Gopi’s Trip

“Gopi, Gopi!”

“Yes Mom.”, he replied.

“Your father is working in the field since morning. He must be feeling hungry. Take this breakfast for him.” Handling a packet to him she said.

“Ok.”

“It’s late. Be quick otherwise you know his anger.”

“Sure, I will.”

He moved towards the field where his father was passionately waiting for the breakfast. Viewing Gopi coming slowly, his anger increased. As he approached near, father began to scold him.

“You stupid, other’s sons are helping their parents in every activity but being late teenager, you are just a roaming bird moving here and there. Do something for your parents and comfort us.”

He talked inside, “Don’t worry father, I will do something great and you will be proud of me one day.”

After father’s breakfast, he collected the buckets and moved towards home. As he reached home, mother asked if father was angry with him. He said that father did not like the vegetable because it was not delicious.

Mother asked, “What shall I do?”

Gopi said, “Father has said to prepare the meat of the black goat nicely.”

“Really?”

“Yes mom.”

“Ok, do the same then.”

It was a fat chance for Gopi. He slaughtered the goat and prepared the meat. The mother cooked deliciously and kept waiting. Gopi ate to his full tommy and kept waiting for the father to come. When the father arrived he asked the mother, “What is the item you have cooked now? Please serve me I am dying of hunger.”

“What? Didn’t you say to prepare the meat of the goat?” “I have do ne the same.”

“What? Where is that lazy boy? Call him; I will give a nice beating.”

Hearing this, Gopi ran away.

He kept moving and moving. After a long time, he reached near a small town. Two burglars saw the boy moving alone. He was wearing two silver bangles in both hands. The burglars approached to him and asked to give the bangles. He could not deny because he was alone and there was no one to help him. The burglars tried to pull the bangles out of his hands but failed. They tried a lot but could not.

Eventually they said, “We will cut your hands take it.” Gopi said, “Wait, let’s go to the town. There is a gold smith. I will tell him to cut it and give to you.” “That’s a good idea. Let’s go.”, said the burglars.

As they reached the town, Gopi said, “Both of you wait here. If you come with me, I will tell the truth about you and you can be arrested by the police. Wait here for me.” Both burglars agreed. He went to a nearby hotel and asked the owner if he needed any servant. He said he needed. Gopi told the owner that he had two servants and he wanted to keep him there. The owner did not trust him. Gopi assured about the servants.

The owner asked, “How can I believe that they want to stay here and work?”

 “Trust me; both of them want to work.”

“Well, let me know from them.”

“Ok.” Shouting towards the burglars Gopi asked, “One or two?”

Burglars thought that the boy was asking about the bangles. They pointed together, “Both.”

“Ok boy, how much should I pay for them?”

Gopi said that they owed 5,000 rupees to his parents.

The owner of the shop paid Gopi the same amount. He took money and told the shop owner to bring them for work. As Gopi moved from there, owner’s workers went to the burglars and told them to join the work. They were shocked when they came to know the reality. But Gopi had already run far away.

After a long walk, he found a tree and climbed on it and sitting on a branch of a tree, he began to count the money. Meanwhile, a horse rider came along the way and saw the boy with huge about of money. He shouted at him and asked where he got the money. Gopi said that at the top of the tree, there is a lot of money. He succeeded collecting that much amount of money.

The horse rider asked Gopi to get down the tree and catch the horse. He got down and caught it. The horse rider kept climbing the tree asking where it was. Gopi told him to climb much higher. He climbed as high as he could. At last, Gopi told him with scorn, “You stupid, can money be found at the top of the tree?” With these words, he got on the horse and ran away. Before he got down the tree, Gopi had run a long way.

He kept riding the horse and eventually reached near a flooded river. An elderly woman, with his daughter, was sitting anticipating someone to help them cross the river. As the old lady saw Gopi, she asked his help to cross the river. He looked at the girl. She was very beautiful. She looked at him too and blushed. He told the old lady that he would help but at first he would take the girl next side of the river. He asked her what the girl’s name was. The old lady replied, “Cheli.” The old lady asked what his name was. Gopi answered, “Jwai.”

Gopi decided to take the girl on his back of the horse and move ahead to cross the river. The girl did not oppose instead she happily rode on the horse. The old lady kept waiting on the bank of the river expecting the boy to come back and help her cross the river. When Gopi crossed the river, instead returning back to help the old lady, he took the girl and ran away.

The old lady kept yelling, “Help! Help! Help!”

Some people gathered and asked what the problem was. The old lady told in tears, “My Cheli has been taken away by Jwai. Someone help me to get my Cheli back.”

The villagers got amazed and asked, “What’s wrong. Cheli can be taken by Jwai. That’s very common.”

The old lady said, “She was everything for me. Please get her back.”

But the villagers thought the lady was out of mind and maybe the son-in-law took Cheli without her permission.

They dispersed.

With the girl behind his on the back of horse, Gopi reached in a village. He asked people for a safe shelter. But nobody answered positively. Eventually, an elderly person advised him to go to a farm house nearby. There was only an old caretaker with hearing disability. Gopi went to the farm house; met the old person and asked about the shelter. The old man asked them to say in loud voice informing his problem.

Both Gopi and the girl asked about the shelter and he agreed but in one condition that they had to prepare the food themselves.  Both of them agreed and began to live there.

After living some time, some villagers notices new couple in the village and came to inquire. They said that they were unmarried and waiting for the sacred moment for marriage. This event spread rapidly in the village. Many persons came to see them. Among them, some girls asked about their exact marriage date and time.

Gopi did not want to tell his problem. As the girls insisted, he said, “Dear Girls, we are not worried about the marriage but right now we do not have any jewelry and how could I marry her without it.” He looked at the girls and continued, “And you know very well that a bride only looks beautiful when she is jewelry and ornaments.”

The girls discussed and one of them said, “Well, we have some ornaments. We can lend you for your marriage. And after marriage, you have to give us back, it that ok?”

Without any delay, Gopi agreed.

The girls began to ask about the sacred time for marriage. Gopi agreed for the marriage next week. He began to prepare for the marriage. He asked village boys also to manage the things. After few days, the girls gave a lot of ornaments and jewelry to Gopi. He received it and thanked them.  

Next day the girls, who had given the jewelries and ornaments, came to Gopi and asked, “Actually, we do not know your name. Could you tell us your name?”

“Oh! My name, my name is Suesue.”

One of the girls said, “Suesue? What a funny name!?

Next day, there was marriage celebration. Villagers gathered and eventually both of them were married. The girls came to Gopi and asked him to return the ornaments and jewelries. Gopi told them with smile, “Today is our first marriage night. If girl comes into the room fully as bride, she will look most beautiful. So, I humbly request you all to leave the ornaments and jewelries for the night. I will return it tomorrow.”

Girls agreed and departed.

The girls arrived next morning but they were shocked because Bhola had disappeared from the farm house. One of the girls asked the caretaker, “Uncle, where is Suesue?”

The caretaker stared at the girls and asked instead, “You shameless girls, should I show bathroom to urinate?”

“No uncle, those boy and girl, who were married last day,” one of the girls asked.

“Oh! They moved to their house this morning.”

“Oh no!” All the girls shouted one at a time.

Gopi’s parents were very happy because he had returned back with a daughter-in-law, a horse, money and jewelries. The villagers were thrown a feast by Gopi’s parents and both of them were heartily accepted in the family and society.

After some time, all those two burglars, the horseman, the old lady and girls gathered together with only aim to find the boy and get their belongings back.

Asking several persons about the boy, eventually, they found Gopi’s house. He was surprised but calmly welcomed all.

All of them were angry with him for cheating. They wanted their belongings back. Gopi and his parents told them to stay calm and give them an opportunity to serve them. Parents requested to spend the night for a small feast that night. They were not accepting the proposal but some villagers also came and requested because it was getting late. Eventually, they agreed.

That evening, Gopi, his parents and some villagers managed special items for the guests. They were served delicious dishes and were happy for the nice treat. All of them were given separate bed in a big guestroom.

Before they slept, Gopi came to the guestroom to say goodnight to all. He conveyed unique information recently issued by the local authority in collaboration with the village people. He told them that no one was allowed to ruin the bed at night and if they did so, they would be arrested by police. The guests were astonished and wondered how they could do so because they could not remember any night as much as they could recall.

Gopi had already put some oil cake in water that evening.

At about midnight, Gopi with a bucket of water and some soaked oil cake, came inside the guestroom. He poured some water on the bed and put some semiliquid oil cake on every guest’s back. After some time, one of the guests got up; felt a bit uncomfortable and touched back. He found something semiliquid on his back. As smelt, its odor was same like stool. He made wake up to other guests. They all got up one by one and found the same condition. All surprised and shocked, had had short talk and eventually decided to run away because they could not stand the insult as they had not brought extra clothes. They all, before dawn, ran away from there. Gopi’s parents did not know the reason but he was happy to have his plan executed because he did not want to be away from anything what he had achieved with unique effort and hard struggle.

He, with his wife and parents, lived happily without any disturbance in the future.