Rethink 4 blind men & an elephant

Several citizens ran into a hot argument about God and different religions, and each one could not agree to a common answer. So they came to the Lord Buddha to find out what exactly God looks like.

The Buddha asked his disciples to get a large magnificent elephant and four blind men. He then brought the four blind to the elephant and told them to find out what the elephant would "look" like.

The first blind men touched the elephant leg and reported that it "looked" like a pillar. The second blind man touched the elephant tummy and said that an elephant was a wall. The third blind man touched the elephant ear and said that it was a piece of cloth. The fourth blind man hold on to the tail and described the elephant as a piece of rope. And all of them ran into a hot argument about the "appearance" of an elephant.

The Buddha asked the citizens: "Each blind man had touched the elephant but each of them gives a different description of the animal. Which answer is right?"

This classic Zen story encourages you to reflect on deeper meanings in your own judgment, emotions and understanding about unconditional love.  Share some of your revelations.

How does mood alter everything?

The following is an excerpt from Awakening the Eagle: A Guide to the Medicine Wheel by Ralph P. Brown (Tawennihake). He is offering an interview for this blog to be posted nearby soon. 

Three men who sat on top of the same mountain, but at different times, were asked to describe it when they came down.

The first man said, "It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  It was breath-taking."

The second man said, "I was scared to death because it was so high! I was lucky not to fall off!"

And finally, the third man said, "It was so lonely.  I have never felt to isolated and alone."

• Three men
• Three perceptions of the same thing
• Three answers

But only one mountain.  The mountain is what the mountain is.  In truth, none of the perceptions is imposed on it by these three men.  The mountain is a mountain and only the way people see it differs. Different moods cause different outlooks.

Relate to the kind woodcutter?

As I am in Estonia at the tail end of a family reunion and reconnecting with heritage and history, I share a glimpse of local folklore:

Once in times long past a woodcutter went to the forest to chop some wood. He came up to a birch-tree and waved his axe and the bircn-tree spoke up in a human voice and said:

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! I am young and have many children. What will they do without me? "

The woodcutter took pity on the birch-tree. He came up to an oak-tree and was about to chop it down the oak-tree saw the axe in his hands and said in pleading tones:

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! I'm not yet fully wn and my acorns aren't yet ripe. If they are •froyed now no grove will ever spring up around me".

The woodcutter took pity on the oak-tree. He came 1up to an ash-tree and wanted to chop it down but the ash-tree saw the axe in his hands and said in pleading tones:

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! Only yesterday did my bride and I plight our troth. What will become of her If I am chopped down? "

The woodcutter took pity on the ash-tree. He came Up to a maple-tree and was about to chop it down, but the maple-tree spoke up in pleading tones and said:

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! For my children are •mull and have been taught no trade. They will perish without me."

The woodcutter took pity on the maple-tree. He came up to an alder-tree and wanted to cut it down, but the alder-tree saw the axe in his hands and said in pleading tones:

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! This is just the time when I feed the tiny wood bugs with my milk. What will become of them if I am chopped down? "

The woodcutter took pity on the alder-tree. He came up to an aspen-tree and wanted to chop it down, but the aspen-tree spoke up-tearfully and said:

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! What was life given mo for but for me to rustle my leaves in the wind and friyhten the highwaymen at night! What is to become of good and honest folk if I am chopped down? "

The woodcutter took pity on the aspen-tree. He came up to a bird-cherry tree and wanted to chop it down, but the bird-cherry tree saw the axe in his hands and said in pleading tones:

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! I am in full bloom now and the nightingales like to perch on my branches and sing their songs. If I am chopped down they will fly away and their songs will be heard no more."

The woodcutter took pity on the bird-cherry tree.

He came up to a rowan-tree and wanted to chop it down, but the rowan-tree spoke up in pleading tones and said:

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! I have only just flowered out. Clusters of berries will soon grow up on me and the birds will feed on them in autumn and winter.

What will become of them if I am chopped down?"

The woodcutter took pity on the rowan-tree.

"It's no use, I'll never be able to bring myself to cut down any of the leaf-bearing trees! " said he to himself. "I'd better try my luck with the conifers."

He came up to a spruce-tree and wanted to cut it down, but the spruce-tree saw the axe in his hands and said in pleading tones:

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! Wait till I grow to my full height, for then you will be able to make floor boards of me. Now, while I'm still growing, people can take joy the year round in the sight of my green branches."

The woodcutter took pity on the spruce-tree. He came up to a pine-tree and was about to chop it down, but the pine-tree saw the axe in his hands and burst into tears.

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! Wait till I grow to my full height, for then you will be able to make floor boards of me. Now, while I'm still growing, people can take joy the year round in the sight of my green branches."

The woodcutter took pity on the spruce-tree. He came up to a pine-tree and was about to chop it down, but the pine-tree saw the axe in his hands and burst into tears.

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! " it begged. "I am still strong and my green branches, like those ^ruce-tree, are a lovely sight, summer and winter. It will sadden people if I am chopped down."

The woodcutter took pity on the pine-tree. He came up to a juniper-tree and was about to cut it down, but the juniper-tree, too, spoke up in piteous tones and said:

"Do not kill me, woodcutter! Of all the trees in the forest I am the one to do the greatest good. I bring Hood fortune to all and relief to sufferers from a hundred ailments. What will become of the men and flnimals who come to me for help if I am chopped down? "

The woodcutter sat down on a hummock and began to think.

"It's really quite a marvel! " said he to himself. "I never suspected that trees could talk. Now I know thut they can, for they have all begged me not to chop them down. What am I to do? My heart is not made of stone that I can withstand their pleas. I would ylndly leave the forest empty-handed, but what will my wife say when I get home? "

The woodcutter lifted his head and whom should he •ee coming out of a thicket but a little old man with a long grey beard. He had on a shirt of birch bark and a coat of spruce bark and he came up to the woodcutter nnd asked:

"Why do you sit there looking so sad? Is it that you've met with some misfortune? "

"There's no reason for me to be gay," the woodcutter replied. "I came to the forest to chop some wood to bring home. But now I cannot do it, such are the marvels I have seen here. The forest is alive and every tree thinks and feels and can speak in a human voice. It breaks my heart when they plead with me. I don't care what happens, I cannot bring myself to chop them down."

The little old man looked at the woodcutter warmly and said:

"Thank you for not having closed your ears to my children's pleas and shed their blood. I am indeed grateful and will repay you for your kindness. From now on you will know great good fortune and never want for firewood or timber or anything else. And that goes for your family, too. Only you must none of you be overgreedy if you don't want evil to come of good. Take this rod of gold and treasure it as you do the apple of your own eye! "

And the little old man gave the woodcutter a golden rod several inches long and no thicker than a knitting needle.

"If you want to build a house or put up a barn or a cow-house," said he, "just come up to an ant-hill and wave the rod over it three times. Be careful not to touch the ant-hill or damage it but tell the ants to build whatever it is you want and it will be ready by morning. And if you are hungry, tell your cooking pot to cook you whatever it is you fancy and it will do it. If it's honey you want, wave the golden rod over a bee-hive, and honey-combs full of fragrant honey will appear on your table. If it is birch or maple syrup you v long for, wave the rod over a birch or a maple, and you will have all you want of it. The alder will give you its milk and the juniper will make you strong and healthy. And you won't have to hunt or fish either, for your cooking you as much meat and fish.you ask for. You have only to tell them, and ricrs will spin you a length of silk or weave you fill of cloth. All this and more will you have in return for having spared my children. I am the father i (lie forest and I rule over all the trees and wild ln-.isl.s in it."

And bidding the woodcutter goodbye, the little old in.in vanished.

Now, the woodcutter's wife was as ill-tempered and Mpileful a woman as can be. Seeing her husband coming toward her empty-handed, she rushed out into the yard in a rage.

"Where is the firewood I sent you for? " cried she.

"In the forest where I left it to grow," the woodcut-tor replied, not raising his voice.

This only made the wife angrier still.

"I've a good mind to take a bunch of birch twigs and give you a hiding with them, you loafer! " cried •hu.

But the woodcutter waved his rod without her seeing it and said under his breath:

"Let it be my wife and not me that gets the hiding! "

And no sooner were the words out of his mouth than his wife started running up and down the yard, KHsping and crying:

"Oh! Oh! It hurts! Don't! Please don't! "

And she would cover now one, now another part of hor body with her hands to shield herself from the dancing, stinging twigs.

At last, seeing that she had had enough, the woodcutter ordered the rod to stop. He now knew how much he had the forest father to thank for and was very pleased that he could bring his shrew of a wife to reason any time he wanted to.

That same day the woodcutter decided to try out his golden rod on some ants. He had only one ramshackle old barn to his name and needed a new one badly.

He went to the forest, and, finding an ant-hill, waved the rod three times over it and said:

"Build me a new barn, ants, to replace the old one! "

And in the morning he came out of his house, and lo! —there in the yard stood a brand-new barn.

From that day there was not a happier man than our woodcutter in the whole of the countryside. He did not have to worry about food, for whatever he fancied the cooking-pot cooked for him and served, too, and all that his wife and he had to do was eat it. Between them, they had not a care in the world: the spiders spun their cloth for them, the moles ploughed their fields, and the ants sowed the grain and reaped it when the time came. And when the wife had one of her fits of anger, the golden rod brought her to her senses, so that she was the one to suffer most from her own bad temper. Many a husband in our own day, I shouldn't wonder, who hears this tale will sigh and say: "Ah, if only I had a rod like that! "

The woodcutter lived to a ripe old age and never knew a day's unhappiness, for he never asked of the rod what it was unable to do. Before he died he left the rod to his children, telling them what the father of the forest had told him and cautioning them not to wish for the impossible. The children, who did as he had told them to, lived out their lives as happily as he.

In later years, the golden rod passed into the hands of a  man who was heedless and unreasonable, and  he annoyed the rod with demands. However, as long as what he did not go beyond the bounds of ordinary common sense, nothing very bad happened.

But one day, this foolish man demanded that the sun come down to him and warm his back. The golden rod did all it could, but the sun, instead of coming down itself, which was impossible in any case, sent fierce rays down that the man and his house were burnt to a cinder and not a trace was left of them. The golden rod, too, melted in the flames or no it was thought, for who was there to say that it didn't! Only the trees had been there to see, but the sun's scorching rays had so terrified them that they quite lost the use of their tongues and have remained speechless to this day.

Learn of the Singing Revolution

Most people don't think about singing when they think about revolution. But song was the weapon of choice when Estonians sought to free themselves from decades of Soviet occupation.

"The Singing Revolution" is an inspiring documentary account of one nation's dramatic rebirth. It evokes love and oneness, as well as humanity's irrepressible drive for freedom and self-determination.

Watch this trailer which helps explain why the Songfest (Laulupidu) occurs every five years in Estonia. Imagine 30,000 singers and over 70,000 spectators. It is a very moving experience that emerged as a timeless tradition during a very emotional history:

http://www.squidoo.com/estonias_singing_revolution

Hear of Smudgeface?

In honour of my visit to 2009 Estonia and local family reunion, I share with you another estonian folk tale:

There was once a man who had three sons, two of them clever young men and the third, a fool. The father made much of his two elder sons but gave not a pin for his youngest one. The elder brothers, too, mocked at the fool and called him Smudgeface if they called him anything.

So unbearable was life for him at home that poor Smudgeface made up his mind to seek his fortune elsewhere. He thought and he thought where to go and at last decided, in the hope of finding some work there, to make for the town where lived the king himself.

On the way, Smudgeface heard that in the king's forest there lived two fierce beasts, an aurochs and a boar, who attacked all and sundry and that this troubled the king so much that he had had the bravest of his men go into the forest time and again to try and kill them. But since none had been able to do so, the king had promised that he would give his daughter in marriage to whoever did away with the fearful beasts. The bravest of the brave and the strongest of the strong had set out at once to try their luck but had only gotten out of the forest alive by the skin of their teeth, and the king did not know whai to do.

"Why shouldn't I go after those beasts!" said Smudgeface to himself. "I might get the better of them."

And he came to the palace and declared that he would do away with the aurochs and the boar.

"Just look at him!" the king's servants said. "Why, we had the likeliest and bravest of young men here and none of them could do anything, so what can this fool do! He'll only make a laughing-stock of himself, and serve him right, too!"

They would have liked to drive Smudgeface out of the palace then and there but dared not, for the king had said that anyone who wished to could try his luck and none were to be kept from doing so.

Smudgeface now announced that he would fight the aurochs first, and the whole town, including the king himself, came running to watch the combat.

Choosing a place near the church where grew age-old oak-trees, Smudgeface leaned against one of them and waited.

After a time out sprang the aurochs from the forest and came at him with a roar, but Smudgeface pretended not to see him, and it was only when he was very close and about to pin him to the oak that he leapt aside. The aurochs lunged at him but missed, his sharp horns piercing the trunk of the tree and sticking in it so that toss and shake his head as he would he could not pull them out again. Smudgeface now rushed at the aurochs and with one wave of his sword cut off his head.

Seeing the beast dead, the townsfolk waved and cheered and the king himself clapped his hands for Joy.

But even this was not enough for the king's servants.

"The aurochs is nothing! " cried they. "Let the fool try and do away with the boar. The boar won't stick his tusks in a tree, you may be sure! "

"We'll see about that! " said Smudgeface.

He came into the church, and, locking all the doors save one, stood there and waited.

The boar now came running, and in his haste he did not notice Smudgeface at all at first. All round the church he ran, and only then, seeing him standing in the door, made a rush at him. But Smudgeface leapt aside, and the boar tore past him and into the church. Without a moment's thought, Smudgeface slammed the door shut behind him, and the boar was trapped inside.

The townsfolk were filled with wonder to see how clever Smudgeface was, and even the king himself was full of praise for him.

"Now there's a clever lad! " said he. "He's managed to trap the boar. Let's see if he can do away with him." But Smudgeface only laughed to hear such. talk. He called to the boar from behind the door and teased him, and the boar roared and flung about the church in a rage, trying to find a way out.

All of a sudden there he was standing on the belfry and looking down on the people below. For Smudgeface had left the door to the belfry ajar on purpose, to lure the boar there. He began teasing him now harder than ever, and the boar could bear it no longer but made a lunge at him, and, missing his footing, fell from the belfry. Smudgeface leapt aside just in time, and the boar hit the soft earth below. He plunged into it to his belly and could not so much as stir, and Smudgeface brought out his sword and cut off his head.

The people rejoiced to see the fearful beast dead, and the king clapped his hands in delight.

Said Smudgeface, coming up to him:

"Well, will you let me have your daughter in marriage? "

"I suppose I must, for a promise is a promise," replied the king.

So Smudgeface and the king's daughter were married, and a right fine wedding was theirs. So hard did everyone dance that the floor boards bent, the earth rocked and shook and the stars blinked in the sky. A hundred bulls and a thousand hogs were roasted for the guests, and the tables were set out in the palace courtyard that all might eat and drink at the king's expense. Only after the new moon appeared in the sky for a second time did the guests begin to take their leave.

Smudgeface settled down in the palace and was happy as could be. His young wife was so comely and sweet that a better one could not be found and the servants attended to his every need just as if he were the king himself.

But the king did not like his sons-in-law to twiddle their thumbs and fritter away their time, so he said to Smudgeface: "There is a white bird, a magic one, living in my forest. I want it to be caught. Go with my other sons-in-law and hunt for it." Said Smudgeface with a yawn: "Oh, all right, I'll go if you say so! " The other sons-in-law rose with the first gleam of dawn and went off to the forest to hunt for the bird but Smudgeface slept on as though he had not a care in the world. It was midday when his wife woke him, saying:

"Come, now, are you ever going to get up? The husbands of my sisters have been in the forest for a long time now, they may even have caught the bird while you lie here and sleep."

"What is to be will be," said Smudgeface in reply, yawning.

But he got up all the same, ate, and, taking some food along with him, went to the forest. He walked about in it for a long time but no bird did he see. After a time he met a grey-haired old man there who said to him:

"Give me something to eat, my lad. I haven't had a crumb in my mouth for three days."

Now, Smudgeface was never one to be stingy, so he gave his bag of food to the old man and said:

"Here, Grandpa, eat your fill. And don't be cross that I have nothing better to offer you."

The old man took the bag and began polishing off the food with great gusto.

Said he between bites:

"Were you setting out for a distant spot, then, that you took some food with you? "

Said Smudgeface in reply:

"I am here to try and catch the white bird, for so the king ordered his sons-in-law to do. But since the others set out before dawn and have surely caught it by now, I am simply wasting my time."

Said the old man:

"Do not grieve, for no one can catch this bird without my help. Gather the bread crumbs from the ground and scatter them in the glade yonder. Many different birds will come flying to peck them, the one the king wants among them. You won't have much trouble catching it, so never you fear. All you have to do is pounce on it and seize it. And if ever you need my help again, come here and call three times 'I am here, Grandpa! ' and I'll hear you and come."

Smudgeface thanked the old man for his counsel and did just as he had told him. He caught the white bird, and, coming out on to the road along which the king's other sons-in-law were to return home, sat down to wait.

He waited a long time, even finishing what was left of the food, and still they did not come.

It was evening when at last they appeared, coming out of the forest with hanging heads.

Seeing Smudgeface sitting there, they were very angry and began to chide and to scold him.

"Just look at that loafer! " cried they. "Dozing by the wayside while we do all the work. We're all in sweat what with running about so much! "

Said Smudgeface in reply:

"I am not such a fool as to rush about the forest in vain. Why shouldn't I sit and sleep for a bit now that I've caught the bird! "

"Stop talking nonsense," the sons-in-law burst out.

"If you don't believe me, look for yourselves! "

And with these words Smudgeface untied his bag and showed them the bird.

"Who would have thought it! " said they, amazed, and the oldest of them asked:

"What are you going to do with the you have it? Perhaps you'll sell it to you well for it." bird now that us? We'll pay

"I will if you do."

"How much do you want for it? "

"A piece of your little finger no bigger than an oat grain."

The oldest of the sons-in-law thought this over.

"Of course, chopping off a piece of my finger will hurt," said he to himself, "but still, I think I'll let the fool have it. For then I'll at least get the bird and the king will give me a good sum of money for it."

He chopped off a piece of his little finger and handed it to Smudgeface, and Smudgeface slipped it in his pocket and gave him the bird. And the oldest of the sons-in-law took the bird to the king and got a large sum of money from him in reward.

On the following day the king summoned his sons-in-law again.

"I am pleased that you've managed to catch the white bird," said he. "But only him will I think truly brave and reward royally who catches and brings me the magic horse. Many have tried to do it but none succeeded. Go to the forest now and catch it! "

On the next day, the sons-in-law rose with the first gleam of dawn and set out for the forest, and only Smudgeface snored on as if whether the horse were caught or not mattered to him not at all.

It was his wife who woke him, saying:

"Get up and go to the forest! Go now, and perhaps you'll catch the horse. The others caught the bird yesterday while you returned empty-handed."

Off went Smudgeface to the forest, nor did he forget to take along a bag of food.

He came to the place where he had met the old man and called out three times:

"I am here. Grandpa! "

And no sooner were t»he words out of his mouth than there stood the old man before him.

"Are you here to try and catch something again? " asked he.

Said Smudgeface in reply:

"The king has ordered the magic horse to be caught. Do please help me! "

"That's easy! Here is a bridle for you. Go to tne edge of the forest, and when some horses come to graze there, put it on the one that comes last. It will be the one the king wants."

Smudgeface did as the old man told him. No sooner had he put the bridle on the horse than—o wonder of wonders! —the horse turned into a beautiful stallion with a gilded saddle. All one had to do was jump on his back and ride off at a gallop!

And that was just what Smudgeface did. He galloped to the place where he had met the other sons-in-law the night before, and, tying the horse to a tree, took out some food and began to eat.

The sons-in-law came out of the forest and said:

"Now, what sort of man are you! All you 'do is eat and never want to do a stroke of work. Look at us! We've been wandering in the forest the whole day long and are coming back with nothing to show for it."

Said Smudgeface in reply:

"Wait a minute, I'll come with you, I'll only run into the forest for a moment."

He ran into the forest, untied the stallion, and, jumping into the saddle, came galloping back again.

The sons-in-law were thunderstruck.

"Where did you catch him? " asked they.

Said Smudgeface in reply:

"He who looks hard enough is sure to find what he is looking for."

"Well, we looked and never found him."

"You didn't look hard enough."

Now the sons-in-law began to bargain with him.

"Sell us your horse! " said they.

"I don't mind if you pay me well for him."

"How much do you want? "

"Oh, not so very much. Nothing but a signet-ring."

The middle son-in-law began offering him a large sum of money, but Smudgeface would have none of it and insisted on the ring.

The middle sop-in-law gave him the ring, and, getting the horse in return, took him to the king who rewarded him royally.

On the following day the king said to the sons-in-law:

"There is a huge bear living in the forest who does much harm. He who kills him will get a sack of gold. Prove to me that you are indeed the brave lads I think you and kill the bear for me! "

Early the next morning they set out for the forest again, and only Smudgeface was in no hurry and slept and snored till it was almost noon. It was his wife who finally roused him and sent him in search of the bear.

Smudgeface came into the forest and called out ;hree times:

"I am here, Grandpa! I am here, I am here! " The same moment the old man appeared. "Well, now, have you come to kill the bear?" asked he. "So I have," said Smudgeface in reply. "But how will I do it? "

"I'll tell you how. It's still early, the bear is wandering about in the forest and is hard to find. Wait until noon when he will wander into a thicket for a rest and then kill him. Now, in order to do this creep up closer to him, strike him on the muzzle with a stake and then move aside quickly, and if he rushes out at you, look sharp and hide from him in the brush. You won't have to strike the bear a second time, for your first blow will have been enough to finish him. When you see that he has breathed his last, skin him and take the skin to the king."

Smudgeface did as the old man told him to. He found the bear, killed and skinned him and then came out on to the road to wait for the other sons-in-law. He sat down by the wayside and took out some food, and he was still eating when they appeared. Coming closer, they stood round him and laughed.

"Is it that you have killed the bear that you've worked up such an appetite? " asked they.

"Of course I've killed him! " said Smudgeface. And he brought out the bearskin to prove it, for they would not believe him otherwise.

The sons-in-law began to bargain with him. "Sell us the bearskin," said they. "I don't mind."

"How much are you asking? " "All I want is for the youngest of you to let me pierce his ear."

At this the youngest of the sons-in-law said, displeased:

"Stop these silly jests of yours! What good will it do you if I have a hole in my ear? Better take some money."

But Smudgeface would have none of it. "It's up to you! " said he. "The bearskin is mine, and the ear is yours."

There was nothing to be done, and as the youngest of the sons-in-law was very eager to have the bearskin, he let his ear be pierced.

In return, he got the skin and took it to the king who gave him a sack of gold in reward.

Soon after that the king held a great feast to which he invited the kings of all the neighbouring lands and all his sons-in-law with the exception of Smudgeface.

"Why should I invite him!" said he. “He has done nothing to deserve it."

The other sons-in-law went to the feast but Smudgeface made off for the forest. There he met the old man who asked him:

"What has happened, my son? Why do you frown? Are you angry at anyone? "

Said Smudgeface in reply:

"I am angry at my own self. Why did I catch the bird, the horse and the bear only to give them up to the other sons-in-law! It was very foolish of me. Now the king thinks that they are heroes and I am a good-for-nothing. Why, he did not even invite me to the feast! "

Said the old man in soothing tones:

"Don't you grieve, you'll be at the feast, too. Here is a pea for you. Eat it, and you 11 turn into whosoever you choose and will be able to go wherever you please."

Smudgeface thanked the old man for his kindness and went home. He swallowed the pea, and, turning into a flea, slipped into the feast hall where all the king's guests were gathered. There he saw the three sons-in-law and heard them boasting, the youngest saying that he had killed the ;bear, the middle one, that he had caught the magic horse, and the oldest one, that he had snared the white bird.

Smudgeface returned to his room, changed back into his proper shape again, and, dressing himself up in festive garb, rejoined the guests.

The sons-in-law were much surprised to see him. And Smudgeface spoke up right in front of everyone and said:

"You have turned out to be such braggarts that I cannot keep back the truth any longer. Let everyone know that it was I and not you who caught the bird and the horse and killed the bear."

At this the sons-in-law raised a great hullabaloo, shouting, all three of them together;

"Lies! Lies! Lies! "

And they called in the servants and bade them throw Smudgeface in a dungeon.

But Smudgeface brought out from his pocket the piece of finger and the signet-ring and said:

"This is what I got from these knaves in return for the bird and the horse, and as for the bearskin, the younger son-in-law let me pierce his ear to pay me for it."

The sons-in-law, seeing that they were shown up for what they were, left the feast in disgrace, and the guests surrounded Smudgeface and began praising him.

And as for the king, he was now full of such respect for him that he proclaimed him his heir.

At the king's death Smudgeface became king in his stead and must be reigning over the kingdom still if he is alive.