It is an apt and ironical title. The king in the poem, gets hanged becoz of his own irrational orders. When he is dead, the undecided ministers who seems to be as dud as the dead king, decide that-the man who passes the city gate next would be asked to the name the new king. Becoz the man turns out idioy his answer is “a melon”. Just becos of this incident the title of this poem is the tale of melon city