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02:08 _ 29-03-2024

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The Ungrateful Peasant (Người Nông Dân Phản Bội)

One morning in a village near Kase, a peasant was plowing his fields. After he had laid the trenches, he let his oxens loose to graze in a field nearby, and began to turn the soil over with a spade. The day went by, and the oxens strayed further to the outfield. Having completed his day's work, the peasant laid down his spade and went to fetch his oxens only to discover that they were no longer in the field where he had left them.

He was a poor man; therefore, the loss of his oxens was a terrible misfortune. He grew extremely worried and as the night was falling, he went into the forest near the village looking for and calling out to the strayed oxens.

He lost his way in the depths of the forest, and wandered around for seven days and nights, unable to find his way home. By this time, he was starving and unable to move any further. He was about to collapse with hunger and exhaustion when he saw a tree laden with enormous ripened fruits. This tree stood at the edge of a steep slope that dropped sharply to a narrow gorge below.

The peasant staggered up to the tree, plucked the fruit within his reach, and began to eat it as fast as he could. His hunger was still not satisfied; and wanting to eat more of the juicy fruit, he climbed up the tree, and crawled along a branch that hung over the slope. Unable to bear his weight, the branch made a cracking sound and snapped in two.

The peasant was hurled down the rocky slopes into the narrow gorge below. Fortunately, he fell into a pool of water and was saved from being smashed to death on the boulders strewn around. He was so weakened by his fall that he lay in the gorge for ten days, unable to move. He kept himself alive by drinking the water from the pool and eating the shrubs which grew at its edge. On the tenth day, a monkey who lived in a cave in the gorge, came to drink water at the pool, and saw the wretched peasant lying there. The monkey was amazed at the sight of a human being in such desolated place and so he asked:

- Who are you and why are you lying here?

- Alas, monkey, I live in a village near Quasi; and I lost my way in the forest above while looking for my oxen which had strayed from the field. I wandered around for seven days without food and water until I saw a fruit tree which stood on the top of this rocky slope. I climbed up the tree to reach the fruit and fell into this gorge. I have been lying here for ten days. Please try and pull me up to the forest for I am too weak to make the effort by myself.

The monkey felt very sorry for the peasant, and decided to help him. He picked up a heavy stone and practiced climbing up and down the side of the gorge to see if he could bear the weight of the man. When he found that he could climb the slope without any difficulty, he went back to the peasant and told him:

- Now put your arms around my neck and hold on tight. I will slowly climb to the top of the gorge.

The peasant did as he was told and climbed onto the monkey's back; and laboriously, they made the difficult ascent. When they arrived at the top, the brave monkey was quite worn out. While putting the peasant down he said:

- I must rest a while. You stand guard and wake me if any wild animals come near. The monkey lay down on the grass and fell fast asleep, while the peasant sat near him and kept watch for any dangers. Even though his life was saved by the monkey, the peasant was a very ungrateful and wicked man. As he watched the monkey, he thought of an evil plan:

- The flesh of a monkey is very tasty to eat. I am very hungry and weak after my fall, so if I kill and eat this monkey I will get strong again. I need not remain in this wretched place, and will be able to find the way out of the forest and back to my village. He looked about and found a large stone, and raising it, he hit the monkey on the head; but as he was still weak and feeble, the blow lacked power and he only succeeded in wounding the monkey.

The monkey, with blood flowing from his head, jumped up and quickly scrambled up a tree. When he felt that he was safe from the peasant, he called out:

- Vile wretch, is this how you repay me for saving your life? You are a treacherous man and you will suffer for your foul deed. Go from here; this is the path that leads out of the forest. If you are not devoured by wild beasts, you will eventually reach your home. Go quickly. I do not trust you and want to see you on your way before I come down from this tree.

The peasant quickly ran down the path that the monkey had pointed out to him. But he was not to escape so easily. The gods in heaven saw what had happened, and decided to punish the peasant for his wickedact.

When the peasant reached home, he found that his body was covered with horrible sores and after a few days, his limbs began to rot away. The other peasants drove him out of the village. Shunned by people everywhere, he wandered from place to place for seven years. Driven half-mad with his sufferings, he eventually reached the Migacira park in Banaras and laid down in an enclosure.

The people of Baranas took pity on him and gave him food and water to drink.

The peasant, however, had undergone too much pain and died shortly afterwards. The gods sent him to the underworld, where he was made to atone for all his misdeeds on earth.