Greed is a bad thing

Greed is a bad thing

A girl named Torali lived in a village in Assam. Fair complexion, red bindi on forehead and silver bangles jingling in her hands, Torali was loved by all. People would be left speechless after watching her dance on the Bihutli stage.

One day Anant Phukan came to her father. He lived in the same village. He said to Toralis father, I want to marry your daughter.

Phukan had no dearth of wealth. Toralis father immediately agreed.

Subag paddy Mangal paddy started being threshed. Torali became Anants wife. Some time passed happily but gradually Anant started facing losses in business. Soon poverty spread in Phukans house.

Torali also had to go out of the house in search of livelihood. Meanwhile she gave birth to five sons. One day Phukan lost his eyesight after getting crushed under a tree. Torali had a lot of expectations from her five sons. She worked hard day and night. She threshed the villagers rice so that everyone could eat.

Torali prayed to God that her sons should become capable but all five sons were very lazy.

They only knew how to feed themselves. They had nothing to do with the sufferings of their parents.

Torali prayed to God in the temple that she should be blessed with a hardworking and intelligent son. But instead of a child, she gave birth to a snake. As soon as it was born, the snake went into the forest. Torali kept crying over her bad luck.

Toralis five sons taunted her

Are you a mother or a snake woman, you gave birth to a snake.

Even after Phukans advice, there was no change in the boys nature. There were days when there was nothing to eat in the house. All five sons would beg and eat. Phukan and Torali would cry remembering their sixth snake son.

One night Torali saw the same snake in her dream. It said, Mother, my tail is made of gold. I will come home every day. You can cut an inch of my tail. By selling the gold, the household expenses will be met easily.

Torali put her hand on her mouth and said, No son, if I cut your tail, you will feel pain.

No mother, I will not feel any pain. The snake assured her and went back.

The same dream kept coming to Torali for seven nights. On the eighth day the snake really came. Torali locked the room from inside. Fearfully she stabbed the tail with a knife. Really she got a piece of gold in her hand. There was no wound on the snakes tail. The snake went back after drinking a bowl full of milk from the mother.

Torali sold that gold and brought the necessary household items. In the evening the boys were surprised to see pitha and laddu in the dinner. Torali lied that their grandfather had given the money.

This way the snake kept coming and Torali kept running the house. Her lie could not last long. When the sons insisted, Torali had to tell the secret of the money. The elder son scolded her and said, Stupid mother, if the whole tail of our snakebrother is made of gold then why doesnt he cut more gold

The younger one said, Yes, we will never become rich this way. Sleeping a little every day is enough to cover the household expenses.

Torali and Phukan kept listening to their sons quietly. The sons pressurized their mother to cut at least three inches of gold so that the remaining gold could be used by them.

When Torali refused, they beat her up. The poor blind Phukan kept screaming. Crying, Torali agreed that she would cut more gold next time. The next day, the snake son called out at the door as usual

Open the door, I am here

I have brought gold for you

Have you eaten your fill

As usual, Torali replied from inside

My son is different from the rest of the world

He understands the pain of his mother

What if he is black in colour

The snake came inside, Torali fed him a bowl of milk, every part of his body was aching due to the beatings of his sons. He looked around, all the five sons were peeping inside through the cracks and asking him to hurry up.

Torali took a knife and cut a threeinch long piece of the tail. Suddenly, as soon as the knife hit, a stream of blood started flowing from the tail. The snakes son started writhing in pain and died in a short while. Torali kept mourning the death of her son and the sons got the result of their greed.

Yes, that threeinch piece also became a piece of meat after three hours.