AssignmentBBA 2(B)Once upon a time there lived a family of eight sons and their parents in avillage.
The family was so poor that the parents frequently had to eat allthe food themselves, leaving nothing for the children. Consequently, thechildren starved and became very weak. The parents would cook food at nightwhen the children were asleep. One day while the parents were handling thepots, one of the children woke up. He was asked by the parents to stayquiet. They promised to give him a share of whatever they were going toeat.
However, the commotion disturbed the other children and all of themwoke up. The parents tried to distract them by asking questions. They askedthem what they would do for their parents when they grew up. All the sons,except the youngest who had only just learnt to speak, replied that theywould help their parents in all possible ways. The parents wanted theyoungest son also to respond.
The child replied that he would live off theleft over of his elder brothers all his life. The parents were so annoyedby this reply that they ordered the elder brothers to kill him. The eldestbrother felt sorry for the child and took him to the forest where he sealedhis eyes with some adhesive and left him there. From where the boy stood hecould go in any one of eight different directions. The elder brother alsoleft him a knife.
The child sat there the whole night and became extremely tired. As dawncame an elephant appeared and asked him about his problem. The boy told theelephant all that had transpired during the night. The elephant felt sorryfor the child. “You are the most honest among all your fathers children”,said he. He unsealed the Childs eyes so that he could see again.
Then theelephant gave the child a reed and told him to chop it into small pieces ofmeat. These pieces of meat were to be hung on the reeds and the boy was totake shelter under the remains of the elephant. The boy did as he was told,and slept under the skeleton that night. The next morning the boy found himself inside a big palace.
The skeleton ofthe elephant had been transformed into the palace during the night. Wherethe boy had kept the pieces of meat, there was an annexed to the palace. Thus the little boy found himself the king of a beautiful rich city. News spread far and wide of the sudden emergence of the new city.
The cruelparents meanwhile had become poorer than ever and lived by begging. One daythey, along with their other sons, came upon their youngest son, now aking. He recognized his parents and without any ill will towards themordered a feast in their honor. However, during the feast his mother andfather were to receive severe punishment from God for their misdeeds. Theywere made to confess their crimes against their own children.
The momentthey finished with their confession they were struck down by chuk-kiubo (astrange disease causing the tongue to fall out of the mouth). the motherseyes too fell out of their sockets, and they both died. The brothershowever stayed happily with the king for many years.
