The Wooden Farmer

Long-long ago, at the foothills of the great Himalayas there was a small village called Devgram. There once lived a peasant called Varad with his wife Meera, and their two children. Varad was a very hard-working man and his crops always used to be the best in the entire region. There was only one problem. Varad was always complaining about having to do all his work by himself. Meera and his children helped him as much as they could. Still, whenever Varad looked at the servants working in the fields of the big landlord, his desire to have someone do all the work for him grew stronger.

One day a saint, on his way to the great Himalayas, arrived in Devgram. Struck by the beauty of the small village, the saint decided to spend a few days there. The villagers accepted the saint as their guest and began looking after his needs. One day, Meera made some corn cakes and took them to the saint. While the saint was deep in his prayers, she cleaned the place, fetched fresh water, and then sat there waiting for the saint to open his eyes.

When the saint regained his consciousness, he was very pleased with Meera's devotion. He agreed to have some corn cakes she had brought. When the saint started eating, to his surprise the cake simply melted in his mouth. The taste and aroma was of the food was enchanting. "Where did you get such sweet corn to make this cake daughter," he asked. "I made the cake from the corn that my husband grows in his field," said Meera. The saint blessed her again and asked her to send Varad over to him in the evening.

Varad came over in the evening and paid his respects to the saint. "I am happy with the respect you and your wife have shown me. If you want anything, say it, and I will make your wish come true," said the saint. For Varad it was a dream come true. His age-old desire to have someone do all his work for him crossed his mind. He expressed his wish in front of the saint. The saint smiled and asked, "Will that make you happy my son?" "Yes Swami," said Varad, "that and only that can make me happy." "So be it," said the saint. He took out a small wooden image of a man and gave it to Varad. "This image will come to life tomorrow morning when I leave this village. It will obey all your orders tirelessly. I will come back next year and see how happy it makes you by then." Saying this, the saint closed his eyes and again went into a trance.

Varad was elated. He kept staring at the wooden image and hardly slept that night. When he woke up, to his surprise, the wooden image was gone! Then suddenly there was a knock on the door. Verad opened the door to find a strongly built man in worker's clothes who said, "I am here master. What can I do for you?" The saint's words had come true. Now Varad had someone to take care of all his work while he could spend his time relaxing and enjoying himself.

From that day Varad stopped doing any work. His servant tilled the land, looked after the cattle, drew water from the well for the field, mended the fences, fixed the roof, and took care of all of Varad's requirements. All this time Varad just rested and spoiled himself. Gradually Varad stopped moving out of the house altogether. He just ate and slept.

The first few weeks passed happily for Varad. Then his body, used to hard work, began revolting against this total lack of activity. His once well-formed body began to grow flabby. He started losing his appetite and found it harder to sleep. Meanwhile, his servant carried out all his orders tirelessly. On Varad's orders he had sown corn in the field and due to his hard labor the crop was coming up very good.

As the corn grew, so did Varad's problems. Now he could hardly eat and became fatter and fatter. His legs could hardly support his weight. His hands lost their strength. He couldn't sleep for days and illness became his constant companion. He felt weak, sick, and very unhappy.

When the crop was ready, Varads' servant harvested it and brought it home. Hoping that new corn would do Varad some good, Meera made his favorite corn cakes for him. The moment Varad took a bite he spat it out. The corn cakes tasted like sawdust. Varad was devastated. All his hopes of making a fortune from the crop were dashed.

With a useless crop, failing health and little money Varad started becoming more irritable. He shouted at Meera and children too. Still, unable to figure out the true reason for all the troubles, he kept himself confined to the bed. Varad was really sick now and no medicine did him any good.

It was a hot summer day. Varad was very sick. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Meera opened the door and there stood the saint who had made Varad's wish come true. Meera broke into tears and told him the entire story. The saint smiled and placed his hand on Varad's forehead. Varad slowly opened his eyes and on recognizing the saint he started to cry. The saint asked, "Are you happy my son?" Varad could only shake his head as he cried.

"You wanted someone to do all your work, but what is life without hard work," said the saint. "The softness and aroma of your corn came from your effort. The corn grown by a man of wood can only taste like sawdust."

Varad realized his mistake. The saint agreed to stay back and soon cured Varad with a combination of herbs and exercises. Then one day, Varad and Meera woke up to find that the saint and the servant were gone. On Varad's bedside lay the wooden image as a reminder: "You cannot enjoy anything in life without hard work."