Photograph by Muhammad Mahdi Karim (2012).
A long time ago, two brothers were arguing over whether they should sell their calf. The eldest brother wanted to keep the calf in order to get milk from it, while the youngest brother wanted to sell it now. It was a very fat cow. It could make a lot of milk or a lot of meat. So the two brothers argued and argued. One day, while they were standing out in their field arguing, a brahman wandered by.
Thinking that the wise man could provide them with the answer, they pleaded with him. “Oh, wise brahman, please tell us whether we should sell our cow or keep it.”
The brahman didn’t give them a straight answer, but began this story:
One day, a bear was walking in the jungle when he encountered a cat. The cat was trying to climb a tree in order to reach a beehive which hung on the highest branch. Every few seconds, a bee would swoop down and sting the cat. At this, the cat would fall back down. Even after a dozen stings, the cat still tried to climb the tree.
So distracted was the cat by her activity that she didn’t even notice the bear approaching her. The bear was rather bored and decided to play with this cat. He took his great paw and swiped at the cat. This certainly got the feline’s attention.
“What are you doing?" the cat shouted at the bear. "Are you trying to kill me?”
“No,” the bear replied, dejectedly, “I was only trying to play. I’m so bored and there’s nothing else to do.”
“Bored, eh?” The cat began to think of a plan by which to get the honey in that beehive. She didn’t think much of the bear’s intelligence and assumed he would do anything he was told. “I know something you can do,” the cat said.
“What is it?” asked the bear.
“You can climb this tree and get the beehive for me.”
“Why do you want to get the beehive?”
“It’s filled with a sweet golden goo.”
“That sounds tasty,” the bear said, licking his lips.
“It certainly is.”
“Can I have some if I help you get it down?”
The cat hadn’t expected this, but half of the honey was better than nothing at all. “Alright,” she said. “We’ll split the honey once you knock it off the tree.”
The bear started to climb and soon reached the top branch. The bees by then had lost all of their soldiers. Only the queen, her advisors, and the workers remained. When the bear started crawling across the branch in order to reach the beehive, he heard a tiny buzzing in his ear. He swatted by his ear but the buzzing resumed soon after. This buzzing almost sounded like speech. He listened more closely and could actually make out something.
“Bear, you must help us!” they cried.
Befuddled, the bear asked, “Who’s talking?”
“I am the queen of this hive. We are in dire straits. We have lost all of our soldiers and our hive is completely defenseless.”
“What would you have me do about it? I am only a bear.”
“You can guard us from other animals. You are big and strong and no animal would dare challenge you.”
“What about the cat? She asked me to knock your hive down so that she and I could split the honey inside.”
“If you do that, you will only get honey once. If you defend us, we will give you honey each day.”
“Will I get more honey that way?” the bear asked, even more confused than before.
“Yes, you will, in the long run.”
At this point, the cat had grown impatient. She yelled, “What’s going on up there?”
“Nothing,” the bear replied. “I’m almost there.”
The queen bee said to the bear, “First, we need you to scare off the cat. She will probably take the hive for herself while you’re still in the tree.”
“I don’t think so," the bear said. "She seems trustworthy to me.”
“She’s not trustworthy at all,” replied the queen bee. The royal advisors, who had gathered around her, agreed with this statement.
The bear wasn’t so convinced. In fact, he was rather angered by this statement. He took his great paw and swiped at the hive. It was now hanging by a thread. He swiped again and the whole thing came crashing down.
“Oh no,” the bear cried, his eyes filling with tears. “What have I done?”
The cat said to him, “You’ve gotten me a great deal of honey!” With that, the feline took the hive in her mouth and ran off.
The bear knew he should have listened to the queen bee. Had he been more patient and level-headed, he could have gotten honey each day. Now, he had nothing at all.
After hearing the story, the men decided that it would be best to keep the cow. They thanked the brahman, who went on his way. For many years, the cow and its offspring gave these brothers and their families as much milk as they could drink.
Author’s Note
I didn’t have a specific story in mind when I was writing this. It’s in the style of the Fables of Bidpai. That is, the characters are all animals and a moral lesson is provided at the very end. Of course, there’s a trickster character, the cat, who misleads the protagonist, the bear. I considered having the bear act as a defender of the bees for some time before realizing he could have the honey all at once. However, this story seems to work better in that the bear doesn’t come to this realization but rather is tricked into knocking the beehive down. Either way, he learns a lesson about patience and not acting rashly.
I added a frame story in order to make the moral more clear. It’s no longer just about a bear who’s tricked by a cat, but about two brothers who must make an important decision regarding their cow.
Bibliography
Wow! What a creative story! I really enjoyed reading this story because not only was it an interesting read, but it taught me an important lesson. It teaches the readers to realize that it’s better to have something that will benefit you for a long time rather than something that will only give you a quick satisfaction. I also love how you told a story within another story. This was definitely a very fun read for me. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how I just commented on one of your other stories because I chose to from the list of portfolios (it sounded the most interesting) and I had no idea I was even in your comment group for the week! Anyway, I thought you did a great job on this story. I could not recall any story while reading it, but I was relieved to see that you just said that you stuck to the style rather than a story. You did a great job on this! I felt just like I was reading one of the tales out of book.
ReplyDeleteI liked the idea that this story was a two in one story. I got so into the story about the bear that I forgot about the two men and their cow. The fact that you brought up their end decision really wrapped up the story and gave it the circling feeling. I also enjoyed how the bear was indecisive and could have honestly gone either way in helping the cat or the bees. I haven’t read the original tale but I enjoyed that the ending wasn’t typical. I was expecting the bear to pick the bees since the cat thought the bear wasn’t smart and by picking the bees it proved that the bear was smart. I really like the fact that your image is not just of a random beehive but its one that is located in India. This adds a form of authenticity since this is an epics of India class.
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