In a certain town, there lived a merchant whose name was Sagardatta. He had one son. One day the young man bought a book that was being sold for a hundred rupees. Inside the book, the only thing written was a single verse. It went like this: ‘You always get what’s coming to you.’

When the merchant saw his son’s book, he asked him, ‘How much did you pay for this book?’

‘A Hundred rupees’, replied his son. ‘You stupid fellow! Said the father. ‘You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

If you pay a hundred rupees for a book with only one verse in it, how will you fare in business! From today onward never enter my house again!’

With these harsh words, he drove him out of his house. Utterly dejected, the merchant’s son went off to another city to settle down there. After a few days, one of the residents said to him, ‘What’s your name and where do you come from?’

‘You always get what’s coming to you’, he replied.

And whoever asked him the same question received the same reply. And so, the merchant’s son came to be known by the name of ‘Get-what’s coming to you.’

One day, a young and very beautiful princess, accompanied by a lady-in-waiting, went to a certain festival in the city. While she was there, by chance her eyes fell on a very handsome prince and immediately Kamadeva, the God of Love fired an arrow into her heart. The princess turned to her lady-in-waiting and said, ‘Find a way for me to meet this prince!’ And so, the lady-in-waiting went up to the prince and said, ‘ The princess has asked me to speak to you.

This is the message she sends “The minute I saw you, the arrow of love has pierced my heart. Come to me quickly or I shall die.”

‘But how can I enter the palace to meet the princess?’ said the prince.

“Well, replied the lady-in-waiting, ‘when it’s dark, you will find a rope hanging from one of the windows of the palace. You can climb up on it and get into the princess’s room.’

‘Well’, replied the prince, ‘if the princess really wants me to, I shall certainly come.’

However when the time came, the prince thought to himself, ‘It would be very wicked of me to meet the princess like this.’

And so, having thought the matter over carefully, the prince decided not to go to the princess.

Meanwhile, Get what’s coming to you’ was wandering about in the dark, when he came to the white palace and saw the rope hanging down. Curious to know what it was for, he caught hold of it and climbed up. When he arrived at the princess’s window, as it was dark, she took it for granted that it was the prince. She received him warmly, gave him food and drink and entertained him lavishly.

Afterwards, she said to him, ‘I fell in love with you at first sight and I belong to you, body and soul. In my heart I shall never have any husband except you. But why don’t you speak to me?’

‘You always get what’s coming to you’, replied the merchant’s son.

Perplexed by this curious reply, the princess took a closer look at her companion and realized that it was not the prince at all. She was furious and turned him out immediately, making him descend the same way he had come up.

‘Get-what’s coming to you’ made his way to an old temple nearby and went to sleep.

Now, a night watchman, who had made an appointment with a woman of bad character in the same dilapidated temple, woke him up and asked him, ‘Who are you?’

‘You always get what’s coming to you’, replied the merchant’s son.

Now, this watchman wanted to cover up his wicked carryings-on, so he said to Get -what’s coming to you, ‘ This is a very broken-down old temple, no one ever stays here. You had better go over to my house and rest there. And he pointed out his house.

‘Get-what’s coming to you’ agreed and went there. However, he entered the wrong room. In this room, the watchman’s beautiful daughter, was waiting for her lover, with whom she had made an appointment. When Get-what’s coming to you appeared on the scene, it was pitch dark. Thinking it was her lover, the girl married him by exchanging garlands before a picture of God. Afterwards she asked him, ‘Why don’t you talk to me?’

‘You always get what’s coming to you’, he replied. As soon as the watchman’s daughter heard this, she realized that it was not her lover at all but someone else.

She said, ‘Whenever you rush into something, without thinking about it sufficiently, this sort of thing happens.’

Then she cursed Get-what’s coming to you’ and threw him out of the house. When he came out, he saw a huge marriage procession passing by. The bridegroom was coming from another village to get married.

“Get-what’s coming to you’ joined the procession making its way to bride’s house.

Now the bride’s father had a special rostrum erected on the main highway for the marriage ceremony and the bride was seated on it in magnificent clothes and jewels, waiting for the bridegroom. Suddenly, a mad elephant, which had already killed his master, appeared on the scene. When they saw him, one and all ran helter-skelter to safety. But the bride was too terrified to move.

When Get-what’s coming to you saw this, he rushed to her, took hold of her hand and pacified her. Then he pulled a huge nail out of the rostrum and very courageously went up to the elephant and jabbed the nail into him.
As luck would have it, the elephant got frightened and ran away. After some time, the bridegroom, along with this friends and relatives, returned to the scene.

When he saw someone else holding the bride’s hand, he said to her father, ‘Look here! You promised me this girl’s hand and now you have given her away to someone else.’

‘Listen!’ replied the girl’s father, ‘I was so terrified when the elephant appeared on the scene, that I ran off, like the rest of you. I really don’t know what happened during my absence.’

Then he turned to his daughter and said, ‘ What did happen? Tell me!’

She replied, ‘When my life was in danger, this man showed great courage and saved my life. Now, I’ll marry no one else but him.’

After this, the whole night elapsed in argument. By morning, the whole city was humming with the news. The king and the princess also heard about it and came personally. The night watchman’s daughter also heard the news and arrived on the scene.

‘What’s all this about?’ the king asked ‘Get-what’s coming to you.’ ‘Explain to me.’

‘You always get what’s coming to you,’ he replied.

When the princess heard this she immediately remembered the previous night’s incident and said, ‘Even the Gods cannot oppose the laws of destiny.’

When the night watchman’s daughter heard his reply she too remembered the previous night’s incident and said, ‘So, I regret nothing and nothing astonishes me.’

When the bride heard this reply, she said ‘What destiny gives me, no one can take away.’

When the king heard them talking like this, he felt there was something mysterious behind it all and he insisted on knowing the truth.

The princess and the two girls told him in detail exactly what had happened between them and’ Get-what’s coming to you.’

Then, with great pomp and ceremony, the king gave the princess in marriage to Get-what’s coming to you’ and presented him with a thousand villages and all sorts of ornaments.

As he had no son, he appointed’ Get-what’s coming to you as his heir apparent to the throne.

The night watchman also gave’ Get-what’s coming to you’ his daughter in marriage, with a dowry that he could afford.
The merchant also gave’ Get-what’s coming to you’his daughter in marriage and showered him with presents.

When it was over,’ Get-what’s coming to you’ arranged for his parents and relatives to be brought to him and they all lived happily ever after.

❖ Do your best but leave it to destiny.

❖ Destiny plays an important role in life.

❖ Whenever you rush into something, without thinking about it sufficiently, uneanted things happen.