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Tale of Melon City Summary

The poem narrates the story of how a melon became the king of a state. The king's crown falls off after hitting a low arch, so he tries to find someone to hang for the incident. After various people shift blame, an old wise man determines the arch should be hung, but a counselor says that is shameful. No one fits the noose until they try the king. With no king, the next person through the city gate would determine the new king. An idiot passing by chooses "melon" as his usual answer, so the ministers crown a melon as the new king. Now people do not question their melon king as long as he allows them peace and liberty.

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2K views2 pages

Tale of Melon City Summary

The poem narrates the story of how a melon became the king of a state. The king's crown falls off after hitting a low arch, so he tries to find someone to hang for the incident. After various people shift blame, an old wise man determines the arch should be hung, but a counselor says that is shameful. No one fits the noose until they try the king. With no king, the next person through the city gate would determine the new king. An idiot passing by chooses "melon" as his usual answer, so the ministers crown a melon as the new king. Now people do not question their melon king as long as he allows them peace and liberty.

Uploaded by

Jone Jik
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Tale of Melon City Summary

The poem The Tale of Melon City is a narrative poem about how a melon,
following a custom, was chosen to become the king of a state. It narrates in an
amusing tone the events leading to such a situation when no other but a melon
was coroneted as the king.
The poem begins with the description of a just and peace loving king ruling an
ancient state. Once the king planned to construct an arch, spanning the
main thoroughfare. The purpose of the arch was to improve the onlookers
morally and provide aesthetic joy to them. The plan of the king was executed
immediately.
One day the king was passing by the side of the thoroughfare. The arch was
constructed very low so that the king's crown struck against it and fell off.
Immediately the king responded negatively. He felt dishonored. He decided to
hang the chief of builders holding him responsible. Necessary arrangements
were made for the hanging.
The chief of builders in his defence shifted the responsibility to the laborers. On
hearing so, the king adjourned the proceedings for a moment, and then decided
to have all the laborers hanged. According to the laborers, it all happened due to
faulty size of the bricks. So, the king summoned the masons. They, in their turn,
put the blame on the architect. The king decreed to hang the architect. The
architect reminded the king that he had made certain amendments to the plans
when they were shown for his approval. In a way, the architect indirectly put the
blame on the king. The argument of the architect left the king completely
confused. Considering the matter to be intricate, the king sought the advice of a
wise man. He ordered to bring to him the wisest man in the country.
The king's men could find out the wisest man and, accordingly, he was brought to
the court of the King. He was so old that he could neither walk nor see. According
to the old man, the real culprit was the the arch. It was the arch that hit the crown
violently and it fell off. So, the arch was to be hanged. The arch was led to the

Based on http://coopstudy.blogspot.in
scaffold. At that time, a councilor said that it would be very shameful act to hang
the arch that hit the king's head.
The crowd was getting restless. In order to appease the mass, the king
commented that someone must be hanged as it was the public demand. The
noose was set up. It was somewhat high. Each man was measured turn by turn.
Interestingly, there was one man who was tall enough to fit in the noose, and it
was the King. So, his majesty was hanged.
The ministers heaved a sigh of relief that they were able to find someone,
otherwise the crowd might have risen in revolt. Now the issue came up as to who
would be the king of the state. The old custom was invoked. They sent out the
heralds to proclaim that the next to pass the City Gate would choose the King. An
idiot happened to pass the City Gate. The idiot was asked who was to be the king.
The idiot uttered Melon. Actually that was his pet answer to all questions since he
liked melons. The ministers coroneted a melon and placed the melon king
reverently at the throne.
All these events took place long long ago. Now when someone asks the people
how is it that their King appears to be a melon, they reply that if His majesty takes
delight in being a melon, which is all right with them. They have no right to say
what he should be as long as he leaves them in peace and liberty. It seems that
the principles of non-interference are well established in that state.

Based on http://coopstudy.blogspot.in

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