Home > 2006 Issues > July 02, 2006

Kids? Org The Cruel Queen Men celebrate festivals every year. So do the trees. In a beautiful forest, spring festival had arrived. So each tree was in hurry. Each tree started blossoming. Already each tree had worn a new garment in the form of a foliage. Now every tree started throwing one colour or the other. The trees started playing with colours and scents. The mother earth watched their game with happiness. In fact the forest was a fairy land. It was ruled by a fairy queen. The queen was extremely beautiful. She was proud of her beauty and charm. Besides, the queen knew magic abracadabra. With these she could perform miracles. This years? spring festival had a speciality. The forest deity was visiting this fairy land. The forest deity arrived from the sky in a beautiful aeroplane. The aeroplane was flown by white swans. The deity also wore white saree. No sooner the aeroplane landed, bees started humming. Different birds fluttered with joy. The cuckoo presented the welcome song. The fairy queen bowed down before the deity. The queen conducted the deity with royal decorum. The path was strewn with pollens. At night, dance and music concert was arranged in honour of the pious guest. The route was decorated with glow-worms standing in rows and twinkling. Groups of fairies presented the programmes. Butterflies wearing dresses in variety of colours crowded the programmes. The next day during early hours of the morning the fairy queen conducted the forest-deity around her kingdom. During their stroll the deity came across a surprise. The deity saw that beautiful golden cages were hanging on the branches of some trees. The deity was curious. She stopped near one cage. She asked the fairy queen, ?Why are these cages kept here? Who are these beautiful youths with thumb-height kept inside?? The fairy queen smiled. She said, ?These are the objects of extreme pleasure. It is a unique entertainment for me. I enjoy their dance like anything?. The deity was all the more curious. Her eyebrows were raised. The fairy queen took the deity close to one cage. The beautiful tiny youth inside the cage was dozing. The deity could see shadow of sadness spread over the youth?s face. She could hear the deep sigh thrown out by the youth. Tiny pots full of honey and fruit juice were kept inside the cage. But the youth was reluctant to taste them. A pointed tiny golden stick was kept inside the cage. The fairy queen lifted the tiny pointed stick. She pinched the dozing youth inside. She compelled the youth to dance. The youth danced with extreme reluctance making rhythmic sound of tinkles tied in the feet. The deity was extremely surprised. In fact she had a shiver because she saw tiny tears rolling down the tiny cheeks of the youth. The deity was serious. She asked the queen, ?Where from did you bring these youths? Why are they imprisoned?? The queen smiled. She said smilingly, ?These are all charming princes of various kingdoms. They missed their way. They came to this land. I attracted them with my charm and beauty. I then uttered the magic abracadabra and reduced their size upto my liking. I have kept them inside for my entertainment.? ?It?s a cruel game? said the deity who now looked furious. ?See they have all golden chambers. They are dressed in coloured attires. Honey and all the sweetness of the forest are served right at their feet. What they are expected to do is to dance at my command. Happy little creatures!? said the queen with laughter. That laughter had a tinge of a monster! The deity was all the more furious. Her eyes were red with wrath. She said loudly, ?Stop it. What you consider as your entertainment is sheer cruelty. Open the cages. Free them. I say free them.? ?No, never. How can I part with my entertainment?? said the queen. The deity was shocked with the cruelty and arrogance of the queen. She cursed the queen, ?Fie with thy cruelty. You will soon get the retribution for this sin. In the next birth too you will be a queen. You will have a extremely beautiful palace with one thousand and eight pearl-colour windows. You will have thousands and thousands of servant?s working all the while and pouring all the sweetness of the forest at your feet. But you will have no freedom of any kind. You will be born in the palace and you will die in the palace. You will never be able to come out of your beautiful palace.? The curse uttered by the forest deity soon proved true. The fairy queen became the Bee queen. She was kept trapped inside the honey comb throughout her life. The sigh of sorrow released by her was not heard by anybody. The sigh got lost in the humming of thousands of bees outside. (The author can be contacted at 16, Jeevanchhaya Hsg. Society, Opp. Civil Hospital, Satara-415 001, Maharashtra) Titbit From Padmaj THE latest statistics of the Kerala State Government show that Keralites consume alcohol more than anything else. Will this in any way enhance the prestige of the State, which is called God?s own country? Once a student asked Sir William Osler, the eminent Canadian physician, ?Sir, is it true that alcohol enables people to do things better?? ?No, it just makes them ashamed of doing them badly,? pat came the reply.

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