeed! Please pardon me O Lords of Justice. Do not send me to the gallows so quickly. Mercy! I beg for mercy!’ ‘Expect no mercy from us, for our judgement is final and we have made it after due considerations. Your crimes are innumerable and you have not been able to prove even a single thing that you said. We could find no trace of the reputable Kalkulus, nor could we find Los. You have not been able to give proof about your relationship with your parents either, though we have confirmed indeed that those people did live in the town that had perished in the flood and were quite renowned for their charity. Why even our own town had received something from their money. Yet, due to lack of proof and on account of the seriousness of your crimes, you cannot be spared. Time enough was given to you to repay your debts. But since you have failed to refurbish anything, needs must that you be hanged till death.’ The judgement was given, the public was satisfied and Gnot fell down to his knees and collapsed.

***

The gallow had been prepared. The prisoner was bound in chains and the rays of sun smote the river that kept on flowing with life and mocked the one who was about to depart from it. The noose was fitted to the neck and the executioner prepared himself. The town priest said, ‘The house of lord is about to receive thy sinless soul. The gates will open and take you and forever you will depart from this valley of tears. Do ye have any last words for this world?’ Through tears and sobs, the visions of his life flashed in front of his eyes and Gnot said, ‘All my life, never had I worked too hard, and yet, this life had continued to give more and more to me. I had not asked for it, I had not deserved it, and yet it kept giving me gifts. Yet never did I bother to stop and respect that which I had. Never did I count my blessings. I received so much money from life but never did I keep a track of what I had, and continued to spend without noticing what was gone, what came, and what left me forever. ‘Thus today, I find myself in this plight. O fate, your ways of teaching are cruel and much it is that I wish to say to you, but since my moments are now counted, I will only say this: Forgive me for what I have done. O brother, O father, O mother. Forgive me for my sins. Everything has come to and end. Please forgive me. O dear lord, hear I come.’ Then Gnot became still and silent as like a corpse, and the minister nodded and blessed him and the executioner proceeded to pull the plug. But before he could, The prince, who was more agitated than usual, suddenly spotted something in the river and said: ‘Halt ! What goes floating in the river moments before this heathen is about to be executed. Guards ! Go out there and check what it is and remove it from our sight. I want this builder of fake palaces to be sent off without any imperfections. Go and remove the odd rubble from the river.’

The guards rushed towards the bank on hurried steps and used the lances to grab the floating rubble and inspected them minutely. Then they shouted from the banks: ‘My lord! It is no rubble. These are wooden barrels filled with nothing else but gold coins. There are more than 10-20 barrels here and all of them are filled with gold coins! It is a marvellous sight indeed O lord!’ The prince was bewildered out of his wits and all the public who had gathered there was also amazed, and as the soldiers brought the barrels and upturned them, a stream of golden coins flowed from the cask and their radiance glowed under the sun. Then the minister grabbed hold of the final barrel and upturned it and from it, came a very wet journal and the ink in that journal had not run dry and many words were written on it. The ministers started reading the journal. Then he kept on reading it. When he was done, his mouth fell open and he fainted.

***

The voice of The Judge rang in the court:

‘The town court has decided to pardon thee, on account of the story that is found in the barrels. Since your own stories matches completely with the incidents described in that journal, we have decided to give you one more chance. Moreover, the money that once belonged to your brother shall be used to repay all the builders and all those to whom you had owed money. The town bank shall also be replenished with the same amount. ‘Thus all charges are dropped from thee and now you are a free man once again, though you won’t be allowed to live in that palace and decision about that still remains pending.’ ‘O long live the judge! Long live the prince! Long live the king!’ Gnot could not stop his tears from streaming his face and as the episode came to a close, he decided to take his wife and kids with him and leave the town forever and establish his estate at some other place. But before he could depart, a giant party was welcomed by the lords of the town and he saw that some very rich merchant had come to the town and he rode on an elephant, and behind him, on other elephants, there marched his followers and all of them were very richly garbed and carried loads of scrolls and books with them. Then he marvelled at the procession. But much more was his amazement when he saw that the party came to his street indeed, and ten folds was his shock when he saw he who dismounted from the elephant and greeted him.

It was Kalkulus and he was smiling widely. He said, ‘O my beloved friend Gnot! Didn’t I tell you not to meddle in these non sense dealings. I’m glad you are all right and have removed yourself from the knot in which you were caught.’ Both the friends then broke out in tears and hugged each other and for a long time spoke nothing. But then Kalkulus broke free from him and said: ‘In my time that I spent away from thee, I travelled and sought for wise business men who were similar to thee, and you won’t believe whom I found.’ Then Kalkulus waved his hand and Gnot followed it and saw whom he had brought and then he fainted. It was his brother Gapp and he too was smiling broadly though there were pricks of tears in his eyes and his happiness was uncountable. Then the people around them marvelled and laughed and after that the whole town went back to their daily dealings.

By Kumar Shaurya Singh