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40. ROHAKA THE SON OF BHARATA
A little distance away from Ujjayini, was a little village which was only a settlement of members of a performing art who exhibited their skill in village fairs or even in the streets of big towns. Bharata was one such performer. He had a son called Rohaka, his mother had died when he was very young, and his father married another woman to look after the boy as well as himself. But the woman treated Rohaka with a good deal of disaffection. Rohaka thought he could teach her a lesson and make her treat him well.
Once at night Rohaka woke up his father and told him that some man was running stealthily away from the house. The father wondered whether his wife had a lover. Gradually the suspicion grew stronger as became evident from his growing indifference to her. He would not talk to her nor would give her flowers or accept betel from her. The woman felt that the little boy probably had spoiled the mind of the father against her. She one day asked Rohaka what he had done to estrange his father from her. The boy said that he would set things right between the two of them only if she treated him with kindness and affection, to which she agreed. Hereafter her relations with Rohaka improved considerably.
Once on a moon-lit night Rohaka drew his father's attention to a man who he said was stealthily running away from the house and the father rushed towards the house to fetch his sword, Rohaka then pointed his finger at the father's shadow and said that was the man that was stealthily running away. The father was non-plussed. He now realised that it was his mistake to have suspected his wife when Rohaka was only pulling his legs. He expressed his regret to his wife and their relations improved. Rohaka now apprehended
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