চিড়া দুহানি

In a certain village, a grandmother and her granddaughter lived together.

They had absolutely no one else to call their own.

Since she had no mother, the girl did not know how to do any household chores.

She knew nothing of handicrafts like weaving or spinning thread.

They barely survived by flattened rice for the whole village.

Out of pity for the poor pair, the villagers employed them to flatten their rice.

By flaked rice, they managed to sustain their daily livelihood.

Some days later, a drought struck, leaving no water even to boil the paddy.

Then the grandmother told her, 'Child, go fetch some water from the river to boil the paddy.'

The young girl went to the riverbank with a pitcher to fetch water.

Reaching the bank, while she sat idly, her vessel push to the water by a cow.

A cowboy watching from the field mockingly called out to her in a riddle-song:

'Oh grand ma, o grandma, what are you frying?'

'I am frying flatten rice.'

'Where has your flatten rice gone?'

'My grand daughter took it.'

'Where is she now?'

'She went to the riverbank with a pitcher to fetch water.'

'Where is that water gone?'

'An ox came and threw the pitcher.'

'Where is that ox now?'

'A wild tiger from the forest came and dragged it away.'

'Where is that tiger now?'

'It has crossed the mountain!'

Filled with anger, the girl walked empty-handed into the woods, singing directly:

'Oh human world, how grand are the hopes you cherish,'

'Yet this mortal human life is as fragile as a branch of a wild tree.'

Singing this lament, she continued walking along the highway.

A childless, kind woman living by the path heard this tragic song and wondered, 'Who is this girl singing with such grief?'

That woman had no children and lived a quiet, solitary life.

She called out affectionately, 'Child, oh child! Come here to me for a moment.'

The young girl stepped inside the kind woman's cottage.

The woman asked, 'Child, what sorrow weighs upon you that you walk singing such a sad tune?'

'Where are you coming from, and what is your story?'

The girl replied, 'Aunt, where else would I go; The elderly woman who makes the flatten rice for the whole village she is my grandmother.'

The woman said, 'Then why have you left her? What household work do you know?'

The girl confessed, 'Aunt, I know no other work; I only know how to make the flaked rice.'

'If I teach you good handiwork, will you learn?'

'Yes aunt, I will surely learn.'

'If I show you how to cook, will you be able to do it?'

'If taught, I can manage everything.'

She took shelter and remained in that woman's house.

Staying there, she perfectly mastered all chores like winnowing rice, husking paddy, weaving, and spinning thread.

One day, to test her, the woman asked, 'Child, will you return to your old grandmother?'

The girl said, 'No aunt, I shall not return,' and remained quiet.

She began weaving a beautiful traditional wedding saree for herself.

While she was deeply focused on weaving her cloth, that same cowboy was passing by the forest edge.

He noticed her grace and industriousness.

He mockingly called out, 'Listen, oh beautiful maiden,'

'Are you pulling the thread in one tree and weaving the loom on another?'

Embarrassed, the girl wept and said, 'Oh aunt, I shall never weave cloth again!'

'This is a girl's job.'

Hearing everything, the woman comforted the girl and summoned the cowboy.

She then celebrated their wedding with great pomp, marrying her to that clever cowboy, and they lived happily ever court.