Free Folktales from Bengal by Soham Saha Page A

forest, and went to the hut to ask for
shelter.
    An old woman lived in the
hut with her granddaughter. The old woman knew that there was a
tiger that lurked behind the hut hoping to get her or her
granddaughter. So she never let her out of the hut after
dark.
    The farmer was staying on
the balcony of the hut, and told the granddaughter about the
runaway horse. The granddaughter wanted to hear the whole story,
but before he could finish, the grandmother said, “No more stories.
Come inside, both of you. Or you’ll get eaten by a tiger or a
smiger or something.”
    As usual, the tiger was
lurking behind the hut when he heard the words. The word ‘smiger’
struck him as strange. The more he thought about it, the more
scared he got. A tiger, or a smiger. He wondered what kind of a
monster the smiger was. After a while, he got so scared, that he
hid behind a bush in the hut’s front-yard, and lay
shivering.
    The farmer could not
sleep in the night, wondering where his horse was. In the early
morning, he got out to see if it was lightening up outside. He saw
the silhouette of the tiger in the bush, and thought, “There’s my
steed.” He jumped up on it, and put his cloth over its face, so it
could not see.”
    The tiger was terrified.
His worst fears had come true. “The smiger has got me,” he thought.
He could not see it, but knew what a horrible monster it must have
been to hunt even a tiger. So he ran for his life.
    The farmer held on
tightly, hoping that when there was enough light in the morning, he
would find his way home, and ride the horse there. But when morning
came about, he was shocked to find a tiger under him instead of a
horse. His hairs stood on edge, as the tiger, for some reason, kept
yelling, “Smiger, smiger.” Everyone knew that the only thing worse
than a tiger, was a mad tiger. He began to work his mind to get out
of this mess.
    They were passing under a
banyan tree with a low hanging vine. He grabbed the vine and
climbed up on top. But he was still not out of trouble. The tiger
could not see, so it thrashed about hopelessly for a while, and
then came to rest under the same tree. Then it began to yell to
other tigers for help.
    Soon, a few more tigers
came under the tree. An elderly tiger asked, “Who tied this cloth
around you?”
    The tiger said, “It was a
horrible creature. It climbed on my back, and tied my eyes. I could
not shake it off, such strong was its grip. I promised it that we
will arrange a great feast on its honour, and then only it let me
go.”
    The feast began. And
unfortunately, it began under the tree itself, where the farmer was
hiding. The farmer was shivering behind the leaves, as hundreds of
tigers brought in dead deer, rabbits, foxes and goats, piling them
up under the tree.
    By this time, the farmer
was shivering so much, that the branch started to shake. A tiger
saw that, and asked, “What’s that up there?”
    All the tigers looked up,
but could not see him behind the leaves.
    “ What a long
tail he has,” said one of the cubs.
    It was actually a long
piece of rope he had taken to tie the horse down. Now, it was
dangling between the branches.
    “ What has a
tail that is this long? The smiger!” cried one of the tigers, and
in a flash, all the tigers began to run away, and the area was as
tiger free as his cow-barn.
    The farmer thanked god,
and climbed down.
    When he reached his
house, his son asked. “Father, did you bring my horse?”
    He smacked his son on the
head and said, “Here’s your horse.”
    The son never asked for a
horse again.

The Old Woman in the
Gourd

    Once upon a time, in a
faraway village, lived an old woman. She was so old, that when she
walked, she hunched to the ground, and her head wobbled like a
pendulum. The woman had three dogs: Ronga, Bhonga, and
Bhutu.
    One day, the woman wanted
to visit her granddaughter’s house. She told her dogs, “Stay and
guard the hut. Don’t run away, okay?”
    The dogs barked, and
wagged their tails