The Miser Old Woman ( Indian Folktale)


                                                                                

Once upon a time an old woman lived in a village. She was  wealthy but was very clever and miser. She lived alone in an old hut and never allowed anyone to enter her hut. Though she was getting weaker day by day due to old age but did not have any servant or other helping hand and used to do all the household work by herself.
She had only one thing in her mind.....
'' If I allow someone to enter my house the person will steal away  all my money and I will get poor.'' 
                                             

One day a young man from other village came to the old woman's village and he heard about that woman from the villagers.
The young man thought that how good it would be for him if he succeeded in getting a good share of the old woman's wealth by any means.
Next day he went to old woman's house and knocked the door .
''Who is there'' ? ,asked the woman. 
''I am a relative of yours" ,the young man replied.
 ''Why have you come here?'' ,old woman asked again .
 I heard that you are living alone and it is not good for you to live alone in this old age so I decided to stay here and  look after you.
The woman did not allow him to come in but he started to live in the compound of the house.
Many days passed like that and one day the old woman got sick and she called the young man in the house as she had no one else to look after her.
The young man served the woman like her own child, she became so pleased with him that she allowed him to stay with her.
After some time the illness of the woman worsened.

                                             
Now she knew that she was going to die soon , she called the young man and said to him, '' Son, I want to tell you my last wish , that when my body will be placed on the pyre please burn my pillow with my body."
Two days later, the woman died. The young man did exactly what the  woman had asked him to do. He burnt the huge pillow with her.

After completing the funeral and rituals he rushed to the old woman's hut and started searching madly for the money.
He searched here, 

he searched there,
he searched everywhere.
But the young man didn't find a single penny.
So where was the money? Well, it was in the
pillow which was burnt with the old woman.
 Ah ! all the efforts of the young man failed.

                                                                   
   Indian folktale
                                                                      Re-told by-Aunt Mary

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                          The crazy old woman and the sky

16 comments:

  1. A shame that this old woman could not trust anyone for fear of loosing her money but shame on that young man for trying to gain her money in this way. I'd like to think that there was someone out there who could have gained her trust, that there was someone kind person out there whose motive wasn't obtaining her money.

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    1. Dear Tracy,
      Yes you are right both of them were wrong in their own ways. The old woman for not placing trusting anyone and that young man for serving the old woman for her money in return and breaking her trust when she placed it on him.
      I agree with you that there should have been someone who could have taught the old woman to trust others and should have served her unconditionally.
      But sometimes sad endings leave a greater impact than happy endings! :)
      Thanks a lot for your kind visit and sweet words! :)

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  2. Both were wrong; her for not trusting anyone and him for betraying her trust when she finally offered it. Important morals to the story here :)

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    1. Hi Dreamer,
      I agree with you!
      I'm so glad that you've liked my stories and their morals all this time!
      Thanks a lot for your kind visit and humble words. :)

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  3. He got what he deserved. She wasted her life. All for the love of money.

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    1. Hi Roberto,
      You are absolutely right!
      Thank you so much for your kind visit and wise words! :)

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  4. What a beautiful teaching, Auntie!

    I went on this same path early in my youth, walking a distrustful trail, hiding not money, but resources from the supposed opponents in the way to the top of the corporate pyramid.

    Fortunately, I could alight from that war-path and enjoy friendship and sharing with the rest of humanity in my new ways to see life.

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    1. Hi Od,
      I am so glad that you you like my story and that you could relate with it.
      I am also very happy to hear that you have started trusting people and building bonds with them which are sometimes stronger than the materialistic things and I am sure that you are enjoying the new path of your life and have turned into a better and brighter person as you are! :)
      Thank you so much for your kind visit, and sharing this small part of your life with me. :)

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  5. Nice little story, Aunt Mary. I had encountered many misers in life :)

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    1. Oh ! so haw was your experience? Thank's jahid :)

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  6. What a shame! The young man got exactly what he deserved, but the old lady wasted her life. There is a lesson for us all here.

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    1. Hi, yes there is a lesson for us in the story. YThank you Barbara :)

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  7. Both are in a lose-lose situation. It's a shame indeed for both of them - a miser and an opportunist. A good moral of the story to ponder. Nice writing, Aunt Mary. :)

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    1. Hello, good to see you again Balqis , I agree with you on what you have said about them thank's a lot :)

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  8. So nicely and cunningly you have put the story..it's really interesting.. I wish I could write like that too...:)

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    1. Thank you very much for those so kind words. I am glad that you liked the story :)

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