There were,
once upon a time, seven simpletons. And once they were going down the road, and
meeting a puddle, were in great distress as to how they should cross it. And
the eldest said "I will go first, and you all follow, holding one
another's loin cloths." So they held one another's cloths and crawled
through the puddle on their hands and knees, getting very muddy and dirty in
doing so. But when they had fairly got across, the elder set to work to count;
and, as he failed to count himself, behold, there was one missing. Then the
next brother counted; and, as he, too, found one missing, they each in turn
counted. And so it became clear that one was lost; and there they stood
debating this deplorable business. Just then a wily Brahmin came up, and asked
what the matter was. And they told him that they had been seven, but that in
crossing the puddle, one of them had been lost. On which, the Brahmin, quickly
counting them, found that they were still seven, and, judging them to be
simpletons, said to them "My sons, if you will come to my house and work
for me, I will find you the missing man." To which with one accord they
agreed.
Then the
Brahmin split a betelnut into seven pieces and put them into the hand of the
eldest. "Now count them," said he, "and tell me how many there
be." And he counted and found that there were seven. "Now take each
man a piece," said the Brahmin, and, behold, to each piece there was a
man. So in great joy and peace of mind they went to the Brahmin's house to
work.
And then,
one day, he sent the seven simpletons out into the garden to weed the
vegetables, and with them he sent his only son, saying "If the lad is lazy
and falls behind, shove him along and make him work."
So they all
went into the garden and began cutting the weeds with their knives; and
presently the boy fell into the rear. On which they said "There is that
Brahmin boy fallen behind. Did not his father say that we were to push him
along? What is to be done now? But the elder brother said, "Do? Why, do as
we were told." On which each of them hit him with his weeding knife, so
that presently he died. And when the weeding was quite finished, they went and
told the Brahmin, saying "You told us to shove him along, and as we had
our knives in our hands, we hurt him so that he died." But the Brahmin was
speechless, for they had but done as they were told.
Another day
he told them to go and plough. "Take your ploughs up above the great simul
tree," he said. So they rose in the early morning, and, taking ploughs,
cattle and ropes, went to the great simul tree. And some stayed below and bound
the ploughs and cattle with the ropes, and others climbed the tree and hauled.
But the ropes broke and the cattle were killed and the ploughs were smashed.
And then they went and told the Brahmin that they had tried to plough above the
simul tree and had failed. "And what of the cattle?" said he,
"Oh! They fell down and were killed," they replied. So, in despair,
he bought other cattle and sent them out to plough afresh.
And when the
harvest was ripe, they reaped the paddy and, tying it in sheaves, brought it
home and asked where they were to put it. And the Brahmin said "Put it
where my old woman tells you to put it." So they went and asked the Brahmin's
wife. But she was very busy, and only cried "Oh, bother you and your
paddy! Put it on my head!" On this, they all took their sheaves, and
heaped them on the old woman, so that she died. And when the Brahmin came from
his work and asked for his old woman, they said they had buried her in the
paddy, as she told them to. On which, being at his wit's end, he bade them go
and bury her. On this, they tied the corpse on a bamboo sledge and bumped it along
through the bamboo-clump, so that it got knocked off by the way.
And when
they came to some fallow land, they dug a grave, and then began looking about
for the corpse. Now there was an old woman hard by herding cattle.
"Cunning old wretch!" said they, "she is afraid of being buried,
and is pretending to be somebody else." So they got hold of her, and, in
spite of her struggles, buried her.
And the
Brahmin, in fear of what they might do next, began to contrive means to get rid
of them. So he said "Today, my sons, we will go and cut down the great
simul tree." So they took their axes and, going to the simul tree, began
hewing with a will, and when the tree was tottering to its fall, the Brahmin
said to them "If the tree falls down, it will be broken. Run under it and
catch it!" And when they did so, the Brahmin gave the last strokes, and
the tree fell on the seven simpletons and killed them. And that's all!
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