Woman Or Fiend
In a certain city, there lived a bangle seller called Nagesh. Every morning, he would take his bangles and go around selling them to the women of the city. As he never came home before sunset, he carried his lunch in a neat bundle. In the afternoon, he would rest under the shade of a big tree and eat his lunch.
One day, he stopped under the comforting shade of a big Sal tree and began to eat his lunch. When he had finished, he threw the remaining food aside and went home. Now there lived a fiend close by, and soon it came to the tree under which Nagesh had eaten. It saw the remaining food still lying in the paper packet. Impelled by curiosity, it picked up the packet and sniffed at it. Ah! What a delightful flavor there was in that food. Nagesh’s wife, Vimala, was an excellent cook and she had made some delicious fruit cakes for her husband. Now the fiend was not used to delicacies cooked by the human hand; it was accustomed to the tough flesh of sheep and cattle. But this was something absolutely different. The fiend became excited at this new find. “Henceforth, I must eat only fruit cakes,” chortled the fiend to itself. “I’ll go to the house of this man and live there. Then, I’ll get lots of nice and tasty fruit cakes.”
The next day, Nagesh was surprised to see a weeping woman under the Sal tree. He went near her and said, “Mother, what is the matter? Why do you cry?”
The woman replied, “Sir, my husband has deserted me. I have nowhere to go. I have not eaten a morsel of food these few days.”
Nagesh was moved by pity at these words. So he said, “Don’t worry. Come to my house. You can live there as my wife’s attendant. I’ll give you lots to eat, but I can’t pay you any wages.”
The woman replied, “Oh! Thank you ever so much, kind Sir. I’ll carry out all the tasks given to me. But if you ask me to do something which is beyond me, I shall leave you.”
Nagesh took her to his home and introduced her to his wife. Vimala looked at the visitor and said, “Sister, what is your name?”
The woman replied, “People call me Bhootham.” Now Vimala was a little taken aback at this name, but did not say anything. She knew that modern people had all kinds of crazy names.
From that day on, Bhootham began to live in their house and do their bidding. She proved to be very good at her work, and always finished everything in double quick time.
One night, Nagesh hadn’t returned home. It was late in the night, and so Vimala prepared to sleep. Bhootham always slept by her side. This night also, she lay down beside Vimala.
Nagesh returned late in the night and banged on the door. Sleepy Vimala ordered Bhootham to open the door. Bhootham did not get up but elongated one hand and opened the door. At this sight, Vimala’s sleepiness vanished, and the fear of the devil got into her heart.
The next morning she confided her fears in her husband. At first, Nagesh pooh-poohed her story. But she insisted that he should get rid of Bhootham. Then Nagesh remembered what the woman had said earlier on. If she was given work beyond her capacity, she would leave. So he called Bhootham and asked her to construct a high wall all around the house. He thought this a task beyond the abilities of Bhootham. Little did he know that he was dealing with a fiend.
When he returned home that evening, the wall was built and ready. There were even trees bordering the wall. Then Nagesh realized that Bhootham was indeed a frightening fiend. He thought feverishly about ways and means to get rid of the fiend.