At the court of King Pradip, the ruler of Koshala, poets and pandits were held in high esteem. Among them there was one pandit named Vidyadhar. Vidyadhara's father, grandfather and great-grandfather were court poets. After his father's death, Vidyadhar took his place. But he adopted only a few poems from his wise father. Being the son of a pandit does not mean being a scientist yourself.
Only the Vidyadhar's ignorance was soon revealed. Other court pandits realized what he was worth and decided among themselves to bring him to light.
And then one day, when the king was sitting alone, they came to him and said:
- Maharaj! This man is a total fool, even though his name is Vidyadhar. No one has a penny's worth of scholarship! You disgrace yourself by keeping him at court. Try it.
The king was surprised. Vidyadhara's father was a famous scientist. The son also behaved like a true pandit: one had only to look at his high forehead, sprinkled with ash, at his rosary, which he never parted with.
And so King Pradip at one of the court meetings asked Vidyadhara:
- Vidyadhar Pandit! I saw people catching turtles. But I couldn’t understand why they were catching them. Don't you know?
Vidyadhar, without hesitation, blurted out:
- Maharaj! The fact is that turtles have very tasty and healing milk. And Kashmir shawls are made from turtle wool.
The king heard this answer and burst out laughing, followed by the whole courtyard bursting into laughter. The king sees that Vidyadhar is indeed a total fool. But just for fun, he asked him one more question:
- Son of a pandit! Where will the fish go if the pond catches fire?
Vidyadhar replied:
- They'll climb the trees, Maharaja!
- How will they climb? – asked the king, trying his best to hold back his laughter.
- How will they climb? – Vidyadhar was surprised. - Like cows!
The king suppressed a smile and said:
“Let the place that we have given to Vidyadhar at our court remain his. From now on we appoint him as the chief jester, and we will call him Son of the Pandit.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru