THE STORY of FOOLISH SACHÚLÍ

THE STORY OF FOOLISH SACHÚLÍ

To notes T HERE once lived a poor old widow woman named

Hungní, who had a little idiot son called Sachúlí.

She used to beg every day. One day when the

son had grown up, he said to his mother. “What makes

women laugh?” “If you throw a tiny stone at them,”

answered she, “they will laugh.” So one day Sachúlí went

and sat by a well, and three women came to it to fill their

water-jars. “Now,” said Sachúlí “I will make one of these

women laugh.” Two of the women filled their water-jars

and went away home, and he threw no stones at them; but

as the last, who also had on the most jewels, passed him,

he threw a great big stone at her, and she fell down dead,

with her mouth set as if she were smiling. “Oh, look!

look! how she is laughing!” said Sachúlí, and he ran off to

call his mother.

“Come, come, mother,” said he, “and see how I have

made this woman laugh.”

His mother came, and when she saw the woman lying

dead, she was much frightened, for the dead woman belonged

to a great and very rich family, and she wore jewels worth a

thousand rupees. Hungní took off all her jewels, and threw

her body into the well.

After some days the dead woman’s father and mother and

all her people sent round a crier with a drum to try and

find her. “Whoever brings back a young woman who

wears a great many gold necklaces and bracelets and rings [ Pg 28] shall get a great deal of money,” cried the crier. Sachúlí

heard him. “I know where she is,” said he. “My mother

took off all her jewels, and threw her into the well.”

The crier said, “Can you go down into the well and bring

her up?”

“If you will tie a rope round my waist and let me down

the well, I shall be able to bring her up.”

So they set off towards the well, which was near Hungní’s

house; and when she saw them coming, she guessed what

they came for, and she ran out and killed a sheep, threw it

into the well, and took out the dead woman and hid her.

The crier got some men to come with him, and they let

Sachúlí down the well. “Has she got eyes?” said Sachúlí.

“Of course, every one has eyes,” answered the men. “Has

she a nose?” asked Sachúlí. “Yes, she has a nose,” said

the men. “Has she got a mouth?” asked Sachúlí. “Yes,”

said the men. “Has she a long face?”

“What does he mean?” said the men, who were getting

cross. “No one has a long face; perhaps she has, though.

Yes, she has a long face,” cried the men.

“Has she a tail?”

“A tail! Why no one has a tail. Perhaps, though, she

has long hair. No doubt that is what he calls a tail. Yes,

she has a tail.”

“Has she ears?”

“Of course, every one has ears.”

“Has she four feet?”

“Four feet!” said the men. “Why, no one has four feet.

Perhaps you call her hands feet. Yes, she has four feet.

Bring her up quickly.”

Then Sachúlí brought up the sheep.

The men were very angry when they saw the sheep, and

they beat Sachúlí, and called him a very stupid fellow and a

great liar, and they went away feeling very cross.

[ Pg 29] Sachúlí went home to his mother, who, as soon as she saw

him coming, ran out and put the woman’s body back in the

well, and when he got home she beat him. “Mother,” said

he, “give me some bread, and I will go away and die.” His

mother cooked him some bread, and he went away.

He walked on, and on, and on, a long way.

Now, some Rájá’s ten camels had been travelling along

the road on which Sachúlí went, each carrying sacks of gold

mohurs and rupees, and one of these camels broke loose

from the string and strayed away, and the camel-drivers

could not find it again. But Sachúlí met it, and caught it

and took it home.

“See, mother! see what a quantity of money I have brought

you!” cried Sachúlí. Hungní rushed out, and was delighted

to see so much money. She took off the sacks at once and

sent the camel away. Then she hid the rupees and the gold

with the jewels she had taken from the dead woman. And,

as she was a cunning woman, she went and bought a great

many comfits and scattered them all about her house, when

Sachúlí was out of the way. “Oh, look! look!” cried

Sachúlí, “at all these comfits.” “God has rained them from

heaven,” said his mother. Sachúlí began to pick them up

and eat them, and he told all the people in the village how

God had rained down comfits from heaven on his mother’s

house. “What nonsense!” cried they. “Yes, he has,” said

Sachúlí, “and I have been eating them.” “No comfits have

fallen on our houses,” said they. “Yes, yes,” cried he, “the

day my mother got all those rupees, God rained comfits on

our house.” “What lies!” cried the people; “as if it ever

rained comfits. Why did not the comfits rain down on our

houses? Why did they fall only on your house? And what’s

all this about rupees?” And then they came to see if there

were any rupees or comfits in Hungní’s house, and they found

none at all, for Hungní had hidden the rupees and thrown [ Pg 30] away the comfits. “There,” said they to Sachúlí, “where

are your rupees? where are your comfits? What a liar you

are! as if it ever rained comfits. How can you tell such

stories?” And they beat him. “But it did rain comfits,”

said Sachúlí, “for I ate them. It rained comfits the day

my mother got the rupees.”

Now the Rájá who had lost his camel sent round the crier

with his drum to find his camel and his money-bags. “Whoever

has found a camel carrying money-bags and brings it

and the money back to the Rájá, will get a great many rupees,”

cried the crier. “Oh!” says Sachúlí, “I know where the

money is. One day I went out and I found a stray camel,

and he had sacks of rupees on his back, and I took him

home to my mother, and she took the sacks off his back and

sent the camel away.” So the crier went to find the rupees,

and the people in the bazar went with him. But Hungní

had hidden the rupees so carefully that, though they hunted

all over her house, they could find none, and they beat

Sachúlí, and told him he was a liar. “I am not telling lies,”

said Sachúlí. “My mother took the rupees the day it rained

comfits on our house.” So they beat him again, and they

went away. Then Hungní beat Sachúlí, and said, “What

a bad boy you are! trying to get me beaten and put into

prison, telling every one about the rupees. Go away; I

don’t want you any more, such a bad boy as you are! go

away and die.” He said, “Very well, mother; give me

some bread, and I’ll go.”

Sachúlí set off and took an axe with him. “How shall

I kill myself?” said he. So he climbed up a tree and sat

out on a long branch, and began cutting off the branch between

himself and the tree on which he was sitting. “What

are you doing up there?” said a man who came by. “You’ll

die if you cut that branch off.” “What do you say?” cries

Sachúlí, jumping down on the man, and seizing his hand. [ Pg 31] “When shall I die?” “How can I tell? Let me go.” “I

won’t let you go till you tell me when I shall die.” And at

last the man said, “When you find a scarlet thread on your

jacket, then you will die.”

Sachúlí went off to the bazar, and sat down by some

tailors, and one of the tailors, in throwing away their shreds

of cloth, threw a scarlet thread on Sachúlí’s coat. “Oh,”

said Sachúlí, when he saw the thread, “now I shall die!”

“How do you know that?” said the tailors. “A man

told me that when I found a scarlet thread on my jacket,

I should die,” said Sachúlí; and the tailors all laughed

at him and made fun of him, but he went off into the jungle

and dug his grave with his axe, and lay down in it. In

the night a sepoy came by with a large jar of ghee on his

head. “How heavy this jar is,” said the sepoy. “Is there

no cooly that will come and carry my ghee home for me?

I would give him four pice for his trouble.” Up jumped

Sachúlí out of his grave. “I’ll carry it for you,” said he.

“Who are you?” said the sepoy, much frightened. “Oh, I am

a man who is dead,” said Sachúlí, “and I am tired of lying

here. I can’t lie here any more.” “Well,” said the sepoy,

very much frightened, “you may carry my ghee.” So Sachúlí

put the jar on his head, and he went on, with the sepoy

following. “Now,” said Sachúlí, “with these four pice I will

buy a hen, and I will sell the hen and her eggs, and with the

money I get for them I will buy a goat; and then I will sell

the goat and her milk and her hide and buy a cow, and I will

sell her milk; and then I will marry a wife, and then I shall

have some children, and they will say to me, ‘Father, will

you have some rice?’ and I will say, ‘No, I won’t have any

rice.’” And as he said, “No, I won’t have any rice,” he shook

his head, and down came the jar of ghee, and the jar was

smashed, and the ghee spilled. “Oh, dear! what have you

done?” cried the sepoy. “Why did you shake your head?” [ Pg 32] “Because my children asked me to have some rice, and I

did not want any, so I shook my head,” said Sachúlí. “Oh,”

said the sepoy, “he is an utter idiot.” And the sepoy went

home, and Sachúlí went back to his mother. “Why have

you come back?” said she. “I have been dead twelve years,”

said Sachúlí. “What lies you tell!” said she. “You have only

been away a few days. Be off! I don’t want any liars here.”

Sachúlí asked her to give him two flour-cakes, which she

did, and he went off to the jungle, and it was night. Five

fairies lived in this jungle, and as Sachúlí went along, he

broke his flour-cakes into five pieces, and said, “Now I’ll eat

one, then the second, then the third, then the fourth, and then

the fifth.” And the fairies heard him and were afraid, and

said to each other, “What shall we do? Here is this man,

and he is going to eat us all up. What shall we do to save

ourselves? We will give him something.” So they went out

all five, and said to Sachúlí, “If only you won’t eat us, we

will give you a present.” Now Sachúlí did not know there

were fairies in this jungle. “What will you give me?” said

Sachúlí. “We will give you a cooking-pot. When you want

anything to eat, all you have to do is to ask the pot for it,

and you will get it.” Sachúlí took the pot and went off to

the bazar. He stopped at a cook-shop, and asked for some

pilau. “Pilau? There’s no pilau here,” said the shopman.

“Well,” said Sachúlí, “I have a cooking-pot here, and I

have only to ask it for any dish I want, and I get it at once.”

“What nonsense!” said the man. “Just see,” said Sachúlí;

and he said to the cooking-pot, “I want some pilau,” and

immediately the pot was full of pilau, and all the people in

the shop set to work to help him to eat it up, it was so good.

“Oh,” thought the cook, “I must have that pot,” so he gave

Sachúlí a sleepy drink. Then Sachúlí went to sleep, and

while he slept the cook stole the fairy cooking-pot, and put

a common cooking-pot in its place. Sachúlí went home [ Pg 33] with the cook’s pot, and said, “Mother, I have brought

home a cooking-pot. If you ask it for any food you want,

you will get it.” “Nonsense,” said Hungní; “what lies you

are telling!” “It is quite true, mother; only see,” and he

asked the pot for different dishes, but none came. Hungní

was furious. “Go away,” she said. “Why do you come

back to me? I want no liars here.” “Give me five flour-cakes

and I will go,” said her son. So she baked the bread

for him, and he set off for the jungle where he had met the

five fairies, and as he went along he said, “I will eat one,

and I will eat two, and I will eat three, and I will eat four,

and I will eat five.” The five fairies heard him, and were

terrified. “Here is this bad man again,” said they, “and he

will eat us all five. Oh, what shall we do? Let us give

him a present.” So they went to Sachúlí, and said, “Here is

a box for you. Whenever you want any clothes you have

only to tell this box, and it will give them to you; take it,

and don’t eat us.” So he took the box and went to the bazar,

and he stopped at the cook-shop again, and asked the cook

for a red silk dress, and a pair of long black silk trousers,

and a blue silk turban, and a pair of red shoes, and the

cook laughed and asked how he should have such beautiful

things. “Well,” said Sachúlí, “here is a box; when I ask

it for the dress and trousers, and turban and shoes, I shall

get them.” So the cook laughed at him. “Just see,” said

Sachúlí, and he said, “Box, give me a red silk dress and a

pair of long black silk trousers, and a blue silk turban, and

red shoes,” and there they were at once. And the cook was

delighted, and said to himself, “I will have that box,” and he

gave Sachúlí a good dinner and a sleepy drink, and Sachúlí

fell fast asleep. While he slept the cook came and stole the

fairy box, and put a common box in its place. In the morning

Sachúlí went home to his mother and said, “Mother, I’ve

brought you a box. You have only to ask it for any clothes [ Pg 34] you may want, and you will get them.” “Nonsense,” said

his mother, “don’t tell me such lies.” “Only see, mother;

I am telling you truth,” said he. He asked the box for coats

and all sorts of things—no; he got nothing. His mother

was very angry, and said, “You liar! you naughty boy! Go

away and don’t come back any more.” And she broke the

box to pieces, and threw the bits away. “Well, mother, bake

me some flour-cakes.” So she baked him the cakes and

gave them to him, and sent him away. He went off to the

fairies’ jungle, and as he went he said, “Now I’ll eat one,

then two, then three, then four, then five.” The five fairies

were very frightened. “Here is this man come back to eat

us all five. Let us give him a present.” So they went to

him and gave him a rope and stick, and said, “Only say to

this rope, ‘Bind that man,’ and he will be tied up at once;

and to this stick, ‘Beat that man,’ and the stick will beat

him.” Sachúlí was very glad to get these things, for he

guessed what had happened to his cooking-pot and box.

So he went to the bazar, and at the cook-shop he said, “Rope,

bind all these men that are here!” and the cook and every

one in the shop were tied up instantly. Then Sachúlí said,

“Stick, beat these men!” and the stick began to beat them.

“Oh, stop, stop beating us, and untie, and I’ll give you

your pot and your box!” cried the cook. “No, I won’t

stop beating you, and I won’t untie you till I have my pot

and my box.” And the cook gave them both to him, and he

untied the rope. Then Sachúlí went home, and when his

mother saw him, she was very angry, but he showed her the

box and the cooking-pot, and she saw he had told her the

truth. So she sent for the doctor, and he declared Sachúlí

was wise and not silly, and he and Hungní found a wife for

Sachúlí, and made a grand wedding for him, and they lived

happily ever after.

Told by Dunkní.

[ Pg 35]