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Today’s story is another from Amber’s World Lit class. “The Brahmin’s Dream” is also from India, a part of the The Panchatantra.

A poor Brahmin lived in a village. He begged for a living and one day got some barley-meal. He ate a bit and put the rest in a pot that he hung by his cot. As he stared at the pot, he began to daydream.

He dreamt that if a famine came to the land, then he could sell it for a hundred rupees. With these silver coins, he would buy a pair of goats. They would have kids in every six months and soon he would acquire a herd of goats. Then he would trade the goats for cows and then buffaloes and then mares. The mares would have horses and he would sell them. with the gold he earned he would buy a large house. Soon, a wealthy man would come buy and offer his daughter in marriage, along with a dowry. They would marry and soon the wife would have a son. When the son was old enough to ride on his knee, he would take a book, sit on the stable roof, and think. Then the son would see him, jump from his mother’s lap in his eagerness to ride on his knee, and would go too near the horses. Then he would get angry and tell his wife to take the boy. But she would be busy with her chores and would not pay attention to what he said. Then he would get up and kick her.

Buried in his dream, the Brahmin kicked out with his foot and smashed the jar. The barley-meal flew everywhere and he was left with nothing.

Serves him right for kicking his wife, even if it was only in a daydream, I say. I guess the moral is not to build castles in the air.

Thursday’s Tales is a weekly event here at Carol’s Notebook. Fairy tales, folktales, tall tales, even re-tellings, I love them all.

If you get a chance, visit Melissa over at Mommy Wants to Read. She’s talking about “The Tortoise and the Hare.” And feel free to join in.

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