Congratulations !
You have been awarded points.
Thank you for !
- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Drama / Human Interest
- Subject: Nature & Wildlife
- Published: 08/08/2023
It was a fine night in Mohpani village. The sky was partially cloudy and the moon was hiding in clouds again and again. It was going to be 11 o'clock. Shanker was on guard on his farm. He was a small farmer. He had six goats tied tired in an open shed.
He expected to get around fifteen thousand rupees by selling these goats. The amount was sufficient to get his house repaired. In addition to this, he hoped to have a good crop of maize so there is no lack of money this season so he was happy. Villagers were sleeping in their his and small houses. There so no sound except the occasional sound of hooting, barking, or sounds made by insects. Shanker was snoozing on a straw mattress in his machan.
All of a sudden, langurs on the trees began to hoot, snort and grunt in loud sounds. Stray dogs began to bark and flee. Shanker's sleep broke with these sounds and he looked around in the light of his torch. "there must be a leopard near around, " he spoke to himself in a low sound. He took his thick wooden stick in his hands but he had not dared to come down the machan. He began to blow his whistle. He again began to throw the light of the torch around and soon found a leopard hidden in the foliage of maize. When the light fell on the leopard, it began to wales away toward the brook. The leopard didn't want to clash with humans. Shanker murmured, "Rascal! It Came to steal my goats."
The sound made by langurs, the barking of dogs, whistle sounds, and the light of the torch spoilt its plan to grab a goat from the shed.
The leopard used to live in the deep forest on a bank of the brook which run through the forest and a branch of this brook came down to Mohpani village and run through the fields of the farmers. The leopard normally used to haunt the forest and was satisfied with whatever it got there. Since the forest was not so fertile and had a lack of animals in it. So the leopard had to attempt very hard to get prey. Sometimes it had to spend about a week without any prey. In the situation when hunger got unbearable, the leopard took a resort to Mohpani. Mohpani was the last resort for the leopard to find prey. It was easy for it to grab a goat or a dog or a calf from the village.
The next day, the leopard was the news in the village. Shanker was telling people about it.
Rahman had a little shop in the village where villagers used to buy their things. In addition to selling different things, Rahman used to buy goats, hens, eggs, and even cows from the villagers which he used to sell in the nearby town every Sunday. He was a money-conscious and greedy man.
When one morning Shanker reached Rahman's shop to sell goats. After examining the goats, Rahman said to Shanker, "I can give you ten thousand for all these six goats,"
Shanker replied, "Fifteen thousand, I want fifteen thousand. Not a rupee less than fifteen thousand."
Rahman retorted, "These goats are not worthy of even ten thousand. It is I who is giving you ten thousand. Take it or leave it."
Shankar replied politely, "You leave it, I will sell my goats in the town. I can get fifteen thousand there easily for these goats."
They could not reach a bargain. Rahman's wife was hearing their conservation from inside the house. When Shanker went, she came out and said to Rahman, "If Shanker goes to town to sell his goat, other villagers would begin to go to town to sell their products. In this way, our business will ruin. I think you should buy his goats in fifteen thousand. Something is better than nothing."
Rahman said to her, "Don't worry, he will not go to town. I will steal his goats. Neither he will have his goats, nor he will go to town to sell them."
Two days after, Rahman went to Shanker and said, "I am ready to buy your goats for fifteen thousand rupees. Here is the advance money." saying so he took out two thousand rupees from his pockets and put it in the hands of Shanker. Shankar got happy getting two thousand rupees in advance. Rahman said to him, "You are my old client. Money is not a matter. Let's enjoy a good deal."
They bought liquor from a tribal man and enjoyed it with roasted chicken. Shanker got inebriated and began to stagger. Rahman somehow managed to leave him in his house. That night Shanker didn't go to his farm to guard his goats and crop.
Here our leopard was hungry for the last seven days. Despite trying hard many times, he failed to catch prey. At last, he thought of his last resort, Mohpani. That night walking along the Brook stealthily he came to Mohpani. He had great hope for finding a goat or dog or calf. He went up to Shanker's field around midnight and entered the foliage of maize. Without making a noise and taking every step carefully he proceeded toward the enclosure where the goats were tied.
Here greedy and dishonest Rahman along with his assistant came to Shanker's field. He threw the light of his torch to the Machan and found it empty. He got happy thinking that his plan was going to be successful and he was going to get a large profit by selling the stolen goats in town. Rahman along with his assistant proceeded toward the shed. He had a wooden stick in his hand and a knife in his pocket.
Here the leopard was moving towards the enclosure. Today the conditions were in his favor. No langurs, no dogs no whistle sound, no light to hamper his endeavor. Now he can see the goats through the leaves of maize. His mouth filled with water seeing the food so near to him. He began to proceed with confidence to get the food without much trouble. The prey was helpless and tired. All of a sudden his mise sensed a smell of a human. He got alert and lowered his body and hid himself behind a big stone. He saw behind the stone that two humans were going toward the goats. Seeing this he got furious. His hunger pang was increasing. He didn't like to retreat after coming so near to the food.
Now Rahman and his assistant were untying the knots of the ropes. The leopard began to move stealthily toward the goats. When it came quite close to the goats, he ran at them. Seeing this the goats which were free began to run away. The assistant too got a chance to run away but Rahman who was still untying the knot of one of the goats, could not sense what was going on. Here the leopard failed to catch anyone turned, and his eyes fell on Rahman. In the next moment ran at Rahman giving him no chance to run. In the next instant, the leopard penetrated his teeth into Rahman's throat and began to drag him toward the brook. The assistant was calling for help but nobody was there to help him. The next day, the villagers found Rahman's half-eaten dead body on the bank of the brook.
Rahman fell victim to his greed. And after this incident, the leopard became a man-eater falling victim to his hunger. Within a few days, the leopard grabbed a man in an evening and kill them. Soon his terror spread over a large area around Mohpani and people had to stop going out after the sun set. The headmen of the villages called the forest department to get rid of the leopard. After a great endeavor, the forest department got success in shooting down the leopard near the brook.
.png)
COMMENTS (1)