Once there lived an old man and his wife.
Theirs’ family was a very small one. While the old man worked in the field, his
wife did household chores. They had not any children. They also sometimes
worked together in their vast field located near their house. They had good
relations with the monkeys who were living in the adjoining jungles. The old
man dug earth making well prepared raised beds for cultivation of aroids –
Colocasia antiquorim variety in his field. A few days later, the old couple
started aroid plantation after preparing ridges and furrows in the fertile
field. While planting, some monkeys came in and saw the style of aroid
plantations. After looking a few minutes, one of the monkeys told the old
couple, “Your style of planting would not produce good results particularly in
the production of underground rhizomes. If the aroids were panted in those
manners, it will take long time to grow up its underground root stocks.” The
old couple felt hesitation in rendering their works. At last they asked the
monkeys to give their suggestions for early growing up and yielding good variety
of underground rhizomes and its petioles. The leader of the monkeys giving his
suggestions said, “first at all, the aroids – rhizome root stocks – supposed to
be planted should be washed in neat and clean in the water, then its outside
layers would be scratched off. The well prepared aroids should be boiled,
covered it with the leaves of the banana plants and then those items should be
planted in a row. In that style of plantation, the planted aroids would be tall
enough the next morning. The well ground up aroids with its rhizomes and
petioles could be served as vegetable curry like potato after cooked or boiled,
baked or roasted them well. ”
The couple believed the monkeys’ suggestions.
They followed what the monkeys had suggested. After hard working in the field,
they made happy talks and then they took their sound sleeps on that night.
However, during the dead of night, the monkeys came out in group. They were
very happy to see the plantations. Then they had dug out the soil on the earth
and they found the boiled aroids. They had eaten all rhizomes.
Before their leaving the field, the monkeys
have rooted out the tall and wild aroids plants from the nearby filth filled
ditches. They later planted wild plants at the dug out ridges and furrows. The
next morning, the old couple was very happy then they saw the tall plants grown
overnight. They uprooted some of the plants and its roots were scratched off
and washed them in fresh water. Then the old woman had used the roots in the
vegetable soup. Both old man and woman had taken the aroid soup. After taking
the first bowl of aroid soup, the old man looking at his wife and said, “Oh!
Tasty.”
The old man had taken for the second time.
Then he felt prick this tongue and throat causing irritation which was created
by the acridity caused by calcium oxalate crystals of fresh aroids. The old man
couldn’t bear the itching upon his throat. The old man suddenly said on the top
of his voice, “Hey old woman, give me hentak – seasoned dry fish to cure the
irritation inside the throat.” Unbelievable what had happened, the old lady
also had tasted the dish. After eating, she also felt similar symptom of the
itching inside her throat. She also demanded hentak. The couple shared the
hentak in the day. On that night the couple spent by eating dried peas. They
later know that all were the monkey tricks. The monkeys had planted the wild
plants in place of the boiled and eatable aroids. The couple got angry very
much. They were planning a plot to teach lessons to the monkeys. They tried to
kill the monkeys.
The old man pretended to be dead/ a long
stick was also lying near him for hitting and killing the monkeys. The old
woman made crocodile tears and was pretending to be cried aloud. All the
monkeys rushed in at the spot. When the monkeys were near body of the old man,
the old woman cried aloud and later mourned, “Oh My lovely heart, you die of
eating aroids, be made rebirth a human being by eating pumpkin”. On seeing the
pathetic scene, the monkeys also joined the old woman’s crying aloud and
mourning. The old lady further mourned that you the old man died after eating
too much aroid soup. The aroid plants grew up overnight. The plants were planted according to the
suggestions made by the monkeys.
As she was crying, she told the monkeys, “I
am very old so I could not make a lift the dead body. I need your help for
lifting the body up to the outhouse.” Some of the monkeys were feeling pity for
the old couple and they started crying in masses. Other monkeys tried to lift
the body of the old man, when the man made a spring of surprise by getting up
alive. There was a stampede at the door of the couple’s house. In the melee a
few monkeys were dead and some of them badly injured. The old man picked up the
stick and hit some of the monkeys running on their back. Some monkeys were also
killed and some of them got injuries. The injured monkeys ran towards their
king and informed the matter. All the monkeys lived in the jungles under the
command of their king had approached towards the residence of the old couple.
They were trying to attack and kill the couple. To escape from the clutches of
the monkeys, the old couple took their shelters inside a large earthen jar
lying at the corner of their house. The monkeys searched out the old couple.
Some of them looked out atop of the house and some of them inside the kitchen.
They also searched the old couple under the bed. However, still they didn’t
find out the whereabouts of the old couple. At last found the large earthen
jar. Thinking that the old couple would be taken shelter inside the jar, the
monkeys using all their forces had lifted the pot up to the courtyard.
Because of the noisy in doing their hard
jobs, the monkeys did not hear what the old man and woman were talking the jar.
The old woman told his husband, “My stomach is full of air because of heavy
eating of peas, I want to break wind.” The old lady broke her wind in a low
sound. So the old man also said that he wanted to fart. The old lady said,
“Don’t make in loud sound.” Instead, the
old man broke his wind in loud sound. On hearing the loud sound of the breaking
wind, the monkeys were afraid of and dropped the large jar. They hurriedly left
the place and had taken helter-skelter for their safety. Incidentally, the
couple still survived. Theirs hands had been pressing on their waists and said
each other feeling of pains in the back.
They got angry each other because of their
attempts to kill the monkey were fruitless. Instead they got injuries
themselves. After some hot arguments, the old lady consoled the old man.
Finally they replanted high yielding variety of aroids on their field. Theirs’
efforts got good successes. Later, they spent happy lives.
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