Story of Hakka Silai

Sridhar and Ramesh came back to Ramesh’s house. They were sitting in the main hall after meeting with people from Ramesh’s college who came for his signature as he was the head of student sports association. Every order for sports goods for the students has to be signed by him before processing.

Sridhar met his mother who went to kitchen for preparing Pakoras as per Ramesh’s request.

“Hakka Silai, this was the name of the story you were telling me back there. The name itself is so interesting that I can’t stop thinking about it,” Sridhar said while they were waiting for snacks.

“Alright let’s talk about it then. Hakka Silai is the story about a fox who lived in a cave near Jahanaal. This is about 40 km from Srinagar, in the mountains,”

“Fox?” Sridhar asked

Ramesh continued...” yes. It was no ordinary fox, it was the holy fox of one of the local Gods who was captured by the King Mustafa, 500 years back. Legend says that when the King first saw the fox he was amazed by its beauty and golden fur. He asked his soldiers to prepare a trap and get a hold on that animal. However, when none of his men could do that job, he himself tried. But when even he failed, he ordered to kill it.”

“Oh, that's so bad. Then?” Sridhar asked curiously

“So, the King killed the fox. And that was the time when Gods cursed him that he will be the last of his generation. The kids he will have, would be taken up by the fox's soul,”

“Did it actually happen?”

“Yes, queen gave birth to three children but none of them were spared by the fox. King tried his best to protect the children but somehow, they were captured and taken away by the fox. This made king’s health deteriorate. He lost his weight, stopped eating and was about to die when…” Ramesh stooped to look at Sridhar’s face who was more than lost in the story by then.

He smiled and continued “when one day an old monk stopped by his palace. He asked for the king. When he was refused by the soldiers, he mentioned that he could help the king in saving his newborns. This made everyone curios and eventually the king agreed to see him.”

“What did he said” Sridhar asked

“When he saw the king, he asked three questions before helping him. King agreed to answer them honestly.

His first question was, what made him kill the fox?

Second, what he felt like once the fox was dead?

And third, what will King do if he sees the fox and gets a chance to kill it?

King knew that he could not answer to those questions foolishly, so he asked for some time before responding. The monk gave him twenty-four hours and left.

After the monk was gone, king asked for an immediate meeting to talk to all the people he trusted with an opinion,”

“Did the monk returned the next day?” Sridhar asked

“Wait, yes he came back. He asked the king about the answers.

To the first question, king’s answer was, it was his frustration that let him to kill the animal. He wanted to capture the fox alive and have it as his pet but when he couldn’t, he got angry and ordered for its assassination.

To the second answer, he said that he didn’t felt anything, maybe a bit of satisfaction for a second but then nothing.

To the third answer he mentioned that he won’t kill the fox again, because he is already paying the price for his deed and he has no intention to take the revenge. He just wished that the kill shouldn’t have happened.”

“To this the monk smiled. When the king asked for the reason of his smile the monk shook his head. He said he was there to help him. He asked the king to arrange for three children specifically and send them to Jahanaal cave,” he said while giving a list of names and addresses of those three children.

“And what will happen to those children?” the king asked

“Do you want to have a child or not?” the monk asked instead

“Yes,” king nodded and didn’t asked any further

“Good, then do as I say and remember, do not stay there once you leave the children,”

“And…that’s it? After that, I will be able to have a normal life and my child will survive?”

Monk nodded and left the palace.

“So, did king followed what he said?” Sridhar asked surprised

“Yes, he asked his soldiers to grab three children and throw them in cave,”

“that’s very mean of him,” Sridhar said frustrated

“It’s the way things work. Royal’s survival is always considered more important. Poor is always there to pay the price. Anyways, coming back to the story, so the three children were forcefully taken and left in the cave with their hand and legs tied up so they couldn’t run. Nobody knows what happened in the cave, but the next morning when the king woke up, he saw the fox in his bedroom. He was amazed and terrified.

Fox spoke these words- “you are worse than I thought. I sent the monk to you to see if you have learned the lesson. From your answers it appeared that you did, but eventually you didn’t learnt anything,”

“But you killed my children and I need my family to see its next generation. I can’t leave this kingdom with none behind me. You left me with no option but to take someone else’s flesh and blood, so in this case you are the one to be blamed” king spoke courageously

“You can’t blame your deeds on others. And for your information, I was the fox of a god and not a of simple human like yourself. How could you ever imagined that I will eat your children, I had nothing against them. And I even tried to help you, I gave you their addresses, those three which you left to be rotten away in the cave were your children. But you lost even that chance. You are a complete disgrace,” Fox sole said

King couldn’t believe his ears and started crying

“Please forgive me for what I have done, how could I do that to my children,”

“I know you wouldn’t do that to your children but what kind of a king does this even to children of his own people who stand by his side during war, during good and bad times. You should be ashamed of yourself,”

“Please forgive me,” king begged

“Despite of the curse, just by seeing your wife’s poor face and believing that you have faced enough trouble I tried to help you and gave you another chance, but you lost that too. I am sorry but I can’t help you,” Fox said and turned its back

“Please give me one chance, I will do anything for you, anything…please don’t leave me like this,” he begged. This made the fox to turn back.

“Are you sure you will do whatever it takes?” he asked

“Yes, I am very sure, I need another chance,”

Fox kept looking at the king for some time

“Alright, I can help you but…”

“I agree to whatever you are going to say,” king said

“But let me…”

“No, I agree,”

“Are you sure, you can’t step back?”

“Yes, I agree,” king said with confidence

“Alright then, I will return your children to you but in return I will take your soul with me,”

“What…?” King’s mouth opened wide

“Yes, I will take your soul, your children will lead a normal royal life, enjoy their life, but you need to die,”

King gave it a thought and then agreed. The same night, fox took his soul and his children returned next morning.

“What happened to the king soul?” Sridhar asked

“People says that both fox and King still lives in that cave,”

“What happened to the king’s children who returned?”

“Well, they lead a normal life, two of them died in their late 40’s during a way with adjoining kingdom, and third one died at late 80’s. But that’s the end of his progeny because none of them had any children.”

#writox #shortstory #ancient