| On that day, the funeral ceremony being organized by the millionaire coincided with the man�s arrival. Upon seeing the ceremony, the man walked up to someone and asked:� What kind of ceremony are you organizing with such a coffin?� He said:� The King has ordered a beautiful cart made in time for his visit to the forest in the morning, or the King will have the millionaire executed. Now, the millionaire is aware that he can not have such a nice cart made in such a short time, so he has a coffin made and his own funeral ceremony organized instead.� Hearing that, the man replied:� It is not so difficult! First give me meal to eat and I will make one in time in the morning.� The millionaire, hearing out what the man had said, was very delighted, so he had a good meal prepared for the man to eat his fill and gave him enough wood to make the cart. The man made the cart with only his � Bantous � knife and finished it at that night. He painted the cart beautifully and in the morning he pulled it to the King, who saw it and ordered his servants to get things ready for the forest visit. As for the millionaire after being freed from death, he thought:� This man has rendered me a great deal of favors and I do not know what I should offer him in return, but I have only a daughter whom I should marry to that man in return for his invaluable help.� Then, he married his daughter to that man. On that night, when going to bed, the man wanted to test his wife�s heart, so he pretended to be so intoxicated that he soon fell asleep. When it was rather late at night, the man pretended to vomit and dirtied his wife all over. Seeing that, the millionaire�s daughter shouted on that night:� Father has married me to a drunkard! Now, he has vomited and dirtied me all over. I can not put up with him.� The millionaire, hearing his daughter�s cry, said:� Please go to sleep, my dear! Your husband is being drunk and moreover, he has also rendered me great favors.� The daughter did not listen to her father�s advice and said:� You had better marry me to a cat or a dog rather than to a drunkard. I can not stand him.� In the next morning, the man got up and walked up to the millionaire to give his daughter back to him. He told the millionaire that he would not accept his daughter and that he did not touch her. The millionaire tried to apologize for his daughter�s improper behavior and told him to stay, but the man declined. The man then said goodbye to the millionaire and walked away, bringing along only his � Bantous � knife. When the King had come back from his forest visit, he ordered a servant to send for the person who had made the cart. He felt very sorry when the man could not be found. The King then ordered his dignitaries to send letters to all provinces to look for the man,. Yet, nowhere could the man be found. The King then stayed quiet. As for the man, after saying goodbye to the millionaire, he kept walking till he reached another country. The King of that country ordered his dignitaries to take turn in guarding the royal hall every night. The King always came out at night and chopped the guarding dignitary to death one after another since the first turn. Many dignitaries had been killed. The day on which the man arrived coincided with the turn to be taken by Mr. the Chaovear ( title given by the King to a high-ranking dignitary ) to be chopped to death by the King that night. That Chaovear organized a funeral ceremony for himself on that day. The man, arriving at the Chaovear�s house, asked:� What is the matter with him? Why is he holding this ceremony? And why are his wife and children crying?� Someone told him that it was his turn to be chopped to death by the King that night. That was why he was holding a ceremony before he died. Then, the man said:� Give me a meal to eat and I will go to be chopped to death by the King instead.� Hearing that, Mr. the Chaovear ordered a servant to call the man to him and had a good meal prepared for him to eat and said:� If you go to be chopped to death by the King instead of me, I will organize a funeral ceremony for you. The man agreed and asked Mr. the Chaovear for his official clothes to wear and then walked away, carrying his � Bantous � knife on the shoulder, to the royal hall to sleep in wait for the King to come out to chop him to death. On that night, the man did not sleep. He waited for the King to come and chop him to death. When it was very late at night, the King opened the door to come out secretly with a sword in his hand. He approached the man and chopped him, but the man rushed to hug the King tightly and pierced him with his � Bantous � knife a few times, but he pretended to miss the King. He then said:� Who are you? How dare you come here at night? The King has ordered me to guard the pavilion tonight.� After having uttered such words, the man pierced the King another few times, but also pretended to miss him. Then, the King said:� It is me! It is me!.� � Who says it is me!� replied the man. The King said:� I am the King!� � Eh! If you are the King, why do you come here at this time of the night,� said the man, adding:� I do not know who you are because the King has ordered me to guard the royal hall tonight.� After asking the King so insistently, the man knelt down and saluted the King by joining both hands and raised them up to ask for forgiveness. The King said:� Where do you live?� The man said:� I live in Mr. the Chaovear�s house.� The King smiled and walked back into the chamber. In the morning, the man, carrying the knife on his shoulder, walked out of the palace and went back to Mr. the Chaovear�s house. Upon seeing him coming back, everyone doubted why the man, who had gone to sleep for the King to chop him to death, came back alive. Mr. the Chaovear asked the man about what had happened. The man told him everything and said, adding:� The present King is not so mean as he has wished to look for knowledgeable people in the country to protect him. This is why he had ordered dignitaries to take turn in guarding the pavilion, but those dignitaries went to sleep instead of doing guard duty, so the King sneaked to come out to chop them to death. What would happen if the enemy came to attack the King while we were sleeping?� Only after the man had told everything that everybody realized the truth. Mr. the Chaovear had a daughter. He then married her to the man as he thought that the man had saved his life. In the morning, the King sent for the man and appointed him to be a palace highest-ranking dignitary, the rank which was only one level lower than the King to protect the country. When the King became very old and as he had no sons to succeed him except a daughter, he decided to marry his only daughter to the man and allowed the man to succeed him as the King. � True Words May Keep You Alive � |
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