Folktales from Bengal (6 page)

In the morning, the king
returned to see the elephant, still as dead as ever, and a thousand
empty pitchers gawking at the sky.

Once, a fox and a vixen
got married, and had three beautiful puppies. But they had a
problem. They did not have a home to keep the children in. they
looked around in the forest, and found a cave. But the cave was
covered in tiger footprints. The vixen said,

“
Honey, I
think this is a tiger’s den.”

“
It’s our den
now, dear,” the fox replied.

“
But what
will happen when the tiger gets home?”

“
We’ll see
when that happens. It could be days before he returns.”

Later that day, when the
tiger returned home, they found themselves in quite a pickle. The
tiger knew something was wrong when he reached the cave. He waited
outside, thinking about what to do.

“
What are we
going to do now?” said the vixen. “He’ll eat us all.”

“
Don’t panic.
I have an idea,” said the fox.

“
It was your
idea to live in this hole in the first place. Days till he returns,
huh?”

“
Listen to
me. Pinch the children in their belly. And when I ask why they are
crying, say they want to eat a tiger.”

The vixen started to
pinch the puppies, and she pinched them real hard. The puppies
cried out loud, and soon, there was a deafening uproar inside the
cave.

The fox said, in a loud
and hoarse voice, “Hey, why are the kids shouting so
much?”

The vixen replied, in a
hoarser voice, “They want to eat a tiger.”

Hearing this,
the tiger froze. He was beginning to get a little scared now. He
began to think.
What are the creatures
that are living in my cave? They sound scary, and they eat tigers.
The kids eat tigers! They must be monsters. Yes, that must be it.
Should I run? No. I’ll wait and try to get a glimpse of what they
look like.
He crawled closer and closer to
the cave.

Seeing that, the fox
shouted, “Again? Didn’t I feed them a couple of tigers just the
other night? They’re being too greedy. The forests will soon run
out of tigers at this rate.”

The vixen pinched the
puppies some more, and they cried louder than ever. “What can they
do, dear? They’re but kids. They need their food to grow. Quickly,
bring a tiger here, or they will never stop.”

The fox continued in his
monstrous voice, “Of all the animals in the world they had to take
a liking to tigers. Where in the world will I get a tiger now?
Wait. Honey! I think I see one coming. Oh, lucky day! Quick, honey.
Bring me my Jhopang, and I’ll make a Bhotang out of it. Easier to
digest that way.”

The tiger did not know
what a Jhopang was. Neither did he know whether Bhotang is a kind
of food or seasoning. But he did not wait to find out. He jumped
over a few hedges and shrubs, darted through some trees, then ran
like he had never run before. Seeing the tiger disappear far into
the woods, the fox said, “See honey, there was nothing to worry
about.” The vixen said nothing, but gave a sigh of
relief.

The tiger was running
like there was no tomorrow. A monkey saw this from the top of a
tree, and was very surprised. He had never seen a tiger running
with its tail between its legs.

“
What’s
wrong?” he asked. “Where’s the fire?”

The tiger stopped to
catch its breath, and replied, “I… almost…got…eaten…there.
Almost…made…a…Bhotang…out of me.”

“
What is the
world would eat you? I think there has been some major hackle
spackle somewhere.”

“
Don’t act
too brave.” The tiger replied angrily. “Anyone can sit on the top
of a tree and say brave words. You had to be there to know how
scary those monsters are.”

“
I am sure
someone has made a fool out of you. If I were there, I would have
seen through their trickery right away,” the monkey said
wisely.

The tiger was very angry
now. “Nobody calls me a fool. I dare you to go to my cave and peek
inside.”

“
Only if you
carry me there on your back,” said the monkey.

The tiger took the monkey
on his back and walked towards the cave.

The fox and the vixen had
put the children to sleep, and were getting ready to go to bed
themselves, when they saw the tiger coming back with a monkey
sitting on his back.

“
Great,” the
vixen hissed, “We’re going to die now, aren’t we?” But she began to
pinch the children anyways. The puppies woke up, startled, and
began to scream their voice boxes out. The tumult could be heard
from even farther than before.

The fox said, in the
same, scary voice, “Tell them to be quiet, dear. They would fall
sick if they scream like that.”

“
I think they
smell a tiger, dear.” The vixen screamed over the noise. “You have
to hunt it down this time.”

The fox screamed back,
“No need to go hunting, dear. I had told their uncle, the monkey,
to bring them in a tiger. Look, here he comes. Quick, bring me my
Jhopang, I’ll make a Bhotang out of it.”

The monkey was feeling
very brave till this point. But hearing about the Jhopang and the
Bhotang, he could not stand there anymore. In a great jump, he
climbed on top of the nearest tree.

And the tiger? He ran so
fast this time, that all anyone could see of him was a black-orange
blur.

The fox and his family
lived happily ever after.

A fox used to live near a
king’s cattle farm. Every day, he would look at the fat goats that
walked about, and his mouth watered. But he never could lay his
claws on one of them. The goat herders were always looking after
them.

One day, the fox could
not take it anymore. He started to dig a hole from his cave towards
the enclosure where the goats were kept. He dug for three days and
nights, until finally, he dug his way into the farm. Unfortunately,
the goat herders were sitting there in a circle, chatting about
their lives, when he burrowed right in the centre of
them.

The goat herders wasted
no time in tying the fox up. They tied it to a pole, and said,
“It’s too late today, but tomorrow morning, we’re going to have
some fun with it, before we kill it, that is.”

After the herders were
gone by, the fox was sitting with its head between its front paws,
when a tiger was passing by.

It saw the fox and asked,
“What are you doing sitting all alone here, fox?’

This gave the fox an
idea. “Why, I am getting married, can’t you see?”

The tiger was very
surprised now. “Really? Who’s the bride? Where are all the
people?”

“
The bride is
the king’s daughter. The people will come in the morning. They went
to get her.”

“
Why are you
all tied up?”

“
Because I
don’t want to get married. They tied me up so that I don’t run
away.”

“
Really? Why
don’t you want to get married?”

“
I don’t feel
like it today.” The fox replied.

“
Why don’t
you tie me up in your place and run away? I’ll do you a favour and
marry the princess.”

“
Fine. Untie
me and the princess is all yours.”

The tiger untied him, and
the fox tied up the tiger real good. Before he ran off, he told
him, “Remember, all of your in-laws are going to come tomorrow.
They are going to poke some fun at you, all in good spirit. Don’t
you get angry, okay?”

“
Of course. I
can take a little joke. I am getting married to the princess, after
all.”

The fox went away
laughing, and the tiger waited patiently for the
princess.

In the morning, the goat
herders came back with rods and sticks. The tiger thought, “There.
My in-laws are coming. Now they’ll do some mischief, and I am going
to laugh out loud.”

The goat herders were
coming to punish the fox. But now, finding the tiger, they were in
a bit of disarray. Some wanted to run away. Others said, “Look.
He’s all tied up. What harm can he do?”

Someone took a large
brick, and threw it at him.”

The tiger said, “Haha.
Hehe. Hoho.”

Another poked him with a
stick.

The tiger said, “Hehe.
Hoho. Haha.”

Then someone poked him
with a spear.

The tiger said, “Ouch.
Haha. I get it. You are my in-laws.”

Someone poked him again
with the spear.

The tiger was angry now
and said, “Darn it. I don’t want to get married
anymore.”

He tore the ropes and
left.

Neither the fox nor the
tiger were seen near the goat farm again.

The fox and the tiger
were the best of buddies. One day, the fox invited the tiger to his
home for dinner. All through the morning he hunted small animals,
cooked, and prepared the most delicious meal there could be. But
then he got greedy, and ate it all up, and there was nothing
left.

When the tiger came to
the dinner, the fox let him sit in a cushy spot in his cave, and
said, “You just wait for a while, friend, and I will check up on
the other guests.” Then he left his cave, and did not return till
morning. The tiger waited all night, and in the morning, went back
to his cave, cursing the fox on his way.

The next night, the tiger
invited the fox for dinner. The fox came hoping for a good treat,
because the tiger was known for his tendency to hunt large prey.
But today, the tiger gave him only the strongest and hardest bones
of the animals he hunted. The tiger chewed through the bones with
ease, crushing and enjoying his meal, while the fox struggled with
a single rib.

“
Enjoying the
meal, my friend?” The tiger asked.

“
Just as you
had enjoyed yours in my home, my friend.” said the fox, still
trying to make a dent in the bone.

“
Here, let me
help you with that,” said the tiger, and smacked on the fox’s head
so hard, that it broke half of his teeth.

“
I am very
disappointed in you, friend. It seems that you are not really
indulging yourself.”

“
I think I
have indulged enough.” The fox got up and left, cursing the tiger.
He swore by his remaining teeth that he would take revenge for
this.

A few days later, the fox
found a beautiful sugarcane field by the forest. Because he could
not eat anything solid, he feasted upon the sugarcane juice, and
started ruining the crop. The ones he did not chew up, he left
broken.

Very soon, the farmers
set up a meeting to decide what to do with the fox. They decided to
trap it and then beat it to death. They built a trap for the fox.
It looked like a small room, with a few sugarcanes inside as bait.
Once the fox went in, the room would snap shut, and the fox would
be trapped.

Meanwhile, the fox was
observing them at their work, and laughing to himself, for this was
what he had planned all along. Once the trap was finished, the fox
went back to the tiger.

“
Tiger, guess
what? The king’s son is getting married tomorrow. I got invited to
sing, and you are invited as well. They even sent a palanquin for
you to take you to the festival and the party. Will you
come?”

“
Of course I
will. Who lets go of such a great opportunity? Where is this
palanquin?”

The fox led him to the
trap-house. The tiger walked around it, suspicious.

“
If this is
the palanquin, where are the palanquin bearers?”

“
The bearers
are on their way. They will be here in the morning.”

“
Where is the
palanquin-staff they lift it by?”

“
They will
bring the staffs in with them, and they will have a lot of staffs,
too. Don’t you worry.”

“
I don’t
know, it seems strange to me.”

“
Fine, don’t
go, I will go alone to the feast.”

“
No. no.
Fine. I’m going in.”

As soon as he entered the
trap, the door shut itself.

The fox cried, “Hey,
why’d you close the door? How am I supposed to get in?”

The tiger smirked, “You
don’t need to get in, there is hardly enough room for me here. You
skip this invite. I am sure the king has other sons.”

“
All right.
It’s your funeral.” Said the fox, and hid in the bushes from where
he could see everything.

When the farmers came in,
they were expecting a fox, but saw a large tiger trapped inside the
trap. They were excited beyond telling, because those days, in
villages, there weren’t many things to do for fun.

Some ran away, some ran
to get spears and sticks, and some went to get fire. Once the
arrangement was made, the tiger got the poked, burned, and beaten
up so bad, he could not walk straight for days.