174. The Cattle Broker

Even before Marudamuthu had stepped into the house, his wife Mangai came to the doorstep and asked him, "What happened? Was your visit successful?"

Marudamuthu, without answering her, entered the house with a forlorn face and sat on the swing. His action provided the answer to Mangai's question.

"Get me some water" said Marudamuthu. Noticing that Mangai did not move, as if she had resolved not to move unless he answered her question, he said, "The cow had been sold, before I reached the place."

Mangai went inside and returned with a mug of water.

"What kind of a profession is this! Cattle broker! Acting on information given by someone that someone somewhere has a cow for sale, you will go to that place, walking a distance of five or six miles. By the time you reach that place, either the information will be proved wrong or the cow will have been sold already. If at all there is a cow available for sale, you will then have to visit different villages in the neighbourhood, searching for a prospective buyer. And if you find a buyer and clinch the sale, you get a commission of one thousand rupees or so. And there are people who will cheat you, without paying you the commission!" lamented Mangai.

Marudamuthu, who had just finished emptying the mug, said "This is the profession that has been feeding us!"

"Yes, it has been feeding us! Are we not having a sumptuous meal every day, with soup, fruit, vegetables and sweets?" snapped Mangai, with bitter sarcasm. 

She added, "Since our family comprises just the two of us, we have been surviving, often borrowing money even for our daily needs. What are we going to do, after our family expands, with children being born to us? During the partition arrangement, you could have opted for the lands, instead of opting for the house. We would have been able to earn some money by cultivating the lands" said Mangai.

About two years back, after Marudamuthu's parents had passed away in quick succession, Marudamuthu's younger brother Saravanan wanted his father's properties to be partitioned between the two of them. His father had a small piece of agricultural land and a house. It was decided that one of the brothers would take the land and the other the house.

Saravanan wanted to take the land. He intended to sell the land and use that money to invest in some business in some other place. Considering that the income from the land would not amount to much, Marudamuthu agreed to accept the house as his share.

Maudamuthu's father was a cattle broker. He was well known not only in his village but also in the surrounding villages and enjoyed a lot of goodwill in that area. 

Marudamuthu took up his father's profession. But he was not very successful so far. He believed that if he continued to do the business earnestly, he would be able to achieve success after some time. However, Mangai was skeptical of the earning potential of her husband's profession. Not a day passed without her lamenting about his profession. 

It was two years since Saravanan had left the village, after selling the land received by him as his share. After that, there was no communication from him to Marudamuthu. It appeared that with the partition of their father's assets, the relationship between the two brothers had ended. 

A trader from his village, who toured a lot, told Marudamuthu that that he had seen Saravanan in Trichy.

"Brother Marudamuthu!"

Marudamuthu came out of his house, hearing someone call him from the doorstep of his house.

"Oh, Ponnan! Come in and sit down. You had been away from the village for a couple of years. Someone told me two days back that you were back at the village" Marudamuthu welcomed him and took him inside his house. 

Ponnan took out a bundle of currency notes from his bag and handed them to Marudamuthu.

"What is this?" asked Marudamuthu. 

"Three years back, I had borrowed ten thousand rupees from your brother Saravanan. I paid him the interest for one year. After that, I had to leave this village, due to a personal problem. As you know, I returned to the village only a few days back. I heard that during the time I was away from the village, Saravanan also left the village for some unknown place. He would have thought that he won't get back the money he had lent me! I owe him Rs.14,800, including interest for two years. The amount could be more, if you apply compound interest. But, I think you won't ask me to pay you compound interest!" said Ponnan.

"Why are you giving the money you owe Saravanan? I don't know where he is now" said Marudamuthu. 

"Since I don't know Saravanan's whereabouts, I am returning the money to you, his elder brother. You may give it to him, whenever you meet him. I left this place two years back, due to a problem I had in this village. I found a good business opportunity at the place I went to. I started a business there. I have earned a fairly good sum of money. I had borrowed money from some people in this village. I came here only to repay those loans. I am going back to the place where I have set up my business. I won't come to this village again. I am not going to reveal to anybody where I am going. But, I have repaid all the loans I took from people in this village."

"It is fine. But, I can't accept the money you owe my brother."

"No, sir! In the absence of Saravanan, you should accept this. I take leave of you."

Ponnn left.

"What are you going to do?" asked Mangai.

"That is what I am thinking about" said Marudamuthu.

"What is there to think about? Your brother has not communicated with you and you don't know his address. He is not going to come back to this place. He should be doing well at the place he lives.. Why shouldn't we keep this money for ourselves? If at all your brother comes here some day and asks you for the money, we can decide what to do, at that time. This money was given as a loan by your brother, before the partition of your father's assets. Before the partition, your brother had no money of his own. So, it was your money too! Let this money be useful to us, when we are struggling."

"No, Mangai. This money belongs to Saravanan. Even if we are starving, we shouldn't take it. I know that Saravanan is in Trichy. I know a man from our village who has settled in Trichy. I will write to him, requesting him to trace Saravanan. Once I get Saravanan's address, I will write to him and ask him to come here and receive the money. Till that time, let this money be kept in safe custody. Keep it in the cupboard" said Marudamuthu, handing the cash to Mangai.

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 16
Bearing No Envy

Verse 174 (In Tamil)

ilam enRu vehkudhal seyyAr pulam venRa
punmaiyil kAtchi avar.

Meaning:

The wise, who have conquered their senses and are free from dishonest thoughts, will never yearn for other’s wealth, driven by the feeling 'I am poor.'

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'thAnAga vandha paNam' by the same author)

Verse 175 (Soon)
Verse 173