The Royal Food

Long back in time, there lived a large fleet of crows on a massive banyan tree. The tree was located near the city of Varanasi.

The fleet of crows was ruled by a King Crow. The King Crow was kind and considerate ruler. In fact, he  was an enchanting bird who lived in harmony with his wife. He loved her dearly and sang song for her everyday. The Queen Crow was proud of her husband. She lived with her neck up. The king crow always attempted to keep her happy. He fulfilled all her wishes. Everyday they flew in some direction in search of food and shared whatever food they found.

One day, the festival celebrations began in the palace. The city rebounded with the annual festive charm. There were massive preparations for approaching event. When the king and the queen crows heard the loud wonderful drum beats and chimes, they became curious. They decided to flew towards the palace.

The palace was full of life. The Royal chefs were preparing food for the mass feast. The crows kept watching curiously. Finally the chef served the king and queen with lavish food. When the queen crow saw the food, she became tempted. But seeing the massive gathering, the crows flew back to the forest and fed on the worms, the way they did it daily.

Next day, the female crow approached the male crow and said, "I am overcome by the urge for the delicacies we saw yesterday in the palace. I want to feast on that food. As a matter of fact, I am a queen and like the Queen of Varanasi I wish to be served like her!"

"Alas!", said the King Crow hearing the Queen's demands. He tried to appease her, but the Queen was adamant. The King Crow grew anxious. He knew there was no way to enter the palace and get the food. He called his chief minister to discuss the problem with him.

The chief minister of the crows was a very wise and intelligent. He heard the King Crow's problem and said, " My Majesty do not worry. I shall try and find a way out. Our queen shall certainly have the royal food today".

The Chief Minister of Crows thought critically. He worked around a plan.

The Chief minister called his most trusted ministers from the council. He took a flight with them to the palace. The palace and city at large reverberated with the festival celebrations. The minister reached the palace. He watched the royal kitchen closely. He saw that the food was ready and the chef was preparing to serve the food to the King and the queen.  Then he called his minister and briefed them, "The food is ready to be served. The chef will soon walk out the food in the serving dishes. I shall terrify the chef so that the food dishes topple over. Immediately fly and collect the food in your beaks. Then take the food to the Queen Crow".

The Crows keenly waited for the opportunity. Soon the feast began and the chef came out to serve the king and the royal family first. He carried the food in plates. The plates were loaded with all kind of delicacies.

The Chief Minister of Crows had been waiting for the moment. He flew and pecked at the chef's head. The chef shouted in anxiety and the plates fell down. The food was scattered around. He stepped back in anguish. Just then the Crows from the council flew and gathered food in their beaks. The chief of Crows had been closely watching the sequence of events. The Crows of the council flew towards the forest with food in their beaks.

But the king and queen had been watching. They understood the Crow's  intentions. The king was angry and asked his men to catch the crow.

Thus the Chief Minister of the Crows was caught and brought before the king. The king asked in a very angry tone, "I am the king of this state. The feast food is first served to me and my family. You have shown great disrespect towards us. Tell me why did you steal the food?"

The Chief Minister Crow humbly replied, "O Great King, I stole the food for our Queen Crow. Yesterday she came here with the King Crow and saw the delicacies served to the royal family. She demanded that she is a queen too, and hence deserves the same food as was served to your queen. I came here to get food for her. I am obeying the King Crow's orders. However, I spoiled your meal. I apologize for my behaviour and I am ready to take the punishment you desire to give me".

The king was pleased by the Chief Crow's reply. He said, "I am pleased by your dutifulness and commitment. You are loyal towards your King. Loyalty always pays. I forgive you for what you did. Not only this, henceforth we shall lay a plate full of food from the royal kitchen on the terrace for your King and Queen. There would be another plate for you as well".

The chief crow thanked the King of Varanasi for understanding, generosity and kind gesture. He flew back to the forest and informed the King Crow about gesture of kindness from the King of Varanasi. The King and Queen Crows were impressed by the tactics of Chief Crow. They rewarded him as well.
 
From that day onwards, the Crows began relishing the royal food kept for them on the palace terrace.