Once upon a time, there lived a robber in a village. One day, he stole a temple bell and ran towards the forest. A tiger heard the jingle of the bell and became curious to locate the sound. As soon as he saw the robber, he pounced on him and killed him at once. The bell fell on the ground. After a few days, a group of monkeys that was passing by, spotted the bell and picked it up.
Every night they used to sit on the top of the hill in the forest and enjoy the melodious sound of the bell. The villagers were curious to know rang the bell every night in the forest. When they went into the forest to find the source of the sound, they found the remains of the dead body of the robber. They got scared and thought, “There must be some evil spirit around here that kills human beings and then rings the bell to celebrate.”
They started fleeing from the village in order to save their lives. They even informed the king that their village was being haunted by some evil spirit. Nobody from the entire kingdom wanted to risk his life and find out what the matter was.
There was an intelligent and bold woman in that village. She thought to herself, “I don’t think there is any evil spirit haunting the forest. I will find out who is ringing the bell.” One night, she went into the forest bravely and found out that it was only some playful monkeys that were ringing the bell.
Now as the woman knew the secret about the bell, she went to the king and said, “Your Majesty! I am sure this evil spirit can be conquered by worshipping the gods. If you give me some money, I will buy stuff to perform a pooja that will kill the demon and bring happiness to the village once again.” The king gladly granted the request of the woman.
The woman bought some peas, groundnuts and fruits with the money that she had received. In the night, she went to the forest and kept all the eatables under the trees where the monkeys played. She then hid herself in a nearby bush and watched the monkeys from a distance.
As the woman had rightly anticipated, when the monkeys saw the eatables, they dropped the bell and ran to pick the eatables. The woman picked up the bell quickly and ran towards the village. She presented the bell in the court of the king. The king rewarded the woman for her bravery. Since that day, no noise ever came from the forest and the villagers lived peacefully.
That is why it is said that we must not be afraid of every small or unknown thing. Every fear can be conquered with intelligence and courage.
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