THE RAT AND THE FOOD

200 years back in the region of Himachal in India was a small village Unniase. In India it is custom that people pray to idols of their gods. All have such a faith on their gods that they do not cut or kill animals, as they are believed to be the messengers of god. In Unniase there is a custom that every one must keep a pet rat and give him every day one chapatti to eat. And if there was anything left it was to be buried in the ground. It was a common belief that if any one did not follow this god will punish him.

There In Unniase lived a poor man Brijh, he was so poor that he found it very hard to feed himself with what he earned in doing labor whole day. But he always fed his mouse with not one but two chapattis. He used to think "if god bless man who gives one chapatti to his mouse then he will bless me twice". Brijh had a friend ramesh. Ramesh did not follow the custom of giving chapatti to mouse he did not have one mouse. His belief was that there was nothing in believing such things and all who believed it were superstitious. He never cared what Brijh told him. He was so arrogant that he once slapped Brijh when he said him to keep a mouse. One reason that Brijh used to give two chapattis to his mouse was to protect his friend ramesh from curse of god. He and ramesh lived in the same hut they both were orphans and were brought up by an old man who was no more and they inherited the poor hut from him. The hut was merely a place to hide. It was so old that it used to leak in rain and at the time of snowfall snow used to creep in from the holes in the walls.

In the month of June Unniase faced a drought.
There was no fieldwork so Brijh and ramesh did not get much work and earned very less they could only afford food for one time. But Brijh continued giving his rat 2 chapattis per day. This enraged ramesh he every day cursed the rat for the ill health of Brijh. One day Brijh could earn only 2 chapattis. He gave them to his rat but ramesh picked them up and returned them to Brijh saying I had earned 5 chapattis take 2 from me Brijh ate one and he though of eating the next one after burying the left over of food his rat. When he entered the hut he saw nothing in his rat. He thought 'can my rat eat 2 chapattis' he realized ramesh's trick. He gave his 1 chapatti to his rat and prayed to god to forgive ramesh.

Next day Brijh could not find ramesh. He searched him all day all night. He returned home empty handed he did not work that day. He asked sorry to his rat. When he was going to wash his rat as their tradition. He noticed bloodstains below his rat's jaws and at his paws. he trembled that can the old tails be true that if anyone disturbed the rats the rats ate them. He threw it and went to the place where he used to burry the left over food of his rat. Suddenly he felt shock of his life when he saw ramesh's bloody head in the ground. But he was amazed how a rat could do it. Suddenly he felt a push at his back i...

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