Bunwas and the Beggar

Hello, everyone.

    The story that I am going to tell you is about Bunwas. I hope you remember Bunwas. I have written two of his stories, ‘Bunwas and the King’ and ‘Bunwas and the Cheater. Well, today I am going to tell you another of his hilarious stories.

    Read on and find out when a street food seller tries to cheat a beggar and Bunwas intervenes to help the beggar.

Bunwas and the Beggar

    Once there was an old beggar. Someone once gave him a stale piece of bread. He was wondering how he was going to eat such a dry tasteless piece of bread when as he was walking he saw a man roasting mishkaki. Mishkaki is meat cut into small pieces and then marinated in ginger, garlic paste and some spices. These are then put in a skewer and then roasted over coals. It is a very delicious dish. 

    The beggar stood there looking at the man roasting the mishkaki and he had an idea. He went over and held his stale bread over the mishkaki where a lot of smoke was coming out. As you probably know that the smoke has a lot of aroma of whatever you are roasting. The man who was roasting saw him but did not say anything. Now when the beggar saw that the bread had absorbed enough aromas and had become quite moist he went away to one side started eating his bread.

    Now here, when the mishkaki owner saw that the beggar had eaten his bread he called him over and told him to pay up. The beggar was surprised!

     “I’m sorry, but pay you for what?” asked the beggar.

    “You pay me for the taste of my mishkaki,” replied the owner.

    An argument started with the owner insisting the beggar pay up and the beggar insisting he did not eat his mishkaki. A crowd gathered around to see what the argument was about. As they were arguing Bunwas happened to pass by. When he saw the crowd he decided to investigate. He made his way where the argument was going on.

    “Why are you arguing?” Bunwas asked them.

    “He has eaten my taste,” replied the mishkaki owner, “and he does not want to pay for it.”

    “He is lying,” protested the beggar, “I have not eaten his taste.”

    “How did he eat your taste?” asked Bunwas.

    “Well, I was roasting my mishkaki and he came and held his bread over it and took my taste. Then he ate it. See!” complained the man.

    Bunwas turned to the beggar and asked him, “Did you do that?”

    “Yes, but I did not eat his mishkaki,” the beggar protested again.

    Bunwas then turned to the man and asked him, “How much does he owe you?”

    The owner of the mishkaki told him.

    Bunwas put his hand in his pocket and took out some money.

 

    “Count carefully,” he told the owner.

    He started dropping the money on the counter one coin at a time. The owner watched greedily and counted. When all the money was on the counter, he asked the owner, “Did you count the money?”

 

    The man nodded his head and reached out to take it but before he could do so, Bunwas reached out and took the money and put it in his pocket.

    The man watched open mouthed! Then he said angrily, “Why did you put the money in your pocket. It belongs to me. Give it to me.”

    Bunwas looked at him calmly and said, “That was not your money. The beggar here, ate the taste of your mishkaki. He did not actually eat it. So you just get the sound of the coins but you do not actually get it. See!”

   

    So saying he told the beggar to go on his way and he went on his, leaving the mishkaki man very annoyed and angry.

  

    The crowd who had been watching and listening with interest, began to laugh at the man now, because he had not succeeded in cheating the poor beggar.