Long, long ago, there was a poor man named Bula. He couldn’t feed his large family because of his poverty. Making both ends meet was a daily struggle.
Frustrated, Bula decided to leave his village. His family packed the few belongings they had and left. After walking for a long time, they felt hungry and tired. However, they didn’t have anything to eat.
With his children, Bula sat down under a big tree to get a breather. When he looked above the tree, he could make out a small, colorful bird perched on one of its branches. The bird was shivering in the chilly wind. Bula asked one of his sons to take the knife out of the bag. He then asked his second son to get some firewood, before asking his third son to make a fireplace.
Next, Bula asked his wife to light the fire and place a pot over it. When his wife asked why she needed to light the fire when they had nothing to cook, Bula pointed to the colorful bird on the tree. ‘There is our breakfast,’ he commented.
Meanwhile, the bird had been watching them from the treetop all this while. It started talking to Bula like a human. The bird told Bula that he would get nothing by killing it. It just didn’t have enough flesh to feed five hungry stomachs.
‘There’s a crow on the tree beside this. The crow has a decent collection of precious items in its nest. If you could get your hands on all that treasure, you would lead a prosperous life.’
Hearing this, one of Bula’s sons climbed up the tree and brought the crow’s nest down. To everyone’s surprise, they were able to find a pearl necklace hidden in the nest. Bula’s wife and sons were jubilant. However, Bula was quick to recall that the king had lost a similar pearl necklace ten years ago. No one had been able to find it despite frantic search attempts.
Suspecting some of his courtiers and servants, the king put them behind bars. The king tortured them every day to identify the culprit. The pearl necklace in the crow’s nest now made it clear that no one had actually stolen the necklace. Bula thought it was his responsibility to go and inform the king so that those unfortunate people wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.
The next morning, Bula went to the king’s palace. Initially, the guard at the gate didn’t let him in. He told the guard why he was there and sought his permission to see the king.
The guard went over to the king and relayed Bula’s message to him. The king immediately summoned Bula to his court. The king didn’t believe Bula one bit. Bula insisted on the veracity of his account and told him how the colorful bird had redirected them to the crow’s nest. Bula then showed the crow’s nest to the king.
Pleased with Bula’s honesty, the king asked him what reward he wanted. Bula asked the king to release the people he had imprisoned for stealing the necklace. During his plea, Bula burst into tears. The king asked his minister how many tears Bula shed. The minister’s reply was six tears. After releasing the ten prisoners, the king asked the minister to give six of the sixteen pearls in the necklace to Bula. The remaining ten pearls were handed out to the prisoners. The king also compensated them for their undeserved prison sentence.
The king even asked Bula to be his counselor.
‘I will be happy to serve you as your counselor if you apologize to these unfortunate people for keeping them in prison.’
The king complied, following which Bula readily agreed to become the counselor in the king’s court. Poor Bula became rich overnight and led a happy life with his family thereafter.
Kalai is passionate about reading and reinterpreting folk tales from all over the country. Write to her at kalai.muse@gmail.com to know more about her.