Fatty Vinayak

Fatty Vinayak was lying in the sun when his master Damodar spotted him. Now Damodar was a rich man of the village and rode a lovely white horse. That day, he had a jar of oil too big to carry on his horse. So, asking Fatty to take it home, he cantered off.

Fatty loped along behind the steed. He could not take his eyes off the horse. What a splendid animal, he thought. How beautifully it canters! Oh, wouldn’t it be fun to ride a horse just like that!

So he asked his master how much the horse cost. Damodar replied seriously that he had got it for five hundred rupees.

If Fatty Vinayak had that amount of money on him, he would sell the horse to him, Fatty began to chew over this. He thought, “Ah! My master will pay me twenty-five paise for carrying this jar. Then I’ll buy two eggs. Out of these eggs, I’ll get a cock and a hen. When the hen lays eggs, I’ll get more hens and therefore more eggs. More eggs mean hens, and more hens mean more eggs. So, I’ll have lots of eggs to sell, and I’ll sell them all for a hundred rupees!” Then I’ll buy sheep for this money and soon there’ll be a flock of sheep. I’ll sell the flocks for five hundred rupees and buy that lovely white horse. Then I’ll gallop like the wind.”

Lost in his daydream, Fatty held out his hands and flicked his wrists to imitate a horseman holding the reins. The jar slipped from his fingers and crashed on the ground with a big noise, and all the oil dribbled out.

Damodar stopped his horse on hearing the crash. Hastily, Fatty explained that it wasn’t his fault at all. Thinking about the horse had brought it on. Then he related his daydream. Damodar became furious and said, “That jar of oil cost me ten rupees. You’ll work for me without pay until you repay me ten rupees worth of service.”

Fatty Vinayak meekly picked up the empty jar and followed his master home. Damodar had a dog which suffered from an open sore. All day long, flies buzzed around it. Fatty was ordered to put some salve on the wound and drive off the flies.

So Fatty swished his stick around, and yelping with fear, the dog scuttled away with the bumbling boy in pursuit. Soon the street mongrels joined in, and all ran a merry race, far beyond the village. In the resulting confusion, Damodar’s dog slipped away and doubled back to the house. Unaware of this, Fatty Vinayak ran on and, getting very angry at not finding his master’s dog, banged his stick on the head of a white mongrel which fell down senseless. Then he stuffed the still living dog in a bag and went to his master. But on the way, the white mongrel suffocated to death.

Damodar was surprised to see the dead dog and did not know what to make of Fatty’s foolishness. So he said, “Look here, you idiot, this is not my dog. This is somebody else’s pet, and it’s dead, alright. We must bury it secretly. I’ll go off and dig a hole in the garden to bury it. Wrap this dog up in a blanket and bring it to me.”

Vinayak wrapped up the dead animal in a blanket and took it to the garden. But when he unrolled the blanket, there was no dog in it, for the simple reason that it had fallen out on the way. His master scolded him and said, “You fat fool, the dog must have dropped on the road. Go, find it.”

Fatty Vinayak searched for the dead dog high and low but without any luck. At last, he turned into his master’s house and saw their own dog sleeping peacefully on the ground. “So there you are! Trying to escape, were you? Not anymore, not you!” said Vinayak. Then he dragged the poor creature towards the garden. Damodar fairly shouted with rage when he saw his own pet and angrily enquired about the missing dog. Vinayak happily declared that this was indeed the ‘dead dog!’ Somehow it had survived its fatal injury. Damodar, now beside himself with rage, said, “You dumb clot, that is my dog, not a dead one. So go at once and find that other dog.”

Vinayak retraced his steps and went into the village. There he saw knots of people standing around the dead dog and discussing the mystery of its death. Fatty Vinayak shouted with joy when he saw the dead dog. “So there you are! My master is waiting to bury you in the garden. Come along,” he said and began to lift it. Then everyone crowded around asking questions, and the whole story was out. So Damodar had to pay the owner of the dead animal for his loss. But he was so ashamed and angry at being found out that he dismissed Vinayak from his service with these words, “Why, you wretch,” he spluttered, “get away from my sight. I was a fool to employ you.”

Vinayak replied, “But I can’t leave. I must work for the ten rupees you have lost because of me. When I finish my work, I’ll take the twenty-five paise from you, then I’ll leave.”

Damodar quickly dug into his pocket and, taking out a twenty-five paise bit, gave it to Vinayak.

“Here is your money, you fat fool. Don’t you dare show your face around my house again. You understand? Now be off.”

Fatty Vinayak returned home, richer in foolishness and wealth!