Half-Witted Children

Julie often prayed to God, O Lord I want two children a son and a daughter. The son should be tall and strong and the daughter should be beautiful and farsighted. She often expressed this wish of hers. One day God heard her call and both a son and a daughter were born to her. But both the children were halfdefective. The son was healthy but blind. The daughter was very beautiful and had sharp eyes but her legs were very weak. She named the son John and the daughter Jenny. Seeing her children in such a condition, Julie would become very sad and would often cry alone. She would often say to herself, Who will take care of these handicapped children of mine after me Thinking these things, she became stressed. One day, she was sitting in the house thinking about something in great stress. Just then it started raining heavily. Seeing the rain, Julie did not know what came to her mind that she started going out of the house. Seeing her mother going out, Jenny said, Mother, where are you going in such heavy rain I can clearly see that the river is flooding. Dont go anywhere. There were tears in the eyes of the tensed Julie. She did not pay attention to her daughter and went out.

Many days passed, but Julie did not return. The children became more weak in the memory of their mother. The neighbours used to sympathize with them and give them food twice a day. The siblings used to say among themselves, Mummy will definitely come back. She cannot leave us in such a condition. But the mother did not return.

One day a stranger came to the village. He asked the entire village for a days shelter to stay overnight. But no one asked the stranger to stay. The weather was bad. It was raining that day too. Suddenly the stranger knocked on the door of these siblings. Blind John opened the door and lovingly asked him to stay there. Seeing both the siblings, the stranger said, You are very good children. You have helped me in bad weather. Tell me, how can I help you On this Jenny said, Uncle, our mother has left us and gone somewhere. We both have no one in this world. On hearing the girls words, the foreigner became very sad. Then suddenly he remembered that a few days ago he had seen a woman crying in the forest. While crying, the woman kept saying, Prabhu, my daughter cannot walk with her legs and my son cannot see. Please help both of them. However, both of them have a special power. My son is very strong and my daughters eyesight is very sharp. On hearing Pardeshis words, both the brother and sister jumped with joy and said, She is our mother.

But after a while both of them became sad. Seeing them sad, Pardeshi said, What happened Jenny said, How will we go to our mother I cannot walk and my brother cannot see. On this Pardeshi said, This is not a difficult thing. Both of you support each other. You become your brothers eyes and your brother your feet. After this, you can get whatever you want. Both of them became happy with the words of the foreigner.

The next day the foreigner left from there. John arranged a bullock cart from somewhere. Sharpsighted Jenny and blind John sat in it. Jenny kept telling John the way and John kept walking as per her instructions.

Finally they reached the hut told by the foreigner. An old woman was standing there. Jenny looked at that woman and said, Is this our mother John said, I also feel the same. The old woman understood what was in their mind and said, Children, I am just like your mother. Come, stay here tonight and go towards your destination tomorrow.

Seeing that woman like this, John said, Jenny, I feel that by crying and living alone, mother has forgotten us.

Yes, I also feel the same, John.

After this, they parked their bullock cart on one side and came to the old womans hut. The old woman cooked delicious food for both of them and fed them. Both John and Jenny told the old woman about their mother. But she did not remember anything. She remained silent after listening to their conversation. Suddenly she looked at John and said, What happened son, cant you see John said disappointedly, Yes, I cannot see and Jenny cannot walk. Her legs are weak.

On hearing this, the old woman said, How long will you both support each other. It has been many years since I have been living in this forest. During this time I have also come to know about the beneficial herbs of the forest. Both of you stay here. I will bring such herbs, whose application will cure both the eyes and legs.

After this she went to the forest to collect herbs. Jenny said, Brother, I do not remember how mother looked, but probably she must have looked like this. John said, Jenny, I cannot see, but I can surely say that this is our mother. It is just that the passage of time has made her forget us. She will remember that too.

After a while the old woman came back with herbs. She made a paste of them and applied it on Johns eyes. Then she made another paste and applied it on Jennys feet. After a while John started seeing blurry and Jennys legs got strength. After a while both of them became completely healthy.

The next day the old woman said, Children, now you can easily find your mother. John went ahead and said, Mother, we have found our mother. Now we will stay with her. The old woman looked in the hut in surprise and said, Where is your mother On this Jenny hugged the old woman and said, Our mother is here. Hearing Jennys words, tears started flowing from the eyes of the old woman.

Jenny and John started living there and one day the old woman actually died.