The Wise Queen
Once upon a time, there lived a wise and virtuous queen named Manekadevi. She was kind to her subjects and ensured there was law and order in her queendom. She never let anyone go hungry and made sure that children went to school.
One day, when Queen Manekadevi was busy discussing important matters with her Ministers in her magnificent palace, three men arrived requesting to meet her. They were poor and seemed desperate; one of them cried out, "We must see her Majesty or an entire village will die of hunger!", said one of the men.
On hearing the commotion, the Queen immediately asked her guards to let the men inside the palace. "What is the matter?" she asked the men in a gentle voice. The second man said, "your Majesty, we live in the village behind the hills and there is no food to eat, please help us!". The three men fell to the Queen's feet and begged her to help.
Seeing their pitiful situation, the Queen immediately ordered her guards to give the men 20 bags of food containing lentils, vegetables, wheat, rice, and sweets for children. Indeed, Queen Maneka was very kind and generous. The men thanked her endlessly and were on their way soon after the guards loaded the bags onto five horse-carts and bid the men farewell.
Three days later, the three men came to the palace again and said that some thieves had stolen the 20 bags of food. The Queen and the Ministers were surprised and angered on knowing this. They had ensured the food would last for three weeks at least. How could someone steal somebody's food and force them to go hungry, they wondered. But, the Queen didn't question the men any further. She asked her guards to load 30 bags of food onto the carts and bade the villagers farewell.
Exactly three days later, the three men appeared at the palace once more with the same complaint. "Your Majesty, it is indeed embarrassing for us to come to you like beggars asking for food. Our food was stolen again!" The three men broke down and began crying.
The Queen asked them to steady themselves and assured them that she would help. This time the Queen gave the men 40 bags of food and asked them to keep a night vigil to catch the thieves. The men promised her they would be watchful.
On reaching the hillside, the men stopped the horse-carts and found a place to light a bonfire as the sky had turned very dark and it was cold. Sitting around the bonfire, the men began chatting and eating some food they retrieved from the carts. One said," Ha! We fooled the Queen again!" The other said, "Yes! yes! She did not suspect a thing! Now we can have all this food for ourselves!" "Yes! And make money selling some". The third man said sarcastically, "Oh we mustn't, or the imaginary villagers will go to bed hungry!" "Ha! Ha! Ha!", they all laughed in unison.
Just then, something moved amongst the horse-carts and startled the three men. They stood up and went to the carts to check what was wrong. As soon as they approached, out popped the Queen's guards from the bags and arrested the three lying men who were the real thieves.
The three men took the Queen for granted, thinking she was foolish and naive, but they were wrong. Queen Manekadevi had suspected something was amiss and ordered her guards to hide in some of the bags and follow the men that evening. The guards put the thieves in prison, and Queen Maneka distributed the stolen food amongst the poor and needy in her queendom.
