684. The Emissary

Arivanandam, who returned to his home country, after completing his mission of carrying a message to the king of a hostile country, met the king of his country and conveyed to him what transpired in the meeting he had with the enemy king.

After Arivanandam had briefed the king and left, the king summoned the minister and told him, "Arivanandam's mission has been successful. King Kathirvelan has accepted our proposal."

"Very happy to know this, Your Majesty" replied the minister.

"I don't see any sign of happiness in your tone or on your face!" said the king, with a chuckle.

"I am happy, Your Majesty."

"I understand that you are unhappy about my sending Arivanandam as our emissary, instead of Ramadasar, recommended by you."

"Your Majesty! I recommended Ramadasar, considering that he is intelligent and erudite and hence highly appropriate for the mission. But, I am not unhappy about your sending Arivanandam as our emissary."

"Acting on your recommendation, I asked Ramadasar to accept the mission. But, he told me that he won't be the appropriate choice for the mission and recommended Arivanandam, instead. I requested him to advise Arivanandam about the intricacies of functioning as an emissary. Accordingly, he advised Arivanandam. Arivanandam went as our emissary and performed his task successfully. Since you were indisposed and confined to your home as per the advice of the palace physician, I had no opportunity to appraise you of these developments, earlier" said the king. 

"Your Majesty! I am perplexed by the question why Ramadasar considered himself unsuitable to act as an emissary.When he had considered himself unsuitable for the job, how could we consider his advising Arivanandam appropriate?" remarked the minister. 

"Minister! When I told Ramadasar that you considered that he possessed the intelligence and erudition required to serve as an emissary, do you know what his response was?" 

"What did he say?"

"He said 'An emissary should have one more trait - an impressive appearance. I don't have that. The minister might have overlooked this disqualification, because of the affection he has for me. But, a good appearance is also important for an emissary. Only a person with good appearance, a keen intelligence and erudition is competent to serve as an emissary.' He then recommended Arivanandam for the job" said the king and looked at the minister. 

The minister recalled Ramadasar's face studded with freckles and wondered how he had failed to consider his unattractive appearance, while recommending him as the emissary. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 69
The Ambassadorial Mission

Verse 684 (in Tamil):
aRivu uru ArAyndha kalvi im mUnRan
seRivudaiyAn selga vinaikku.

Meaning:

Intelligence, good appearance and thorough learning - he who has these three in abundance, let him be the one to go on a diplomatic mission.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'amaichcharin parindhuraiyai ERkAdhadhu En?' by the same author.) 

Verse 685
Verse 683