THE PUNISHMENT OF KHIPIL

The Auther George Meredith

George Meredith was born in 1828. He was of Welsh and Irish descent, and was naturally very proud of his
double Celtic origin-a fact that is When quite a small boy lie had the misfortune to lose his mother, and for
some years he attended a day-school in Portsmouth.

When he was fourteen, he was sent to the Moravian School at New Wied on-the-Rhine, which he left when
sixteen.
On returning to England he directed his unwilling attention to the law, which he soon gave up for literature.
His first book of Poems was published in 1851, then came the fantastic Shaving of Shagpat in 1855.
After that he wrote many poems and novels. He is considered as one of the major Victorian novelists. His best
English novel is "The Egoist. He died in 1909. The Punishment of Khipil It is taken from George Meredith’s.
The Shaving of Shagpat-an Arabian Nights like an allegory and a brilliant oriental extravaganza. The story is
about a lazy person.
Who enjoys a lot at the expense of the king. The name of this person is Khipil. Everybody is made to laugh
when he reads this story, and the builder is quoted as a symbol of fun and laughter. This story is a burlesque
fantasy because it strongly exposes to ridicule an imaginary character, Khipil, the ‘clever’ builder. It has a
satiric purpose behind it and has a corrective influence on people. Since the author was a poet also, the poetic
touch is noticed everywhere in the story.
It would have made an even better verse than prose romance. The poetic touch has become quite obtrusive in
the story. Khipil is the royal builder. Khipil as well as to all those who were behaving like Khipil in his
kingdom.
He was a very talkative person. He thought himself to be very clever and wanted to befool the king through
his oily tongue ( (Jt; ). He was, sadly mistaken about it. The king punished him in a strange way. Khipil was
fond of inventing stories. All the time he sat with the masons and workers and amused them by relating
interesting stories.
They were also happy with him, because diey were getting their wages widiout doing anything at all. Khipil
was not a diligent worker. He wanted to enjoy at the expense of the king. He was also not a wise person. When
die king came He is ordered by Shali-Pesh, the Persian King to build a palace for him. Sliaii-pesh is an
imaginary character like Kliipii.
He has been introduced as a king of Persia, The very name appears to be an Iranian one. He has been
portrayed as a very good administrator. When he came to power, the state of affairs in the country was
deplorable. The worker did not do their duty properly and they were a burden on the state.
He wanted to change these people. But he did not give them any physical punishment. He devised a novel way
of reforming them through the punishment of KJiipil. He had ordered Khipil, his royal builder to construct a