Once upon a time, there lived a young man. He was a coward.
One night, he had to set out on a journey suddenly. It was well past midnight and he had to cross a forest. The path was lined with thorny bushes and thickets. There was a small lake on the outskirts of the village. "What if a wild animal comes to the lake to drink water at night?" thought the young man. He was very scared, but he had no choice. He had to set out on his journey.
Suddenly, the young man had an idea. "Let me take a bell with me," he thought. "Whenever I am frightened, I will ring the bell. It will help me get rid of my fear and also keep all the wild animals away from me."
Thinking thus, the young man took a bell and set out on his journey.
Just as he reached the lake, he saw a tiger. The tiger had come to the lake to drink water. The young man was so frightened that he stood there like a statue. He forgot to ring the bell! He could not even think of running away from there. The tiger came near the man, jumped high and pounced on him. The young man was killed. The bell fell down next to where he lay dead.
After some time, a monkey came there and sat on a branch of a tree. it was a full moon night and the brass bell was shining brightly in the moonlight. "I can see something shining down there," said the monkey to himself. So he jumped down and took the bell in his hands. Ding.. dong.. ding... dong... went the bell. The monkey was excited. he again jumped up on a branch and began to ring the bell. Ding... dong... ding...dong...
The people of the village heard the chime of the bell throughout the night. The sound seemed to come from the forest. The next morning they got the news of the young man's death. "He is lying dead near the lake," said the man who brought the news.
Someone remarked, "I am sure that a bell-demon has come to live in the forest. he kills men, drinks their blood and then rings a bell."
Soon the news of the bell-demon spread like wild fire. The outskirts of the village became deserted. Nobody dared to leave the village. Everyone was scared of the bell-demon. "The bell-demon might even come to live on the outskirts of our village." they thought.
Meanwhile, the chime of the bell continued to be heard from the forest. Ding..dong...ding...dong...
The people of the village sought their king's help. The king ordered his commander, "Go to the forest and kill the bell-demon."
The commander, who was also equally frightened, marched towards the forest with his army. After wandering for a long time, he returned empty-handed. He said to the king. "I think the bell-demon possesses illusory powers. Whenever we tried to kill him he disappeared! How can you kill someone whom you cannot even see?"
The commander's information about the bell-demon spread throughout the village. At last, the king issued a proclamation: The one who kills the bell-demon will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins.
Now it so happened that an old woman lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of the village. She thought, "I have been living here for a long time now. But I have never seen any demon. So from where has this bell-demon come? Let me find out what the matter is. I don't have many years to live. So even if the demon kills me, I an the least worried."
The old woman roamed here and there. She looked around carefully, but there were no signs of the bell-demon. She could not hear even a faint sound of a bell. Tired and disappointed, the old woman decided to return to her cottage.
Suddenly, she heard the chimes. Ding.. dong... ding... dong.. The sound came from a tree.
The old woman looked up in the tree. And what did she see? A monkey was seated in the tree! He had a brass bell in his hand!
The old woman went to the king and said, "I will kill the bell-demon.
"Then you will get ten thousand gold coins" assured the king and then added. "Even my commander and his brave soldiers could not kill the bell-demon. How will an old woman like you kill him?"
The old woman smiled and said, "I know magic. I can kill any demon with the power of my magic."
She then went to the market and bought some fruits. "Monkeys like grams," she thought. And so she bought some grams, too. Carrying the basket of fruits and grams on her head, the old woman went to the tree in which the monkey was sitting with the bell. She quickly scattered the grams on the ground. Soon many monkeys gathered to eat the grams. One of them had the brass bell in his hands!
The old woman went near that monkey and put all the fruits before him. The monkey put the bell aside and began to feast on the fruits. The old woman quickly put the bell into her basket and returned home.
She then went to the king and said proudly, "With the power of my magic, I have killed the bell-demon. And this is the bell that belonged to him."
Saying this, the old woman took out the brass bell from her basket and gave it to the king. "Now never hear the chime of the bell," she said.
From that day, the chime of the bell stopped coming from the forest. When a few days had passed quietly in this manner, the king and the people of the village were sure that the bell-demon had really been killed.
One day the king sent for the old woman and praied her highly. As promised he then ordered his minister, "Give this brave old woman the reward of ten thousand gold coins."
The old woman said, "What will I do with ten thousand gold coins? I request you to use the amount to educate children and serve the poor and the needy."
Everybody praised the old woman for her generosity and bravery.
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