The cock, the knife and the cat

There was a poor farmer. He had three sons Bhola Ram, Sola Ram and Tikku Ram. After he became very old, the farmer called his sons and told them, “I have become very old. In spite of my hard work, I could earn only a cock, a cutting knife and a cat. I am going to give the cock to Bhola, the cutting knife to Sola and the cat to Tikku. With this you go out in the world and try to earn some money.” The sons took what their father gave to them and promised to him that they would earn as much money as possible and help him.

Bhola went out with his cock. Wherever he went there were hens and cocks. After a long journey, he reached an island where cocks were not known. During those times clocks were not there. People used to measure time by seeing the Sun. All the people of the island did not know when it was morning and woke up very late. By that time the sun was hot, because of this they found it very difficult to work. Bhola told them, “I have brought you a magical bird. It has a red crown. As soon as the first rays of the sun are visible it will make pleasing and big sound. Hearing this you can all get up and go to work early.” The people of the island were terribly impressed. They asked Bhola as to the cost of the bird. He told them, “the cost is as much gold as a donkey can carry.” They paid him that much and Bhola came home with that much gold

Having seen that Bhola was successful, Sola wanted to try his luck. He also went out of his village. Wherever he went people had cutting knives. After a very long journey, Sola reached an island. There he found that they have not seen cutting knives. They did not have knives to cut wood or harvest their grains. They broke slender plants and burnt them in their stow. As for grain, they picked it plant by plant. This used to be very difficult and time consuming. Sola told them, “I have a magical equipment. It can cut big tress in to small pieces. It can help you reap your grains fast. If you purchase this equipment, then life will become very easy for you.” The people saw what he could do with his knife and asked him about its cost. He told them, “As much gold as a horse can carry.” They readily gave it to him. He returned back home with all that gold.

Now it was the turn of Tikku. He took the cat along with him and traveled a lot. Wherever he went people had cats. They did not want Tikku’s cat. At last he reached an island, where they did not have cats. Rats and mice were everywhere. They ate the grain and bread stored by the people. They even caused hurt to the babies by biting them at night. Inside shops they were dancing and destroying everything. Tikku took his cat and left it in a house. Within no time the cat killed all the rats in the house. So all of them requested the king to buy the cat for them. The king asked Tikku, “what is the cost of the cat?” Tikku replied ”As much gold as an elephant can carry.” The king gave him that much gold. Tikku ram returned home with all that gold.