Page 73 - Viva Real English 2 : Ebook

bathed him, rubbed oil into his skin and then sprinkled perfume on him. They
dressed him in fine clothes and tied a white and gold turban on his head. The
poor illiterate shepherd now looked like a great scholar.

Then they said to him, ‘Listen, shepherd! We’re taking you to the king’s palace.
There, the princess will ask you questions. Don’t answer. Make actions with

your hands. We will do the rest.’ The shepherd agreed.

The shepherd and the learned men reached the palace. The guards took them

to the princess. Vidyawati laughed when she saw the finely dressed young
man. She thought, ‘Another fool has come to try his luck.’

The learned men said, ‘Princess! Here is a great scholar. You can ask him any
question but he will not speak. He will answer only with gestures.’

The princess then pointed one finger at the shepherd. The learned men made
signs to him. He pointed two fingers at her. Then she made more gestures. He

replied with gestures.

The scholars explained the meaning of the gestures very cleverly. The princess
thought, ‘What an intelligent man! He shall be my husband.’

The next day the princess married him. After the wedding was over, she
had a great shock. She found out that the young scholar was an illiterate

shepherd. She wept bitterly. She understood that the learned men had tricked
her.

What was she going to do now? How was she going to live with a foolish
husband? At last she thought of a plan. She said to her husband, ‘Go to the
Kali temple tonight and bolt the door from inside. At midnight the goddess

Kali will knock on the door and ask you to let her in. Tell her that you will open
the door only if she blesses you with wisdom. If the goddess agrees, open the

door and let her in. If she doesn’t agree to bless you, don’t open the door.’

illiterate : a person who does not bitterly : in a way that shows

know how to read and write feelings of sadness or anger
scholar : a person who knows a lot

about a subject
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