A Resourceful Householder
-Unknown Author
A MAN called Krishna and his wife were living alone in a house. One evening, as the couple were sitting in the hall, the husband descried a well-known ex-convict of most desperate character hiding in the loft. To shout out would mean certain escape of the marauder and possibly also some hurt at his hands before help could come. Not to shout out would mean robbery at night accompanied with violence.
At last, a brilliant idea struck the husband. There was a sturdy neighbour called Rama who had caught many thieves before. The husband told his wife, 'My dear, you are pregnant now. You will deliver a child soon. If it turns out to be a male, as I expect it will be, I shall name it Rama, and at the age of five I shall send it to school. I shall insist that it should come home every day at 5.30 p.m. precisely.'
'What if he does not come at that time?' asked the wife. 'I shall shout out, "Rama, Rama,"' replied the husband shouting out 'Rama' in a loud voice.
'What if he does not come still?' asked the wife. 'I shall shout out again, "Rama," "Rama," "Rama," "Rama," "Rama" till he comes,' replied the husband shouting out the name, 'Rama' at the top of his voice.
The neighbour Rama and others came rushing to the house hearing the shouts and enquired of the husband as to what the matter was. 'Somebody in the loft wants you,' replied the husband pointing to the ex-convict who was speedily secured, put up for trial before a court and sentenced to serve a long term. The ex-convict swore vengeance on the resourceful man who had brought about his arrest. One day, shortly after his release, he hid himself in the rubbish pit outside the house in order to escape all chances of detection. When Krishna went to rinse his mouth after meals at the rubbish heap as usual, he perceived a slight movement in the rubbish heap as the water fell on it. His suspicions were fully roused.
He asked his wife to bring pot after pot of water and continued to rinse his mouth and eject the water on the rubbish heap where the ex-convict was concealed. The ex-convict, determined not to be found out this time, kept absolutely motionless in spite of the shower bath he was receiving. But Krishna's wife, not knowing the reason for her husband's strange action asked him, 'Has your mouth turned a gutter that you rinse it so many times? I cannot bring any more water.' On which, Krishna spat one mouthful of water on her. The poor woman raised a loud hue and cry fully believing that her husband had gone mad.
Rama and all other neighbours came running and enquired of Krishna as to what the matter was. 'This wretched woman,' said Krishna, 'whom I feed and clothe raised all this alarm because I spat at her once whereas this man here (pointing to the concealed robber) whom I never once fed or clothed has patiently borne at least a hundred spittings without one word of murmur.' The assembled villagers at once secured the concealed marauder who was once again put up before a magistrate and this time sentenced to a good long term of hard labour. --
With Love,
Ganesh Baba
http://kriyababa.blogspot.com/
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