Now a little girl saw her do this and the tale was soon all over the village; but the undutiful wife never said a word about it to her husband, and it was only after some days that he heard from others of his wife’s extravagance. When it did reach his ears he seized the opportunity and at once drove her out of the house, and when a panchayat was called insisted on divorcing her for wasting his substance behind his back. No one could deny that the reason was a good one and so the panchayat had to allow the divorce. Thus he got rid of his wife without letting his real reason for doing so be known.
CXXXIX. The Father and the Father-in-Law.
There was once a Raja who had five sons and his only daughter was married to a neighbouring Raja.
In the course of time this Raja fell into poverty; all his horses and cattle died and his lands were sold. At last they had even to sell their household utensils and clothes for food. They had only cups and dishes made of gourds to use and the Raja’s wife and sons had to go and work as day labourers in order to get food to eat. At last one day the Raja made up his mind to go and visit his married daughter and ask her husband’s family to give him a brass cup (bāti) that he might have something suitable to drink out of. Off he went and when he reached the house he was welcomed very politely by his daughter’s father-in-law and given a seat and water to wash his feet, and a hookah was produced and then the following conversation began.
“Where have you come from, father of my daughter-in-law?”
“I have walked from home, father of my son-in-law?”
“You come here so often that you make me quite frightened! How is it? Is it well with you and yours? with body and skin? Would it not be well for us to exchange news?”
“Yes indeed; for how can you know how I am getting on if I do not tell you. By your kind enquiries my life has grown as big as a mountain, my bosom is as broad as a mat, and my beard has become as long as a buffalo horn.”
“And I also, father of my daughter-in-law, am delighted at your coming and enquiring about me; otherwise I should wonder where you had settled down, and be thinking that you did not know the way relations should behave to each other; at present, I am glad to say, the seed left after sowing, the living who have been left behind by death, by your favour and the goodness of God, are all doing well. Is it not a proverb. ‘The eye won’t walk, but the ear will go and come back in no time.’ Now the ear is the visitor and so far as it has looked our friends up, it is well with all, so far as I know.”