Once a great Pundit was blessed with a son in his late years. Hen named him Hari. Now in Sanskrit the word Hari means several things like the Sun, the air, the moon the lion, the horse, the snake, the parrot, the frog and so on. The Pandit sensed that his son was far from intelligent and kept calling him , “You dirty frog!” instead of “Hari”.
Hari grew up , got married and raised a huge family. Finding his native village too small for his family, Hari migrated to a big city. He found employment in a rich man’s house. While Hari did menial work, his wife cooked and his children tended the cattle of rich man.
After sometime the rich man’s daughter happened to be married. For this marriage great preparations were set afoot and guests arrived by thousand. Poor Hari dreamed that he would do justice to feast that were to follow the marriage ceremony. But to his great disappointment Hari was not even invited.
Hari crest-fallen, said to himself, “This rich man ignored me only because I am poor and stupid. It is not easy to pretend to be rich but many person succeed in appearing to be clever. Let me do the same.”
That night when everyone was sleeping soundly, Hari led the horse of the bridegroom to the city limits where he tied it to a tree, came back and went to sleep.
When he woke up next morning, there was a great commotion. The bridegrooms horse was not be found. Instigated by Hari, his wife went to rich man and said, “Master , they say that some horse is missing. Why not ask my husband? He is an expert diviner of lost properties.”
The rich man called Hari and asked him to find out where the stolen horse was. Hari drew some lines on the ground, counted upon his fingers, muttered some calculations and said, “The horse was stolen in night. At the moment it is tied to a tree near the southern city limit. If somebody is sent there at once the horse is likely to be recovered.
All this turned out to be true. Hari was praised all round for his great powers. The rich man showed as much regards to him as to his other honored guests. Hari not only enjoyed the pleasures of the marriage feast but also got a promotion as an advisor to the rich man.
Shortly afterwards there was a theft in the king’s palace and some costly ornaments were lost. Fame is at times a risky thing. The king sent for Hari who became well-known for his divining powers. Hari asked the king to give him one day. He was shown a room in the palace in which he could make his calculations unmolested. Hari felt that king was imprisoning him.
Now this theft in the palace was carried out by a palace maid popularly called “The Tongue”, and her brother. The maid was full of fear lest Hari should find out her theft. That night she tiptoed to the room of Har and listened at the door.
Meanwhile Hari too was greatly agitated about what about what would happen. In the morning the king would send for him and punish him all this was because of his tongue which craved for rich man’s feast. Hari cursed it heartily, “You accursed tongue! what have you done? You will know better when you are torn to pieces by the king.”
The Tongue who was listening at the door went cold all over. Sweating with fear she pushed the doors open rushed in and fell at Hari’s feet.
“Good sir, spare me once. Do not let me be killed, I pray you, ” she wailed.
Hari knew that luck was with him. “Don’t weep, woman I gain nothing by punishing you. Tell em where you have hidden the stolen stuff. I shall spare you” said he.
The Tongued thanked Hari profusely and said, “I’ve hidden then in garden at the base of the pomegranate tree.”
Hari sent the maid away and waited till morning. Then he went to the minister and said, “Let us go and get the stolen ornaments.”
Of course, they were found buried at the base of the tree as mentioned by the maid. The king was very much impressed and employed Hari in his court.
However , the minister was far satisfied by Hari. For one thing, Hari appeared too illiterate and unpolished to have any power at all. To prove to the king Hari had no divining powers at all, the minister put a frog in pot and sealed its mouth. He presented it to Hari when he was with the king and said, “Sir with your extraordinary powers you can certainly tell us what is in this pot?”
Hari was completely taken by surprise. When Hari was a boy his father used to test his studies by asking him questions. Hari used to feel the same unpleasant sensation as he now felt when he could not answer any question. And his father used to exclaim , “Ah you dirty frog I got you !”
The same words now flew out of the mouth of the baffled Haro. He said, “”Ah you dirty frog you are caught now !”
The minister was not prepared for such powers in Hari. He fell at his feet and said, “Sir your powers are beyond the understanding of anyone. Pardon me for having suspected them. “then he unsealed the pot and revealed the frog in it.
Hari was not only saved from a very nasty situation but also he was never again put to a test and he lived happily and prosperously for a long time.
(Source: Chandamama
August 1955)
Moral of the story :
This time I want our readers to share the moral of this story. Because learning is not learning if it is imposed.
You learn after reflecting. Share your reflections with us in comments.
