The King and the General

The king thought that his general was a fool. The general knew that the king was a fool.

One summer the king summoned the general.

“I want you to immediately wage a war, leave now for the battlefield!”

“Your Majesty, why do you want to wage a war? No one is threatening us. We have very cordial relations with all our neighbouring countries.’’

“You are a fool! The locusts have invaded our kingdom. We have to defend ourselves. If we fail to vanquish them, they will destroy us.  Leave with your army! Right now! That is an order!” the king was almost screaming.

The general became angry because the king wanted the army to wage a war on insects.

“Your Majesty, I will do as you command. I will take fifty soldiers with me. I will catch the king of locusts alive and bring him before you.”

As the general was leaving, the king looked at his queen and smiled mischievously.

After a few days the general came back.

“Your Majesty, the king of locusts is willing to sign a peace treaty. But he has laid one condition. He says that his armies will keep attacking our kingdom unless we accept this condition.”

“And what is that condition?”

“He wants that Your Majesty should host a royal dinner in his honour.”

“How can we invite an insect to a royal dinner?”

“Sir, if your great army can fight with the insects, then what is the hesitation in inviting their king to a royal dinner?”

The king looked extremely unhappy.

“Your Majesty, my spies have found out that many armies of locusts are waiting in northern lands. If they invade our kingdom then everything here will be destroyed.”

The king looked at his queen. The queen nodded. The king hosted a royal dinner in honour of the locust king.

A man dressed as a locust came to the place.

“Are you the king of locusts?” the king asked him sneeringly.

“No, Your Majesty, I am his loyal servant. My king is resting in this beautiful golden box,” the man masquerading as a locust answered.

He opened the box and out came a large locust. The insect looked this way and that way and then jumped, suddenly.

It jumped straight towards the king and landed on his forehead.

The king let out a scream of terror. The queen fainted.

The general wanted to laugh loudly but he remained silent. His eyes were, of course, sparkling with joy.

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