Fattaba Laushingi Namthak : Folktale from Kannaba Wari Khara
James Oinam *
Fattaba Laushingi Namthak :: Illustration from the Book 'Kannaba Wari Khara'
Fattaba Laushingi Namthak (The Treachery of Guilefulness)
Kannaba Wari Khara (Few Useful Stories): Part 2
Author: Raghumani
Publisher: L. Devrani Devi
Brahmapur, Nahabam
First Print: 1988
In a widely spread forest of Bhragukach ruled a strong and brave lion as king of animals called Madotkei. A crow, a fox, and a jackal were his courtiers.
One day a camel came and asked Madotkei for shelter. The lion happily granted shelter to the camel.
Do you know what happened one day? Suddenly, an elephant came to the forest and wreaked havoc. Seeing that the lion had a great fight with the elephant. In the end, the elephant threw the lion ten paces away with its trunk. The elephant empaled the right thigh of the lion with its tusk. After the elephant had left, the injured lion got up slowly and went into his cave.
After resting for 5 to 6 days, Madotkei recovered from the injuries, but he was unable to hunt large animals.
Because of the weakness of the lion, the jackal and fox were unable to eat to heart’s content. Due to lack of full square meals, the three friends became weaker day by day.
However, the camel who fed on grasses, there was not much difference. He ate as much grass as he wanted and became fat. Thus, many days passed.
One day, before the camel went to eat grass, the jackal, fox, and crow started discussing how their miseries can be remedied.
Closing his eyes, the jackal said, “No matter you all say, I think if we eat the meat of the camel, we will all live.”
The fox seconded, “In my heart I feel the same. But our king himself gave him shelter. Under these conditions who can dare to go against him?”
The crow said, “Shelter! Do not say this or that. There is no use mentioning. First think how to survive yourself. If you say to the king clearly, there will be no harm.”
After the discussion, they came to the lion. They found the lion sitting leaning against the wall of the cave. Madotkei was extremely weak.
As the three friends entered, the lion was surprised to hear loud crying and yelling. The lion looked at their behaviour. Then he asked in a weak voice, “What happened to you all? Why are you crying?”
Wiping his tears, the fox said, “Does anyone cry without a reason O king! We are unable to bear the condition of our king.”
Taking a long breath the lion said, “But what can be done friend? All this was fated. Otherwise why would all this have happened?”
After thinking for a while, the fox said, “Among us, our friend the camel is healthy. Eating all these greens, he has become frighteningly fat.”
Hearing the words of the fox, the lion’s heart was stirred.
Controlling his whims, he said, “What you are saying is correct. Unlike us he does not eat meat, so how can he be bothered?”
Knowing what is in the heart of the lion, the fox continued, “King, if we remain like this, no one will be left. We wanted to bring up something but unable to do so because of fear. If we get a hint from the king, we would like to ask.”
The king said, “Say whatever is in your mind without any hesitation.”
However, the fox was unable to say what was in his heart freely. Very afraid, he uttered, “What can I say is this, if we have the meat of the camel, then we all can live. After that we can see what can be done.”
After a while, the lion said, “But having faith in me, he has asked for shelter. I cannot do anything to harm him. If I have to die, I must, what can be done?”
The clever fox replied, “Why would our king raise hand on him? We will make a plan that he takes his own life. Thus, O king your life will also be saved.”
Closing his eyes, Madotkei said, “Whatever you decide to be the best do it. However, do not involve me in it.” On getting the order, the three left the place.
They had a long discussion till the afternoon and came back again to the cave.
Seeing the camel come swaying, they eyed one another and stopped talking.
The camel came close and stood beside them.
On seeing him, the crow said, “Friend, you must be seeing the condition our king is in. Let alone walk around, he can’t even talk a bit.”
Feeling sad, the camel rejoined, “I can see all. But what choice do we have?”
Then getting close to the lion, the crow said, “It is said that if required for the king or religion even life should be offered. O king, please eat me and save yourself.”
Smiling the lion said, “What will be the use of eating you. It will be like throwing a stone into an ocean.”
As agreed beforehand, the fox and the jackal offered their meat to the king to save himself.
At that time, the king replied, “You also eat meat like me. Hence, you are relatives. I do not want to live by eating relatives.”
Simple-minded camel also felt the desire to save the lion who had given him shelter.
For that reason, he asked the lion, “O king, when I was in a difficult situation, you gave me shelter. Now when you are in trouble, please eat my meat and try to save yourself.”
The fox and the jackal also wanted the same.
Even before the camel had completed his sentence, the lion, the fox, and the jackal over the camel.
Thus, with evil shrewdness they killed and ate the camel.
Because of relying on age-old shrewd and evil people, the camel lost his life.
* James Oinam wrote this article for e-pao.net
The writer can be contacted at jamesoinam(AT)gmail(DOT)com
This article was webcasted on October 25, 2023 .
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