The Greatest Cheat Of Seven

: Santal Folk Tales

A great cheat married the cheating sister of seven cheats. One day

his father-in-law and seven brothers-in-law came on a visit to his

house. After conversing with them for a little, he invited them to

accompany him to the river to bathe. He carried a fishing rod with

him, and on arriving at the river cast his line into a pool, saying,

"Now, fish, if you do not instantly repair to my house, I shall not

be able to speak ell of you." This he said to deceive the others,

as before leaving home he had given a fish to his wife telling her

to prepare it for dinner. When seated at table he said to his guests,

"the fish we are now eating is the one I, in your presence, ordered to

proceed from the river to my house this forenoon." They were greatly

astonished at the wonderful properties possessed by the fishing rod,

and expressed a desire to purchase it, and offered to pay five rupees

for it. He accepted their offer, and they carried the wonderful

fishing rod home with them.



Next day they arranged to go a-fishing. They cast the line into a

pool as they had seen the cheat do, and said, "Now fish, if you do

not repair at once to our home we shall not be able to speak well

of you." Having bathed they returned home, and asked to see the

fish. Their wives said, "What fish? You gave us no fish. We have

seen no fish. Where did you throw it down?" They now knew that their

sister's husband was a cheat, so they decided to go and charge him

with having deceived them.



The cheat had notice of their coming, and quickly taking his dog with

him went to hunt. He caught a hare and bringing it home gave it to

his wife, and said, "When we reach the end of the street on our way

home from hunting, you make the dog stand near the house with the

dead hare in his mouth."



He invited his visitors to accompany him for an hour's hunting,

saying, "Come, let us go and kill a hare for dinner." So they went

to the jungle, and presently started a hare. The cheat threw a stone

at his dog, and frightened it so that it ran home. He called after

it, "If you do not catch and take that hare home, it will not be

well for you." He then said to his friends, "Come, let us return,

we will find the dog there with the hare before us." They replied,

"We doubt it much." "There is no mistake about it," he said, "We are

certain to find both dog and hare." On reaching home they found the

dog standing waiting for them with a hare in his mouth.



His brothers-in-law were astonished beyond measure at the sagacity

of the dog, and they said, "Sell this dog to us, we will pay a good

price for it." He demanded ten rupees, which they gladly paid. So

they returned home, and said nothing to him about his having cheated

them in the matter of the fishing rod.



One day, taking the dog with them, they went to hunt. It caught five

hares, and its masters were greatly delighted with its performance.



After this the cheat's house was accidentally burnt, and he gathering

the ashes together, set out for the bazaar, there to sell them. On the

way he fell in with a party of merchants who had a large bag full of

silver with them. They enquired what his bag contained, to which he

replied, "Gold." They agreed to pass the night in the same encampment,

so having partaken of their evening meal, they lay down to sleep. At

midnight the merchants rose, and exchanged the bags, and then lay

down again. The cheat saw them, and chuckled within himself. In the

morning the merchants made haste to leave, as they feared the cheat

might find out the theft of his bag. The cheat asked them before they

left to help him to lift his bag on to his bullock's back, saying,

"It was to receive assistance from you that I encamped here last

night." So having helped him to load his bullock they hurried away

lest they should be caught. The cheat carried his treasure home,

but being unable to count so much money borrowed a measure from his

father-in-law, and found he had four maunds of silver.



On returning the measure he sent along with it five seers of silver,

saying, "For the ashes of my house I received four maunds of silver,

if you reduce your houses to ashes and sell them, you will obtain very

much more." So they foolishly burnt their houses, and collecting the

ashes went to the bazaar to dispose of them. The merchants to whom

they offered them directed them to go to the washermen, saying, "They

will possibly buy." But they also refused, and they were compelled

to return home without having effected a sale. They vowed vengeance

on the cheat, and set out to find him.



When they reached his house the cheat was on the point of starting

on a journey. After mutual salutations he said, "I have just killed

my second wife. I go to receive eight maunds of silver for her

corpse. Dead bodies bring high prices." They said to him, "How about

the ashes? We could not sell them." He replied, "You did not go far

enough from home. Had you gone to a distance you would have made a

good bargain."



The cheat's youngest wife having died he washed the body, and anointed

it with oil. He then put it in a large bag, and loaded it on the back

of a bullock, and set out. On the way he came to a field of wheat, into

which he drove the animal, and then hid himself near by. The owner of

the field finding the bullock eating his wheat, beat it unmercifully

with a cudgel. The cheat then came from his hiding place, and said,

"Have you not done wrong in beating my bullock? If you have killed my

wife, where will you flee to? I fell behind, and for that reason my

ox got into your field. My wife, whom I have newly married, is weak

and unable to go on foot, so I put her into a bag to carry her home

on my bullock."



Having opened the bag the wife was found dead, and her assailant

stood self convicted of her murder. He gave her husband six maunds

of rupees as hush money, so the cheat burnt the corpse and returned

home laden with spoil.



The cheat next sent for his brothers-in-law, and shewing them the

money, said, "I killed my second wife, and got all this money by

selling the corpse." They enquired, "Who are the people who buy dead

bodies?" He replied, "They reside in the Rakas country."



Then the seven brothers killed each his youngest wife, and carried

the bodies to a distant country to dispose of them. When the

people of that country knew the object for which they had come they

said to them, "What sort of men are you hawking corpses about the

towns and villages? You must be the worst, or else most stupid of

men." Hearing this the brothers were dismayed, and began to take in

the situation. They perceived that the cheat had again deceived them,

and they retraced their steps homewards bitterly lamenting their

folly. On reaching their village they cremated the remains of their

wives, and from that day had no more dealings with the cheat.