The Poor Man who became King

In a country of many hills there was a city called the Great City. A poor man lived there whose name was Karang. He had no wife and very little to eat.

Poor Karang begged for his food. People gave him the food they themselves did not want. Karang was a man with a kind, friendly and polite manner. Because of this the people of the city and also the animals liked him.

The king of the Great City owned a very fat cow. He fed the cow so well that it continued to grow fatter and fatter. Karang saw the cow and an idea came to him that would free him from his poverty and begging.

He thought to himself, “I shall ask the king to let me eat that fat cow. In exchange the king can take me as a slave. That will be the end of my difficulties.”

Karang went to the palace of the king. The king was sitting outside. After Karang had greeted him, he told the king his plan. In exchange for eating the king’s fat cow Karang said he would become one of the king’s slaves.

“I agree with this suggestion,” said the king, and he gave orders that the fat cow should be prepared for Karang to eat. “You may eat this cow for three days,” the king said, “and at the end of the third day you will become my own property.”

The cow was cooked and on the first day Karang began to eat. He was eating near a tall tree and in the tree was a bird’s nest in which were some young birds. The little birds were crying for something to eat. Karang gave them some of his own food.

When the mother bird returned to her nest, the young birds refused the meat she had brought them.

“Why do you refuse to eat?” she asked and they replied, “Our stomachs are full. The man who is eating the cow beneath this tree has already given us meat.”

The next day Karang was still eating near the tall tree and again he heard the little birds crying for something to eat. Again he gave them some of his own food.

When the mother bird returned to the nest, the young birds again did not wish to eat what she had brought them.

“Has this man fed you again?” she asked, and the young birds replied that he had.

On the third day, the mother bird decided to wait to see the man who had been so kind to her young birds. The young birds cried for food and the man came bringing meat.

“Why have you so much to eat,” the bird asked, “that every day you are able to feed my young birds?”

“The king gave me his fat cow so that I could eat it and then become his slave,” Karang answered.

“When will you become a slave?” asked the bird.

“Today,” the man answered.

Then the bird said, “When you are taken in front of the king of the Great City, you should do the following.”

“What shall I do?” asked Karang.

“Ask the king to let you say your last words of freedom,” the bird continued. “When you are given this chance, you must say, ‘Is this the end of my life as a free man?’ Then, I shall help you.”

Karang returned to what remained of his food from the fat cow and continued to eat until it was time for him to go to the king’s palace. The bird flew to a place where she could watch what was happening.

When Karang was brought to him to be put in chains of bondage, the king was present with all his people.

Karang said, “Please allow me to say my last words of freedom.”

The king and his people said, “Say your last words.”

Karang lifted up his head and cried, “Is this the end of my life as a free man?”

Then a great voice from the sky, which in fact was the bird, came like thunder.

“If anyone enslaves you, Karang, there will be no rain on this country for three years. The crops will die. There will be hunger and starvation.”

The great voice repeated the threat many times.

The people were filled with fear. The king was filled with fear also. He declared, “Is it the poor who are the most powerful? Who am I to be ruling Karang?”

The king gave his title to Karang who became king. The former king was content to serve him. Believing that the sky would answer Karang, the people accepted him as their new king of the Great City.

In his heart Karang was forever grateful to the bird who saved him from slavery and made him a king.