“Friends, we are lucky to have fallen out. This old woman is going to kill us. Let us get away from here.”
They started walking together. Soon they reached the edge of the stream but they could not figure out how to cross the stream. At last, the grass suggested I would lie across the stream from this end to the other and both of you can walk over me one by one. The coal and the Rajma thought it was a good idea. So the grass lay across the stream and the coal started walking over it. But midway, the coal got scared and turned over. As it turned, the grass caught fire and burnt away. Burning coal dropped into the stream and was put out.
Rajma was standing on the bank of the stream. On seeing all of this, he started laughing and jumping. It jumped so much that its stomach split open into two parts. The poor Rajma lay there dying. A tailor was passing by and saw the rajma seed lying on the ground. The tailor took pity on the Rajma. He stitched up the two halves with a cream – coloured thread and the rajma was saved. From that day, you can see the rajma with a cream – coloured stitch.
As the wise rightfully say, sometimes bad things have to happen before good things can.
Illustration by Amrapali Das
Source: Folktales of India – An abridged version of the famous folktale.
