In this episode, we’re going to do a story from the Panchatantra.
We’ve done 3 episodes of the Panchatantra before. Though it wasn’t the author’s original intention, all of these stories do stand alone. More on that later.
Today’s story begins with a farmer. Or rather, a newly minted farmer!
Bhakt was an ordinary villager just a day ago. But overnight, he had found fame and fortune. By winning the Ancient Indian version of the lottery.
In a big press conference, the Sarpanch or the chief of the village presented him with an oversized novelty check and the key to the village even though none of the houses and buildings in the village had any locks. It was symbolic anyway.
Bhakt was incredibly thrilled. Until he found out how much income tax he would have to pay.
He talked to some tax advisers, who advised him to buy a farm. He could harvest tax losses while also harvesting vegetables.
Poor joke aside, it did seem like a good idea to Bhakt. He did not have to search very much. Pretty soon, he found someone who had a farm to sell! A huge farm. Guaranteed crop, good well water. I’ll even throw in the farm animals for free.
“What’s the catch?” asked Bhakt.
“No catch!” replied the seller. “My… Doctor doesnt want me to farm anymore”
“Then you could hire someone else to do the farming for you?”
“Umm, errr well my Doctor has forbidden me that too.”
Bhakt thought it was a bit weird, but he considered that an acceptable thing from a very motivated seller.
But right after moving in with his family, Bhakt found out why the previous owner was not very forthcoming.
All night, Bhakt’s family heard slithering noises and hisses. And the next morning as Bhakt walked around the house, he found the source. There was a huge anthill, right outside his back door. But it wasnt full of ants. The ants had long moved out, or maybe they’d been eaten. The current resident was a huge snake. A Cobra, one of the deadliest snakes in India.
The Cobra slithered away when Bhakt approached.
Instead of feeling anxious at the sight of an extremely irritable creature known to take tens of thousands of lives every year, Bhakt actually felt neighborly!
He rushed in and grabbed a saucer of milk, freshly milked from their new cows. He laid the saucer right next to the anthill and then went about his own duties.
In the evening when he collected the saucer, expecting it to be empty, he was surprised that it was not completely empty. The milk was all gone, for sure. But in its place, right in the middle of the saucer was a single gold coin.
That was exactly what Bhakt needed! Especially as he’d spent all of his remaining cash on the farm.
He tried the same thing the next day, and to his surprise, he got another gold coin.
A snake that tips generously was just the neighbor the farmer needed. And it cost him nothing.
He did not question where the Snake had brought the coins from. Was it even legitimately acquired?
And he did not even wonder how the Snake had transported the coin. Given the absence of limbs, the most likely explanation was that the Snake had regurgitated it. There was the possibility that the coin would be covered in venom. But luckily for Bhakt, that was not the case.
Bhakt began making considerable upgrades in his house with all the gold coins he was collecting. He brought in new furniture, setup a swimming pool, a home theater, bowling alley. His life was definitely going great!
His family enjoyed all these amenities without too many questions.
One day though, Bhakt had to be out of town. To sell his vegetables and to take one of his cows to the vet. He would be gone at least a day. The snake could not be neglected meanwhile.
He called in his son and carefully instructed him. There was exactly one task the boy had to do. Put a saucer of milk it in front of the anthill in the morning, and collect the gold coin at the end of the day. Not a very hard task, was it?
When his son complained that it was extremely hard work, Bhakt told him he could keep the gold coin for himself. That made the lad happy.
Well, with Bhakt gone, his son made a big mistake! He began thinking.
He told himself that if a Snake delivered a single gold coin everyday from inside his anthill, why – that must mean there’s a whole pile of gold coins in there! Why not just grab them all?
He put his thoughts into action right away. He got a spade and ferociously attacked the anthill.
That infuriated the Snake! It slithered out of it’s home, carefully avoiding the spade and fast as lightning struck the boy.
Indian Cobras are some of the deadliest snakes. One bite was all it took.
That’s all for now
Some notes on the show
The story is from the Panchatantra. We’ve previously covered Panchatantra stories in Episode 4 – Hare-y Tales, Episode 29 – Act Now, Think Later, and Episode 48 – Castles In the Air.
Thanks to Medieval Tourism and Trade, the Panchatantra tales are well known in other parts of the world.
There are many other versions of this tale. In the version from Aesop’s fables, of course, it’s the goose that laid the golden egg every day.
The Panchatantra was written by Vishnu Sharma, as a challenge. A King was having a hard time managing his sons. They just didn’t have the inclination to read textbooks and turn in homework and sit through exams.
Vishnu Sharma took on the challenge of teaching the boys… wisdom!
And to do this, he thought of a revolutionary new idea. At least, it seemed revolutionary 2 or 3 thousand years ago. He used stories instead of boring lectures. Vishnu Sharma deserves credit for taking creative writing to the next level.
So the Panchatantra was a bit like The For Dummies or the Idiot’s guide book series – “Wisdom for Princes – a storybook for the rest of us”
The stories in the Panchatantra are actually chains of stories. At the conclusion of each incident, one of the characters narrates a new story. A little bit like in the 1001 tales from the Arabian Nights, but without all the cliffhangers.
That’s all for now.
Next Time
In the next episode, we’ll do a folk tale from Punjab. This is a tale that may share some roots with The Robber Bridegroom from fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm.
It’s about a girl who gets entangled in a terrible domestic situation, but then gets out of it with a machete!