A Strange Dispute
A woman, along with her infant son, was going to her father's house. It was summer. Wishing to have a dip in the river, she entered the water, leaving her son to play with a flower plant. A tall woman with red eyes approached the child. "What a sweet bonny boy!" she said. Looking at the mother who was still in the river, she asked, "Can I take your child to my arms?" "Why not, sister!" said the courteous mother. The stranger woman lifted the boy and caressed him. The boy did not seem to feel happy. He struggled to get down. But the stranger went on muttering pleasantries while trying to gag the child. Then she began moving away. "Where are you going, sister?" asked the boy's mother climbing to the shore hurriedly. But the woman made no reply. She kept walking with long strides. Full of misgivings, the mother ran behind the woman, crying out to her, "For God's sake, give me back my child!" "What do you mean? This is my child!" shouted back the woman, and she sped up.
The mother tried to stop the child lifter by force, but she was no match for her. The stranger kicked her and she fell down. However, she did not give up her chase. Some villagers happened to pass by. Their attention went to the wailing mother and the haughty child lifter. They stopped the two and made an investigation into their dispute. Each claimed the infant boy to be hers. The strange nature of the dispute surprised the villagers. They led the women to the house of the village physician who was renowned as a wise and just man. The physician too was no less surprised. He looked into the eyes of the two women - one after the other - and smiled to himself. Then he drew a circle on the ground and placed the child inside the circle. He asked the stranger to take hold of the child's hands and the mother to take hold of the child's legs. "Whoever can drag the child out of the circle is the child's mother," said the physician. The two women began a sort of tug-of-war. But as soon as the child cried, the mother let go of his legs and wept.
"Look here, judge, it is not my fault that she gave up the contest," said the other woman, her red eyes glittering in a sinister manner. The physician looked at the villagers and asked, "Who is expected to feel concerned at the child's discomfort, the child's mother or another woman?" "The child's mother, of course," said the villagers in a chorus. "In the present case who showed the concern?" the physician asked again. The villagers showed the child's mother. "You are right. The child is hers. And so far as the other woman is concerned, she is a ..." The physician had not completed his sentence when the other woman began to run. The villagers tried to stop her, but could not. She went out of the house and just disappeared. "She was a female vampire. She wanted to suck this bonny child's blood. I knew it the moment I saw her. She cast no shadow, she did not wink," said the physician. The mother and villagers appreciated the physician for his quick thinking and help.
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