The Lost Camel

There was a city called Mysore, in India. The City was famous for all the riches that sea and land can yield, and inhabited by people speaking different languages. In that city ruled a king name Vikram, who was a great ruler with all excellent qualities. He was so just a king that during his reign the cow and the tiger peacefully quenched their thirst side by side in the same pond, the cats and the rats sported in one and the same spot, and the kite and the parrot laid their eggs in the same nest, as though they were “birds of a feather.”The women never deviated from the path of virtue, and regarded their husbands as gods. Timely rain refreshed the soil, and all Vikram’s subjects lived in plenty and happiness. In short, king Vikram was the body, and his subjects the soul of that body, for he was upright in all things.

Now there in Mysore lived a rich merchant who lost his camel one day. He searched for it without success in all directions, and at last reached a road which he was informed led to another city, called Madras, the king of which was named Chandra. King Chandra under him had four wise ministers. These four ministers, for some reason, were unhappy with the king, decided to leave the kingdom, and set out for another country. As they journeyed along they observed the track of a camel, and each made a remark on the peculiar condition of the animal, judging from the footsteps and other indications on the road.

On the way they met the merchant who was searching for his camel, and, entering into conversation with him, one of the travellers inquired if the animal was not lame in one of its legs; another asked if it was not blind of the right eye; the third asked if its tail was not unusually short; and the fourth inquired if it was not suffering from any disease. They were all answered "Yes by the merchant" who was convinced that they must have seen the camel, and eagerly demanded where they had seen it. They replied that they had seen foot prints of the camel, but not the camel itself. The merchant accused them of having stolen the camel, and immediately applied to king Vikram for redress.

After hearing the merchant’s story, the king was equally impressed with the belief that the travellers would have stolen the camel, and sending for them threatened them with severe punishment if they did not confess the truth. How could you four know, the king demanded, If the camel was lame or blind, or whether the tail was long or short, or that it was suffering from any disease, unless you people have it in your possession? In reply, they each explained the reasons which had induced them to express their belief in these particulars. 

The first traveller said: “I noticed from the footmarks of the animal that one was missing, and I concluded accordingly that it was lame of one of its legs.”

The second traveller said: “I noticed that the leaves of the trees on the left side of the road had been snapped or torn off, while those on the right side remained untouched, hence I concluded that the animal was blind of his right eye.”

The third traveller said: “I saw some drops of blood on the road, which I noticed had flowed from the bites of flies, and so I concluded that the camel’s tail was shorter than usual, As a result of which he could not brush the insects away.”

The fourth traveller said: “I observed that while the front-feet of the animal were planted firmly on the ground the back ones appeared to have scarcely touched it, hence I guessed that they were contracted by pain in the belly of the animal.”

When the king heard their explanation he was much struck by the cleverness of the four travellers, and giving 500 gold coins to the merchant who had lost the camel; he made the four young men his principal ministers, and bestowed on each of them several villages as free gifts.