Tale #34 -- Ben reads his book

"What in the world are you reading?" Carol asked her brother Ben. "It's not like you to miss Saturday morning cartoons."

"This is the book Mr. McDougall gave me," Ben said. "It has stories from many different countries."

"That sounds interesting," Carol said. "Can look at it?"

"Sure," Ben said. "I'm going to watch Spiderman in a few minutes."

"I'm going to toast some waffles," Carol said. "Would you like some too?"

"That would be great," Ben said. "Will you please put some peanut butter and marmalade on them?"

"Sure," Carol said.

While Ben was watching TV and eating his breakfast, Carol looked at his book. It had beautiful illustrations in it. She found a story from India and started reading it.


The Son of the Ogress

In the olden days, travel was very dangerous. Travellers had to watch out for tigers, poisonous snakes, and bandits called Thuggees. They might also be attacked by ogres and angry spirits.

One day, a Brahman priest was travelling alone. A Yakka lived in a cave by the side of the road. She had the body of a woman and the head of a horse, and lived on human flesh. She carried the Brahman off to her cave, but he was so handsome that she fell in love with him. She asked him to marry her and stay in her cave. He didn't want to be eaten, so he agreed.

The Yakka wanted to please her new husband, so she started eating fruits and grain instead of people, and drank wine instead of blood. She still robbed travellers, but she didn't kill them. However, her cave was damp and lonely. The Brahman wanted to escape, but the Yakka always rolled a huge boulder over the entrance of the cave when she went away.

After a while, the Yakka had a beautiful baby boy who looked just like his father. The boy was curious about the outside world. When he became strong enough, he pushed the boulder away from the mouth of the cave. He and his father wandered through the forest, looking for other people. The Yakka followed them. She persuaded them to come home and promised that she would let them enjoy the outdoors whenever they wanted.

The young man learned many of his mother's secrets. He discovered that her power ended at the nearby river. If they managed to cross it, the Yakka would not be able to follow them. The young man wanted to meet other people and learn about the great world, so he planned to run away with his father. While the Yakka was out robbing travellers, the two men ran away. When she discovered that they were missing, she ran after them. By the time they got to the river, the father was exhausted.

"Leave me here and go on without me," he said to his son. But his son was strong and brave, and carried him across the river.

The Yakka cried and cried. "Please don't leave me! I can't live without you!"

"We want to live with other humans," the son called back.

"If you must go," the Yakka said, "I have something to help you." She threw a necklace with a stone pendant across the river. "Put this around your neck. It will help you see footsteps made by men even after twelve years."

The young man thanked his mother and said good-bye. The two men walked to the palace. The young man got a job guarding the king's treasure, and lived happily at court.

After a few months, the king decided to test the boy's ability. He and his vizier sneaked into the treasury, took some bags of gold and jewels, walked around the garden three times, and threw the treasure into a big tank of water.

In the morning, the king called the son of the ogress. "Some of my treasure is missing!" he said. "Let's see what kind of tracker you are."

The young man walked around the garden three times. Then he pointed at the water tank. "The treasure is in there."

Everyone clapped and cheered when the treasure was found just where the young man said it was. But the king was not satisfied.

"Anyone could guess that," he said. "But do you know who the thief is? That's the real test."

"I know," the young man said, "but I don't want to tell." He had recognized the footprints of the king and vizier.

"If you don't tell right now," the king said, "you're fired."
"All right," the young man said. "The footprints lead to you." He pointed to the king and his vizier.

Everyone was shocked that the king would be so sneaky. The story was told all over the country. Soon the people deposed and exiled the king and his vizier. They offered the throne to the son of the ogress. When the Yakka heard that her son had become king, she was very proud.