Elixir of youth

Ramu and his wife wanted to regain their lost years. They decided to set a trap for the owl which held the key to their quest...

Illus: for YW_sreejith r.kumar

Ramu, a farmer, had become too old to work. One day, he was feeling miserable that he sat under a tree and began to cry. Suddenly, an owl appeared in front of him.

“Why are you crying, old man?” asked the owl.

Ramu said, “Well, I am old and can’t work any longer. How will I feed my family?”

The owl took pity on the old farmer and said, “I will give you an egg everyday. Eat it, and it will make you younger and stronger. Then, you will be able to work again.”

Ramu ate the egg and immediately felt revived. He thanked the owl and returned home. His wife, Veena, saw her husband looking healthier and exclaimed, “Ramu, you look better!”

Ramu told her about the owl. Immediately, Veena said, “How about me? I want to become younger too.”

Request for a favour

So, the next day, Ramu asked the owl, “Dear Owl! It is not right that I alone should become younger. My wife too, needs to get younger. Can you spare an egg for her too?”

The owl replied, “Ramu. You can share the one egg with your wife. That way, both of you will become a little younger every day.”

Happy to hear this, Ramu took the egg home to his wife. They both shared the egg and at once felt better.

Days passed and Ramu and Veena became younger. However, the change was gradual. Veena wanted to regain her youth faster. So, she told Ramu, “Husband, we are becoming young slowly. I want us to become youthful soon.”

“But how can we do that?

“By eating many eggs every day, instead of having to share one. You should catch the owl and bring it home. Then, we can have as many eggs as we want and we will become younger in no time.”

Ramu wasn’t sure, but his wife convinced him. So, that day, when the owl appeared, Ramu caught it.

“What are you doing, Ramu?” the owl asked.

“I’m going to take you home and make you give us an egg every hour,” he said.

The owl shook its head, “You humans are so greedy. Never happy with what you get, you always want more. Well, now you will not even get even one egg a day.”

So saying, the owl wriggled out of Ramu’s hands and flew away.

Ramu went home, a disappointed man.