Tales of the Sun Part 19

XXV.

THE BEGGAR AND THE FIVE m.u.f.fINS.

In a certain village there lived a poor beggar and his wife. The man used to go out every morning with a clean vessel in his hand, return home with rice enough for the day's meal, and thus they lived on in extreme poverty.

One day a poor Madhava Brahmin invited the pair to a feast, and among Madhavas m.u.f.fins (tosai) are always a part of the good things on festive occasions. So during the feast the beggar and his wife had their fill of m.u.f.fins. They were so pleased with them, that the woman was extremely anxious to prepare some m.u.f.fins in her own house, and began to save a little rice every day from what her husband brought her for the purpose. When enough had been thus collected she begged a poor neighbour's wife to give her a little black pulse which the latter--praised be her charity--readily did. The faces of the beggar and his wife literally glowed with joy that day, for were they not to taste the long-desired m.u.f.fins for a second time?

The woman soon turned the rice she had been saving, and the black pulse she had obtained from her neighbour into a paste, and mixing it well with a little salt, green chillies, coriander seed and curds, set it in a pan on the fire; and with her mouth watering all the while, prepared five m.u.f.fins! By the time her husband had returned from his collection of alms, she was just turning out of the pan the fifth m.u.f.fin! And when she placed the whole five m.u.f.fins before him his mouth, too, began to water. He kept two for himself and two he placed before his wife, but what was to be done with the fifth? He did not understand the way out of this difficulty. That half and half made one, and that each could take two and a half m.u.f.fins was a question too hard for him to solve. The beloved m.u.f.fins must not be torn in pieces; so he said to his wife that either he or she must take the remaining one. But how were they to decide which should be the lucky one?

Proposed the husband:--"Let us both shut our eyes and stretch ourselves as if in sleep, each on a verandah on either side the kitchen. Whoever opens an eye and speaks first gets only two m.u.f.fins; and the other gets three."

So great was the desire of each to get the three m.u.f.fins, that they both abided by the agreement, and the woman, though her mouth watered for the m.u.f.fins, resolved to go through the ordeal. She placed the five cakes in a pan and covered it over with another pan. She then carefully bolted the door inside and asking her husband to go into the east verandah, she lay down in the west one. Sleep she had none, and with closed eyes kept guard over her husband: for if he spoke first he would have only two m.u.f.fins, and the other three would come to her share. Equally watchful was her husband over her.

Thus pa.s.sed one whole day--two--three! The house was never opened! No beggar came to receive the morning dole. The whole village began to enquire after the missing beggar. What had become of him? What had become of his wife?

"See whether his house is locked on the outside and whether he has left us to go to some other village," spoke the greyheads.

So the village watchman came and tried to push the door open, but it would not open!

"Surely," said they, "it is locked on the inside! Some great calamity must have happened. Perhaps thieves have entered the house, and after plundering their property, murdered the inmates."

"But what property is a beggar likely to have?" thought the village a.s.sembly, and not liking to waste time in idle speculations, they sent two watchmen to climb the roof and open the latch from the inside.

Meanwhile the whole village, men, women, and children, stood outside the beggar's house to see what had taken place inside. The watchmen jumped into the house, and to their horror found the beggar and his wife stretched on opposite verandahs like two corpses. They opened the door, and the whole village rushed in. They, too, saw the beggar and his wife lying so still that they thought them to be dead. And though the beggar pair had heard everything that pa.s.sed around them, neither would open an eye or speak. For whoever did it first would get only two m.u.f.fins!

At the public expense of the village two green litters of bamboo and cocoanut leaves were prepared on which to remove the unfortunate pair to the cremation ground.

"How loving they must have been to have died together like this!" said some greybeards of the village.

In time the cremation ground was reached, and village watchmen had collected a score of dried cowdung cakes and a bundle of firewood from each house, for the funeral pyre. From these charitable contributions two pyres had been prepared, one for the man and one for the woman. The pyre was then lighted, and when the fire approached his leg, the man thought it time to give up the ordeal and to be satisfied with only two m.u.f.fins! So while the villagers were still continuing the funeral rites, they suddenly heard a voice:--

"I shall be satisfied with two m.u.f.fins!"

Immediately another voice replied from the woman's pyre:--

"I have gained the day; let me have the three!"

The villagers were amazed and ran away. One bold man alone stood face to face with the supposed dead husband and wife. He was a bold man, indeed for when a dead man or a man supposed to have died comes to life, village people consider him to be a ghost. However, this bold villager questioned the beggars until he came to know their story. He then went after the runaways and related to them the whole story of the five m.u.f.fins to their great amazement.

But what was to be done to the people who had thus voluntarily faced death out of love for m.u.f.fins. Persons who had ascended the green litter and slept on the funeral pyre could never come back to the village! If they did the whole village would perish. So the elders built a small hut in a deserted meadow outside the village and made the beggar and his wife live there.

Ever after that memorable day our hero and his wife were called the m.u.f.fin beggar, and the m.u.f.fin beggar's wife, and many old ladies and young children from the village use to bring them m.u.f.fins in the morning and evening, out of pity for them, for had they not loved m.u.f.fin so much that they underwent death in life?

XXVI.

THE BRAHMARaKSHAS AND THE HAIR.

In a certain village there lived a very rich landlord, who owned several villages, but was such a great miser that no tenant would willingly cultivate his lands, and those he had gave him not a little trouble. He was indeed so vexed with them that he left all his lands untilled, and his tanks and irrigation channels dried up. All this, of course, made him poorer and poorer day by day. Nevertheless he never liked the idea of freely opening his purse to his tenants and obtaining their good will.

While he was in this frame of mind a learned Sanyasi paid him a visit, and on his representing his case to him, he said:--

"My dear son,--I know an incantation (mantra) in which I can instruct you. If you repeat it for three months day and night, a Brahmarakshas will appear before you on the first day of the fourth month. Make him your servant, and then you can set at naught all your petty troubles with your tenants. The Brahmarakshas will obey all your orders, and you will find him equal to one hundred servants."

Our hero fell at his feet and begged to be instructed at once. The sage then sat facing the east and his disciple the landlord facing the west, and in this position formal instruction was given, after which the Sanyasi went his way.

The landlord, mightily pleased at what he had learnt, went on practising the incantation, till, on the first day of the fourth month, the great Brahmarakshas stood before him.

"What do you want, sir, from my hands?" said he; "what is the object of your having propitiated me for these three months?"

The landlord was thunderstruck at the huge monster who now stood before him and still more so at his terrible voice, but nevertheless he said:--

"I want you to become my servant and obey all my commands."

"Agreed," answered the Brahmarakshas in a very mild tone, for it was his duty to leave off his impertinent ways when any one who had performed the required penance wanted him to become his servant; "Agreed. But you must always give me work to do; when one job is finished you must at once give me a second, and so on. If you fail I shall kill you."

The landlord, thinking that he would have work for several such Brahmarakshasas, was pleased to see that his demoniacal servant was so eager to help him. He at once took him to a big tank which had been dried up for several years, and pointing it out spoke as follows:--

"You see this big tank; you must make it as deep as the height of two palmyra trees and repair the embankment wherever it is broken."

"Yes, my master, your orders shall be obeyed," humbly replied the servant and fell to work.

The landlord, thinking that it would take several months, if not years, to do the work in the tank, for it was two kos long and one kos broad, returned delighted to his home, where his people were awaiting him with a sumptuous dinner. When enemies were approaching the Brahmarakshas came to inform his master that he had finished his work in the tank. He was indeed astonished and feared for his own life!

"What! finished the work in one day which I thought would occupy him for months and years; if he goes on at this rate, how shall I keep him employed. And when I cannot find it for him he will kill me!" Thus he thought and began to weep; his wife wiped the tears that ran down his face, and said:--

"My dearest husband, you must not lose courage. Get out of the Brahmarakshas all the work you can and then let me know. I'll give him something that will keep him engaged for a very very long time, and then he'll trouble us no more."

But her husband only thought her words to be meaningless and followed the Brahmarakshas to see what he had done. Sure enough the thing was as complete as could be, so he asked him to plough all his lands, which extended over twenty villages! This was done in two ghatikas! He next made him dig and cultivate all his garden lands. This was done in the twinkling of an eye! The landlord now grew hopeless.

"What more work have you for me?" roared the Brahmarakshas, as he found that his master had nothing for him to do, and that the time for his eating him up was approaching.

"My dear friend," said he, "my wife says she has a little job to give you; do it please now. I think that that is the last thing I can give you to do, and after it in obedience to the conditions under which you took service with me, I must become your prey!"

At this moment his wife came to them, holding in her left hand a long hair, which she had just pulled out from her head, and said:--

"Well, Brahmarakshas, I have only a very light job for you. Take this hair, and when you have made it straight, bring it back to me."

The Brahmarakshas calmly took it, and sat in a pipal tree to make it straight. He rolled it several times on his thigh and lifted it up to see if it became straight; but no, it would still bend! Just then it occurred to him that goldsmiths, when they want to make their metal wires straight, have them heated in fire; so he went to a fire and placed the hair over it, and of course it frizzled up with a nasty smell! He was horrified!

"What will my master's wife say if I do not produce the hair she gave me?"