by Amal HEWAVISSENTI

Long time ago in Peshavor - India there lived a hilarious little pauper whose witty jokes and never ending stories earned him a lot of friends. Among these friends was a tailor who frequently invited the beggar to dinner. One night the pauper was having dinner with the tailor and was in the middle of a very comical story when all of a sudden, a sharp fish bone stuck his throat. The host tailor and his wife questioningly observed the beggar who was making some inhuman noises with unusual movements and his face going red but they thought all this was part of the funny story he was telling. They laughed as if they were having the lost laugh in this world until at last the apparently lifeless beggar fell down flat on the floor.

"O, god! we've killed the poor thing, our guest", yelled the tailor in utter fright and shock. "Don't scream so loud you fool we must keep this a secret" said his wife. Accordingly they wrapped the beggar's body in a blanket and carried him along the solitary street very easily because the pallid body of beggar was very light. "What is it you're carrying? What's the matter" a servant girl asked them on the way. "Our son is down with fever. We're taking him to a doctor" said the tailor before his wife could open her mouth to tell something to the contrary. "I can help you. I am on my way to the doctor's because of work for him. Follow me" replied the servant girl. They followed her to the doctor's.

The servant girl was so agitated that she hurriedly clambered the steps to tell the doctor about the child but, while she was inside, the tailor dragged the body to the top of the stair case, left it there, and made for his home as fast as he could with his blanket. The doctor rushed out of the room and was hurrying down the steps when he tumbled over the body of the beggar which in turn. rolled down the steps and lay motionless at the bottom.

"O, god! forgive my sin. This is really a horrible crime. Now I've killed this destitute fellow who was sleeping on my steps. No one must know about this however," the doctor cried. The servants maid said, "This is my idea. Throw the body into the cook's yard next door. Definitely the rats come to eat his morsel even night. They may eat up this body too." Thus they hurled the body over the wall into the cook's yard. The cook, a few minutes later, emerged out of his house holding a stick to beat the mice and at once caught sight of the pauper's body lying by the wall. "Aha! so it wasn't rats after all. I'll kill you black guard.!" the cook said to himself. He beat up the little beggar with his stick so hard that the body slumped over the sandy yard and lay face down in the sheer dust.

"O god!. forgive my sin I've killed this abjectly poor man, what a shame on me to kill off such a harmless fellow? However, nobody must know about this" the cook muttered in suspense. Presently, the cook carried the beggar's feeble body towards the river to plunge it in to the water but he was petrified when he heard a sudden rustling of footsteps approaching the river. He quickly dropped the body in a dark corner and ran home. It was a servant in a nearby house walking by the river. Then he saw the pauper's body but instantly misidentified him to be a thief and began to attack the still body with his fullest strength.

In the meantime, two policemen, happening to hear the noise at the tank, spied on the servant's behaviour towards the beggar and sprang on the servant who was still kicking the man. The policemen unhesitatingly arrested the servant who was charged with murder, and laid the little beggar on a table in the police station. On the following morning, the servant was put on trial before a judge and the body of the little beggar lay flat on the judge's table for the crowd to see. The judge most solemnly announced "Here lies the wretched murdered man. And this is the shameless killer who was rounded up by the police. Executioner, hang this murderer now". The crowd cheered. "Stop it!. Stop it!" a voice from the crowd screamed, "This is absurd mistake. I myself killed this poor man, I caught him in my yard. I killed him and left the body on the street because I thought he was stealing food" the cook stepped forward. "Executioner, let the servant go and hang this cook" ordered the judge. Suddenly a man shouted, 'No!' It was the doctor, "How can I let you hang this man? I kicked this beggar down my stairs. It was an accident. I threw the body in to the cook's yard."

The judge proclaimed, "Doctors save lives but you have killed a man instead. Executioner, release this cook and hang the doctor." Just then, a voice came from the cheering crowd,.

"O judge, you mustn't let this happen. Last night a beggar came to dinner at my house. A fish bone got stuck in his throat while he was telling a comic story. We didn't know he was struggling with pain till he fell down dead," revealed the tailor. "You must be ashamed of yourself for killing your own guest. Executioner, hang this wicked tailor who is responsible for the death of the beggar" said the judge. Suddenly the doctor, pointing to the body on the table, shouted, "Wait! There is no death. This cunning man is still alive."

The doctor perfectly inspected the beggar's throat and carefully removed the fish bone. The pauper, nonplussed, sat on the table and coughed.

"O, Dear god!. I've had a horrible dream. I dreamed that someone kicked me downstairs. Then another man hurled me over a wall and beat me with a stick". Just turn, he saw the tailor and his wife.

"My dear friends, I remember now. How kind of you to bring a large crowd to pull out one small fish bone" said the pauper coughing again.