Boon Out Of A Curse
Santa was so terrified that he almost threw off the empty basket! He saw to his surprise that there was nothing in the basket. And yet, it had seemed so very heavy, unbearably heavy! Such a thing had never happened to him all these years. He used to go through that forest almost every evening. Every day he would start early in the morning from his house, with a basketful of fruits on his head. He would go to the neighboring market, sell off all the fruit by the evening, and return home taking the path through the forest. On that day, as he was walking through the forest, with his empty basket on his head, he felt suddenly a heavyweight on his head. At first, Santa thought it to be just his imagination. But, as the weight started increasing and became unbearable, he flung the basket on the floor, with a shiver running down his spine. A beautiful female form emerged from the basket. "I am the nymph of the forest. Do not be afraid. I mean no harm to you," said the nymph with a gentle smile. Santa felt comforted. "O nymph of the forest, I'm indeed grateful to you for..." "Santa, in fact, I am grateful to you. For a long, I had a desire to be carried by someone and that desire is fulfilled today. You ask for a boon and I shall grant it as a mark of my gratitude to you," said the nymph. "If that is so, then, fill up my baskets with sweet mangoes," said Santa, half in doubt. "It will be filled up with extraordinary mangoes as soon as you enter your village," said the nymph and disappeared into the darkening forest.
Santa's doubts turned into happiness when his basket got filled with big, golden mangoes. As he approached his hut, his wife was surprised to see the basket still full of mangoes. "What has happened? Could you not sell any mangoes today?" enquired his wife Anna. Santa took her inside the house and narrated to her his experience in the forest. She laughed at his foolishness and said, "What a simpleton you are! You asked the nymph only for mangoes? You should have asked her for some gold so that we could live securely and comfortably for the rest of our days!." Santa realized his stupidity and felt a bit annoyed with himself. However, the next day he took the golden mangoes to the market. At first, no one was ready to purchase them. After a while, a rich man was attracted by the beautiful mangoes and he purchased a dozen of them. Then other people also realized the value of the golden mangoes and very soon the basket got empty. That evening Anna was very happy. The next morning, Santa went to the market with his usual, ordinary mangoes and sat under the very tree where he squatted the previous day. People flocked to him, but they got disappointed seeing the ordinary type of mangoes. No one was ready to purchase them, they all wanted the special golden ones. So, that evening, Santa returned to the forest, came to the same spot where he had seen the nymph, and called out.
"O nymph of the forest, please reappear before me. Your boon has turned into a curse. I'm doomed." The nymph became visible and gave a patient hearing to Santa's sad story. "All right. Ask for another boon," said the nymph sympathizing with Santa. "Grant me some gold," said Santa, "and listen, I want it right away, not when I approach my village." Santa wanted to be sure of his boon. "Let it be so, but be very careful with it," said the kind nymph and she vanished into the thick forest. The next morning, Santa saw a lump of gold in his basket all bright and glittering. He put the basket on his head and started walking quickly towards his home, thinking how happy would be Anna with the gold boon. But, it was not to be so. Just around a bend stood a wayside robber, face to face with him. The robber thought that the basket on Santa's head was full of mangoes, and he demanded, pointing a knife at him. "Give me the basket and I'll not harm you!" Santa tried to save his gold by acting bravely. "I'll not give it at any cost," he said. The robber got more suspicious. He thought, "Why is this man risking his life for the sake of a basketful of fruit? Surely, there must be something precious in the basket." The robber pounced on Santa wounding him in the arm. Santa got scared and ran for his life, leaving behind the basket and the gold in it. When he entered his village suppressing his tears, he saw a big crowd near the temple. Curious, he went near it.
He saw a messenger from the king announcing to the public. "We have received information that the cruel and notorious bandit is hiding in this area. Whoever can bring him to the king, dead or alive, will be awarded with a lot of gold." Santa realized that once again he had missed a good chance of becoming rich. If he had come to know about the announcement just a day before, he would have surely tricked the bandit in the forest, who was sure to have been the one being looked for, and, somehow captured him. Alas! The next day, he went to the forest once again, called out to the nymph, and narrated to her his misfortune and said, "Nymph, your boons are good for nothing!" The nymph got annoyed with Santa and in an irritated mood, she said: "Santa, please go away. If my boons are good for nothing, you must have a curse from me. Whoever sees first your face as you leave me, he shall die on the spot. Go away! Never again should you come back to me!" The nymph of the forest left Santa to his fate and faded out. Santa, sad and downcast turned towards his village. He felt very angry with the nymph because he had lost also the little earning he was getting by selling fruits. A little later, he was surprised to see the same bandit who stood on the narrow forest path who said, laughing: "Today I'll not give you any chance to answer me back. You leave your basket on the spot or else I'll kill you instantly." His words turned on himself. The moment Santa looked up and stared into the robber's eyes, the robber fell dead on the spot, as per the curse of the nymph upon Santa.
Santa lost no time to take the dead body of the robber to the village and told the chieftain, that after a big fight he managed to kill the most wanted dacoit. He even showed his previous day's knife wound to prove his claim. The chieftain informed about it to the king. On getting the good news the king immediately rewarded Santa with lots of gold. Santa had not only become rich overnight but had also become a hero of the village. He searched in the forest and recovered his lost gold too. "How amazing it is that while the nymph's boons failed to bring me prosperity, but her curse brought it!" he often whispered to his wife Anna, laughing.
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