THE BROKEN PROMISE...

- B. Vinay Kumar

It was a snowy day in the Himalayan mountains.

Ramphal the woodcutter, was on his way back home after a hard day's work. A beautiful bird was stuck in the hard snow. Ramphal took pity on the bird and carried it back home. The bird was extremely weak and had hurt itself. He fed it and nursed it back to health.

The bird flew away.

One day a lady came to Ramphal's house. I'm a tourist and would like to rent a room for twenty days", she requested. "I'll pay the room rent. Name the price" she added.

"O no! You may use my spare room free of cost. I am not in the hotel business", said the kindhearted Ramphal.

"Thank you. But I can't occupy the room without paying for it. I know how to turn stone into gold. If you give me two stones each day, I'll turn them into gold. But remember, you must never open the door or peep into my room."

Ramphal was delighted. He gave two stones to the lady every evening and received two gold stones in the morning the next day. Ten days passed by. He now had twenty golden stones.

Ramphal could not keep himself from finding out the lady's secret. 'If I could convert stones into gold myself, I'll be even richer' he thought. That night, he quietly pushed the door of the lady's room slightly and peered in. He was astonished to find the bird, which he had helped, rubbing the stone with its feathers!

Just then, the bird turned and looked at him. "Ramphal! I'm the bird of heaven. I came to you in the guise of a lady to make you rich to repay you for your kindness. But you have broken your promise. So I shan't stay here anymore." So saying, the bird flew away.

Ramphal felt ashamed of his curiosity and greed. He had learnt his lesson.