Once upon a time, there was a king, and people from far and wide used to come to his kingdom for work. One morning, a stranger came to the court and bowed his head - "Your Majesty, I want to join your service."
The king smiled and said, "What is your special qualification?"
The man said in a calm voice, "I can tell by looking at a person's face whether there is a person or an animal hidden inside."
The king paused and looked at him. Curious, he gave him the responsibility of the stable of the most beloved horses in the palace.
A few days later, the king called him and asked, "How do you like my most expensive horse?"
The man replied, "Your Majesty, the horse is very beautiful externally, but it is not a purebred."
The king's face was surprised!
He immediately called the experienced horseman of the kingdom.
The horseman's head was shaved and he said, "The horse is indeed a purebred, but its mother died soon after birth. It grew up on cow's milk."
The king then asked the servant, "How do you know this?"
The man said humbly, "Your Majesty, when the horse eats grass, it eats with its head bowed like a cow. But a purebred horse keeps its head high when it takes grass in its mouth."
The king was impressed by his sharp intelligence and gave him many rewards - grain, ghee, goats, chickens and sent them to his house.
Then the king said, "You now work in the queen's palace."
A few days later the king asked, "What do you think of my queen?"
The man said calmly, "The queen is very elegant, her behavior is also royal, but she is not a queen by birth."
The king was shocked again. He immediately called his mother-in-law.
The mother-in-law said in a somewhat heavy voice, "It is true, Your Majesty, we lost our daughter before you were born. So to save the relationship, we raised another woman's daughter as our own."
The king asked the servant again, "How did you understand so much?"
The man said, "Your Majesty, real princesses speak to their servants with respect and courtesy. But your queen treats her servants as if they were just instruments to carry out her orders."
The king was once again impressed. He gave her more rich rewards - sheep, goats, grain, ghee - and this time appointed her to a permanent position in his court.
A few months later, the king smiled and said one day, "You know everyone, now tell me, what do you think of me?"
The servant remained silent. After a while, he said, "Your Majesty, if you promise not to take my life, then I will."
The king said with royal seriousness, "I promise."
The man looked at the ground and said, "You are not the son of a king, and your behavior does not bear the mark of royal blood."
The king's eyes turned red with anger, but he remembered his promise. He went straight to his mother's palace.
The queen took a deep breath and said,
"Yes, it is true. We were childless, so we adopted a shepherd's child, that is you."
The king stared at him with wide eyes, as if the world had changed in an instant.
He called the man again and said,
"How did you know?"
The man smiled softly and said,
"Your Majesty, when kings give rewards, they give diamonds, pearls or gold. But the rewards you give - ghee, goats, sheep, grain - are the nature of a shepherd."
Then he remained silent for a while and said,
"Your Majesty, the true identity of a man is hidden not in his face, but in his behavior. No matter how much rank or wealth a man has, his behavior makes him a man."
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