77. The Merchant

 The Merchant’s Son 

Long, long ago, there lived a merchant by the name of Sagaradatta. He had a son. The son once bought a book of poems. He recited a line of the poem so many times that he came to be known as, ‘You get what you are destined to.’ 

One day, a beautiful princess by the name of Chandrawati went to a festival in the city. There the princess saw a handsome prince and fell in love with him. Not being able to check her emotions, she said to her maid servant, “Find some way for me to meet this prince.” 

The maid met the prince and gave him the message of the princess. The prince agreed to meet the princess. He asked, “But where and how do I meet the princess?” 

“Well,” said the maid, “when it’s dark you come to the white palace. There, you’ll find a rope hanging from one of its windows. Climb up this rope to reach the princess’ room.” 

But on the appointed day, the prince backed out. He didn’t turn up. 

Meanwhile, ‘you get what you are destined to’ came wandering near the white palace. He saw a rope hanging there from one of its windows. He climbed up the rope and entered the room of the princess. As it was dark, the princess could not see the face of ‘you get what you are destined to.’ She thought that it was the same prince with whom she had fallen in love. She entertained him lavishly and talked to him for a long time, but the so called prince kept mum for all the while. 

“Why don’t you speak?” asked the princess. 

“You always get what you are destined to,” answered the merchant’s son. 

Hearing this the princess took a closer look at the merchant’s son and soon realized that she was all through talking to a wrong man. She became furious and turned him out of her chamber. 

Then ‘you get what you are destined to’, went to a nearby temple and slept there. 

The watchman of the temple had an appointment with a woman of bad character in the same temple. So he requested the merchant’s son to go and sleep in his quarter, which was situated in the rear side of the temple. 

’You get what you are destined to,’ instead, entered a wrong room. There the watchman’s daughter Vinayavati was waiting for her lover. As it was pitch dark, she could not recognize the merchant’s son and married him in the room itself according to Gandharva rites. Then she said,” Why don’t you talk to me?” 

“You get what you are destined to,” replied the merchant’s son. 

Vinayawati soon realised that she had been talking to a wrong man. So, she kicked out the merchant’s son out of her house. 

When he came out, he joined a passing marriage procession. The name of the bridegroom was Varakeerti. 

When the marriage ceremony was about to start, a mad elephant, who’d already killed its master, appeared on the scene. Every one ran helter – skelter to safety. 

Then ‘you get what you are destined to’ rushed to the brides help. He drove the elephant out by jabbing a long nail into its head. When the bridegroom returned and saw ‘you get what you are destined to’ holding his ‘would-be’ bride’s hands he became angry. But the girl said that since ‘you get what you are destined to’ had saved her life from the mad elephant, she would marry him only. 

And this girl was the same princess who had mistaken ‘you get what you are destined to’ for the prince, who she had been waiting for in her room in the palace and after coming to know the truth, had kicked him out. 

The whole city came to know about the girl’s decision. 

The king also came to know of his daughter’s love. 

Then, the king with great pomp and show married the princess with ‘you get what you are destined to’ and both of them lived happily, thereafter. 

So, at last, he really got what he was destined to. 

Moral:- Destiny plays an important role in life.

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