The Brahmin, the goat and three tricksters

Told in English, Telugu.

Long, long ago, in a little village near the banks of the Godavari, there lived a kind and gentle Brahmin named Somanatha. He was a good man. He told the truth, he never cheated anyone, and so he thought that everybody else told the truth too.

One morning his wife Kamakshi said, "Our little Lakshmi needs milk, and our old cow has grown tired. Why don't you go to the market in the next village and buy a goat?"

So Somanatha tied a few coins in the corner of his cloth and set off down the dusty road. At the market he found a fine white goat with a black patch over one eye. She was plump and healthy, and she said "Meh-eh-eh" in a very cheerful way.

"You will be good friends with my Lakshmi," said Somanatha, patting her head. He paid the seller, lifted the goat up onto his shoulders, and started walking home, humming a little song.

Now, sitting under a big banyan tree by the road, there were three tricksters. They were lazy fellows who never wanted to work. They only wanted to fool people and take their things.

The first trickster nudged the others. "Look at that fat goat on the Brahmin's shoulders," he whispered.

"We could never snatch it from him," said the second. "He would shout, and the whole village would come running."

The third trickster smiled a sly smile. "We will not snatch it," he said. "We will make him give it away himself. Listen carefully." And he whispered his plan.

The three tricksters ran ahead by a short cut through the fields and hid themselves at three different places along the road.

Somanatha walked on happily. Soon the first trickster stepped out from behind a tamarind tree.

"Namaskaram, swami!" he said, pretending to be very surprised. "But why is a holy man like you carrying a dog on his shoulders?"

Somanatha laughed. "A dog? My friend, your eyes must be tired. This is a goat. I just bought her at the market."

The trickster shook his head sadly. "If you say so, swami," he said, and walked away.

Somanatha walked on, still smiling. But a little while later, near a well, the second trickster came up to him.

"Ayyo, swami!" he cried. "What are you doing with that dog? People will laugh at you!"

This time Somanatha stopped. He lifted the goat down from his shoulders and set her on the ground. He looked at her ears. He looked at her tail. He looked at her little hooves.

"Meh-eh-eh," said the goat.

"She is a goat," said Somanatha slowly. "I am sure she is a goat." But his voice was not quite as strong as before. He lifted her up again and walked on, frowning a little.

Can you guess what happened next?

Just before the road turned toward his village, the third trickster came strolling along. He stopped, stared, and burst out laughing.

"Swami, swami! Three people from my village told me there was a Brahmin carrying a dog on his back, and I did not believe them. But it is true!"

Now Somanatha felt a cold little shiver of doubt. "Three different people," he thought, "and all of them say it is a dog. They do not know each other. Why would they all say the same thing? Maybe that market seller played some magic on me. Maybe my own eyes are fooling me."

He felt so muddled and so embarrassed that he quickly put the goat down on the road. "Go away, whatever you are," he said, and he hurried home without looking back.

The moment he was gone, the three tricksters came out laughing. They tied a rope around the goat's neck and led her away down a side path.

When Somanatha reached home, Kamakshi came running out. "Where is the goat?" she asked.

Somanatha told her the whole story. Kamakshi listened, and then she asked very gently, "When you bought her at the market, what did you see?"

"A goat," said Somanatha. "A white goat with a black patch on her eye."

"And when you set her down by the well, what did you see?"

"A goat," he said again. And then his eyes grew wide. "Oh! She was a goat all along! Those three men were tricksters, and I believed their words more than my own eyes!"

He ran back down the road, but the tricksters and the goat were nowhere to be seen. Somanatha came home with his head hanging low.

Kamakshi put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm cup of buttermilk. "Do not be so sad," she said. "You were fooled because you have an honest heart. You think everyone speaks the truth, like you do. Now you have learned something precious. That lesson is worth more than a goat."

Little Lakshmi climbed into his lap. "Nanna, next time I will come with you," she said, "and I will tell everyone it is a goat!"

Somanatha laughed for the first time that evening.

And the next market day, he did buy another goat. On the way home, a man called out, "Why are you carrying a dog?" Somanatha simply smiled and said, "I know what I bought, my friend. Good day!" And he walked all the way home with his goat, humming his little song.

So remember, my dear one. If you know something is true, do not let clever words make you forget it, even if many people say it.