007.1 – The wood cutter (part 1)
In those days, while a king of Varanasi was traveling in the royal forest, he saw a woman. She was singing while cutting wood. The king fell in love with her and made love with her.
The wood cutter feel that her womb is full and heavy so she told the king “My majesty, I’ve got pregnant.”
The king gave her a ring and said “If the baby was a girl, sell this ring. If the baby was a boy, come to my palace with this ring.” and then went away.
The wood cutter finally had a baby boy but did not go to see the king.
One day, the boy asked her “Mommy, who is my father ?”
“My son, you’re a son of the king Varanasi” The wood cutter replied.
“You have an evidence or witness, right ?” The boy was curious.
“Yes, the king had given this ring and told me that if the child was a girl, I should sell this ring; if the child was a boy, bring the boy with the ring to see him.” The wood cutter explained.
“So why don’t you bring me to my father’s palace ?” The boy asked.
The wood cutter realized that she should bring her son to see his father. She went to the palace and told the royal guard to report this to the king. The king allowed the wood cutter and her son to meet him.
In the throne hall, the wood cutter said to the king “My majesty, as you may already know, this boy is your son.”
With shame, the king denied “No, he is not my son.”
The wood cutter brought up the ring and said “My majesty, this is your ring. You may remember this ring.”
“Even this ring is not mine” The king denied again.
[To be continue ...]