Shekhchilli was very poor. He was also a number one fool and a slacker. Even food was not cooked in his house for many days. Seeing all this, one day Shekhchilli’s wife got very angry. She shouted at Shekhchilli, “I am fed up with this poverty. I can’t live in this condition anymore. I will not let you enter the house unless you bring it after earning.
Having said this, Shekhchilli was sent out of the house by his wife to earn money. Also gave him four dry breads, so that if he feels hungry on the way, he can eat. Fearing the anger of his wife, Shekhchilli left the house in search of work.
Shekhchilli first went to the moneylender of his village. He thought that the moneylender would definitely hire him, but on the contrary, the moneylender scolded him and drove him away. After this Shekhchilli wandered from village to village in search of work, but did not go back home, as his wife angrily told him not to return home without a job.
When Shekhchilli got very tired of walking, he saw a well nearby and sat on its platform. Now he was also feeling very hungry, so he took out dry breads from his pot, but he was so hungry that these four breads were not going to fill his stomach. Seeing the chapatis, he started thinking again and again that if he had eaten all the chapatis now, what would he do later. In this upheaval, Shekhchilli used to count the rotis every time by taking them out of the bundle and putting them back inside.
At last when he could not think of anything, he thought of seeking help from the god of the well. He stood in front of the well with folded hands and said, “O Lord, now you only help me.” I am very hungry, but these four breads will not fill my stomach and I have eaten these breads now, so what will I eat tomorrow? I haven’t even got a job yet. Now you tell me what should I do? Should I eat one, should I eat two, should I eat three, or should I eat all four?” Now there was no god living in that well, who would have answered his questions.
On the contrary, four fairies used to live in the well, who got scared after hearing Shekhchilli’s words. They thought that some monster had come outside the well, which would eat them. Just because of this fear, the four fairies came out of the well begging for mercy from the demon. As soon as he came out of the well, he folded his hands in front of Shekhchilli and said, “O demon king! You are very powerful. You are unnecessarily thinking of eating all four. If you have mercy on us, we can give you some such things, then you will be of great use.
Shekhchilli was surprised to see the fairies in front of him and could not understand what he said to the fairies. Seeing Shekhchilli silent, the fairies thought that Rakshasaraj had accepted them. Therefore, giving a puppet and a bowl to Shekhchilli, he said, “O demon king! This puppet will obey everything you say. He will do whatever you say and this bowl will give you whatever you want to eat. Saying this the fairies went back to the well.
Shekhchilli was very happy to hear this and thought that now he should go back home. His wife would be very happy to see all these things, but by then it was too late in the night, so he reached a nearby village. There he prayed for a man to stay in his house for the night. He promised that in return he would feed her and her family with good sweets and dishes. Hearing this, the man took Shekhchilli inside the house with him.
When all the members of the house were sitting in a room, Shekhchilli took out his bowl and asked him to give different sweets and delicious food. As soon as he said this, there was a pile of sweets and different types of dishes. When everyone had eaten their fill, the wife of the owner of the house started going to wash the dishes, but Shekhchilli stopped her and said that my puppet would clean all these dishes. Suffice it to say that the puppet cleaned all the utensils in a pinch.
The owner of the house and his wife got greedy after seeing the bowl of shekhchilli and the puppet. Then as Shekhchilli fell asleep, they stole all the things from his bag and replaced them with a fake bowl and a puppet. The next morning Shekhchilli woke up and after washing his hands and face picked up his bag and went towards the house.
As soon as he reached home, he started bragging in front of his wife. Shekhchilli said, “Fortunately, now you do not need to do any work nor do you need to worry about food and drink. Whatever you say, this puppet will do that work and whatever you want to eat, this bowl will bring in front of you”, but Shekhchilli’s wife did not believe his words at all. She said, “I don’t believe, you prove it.” What was it then, Shekhchilli asked the bowl and the puppet to show their tricks, but both those things were fake, so how could they show their magic. Seeing this, Shekhchilli’s wife became more angry and scolded him a lot.
Shekhchilli became sad after listening to his wife and went back to the platform of the same well and sat down. He could not understand what to do and started crying bitterly. Hearing her cry, the four fairies came out of the well and asked Shekhchilli the reason for her crying. Shekhchilli narrated the whole story to him. The fairies laughed after listening to him. They said, “We thought you were a dangerous monster, that is why we gave you those magical things to make you happy, but you are a very ordinary person. don’t you worry We will help you. We are giving you a rope and a stick. Taking these, once again go to the house of the person who stole your things. Tie them with this rope and beat them with sticks. After that the family will give you your things back. As soon as he said this, the fairies went back to the well.
After obeying the fairies, Shekhchilli again went to the same house. He said to the owner of the house, “This time I will show you a new magic.” The man got greedy and allowed Shekhchilli to stay in his house again. On getting Shekhchilli’s order to go inside the house, the magical rope tied the owner of the house and his wife and the sticks started beating them fiercely. Due to pain, both husband and wife started shouting loudly and started apologizing to Shekhchilli. Shekhchilli said, “You have cheated me. You have broken my trust by stealing my stuff. This stick will not stop until you return my things. On hearing this, the husband and wife returned his things to Shekhchilli. After this Shekhchilli ordered the rope and pole to stop.
On getting both the things, Shekhchilli happily returned home. Seeing Shekhchilli, his wife shouted angrily, “You have returned again! If you enter the house, I will beat you with a rolling pin. Hearing this, Shekhchilli mentally ordered the rope and the stick to tie his wife and start beating her. Seeing the wonder of the rope and the stick, the wife got scared and promised Shekhchilli that she would never misbehave with him again. After this, he got rid of the rope and pole somewhere. After this Shekhchilli showed the wonders of magic puppets and bowls.
Learning from the story:
We should never cheat or be greedy with anyone. Its result is always bad.
