Short Story: The Speech

by Shon Mehta

Pepil always dreamt of giving a great speech. This dream was born ever since he saw the well-known orator Mefil giving a speech in front of the large crowd. People were eager to listen to Mefil’s every word. Mefil had an absolute power over his audience. Pepil craved for that power.

Pepil often dreamt of winning an award and giving a great acceptance speech. Unfortunately, he never won an award. He even prepared his best man speech which could have left the crowd spellbound. But none of his friends ever thought high enough of Pepil, to make him a best man.

Pepil was getting old now, and he had not given his great speech yet. His life could have passed just like this; but it changed one day.

That day, the local errand boy Nobu came running to Pepil’s house. “Lyard is no more” Nobu declared.

At first, Pepil could not place that name. “Who the hell is Lyard?”

“Lyard! Lyard, your cousin. He died this morning. They are asking for you.” gasped Nobu.

Lyard was Pepil’s distant cousin. Apparently, all of Lyard’s close relatives stayed at a distance. Pepil was a distant relative, but stayed close by.

Pepil hurried to Lyard’s place. The funeral was arranged in the neighbourhood community hall. True to the tradition, there was free wine; and most of the neighbourhood had gathered to pay respects, and have the wine.

“Can anyone say a few good words about Lyard?” the priest called out.

The wine was strong, and many were in a trance.

A few of those not too drunk yet thought of getting up, but the need for “a good word” stopped them. A good word about, Lyrad? In his entire life Lyard had never uttered any good word about anyone. They gave it a thought and preferred another serving of wine instead.

The priest was waiting.

“Let his cousin Pepil speak, as a family he would know Lyard better.” said someone.

Pepil stood up. He hurriedly put up a solemn face, and began. “Lyard was not just cousin to me, but he was more than a cousin.”

That’s all he had. He stared at the crowd front of him. In a drunken trance, they all were looking at Pepil — hanging on to every word coming out of his mouth.

Suddenly, Pepil realized that this is his moment — the moment he has prepared his whole life. He needed to capture this moment and deliver the greatest speech ever.

Pepil cleared his throat, took a deep breath, looked around, and started again.

“My friends, my brothers, my countrymen. Today, we are gathered here for Lyard’s funeral. We are not related to each other by blood, yet here we are — together, on this occasion. This is a defining moment in human history.”

The word “History” gave Pepil the direction for his speech. He was on a familiar ground now.

“The history, my dear friends, what can I say about it. Everybody has a history — you, me, even Lyard.” Pepil continued.

He spoke about turbulent history of his and Lyard’s relation. Then, he spoke about human history. Pepil had earmarked a few books on world history, he considered himself an expert on the subject. He spoke of rise and fall of civilizations. He spoke about the great Roman Empire, he spoke about the mighty Mongols, and he spoke about the treasures of Mesopotamia, and the teachings of ancient Greeks.

People kept listening, and drinking. They cheered him on, sipped their wine, and nodded thoughtfully. Some snored.

Pepil spoke and spoke and he spoke. The insightful quotes that he had memorized all these years flooded his mind. There was so much to say.

The afternoon turned into evening, and soon it was getting dark. The wine had long finished, and the crowd had started getting uncomfortable.

Like any good speaker, Pepil noticed the restlessness in his audience and he decided to stop.

“I would like to thank all of you for gracing this event.”

“I am feeling extremely happy. I hope we get many such occasions in the near future.” Pepil concluded.

“Here, here!” People clapped. Everybody went home. Pepil slept peacefully that day.

Many years have passed since this incident. Yet, whenever anyone stands for a speech, someone always asks “Will it be like Pepil’s speech?”

This always draws a chuckle from the crowd.