Story 46 - The Four Tom-tom Beaters

THIS story is told in the Southern Province to illustrate the foolis hn ess of this caste.

Four Tom-tom Beaters when proceeding along a road together, met a man of lower caste than themselves. Before passing them he made an obeisance, and (as usual in such cases) said, “Awasara,” “Permission”—that is,

“Have I permission (to pass) ?”

—and then walked away.

While the Tom-tom Beaters were going along afterwards a dispute arose over it, each person claiming that he was the one who had been addressed, and to whom the obeisance had been made, as being the superior man of the party. Each maintaining his own view, and being unable to settle it in any other way, the four persons decided to refer the matter to the man himself. They therefore turned back and ran after him, and on overtaking him requested him to state from which of them he had asked the permission.

As the question plainly indicated the sort of persons they were, he replied,

“From the biggest fool among you.”

This left matters just where they were, as each one, in order to prove his claim to the obeisance, then declared himself to be the greatest fool; and at last they related their foolish actions. These were pointless, and I did not preserve the details. Each, however, had two wives, this being one of the grounds on which all based their claims, and the details they gave consisted of accounts of the ill-treatment that they received from these women.

 

Note:

In Indian Nights’ Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 65, a traveller threw four pence to four weavers, each of whom claimed all the money. A second traveller’s reasonable suggestion that each should take a penny was rejected, and they ran after the man, and asked for whom he had given them. When he inquired which was the wisest they told stories that only indicated their extreme stupidity, and in the end he gave them four pence each, all being equal in this respect.

The Abbe Dubois gave a similar story from the Tamil of Southern India, the men being four Brahmanas to whom a soldier said, “Sara-ijam, eiyar” (“Homage, Sir”).

The four replied,

“Asirvatam”

(“Benediction”), and the man went off. After disputing about it, they ran after him for a league, and asked him whom he saluted.

He said,

“Well, it is the biggest fool of four whom I intended to salute.”

Eventually the matter was referred to the headmen of the next village, who after hearing their accounts of their silly deeds, decided that each one might claim superiority over the others.

“Thus,” said they,

“each one of you has gained his case.”

The men were satisfied, as each had won.

In Folk-Tales of Hindustan (Shaik Chilli), p. 1, there is a version in which two men were saluted by an old woman as they passed her. After a dispute over it, when they ran back and asked her about it, she replied that she saluted the greater fool of the two. Then they related their experiences to her, and she adjudged one to be a bigger fool than the other.