Question

Now, as days went on, much treasure, both of gold and jewels, had been stolen by a thief from the palace of the king. As the thief was not known, the king quickly summoned Harisarman on account of his reputation for knowledge of magic. And he, when summoned, tried to gain time, and said, "I will tell you to-morrow," and then he was placed in a chamber by the king, and carefully guarded. And he was sad because he had pretended to have knowledge.

What effect is accomplished by the author's choice to end the story with this paragraph?

1. It causes the reader to forget the events which preceded it
2. It drives home the idea that one's behavior can have unintended effects
3. It suggests to the reader that the caste system is unjust
4. It makes the reader wonder if magic might actually be real

Answer 1

Here the answer would be number 2. This excerpt from the old Indian fairy tale Harisarman in which the Harisarman the titular hero, a poor Brahman, who can’t feed his family and is disrespected by the whole village devises a plan to be respected. So, he pretends to be a sage and a wizard. He succeeds in tricking people into believing that he is a mage. But as the excerpt shows, his trickery had unexpected consequences as he was detained by the king.

Answer 2

The second one is the answer