第29章 The Goldsmith's Fortune(2)

'A thousand gold pieces,' replied the goldsmith.

Instantly the villagers went away and each caught hold of his own wife and throttled her, and the next day they all went off to sell their dead wives.Many a weary mile did they tramp, but got nothing but hard words or laughter, or directions to the nearest cemetery, from people to whom they offered dead wives for sale.At last they perceived that they had been cheated somehow by that goldsmith.So off they rushed home, seized the unhappy man, and, without listening to his cries and entreaties, hurried him down to the river bank and flung him--plop!--into the deepest, weediest, and nastiest place they could find.

'That will teach him to play tricks on us,' said they.'For as he can't swim he'll drown, and we sha'n't have any more trouble with him!'

Now the goldsmith really could not swim, and as soon as he was thrown into the deep river he sank below the surface; so his enemies went away believing that they had seen the last of him.But, in reality, he was carried down, half drowned, below the next bend in the river, where he fortunately came across a 'snag' floating in the water (a snag is, you know, a part of a tree or bush which floats very nearly under the surface of the water); and he held on to this snag, and by great good luck eventually came ashore some two or three miles down the river.At the place where he landed he came across a fine fat cow buffalo, and immediately he jumped on her back and rode home.When the village people saw him, they ran out in surprise, and said:

'Where on earth do you come from, and where did you get that buffalo?'

'Ah!' said the goldsmith, 'you little know what delightful adventures Ihave had! Why, down in that place in the river where you threw me in Ifound meadows, and trees, and fine pastures, and buffaloes, and all kinds of cattle.In fact, I could hardly tear myself away; but Ithought that I must really let you all know about it.'

'Oh, oh!' thought the greedy village people; 'if there are buffaloes to be had for the taking we'll go after some too.' Encouraged by the goldsmith they nearly all ran off the very next morning to the river;and, in order that they might get down quickly to the beautiful place the goldsmith told them of, they tied great stones on to their feet and their necks, and one after another they jumped into the water as fast as the could, and were drowned.And whenever any one of them waved his hands about and struggled the goldsmith would cry out:

'Look! he's beckoning the rest of you to come; he's got a fine buffalo!' And others who were doubtful would jump in, until not one was left.Then the cunning goldsmith went back and took all the village for himself, and became very rich indeed.But do you think he was happy? Not a bit.Lies never made a man happy yet.Truly, he got the better of a set of wicked and greedy people, but only by being wicked and greedy himself; and, as it turned out, when he got so rich he got very fat; and at last was so fat that he couldn't move, and one day he got the apoplexy and died, and no one in the world cared the least bit.

[Told by a Pathan to Major Campbell.]