The court jester says something new

In ancient India, most of the kings had court jesters. Sometimes the fame of these court jesters spread far and wide, especially if they were extremely clever, witty and imaginative. The job of the court jester was to make everybody laugh, but if he was also very wise, then everybody was able to profit from his humour.

This story concerns a particular court jester who was renowned for his unique sense of humour. One time he was asked to entertain a visiting king. He said many, many funny things and composed some very witty verses. Everybody enjoyed his performance immensely.

The visiting king was very, very pleased. Finally he said to the court jester, “Say something new, something absolutely new! If I really enjoy it, then I will reward you with some gold coins. I have in my pocket one hundred gold coins. I will give you twenty if you can say something which has never been said before.”

The court jester said, “For twenty gold coins it is not worth my time to exercise my brain. For such a small price I do not want to reveal something absolutely new and humorous which my king and others have not heard.”

The visiting king said, “All right, I will increase it to fifty gold coins. Now at least say something new which your king has never heard.”

The court jester’s own king was observing everything in silence and waiting to see what would happen next. The visiting king continued, “I am offering you half of my gold coins, and still you do not want to tell me something absolutely new?”

The court jester said, “No, still I do not feel it is worthwhile.”

Finally the visiting king said, “All right, here is my bag containing one hundred gold coins. It is all that I have with me. You may keep the entire amount if you tell me something new. Is this acceptable?”

The court jester took the bag of coins and said, “If I keep these gold coins of yours, then you and I will be equal. Previously, you were offering this amount and that amount as if I were a beggar. That is why I did not feel it was worth my while. You were only tempting me by raising my reward. But now that you have given me all your wealth, I do not have to beg anymore. You have given the highest price, which is everything that you have. Now I do not need your money. Take it back.”

And the court jester handed the bag of coins back to the visiting king. This king was puzzled. He said, “What do you mean?”

The court jester said, “I do not need your money because I am pleased with you. You are ready to give me everything you have, whereas my own king does not give me all that he has. Not by any means! He has so much wealth, but he is very miserly with his gifts.” Then the court jester began to elaborate on the defects of his own king. He criticised his king mercilessly. Instead of getting angry, the king laughed and laughed.

Then the visiting king asked, “So, what is the new thing that you are saying?”

The court jester explained, “The new thing that I am saying is that my king is miserly. Whereas you are ready to give me everything that you have, my king finds it very difficult to part with his money. He is closefisted to the extreme. Once in a while, with great reluctance, he may give me one gold coin. But he would not dream of giving me one hundred gold coins!”

Then everybody laughed and laughed. The visiting king laughed because the court jester had flattered him and said unkind things about his own king. And the host king laughed because his court jester, as usual, had conveyed the truth in a very humorous way by making fun of his own king. Both the kings agreed that the court jester had succeeded in saying something absolutely new.