Nikhil Khasnabish

In a village near a forest lived an old woman with her old husband, two sons, two daughters-in-law, and four grandchildren. She was a happy woman with her happy family. The grandchildren always played with her, ate with her, teased her, and obediently followed her instructions. She was not only good to her family, but also to her neighbours. The children of the village, who were her grandchildren’s age, lovingly called her Sweet Granny. She taught children how to behave politely and talk to people. She inspired them to love their friends and respect elders.

Despite all this, she became unhappy when, almost every week, in the morning, she found a duck missing. She searched for the duck in the pond, where she led them to swim, play, and eat. She considered the ducks as a part of her family. She never sold a duck. She never ate duck meat. She only ate duck eggs and sold them to the village grocer. That was her extra earning she spent on buying gifts for her grandchildren.

So, one morning, when she started weeping and showed no sign of cooling down, her eldest grandson discovered the hole in the back of the coop, going through the bushy plants behind it. The grandson went back when he saw feathers lying behind it. As soon as he told his Sweet Granny about his discovery, she hurriedly went back and saw more feathers lying in there and took no time to understand that the fox she had seen roam the bank of the pond in the evening was behind that act of cruelty.

Her grandchildren then sat around her and, after discussing the matter very deeply, advised her to bring home two dogs to guard the coop. As advised, she ordered her youngest son to bring two dogs. The son obeyed.

She fed the dogs meat, rice, fish, biscuits, and cakes. She trained them to become hunters. Her grandchildren helped her. But she also taught them love and affection through her behaviour. In the long run, the dogs became kind-hearted hunters. They guarded the coop.

But the cunning fox, who had already tasted duck meat, couldn’t remain without gathering courage to try to break the back wall of the coop in a dark and rainy evening. The dogs caught him and dragged him to the bank of the pond. They barked so loudly that Sweet Granny woke up and came out to know the reason why they were barking.

When she saw the dogs were about to bite the fox’s throat and the fox was crying for mercy, she loudly grunted and the dogs granted him mercy. As soon as the fox stood, his tail tucked between his legs, the dogs threatened him to escape into the forest down the hill. They chased him until he found himself in the forest.

From that time on, ducks became safe. Her happiness returned, and she felt happy about being able to teach the dogs the value of mercy.