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THE NECTAR OF THE GODS

The story of Soumani, the little girl,

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SONS OF PANDU
Mathuram

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full
relates

words the main story of the

great Indian epic. Mahabharata.
A
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26

CHANDAMAMA
FIVE TIGER WARRIOR
THE FOX'S JUDGEMENT
THE LITTLE JUDGE
WHY THE SEA IS SALTY
ROBIN HOOD AND MAID MARIAN
WHAT DOES A DIAMOND LOOK LIKE ?

6
10

12
16
21

27

BOMMA AND BOMMI

30

NEED FOR HUMILITY

GREED LOSES ALL
THE PRINCE WHO HAD A BEAR'S HEAD
FREE ME!
THE TEST

37

33

35

42

44

MAHABHARATA

WHO

IS

BETTER

45
?

51

ON BEING HUMANE
I HAVE NOT LOST MY JOB
HUNGER AND PATIENCE
VERDICT OF YASASKARA

Printed

by B

by B. V.

Reddi

at

53

56
57
59

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Private Ltd.,

Viswanalha Reddi for Chandamama Publications, 2

,

Madras-600026. Controlling Editor: 'Chakrapani'

and Published
3,

Arcot Road,

FIVE TIGER WARRIOR

Long long ago

there lived

in

China a poor lad named Tsu.

He eked out a small living by

He lived with
mother, having lost his father

cutting firewood.
his

lender age.

at

in

One day he was cutting wood

the forest when he heard a

moaning coming from a

chimp of bamboo shoots. As
clump was rather dense he
could not see what it was that
was making the noise. So with
his axe on his shoulder he went
towards the clump. He walked
soft

the

very carefully as the bamboos

were sharp 'and he could well
injure his feet
his

steps

peered

if

he put

carelessly.

down

Then he

through a clearing of
Th PrP br caw a hnOP

komKr.

tigress

with

its

forepaw caught

on a sharp, pointed bamboo.

It could not draw its foot out
and was growling in pain.
Moved by the helplessness of
the animal, Tsu went home and
" Mother,
told
his
mother,
Mother, 1 saw a tigress with its
forepaw stuck on a sharp bamWe must save it. Please
boo.
come with me."
So mother and son went to
the forest and reached the place
where the wounded tigress was
growling with pain. Soon Tsu
freed the tigress and his mother
rubbed some ointment in its
wound. The tigress seemed to
understand that they meant her
no harm. So it stood dociley

whi\f

lh-v

niirscH

it

When

they were about to go away,

the mother bowed to the tigress
tigress, we are
and said, "

poor people. That is why my

son remains unwed. No one is
willing to give a daughter to a
poor boy. You must arrange
for him to be married to a. nice
girl."

Having said this she went

Tsu laughed to hear her
the
words. As
for
it stood for a long time
they
watching them. When
had disappeared from sight then
only did it limp into a thick
away.

simple
tigress

bush.

Some days later a rich man

carried his daughter in a palanquin through the forest. The
daughter was to be married to
a rich man. Suddenly five tigresses appeared in Tsu's town
out of the jungle and blocked
their way.
All the members of
the retinue took fright and ran
away. But the girl was not
allowed to get down. The ferocious animals stood guard and
did not allow any one to approach the palanquin.
A little later Tsu heard someone knocking on the door. He
opened it and was dumbfounded
to see five tigers and a comely
The tigers smiled at him
lass.
anH leavinn the pirl behind loDed

The handsome wood-cutmarried the girl.

But soon the rich man found
all about his missing dau-

off.

ter

out

ghter.

He became

very angry.

She had married a poor woodcutter.

So he filed a suit in
the court against Tsu and his

mother on a charge of enticing

his daughter away from his
lawful custody.
Tsu was asked
to explain his conduct and he
related how the tigers had conducted the girl to his presence.
Of course everyone poohpoohed his account and even
the Magistrate refused to believe him.

Then Tsu's mother

declared

hat she
is

would bring the

he tigers
fery well,

That year the cannibals from

and

tigers

The Magistrate

witnesses.

aughed and

the fcVrest raided the city

said, " You'll bring

speak

to

do your

for

the King was powerless to defend the people. Then some

you!

spoke to him about the

wood-cutter and his five tigers.
If anyone could save the city, it
is Tsu.
So Tsu was sent for.
Bowing to the wishes of the.
King, Tsu sent his tigers against

best but until

citizens

hen Tsu remains in Jail."

So Tsu's mother went to the.
and in a short time rewith the tigers to the
;ourt.
Naturally everyone ran
)ff in fright except the Magistate who was paralysed with
ear.
Then recovering himself
le asked the tigers whether it
vas true that they had brought
he girl to the wood-cutter's
brest

;urned

The

louse.

he

tigers

affirmative.

growled

Satisfied,

the

in

,.

,:

Which of your
of you

fell

back

commander of all his forces

and gave him the title, Five-

the

the

Tiger Warrior.

against Tsu.

RIDDLE
fit

who

fierce onslaught of the

wild animals.
In fact all the
animals of the jungle came to
Tsu's aid and the cannibals
were entirely routed. Out of
gratitude the King made Tsu

Vfagistrate dismissed the charges

cannibals

under the

relations are always

-inra

foui

'(no*) n moipi*. isixs 100

osninoq 'snisnoa 'saisun 'siunv

need

H3/WSNV

Here are eighteen questions based on myths and legends. They are not easy
if you get stumped ask your father or turn to page 60 for the answers

to

1.

2.

What were

3.

in

Who were

the twin brothers

Greek mythology

is

the

the three sisters

Which mountain did

6.

Ulyssess blinded a Cyclopes.

7.

Who was

8.

For

9.

11.

12.

13.

Roman name of

Who

to

have founded Rome

to

pick

u|

who won

God Hermes,

who turned

What was

all

his

who

looked upon them into stone?

home of

name

the

Gods

the leader of the Argonauts ?

supposed

to

have told the

sleep ?

collection

of .stones

known

as

the

Arabiai

rescued Anromeda from a sea-monster ?

Who was

Pegasus?

said to ride the legendary winged horse

Which legendary monster was kept

Who

said

because she stopped

the Greek

the Greeks regard as the

how many years did Rip Van Winkle

Who was
Nights

who are

a race

5.

10.

lost

Which metal's name

winged sandals

4.

names of

the

Which maiden
a golden apple

was- the king

who

in

a labyrinth?

was granted the wish that everything he touched woutt

turn into gold ?

14.

15.

How many
Which
its

labours was Hercules called upon to perform?

bird

cremated Uself every

own ashes

five hundred

years

and rose rejuvenated fron

made

her open a forbidden box and release

16.

Whose

17.

The Greeks named the king of the Gods

18.

Who was

curiosity

the hero of the

Zeus.

What

German Nibehngenlied

all

did the

human
Romans

evils I

call

him

THE FOX'S
Vhen

Grandpa

came

home

a basketful of mangoes,
he children jumped with joy.
Then they began to quarrel
ibout who should get the bigvith

and the most juicy portion

mangoes once they were
iliced
G ra nd pa sho u ted at
.hem' to be quiet and said, "Why
ire you fighting like kilkenny
;ats?
Each one of you is
jest

the

>f

worried that he has not got the

aigger portion of the fruit.

me

tell

features
for

Let

you the story of two

who fared no better

thinking so."

At once the children stopped

quarrelling and sat round the
old story-teller to hear him
spin

out a delightful yarns.

Grandpa took out

his

silver

snuff box and held up a pinch

of the stuff before his nose.
Then he sneezed once, and after

3 1

Jt

dusting himself with a bright

orange coloured handkerchief

began

his story.

Long ago near

a

big

They

river

lived

the shore of
lived
two otters.
by eating the fish

abounded in the water.

The otters would splash about
in the water and cause the fish
to Und on the shore. Then they
would pounce upon them and
kill them.
This was a little bit
tricky as some times the fish
that

flipped

back

into

the

water.

Moreover, it was a tiresome

process as eating the fish after
catching them one by one was
hardly satisfying.
The otters

could make a contented meal

only when they had heaped up

on the shore.
One day the otters decided
upon a new method. One would

a lot of fish

stand on the shore and

kill

the

fish as

they were flipped through

the air by the other otter

would be

in the water.

who

In this

manner both otters managed to

heap up a sizable quantity of
on

fish

the

trouble arose
divide

to

shore.

when

the

But the
they wanted

catch

between

Each one wanted more.

Soon both were quarrelling bitthem.
terly.

came up
them and saw the heap of
lying on the ground.
The

Just then a lone fox

to
fisli

cunning- animal decided to depthe otters of their catch.

So the fox pretended to be
sympathetic and asked the fighting otters, "What is the matter?
rive

Why

are

you

fighting so?"

right."

Then

the other otter

friend

made

the fish to each.

Agreed?"

The fox said, "Do not worry.

show you how it can be

I'll

done."

Then calling the otter which

had stood on the shore, the

"Now

look here. Your

got into the river
took a lot of trouble in flipping
fox said,
friend

who

the fish on to the shore.

Therefore he should get the bigger

portion of the catch. What do

you say?"

The

otter

said,

"You

are

slip

the fox went to

and

said,

who stood on

So the otters told the fox

what they had done- and how
they were unable to apportion

sure that the

"Your

the shore

fish

did not

back into the waters.

he deserves

bigger

So

portion.

The otter said, "True."

Then the fox cut up each
into three bits and gave

fish

the

head to one otter, the tail to the

other and kept the fleshy part
for himself.

Grandpa ended the story and

said, "So you see what happened to those who quarrel? Each
one was eager for more and the
fox which mediated took away
the best portions. So be satisfied with what you get."

LITTLE
Many hundreds
Harun

of years ago,

El Rascid ruled the land

of Persia.
Instead of being
called a King, was called a
Caliph (say it Cae-Iif).
His
pal ce was in the city of Bagdad, where there lived a merchant named Ali Cogia.
At that time, many of the
Persian people were making
journeys to Mecca, their holy
city, for it was part of their
religion

to

do

so,

if possible.

COgia was among those who

wanted to go to Mecca, but he
knew that he would be gone
from Bagdad for a long time,
so he decided to sell his busiAnother merchant paid
ness.
him two thousand gold coins
Ali Cogia used
for his shop.
one thousand gold coins to buy
goods to sell while on his journey to Mecca and joined the
camel train that was going to
Ali

make

the journey to the holy

city.

"

will

not take the other

thousand gold coins with me,

in case I am robbed," he said,
so he put them in a big clay jar
and covered them with fresh

olives,

shape

JUDGE
about the same

size

and

as small green plums.

the jar to the
of a friend, who was a
" Tomorrow
I
am

Then he took

home
baker.

going to Mecca," he said.

" Please look after this jar of
I return to Bagdad."
course," said the baker.

olives until

"Of

" I will give you the keys to my

warehouse and you may put
your jar wherever you wish inside it. It will be safe in there."
Ali Cogia thanked his friend
and put his precious jar away.
The next morning Ali Cogia
left Bagdad, seated on one camel
and followed by other camels
piled high with goods to sell on
the way to Mecca.
Ali Cogia stayed longer in
Mecca than he had planned to,
because, he had done some excellent business and had bought
and sold many goods. He was
so encouraged, that he decided
to travel on in the hope of finding more trade.
He journeyed
to other lands, to cities such as
Cairo and Damascus. Everywhere he went, he found that
trade was good.
For seven

long years he travelled around,

buying and selling.
One night, in Bagdad, Ali
Cogia's baker friend was about
to begin his evening meal and
he realised that there were no
olives in the house.
Then he
remembered Ali Cogia's jar.
" I have got the olives belong*
ing to Ali Cogia in my warehouse," he said to his wife.
" Surely, after all this time he
will not be coming back, but
even if he did, I know he would
not be grudge me a few olives
to eat with my evening meal."
" You should not take them
without his knowledge,"advised
the

baker's

The

wife.

man

would not listen to her and he

went to look for the clay jar.
He found that the olives were
dry and withered, but to make
sure that they were all bad, he

turned the contents on to the

floor.

Imagine

when he saw

all

surprise

his

the gold pieces,

falling in glittering piles at his

feet.

He went back

to his wife

and told her that he had decided

not to take any of the olives.
The next morning he greedily
took the gold coins from the
jar, filled it with fresh olives,
then put it in the place he had
found

it.

Exactly one

month

later,

Ali

Cogia arrived at the baker's

house and asked for his jar of
" It is where you left
olives.
it," said the baker.
The merchant took the jar to

his

home

and discovered that the gold

was gone. At once he returned
" I left one
to the baker.
thousand gold coins in that
jar," he said, " and now I cannot find them underneath the
olives.
If you needed them, I

am

not angry. You may repay

me whenever you can afford
to

do

so."

Despite Ali Cogia's kindness,

baker said that he knew

the

nothing
about
the
money.
That made Ali Cogia angry and
" Very well, I shall
he said
:

take

my

case to the Cadi."

the magistrate
,

The Cadi was

of Bagdad and he was considered to be a wise man. Yet,

even in front of him, the baker

knew nothing

ing was the one from the baker's

" There

innocent

warehouse. He tasted one and

" This is a very juicy olive.
How have you been able to keep
so fresh for seven years,
baker? My experts tell me that
these olives in Ali Cogia's jar
could not be more than a few

go

months old."

declared that he

about any gold.

evidence
said

against

the Cadi.

is

no

the baker,"
" Therefore if

he swears that he

is

innocent,

him go." Of course,

baker swore that he was
and was allowed to

shall let

the

free.

The next evening, the grand

Caliph Harun El Rascid was
walking past a poor courtyard,
when he heard some boys play" I will be the Cadi,"
ing.
shouted one lively lad. M Bring
the

me."

baker

and Ali Cogia to

Two

boys playing the

parts of the baker and Ali Cogia
were led before the make-

it

The young Cadi

asked

to

from the clay

jar that the boys were pretend-

Then

the

young

Cadi gave sentence: "Accused,

you have lied and you deserve
no
mercy. You
will
be
executed."

The next morning

the Caliph

sent one of his palace officials

to fetch the

boy who had played

part of the Cadi. The boy

was frightened when he heard

the,

message,

the
said:

afraid.

to

but

the

official

him on the shoulder and

"There is no need to be
The Caliph only wants
you." The boy
to

patted

believe Cadi.
taste the olives

said,

talk

dressed
clothes

himself

in

his

and went to the

best

palace.

In the throne room, Caliph

Harun El Rascid told the boy,

whose name was Hamid, that
he had heard the game Hamid
and his friends had been playing the previous night. Then
the Caliph added " Today you
will see the real Cadi and the
real
baker
and
merchant.
Come, sit beside me."
When everybody was ready
:

for the trial to begin, the Caliph

said:

"Young Hamid

here will

Should he need
any help, I will be here to help
him." Hamid listened while
the baker and Ali Cogia told
their stories about the gold and
Then, just as he
the olives.
had done in his game, he tasted
the olives and said how fresh

judge the case.

they were. This time, however,

the Caliph asked for the opinion

of real experts. They said that

the olives were only a few
months old. So the baker was
found out and had to confess.
The Caliph thought that the

shame was enough punishment

baker, so long as he
paid back the money to Ali
Cogia, which he did. The real
Cadi was ashamed, too, because everybody had seen that a
for the

little

boy had shown more wis-

dom

than he had done. The

Cadi vowed to think more carefully in the future.

The Caliph thanked Hamid

sent him home with a

and

" I am so grateful,"
present.
said the Caliph, " because now,
I

know

done."

that justice

has

been

Wn T
THE SEA
IS

One day, a poor peasant was

walking along a country road.

He was very poor indeed.

There were holes in his shoes
and patches on his clothes, but
he was a very happy man. He
walked with a jaunty air and as
he went, he made up little
rhymes and chanted them to
himself.
He was happy because he carried a chicken under
one arm and he was thinking of
the delicious meal of roast
chicken which he was soon to

was the

chicken he
had had for a long time and he
eat.

It

first

SALTY

had bought it with a silver coin

he had found in the road.
"Chicken pie! How lucky
am I," he chanted to himself.
Then he grew tired of that
rhyme and made up another
one. " Roast chicken wing. A
meal for a king," he chanted,
over and over again.
He was not really a good poet
at all and none of his rhymes
satisfied him, so he tried to
" Chicthink of another one.
ken and peas..." he began, but
try as he would, he could not
think of anything to rhyme with
peas and the more he thought
about chicken and peas the
his mouth began to
As he walked along,

more
to

think of a

with
say: "

peas,

he

word
heard

to

water.
trying

rhyme
voice

Good morning, my good

What
friend.
is
worrying

"

you?" The peasant looked up

and saw, by the side of the road,
an old man in a black coat.

The peasant stopped.

"

Good

morning, sir," he said. " 1

have here a fine chicken I have
bought in the market. I
am thinking of the wonderful
meal it will make when I get

just

home and cook

it."

" Indeed, it is a very fine

chicken," said the old man and
he looked at the bird hungrily.
" I am very old and very hungry

and I could just eat a nice

chicken. Will you give me your
chicken for my dinner?"
The poor peasant was horrified.

*'

ken?"
should

my

Give you

fine chic-

he said. " And what

have for myself to eat?
I was looking forward

Besides,

to a nice, chicken dinner."

" You are young and strong

and can easily earn more
money," said the old man, " but
you see, I am too old to
work. If- you do not give me

as

the chicken,

The
head

shall starve."

peasant

scratched

thoughtfully.

quite a kind

man

He

at heart

his

was
and

he did not want to see the old

starve, so he sadly handed

man

him the chicken.

Now the old man in the black

coat was really a magician and

as he put the chicken under his

coat,

he

pulled

out

dirty old coffee grinder.

this, in

my

rusty,

"Take

return for your chicken,

friend," said the magician.

" Guard it carefully, for it is a

very unusual grinder.
If you
say to it ' Grinder, grinder,
keep on turning,' it will give
you whatever you ask for. To
stop it you must say, ' Grinder,
grinder, stop your churning'.
The peasant took the coffee
grinder, but he thought it a poor
return

for

his

fine,

plump

However, he turned to
say thank you, but to his surchicken.

" Grinder,

grinder,

To

turning."

keep

on

his surprise, the

handle began to turn round.

" I want sausages," he said
Immediately, sausages
poured out of the machine and
boldly.

dropped

on

" Cheese!"

"Cakes!
Jellies!"

the

to

floor.

man.

the

said

Fruit!

Sweets!

Pies!

Each thing he asked

for

came out of

He

ate until he

the grinder.

was so

full

he

could eat no more.

With the wonderful grinder,

was very pleasant. ^AH his

food was provided and he did
not have to work all day, as he
done before.
One day, he took a walk along
the cliff's and when he felt tired
he went down on to the beach
and lay down on the sand. As
life

had disprise the old man

appeared.
The peasant went on his way

home and when he got

there he
threw the coffee gfinder into a
;orner of the room. Then he
got some bread and cheese from
the cupboard and made himself
i

The poor peasant

he lay there,

fast asleep,

a pirate

and before the poor

time to know what
was happening, he was tied up
and taken on board. Then the
ship sailed away.
At first the
poor man was left locked in the
hold, but after a time he was
ship landed

man had

meal.
carried on

working from morning till*night

md earned just enough money

buy his food. Then the day

ame when he had no work and
when he went to the cupboard
;here was not a thing to eat.
As he sat thinking how hungry he was, he noticed the

;o

taken
the

to

Captain

pirate

leader.

Blackbeard,
"

pri-

:offee grinder, lying in the cor-

soner," he cried. " He looks

too poor to pay us ransom
money, so he shall be made to

where he had thrown it.

it
up and said,

walk the plank. He will make

a great splash when he falls off

ler,

He

picked

the end into the sea and may be

a big fish will come and eat him

" Stop a moment," stamme11

red the poor man.
It is true
1 have no money, but 1 have a
wonderful coffee grinder."
" A coffee grinder? What use
is

king, but that

that to us?" roared Captain

Blackbeard

and

he

laughed

loudly when he saw the rusty

old thing the peasant pulled out
of his pocket. " Just wait a
said
the
man.
moment,"
'*
What do you want most?"

" Gold.
pirates

of

course.

All

want gold," roared Cap-

quite another

is

story.)

As he had

up."

left

the

coffee

grinder behind, the pirates did

not mind whether he escaped

or not.
" We can live in comfort for
the rest of our days.
We will
the shore and spend our
called Captain Black" But first we had bethave some salt.
We have
none left in our supplies.
Grinder, grinder, keep on turn-

sail for

money,"
beard.
ter

ing

and

give

me some

salt,"

he ordered.

The

poured out

salt

like flour

" Stop,

tain Blackbeard.

from

"Then you

that's

enough," shouted Cap-

have gold,"
said the peasant and he turned
" Grinder, grinto the grinder.
der, keep on turning and give
me gold," he said. Gold poured
over the deck.
" Stop, stop," begged Cap" The ship
tain
Blackbeard.
will sink."
The peasant stepped the grinder.
shall

Just then, the ship was passing an island and the pirates
were so busy scrambling for the

gold pieces that they hardly

noticed the peasant jump into
the sea and swim away for dear
life.
(He reached the island,

and the islanders

much

that they

liked

him so

made him

their

mill.

stop,

tain Blackbeard, but the grinder took no notice. The pirates

tried everything they could think
but they could not stop

the

of,

grinder turning. They had been

so busy picking up gold that
they had not heard the peasant

when he commanded

the grin-

der to stop.

Soon

the

wooden

sailing ship

could not bear the weight of all

the gold and all the salt.
It
had spread over the decks, into
the cabins,

down

and had piled

in

into the hold

great

heaps

in the galley.

The ship sank, with all the

on board and the coifee

pirates

When

everything was in
readiness to defend the cashe reported to the

tle,

Sheriff.
"The outlaws are
coming nearer, but we are,
prepared,"
he said. The

Sheriff chuckled with

satisfaction.
"Bring

evil

the

prisoners up," he ordered.

Soldiers were sent down to
the dungeons. "Come on,
you dogs,"
they ordered
Little John and Friar Tuck.

"Robin

Hood

is

going

whipped."
see
you
Meanwhile, Robin and his

to

outlaws

Sherwood

from

Forest poured into Nottinfor the

gham and headed

Robin divided his

band into three. Will Scarlet took one party to the
castle.

right while

Much

took one to the

the Miller

left.

Robin

commanded

the band in the

centre and he advanced on
the castle without more
ado. With a great cheer, the
outlaws followed
Robin,
charging towards the grim
walls of Nottingham Castle,

anxious to rescue their comrades.

A great shower of arrows

swept the walls of the castle,
and the Norman bowmen
had to take cover from the
deadly shafts. The lonely
sentry on top of the low
fell to the ground,
badly wounded. The grim
battle had begun.
tower

The sentry who first saw the

outlaws coming fell badly
wounded in the courtyard.

The

Sheriff of Nottingham
had felt sure Robin would
try to rescue his friends but
not for a moment had he
expected anything so daring as this.

Little John and Friar Tuck

were brought up from the
cell under the castle. The
Sheriff said *he would have
them whipped on the walls
where Robin and his men

could see, but

ged

his

now he

mind.

"It

wait!" he growled.

chan-

must

Little John and Friar Tuck

laughed at him. " If your
men try whipping us on the
waits and Robin sees them,
then the arrows will fly!"
chuckled Little John. The
Sheriff knew it to be true.
His men would quickly be

shot down.

were

The arrows

flying thick

and

fast at

very same moment.

was a very hard struggle.

that
It

Even then it did not seem

possible that Robin Hood
and his outlaws could ever
break into Nottingham Casthe walls were so
But Robin knew what
to do. While his bowmen
were keeping the Normans
busy on the walls, he shouted to the rest of his men:
tle as
thick.

"Bring up the battering ram,

lads. We'll smash our way
through the gates."
The
outlaws ran to obey.

WHAT DOES
Long ago

A DIAMOND LOOK LIKE?

there lived a certain

merchant who traded in diaThough he amassed

monds.
a great fortune he was a dishonest man, and got the bulk
of his wealth through unfair
means.
A poor farmer was his neighbour.
Now this merchant had
long coveted the land of his
neighbour and tried to persuade
But
th.e latter to sell it to him.
the farmer would not agree as
his house was an ancestral proThe merchant became
perty.
angry and began to harass the
farmer in many ways. At last
he sought the help of a ruffian
called Manik.
He told him,
"Manik, this farmer who lives
next to my house is a veritable

nuisance.
1 propose to teach
him a lesson. Well, 1 am going
to complain to the king that he
has stolen a precious diamond

from me.
You must be
witness and confirm what I
I'll pay you well for this."

Manik agreed

to

do

my
say.

as reques-

ted.

Next day, the merchant lodged a complaint with the king

and

cited

Manik

the

fact

that

as a witness to

the

stolen a precious

farmer

diamond.

had
So

the king sent for Manik and

questioned him regarding the
theft.

"Manik, you say you

the farmer steal the

saw

diamond

Describe the stone to me.*'

Now Manik did not expect

this and in all his life he had
He
never seen a diamond.
thought about it and an idea
struck him.
He had with him
a fishing rod and tackle, and
holding it before the king, he

"The diamond

said,

was

as

dary and did not

rod'.

Since then

diamond

"Do you

that the

sell

diamonds the shape of this

rod?"
in a quan-

fishing

The merchant was

is like

I know that a
a fishing rod."

At once the king understood

merchant had sought
to implicate the poor farmer in
a false case. He sentenced him
to a long term in the prison.

SPOT THE TEN DIFFERENCES

(Sorry, no clue

to

Manik wanting to be helpful

added quickly, "Once when I
had lost my tackle, my father
scolded me and said, 'Fool, you
have lost a diamond of a fishing

big as this rod."

Surprised the king turned to
the merchant and said,

know what

say.

anywhere

in

the Magazine.)

PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST

Mr. D. N. Shirks
*

Mr. D. N. Shirk*

These (wo photographs arc somewhat related. Can you think of suitable
captions? Could be single words, or several words, but the two captions
must be related to each other.
Rs. 20 will be awarded as pri7e for the best caption.
entry must reach us

Remember, your

by 31st August.

Winning captions

Write your entry on a POST CARD,

name, address, age and post to:

will

be announced

in

OCTOBER

specify the

issue

month, give your

PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST

CHANDAMAMA MAGAZINE
MADRAS-600 026
Result of Photo Caption Contest held in June Issue
The Prize is awarded to
Master Axhwin Pandit,
G/4 Sarwswat Colony,
Santa Crux (West),
BOMBAY -400 054

Winning Entry

Feline

Kinship'

'Canine

Friendship'

full

Bomma awl Bommi

Long ago amongst the green
of Assam lived a dwarf
family.
The man was known

hills

as

Bomma

and the wife name'd

They were a happy

Bommi.

couple and led a contented life.

A time came when there was
an acute scarcity of water in
the village.

packed

So,

many

villagers

their belongings

and

left

Bomma and Bommi

the village.

loaded their worldly goods in

a wooden perambulator and
followed the example of the
Their path
dense forest.

lay

After

some

through
they

distance

had
they

stopped to rest under the combig tree.

forting shade of a

Now

on the

tree a

pair of mischievous'elves.

They
dwarf

there lived

decided

to

tease

the

So

they changed into the likenesses

Bomma

of

Bommi and

and

came towards the couple pushing a wooden boxcart.

The real dwarfs were not a
astonished

little

own

replicas

to

see

their

advancing towards

them.

The

pair of elves stopped be-

fore the stunned couple

man
name
wife

my

others.

travelled

couple and have some fun.

said,
is

and the

" Hallo, there,

This is

Bomma.

Bommi\

came

father-in-law.

My
my

to visit

Now we

are

going back to our village."

The true Bomma recovered
from his stupor and not wanting to engage in any conversation turned to his wife to make
her leave with him.
What was
his surprise to find

two women

looking alike standing side by

He did not know which

was the real Bommi; So tentatively he pulled the hand of one
side!

and said, " Come dear, let us

go." At once the elf Borhma
let out a howl and said, " Stop.
That

my

is

wife

you

are

of breath. But still the

not be established
of them, groaning under

truth could
alt

the pain, could hardly speak.

Just" then the Chief Minister

of the land

happened to be

He

riding past.

heard the des-

perate wailing of the tortured

pulling at;"

The

out
as

Bommi

couples.

So

he

stopped

his

"Hai,
Hai, husband of mine, have you

horse and bellowed at the tiny

gone mad?"

magistrate,

The

real

false

Bommi

said,

sidled

up

to the real Bomma and said,

" Here I am, dear, let us go."

At this the real Bommi shrieked

in anguish and the false Bomma
hopped on one leg shouting
that he was being robbed of
Poor Bomma's head swam
in confusion.

Passers-by stop-

to watch the fun, and soon

was a big crowd betting
on Bomma's odds in discovering the true Bommi.
At last
the two pairs of husbands and
wives went to the local mag-

ped

there

istrate to resolve their disputes.

Now

it

magistrate

so happened that the

was also a dwarf.
wiser than the others

He was no
and

ordered all
four to be whipped so
soundly that the false ones
would have to confess the truth.
So all the four were beaten until
they were black and blue and
the

in desperation

this

how you

mete out justice to the people?

I am ashamed of you."
" Sire." said the magistrate,

" Here

Two

is

a strange case indeed.

pairs

of couples are as

identical as peas in a pod.

We

cannot divide them into

two

couples!"

his wife.

"Is

The minister was amused

to

hear this. So he said, " How

can you solve the mix-up by
giving them a beating?"
" Oh, the guilty ones are

bound to confess when they

can no longer endure the pain."
" Nonsense,"

snorted

the

who had by then

deduced that the whole thing
was a mischief played by some

Bomma

At once

"

some

think this

is

forest spirit.

work of
Go and get

the

Ram Ojha. He is a wise man

who knows many spells. His
mumbo-jumbo will drive out

"

Go

So

the place.

ordered

Ojha be brought to
But as soon as the

elves heard that a witch doctor

was on

his

way

to

throw

his

spells on them, they disappeared

without a trace leaving the real

dec-

on the

way."

So
their

Bomma
way

and Bommi went

after heaving a sigh

relief at the satisfactory manner in which the whole affair

had ended.
But the magistrate was perplexed.
He said, " But who is

of

Ojha? We know of no
such person in the village !"

Ram

The
magistrate

the

Ram

minister

tarry to talk to spirits

the spirits."
that

the

"These are the real ones."

to them said,
your way. But do not

lared,

Then turning

minister

spirit.

and Bommi standing

disconsolately on the road.

"Oh,
to

minister
I

replied

just invented that

scare

off the

spirits.

airily,

name
The

enough. Why do we
need a person at all?" So saying he galloped oif in a cloud
of dust, leaving the tiny magist-

name

is

rate to scratch his head.

NEED FOR HUMILITY

Once upon a time
king

there

who was renowned

was
for

his justice and wisdom.

One
day he went to the forest to
hunt and as ill-luck would have
it was separated from his men.
Tired after the chase and bewildered because he was lost,
the king staggered on until he

came to a lonely hermitage.

The lonely hermit was deep
in prayer when the king fell
before him out of exhaustion.
Piteously he implored the recluse to give

him some food as

Without open-

he was hungry.

ing his eyes the hermit said,

" Fellow, stay here tonight by
all

means.

land

is

just

The king of this

and wise. There-

you eat here

and nice."

fore whatever
taste sweet

will

The king blushed to hear his

own praise but did as he was
He gathered some wild
bid.

fruits

and leaves and began to

Great was his sur-

eat them.

prise to discover that even the

bitterest fruit tasted nice!

Soon

his hunger was appeased, and

after some time he set out to
his lost companions.
He
found them anxiously searching
for him.
Then he returned to

find

the palace safely.

Now
to raise

the king's vanity began

its

head.

He wanted

everyone to know what a just

and honourable King he was.
So he invited all the lords and
noblemen of his land of a sumptuous feast at the palace. Then
he called his royal chef and
ordered him to pick the bitter

gourd from the Forest and pre-

here and ate

pare a nice curry with it. The

leaves of the neem tree were

which somehow tasted sweet.

ground into a paste to make a

pudding. Came the day of the

the

and the king sat down to

But no sooner had he

feast
eat.

tasted the curry then he realised

that

it

tasted brackish

and

King waited until all the guests

had departed. Then he got on
his horse, and galloped off into
Arriving at the her-

the forest.

down from

jumped
and bowed to the
Then he said, " Holy

mitage, he
the

horse

hermit.
Sir,

One

am

the king of this land.

night,

long ago,

Moke
placing

sure
a

rested

of your
regular

But when

that as

took the same things

to the palace they tasted bitter.

How could this

The hermit
and

said,

happen?"

smiled, knowingly

" Upto

that

time

had not entered your

heart and you ruled justly and
well.
But today you have become vain and arrogant about
your
qualities.
Hence
the
vanity

sweetness of humility left you

and everything around ^you be-

came bitter as before."

The king hung his head in
shame at his own conceit and
retraced
palace, a

copy

order

the bitter fruits

you said

king was just and wise,

everything would taste sweet.

bit-

ter.
Quickly he ordered his
chef to serve the usual items
which were not so bitter after
Hiding his chagrin, the
all.

all

In explanation

of
w.ith

his steps

towards the

much chastened man.

Chandarnama

by

your Newsagent

Long ago, there lived a farmer

named Madho. Though he had
a number of cows to graze, feed,
and milk he appointed no assistant

and did everything

Naturally, he found

it

So he went to the fair driving

As he
his cows before him.
was passing through a forest
some bandits attacked him and
ran off with his cows after
securely binding him to a tree.
Poor Madho began to weep
spirit that

pity

dwelt

on him and

don't weep,

I'll

forest

to

have

lost."

safely

"O

said,

to the cattle

fair.

very happy."

The

spirit

smiled and asked,

"All right, what

is

their price?".

Madho said, "At the rate of

hundred rupees per cow, it,
would come to five thousand
rupees."

The spirit kissed the ring on

finger and hey-presto! a big'
bag of jingling coins fell before
its

When Madho

him.
lift

it

he found

it

tried

to

very heavy.

So he

said to

said,

"Madho,

find

difficult to carry all this

give

you

money. If you give me another

cow, my task would be easier."
The spirit waved its hand

in the tree

took
fifty

replace the ones you

cows

cows stood

He

I don't know
be able to drive

So, instead of the cows, if you

give me their price, I will be

business.

misfortune.

I'll

difficult

manage and decided to sell his

cows at the fair. At least he
would get some money which
would help him to start a new

this

fifty

Madho.

them

to

at

Next minute
before

beneficient spirit,

whether

himself.

it

the spirit,

"I'll

and a cow stood before Madho.

the farmer was lifting the
bag on to the back of the cow,
him and he

As

a thought struck

"O

what will you

do with all these cows? Give
them to me and I'll take them
home."
The spirit agreed and Madho
said,

Spirit,

assembled all the cows. Then

another thought struck him and
he said, "O good Spirit, I want
neither the cows nor the money.
Just give me the ring with which

you materialised
and

I'll

never

all

these things,

ask

you

for

another thing."
The spirit laughed and remarked, "Madho, Don't ask

for that.

Surely you'll be di

appointed.
Be satisfied with
what you have."
But Madho would not listen
and began to plead. The spirit
would not give him the ring,
At last,
despite his entreaties.
in desperation, Madho tried to
snatch away the ring, and the
next instant the spirit vanished
and with it, all the cows and all

the

money.

Madho was
consolately

left

to stand dis-

under

the

tree.

Greed had so blunted his senses that he had paid no heed

to the words of the spirit.
Desiring more and more, he
lost

everything in the end.

THE PRINCE

WHO HAD A
HEAD

BEAR'S
Once

upon a

time,

in

far

distant land, there lived a queen

called

Amata.

Amata's dearest
and

wish was to have a son

one day

baby was

bom

to

The baby was a boy, but

when Amata saw him, she shrieked and fell into a faint, for he
her.

had the head of

a bear.

When

Amata opened her eyes, the Good

Fairy was standing by her bedThe Good Fairy did her

side.

best to comfort the sorrowful

nature and he will be

very clever and brave. There is
loving

one chance for your son to

break the spell.
cannot do it
for him, but
can tell you that
if he finds someone who loves
him enough to change heads
with him and wear the head of
1

a bear, the prince will again

his

own

king and queen.

red.

"The Wicked Fairy is angry

because you did not invite her

to look after the

your wedding," said the Good

Fairy. "She has put a spell on
your son and changed his head
into that of a bear. Take your
son away to the country, where
the Wicked Fairy cannot find
him and do him any more
Do "not worry, for alharm.
though he has a bear's head, he
will grow up with a kind and
to

have

head."

The Good Fairy told them

that his name was to be Prince
Wondrous, then she disappeaThe queen found a kind nurse
baby and sent

them away

to a small cottage

the country, where Prince

Everyone
up.
him Bear and lie grew
up very lonely indeed, for although he had a kind and gentle
nature, everyone who saw him
was frightened and ran away
in

Wondrous grew

called

at once.

One

day, as Bear was walking

in

the

woods around

the cot-

tage feeling very miserable, he

saw

a girl sleeping

As Bear gazed

under a tree.
he thought

at her,

she was the most beautiful creaWhen

ture he had ever seen.

opened her eyes and

saw a bear's head gazing at her,
she was very frightened,- but
she soon realized the poor prince's plight. Bear spoke so softly
and gently, that the little girl
was not frightened any more
and went back with him to his
the

girl

home.

Bear look her to his

mother, Amata, who loved the
little girl at once and decided

to bring her

up

as

her

own

daughter.

The girl's name was Violet

and she told the queen that she
had run away from her cruel
stepmother. She stayed at the
cottage with Bear and the two
children grew up together and
loved each other dearly.
Through

the

long

Summer

days they played together

in the

and Bear grew

woods and for Bear the days

passed more swiftly now that
he had a companion.
They

told her

never dragged by as they had

done before, when he was alone
and had no one to play with.
One day, Bear and Violet

about the Wicked Fairy and

played happily in the woods as
before.
they had
One day
Bear had gone on ahead and
Violet was running to catch
him up when a big boar charged
at Violet, out of the bushes.
She hid behind a tree, as it
rushed to attack her and Bear,

were playing

in the

woods. Bear

was chasing after a squirrel and

Violet was playing by a brook,
when a huge, ugly toad jumped
out of the water. The toad
seized Violet by the foot and
tried to

Violet's

drag her into the brook.

screams brought Bear

to find her and he

jumped straight into the water
and pulled Violet from the grip
of the ugly toad. The toad
turned and spat at him and
some of her poisonous venom
At first he noticed
fell on him.
no ill effects, but when they got
home Bear fell ill and Violet

running

sat at his bedside weeping.

As she wept, she heard a bird

singing and when she turned,
she saw a lark perched on the
window-sill.
"I am the Good
Fairy," trilled the lark.
who tried to take you

toad

was the

Wicked

Fairy,

"The
away

who

wishes nothing but evil on Bear

and

his family.

If

you want to

save Bear's life, you must kiss

him three times on the left ear."
Violet did as the fairy had

well at

once.

As time

passed, they forgot

hearing her cries for help,

came

running back and threw himself

The animal threw
poor Bear to the ground and
would have killed him, but just
then a lark dived down and
attacked the boar.
It was the
Good Fairy in disguise and the
boar, who had been sent by the
at the boar.

Wicked

Fairy,

recognised

the

lark

and ran

for his

life

into the

bushes.

Then, one night, the cottage in

which they lived caught Are.

Queen Amata, Violet and Bear's

old nurse would have all been
burnt if Bear had not carried

them one by one to

safety

in

arms.
"This is the third time- that
dear Bear has saved my life,"
his strong

Violet

said

Queen Amata.
T can do for

to

"Is there nothing

him

in

return?"
my dear child, there

"Alas,
is

only one thing you can

do

for

Bear," replied the queen, "and

I

am

afraid that

ask of you."
"Please tell

is

too

much

me what

it

to

is,"

however
do it for him.
He is so kind and good."
Then the queen told Violet
about the Wicked Fairy's spell
and how it could only be broken by someone who loved
Bear enough to change heads
and wear the bear's head.
"I would not even be alive
Violet,

replied

hard

it

is 1

now

if it

said

Violet.

Good

"for

shall

were not for Bear,"

"1 shall ask the
how I can change

Fairy

shall, wear the

and the prince will

heads, so that
bear's head

After that, Bear would not

allow Violet out of his sight, for
he was afraid that the Wicked
Fairy might carry her away.

return to normal."

The Good

Fairy appeared in

drawn by three
"Are you sure
you love Bear enough to make
this great sacrifice for him?
Think carefully before you deher carriage,
white swans.

cide,

my

dear," she said.

"Oh, yes," said Violet, "I

would do anything for Bear."
The Good Fairy touched her
with her magic wand and Violet's face and neck were covered
with thick, shaggy hair.
Her
head had turned into a bear's.
At the same "moment, Bear
himself was changed into a
handsome youth with fair,
smooth skin.
There was a peal of thunder
and the carriage of the Wicked
Fairy came rushing to the
ground, drawn by three huge,
coal-black ravens. She let out
an ugly scream when she saw
Bear, transformed into a hand-

some prince and Violet with the

bear's head. She had believed
no one could love Bear
enough to wear his ugly head
and she was too late to stop it.
that

The Good Fairy turned to

Wicked Fairy and tapped

the

her with her magic wand. "Your

has been broken for good,"

spell

she said.

"You no

longer have

any power here."

med

to

shrivel

up and quite

suddenly she turned into a horrible toad and went hopping

away, screeching.
"You need never worry about
her again,"

said

the

Good

"She has been defeated

Fairy.
and she will never again have
any power to harm anyone."
She took a bottle of silver liquid
and poured it on to Violet's
head and neck. As the liquid
touched
off

her, the thick fur fell

and Violet became a beauti-

ful girl

prince.
No one ever
him Bear again. He was
known by his real name
Wondrous and the
he did when he
returned to the kingdom was to
marry Violet and make her a

some

called

The Wicked Fairy gave a

Then she see-

horrible cackle.

again.

Bear was able to return to his

father's kingdom as a hand-

always

of Prince
thing

first

rea! princess.

FREE ME!
Long ago

there lived a scholar

His

night.

sleepless

young

who was

a great favourite at

daughter,

the court.

He was

asked him why he looked so

worried
and the scholar ex-

always

the king tales of great

had

sacrificed

recluses

and

all

to

hermits

The king began

telling

men who

me

you

fail

in

mand to

life.

to feel agitated

shall

girl

the

com-

She thought about

problem and then said,
her.

"Father, lake

tomorrow

me

and

to the court

I'll

satisfy

the

king."

If

Next day, the scholar took

have you be-

daughter to the court. He

noticed that she carried a string
of rope with her. Though he
wondered a little he did not
ask her about it.

to attain salvation.
1

bright-eyed

plained the king's strange

by all these accounts and one

day said to the scholar, "Sir, I
seek release from the worldly
chains that blind me. You must
help

become

headed."

The scholar quivered with

fright at these words.
How
could he help a ruling monarch
to attain salvation?

The

fear

of

his

Arriving

the consequences of his failure

scholar

haunted him and he spent a

king and

at

began
the

the

court,

the

to

regale

the
with

courtiers

from mythology. In the

meanwhile, the young girl ran
and after tying herself
it with the help of the rope
stories

ieking

and

replied, "Sire,

are both fools. v

to a pillar
to

began to scream with

all

her

might.

The whole court was agh

to hear the

little girl

reply !h

The scholar trembled in fear

well he knew the king's wrylh.
The king himself looked grim
at the impudence of the girl.
fi

Startled the king looked back,

and the

girl

out,

cried

"Free

me, free me."

A guard ran up to the pillar

and untied the rope. But still
the girl cried out loudly, "Free

me, free me."

Then she entwined her handsabout the pillar
and went on repeating the words.

The king got angry at her

conduct and exclaimed angrily,

"What

foolishness

is

this?

The

rope has been untied. Yet you

hold on to the pillar and shout
for help.

At once

Are you mad?"

the girl stopped shr-

She said, "Sire, you cling

to your territories and riches
and power, and yet you want
salvation.
You want someone
to tell you how to be free from
worldly bondage. If you really
hated this

life,

who

is

to prevent

you from renouncing everything

and going out?"

The king was ashamed for

his folly and was thrilled to hear
such words of deep wisdom
from a small girl. He apologised
for his conduct and heaped
presents on the scholar.

THE TEST
Once two bachelors set out
on a journey. In the course
of their wanderings they came
an inn. They decided that
one or them would pay for the
food. But which one? So they
decided on a test to determine
who should pay the bill. One
would ask the other a question
to

and if the latter failed to

would have
answer then he
to pay.
Of course after the
former had given the Correct
answer.
.

it

one asked, "Why is

that there is no mud before

The

first

the pig?"

The second

fellow

said,

"1

don't know. Give the answer

you can."

The

first

fellow said,

That pig dug

its

if

"Easy.

way out of the

earth."

The second fellow quickly

asked, " But how did it go into
the earth in the first place?"
The

first

fellow said, "This

your question, answer

it

is

your-

self."

Naturally the questioner was

nonplussed because he did not

know

the

answer

at

all.

So

he had to pay for the food

both had taken at the inn.

Yudhishthira lost no time in

paying his gratitude and prayers

went

to Krishna, the real force behind

"

and his ascension to

Then he spoke to
the throne.

no

his victory

his

brothers:

"

You have

suf-

fered for long in the forests and

on the battleground. Now that
we have emerged victorious,
you may go to rest for some
days. We will meet again."
With Dhritarashtra's permission, Yudhishthira allotted Dur-

yodhana's

castle,

with

all

the

Duhshahouse was given to

Arjuna and the residences of
Durmashana and Durmukha
went to Nakula and Sahadeva.
Krishna and Satyaki resided
attendants, to Bhima.

sana's

with Arjuna.

few days later Yudhishthira

to
Krishna and said,

Kingdom and

glory are mine,

doubt. Still there is no
peace in my mind.
I am afraid,
have done something wrong.
I
You alone can remove my
doubt."

Krishna silently reflected for

while and then said, " The
men is Bhishma. He
still
lying on the bed of

wisest of
is

arrows, waiting for death. All

his wisdom will be lost to the

world the moment he dies. Go

to him immediately and get
your doubts cleared by him.
Let his

wisdom be

available to

the world through you."

" My
Said
Yudhishthira,
thoughts are the same as yours

about Bhishma.
to

his

me

Please lead

He must be
you too."

presence.

desiring to see

Krishna called Satyaki and

asked him to prepare the chariot
for a visit

to

Soon

Bhishma.

there were several chariots on

first one carrying
Krishna and Satyaki, the second
one with
Yudhishthira and
Arjuna, the third with Bhima,
Nakula and Sahadeva, followed
by other chariots carrying Kripacharya, Yuyutsa and Sartjaya.
They saw, on their way, five
pools.
Krishna told Yudhishthira that they had been made
by Parasurama who had under-

the road, the

taken

furious

journeys

across

the world twentyone times,

ing Kshatriyas.

When

all

kill-

these

pools had been filled up with

the blood of his victims, he

performed the funereal

rites

of

his father with that blood. Only

then did his anger subside.

Upon Yudhishthira's request,

Krishna narrated the history of
Parasurama.
Gadhi was the scion of the
family of Jahnana, a sagely king
of yore. He had a daughter
named Satyavathi, but no son.
Satyavathi was married to Richwika, the son of Bhrigu.
Richwika, with his spiritual power,
prepared some food and divid-

ing

it

them

two portions, gave

into

to

" Give

Satyavathi,

saying,

portion to your
eat the other porA powerful son
be born of your mother
who destroy the Kshatriyas and
become a king. A son, calm
and serene, will be born of you."
Satyavathi's parents reached
there soon thereafter, on their
way to some places of pilgrimage.
Satyavathi brought out
magic food before her
the
mother.
Both of them ate the
this

mother and

tion yourself.

will

food, but in their hurry, Satyavathi ate the portion

meant

for

and her mother ate

meant for SatyaOn his return from the
Richwika learnt of their
mistake and told Satyavathi,
" Your mother will give birth
to a Brahmin and of you will
be born a terrible Kshatriya."
Satyavathi was much upset.
She pleaded with her husband,
*'
Please apply your spiritual
power and see that no terrible
cannot
son is born of me.
her mother

portion

the

vathi.

forest

tolerate such a son.

>oul

be

If a cruel

must be born, then let it

Richwika
son's son."
to do the needful.

my

promised

So Satyavathi gave birth to

Jamadagni, a cyjiet-natured son.
Of her mother was born Viswa-

mitra.
Parasurama was the son
of
this
Jamadagni. Doing
penance on the mount Gandhamadhana, Parasurama satisfied
Mahadeva and obtained from
him many powerful weapons

including an axe.

Around that time Kartaviryaryuna, a prince of the Haihaya

family, appeased the god Dattatreya a,nd by the Lord's boon
developed a thousand hands.
He defeated all the kings and
proclaimed himself the king of
kings.
Once, as a result of his
mischief, the forest inside which

was

situated

the

Ashram of

BashiBashistha, caught fire.

stha cursed him, " Just as you

have destroyed my Ashram, so

will your thousand hands be
by
Parasurama."
destroyed
Kartaviryaryuna heard of the
curse, but was not afraid.
It

was

who was

his

Ghamandi,

son,

responsible for bring-

about a quarrel between

him and Parasurama. While
wandering aimlessly, he entered
Parasurama's Ashram and stole
his sacred cow and her calf.
Parasurama got furious. He
ing

down

cut

Kartaviryaryuna's

thousand hands and recovered

his

cow and

But
ere in

the calf.

Kartaviryaryuna's
the look

out

for

men
an

opportunity

to

One

insult.

avenge

day, while Parasu-

rama was away, they invaded

Ashram and beheaded his
father Jamadagni. It was thereupon that Parasurama took the
his

oath to destroy all the Kshatriyas.

He not only killed Kartaviryaryuna, his father and his
son,

any

but

came

on

tinued

his

in

his

Kshatriya who
way. He conmission for a

long time.

When

his rage

was

satisfied,

he retired into a forest and sat

in meditation.
But one day
Paravasu.theson of Viswamitra,
appeared before him and provoked him, " You had pro-

you only space enough for sitdown and meditating."

But Kashyapa himself did not
rule
the world
either.
He
made a gift of it to the Brahmins
and retired for penance. The
Brahmins failed to rule the
world properly. Cruelty and
chaos spread everywhere.
ting

When Kashyapa heard of the

condition of the world, he
searched for Kshatriyas to make
again. Soon he came
across many Kshatriyas. Some
children of the Haihaya family
had been hidden by their mothers. Biduratha of the family
of the Purus had escaped into
the Ruksha mountains.
Parashara had saved a Kshatriya
named Soudas. Shibi's son too
had survived the holocaust.
Vatsa, son of Pratardha, was
also alive Gautma had given
shelter to a Kshatriya named
Gupta. Brihadratha too had
been spared. The sea had protected the sons of the Maruts.
Soon they emerged into light

them rulers

mised to

kill all

But you

failed

the Kshatriyas.
to

How

do you

your

fulfil

promise. There
are
Kshatriyas still going

many
strong.

rest leaving

your

work incomplete?"
Parasurama took up

his

wea-

pon and set out again. This

time he did not spare even the
old and infant among the Ksha-

He

even killed children

in their mother's wombs. After
twentyone rounds he thought
the world was entirely devoid
triyas.

of Kshatriyas. He made a gift

of the world which he had conquered to Kashyapa.
Kashyapa, accepting the gift,
said, " Parasurama! I will allow

and their families increased.

Kashyapa gathered
these
Kshatriyas and allotted them
lands and the authority to rule.
new ruling dynasties

Thus

were established
world.

all

over the

After

all
about
from
Krishna,
went to
meet

learning

Parasurama
Yudhishthira

Bhishma. The auspicious time

when Bhishma would die was
approaching. Still he welcomed
Yudhishthira and told him, "To
kill the enemy in the battlefield
is

perfectly in accordance with

the princely duties."

on

went
subtle
the

Then he

Bhishma

enumerating

principles

last

moment
closed

many

and laws
of his
his

eyes

till

life.

and

expired.

Something strange happened

while all looked on.
As the
spirit left the various parts of
Bhishma's body gradually, the
arrows fell off his body one
by one.
The Pandavas, along with
Vidura, arranged his funeral
pyre with choice woods and
perfumery. The dead body was
covered with a white sheet and
flowers.
With deep reverence

they

lifted

on the

the

body and placed

it

pyre, with Dhritarashtra

holding Bhishma's legs. After

the body was burnt they went
to the Ganges and Yudhishthira
performed the necessary rites.
Yudhishthira suddenly broke
into
tears.
Krishna
asked
Bhima to console him. But
looking at Yudhishthira all his

brothers too began to weep.

Dhritarashtra addressed Yudhishthira, "It is for me and Gandhari to weep, not for you. We

have

lost

You

have

one hundred sons.

won the kingdom.

The burden of grave duties

sit

heavy on your shoulders. You

cannot afford to sit down and
cry."

Vyasa inspired Yudhishthira

to perform Aswamedha Yagna
which would make him the
king of kings.
Yudhishthira replied, " Oh
sage, such a ceremony requires a
huge, amount of wealth, for 1
have to give numerous gifts to
numerous people. I am not in

favour of giving

"And

small

moment

at the

doles.

have no

wealth for distributing big

gifts.

You must be knowing the misery

of the subjects due to a long
period of chaos. I cannot ask
them for taxes and tributes."
But Vyasa told him how 1o
Long

get the necessary wealth.

ago, the king Marutta had best-

owed heavy

gifts on the Brahconclusion of a ceremony. The Brahmins had deposited the wealth on the HimaThat wealth could now
layas.

mins

Yudhishthira
desire

it

to

expressed

know

more

his

about

named Karandha in the

Manu. He performed
Aswamedha Yagna with

family of

Brihaspati
glory
Indra.

as

the

priest.

was compared

Yagna

was

performed

was attended by many

kings.

Brihaspati was to act as the

priest.
But Indra, being envious
of Marutta, did not allow him
take up the assignment.

to

Marutta.
Vyasa
narrated:
" Many ages ago there was a
king

The

near the mountain Meru, to the

north of the Himalayas, where

at the

be collected and used.

the

His son Marutta excelled him

in virtues.
In order to perform
a Yagna, he prepared a thousand gold vessels. All other
equipments which were necessary for the Yagna were also
made of gold.

His

to that of

Brihaspati's younger brother,

Samvarta, performed the work.
It was a gala affair.
Marutta
gave great quantities of gold to
the Brahmins.
It is all there
lying buried on the mountains.
Go and fetch them." This is
the instruction Vyasa gave to
Yudhishthira.
(Contd.)

WHO
Long ago

the

IS

land of Persia

was ruled by a renowned Badshah. Kamal and Harun were

Harun was
his two advisers.
the better of the two. So Kamal
became jealous of him. Matters
were made worse when the
Badshah praised Harun to the
skies.
Kamal was always plotting to bring about the downHe.
fall of the talented Harun
could not kill him secretly because the people loved Harun
and he was always surrounded
by loyal friends.
So Kamal
waited and watched for an
opportunity to slight and humiliate

Harun.

Once

the

to the court.

sentenced the prisoner to death.

Heartbroken
the

at this

criminal

punishment

who maintained

was innocent abused the

Badshah roundly. As the sove-

that he

reign could not hear properly,

he asked Harun what he

So Harun said, " Sire, this

God

The Badshah

said.

man

meek
By cutting
off his head, you are killing an
innocent man. Surely the king
will not be able to wash away
says that

and

loves the

humble.

the

the stain of this sin."

Kamal who was

.

waiting for

an opportunity got up
and said, "Sire,
am a
and loyal servant.
can
lie to you.
But Harun
whom you regard so highly has

such

hastily

true

guards
palace
caught an offender and brought

him

BETTER?

never
just

now

lied

to

you.

This

criminal was abusing you in the

of language.

vilest

Command me

to tear his tongue out."

The

Badshah

chingly at
ply,
lie

looked

Kamal and

sear-

out of jealousy and a desire to

You seek to
discredit Harun.
harm others whereas Harun,
wants to help."

said shar-

"Kamal, I prefer Harun's

your truth. Harun lied
good intention of saving
life, whereas you spoke

to

with the

a man's

Poor Kamal was crestfallen.

Unable to live with the shame
of being found out, he left the
land, never to return.

WONDERS WITH COLOURS

Follow the

left

and colour the

right.

ON BEIN6 HUMANE
When the King of Virpur
died, his son Balasimha ascended the throne. As he was
very young, his experience of
the world was little.
So the

"My,

royal priest said,

lord!

those who rule should know

how much of humanity there is
in

man.

about

I'll

more

you

tell

One day

a royal spy

and

"

said,

came

Sire,

to

was

passing through the forest when

man accosted me and said,

a
*

Quick, get up the

is

coming

this

tree,

way'.

tiger

So

climbed the tree. A little later,

Then
a tiger passed that way.
we got down from the tree."
The priest asked the spy,
" Did the man who warned you
carry any weapons?"

" Yes, he had."

said,

tiger,

tect

was

he did not attempt to proby killing it. He

only intent on
saving

others

himself."

Some days

this later."

the king

The spy

The High Priest said, " Sire,

That man did not have much
humanity in him. Though he
warned about the presence of the

later

another

man

came

to the court and said,

" Sire, there is a wealthy man

who had
ill-treat

a servant.

the latter.

He would
One day he

was whipping him for some

minor fault. A certain passerby objected to this. So the
wealthy

man

bonded

slave.

said,
I

'

He

is

my

have the bond

here to prove that he

is so.

I'll

do what I want with my slave'."

The passer-by snatched the

bond from his hands and tore

Then he said to the
up.
go your way.

it

servant, "Friend,

Vou

are

The
said,

"

now

free."

that rich

no humanity.

man had

He was

cruel.

As for the passer-by he had

some humanity in him. But he
should
servant's

have

thought

of

the

future before freeing

him."

me

to rob."

no one

the
said,

High Priest heard

" That Bandit had
It

only his dastardly profession

that prevents him from being
completely humane."
A few days later, a royal
guard ushered in two people
to the king's presence.
One
was rich. The other was poor.
The guard said, " Sire, this
rich

Some time afterwards a few

merchants came to complain
about a bandit who had robbed
them of their goods. But the
bandit had spared their lives
saying, " If 1 kill these, then
there will be

he

a lot of humanity in him.

is

priest listening to all this

Sire,

When
this,

left

for

man

pushed the poor

into the river.

jumped

man
after

them but the poor man managed to save the rich man."

The angry king asked the

rich man, " Why did you push
this

man

The
this

into the waters?"

rich

man

man
my

is

replied, " Sire,

neighbour.

took away his land from him.

I

set fire to his cottage.

me
why

Today

he saw

near the river and

asked

had

treated

got

angry

him
and

river.

But

that.

like

pushed him into the

I

lost

my

balance and fell into

As 1 did not know
swim I was in danger of

the river.

how

to

drowing.

But he saved me."

Then

the priest said, " Sire,

WHf ARE THERE CUPS

TELEPHONE POLES?
You

might

have

ON

seen telephone and

wires
on
wooden
cross - pieces
at
the
topi
of vary
tall poles.
These wires do not actually
rest on the wood, but are fixed to white
objects rather like teacups stood upsidedown. There is a very good reason for
this.
The wires are made of copper
and, were they to touch any object that
Is a conductor of electricity, the current
would fail and there could be no telephone calls or electric light.
To overcome this, the wires are fixed to the 'cups'
(called Insulators) which are made ;of
porcelain and do not conduct electricity.
electric

lighting

poor man
is
full
of
humanity. The quality of compassion in him is such that
even a cruel man has had a
complete change of heart. He is
the most humane of all the
persons. Unless you are humane
you cannot convert the wicked
ones into righteous people."
Balasimha now realised what
humanity meant.
this

In a certain

was an

king's court there

against whom a
were
of
charges
After enquiring into
the king dismissed the
official

number

brought.
these,

corrupt

official

When
vice,

repast

from

he
at

always
his

his service.

was
had a

the official

table.

in ser.

royal

His chef

cooked for him a sumptuous

meal consisting of two kinds of
fish, two kinds of soup and
meat. Now that he had lost
his job, the official

thought he

must cut down on his expenses.

So he told the chef to make

only one fish, and one of everything else.

At the end of the month, the
official was surprised to find
that the expenses, far from coming down, remained the same.
So he went into the kitchen and
saw that two of everything had
been prepared, two kinds of
fish, soup and meat.
He called
the chef and asked him what
he meant by deceiving him like
The chef said, " I have
that.
not yet lost my job. So two of
everything for me.
For you,
one of everything because you
have no job."

HUNGER AND PATIENCE

Once upon a

time,

a certain

beggar not getting any alms on

rounds in his village
went to the nearby town. He
came to a big mansion and
enquired from the servants whether he could be given some
his daily

The servants of the manhim to their master

who told them, " Take this
food.

sion took

gentleman to that room.

Give

him water to wash. Then seat

him on that chair and let him
eat to his heart's content."

The servants took the beggar

to a corner and pretended to
pour water for him to wash.
At once the beggar thought that
the rich man was a hypocrite
who was out to deceive him.
But he kept his feelings to him-

and tolerated the

was going on.
self

farce that

Soon he sat down to eat, and

the chef pretended to pour food
on
rich

an

imaginary

man

said,

plate.

" Hello

The
there,

more soup
and curry!" Of course all this
was an elaborate pretence. The
beggar was ravenously hungry.
But he pretended as though
he was enjoying himself.
give the gentleman

From

time to time, he paused

in his eating to

soup was

remark that the

excellent,

the curry

quite tasteful and so on.

When
the imaginary meal ended, the

beggar belched loudly to show

his appreciation
ful

of the wonder-

fare served to him.

Then

he said to the rich man, " Sir,

I thank you for a wonderful
Feast.

Haven't eaten

ages.

in

like

this

Thank you, Thank

.

you very much."

As he was about to leave,
the rich man's wife who was

came out laughand said, " Sir, don't go.

What you had so far was only
hiding nearby
ing

an imaginary feast. Now we'll

you a real one."
When the beggar looked nonplussed at this, she explained,
give

WHAT

IS

ASBESTOS?

Is a fibre which
comes from rocks
granite. It Is thought that
chemical action over millions of years
changed certain volcanic rock Into a
substance that contained a great deal of
water. As the water dried up, cracks
left In the rock became filled with fibres.
The fibres are treated for use in the
making of a variety of article*, especially

This

mi hard

those mad* to-withstand great heat.

Asbestos does not conduct heat and will

not burn.
India has limited resource of asbestos,
mainly In Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Mysore

and Rajasthan.
In

In India

It

Is

available

two forms Cry so lite and Trc

rtolite.

'*
You see, my husband and 1
had a bet. My husband said
no man could withstand the
pangs of hunger. I said that a
really patient man could with-

that

stand the severest hunger. We

decided to test this for ourselves.
You came along and proved
that

was

right."

Hearing

this

the

beggar

heaved a sigh of relief and for

the second time that day sat

down

to

do

justice to a feast

a real one this time.

VERDICT OF YASASKARA
back my creditors, I sold my
house but left the well to my
Then I left the town to

Long ago, the lovely

Kashmir was ruled by

valley of

His

disgusted

wife.

the people so much that at last

they rose in revolt and ousted

earn

tyrannical

rule

a tyrant.

him from the throne. A poor

Brahmin named Yasaskara was
elected to rule instead.

Yasaskara was a wise ruler

his measures benefited' the
He appoin-

and

people enormously.

ted several officers to deal with

the complaints of the people.

One day he learnt that a certain

man had undergone a fast with
grievance.
So the king
and
the complainant
asked him to relate his woes.
The man said, "Sire, once I
was a very rich man. But I fell
intn Hphtc nnH iinahlf* tn nav
some

called

my

living.

When

got

I found my wife in tatters

and starving. The new owner
had prevented her from using

back

the well.
courts

appealed to the

and the decision went

As God is my wit-

against me.

have justice on my side.

I am undergoing a
fast unto death."
Yasaskara sent for the new
ness,

Therefore,

owner who showed the king the

deed of sale. In it the well was
shown as part of the house.
The king seemed satisfied that
the deed was in order. But he
ordered his guards to bring all
the. hooku nf accounts heloneine

to the riew owner.

When

"Yes, Sire.
The new owner
agreed to pay me the money if
included the well in the deed.
did what he asked me to do."

the

books were brought to the court,

examined them in- deIn one book there was an

the king

tail.

At once the king gave his

verdict.
He ordered that the
house be confiscated and returned to the original owner.

entry to the effect that a thous-

and gold

were paid to
the clerk for arranging the purchase of the house. The king
pieces

summoned

the clerk

and

The

said

in a stern voice, "Fellow, tell

me

new

owner who

ANSWERS
I.

Romulus and Remus;

Gorgons;
years;

9.

Minotaur;

5.

Olympus;

Scheherazade;
13.

16.

2.
6.
10,

Midas;

Pandora;

Atlanta;

Perseus;

7.

Jason;

8.

U. Bellerophen;

Twelve;

Jupiter;

Mercury;

3.

Polyphemus;

14.
17.

had

cheated was sent into exile and

the clerk was sentenced to a
long term in the prison. All the
court sang the praise of the
king who was wise and just.

truth.
Did you take a
thousand gold pieces for helping
to buy the house?"
The poor clerk stammered,

the

18.

15.

The

Twenty
12.

The

The phoenix;

Siegfried

si-