Wednesday 9 March 2022

ÀJÀŃTÁLÁ: THE DEMON CHILD

Once upon a time a woman had a baby boy, and it was a very lovely child. But no sooner had the child been born that he began to speak and to complain. 

‘Woe is me; so this is what life is all about. Why was I brought into this world; I never knew that it would be so difficult here. All I can see everywhere is filth and I certainly will not stay long here’.

And even as he finished saying this, he rose from his crib, went into the bathroom and washed himself thoroughly with soap and water. Then he covered himself with a soft warm blanket and sat on a chair. Not long after, he went into the kitchen, and ate six large loaves of bread, and he would have eaten more, only there was no more bread. And he came out crying from the kitchen because there was no more bread.

All these were unusual things for a baby to do, and soon people came from all over to see the miracle child, and he was very angry with them all.

On the seventh day when he was to be given a name, his parents prepared a feast for guests and very many were invited for the naming ceremony.

‘My name is Ajantala,’ he said to all of them, when it was time to give him a name.

Now when the food for the feast was being cooked in the kitchen Ajantala had ceaselessly complained. He complained about the food, he complained about the cooks, he complained about how slow they all were. After a while he found a ladle and began to stir the stew in the fire, to the utter surprise and annoyance of the cooks.

‘What a horrible child’ they all complained. And when he heard this he found a whip and beat them all so severely that they fled the kitchen and the house. And even when the feast had begun, his anger had not abated. He he again found the whip and beat the guests so much that they fled in all directions, and he ran after them and whipped them all along the way. It was a day of much confusion.

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