Page 76 - Arrow Publications Pvt. Ltd.

Dasa said, “I have been asking for a grasscutter for months.” In one voice, they ordered that

he manage with the available things and not make demands. The sons brought in bamboo
sticks and pressed one into the hands of the servant also. They tucked up their dhotis, seized
every available knife and crow-bar and began to hack the garden. Creepers, bushes and lawn

were laid low. Soon, the inner walls of the house brightened with the unobstructed glare
streaming in. When there was nothing more to be done, Dasa asked triumphantly, “Where
is the cobra?”

An old man appeared at the gate and announced himself as a snake charmer. Everyone
gathered around him. He spoke to them of his life and activities and his power over snakes.

They asked admiringly, “How do you catch them?” ‘Like this,’ he said pouncing upon an
imaginary snake on the ground. They showed him the direction in which the cobra had
gone and asked him to go ahead. He said, “If you show me the snake, I will at once catch it.

Otherwise what can I do? The moment you see let me know". He gave his name and address
and left.

At five in the evening, they threw away the tools and came to the verandah to rest. They
had turned up every stone in the garden and cut down every little plant so that the tiniest
insect coming into the garden didn’t have any cover. They started discussing the various

measures they would take thereafter to
prefect themselves against reptiles in
the future.

Suddenly, Dasa appeared before

them carrying a water-pot whose
mouth was sealed with a slab of
stone. He put the pot down and
said.

“I have caught the cobra in this.”

He explained at length the
strategy he had employed to catch
and seal up the snake in the pot.
They stood at a safe distance and

gazed at the pot. Dasa had the
glow of a champion on his face.
“Don’t call me an idler hereafter," he

said. He picked up the pot cautiously
and walked off saying that he would
leave the pot with its contents with the

75 Arrow - English Plus-6