This is a moralistic story. There was a lazy woman who had to come out of her laziness in order to save her daughter.

In the village of Saguna lived a woman with her daughter. Her husband had died in an accident. But Sarala was too lazy to work. She lived on the money her husband left behind. One day she was sitting on the veranda and knitting for her little one. The ball of wool fell from her hands and rolled on to the road. Sarala was too lazy to get up and pick the wool. She asked every passerby to pick it up for her but none paid heed to her words. They all knew about her lazy nature.

A fox was going through that way; it saw the whole thing and went to Sarala. He noticed a little baby playing beside her and his mouth watered. He said, he was ready to pick up the ball and give it to her but on one condition. Sarala had to marry her daughter to him when she would turn seven. Hearing this Sarala was shocked. Her face turned pale. But then she thought about it for a few seconds and agreed thinking that the fox would forget all about it. Seven years is a long time. The fox gave her the ball of wool and she started knitting again.

Years started passing by, the money her husband left behind had almost finished. Sandya started growing up. Sarala’s laziness had reduced with time. She worked as a tailor too feed her little daughter. Sarala had forgotten all about the promise she had made to the fox in exchange of the ball of wool he had picked up for her.

The day of Sandya’s seventh birthday arrived. Sarala was busy cooking kheer for her little daughter when the doorbell rang. Before she could wash her hands and go open the door, her little daughter came inside and told her that a big fox has come and given her a lot of candies. The incident Sarala had forgotten floated back into her mind. She trembled with fear thinking that the fox had not forgotten about the marriage. She ran outside. She saw the fox had grown even fatter and bigger. The fox showed his enormous yellow teeth and said that the next day he was coming to take his wife.

Sarala had to think of something. He could not let a wolf take her daughter. She thought for the whole night and chalked out a plan.

The next day, when the wolf came, Sarala welcomed him with flowers, sweets and rose water. The wolf was very pleased. Just when he was going to sit for the marriage rituals, Sarala said it was a ritual of their family to bathe the would-be son in law as they would bathe a God. The fox’s chest had blown up with pride. He readily agreed.

Now was the trick that Sarala that thought about. She brought really hot oil and started putting in on the fox’s body with a large wooden spoon. The fox shouted in pain, to which Sarala said that this is how God is treated and she will not compromise her treatment towards God. The foolish fox was ready to take burning pain for pride. Finally, Sarala brought a huge tumbler filled with bubbling hot water. She said the God after the oil massage jumps voluntarily into the tumbler to have a bath. The foolish fox jumped into the tumbler and died. Sarala saved her little one from the hands of the fox.

-by Payel Roy