Deccan Nursery Tales/Parwati and the Brahman
XI
PARWATI AND THE BRAHMAN
Once upon a time there was a town called Atpat. In it there lived a poor Brahman. When the month of Bhadrapad came round, every household bought little images of Parwati, and the women began to walk about the streets and sound gongs. When the poor Brahman's children saw this they went home and said to their mother, "Mummy, Mummy, please buy us little images of Parwati like the other little boys and girls have." But their mother said, "What is the use of my buying images of Parwati? If I do we shall have to make offerings, and there is absolutely nothing in the house. You run to papa and tell him to go into the bazaar and buy grain. If he buys grain I'll buy you images of Parwati." The children got up and ran to their father and cried out, "Papa, Papa, Mama says that she will buy us images of Parwati if you will go into the bazaar and get food to offer to them." Their father at first searched all over the house but could find no grain. And then he looked in his purse but he could find no money with which to go to the bazaar and buy grain. But although he tried to explain this to his children, they would not listen to him. They screamed at him and shouted, "Papa, Papa, Mummy says that she will buy us images of Parwati if you will get food to offer to them." "Papa, Papa, why should we not have images of Parwati like the other little boys and girls." At last they bothered the poor Brahman so much that he felt worried to death. "I love," he said, "my children as if they were made of gold, but they will not mind what I say. They will not understand that it is nothing but poverty which prevents my buying food and offering it to Parwati. I might go out and beg, but when I do, no one ever gives me anything. Death is better than a life like this." With these words he got up and walked to the edge of the village pond and determined to drown himself. It was dark when he started, and halfway he met an old woman. She heard him coming and asked him who he was. He told her all his trouble, and said that he meant to jump into the pond to escape from his children. The woman comforted him and prevailed on him to turn home again. He took her home. His wife came to the door with a lamp and asked who she was. The husband did not like to say that he had only just met her on the road, so he said to his wife, "She is my grandmother." The wife thereupon welcomed her and invited her to come in and stay to supper. But her heart felt as heavy as lead, for she knew that there was nothing to eat inside the house. When the old woman had seated herself inside the house, the Brahman's wife got up and, in despair, went to look inside the grain-pots. She knew they were empty, but she thought that she would first look into them once again. But, lo and behold! when she looked this time she found the grain-pots brimming over with grain. She called her husband, and they were both perfectly delighted. And the wife prepared bowls full of rice-gruel, and every one, children and all, ate the rice-gruel till the skins on their stomachs felt quite tight. And they went to bed as happy as possible. Next morning the old woman called to the Brahman, "My son, my son, get me water for my bath and cook me a nice hot dinner, and please be quick about it, and do not start making objections." The Brahman got up and called his wife, and they got water for the old woman's bath, and then the Brahman went out to beg. When he had gone out before, no one had ever given him anything. But to-day every one ran out and gave him food and molasses and copper coins. Then he went back home in splendid spirits. His wife prepared a glorious dinner, and the children ate so much that the skin on their stomachs felt as tight as a kettle-drum. After breakfast the old woman said to the Brahman, "To-morrow I want a milk-pudding for dinner." "But, Grandmamma," said the Brahman, "where shall I get the milk from?" The old woman said, "Don't worry about that. Just get up and hammer down as many pegs as you can in your courtyard. Then this evening, when the cattle come home, call to the village cows and buffaloes by name, and they will come to you, and if you milk them you will get enough milk for my pudding to-morrow." The Brahman did as the old woman ordered him, and that evening he called to the cows and buffaloes by name to come to his courtyard. And from every direction the cows and buffaloes came running up. And behind them galloped all the little calves with their heels in the air and their tails stuck out straight behind them. At last the Brahman's courtyard was filled so full that no more cows or buffaloes could enter. And he milked them all, and next day his wife cooked a milk-pudding such as one would not see again if one lived a thousand years. And the children ate until they were so tired of eating that they just rolled over and went fast asleep. But that evening the old woman said, "My son, my son, I want you to take me home." "But, Grandmamma, Grandmamma," said the Brahman, "how can I take you home, for I have had all this good luck only because of you. Directly you go away my good luck will vanish." "Do not be afraid," said the old woman, "for I am Parwati. If I bless you your good luck will never vanish. Therefore you must come with me and see me home." But the Brahman said, "I do not want my good luck only to continue. I want it to increase." The old woman said, "If you come with me I shall give you some sand. When you go back home, scatter it all over the house and over your jars and your pots, and put it inside your boxes and your cupboards, and scatter it all over your courtyard too, and you will find that your good luck will never be any less than it is now." The Brahman was satisfied with this. He worshipped the old woman and went with her towards the tank until she suddenly disappeared. He returned home and scattered sand all over his house and over his jars and his pots and inside his boxes and his cupboards, and from that day on, his good luck never left him. And his wealth increased, and his children increased. And they all lived happily ever afterwards.