There were, once upon a time, seven simpletons. And once they were
going down the road, and meeting a puddle, were in great distress as
to how they should cross it. And the eldest said "I will go first,
and you all follow, holding one another's loin cloths." So they
held one another's cloths and crawled through the puddle on their
hands and knees, getting very muddy and dirty in doing so. But when
they had fairly got across, the elder set to work to count; and,
as he failed to count himself, behold, there was one missing. Then
the next brother counted; and, as he, too, found one missing, they
each in turn counted. And so it became clear that one was lost;
and there they stood debating this deplorable business. Just then a
wily Brahmin came up, and asked what was the matter. And they told
him that they had been seven, but that in crossing the puddle, one
of them had been lost. On which, the Brahmin, quickly counting them,
found that they were still seven, and, judging them to be simpletons,
said to them "My sons, if you will come to my house and work for me,
I will find you the missing man." To which with one accord they agreed.
Then the Brahmin split a betelnut into seven pieces and put them into
the hand of the eldest. "Now count them," said he, "and tell me how
many there be." And he counted and found that there were seven. "Now
take each man a piece," said the Brahmin, and, behold, to each piece
there was a man. So in great joy and peace of mind they went to the
Brahmin's house to work.
And then, one day, he sent the seven simpletons out into the garden
to weed the vegetables, and with them he sent his only son, saying "If
the lad is lazy and falls behind, shove him along and make him work."
So they all went into the garden and began cutting the weeds with
their knives; and presently the boy fell into the rear. On which they
said "There is that Brahmin boy fallen behind. Did not his father
say that we were to push him along? What is to be done now? But the
elder brother said, "Do? Why, do as we were told." On which each of
them hit him with his weeding knife, so that presently he died. And
when the weeding was quite finished, they went and told the Brahmin,
saying "You told us to shove him along, and as we had our knives in our
hands, we hurt him so that he died." But the Brahmin was speechless,
for they had but done as they were told.
Another day he told them to go and plough. "Take your ploughs up above
the great simul tree," he said. So they rose in the early morning, and,
taking ploughs, cattle and ropes, went to the great simul tree. And
some stayed below and bound the ploughs and cattle with the ropes,
and others climbed the tree and hauled. But the ropes broke and the
cattle were killed and the ploughs were smashed. And then they went
and told the Brahmin that they had tried to plough above the simul
tree and had failed. "And what of the cattle?" said he, "Oh! they
fell down and were killed," they replied. So, in despair, he bought
other cattle and sent them out to plough afresh.
And when the harvest was ripe, they reaped the paddy, and, tying it in
sheaves, brought it home and asked where they were to put it. And the
Brahmin said "Put it where my old woman tells you to put it." So they
went and asked the Brahmin's wife. But she was very busy, and only
cried "Oh, bother you and your paddy! Put it on my head!" On this,
they all took their sheaves, and heaped them on the old woman, so that
she died. And when the Brahmin came from his work and asked for his
old woman, they said they had buried her in the paddy, as she told
them to. On which, being at his wit's end, he bade them go and bury
her. On this, they tied the corpse on a bamboo sledge and bumped it
along through the bamboo-clump, so that it got knocked off by the way.
And when they came to some fallow land, they dug a grave, and then
began looking about for the corpse. Now there was an old woman hard
by herding cattle. "Cunning old wretch!" said they, "she is afraid
of being buried, and is pretending to be somebody else." So they got
hold of her, and, in spite of her struggles, buried her.
And the Brahmin, in fear of what they might do next, began to contrive
means to get rid of them. So he said "Today, my sons, we will go and
cut down the great simul tree." So they took their axes and, going
to the simul tree, began hewing with a will, and when the tree was
tottering to its fall, the Brahmin said to them "If the tree falls
down, it will be broken. Run under it and catch it!" And when they
did so, the Brahmin gave the last strokes, and the tree fell on the
seven simpletons and killed them. And that's all!