________________
6. MADAN AND DHANADEVA
There lived a merchant named Madan in the city of Kusasthalpur He had two wived-Chanda and Prachanda. Both were very much true to their names Madan made a fair distribution of his love between them, but they were so very quarrelsome that they fell out on even flimsy grounds In such a household, there could be no peace. He tried his best to make his home an abode of peace, but he was unsuccessful. At last he thought, if these ladies could be pot up in two separate villages, that might perhaps help. Chanda stayed where she was, and Prachanda was given a house in a neighbouring village. He himself divided his days between the two wives,
A quarrelsome person does not care for the sentiment of others He wants others totally subdued to his wishes, slave upto himself. Even a slight deviation from this position causes him the greatest irritation. One day, due to some unforeseen business, Madan stayed a little longer with Prachanda. When he came to Chanda, she was all afire and she hurled a mace at him Madan ran away as fast as he could After he was safely off, he looked back, and he saw that a snake was pursuing him Terrified, he doubled his speed, and reached Prachanda's home When she came to know all this, she consoled him and asked him to rest Very soon the snake reached the door of her house. Thereon Prachanda gathered her body dirt, made small pills from them and hurled them at the snake Soon these pulls changed into a mongoose and it tore the snake into pieces.
Thus Madan was saved He was grateful to Prachanda for saving him But then he thought,
'I am safe now But I am io the grip of monsters If some day, on some pretext, Prachanda is angry with me,
