Once upon a time there was a Kingdom of Mundu bordering the ancient Kingdom of China.
People of Mundu were always fearful and mistrustful of the Chinese kingdom, because the Chinese were strong, intelligent and efficient.
Mundus thought that the Chinese were selfish, greedy and cryptic whereas the Chinese knew that the Mundus were corrupt, impotent and paranoid.
People of both the kingdoms were essentially- Unhappy.
Giant Walls were stretched along the borders of both the kingdoms .
Walls were made up of the steel in the Mundu and the Chinese walls were borne out of black magic.
Secrets of both the kingdoms were safely preserved behind these walls. When the sun went down the gravity of these walls elicited dark fears among the peoples of both the sides.
Fear gives rise to rumours.
One day there was a rumour that the Chinese are going to attack the Kingdom of Mundu.
The only link between the two kingdoms was the mysterious Nuying flowers- an auspicious omen for the Mundus.
The plants of Nuying flowers thrived only on the yellow manure imported from China into the Munduland via a narrow pass – Bu Xin La. Munduland was the only place in the world where Nuying flowers blossomed. The yellow manure had to be carefully wrapped into Chinese handmade silk papers and exported to Nuying valley. But since the last few seasons the blossom was not good. Nuying flowers wilted in the bud before they blossomed.
Rumour was that the instigating seditious messages managed to sneak through the borders into Kingdom of Mundu ,encrypted on these silk papers.
Mundus, though illiterate at everything else, were good administrators. They appointed an officer to scrutinise all these silk papers and the officer was given a pompous name- ‘The Silent Observer’. Mundus didn’t want to provoke the Chinese by obvious activities.
The old Chinese monk under the older tree of Ginkgo gave a counsel that instead of such clandestine manoeuvres based on mistrust, Mundus talk with the Chinese directly. He was awarded a punishment of ten whiplashes.
The otherwise beloved old Chinese monk was hated in Munduland but for two reasons- he being a Chinese and he being a monk!
The officer proved his worth. There were indeed scripts encrypted over the silk papers. But there was one more problem, though a trivial one- Mundus could not read the Chinese script! Since ages Mundus didn’t know Chinese and felt inferior for that. But Mundus were able administrators. They decided to appoint a higher level committee to investigate into the findings of The Silent Observer!
An equally pompous officer- once expelled from a Chinese university for plagiarism -was appointed as the head of that committee. The name of this head was Baiichi. Baiichi made an invention that the scribbles in Chinese were actually Chinese magical chants. Baiichi found an eerie explanation to the wilting buds and waning blossom of Nuying - The Chinese chant!!! He ordered burning of these sinister papers. Silk burnt all over the Kingdom of Mundu and its soot filled the nostrils of every Mundu man and woman.
The old Chinese monk under the Ginkgo tree suggested that the waning blossom may actually be the result of drying of river Kuan Yin. This time he was awarded a punishment of hundred whiplashes. But the monk laughed this time!
That year it rained cats and dogs. The monk laughed through the rains and the lightnings and prophesied the doom of the Kingdom of Mundus. His thunderous laughter kept echoing the hills of Bu Xin La.
Years passed.
Chinese never attacked the Mundus. The river Kuan Yin dried up and its bottom was visible like the ribs of Mundu cattle. Nuying flowers- the auspicious omen for Mundus -now became a rarity in Munduland. Gradually the kingdom turned into desert. Mundus left the valley one by one and vultures populated the branches of Gingko tree.
Everyone left but the monk stayed. Actuated by whim, sometimes he came by the dry Kuan Yin and deserted Nuying valley and laughed. His laughter was shrill and frightening. It made the steel bricks of Mundu walls rattle with fear.
Everyone left but the monk stayed. The monk stays even today. In the desert of Munduland, whenever a wandered traveller comes by, he offers him the shadow of the older Gingko tree and amuses him by telling a story — “Once upon a time there was a Kingdom of Mundu bordering the ancient Kingdom of China..........”
