Week 9 story: Masters of Disguise
The Mighty King Vitara, people say, is one of the most
brilliant rulers in the history of ancient India. His advisors say that he is
incredibly sharp-minded, and nothing can ever get past him in his kingdom.
Until the Pandavas.
Little did he know, the exiled runaway family is hiding from
the king, but they are right under his knows. These sneaky brothers have been
on the run for twelve years and were ready to live in luxury at King Vitara’s
Palace. Even thought they disguised themselves as his servants, they still
enjoyed the comfort of living inside a warm and dry golden roof. Yudhishthira,
the oldest, requested the most difficult job to disguise: the royal entertainer
of the king. He sat at the King’s feet each evening to play dice. Because
Yudhishthira was also the most confident, therefore the most sneaky, out of the
Pandavas brothers, he took this position.
Bhima was the King’s cook and made him whatever he desires,
Nakula worked in the stables tending the horses and chariots, Sahadeva herded
the King’s cattle that he would slaughter for delicious feasts, and Arjuna
worked as the eunuch (a guard for the women’s living quarters).
During this long year, all the Pandavas would meet each
night at midnight to develop a plan to return to their home.
“The final year of our exile is approaching,” Yudhishthira
said confidently. “We must be ready to make an escape that will not alarm King
Virata.”
“Surely there is someone that can distract the King” replied
Nakula. He was feeling a little uneasy and leaned in closer to his older
brother.
There was a brief pause while the Pandavas racked their
clever minds. It was obvious that it would take a devious plan to sneak away
under the sharp King Vitara. Finally, one spoke of an idea.
“What about Draupadi?” whispered Arjuna towards the circle
of the brothers. All the Pandavas looked confused and asked why she would be
able to help.
Arjuna went on to explain his theory, “She is the royal
hairdresser of the Queen. Although the King is clever, he would set his entire
kingdom to the side if he knew his Queen were in peril. We must get Draupadi to
distract him in that way.”
Yudhishthira cracked a small snile, and the other brother
shortly followed. The excitement that night in the cold servants’ quarters and
brought a new wave of joy into the palace the next morning.
“Why, all my servants today are how they should be each day.
Working in the palace is certainly the best employment in the kingdom, and I,
no doubt, pay them in gratitude each day.” The arrogant King Vitara happily sat
down on his throne to await his Queen in order begin their daily royal duties.
After talking to Draupadi, she was willing to help the
Pandavas escape the palace. Because the King loved his Queen, he waited on her
each morning for breakfast; this gave Bhima time to roast the meat and never
return. Nakula and Sahadeva waited and were joined with Bhima and Arjuna (when
the queen left her quarters), and Yudhishthira was the only one left.
Draupadi began making conversation with the Queen while the combed through her long black hair Each brush stroke was more thorough today than usual to take up time for the younger brothers to quietly escape.
“My apologies, dear Queen, I seemed to have gotten a jewel
stuck in your beautiful long hair” Draupadi quietly said and began pulling and
tying her hair onto her seat.
The Queen was outraged and called for her husband. During
all the commotion that morning, the final brother dropped his dice and rejoined
the rest of the Pandavas. Without another word, the band of brothers slipped
away from the palace of the brilliant King Vitara without him hearing a sound.
Author’s Note: The Pandavas, the main characters of
the Mahabharata, have been exiled for
12 years now, and they go into the court of King Virata in disguise. Yudhishthira
is the king’s entertainer and place dice with him, Bhima is the king’s cook, Nakula
works in the stables, Sahadeva is a cattle herder, and Arjuna is an eunuch
(guard) where the women live. Draupadi, another main character in the Mahabharata becomes the hairdresser
of the Queen. She was raped by the queen’s brother, and she begs Bhima to get
revenge on him. Bhima surprises him and strangles him to death, and the royal
family was outraged. The king and queen want to send Draupadi away, but she begs
to stay in order to remain until the end of the Pandavas’s exile.
Hi Leigh, I saw this story pop up and I wanted to check with you; the Week 7 deadline was already over (that we last Thursday), but you can count this as the story for Week 9. So, go ahead and change this to say Week 9, and do the Declaration. And that's one less thing to worry about when Week 9 rolls around (there's no story in Week 8 because it is a review week). Later in the semester, maybe you will want to read Palace of Illusions, which is the Mahabharata as told from Draupadi's point of view from start to finish. It is really cool!
ReplyDeleteHi Leigh!!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story and the twist you gave it! I think it's interesting that you had the brothers come up with a plan to sneak off without King Vitara knowing anything at all! I wonder if later, they went back and told the King of their true identities? Or if somehow, he got the message another way? I also like how you portrayed each of the characters and used a lot of dialogue in the story! Also, your title "Masters of Disguise" is also super cool and mysterious. Great story and good luck on the rest of them this semester :)
Hi Leigh!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story as well. You did a great job of giving the reader a feel for Arjuna's personality and a little bit of the King and Queen's personalities as well. I like that you told the story slightly differently than the Mahabharata that I read. King Vitara, from your description definetely deserved to get deceived by the Pandavas. Great job!
-Elizabeth
Hi Leigh,
ReplyDeleteThis was a different twist to the story. Especially of all the princes taking a role of a common household workers. I am glad they all were able to escape from the king. It was good to see a detailed overview of each character in your notes. I wish you also talked about how you changed the original story to this newer one. Overall, great job and good luck for rest of the semester.