Vikram Betaal: Reward For The Gatekeeper

Once upon a time there lived a king named Chandrakant. He was very popular due to his valour and generous nature.
One day, a guard, who was responsible for guarding the main entrance of the palace, came to him and told him, “His Majesty! You must alert our soldiers, as the enemy’s army might attack our country within a few days.” Chandrakant asked him how he could say that beforehand. The guard did not give a proper reply to that and said that it was just a hunch.

After a few days, the neighbouring country did launch a massive attack on Chandrakant’s kingdom, but as his soldiers were alert, they were able to counter the attack. The enemies were vanquished and king Chandrakant was able to save his kingdom.

Once the war was over, he decided to give a suitable reward to the guard for his accurate information.

Next day, the guard was summoned in the court to receive his reward from the king. The king asked him once again that how he could predict so accurately that the enemies were going to attack the kingdom. The guard replied, “Sir I can see things which are going to happen in my dreams. One night, while I was doing my duty, I had a dream about the enemy army attacking us.” After hearing this, the king gave him one thousand gold coins. And then, suddenly he said to the guard in a firm tone, “You are dismissed from the post of the guard,” Everyone in the king’s court was surprised by the king’s decision, but no one dared to ask him why. The guard quietly accepted the king’s decision. He bowed down before the king and went away.

After the story, Betaal asked Vikram, “Could you tell me, why the king dismissed the guard even when he had helped him to win against the enemy?

Vikram answered, “Betaal, the duty of a guard is to take care of the palace’s gate. As the guard said,he had a dream during duty,the king got the idea that he was sleeping on duty. So, although he helped him win against the enemy army, he forgot to do his duty. That is why the king dismissed him from the post of the guard.”

As soon as Vikram finished his answer, Betaal flew back to the tamarind tree.

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