There once lived a king named Murali. He had an advisor called Rajiv, who was very wise and lived in a small hut in the kingdom.

One day, King Murali received a letter from his enemy, King Trinam, warning him that he would wage a war against him. King Murali was terrified and called Rajiv for his advice.

Rajiv said, “Do not worry, your Majesty! Please give me a few days to find a solution to this.” Before leaving, he asked the king for some alms.

Rajiv then set out for the forest. He collected sticks of different sizes and returned to his home. With the alms that the king gave him, Rajiv bought a bell. He made a skeleton with the sticks, put the bell in the middle of it and covered it with a white towel. It looked exactly like a ghost!

After that, he went secretly to King Trinam’s palace, placed the skeleton in the garden and hid behind a tree. The king was doing his daily rounds in the garden when he noticed what lay in his garden. Afraid that there was a ghost in his palace, he ran away as far as he could.

Rajiv then returned back to King Murali and the latter was overjoyed when he heard what had happened. He rewarded Rajiv amply who then went back to his home.