The Unthankful Man-story
Tulip series book VIII
The Unthankful Man
Raman was a poor Brahmin who lived with his wife on the outskirts of a smal] town. He was so poor that he and his wife had to remain hungry for days together. His wife was fed up with their poverty. One day, she said to her husband. “Why don’t you go to the nearby town and seek some job?” Raman liked the idea and decided to go to a nearby town to look for a job.
On his way, he had to pass through a forest. He was tired and hungry. He gathered some wild fruit and sat down by a well to eat it. Just then he heard some voices, The voices were coming from the well. He was surprised to hear the voices coming from the well. He peeped into the well. To his surprise. he saw a tiger, a monkey, a snake and a man in the well.
The tiger saw him and said, “Sir, kindly help me out of the well. I will be ever . grateful to you for that kind action.”
Raman was frightened. He said. “If I take you out. you will eat me up. Therefore, Icannot help you out of the well. You remain where you are.”
The tiger said. “Have faith in me: I promise that I will do no harm to you. On the other hand, I will try to help you. Please help me out.” Raman was a kind man. He took _ pity on the tiger and pulled him out of the well . “Thank you, kind man,” the tiger said to him. “If you ever need my help, please come to my cave. But mind you, do not take that man out of the well. He is the most ungrateful creature on this earth.”
So saying the tiger went away from there. As soon as he was gone, the monkey called out to Raman and said. “Kind man, this well is too steep . I can’t climb out of it. Please help me out ." Raman readily pulled out the monkey. The monkey also thanked Raman and said, “If you ever need my help, please come to the mango tree by the river outside this jungle.” He, then, advised him not to pull the man out of the well. “He is a very ungrateful creature. Do not listen him.” Then the monkey went away.
Raman had hardly sat down to eat the wild fruit when the
snake called out to him, please, kind sir, help me out of this well and save my
life.” Raman was scared of the snake. He said. “If I pull, you may bite me and
I will die.”
The snake said, “Please have no fear. I shall cause you no
harm," Raman took pity on the snake and pulled him out of the well. The
snake also thanked him and said, “If you need my help, just call out to me and
I shall be there to help you, But don’t listen to that ungrateful man. Don’t
pull him out of the well.” So saying; the snake slithered away.
When the snake, had disappeared, the man called out to Raman and said, “Please help me out of the well and save my life.” Raman thought, “What harm can this man do to me?” Then, he pulled him out of the well.
The man thanked him and said, “If you need my help, come to me, I live in Varanasi and I am a goldsmith by profession.” So saying, the man also went away. Raman reached the nearby town. For several days, he tried to get a job. But he could not find one. He was hungry and tired. He felt depressed. He decided to go back home.
As he neared the forest, he came to the river. He remembered the monkey who had told him that he lived on a mango tree by the riverside. He decided to go to the monkey. The monkey saw him and came running to him. Raman told the monkey that he had not eaten for several days. At once, the monkey climbed up the tree and picked up sweet, juicy mangoes for Raman. Raman ate the mangoes and satisfied his hunger. He thanked the monkey and continued his journey On his way, be came upon a cave. He remembered the tiger and decided to visit him as well. He went to the cave and called out for the tiger. The tiger recognised his voice and came rushing to him. He took Raman inside and gave him a necklace. “Once, I saved a prince's life. In return, he gave me this necklace It is of no use to me. Perhaps, it might help you,” the tiger said to Raman.
Raman was very happy to receive the necklace. “I will sell this necklace and start a business of my own," he thought. He thanked the tiger and continued his journey.
Just as he was nearing his village, he remembered the goldsmith whom he had taken out of the well. He decided to go to Varanasi and sell the necklace to the goldsmith. So, instead of going home, he went to Varanasi.
When he reached the shop of the goldsmith, he showed, him the necklace. Now, it so happened that the goldsmith had made the necklace for the prince who had gone missing some months back. He recognized the necklace and decided to report the matter to the king. He asked Raman to wait for him in the shop and went to the king. He said to the king, “Your Majesty, a man has come to my shop to sell this necklace. I had made this for the prince. I am sure, he must have killed the prince and stolen the necklace.”
The king also recognised the necklace. He sent his soldiers to the goldsmith’s shop and ordered them to arrest Raman.
The soldiers arrested him and locked him in a dark cell. Raman could not understand why he was arrested. He asked one of the guards why he had been locked up. The guard told him his crime. “You have killed our prince and stolen his necklace Therefore, you have been locked up.”
Raman was horrified to hear this. He had been deceived by the goldsmith. The animals had been right when they had advised him not to trust the man. He was the most ungrateful creature. He felt sad. The animals had been better than this man.
Just as he sat thinking, he remembered the snake. He called out to the snake and the next moment, the snake slithered into the cell.
“What can I do for you?” asked the snake.
Raman told him how he had come to be in that dark cell. The snake was sad to hear about Raman's plight. He said, “Don't worry. I have a plan. I will slip into the queen's chamber and bite her. My poison will spread in her body and she will become unconscious. The king will be very sad. Nothing will be able to cure her. However, if you touch her forehead, she will wake up. The king will be pleased and he will set you free.” The snake, then, slithered away into the queen’s chamber and bit her.
The queen fell unconscious. Her maids informed the king. The king called the doctors to cure her of the snakebite. But they could not cure her. The poison was fast spreading. The king grew sad. He made an announcement that if anybody was able to cure the queen, the person would get a handsome reward. The announcement was made even in the prison. Raman offered to go and try to cure the queen. He was taken to the queen's chamber. He touched the queen's forehead. Immediately, the queen opened her eyes. She was cured of the snake bite. The king was pleased with Raman. He asked him, “How did you land up in the prison?’ Raman narrated to the king all that had happened to him, including the goldsmith’s ungratefulness.
Hearing his story, the king got angry with the goldsmith. He sent his guards to arrest the goldsmith. “You are a cruel and ungrateful person. You framed wrong charges against an innocent man. This man had once saved your life. Instead of helping him, you told a lie against him and got him arrested. Now you will spend the rest of your life in jail,” the king said to the goldsmith.
Then, the king turned to Raman and gave him a bagful of gold coins. “Go home and live happily,” he said to him. Raman thanked the king and went home. He and his wife lived happily ever after.
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