Bunwas and the King

Hello everyone.

    The story that I am going to tell you today is of Bunwas. This story was told to me by my father when I was a little girl. He loved to tell stories I was always eager to hear them.

    I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 BUNWAS AND THE KING

    Once upon a time, there was a man in Arabia by the name of Abu Nawaz but everybody called him Bunwas. He was a very kind and intelligent man. He was always ready to help anyone in trouble. Because of this reason he was very popular amongst the people. The king was very jealous of him and was always looking out for ways to make Bunwas look bad. But, no matter what he did, Bunwas always got the better of the king.

    One day, the king had an idea. He announced in his kingdom that if anybody could stay in the cold water the whole night without having anything to warm himself with, he would give that person one kilogram in gold.

    Now, in his kingdom there lived a very poor woman and his son. They were so poor that they hardly had anything to eat. When the son heard this announcement he went to his mother and told her about the announcement.

    “Mother, the King is willing to give one kilogram of gold to anybody if he can stay in the cold water for one night,” he said. “I’m very strong and healthy. I’m thinking of going to the King and take up the challenge he has set. What do you think?”

    The mother was very concerned. Her husband had died and there was no-one else she could call her own save her son. She tried to dissuade him to take up the challenge but the son was adamant.

    “My son, what if anything happened to you?” she asked fearfully. “What will I do? You are the only one I can call my own. I love you so much I don’t want you to get hurt. Staying in cold water the whole night is very dangerous.”

    “Nothing will happen to me, Mother,” the son reassured her. “I’ll be perfectly safe, I assure you. Besides, if we can get that kind of gold all our worries will be over.”

    After a long argument, the mother had to give in. The son went to the king the next day and announced to him that he was ready to take up the challenge. The king was delighted.

    That very night the arrangements were made. A big basin was filled with water and kept in an open ground. A lot of people turned out to see the brave person was who was willing to spend a night in the cold water. Since the weather was very cold the water was bound to be very cold.

  

    The boy’s mother had come with him. At eight o’clock sharp the

king gave the order for the boy to enter the water. He put one foot in the water and felt it very cold but he thought of the gold and put his other foot in and then immersed his whole body in the water.

    His mother looked on in a very worried manner. She was helpless.

    The crowd that was gathered there slowly began to scatter as the night went on. Everybody was tired and sleepy, except for the mother of the boy. She sat some distance away and watched and then came to look at her son every now and then with a torch to see if he was alright. The night guards, who were to look at the boy in case he did not come out of the water and warmed himself, saw all this.

    The next day, the king appeared at eight o’clock in the morning and looked at the boy. He asked the guards if there was any foul play. The guards told him about his mother who went to look at his son with a torch. The king went to the freezing boy and told him to come out of the water. He then said, “I cannot give you the reward as there was foul play. Your mother was coming to see you with a torch. That torch was giving you warmth. How can I give you the reward?”

    The boy and his mother were very disappointed. They protested that he did not get any warmth at all since the mother only brought a torch which just gave out light but no warmth, but the king was adamant. Nothing that was said to him would make him change his mind. The mother started to cry. She knew how her son had endured the cold.

    They went home feeling very sad.

    The mother could not sleep that night. She kept thinking about the incident and about the king’s unfair behavior. Then she had an idea.

   The next day she went to Bunwas and told him the whole story.

    Bunwas thought for a little while and then told the old woman to give him some time to think. The old woman went home with a light heart, quite sure that if anybody could put things right for them it was Bunwas.

    Now, Bunwas began to think of a way to make the stubborn king see his mistake. Then, he had an idea.

    He went to the king and invited him to dinner the next day. The king was surprised to get a sudden invitation and asked, “What’s the occasion, Bunwas?”

    “Oh nothing,” replied Bunwas. “I just wanted us to get together and sit and talk. You cannot do that in the daytime as you are so busy. So I decided to invite you so that we could sit and talk.”

    “Very well,” said the king. “I shall be there at eight o’clock.”

    Bunwas thanked him and went away to prepare for the next day.

    The king arrived exactly at eight o’clock. Bunwas invited him and his bodyguards and some of his ministers into the house. Everybody settled down and started to talk about things here and there.

    The time began to pass. One hour passed, two hours passed and almost three hours had passed. Now the king could not wait any longer. He was extremely hungry.

   So he asked Bunwas, “Don’t you think it was about time the dinner was served?”

    “Let us go and see if the food is ready,” replied Bunwas.

    “What the food is not ready yet?” the king asked angrily.

  “Forgive me but we started to cook very early, since morning,” he said. “Let us go and see what is taking the chef so long.”

    And so, Bunwas, the king and some of his ministers went to the kitchen to have a look.

   What they saw there astounded and infuriated the king. The fire was burning alright but the pots of food were not being kept on the fire but were kept near the fire.

    “What is the meaning of this?” he asked angrily. “How can you cook food without putting the pots on fire?”

    “Of course, you can cook by putting the pots near the fire,” replied Bunwas.

    ”How can you cook anything without putting the pots on the fire?” The king asked furiously.

    “Forgive me, Your Majesty,” said Bunwas, “but they can. If a boy can get heat from a torch which his mother brought to see if he was alright, then how can a pot not get hot without putting on the fire?”

    The king stared at Bunwas in amazement. Then, he understood what Bunwas trying to say. He was a just king and he felt very much ashamed of himself when he found out that he had made a very big mistake. Bunwas saw that the king had got his point and he ordered his chef to bring the food that had been prepared in advance and everybody ate and went home

    The next day, the king called the boy and his mother and asked their forgiveness and rewarded the boy with one kilogram of gold and some land to make up for the wrong that he had done.

    The old woman was very happy. She at once went to Bunwas with her son and expressed their gratitude. She was crying tears of joy.

    The old woman and her son lived happily ever after. They never had to worry about anything at all ever again.