Sunday parable

A Ship full of arecanuts

By Prof. Sunanda MAHENDRA

Once there was a master carpenter who dreamt of making a great wooden ship. His dream came true when he found his plan resulting in the building of a ship out of the harvest wood in the forest. When he finished his work he was so happy that he roamed around the wooden ship in the happiest mood.

"I have built the greatest wooden ship and now I want to sail off to Arabia." "Why Arabia?" Asked his friend the goldsmith.

"That's the right place for carpenters. I want to make a living there." "Shall I join you too? I want to make gold ornaments for princesses there." "All right. I am happy to take you in." One arecanut merchant heard this too. He wanted to have a word with the master carpenter.

"This is a wonderful creature. Perhaps you may be the greatest ship builder in the country. By the way can I be on board for the journey?" Master carpenter already knew what the arecanut merchant was up to, but he had no problem taking him in.

"I'll try to bring all my arecanuts and I can earn a living there. You know arecanuts don't grow there." "Even if they grow, does it matter? You can join me." All these reached the earshot of a young cook. He needed to join the crew.

But his mother did not like him to join in, lest she would lose him.

"Mother, I need your permission to talk to master carpenter. I like to go to sea too." The young cook's mother was called Hokki. She was listening to his son.

"That means I am going to miss you for sometime?" "Yes mother, but that's for a very short time." "Please don't leave me alone. I am your poor mother. People will start saying that Hokki's son has left to earn more abroad. This should not happen, son." But the young cook was adamant.

"What if the master carpenter permits? Will you let me go at least by then?" "I don't want to miss you. That's all I have to say." Hokki did not say anymore words. Hokki's son met the master carpenter.

Master carpenter said: "You are a very young man. How are you going to help us in this sea journey?" "Sir, I am Hokki's son. I am a good cook. I can cook for the whole crew, if you like to have me onboard." "That's not bad. I have a kitchenette in the ship. You can use that." The kitchenette seemed ideal for Hokki's son, when he had a look around it.

Now the crew is of four people: master carpenter, goldsmith, arecanut merchant and young cook. No more people could be entertained, because the ship has to be loaded with arecanuts. Passers-by called the ship as 'a ship full of arecanuts' (Kapparakata Puwak). Young cook left without his mother's consent. She missed her son very much. The ship slowly sailed into the sea. With the nightfall, there blew a rough wind. The waves surged and created a whirl in the sea. To his horror, the master carpenter found out that his creature had started sinking inch by inch. They were all lost for a moment. And finally the great wooden ship capsized and drowned to the bottom of the seabed, without caring a heck for moans of the crew. The story is not over yet. One popular legend has it that these four people were reborn as different creatures.

The master carpenter became a woodpecker pecking on to the tree trunks to see if the wood is good. Then comes the goldsmith who was born as a mosquito ringing a sound: 'run - ruun - ruun' which means 'gold - o - gold'. He sings at your ear to make you remind of his lost ambition.

Arecanut man became a koravakka bird who makes a hooting sound: 'kapparaka - puwaak - puwaak' that means 'a ship full of arecanut'. The fourth one, the disobedient son, was born as a hungry fox in the forest looking for his mother, Hokki. If you closely listen to his cry, it sounds as 'Hokki - ko - hokki - ko' which means 'where is Hokki?'.

All these four went on board in search of something they could never achieve.