Raconteurs #7

Daughter: We felt an earthquake in school today.

Dad: Yes I know. We felt it too over here. I called up the school immediately and they assured me that everything was okay. It was, luckily, just a minor tremble.

Daughter: What causes earthquakes, Dad?

Dad: Oh it’s time to tell you a very interesting story.

Daughter: Yayyyyy!

Dad: There was once a tiny village and everyone there worked hard, earned well and lived a happy life.

Daughter: But…

Dad: But that happiness was destroyed by a mysterious man.

Daughter: Who was he? Where did he come from?

Dad: Nobody knows but he surely corrupted the simple men of the village. He opened a tea stall in the village and slowly everyone in the village used to come to his stall to drink tea. The men loved his tea so much that they became addicted to it. They craved for it day and night.

Daughter: What was the tea made of?

Dad: That which shall not be named.

Daughter: Ooooo… interesting.

Dad: As soon as he realised that his tea was in high demand he began to charge exorbitant prices for it. Soon enough the price of the tea was more than the price of gold.

Daughter: So they must have stopped having his tea then?

Dad: Not at all! They began to lie, steal and do everything possible to get money to drink his tea. The men were going crazy.

Daughter: Oh no! What happened next?

Dad: They even began to sell their wives’ jewelries.

Daughter: Didn’t their wives say anything to them?

Dad: Oh they tried. Try they did. But it was futile. The men weren’t listening to any reason or plea. The wife threatened that they will leave the village with their kids and never come back.

Daughter: That’s a very good plan.

Dad: But it didn’t work out well. On the advice of the tea vendor the men killed their own children and buried them in the ground.

Daughter: Why did they do that?

Dad: To teach their wives a lesson. Afterwards the men gathered at the tea stall and celebrated what they had done. The village was wiped off of all the youth. Not a child’s trace could be seen. The women of the village sobbed uncontrollably and their tears caused a massive flood.

Daughter: I thought we were talking about earthquakes!

Dad: Patience, my girl. First there were floods and then there were earthquakes. The ground trembled like never before. Cracks appeared everywhere. It is said that the soul of the children did this to avenge their mothers’ tears. The land beneath the tea stall tore open and all the men, including the tea vendor, fell in it.

Daughter: Everyone dies in this story. Doesn’t seem like a happy ending to me.

Dad: It was indeed a sad day. The women lost their children and husbands. But humans were taught an important lesson. Whenever any cruelty is done to children on this planet, this land will avenge them.

Daughter: Remember, Dad. Remember. No cruelty towards children. So from now on you are forbidden from pulling my cheeks.

Dad: Ha-ha. No earthquake is going to stop me from doing that.

(To be continued)