Sone ki Moharewali Thaili (Hindi)

Hitopadesha (Good Counsel) is an 11-12th century Sanskrit collection of stories in four chapters instead of five in the Panchatantra on which it is based. Each chapter contains a string of stories, one emerging from the other, with each designed to render counsel on ethical worldly-wise conduct. The characters are living beings including humans and animals in the wild. The latter too are endowed with the reason and emotions of human beings. Thereby they come to represent types of human nature and behavior and one can draw morals from the stories. The first story here describes the fateful journey of a farmer’s bag of coins from a pot through a goat to the farmer, from him to a shepherd, then to a well, back to the farmer, thence to the shepherd’s staff and back again to the farmer! Moral: What is rightfully yours will not be lost. In the second story, a traveler in a forest rescues from a well, three friends – lion, monkey and a snake, he also rescues a goldsmith fallen in. Later, the grateful animals rescue him from robbers but the ungrateful goldsmith lands him in prison. Again the animals come to his help and the goldsmith is punished. Moral: Evil acts bring evil returns.