Author: S P Sharma
Publisher: Unicorn Books/Pustak Mahal
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 117
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8178060728
Description
Tales of legendary courtiers and jesters have delighted people for centuries. Through their wit, wisdom and humour, such men saved themselves and others, even their kings, from ticklish situations. This book covers five such legendary characters. In India, Birbal was the most famous wit and one of the nine jewels in Emperor Akbar’s court.
MULLA NASRUDDIN is rated as one of the world’s most famous funsters and probably lived in ancient Turkey. A manof the masses, he did not enjoy musk royal Patronage.
TENALI RAMA was a court jester during King Krishna Eva Raya’s reign in Vijayanagar. He gained the confidence of the king and the people for his unique style of tackling problems, besides his keen wit and humour.
APPAJI RAO was King Krishnadeva Raya’s Chief Minister, who had the unique ability to unravel the truth underlying tricky situations, often humorously.
MARYADA RAMAN was a judge during the reign of the Chola kings in south India, with an unerring instinct in meting out justice in cases where direct evidence was absent. Almost all tales in the book are humorous, with most containing ethical and moral principles.
Contents
TALES OF BIRBAL
1. Chanting the Lord’s Name
2. A Strange Punishment
3. The Astrologer’s Prediction
4. Akbar Vs God
5. God is Omnipresent
6. Her Most Precious Possession
7. The Surprise Witness
8. Identifying the King
9. The Full Moon Vs. the New Moon
10. Gold Over Justice
TALES OF MULLA NASRUDDIN
11. No Shortcuts in Life
12. The Unanswerable Question
13. Useful and Useless Knowledge
14. Mulla’s Black Dress
15. Mulla’s Night Vision
16. The Heavy Fall
17. The Chicks and Their Grif
18. Breach of Trust
19. The Advance Warning
20. The Secret of Happiness
21. The Cow-and-Bull Tale
22. The Backward Ride
23. Mulla in Hiding
24. Dealing with Hecklers
25. The Bean Somersault
26. Action and Reaction
27. Mulla the Smuggler
TALES OF TENALI RAMA
28. Birth and Initiation
29. The Court Jester
30. The Rat Killer
31. The Overpriced Cat
32. The Brinjal Theif
33. Tenali’s Street-smart Son
34. Revenge on the Raj Guru
35. How Rama Cheated Death
36. The ‘Pious’ Parrots
37. Even the King Cannot Be Trusted
38. Tenali’s Cruel Stroke
39. The Snobbish Horse
40. Tenali’s Conditional ‘Donation’
TALES OF APPAJI RAO
41. Effects of the Environment
42. Inner World Reflects the Outer One
43. The Learned Fools
TALES OF MARYADA RAMAN
44. How Maryada Raman Caught Royal Attention
45. The Cotton Merchants’ Cat
46. The Woman Who Lied for Ghee
47. The Gold Coins’ Dispute
48. False Friend, False Witnesses
49. The Lying Merchant
50. The Elephant Muddle