What Women Want?

Fiction

What Women Want?

K S VENKATARAMAN

The powerful king of neighboring country succeeded in ambushing and imprisoning young King Arthur. King Arthur’s youth and nobility prevented him from killing him. So, he released him conditionally; stipulating that Arthur should answer a question correctly within a year and if he failed in this, he would have to face sure death.

It was a Hobson’s choice. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.

The question was really unanswerable one, especially for men of ordinary wisdom! It was, “What do women really want?”

Many wise elders have gone on record that it was possible to find even the depth of an ocean but it was never possible to find what a woman had in her mind! The poor Arthur accepted the offer, for want of anything better and returned to his kingdom.

Arthur announced a huge prize for anybody who could give the correct answer for the one question that has been haunting the minds of all men from time immemorial. In spite of the huge reward, nobody came forward to answer the question.

After a month, Arthur offered to give half of his kingdom to the person answering the question. Even that did not work.

One day, his prime minister came to him with an idea. He suggested that Arthur could seek the help of a famous witch, who had a reputation of knowing everything. She was also noted for exorbitant prices she used to demand, even for small helps. Arthur had developed an aversion towards her and did not want to seek her help.

At last, only one day was left. Arthur did not have any other option. His prime minister insisted not to leave any stone unturned. He said that there was no harm in seeking the help of the witch, for nothing would be too much when the life is at stake. So, Arthur went to the witch and sought her help in answering the question.

The witch promised to help him but the price she demanded was something Arthur could not even have imagined!

Arthur had a bosom friend by name Sir Lancelot. He was the noblest Knight of the Round Table. He was actually spoken of as Arthur’s alter ego. The witch said that she would help Arthur, if Sir Lancelot would marry her!

Arthur became angry. The old witch presented a horrible sight! She had a single protruding tooth; her eyes were buried in the sockets that were already three inches inside; she was dirty and smelt like a dead rat; her disheveled white hair hid half of her face always. She was half-bent and could not walk without her stick that also served as a sort of magic wand. Her bony figure around which she had thrown haphazardly a thick blanket was so repulsive.

Arthur contained his anger with great difficulty. He was also frustrated that his last attempt also did not succeed. He could not even think of asking Sir Lancelot, who was strong and majestic, to marry the wretched witch. He returned to his palace and sadly locked himself in his room.

However, Sir Lancelot came to know everything through some loyal servants of King Arthur. Being a true friend, he could not remain idle when his friend’s life was in danger. For him, nothing seemed greater than saving the life of his friend. He did not waste even a moment. He rushed to the witch and promised to marry her willingly for the sake of his friend!

Afterwards things moved very fast. He married the witch on the same day and got the answer to the sixty-four thousand dollar question, for which all the men in the world would willingly give half of their lives, and passed it on to Arthur and saved his life!

Okay, don’t be in a hurry, I shall share the answer with you and leave the question of deciding what to give me as a price to yourself. But remember that Arthur was willing to give more than half of his kingdom for this!

Well, the answer was, is and will forever be: ‘A woman wants to be in charge of her own life.’

Wait, there is something more. Sir Lancelot went to his bedroom that night fearing the worst of his life. But a great surprise awaited him there. In the bedroom, the most beautiful girl he had ever met was waiting for him, clad in a nice see-through nightgown!

Sir Lancelot could not even open his mouth because of such a pleasant surprise. As usual, the girl took initiative and spoke, “My dear, your surprise cannot be more than mine. I was really moved by the depth of your friendship and greatness of your sacrifice. I am proud to have you as my man. So I have decided to shed my bad qualities and tastes and become a girl like this. But do you want me to be like this during daytime or nighttime?”

Now, Sir Lancelot faced a very difficult choice. Would he like to show a beautiful wife to the world and suffer his fate during intimate night hours? Or, would he suffer the humiliation of having an ugly wife but be happy during the night hours?

Here is a test for you as well. If you are a man reading this, what would be your choice? If you are a girl, what you would like your man’s choice to be?

Have you finished thinking? Okay, evaluate yourself.

Sir Lancelot cogitated for a moment. He was a wise man. Not merely wise, he was a reasonable, judicial person. So he said, “My dear girl, I leave it to you.”   

He said so, because he had been benefited by what he had learnt recently: A woman wants to be in charge of her own life. (You only know if you were also benefited or not.)

His beautiful wife replied, “You are not only truthful and intelligent. You are also broadminded, balanced and judicial. So I would be like this always.

I have already given you a great secret of life. Let me also elaborate it a little for those who need some straight talking.

A beautiful woman and ugly witch is one and the same person. When you respect her as a person, she is beautiful; when you treat her as a thing, she is an ugly witch. For you also, it is a Hobson’s choice. It is either ‘her way’ or ‘no-way’.

K S Venkataraman is Associate Editor of Dynamic Youth Online Magazine. He may be contacted through e-mail: dynamicyouth_development@yahoo.com

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