Funday Times

The pumpkin feast
Long. Long ago, Nariya the Jackal and Hawa the Hare were good friends and lived together in the forest. One day, they boiled a pumpkin for lunch. The next day, while Nariya was combing his fur, a pumpkin fell out. He dug a hole and planted it. Hawa too found a seed when he brushed his whiskers and he too planted this seed.

The lazy Nariya did not water the seed he planted, so it dried up and died. Hawa looked after his plant carefully and watered it carrying water in its long ears. The pumpkin creeper planted by Hawa, grew beautifully and bore a huge pumpkin.

The friends got ready to cook pumpkin milk rice with their own fruit. But they found that they did not have any rice or coconut to cook the milk-rice with. Clever Hawa through of a cunning plan to get the rice and coconuts they needed. Hawa and Nariya went along the foorpath leading to the village. Nariya hid himself behind a bush. Hawa saw a man carrying a bag of rice, and lay down in his path, pretending to be dead. As soon as the man saw the hare, he wanted to take it home to cook. He put down his bag of rice and went towards Hawa, who lay quietly till the man came right up, then jumped and ran into the forest. While the man chased Hawa, Nariya quietly crept out and ran off home with the bag of rice.

The friends now needed coconuts. Once again Hawa pretended to be dead on the footpath when he saw a man carrying coconuts. This man too put down his coconuts and went to pick up the hare which escaped into the forest, while the jackal ran off with the coconuts.

When they got home, Hawa told Nariya "Please boil the pumpkin milk-rice while I pick betel leaves and arecanuts to chew after lunch". Nariya cooked a huge pot of milk-rice. This smelt so delicious that he felt very greedy and gobbled it all up, leaving nothing for poor Hawa. The hungry Hawa returned home only to find no milk-rice at all left for him. The greedy Nariya gave him just a little mouthful of burnt rice mixed with ash and said "This is all that is left as the whole pot of milk-rice got burnt". While he said this, the greedy Nariya's belly rumbled and heaved with having eaten too much. He could not keep it all down no longer and he threw it all up, thoroughly splashing poor hungry Hawa.

Hurt and hungry, Hawa ran off to the river where he washed himself thoroughly and returned home with a plan to punish his greedy friend. Nariya was surprised to see Hawa looking so nice and clean.

He asked "Hawa how can I become as clean and white as you are?" Cunning Hawa told Nariya "Go down to the river bank. Ask the washerman to clean you up thoroughly and he will do so joyfully".

Nariya rushed to the river bank where he met a washerman splashing his dirty linen and dashing it on a rock. He asked the man "Please clean me up thoroughly". The washerman immediately seized Nariya by his tail, dumped him in the river to soak him thoroughly and beat him again and again on the rocks, just as he did with the dirty linen. Nariya yelled out in pain but the washerman beat him harder thinking Nariya wanted to become whiter. At last he let Nariya go.

Nariya was clean all right, but so very wet and thoroughly bruised. Whimpering with pain he ran far away, never to return. The clever Hawa had taught greedy Nariya a painful lesson

From that day onwards Hawa and Nariya were bitter enemies.
(From Princes, Peasants and Clever Beasts by Tissa Devendra)

Back to Mirror Magazine