Fun time... .. (3)

The Servant's Ruse

A man was expecting a visit from an acquaintance. He gave two ripe mangoes to his servant and asked him to slice them and serve the fruit when the man came.
The servant gave in to temptation and ate a slice. It was so sweet he could not resist eating another one. Then the madness of gluttony seized him and he devoured all the remaining pieces.
Suddenly he saw the man his master was expecting coming towards the house. He thought fast. He grabbed a rusty knife and rushing to his master told him he couldn't cut the mangoes as the knife was blunt.
"I'll sharpen it," said his master and going to a stone in the garden began to rub the cutting edge of the knife against it.
Leaving him to the task the servant ran out to meet the man who was coming.
"Beware! Beware!" he said when he reached him. "Don't come to our house. My master has gone mad. He's planning to cut both your ears."
"Cut my ears!" exclaimed the man, turning pale. "Why?!"
"There he is sharpening the knife," said the servant. The man saw that his host did indeed have a knife in his hands and was sharpening it with what looked to him like a maniacal fury. He did not wait to find out why his host wanted his ears. He turned around and started walking away as fast as he could.
The servant rushed back to his master and told him that the man he had invited was running away with the mangoes.
"What!" said his master. "The greedy fellow! Has he taken both the mangoes?!"
"Yes," said the servant.
The man ran after the acquaintance shouting:
"Give me one! Give me one at least!"
The other man thought he was asking for one of his ears and ran for his life!

Change of Mind

There was a sickly young girl who always seemed to be at death’s door. Her neighbour was a widow, bent with age. Whenever she caught sight of the girl she would shake her head sadly and say: “Oh God, why do you torment that poor child...if you want a life take this old woman!”
One evening a bull in the village, put its head into a large black pot to get at some grain at the bottom, and then couldn’t get its head out. Frightened and confused, it ran hither and thither, unable to see where it was going because its eyes were covered by the pot.
Meanwhile, the old woman we mentioned, was visiting her neighbour. She came out and as usual began shaking her head and saying that if God wanted a life he should take hers. Suddenly she became aware that a powerfully-built beast, apparently headless, was rushing at her.
“Yama has come for me!” she thought and was filled with terror.
“Mercy, my Lord, mercy!” she screeched, falling to her knees in front of the advancing bull. “Spare me. There’s a sickly girl next door. Take her instead!”