STORYTELLING
Asking for Guidance from the Mother of the Thief
A bitter and laughable reality
This one time, in a rural village, there was a farmer who owned a few bulls and cows. The farmer was accustomed to working hard and always took good care of his animals. Due to his diligent care, he had one of the best bulls and cows in the area. However, not everyone shared his hard-working mindset, as some preferred to take shortcuts.
One particular morning, the farmer discovered that his best bull had been stolen overnight. He already had a suspect in mind: one of his neighbors, who had a history of theft, including an unproven theft of a cow. The farmer directly confronted his neighbor about the stolen bull, but the neighbor immediately denied any involvement.
Frustrated, the farmer made a complaint with the head of the village, and his neighbor was summoned for an inquiry.
The farmer lacked solid evidence, only having suspicions that were not strong enough to implicate the neighbor. Therefore, the head of the village couldn’t take direct action. Despite this, the head of the village was hesitant to declare the innocence of the neighbor due to his bad history.
As the situation remained at a standstill, the neighbor himself suggested a solution. He claimed that there was a powerful deity residing in an ancient jack tree in the jungle. According to him, seeking the deity’s guidance would resolve the matter once and for all.
The head of the village loved this suggestion. It provided an easy path of escape by transferring the responsibility to the unknown party, and if there was any error in judgment, he would not be blamed. It was decided to consult the deity the next kemmura day (Wednesday and Saturday, auspicious days according to our ancestors).
The farmer had no choice but to accept this solution, as he did not have an alternative.
On the next kemmura day, all parties — the head of the village, the farmer, and his neighbor — gathered around the ancient jack tree in the jungle. The tree appeared to be centuries old, and like many aged jack trees, it was hollow with only an outer shell remaining.
After offering five-colored flowers, they burned some incense and lit a coconut oil lamp. Then, the head of the village humbly presented the case to the deity residing in the tree.
“O powerful one, please help us to find what happened to this innocent farmer’s bull. Was the bull stolen?”
The response came immediately from the jack tree. “Yes, the bull was stolen. The thief is from a faraway village,” said a deep female voice, the lady of the tree for sure.
Upon further inquiry, the head of the village received some directions, too, and he was overjoyed. The case was successfully resolved, and the criminal was beyond his jurisdiction, relieving him of the responsibility.
The neighbor now wore a frown. He was not pleased about the wrongful accusation, but to demonstrate his good character, he was willing to join the expedition to find the bull, provided the farmer was interested. Of course, an apology was expected.
The farmer found himself in a difficult position. First, his bull was stolen, and now he was guilty of defamation of character. Despite these troubles, he only had some general information pointing to faraway places instead of the bull. How fair was this as a judgment? The judgment process itself also seemed suspicious.
Addressing the other two, the farmer stated that he accepted the solution. Furthermore, he sincerely apologized to his neighbor for the accusation and expressed gratitude for any assistance in locating the bull.
The farmer further stated that he first needed to pay respects to the powerful lady of the tree. He cleaned the surrounding area and gathered all fallen leaves along with weeds. Then, he lit these leaves and plants. Before doing so, he checked the direction of the wind and was careful enough to place the fire so that the smoke traveled toward the tree.
Since there were plenty of fresh weeds, the fire produced mostly thick smoke rather than flames. In a moment, the smoke surrounded the tree.
A surprising thing happened: the lady of the tree emerged from the jack tree, but why was she coughing heavily? The lady of the tree attempted to run away, but the farmer easily intercepted and removed the hood of the deity, revealing the face of the neighbor’s mother.
The neighbor tried to flee but was prevented by the strong grip of the head of the village. Upon close inspection, it became clear that the hollow space in the tree was large enough for a person to hide. It seemed like the neighbor had asked his mother to hide there beforehand and to act as the lady of the tree.
The neighbor was punished, and his mother received an earful from the head of the village. The farmer got his bull. Later, this story was spread everywhere. Whenever somebody sought justice from the guilty party, this story was remembered as “Asking for guidance from the mother of the thief.”
Why did I suddenly remember this story?
Well, first, my friend Okwywrites shared some very interesting proverbs recently. I couldn’t let her have all the fun, could I?
But the real reason is a somewhat ugly political issue. In Sri Lanka, there is a committee to inquire into corruption in government organizations, consisting of members of parliament. The recently appointed president of this committee was severely accused of theft.
Not a high-profile case of embezzlement or bribery, which are common among our politicians, but rather, he was said to be a low-level thief who later became a thug for politicians. Eventually, he joined active politics and became a member of parliament as well.
The appointment of such a person for this responsibility is a laughable but a bitter truth. Forget impartial decisions; the whole arrangement was an insult. He will surely favor the corrupted officers backed by their party.
Hence, this is a perfect example of our little story, “Asking for guidance from the mother of the thief”.
So my friends, do not seek guidance from thieves and their mothers, ever.