THE MISERLY OLD WOMAN

THE MISERLY OLD WOMAN

TALES FOR KIDS

An Indian folk tale retold 

Once in a village in India lived an old woman. She was extremely miserly. Nothing in the world counted at all except money for her. She was made like that and nobody could change her. She did not trust anyone. If anyone was friendly with her, she would immediately think that he or she was after her money. So slowly, people avoided her and she lived all alone. Did she spend anything for herself? Actually she was so miserly and so fond of her money, almost mad about it , that she ate little. She hated to spend her money . She wore her tattered dresses and kept her money intact. She did not even have a decent house to live in spite of the fortune that she had.

People often wondered what would happen to her money, when she passed away and to whom she would give that money. She had no children. She had never given them anything and they had left her one after the other and she saw to it that they never visited her.

She was alone and always with her money in her hut and with her meager belongings.

One day, a crook and cunning young fellow came to the village in search of some loot. When he heard of the old woman, he decided that to charm her would be easy money and she had to give her money to somebody after all, why not he?

He went up to her house and knocked the door. A harsh voice answered , “ Go away!”

But the young crook was not to be discouraged. He was confident of himself and he had a plan. He stayed put and from that day, he did all the house hold chores- getting the water, washing her clothes, fanning her, even cooking her meager meals. Initially she resisted but slowly she gave in. The crook tried hard to guess where she had hidden her fortune but she was always extremely careful and always around. The young man was not worried. He had only to wait and later he could enjoy.

One day, the old woman was seriously taken ill. The young man got her medicines but her condition worsened. One evening she called him and said to him, “ Dear son, I know I am going to die this life is over. You can take all that is here but I have a pillow and I have had that pillow since my childhood. Please put that pillow on the funeral pyre and she took a promise from him that he would do so.

That night the old woman breathed her last. The young man felt sorry for her, after all she had called him her son and left everything to him. He performed the funeral rites and as he had promised put the tattered pillow too in the fire. He watched till the last bit of the fire was extinguished. Then with a sad feeling went to his house, the house that the old woman had given him. Actually the crook had a good heart deep within him.

That day he searched for the money in the house- in the vessels she never allowed him to touch, in the attic he had never probed, under the bed he had never peeked , among her few clothes, in the cupboard she always kept locked and to his amazement, he found no money anywhere. He intensified his search , searching in the oddest of places- in the thatched roofs, in old pots, in the dried up well outside. There was no money anywhere. But it had to be somewhere and why wold she hide it? Had she not called him her son? And suddenly in a flash he understood what had happened, the old woman had indeed taken the money with her, she had sewn all the money in the pillow. The pillow was her fortune.

The young man was numb with shock for days at the extreme miserliness of the woman.

THE MUSICAL DONKEY

THE MUSICAL DONKEY

Once there lived a donkey who worked for a washer man. It was a tough life that he led. The washer man gave him little food to eat and the donkey had to work carrying heavy loads. He had a jackal as a friend. At night he would spend time with the jackal and they would freely wander here and there.

One night the donkey and the jackal dared to go near the fields. They found cucumbers in large numbers in the field. They were overjoyed and ate cucumbers to their heart’s content. They were very happy that they had found a garden which now solved their problem of food.

From that day on, the two visited the garden every night and ate cucumbers. As weeks passed the donkey became healthy and fat. Not only that, he began to feel more confident about himself.

One night the jackal and the donkey had just finished eating the cucumbers.The night was clear. A light wind blew and it was a beautiful night- cool and pleasant. The donkey felt happy and free. Suddenly he was filled with a longing to sing out loud. He told the jackal that he would like to sing a song.

The jackal was worried and told the donkey that to do that would be to put themselves in danger as they were thieves. The jackal also added that the donkey’s voice was not sweet . The donkey was deeply hurt by the jackal’s warning and he felt that the jackal was jealous of him. He insisted that he would sing his song. The jackal shrugged and told him to wait a minute. The jackal quickly ran from there and hid behind a huge tree.

The donkey began to sing and his voice was loud and not at all pleasant to hear. The farmers sleeping near were woken up and they came rushing to the field and were furious to see the donkey there. They beat the donkey with their sticks and tied a heavy stone around his neck.

The donkey was very pained and he slowly came to the jackal. The jackal said, “This is what happens when you lose your mind.” The donkey nodded his head in sad agreement.

THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE

THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE

Once there were a monkey and a crocodile. They were best friends. Everyday they met and chatted for hours together in the evening.

One day, as usual the crocodile came to the bank of the river to meet the monkey. The monkey lived on a tree beside the bank of the river.

That day, the monkey had collected many bunches of grapes. As they chatted, they shared the grapes. The grapes were very sweet and delicious.

The crocodile loved the grapes. As he took leave from the monkey the monkey gave him some bunches of grapes to be given to the crocodile’s wife. The crocodile went to his house and gave the grapes to his wife.

Now, the crocodile’s wife was a very mean and cruel woman. She ate the grapes and she totally loved the grapes. Then an evil idea came into her mind. She thought, “if the grapes are so sweet, how sweet the monkey’s heart will be”. She suddenly felt an urgent desire to eat the monkey’s heart.

She went up to her husband and said, “I want the monkey’s heart. He eats such grapes everyday and I am sure his heart sweetest thing in the world. I can’t bear now without eating his heart.”

The crocodile was shocked when he heard his wife. He pleaded, “Please dear, the monkey is my best friend. How can I kill him? Please give up your mad desire.” The crocodile’s wife was furious. She said, “How dare you take the side of the monkey. I will not eat anything until I get the monkey’s heart.”

Actually, the crocodile was a very meek and weak person. He knew that his wife was extremely stubborn and that she won’t leave the matter. Two days passed and the crocodile’s wife didn’t eat anything. The crocodile knew that she will not give up her idea. Finally with a sad heart, he agreed to bring the monkey’s heart.

The next day he moved slowly on the river. He was very depressed and his heart was heavy because he had decided to kill the monkey. He came to the bank of the river and called out to the monkey.

The monkey was glad to see the crocodile. The crocodile said, “Dear friend, my wife has invited you for dinner. Would you please come and climb on my back. I will take you to my house.”

The monkey was delighted. He agreed and climbed on to the crocodile’s back. They moved on the river. The crocodile was silent. The monkey could not understand. He asked, “Dear friend, why are you so quiet today?” The crocodile could not hold back his purpose. He said, “Dear friend, I am a very wretched man. My wife wanted your heart for dinner and she blackmailed me to bring you. I am so weak and I could not resist.”

The monkey was totally shocked. But he quickly thought and said in a casual tone. “Oh my dear friend! You should have told me! My heart is on the tree. I always keep it there. Don’t you know that? There is no problem. I will give my heart and you can take it to your wife. Come lets go back to the tree.”

Now, the crocodile was not only weak but also very foolish. He believed the monkey. They went back to the bank. The monkey jump on to the tree quickly. He said to the crocodile, “You cheat! You had no strength to oppose your mad wife and you are also foolish. My heart has always been with me but is you who has lost it. Never show me your face again.”

THE THIRSTY CROW

THE THIRSTY CROW

Once there was a crow and it loved to fly in the sky. One day it was a beautiful morning and the crow began fly in the sky. He flew on and on and it was so immersed in its flying that it didn’t realize how far it had come.

After flying for two hours like this, it suddenly felt very thirsty.

It looked for water around but there was only dry land as far as it could see. The crow began to fly here and there in search of water. It felt extremely thirsty.

Suddenly at a distance, it saw a pot. It flew eagerly to the pot and looked inside. Alas! The water level was very low. It sat at the mouth of the pot very sad. By now it could not bear its thirst.

Suddenly an idea flashed across his mind. It flew pick up a stone and came to the pot and dropped the stone inside. The water level came up a little. He was very excited.

It put another and another and after putting many stones, the water level finally came within the reach of the crow.

It drank the water and it was the sweetest water it had ever drunk.