Long, long ago was a lavish Kingdom of king “Extraordinary”, where there lived green trees, loving women, strong men, studious kids, sturdy animals, and also a big family of Bug “B”. The family of B comprising of his son, daughter, grandsons and granddaughters dwelt in a small corner of the enormous bed of the king.
Every day, while the king slept, the entire bug family would stealthily drink the King’s blood, and they were happily multiplying their family out of the royal nourishment. One day, a ravenous mosquito “M” drifted into the room, enthralled by the exotic fragrance coming from the king’s bedroom. Standing there, he buzzed in sheer joy thinking of the scrumptious feast, he would have if he bit the king.
Intruding his thoughts, he heard a voice. It was the bug standing beside and asking, “Who are you? How dare you come into the king’s bedroom?? It is we, who reign here, unanimously. Just go away from here”.
Offended, M asked, “Why don’t you show me some concern, dear bug, I am a traveler and I have tasted all sorts of blood, but I have never had the chance of tasting royal blood. And the fragrance in this room promises me that it will be of unprecedented taste. Please give me a chance.” Bug replied that it cannot allow the mosquito to bite the king, because if the king gets bitten by the mosquito, he might get startled, jump in anger and kill all the bugs residing in the bed, and that letting the mosquito go poses a life threat.
But the mosquito wasn’t ready to leave.. He was of the undaunted type, so he fell to the toes of the bug and prayed to allow him at least a night’s dinner. The soft-hearted bug was a bit shaken by this gesture and said, ” Yes, as you said, the king’s blood does really taste good, and okay, since you are so humble, I’ll allow you to dine his blood, but remember, you should come to dinner, neither at the wrong time, nor at the wrong place”
Amused by the condition of B, M asked him to explain which the right time was and what the right place, to bite the king was. “The right time”, the bug replied, “is when the king has eaten his dinner and drunk all his wine. He will then fall fast asleep”.
“And the right place, “the bug added, “is the king’s foot. If you bite him there while he is fast asleep, he may not notice your bite, and that is how we would have our daily food. Keep it in mind and exercise caution”.
Telling so, the bug went back to the corner of the bed and the mosquito was eagerly awaiting the king’s arrival. Once the king entered the bedroom and forged towards his bed, the mosquito was so excited and he was dreaming of the royal relinquishment. The pleasure was so immense for him, that he immediately set to plunge into action, forgetting completely the advice given by the bug.
He was keenly aiming for a better place in the jeweled neck of the king, and at the exact moment he rooted himself to the right place, a strong hand fell on him and smashed him down to pieces.. It was the heavy hand of the queen, the king’s wife, slightly disturbed by a small tickling bite of the clever bug, and she had thrown her hands on the king’s shoulder.
“I was misled by the humble approach of the poor mosquito, but thoughtfully, was a bit afraid too that the stupid stranger might do something irksome, and so I sprang into action, just as I saw him drifting towards the king, thus saving all our lives”, shuddered the bug to his daughter, behind!! And with a wise old B, they lived happily ever after!!
PS: Panchatantra stories have a renowned fame and origin, and I always stand humble, compared to it.. The original Panchatantra story, The bug and the mosquito preach the moral, “never trust strangers”. My attempt is to add a whiff of humor to the story and twist the moral to “You always pay for your betrayals”. Anyways, there stands a moral, still, and the bugs, too!!
This re-telling of the Panchatantra tale of “The bug and the mosquito” by C S Priya won the 2nd Prize in the Twist-A-Tale contest on Tell-A-Tale. Find other winning entries here.
(Image used under a CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)
