VIII.
THE MOTHER-IN-LAW BECAME AN ASS.
Little by litttle the mother-in-law became an ass—vara vara mâmi kaḷudai pôl ânâḷ, is a proverb among the Tamiḷs, 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 Brâhmaṇ 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 Brâhmaṇ’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
