Folktales from Bengal (2 page)

Mrs. Cat was taking her
beauty sleep. She squinted to see the little bird, and wondered if
it was time for lunch. “Tuntuni, my dear friend, why don’t you come
inside and take a sit in my dinner bowl?” she said.

“
I shall come
inside, if you eat the mouse.”

Mrs. Cat thought about
it, but she was not hungry enough. “No thank you. I am a little
busy here.” She yawned, stretched and went back to
sleep.

So Tuntuni went to the
stick.

“
Stick, o
Stick. Are you home?” she chirped.

It was resting against a
wall. “Tuntuni, my dear friend, come in. Take a seat, have some
rice with me to eat.”

“
I will come
in. I will sit. And I will eat,” she said, “only if you beat up the
cat first.”

“
Now I have
no row with the cat. Why would I do that?” the stick
said.

Tuntuni went to the
fire.

“
Fire, o
Fire, are you home?”

“
Tuntuni, my
dear friend, why don’t you join me for a roast and a
toast?”

“
I will, only
if you burn the stick first.”

“
Nah, I burnt
a lot of things today. Some other time maybe,” he
crackled.

Tuntuni went to the Sea
now. “Sea, oh sea, are you home?”

“
I sure am,
Tuntuni. Come in now. Craving for some sea-food I guess. I’m sorry,
but everything’s in a mess.”

“
I will dine
with you, but first, you must douse the fire.”

“
Fire? But
that is so far away from here. Maybe if it was near… No, Tuntuni.
Some other time, maybe.”

Tuntuni went to the
forest to meet the Elephant.

“
Elephant, o
Elephant. You home?”

“
Oh it’s my
little friend, Tuntuni. Care to split a banana?”

“
I do, but
first, I have a small favour to ask of you. Will you please drink
up the Sea?”

The elephant laughed
heartily at this, and said, “But Tuntuni, I’ll burst. No can
do.”

Since nobody would listen
to her, Tuntuni flew up to a branch, and sat down,
depressed.

Mosquito was flying by,
and seeing Tuntuni so depressed, she stopped.

“
Why the long
face on such a small bird?” She said. “Come on, let’s have a drink
together, and you tell me about your problem.”

“
I’ll have a
drink with you, but first, you must bite the Elephant.”

“
Phooh. That
fat old Elephant? Consider it done. Let’s see how thick skinned he
really is.” The mosquito called up all the mosquitoes in the
country. ”Come my sisters, let’s all bite the Elephant.”

And they came in a huge
swarm that blocked the sun. The wind from their wings rustled the
leaves of the forest, and their buzz could be heard from
miles.

The elephant said, “I’ll
drink the sea.”

The sea said, “I’ll douse
the fire.”

The fire said, “I’ll burn
the stick.”

The stick said, “I’ll
beat the cat.”

The cat said, “I’ll eat
the mouse.”

The mouse said, “I’ll
slit the king.”

And the King said, “I’ll
cut that healer’s head off.”

The healer ran to Tuni,
trembling all over, and said, “Save me Tuni. Let me treat your
boil.”

The boil was now healed
in no time, and Tuntuni went back to the eggplant plant to dance
and sing, “Tun, tun, tun.”

An eggplant shrub grew in
the backyard of a tiny cottage. A small weaver bird, Tuntuni, sewed
its leaves together to make its nest.

Inside the nest hatched
three little chicks. Tiny as they were, they could not yet fly.
They were too young even to open their eyes. They just sat there
all day, chirping and calling their mother for food.

The house-owner had a
pesky little cat. All she would think about was to eat the little
chicks. One day, she walked to the bottom of the eggplant bush, and
asked, “My dear friend Tuntuni, what are you up to?”

Clever little Tuntuni
bowed down her head and said, “Just tending the chicks, your
Highness.” The cat was very happy to be so well respected, so she
left.

Every day, she visited
the eggplant bush, and every day, Tuntuni bowed her head and
greeted her like a queen, and she left, feeling haughtier and
happier.

Days passed, and the
chicks grew up. They grew beautiful wings, and they could see now.
So Tuntuni asked them one day, “My children, can you
fly?”

The chicks chirped, “Yes
mother, we sure can.”

“
Then let me
see you fly to that tree over there.” And so the chicks
did.

Now Tuntuni smiled and
said, “Let the cat come.”

After a little while, the
cat came to the bush as usual, and said, “What are you up to,
little Tuntuni?”

To this, Tuntuni pecked
her on the head, and said, “Get lost! You greedy little cat,” and
flew away.

Surprised and angry, the
cat bared her teeth and jumped up the plant. But she could not
catch Tuntuni, and nor could she touch one of her chicks. All she
got for her greediness were the pricks of the eggplant
thorns.

Everyone has heard the
story of the rabbit and the tortoise. But what about the story of
the sparrow and the crow? They too had a wager, and one of them
cheated the other. Or tried to, at least.

The sparrow and the crow
were the best of friends. But for some reason, everyone hated the
crow but loved the sparrow. This bothered the crow very much, and
he made a plan to get rid of the sparrow.

The farmer had spread out
a mat on his front yard and left some chilli and some rice to dry
in the sun. And the crow said to the sparrow, “let’s see if you can
finish the rice first, or me the chilli.t

“
I am sure I
can finish off the rice first.”

“
Then let’s
have a wager. The winner eats the loser’s heart,” said the
crow.

“
Fine,” said
the sparrow.

So they started. The crow
crunched down one chilli after the other, and the sparrow pecked
the rice grains. After a while, the crow was done with the chilli,
but the sparrow wasn’t even half finished.

“
I got you
now, sparrow,” said the crow, “Now come so I can eat your
heart.”

“
Fine then,”
said the sparrow. “But friend, please go wash your beak before you
eat my heart. You eat a lot of dirty stuff.”

The crow flew to the
Ganges to wash his beak.

Ganges, the river, was
appalled at the sight of the crow and said, “Don’t touch me with
your dirty beak. Bring a cup, if you must wash up.”

“
Fine,” said
the crow, and flew to the potter.

“
Potter, oh
potter, no time to sup,

Whip up some clay and
make me a cup.

So I’ll get some water,
from the creek.

I’ll wash my beak, look
real smart,

And then I’ll have the
sparrow’s heart.”

The potter said, “Bring
me some earth. I’ll make you a cup.”

The crow went to the bull
to borrow his horns to dig up earth. He said,

“
Bull, oh
bull, give me your horns,

I’ll dig up earth, and
make a pot,

Take some water, wash my
beak,

And then I’ll have the
sparrow’s heart.”

The bull was very angry
at this, and came charging to poke the crow.

The crow flew away, and
went to the dog.

“
Dog, dear
dog, oh so strong,

Kill the bull. I need its
prongs.

I’ll use his horns to dig
up earth,

The potter will make a
cup in his hearth.

I’ll get some water from
the creek,

Which I’ll use to wash my
beak.

I’ll get the sparrow, he
thinks he’s so smart,

Then I’ll kill him and
eat his heart.”

The dog nodded and said.
“Fine, give me some milk from the cow, and I’ll be strong. Then
I’ll kill the bull.”

So he went to the cow and
said,

“
Cow, oh cow,
give me milk,

Which I’ll give the dog
to drink.

He’ll kill the bull
that’s chewing cud,

I’ll use his horns to dig
up mud,

I’ll make a cup from the
potter,

Which then I will fill
with water,

From the creek, I’ll wash
my beak.

I’ll get the sparrow; it
thinks it’s smart,

But I’ll kill it anyways
and eat its heart.”

The cow nodded at him,
and said, “Bring me some grass, and I’ll give you milk.”

So he went to the field
and sang to it,

“
Field give
me grass, as soft as silk,

The cow needs it to make
good milk.

The dog will drink it and
get real strong,

He’ll kill the bull to
get his prong.

I’ll use the horn to dig
up earth,

The potter will make a
cup in his hearth,

I’ll take some water from
the creek,

I’ll use the water to
wash my beak,

I’ll get the sparrow, it
thinks it’s smart,

But I’ll kill it anyways
and eat its heart.”

The field said, “Bring a
sickle, and take all the grass you need.”

So the crow went to the
smith and said,

“
Smith oh
smith, I’m in a pickle,

Please oh please just
give me a sickle,

To cut some grass as soft
as silk,

The cow needs it to make
good milk.

The dog will drink it and
get real strong,

He’ll kill the bull to
get his prong.

I’ll use the horn to dig
up earth,

The potter will make a
cup in his hearth,

I’ll take some water from
the creek,

I’ll use the water to
wash my beak,

I’ll get the sparrow; it
thinks it’s smart,

But I’ll kill it anyways
and eat its heart.”

The smith said, “Bring me
fire, and I’ll make you a sickle.”

The crow was desperate
now, and worst of all, it was running out of rhymes. But it had
come too far ahead to back out.

He went to the village
idiot, and said,

“
Idiot, oh,
idiot, give me fire,

No more chores, I’m not
for hire,

I can’t rhyme again, I
just can’t start,

I just want to eat the
sparrow’s heart.”

The idiot immediately
brought a pot full of fire, and asked the crow, “Where should I
keep the fire?”

Exasperated, the crow
spread its wings and shouted out, “I don’t know, just pour it on my
wings.”

The idiot did just as it
was told, and the foolish crow burnt to death on the
spot.

He never got to eat the
sparrow’s heart.

A pot was hung high up at
a corner of a farmer’s house. A sparrow lived there with his
wife.

One day, the sparrow
said, “Wife, I want to have cake.”

The wife replied, “Okay,
bring me the ingredients.”

“
What do you
need to make cake?”

“
I’ll need
flour. Then there’s sugar, molasses, oil, milk, jackfruit and
bananas. And I’ll need wood to make fire, and a pot to
cook.”

The sparrow said, “I’ll
bring all that.” And he flew to the forest and started gathering
dry twigs and branches.

A large tiger lived in
the forest. He had no hope of catching the sparrows, and even if he
did, they were hardly a mouthful, so he had made friends with them.
He heard the crackling of the branches and came over.

“
Breaking
twigs today, are we, my little friend?”

“
I don’t know
about you, but I am getting fire wood.”

“
What is that
for?”

“
The wife is
making cakes.”

“
Cake? Mmm. I
haven’t had cake in a long while. I want some too.”

“
Well, then
bring me the ingredients.”

“
What do you
need?”

“
I need
flour, sugar, ghee, bananas, jackfruit, milk, and molasses. Oh
yeah, and a pot to cook the cake in.”

“
That’s all?
Go home now, little sparrow. I will bring everything in.” So the
sparrow went back home with the wood, and the tiger went to the
market. There, he cleared his throat, and gave a mighty roar. And
the shopkeepers yelled, “Mommy!” and ran hither and thither. The
tiger relaxed, went about picking up the ghee and the flour and the
bananas and the jackfruits and the milk and the molasses and the
sugar, and dropped them off at the sparrow’s home.