‘To be sure, that’s the first thing I did do,’ replied his wife. ‘I went into a rage and gave her a piece of my mind. Don’t I know how to act in such circumstances? The wretched woman fell at my feet and started crying.’
Rai Sahib said, ‘You should’ve said that if you even mentioned it to Rai Sahib, he would chew you out.’ He hugged his wife in great excitement.
‘Rest assured, I said quite a lot, but she was not one to give up. She was crying herself to death.’
‘I hope you haven’t given her your word.’
‘Word? I’ve taken the money and tucked it away in the strong box. They were paper notes.’
‘How absolutely stupid! I don’t know when God will give you any sense, if ever.’
‘Doesn’t seem likely now! If He were going to give me any, He would have done it by now.’
‘Quite so. You didn’t even tell me; you just grabbed the money and locked it up. If anyone finds out, I’ll be ruined.’
‘Well, think about it then. If you feel it might get you into trouble, I’ll go and return the money.’
‘Once again, you’re being stupid. What was destined to happen has happened. Now I will have to depend on God’s mercy and grant bail to the fellow. Don’t you realize it’s like putting your finger inside a serpent’s mouth? You know all too well that I hate such things and yet you get impatient. I have to violate my principles because of your stupidity. I’d decided not to interfere with the course of the law, but your stupidity has pre-empted it.’
‘Let me go and return the money.’
‘And let me go and take some poison.’
While the couple was indulging in this bit of play-acting, Damrhi was cutting some barley from the village headman’s field. He had gone home after taking leave for the night. He saw that there wasn’t a single straw for his bullocks to eat. Several days were still to go before pay day; there was no money to buy their fodder. His family had gathered some grass during the day to feed the bullocks, but that was like a drop in the ocean. The bullocks stood there, still hungry. At the sight of Damrhi they raised their tails and started bellowing. As he came closer, they started licking his hand. Damrhi felt his heart wrench but nothing could be done at that late hour. ‘Come morning, I’ll borrow money from someone and buy some fodder,’ he thought.
But when he awoke at around eleven o’clock, he saw that the bullocks were still standing before their trough. It was a clear moonlit night and it seemed to Damrhi that both animals were gazing at him with imploring eyes. Tears welled up in his own eyes to see them starving. Bullocks are as dear to a farmer as his sons. He considers them not brutes, but his friends and helpers. Sleep left Damrhi’s eyes when he saw the bullocks standing there hungry. He thought for a moment, then picked up his sickle and went out in search of fodder.
Barley and millet crops stood ready in the fields outside the village. Damrhi’s hands were shaking but the thought of his hungry bullocks pushed him to action. He could have cut several sheaves of the crop if he wanted, but he didn’t. Despite this pilfering he was not really a thief. He cut only as much fodder for his bullocks as was necessary for the night. He thought that even if somebody happened to see him, he would say that he had to do this for his starving bullocks. He was sure that no one would blame him for taking a little bit of fodder. He wasn’t cutting the crop with the intention of selling it, after all. No one could possibly be cruel enough to blame him. ‘If worse comes to worst, he might ask me to pay for it.’ He pondered deeply over his act and felt that the meagre quantity of the fodder would save him from any accusation of theft. A thief would have cut as much as he could carry on his head; he wouldn’t worry about another’s profit or loss. Had a villager noticed Damrhi taking away the fodder, he would certainly have been annoyed, but no one would have levelled charges of theft against him. But as luck would have it, the beat constable from the circle police station was passing by. He had got wind of a gambling den in the local trader’s house and was looking to make some bucks from the gamblers. When he saw Damrhi lifting the fodder on his head, he grew suspicious. Who was cutting a harvest so late at night? It might be some thief stealing the crop. He bellowed, ‘Who’s there carrying the crop? Stand still!’
Startled, Damrhi turned to see that it was the police constable! He went limp with fright and stammered, ‘Huzoor, I’ve cut just a little. You can see for yourself.’
‘Little or a lot, it’s a case of theft. Whose crop is this?’
‘Baldev Mehto’s.’
The constable had thought that he’d come upon a lucrative prey. But now his hopes were dashed. He caught hold of Damrhi and dragged him to the hamlet. But there too he drew a blank. So he took him to the police station where the station officer promptly pressed charges of theft against him. The case was brought to Rai Sahib’s court.
When Rai Sahib saw Damrhi standing accused he felt no sympathy for him. On the contrary, he hardened his heart. ‘You’ve brought me infamy. This doesn’t make any difference to you? You’ll spend a couple of months in jail; I am the one who is embarrassed. People will say that Rai Sahib has got a bunch of crooks for
