“Grandmother, grandmother, return me my fuel or give me all your puddings.”
She was unable to return him the fuel, and so had to give him all her puddings.
The monkey with the basket of puddings on his head walked and walked till he met a Paraiya[1] coming with a tom-tom towards him.
“Brother Paraiya,” said the monkey, “I have a basketful of puddings to give you. Will you, in return, present me with your tom-tom?”
The Paraiya gladly agreed, as he was then very hungry, and had nothing with him to eat.
The monkey now ascended with the tom-tom to the topmost branch of a big tree and there beat his drum most triumphantly, saying in honour of his several tricks:
“I lost my tail and got a razor; ḍum ḍum.”[2]
“I lost my razor and got a bundle of fuel; ḍum ḍum.”
“I lost my fuel and got a basket of puddings; ḍum ḍum.”
“I lost my puddings and got a tom-tom; ḍum ḍum.”
Thus there are rogues in this innocent world, who live to glory over their wicked tricks.
