Weaver With Four Hands

Weaver with four hands

Sham S. Misri       

Once upon a time, a weaver lived in a village. The weaver got his livelihood from weaving the cloths. One day his weaving wheel broke down, the weaver decided to go to the nearby jungle to bring a wooden log to repair his weaving wheel.

He went into the deep forest in search of a good solid log. There he found a sturdy tall cut a straight solid log from the tree. As he lifted his axe to cut the tree a mysterious voice appeared from the tree, "Please don't cut this tree. I'm a demon and live on this tree peacefully." Initially the weaver got scared with the mysterious  voice, then he gathered his courage and said, "But I need wood from this tree to repair my weaving wheel, which is the only support for my earning ."

The demon replied, "If you will not cut this tree I can give you a boon. Whatever you want you can ask from me." The weaver loved his wife very much and did not do anything without taking her advice. So he said, "Well! I want to take suggestion from my wife then only I can ask for any boon."

The demon agreed. While coming back on the way he met one of his old friends. The weaver told him about the incident and about the offer of boon. The friend suggested him, "Ask for a kingdom. Then we all can live happily."

The weaver heard his suggestion and said, "Your suggestion is nice but let me consult my wife before asking anything."

The friend was aware that his wife is a fool, so he tried to stop him from asking his wife, but the weaver did not listen to him.

The weaver happily went to his wife and told her everything. The foolish wife said, "Your friend is cunning. He is interested in enjoying the lavish life, because of this only he is suggesting you to ask for kingdom. There are lots of troubles in being a king. The king has to fight battles, take care of his subjects and there are many other kinds of problems also there."

"According to me, you should ask two more hands to weave faster than before. If you'll weave fast, we  can have luxurious life without any messy problem."

The weaver liked her suggestion and went to the demon and said, "If you want to give any boon then give me two more hands."

The demon replied, "As you wish! With this demon blessed him with two more hands."

The foolish  weaver happily proceeded to his home with four hands. When he reached his village, the villagers could not recognize him. They thought that some evil spirit had approached their village. They started throwing stones and bricks. The weaver shouted and tried to tell them to recognize him, but in vain. In the din no one paid attention to the scream of the weaver. The weaver lost his life because of taking the advice from a fool.