Part 6

In an adjoining village there lived another very clever Brahman, named Won't-Leave. [51] Whenever he found any man reluctant and unwilling to give him anything that he begged of him, he would persist in bothering him until he had wrung from him a dole. This Mr. Won't-Leave, hearing of the charity of Mr. Won't-Give, and his benevolent feeding of Brahmans, came to see him one day, and requested him to give him a meal. Mr. Won't-Give told him that for that day ten Brahmans had already been settled, and that if he came the next day he would have his meal without fail. Mr. Won't-Leave agreed to this, and left him for that day. Mr. Won't-Give had, of course, told him the very lie he was accustomed to tell all that occasionally begged meals of him.

Now Mr. Won't-Leave was not so stupid as to be thus imposed upon. He stood before Mr. Won't-Give's door precisely at the appointed ghatika (hour) the next day, and reminded the master of the house of his promise. Mr. Won't-Give had never before been taken at his word, and determined to send away the impertinent guest by some stronger excuse than the first, and so he spoke to him thus:--

"Sir, I am very sorry to say that my wife fell ill last night of a strong fever, from which she has not yet recovered. Owing to this unforeseen accident I have had to postpone my charitable feedings (samaradhana) till her recovery, so do not trouble me, please, for some days more."

Mr. Won't-Leave heard these words with an expression of sincere, or rather, seemingly sincere, sorrow in his face, and replied:--

"Respected sir, I am very sorry for the illness of the mistress of the house, but to give up charitable feeding of Brahmans on that account is a great sin. For the last ten years I have been studying the art of cooking, and can now cook for even several hundreds of Brahmans; so I can assist you now in preparing the necessaries for the samaradhana."

Mr. Won't-Give could not refuse such a request, but he deceitfully determined in his mind to get Mr. Won't-Leave to cook for him, and then to drive him away without giving him his rice. And so he said:--

"Yes, that is a very good idea. I am much obliged to you for your kind suggestion. Come in; let us cook together."

So saying, the master of the house took Mr. Won't-Leave inside and they both went into the kitchen, while the mistress of the house, at the command of her husband, pretended to be ill.

Now Mr. Won't-Give was a good liver, and prepared, with the assistance of Mr. Won't-Leave, several good dishes. And then the difficulty was to drive the fellow out, for the long-maintained rule of never feeding a single Brahman must not be broken that day. So, when the cooking was all over, the master of the house gave to Mr. Won't-Leave a kasu (copper coin), and asked him to bring some leaves from the bazar (for plates), and he accordingly went. Mr. Won't-Give, meanwhile, came to his wife, and instructed her thus:--

"My dearest wife, I have spared you the trouble of cooking to-day. Would that we could get such stupid fools as this every day to cook for us! I have now sent him out to fetch us some leaves, and it won't look well if we shut our doors against him or drive him away; so we must make him go away of his own accord. A thought has just come into my mind as to how we can do it. As soon as he comes you shall commence to quarrel with me. I shall then come to you and beat you, or, rather, the ground near you, with both my hands, and you must continue your abuse and cries. The guest will find this very disgusting, and will leave us of his own accord."

Mr. Won't-Give had just finished when he saw Mr. Won't-Leave returning with the leaves. The wife, as pre-arranged, abused her husband right and left for his great imprudence and over-liberality in feeding the Brahmans. Said she:

"How are we to get on in the world if you thus empty the house of everything we have in feeding big-bellied Brahmans? Must you be so particular as to invite them, even when I am sick?" These, and a thousand similar expressions, were now launched at the husband's head. He pretended not to hear it for a time, but at last, apparently overcome by anger, he went in and with his hands gave successive blows on the floor. At every blow on the floor the wife cried out that she was being murdered, and that those who had mercy in their hearts should come to her rescue.

Mr. Won't-Leave, from the court-yard of the house, listened to what was taking place inside, but not wishing to interfere in a quarrel between husband and wife, left matters to take their own course, and got into the loft, where he hid himself, fearing that he would be summoned as a witness to the quarrel.

After a time Mr. Won't-Give came out of the room where he had been beating the floor, and to his joy he could not find the guest. He cautiously looked round him and saw no signs of Mr. Won't-Leave. Of course, having had no reason to think that his guest would be sitting in the loft, he did not look up there; and even if he had done so, he would not have found him, for he had hidden himself out of sight.

Mr. Won't-Give now carefully bolted the door, and his wife came out and changed her dirty cloth for a clean one. Said her husband to her:

"At last we have succeeded in driving him out; come, you too must be hungry; let us have our dinner together."

Two leaves were spread on the ground, and all the dishes were equally divided into them. Meanwhile Mr. Won't-Leave was watching all that took place below him and, being himself very hungry, was slyly watching for an opportunity to jump down. Mr. Won't-Give, gloating over his trickery, said to his wife:

"Well, my love, did I not beat you without hurting you?" to which she replied:

"Did I not continue to cry without shedding tears?" when suddenly there fell on their ears:

"And did I not come to have my dinner without going away?" and down jumped Mr. Won't-Leave, from the loft, and took his seat in front of the leaf spread by Mr. Won't-Give for his wife. And Mr. Won't-Give, though disappointed, was highly pleased at the cleverness of his guest.

This story is cited as the authority for three proverbs that have come into use in Tamil.

"Novamal aditten." "Oyamal aluden." "Pokamal vanden."

which represent the exchanges of politeness between the husband, the wife, and the guest, quoted in the foregoing paragraphs.

VII.

VAYALVALLAN KAIYAVALLA.

MR. MIGHTY-OF-HIS-MOUTH AND MR. MIGHTY-OF-HIS-HANDS.

In two adjoining villages there lived two famous men. The one was called Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth [52]--one that could accomplish wonders with words alone. The other was called Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands [53]--one who could make no use of that glib instrument the tongue, but was able to bear burdens, cut wood, and perform other physical labour.

It so happened that they agreed to live together in the house of the Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth, to try and see which of them was the superior. They accordingly kept company for several months, till the great feast of the nine nights (navaratri) came on. On the first day of the feast Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands wanted to sacrifice a goat to the goddess Kali. So he said to Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth,

"My dear friend, we both are mighty in our way, and so it would be shameful for us to buy the goat, that we want to sacrifice, with money. We should manage to get it without payment."

"Yes, we must do so, and I know how," replied Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth, and he asked his friend to wait till that evening.

Now there lived a shepherd at one ghatika's (hour's) distance from their house, and the two friends resolved to go to his fold that night and steal away one of his goats. Accordingly, when it was dark, they approached his fold. The shepherd had just finished his duties to the mute members of his flock, and wanted to go home and have his rice hot. But he had no second person to watch the flock, and he must not lose his supper. So he planted his crook before the fold, and throwing his blanket (kambali) over it, thus addressed it:

"My son, I am very hungry, and so must go for my rice. Till I return do you watch the flock. This wood is rich in tigers and goblins (bhutas). Some mischievous thief or bhuta--or kuta [54] may come to steal away the sheep. Watch over them carefully." So saying the shepherd went away.

The friends had heard what the shepherd said. Of course, Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth laughed within himself at this device of the shepherd to impress upon would-be robbers that he had left some one there to watch his sheep, while really he had only planted a pole and thrown a blanket over it. Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands, however, did not see the trick, and mistaking the stick to be an actual watchman sitting at his duty before the fold, spoke thus to his friend:

"Now what are we to do? There is a watchman sitting in front of the fold." Thereon, Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth cleared away his doubts by saying that it was no watchman, but a mere stick, and entered the fold with his friend.

It had also so happened that on that very night a bhuta (goblin) had come into the fold to steal away a sheep. It shuddered with fear on hearing the shepherd mention the kuta, for having never heard of the existence of kutas, it mistook this imaginary being to be something superior in strength to itself. So thinking that a kuta might come to the fold, and not wishing to expose itself till it knew well what kutas were, the bhuta transformed itself into a sheep and laid itself down among the flock. By this time the two Mighties had entered the fold and begun an examination of the sheep. They went on rejecting one animal after another for some defect or other, till at last they came to the sheep which was none other than the bhuta. They tested it, and when they found it very heavy--as, of course, it would be with the soul of the bhuta in it--they began to tie up its legs to carry it home. When hands began to shake it the bhuta mistook the Mighties for the kutas, and said to itself:--

"Alas! the kutas have come to take me away. What am I to do? What a fool I was to come into the fold!" So thought the bhuta as Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands was carrying it away on his head, with his friend following him behind. But the bhuta soon began to work its devilish powers to extricate itself, and Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands began to feel pains all over his body and said to his friend:

"My dear Mighty, I feel pains all over me. I think what we have brought is no sheep!" Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth was inwardly alarmed at the words of his friend, but did not like to show that he was afraid. So he said:

"Then put down the sheep, and let us tear open its belly, so that we shall each have only one-half of it to carry."

This frightened the bhuta, and he melted away on the head of Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands, who, relieved of his devilish burden, was glad to return home safe with his friend.

The bhuta, too, went to its abode and there told its fellow-goblins how it had involved itself in a great trouble and how narrowly it had escaped. They all laughed at its stupidity and said, "What a great fool you are! They were not kutas. In fact there are no kutas in the world. They were men, and it was most stupid of you to have got yourself into their hands. Are you not ashamed to make such a fuss about your escape?" The injured bhuta retorted that they would not have made such remarks had they seen the kutas. "Then show us these kutas, as you choose to call them," said they, "and we will crush them in the twinkling of an eye." "Agreed," said the injured bhuta, and the next night it took them to the house of the Mighties, and said from a distance: "There is their house. I cannot approach it. Do whatever you like." The other bhutas were amazed at the fear of their timid brother, and resolved among themselves to put an end to the enemies of even one member of their caste. So they went in a great crowd to the house of the Mighties. Some stood outside the house, to see that none of the inmates escaped, and some watched in the back-yard, while a score of them jumped over the walls and entered the court-yard.

Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands was sleeping in the verandah, adjoining the courtyard, and when he heard the noise of people jumping about, he opened his eyes, and to his terror saw some bhutas in the court. Without opening his mouth he quietly rolled himself along the ground, and went to the room where Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth was sleeping with his wife and children. Tapping gently at the door he awoke his friend and said:

"What shall we do now? The bhutas have invaded our house, and will soon kill us."

Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth told him quietly not to be afraid, but to go and sleep in his original place, and that he himself would make the bhutas run away. Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands did not understand what his friend meant, but not wishing to argue rolled his way back to his original place and pretended to sleep, though his heart was beating terribly with fright. Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth now awoke his wife, and instructed her thus:

"My dearest wife, the foolish bhutas have invaded our house, but if you act according to my advice we are safe, and the goblins will depart harmlessly. What I want you to do is, to go to the hall and light a lamp, spread leaves on the floor, and then pretend to awake me for my supper. I shall get up and enquire what you have ready to give me to eat. You will then reply that you have only pepper water and vegetables. With an angry face I shall say, 'What have you done with the three bhutas that our son caught hold of on his way back from school?' Your reply must be, 'The rogue wanted some sweetmeats on coming home. Unfortunately I had none in the house, so he roasted the three bhutas and gobbled them up.'"

Thus instructing his wife Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth pretended to go to sleep. The wife accordingly spread the leaves and called her husband for his supper. During the conversation that followed, the fact that the son had roasted three goblins for sweetmeats was conveyed to the bhutas. They shuddered at the son's extraordinary ability, and thought,

"What must the father do for his meals when a son roasts three bhutas for sweetmeats?"

So they at once took to their heels. Then going to the brother they had jeered at, they said to him that indeed the kutas were their greatest enemies, and that none of their lives were safe while they remained where they were, as on that very evening the son of a kuta had roasted three of them for sweetmeats. They therefore all resolved to fly away to the adjoining forest, and disappeared accordingly. Thus Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth saved himself and his friend on two occasions from the bhutas.

The friends after this went out one day to an adjoining village and were returning home rather late in the evening. Darkness fell on them before half the way was traversed, and there lay before them a dense wood infested by beasts of prey: so they resolved to spend the night in a high tree and go home next morning, and accordingly got up into a big pipal. Now this was the very wood into which the bhutas had migrated, and at midnight they all came down with torches to catch jackals and other animals to feast upon. The fear of Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands may be more imagined than described. The dreaded bhutas were at the foot of the very tree in which he had taken up his abode for the night! His hands trembled. His body shook. He lost his hold, and down he came with a horrible rustling of leaves. His friend, however, was, as usual, ready with a device, and bawled out:

"I wished to leave these poor beings to their own revelry. But you are hungry and must needs jump down to catch some of them. Do not fail to lay your hands on the stoutest bhuta."

The goblins heard the voice which was already very familiar to their ears, for was it not the kuta whose son had roasted up three bhutas for sweetmeats that spoke? So they ran away at once, crying out:

"Alas, what misery! Our bitter enemies have followed us even to this wood!"

Thus the wit of Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth saved himself and his friend for the third time.

The sun began to rise, and Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands thrice walked round Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth and said:

"My dear friend, truly you only of us two are mighty. Mere physical strength is of no use without skill in words. The latter is far superior to the former, and if a man possess both, he is, as it were, a golden lotus having a sweet scent. It is enough for me now to have arrived at this moral! With your kind permission I shall return to my village." Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth asked his friend not to consider himself under any obligation, and, after honouring him as became his position he let him return to his village.

The moral of this short story is that in man there is nothing great but mind.

VIII.

THE MOTHER-IN-LAW BECAME AN ASS.

Little by little the mother-in-law became an ass--vara vara mami kaludai pol anal, is a proverb among the Tamils, applied to those who day by day go downwards in their progress in study, position, or life, and based on the following story:--

In a certain village their lived a Brahman with his wife, mother, and mother-in-law. He was a very good man, and equally kind to all of them. His mother complained of nothing at his hands, but his wife was a very bad-tempered woman, and always troubled her mother-in-law by keeping her engaged in this work or that throughout the day, and giving her very little food in the evening. Owing to this the poor Brahman's mother was almost dying of misery. On the other hand, her own mother received very kind treatment, of course, at her daughter's hands, but the husband was so completely ruled by his wife, that he had no strength of mind to oppose her ill-treatment of his mother.

One evening, just before sunset, the wife abused her mother-in-law with such fury, that the latter had to fly away to escape a thrashing. Full of misery she ran out of the village, but the sun had begun to set, and the darkness of night was fast overtaking her. So finding a ruined temple she entered it to pass the night there. It happened to be the abode of the village Kali (goddess), who used to come out every night at midnight to inspect her village. That night she perceived a woman--the mother of the poor Brahman--lurking within her prakaras (boundaries), and being a most benevolent Kali, called out to her, and asked her what made her so miserable that she should leave her home on such a dark night. The Brahmani told her story in a few words, and while she was speaking the cunning goddess was using her supernatural powers to see whether all she said was true or not, and finding it to be the truth, she thus replied in very soothing tones:--

"I pity your misery, mother, because your daughter-in-law troubles and vexes you thus when you have become old, and have no strength in your body. Now take this mango," and taking a ripe one from out her waist-band, she gave it to the old Brahmani with a smiling face--"eat it, and you will soon become a young woman like your own daughter-in-law, and then she shall no longer trouble you." Thus consoling the afflicted old woman, the kind-hearted Kali went away. The Brahmani lingered for the remainder of the night in the temple, and being a fond mother she did not like to eat the whole of the mango without giving a portion of it to her son.

Meanwhile, when her son returned home in the evening he found his mother absent, but his wife explained the matter to him, so as to throw the blame on the old woman, as she always did. As it was dark he had no chance of going out to search for her, so he waited for the daylight, and as soon as he saw the dawn, started to look for his mother. He had not walked far when to his joy he found her in the temple of Kali.

"How did you pass the cold night, my dearest mother?" said he. "What did you have for dinner? Wretch that I am to have got myself married to a cur. Forget all her faults, and return home."

His mother shed tears of joy and sorrow, and related her previous night's adventure, upon which he said:--

"Delay not even one nimisha (minute), but eat this fruit at once. I do not want any of it. Only if you become young and strong enough to stand that nasty cur's troubles, well and good."

So the mother ate up the divine fruit, and the son took her upon his shoulders and brought her home, on reaching which he placed her on the ground, when to his joy she was no longer an old woman, but a young girl of sixteen, and stronger than his own wife. The troublesome wife was now totally put down, and was powerless against so strong a mother-in-law.

She did not at all like the change, and having to give up her habits of bullying, and so she argued to herself thus:--

"This jade of a mother-in-law became young through the fruit of the Kali, why should not my mother also do the same, if I instruct her and send her to the same temple."

So she instructed her mother as to the story she ought to give to the goddess and sent her there. Her old mother, agreeably to her daughter's injunctions, went to the temple, and on meeting with the goddess at midnight, gave a false story that she was being greatly ill-treated by her daughter-in-law, though, in truth, she had nothing of the kind to complain of. The goddess perceived the lie through her divine powers, but pretending to pity her, gave her also a fruit. Her daughter had instructed her not to eat it till next morning, and till she saw her son-in-law.

As soon as morning approached, the poor hen-pecked Brahman was ordered by his wife to go to the temple and fetch his mother-in-law, as he had some time back fetched away his mother. He accordingly went, and invited her to come home. She wanted him to eat part of the fruit, as she had been instructed, but he refused, and so she swallowed it all, fully expecting to become young again on reaching home. Meanwhile her son-in-law took her on his shoulders and returned home, expecting, as his former experience had taught him, to see his mother-in-law also turn into a young woman. Anxiety to see how the change came on over-came him, and half way he turned his head, and found such part of the burden on his shoulders as he could see, to be like parts of an ass, but he took this to be a mere preliminary stage towards youthful womanhood! Again he turned, and again he saw the same thing several times, and the more he looked the more his burden became like an ass, till at last when he reached home, his burden jumped down braying like an ass and ran away.

Thus the Kali, perceiving the evil intentions of the wife, disappointed her by turning her mother into an ass, but no one knew of it till she actually jumped down from the shoulders of her son-in-law.

This story is always cited as the explanation of the proverb quoted above--vara vara mami kaludai pol anal--little by little the mother-in-law became an ass, to which is also commonly added ur varumbodu ulaiyida talaippattal--and as she approached the village, she began to bray.

IX.

The Story of Appayya. [55]

Apupena hatah chorah Hata khadgona kesari Turamgena hatam sainyam Vidhirbhagyanu sarini