Long ago, there lived a farmer who lived off the money he borrowed from a moneylender. As a result, he was caught in a debt trap. One day, he went over to the moneylender’s house to learn the secret of getting rich.
The moneylender replied that his riches came from Ram and that the farmer could find out the secret from Ram. Believing his words, the farmer set out on a journey with a pack of three girdle cakes to meet Ram and learn how he could become rich.
On the way, he ran into a Brahman. The farmer gave the Brahman a piece of cake and asked him if he could show him the road that would take him to Ram. The Brahman did not reply to the question and simply walked away. The farmer than met a devotee and gave him a cake, too. However, even the devotee failed to answer his question and left.
He then met a poor, hungry man sitting under a tree. The farmer gave the poor guy the last piece of cake. He sat down beside the poor man to take a breather. The poor fellow asked the farmer where he was headed. The farmer replied that he was on his way to find Ram and would be thankful if someone could show him the way.
The poor man replied that he was Ram and inquired as to what the farmer sought of him. The farmer asked him how he could get rich. The poor man gave the farmer a conch shell and taught him to blow it in a particular way. He then asked the farmer to blow the magic conch in the instructed manner so all his wishes would come true. He also warned the farmer to be wary of the moneylender.
The moneylender began noticing that the farmer was always cheerful. He was curious as to why. He went over to the farmer’s to find out his secret. The farmer told him whatever happened the other day, except for the way the magic conch needed to be blown.
The greedy moneylender looked for an opportunity to steal the magic conch. Ultimately, he was successful in doing so. However, he didn’t know the specific way in which he was supposed to blow it. So, the moneylender went back to the farmer and told him that he would return the conch only on one condition. With no other way out, the farmer readily agreed. The moneylender stipulated that whatever the farmer received would be doubled for the moneylender. From that point onward, the moneylender began getting twice of whatever the farmer got on blowing the conch.
Summer came and the crops in the farmer’s field went dry. The farmer blew his conch shell and wished for a well. While he got his well immediately, the moneylender got two wells. This made the farmer unhappy, and he came up with a plan to take the moneylender down.
The farmer grabbed the conch and blew it. He then wished loudly to go blind in one eye. As expected, the moneylender lost his eyesight in both eyes. As he struggled to find a way between his two wells, he fell and drowned in one of them. The farmer thus put an end to his ordeal with the moneylender by sacrificing an eye of his own.
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.
Folk tale adopted and abridged from A Celebration of Women Writers.