CHANDAMAMA — Vol. 1 No. 12 JUNE 1971 We are Sorry... With the cost of paper soaring sky high and everything else following suit, it becomes difficult to make two ends meet, so, very reluctantly, we have to increase the price of this magazine to 90 paise, as and from next month. But we promise you many new entertaining features in the months to come. B. V, REDDI at The Prasad Process Private Lid., and Published by B. VISWANATHA REDDI for Chandamama Publications, 2&3, Arcot Road, Madras-26. Controlling Editor; ‘CHAKRAPANI" 3Once upon a time, there lived an old woman and her son, Tom, a lazy half-stupid lad, who had never done anything for his living. Their small cottage was on a bare and dreary common, for they were very poor. His mother often told Tom to go and look for work, but he would rather sit at home, idling away his time. At last, the old woman told him that unless he went and found work somewhere, she, would no longer let him live at the cottage. Tom did not like the idea of working, but as he wanted to THE STORY OF SILLY TOM 4 stay at the cottage, he decided that he must find himself a job. He went to work on a nearby farm and received as wages at the end of the day a threepenny piece. However, never having handled money before, he did not know how to take care of it and on his way home he lost it. It rolled out of his fingers on to the path and dis- appeared down a rabbit hole. Silly Tom got down on his hands and knees and peered down the hole, but it was too dark to see anything at all. He scratched his head hard but he could think of no way ofgetting back his money, so he had to pick himself up, go back home and confess to his angry mother that he had lost all of his first day’s wages. “You silly boy,” said his mother, “Why did you not put the threepenny piece in your pocket?”” “Til do that next time,” said Tom. The next day, he went to another farm, where many cows were kept and at the end of the day, he was given a jug of milk as wages. This he put into his pocket and, of course, as the jug had no top to it, when he got home the milk was all spilt and his clothes spoilt. “Goodness gracious - me,” said his mother. “How silly you are, to be sure. Why did you not carry it on your head?” “Til do that next time,” said Tom. ‘On the following day, he went to work for yet another farmer and in return for a day’s hay- making, he received a large cream cheese. Silly Tom put it on his head, but by the time he reached home, he was in rather a bad way. The cheese had melted all over his cars and neck and was completely spoilt. Added to this. it took an hour’s hard scrubbing to remove the sticky cream from his hair. “You silly fellow,” wailed his mother. ‘Why did you not carry itin your hands?” “TU do that next time,” said Tom. The fourth day, he went to work for a baker, who in return for his hard work, gave him a large tom-cat. Tom carried the cat in his hands for a little way, but it began to scratch and bitehim so much that he had to Jet it go and it ran away. “You really are foolish,’” said his mother. “Why did you not tie a string round its neck and lead it home?” “T'll do that next time,’” said Tom. The day after, he did some, work for a butcher, who gave him a fine leg of lamb for his wages. Tom tied a string around it and dragged it home along the dusty roads. By the time he reached his mother, the leg of lamb was not fit to be seen, let alone eaten and had to be thrown away. “You stupid boy,” said his mother. “Why did you not carry it on your shoulder?” “Tl do that next time,” said ‘Tom. Once more he went to work, this time on a cattle farm and received a donkey for his wages. Although Tom was farily strong, it was only with great difficulty that he lifted the heavy donkey on to his shoulders. As he staggered slowly home, he had to pass the royal castle, where the king and queen lived with their daughter, Princess Blanche. This princess suffered from a terrible sadness and the doctors told the king that the only cure would be a good, hearty laugh. The king and queen hired all the funniest clowns and jesters in their realm, but the princess never even smiled. “Take these fools away,” she always said, “for they do not amuse me at all.” Finally, in desperation, the king offered a prize of five thousand pieces of gold to anyone who could make his daughter laugh out loud. As Tom struggled by with the donkey on his shoulders, the princess chanced to lookout of her window and the sight so amused her, that she began to laugh out loud and was unable to stop. Indeed, she continued laughing until Tom put down the donkey and entered the palace, at the bidding of the king. “You have cured my daughter by making her laugh again, after all the clowns in my realm had failed,” the king told Tom. “You must take the five thous- and pieces of gold that I -pro- mised as the prize.” Tom thanked the king and took the money and with it, he and his mother were able to live in comfort to the end of their days. Tom never had to work again and he could sit in the fields, passing his time away dreaming in the sunshine under the shade of a great tree and he was as happy as the day was long, while his mother, who now had no work to do, joined him.Ha One day a lion, stalking through the forest, saw-a beauti- ful young girl whom he decided he would like to marry. Following the girl to her home, the lion boldly walked into the house, to the horror of the terror stricken father. “Do not be afraid,” said the lion. “JI want to marry your daughter. And you must admit, I will make a fine son-in- law.” The poor father, confronted by this immense beast, could not take his eyes off the lion’s huge fangs. He realised that if he refused to let his daughter marry this arrogant lion, those fangs could take off his head with one bite. Then he had a brain-wave. Trying hard to stop his teeth from chattering, the father managed to say. “ Listen, THE STUPID LION king of the forest. You can marry my daughter subject to one condition.” The lion licked his lips in anticipation, and giving the father a none too gentle nudge with one of his paws, roared. “Name your condition, and it will be fulfilled.” At this the father began to pluck up his courage. “* Listen carefully my friend,” he said. “You must remember my daughter is of tender years, and she will be scared of your fangs and claws. Now if you have them removed, you can marry my daughter.” s “Then send for the: doctor and let him take them out,” the lion glibly said, thinking to himself that his fangs and claws would soon grow again. So the doctor was sent for, and after a lot of tugging, and heaving, removed the lethal objects. The lion did not feel so good afterwards, and as he wended his way home to rest his aching gums and feet, a pack of hyenas noticed his plight and fell upon the lion and had a good feast.Many years ago, there was a- miser, and he certainly was a miser. Having to spend even the smallest coin caused him considerable pain and he would spend hours and hours, think- ing of ways in which he could keep his hoard of money from ever diminishing. One day, he heard that there was a miser living in a nearby town who never spent anything at all. This sounded good, so our miser decided he would pay a visit to this outstanding man and learn the secret of his success. E It was a long, back breaking walk to the town where the other miser lived, especially as our miser walked barefooted in order to save his chappals from wearing out. The Iwo Mien Eventually he reached his destination, and met this great miser, who grected him as a long lost brother, and invited him to a meal. ‘This certainly shook our’ miser, who protested most volubly, “No, no, I have a piece of dry bread in my pocket, which is all I require.” “ That will not do,” the great miser said, taking his newly found friend by the arm. ““Come with me, and we shall dine out.” First they went to the bakery, where the great miser enquired for fresh bread. “My good men,” the baker said, “J have bread that will melt like butter in the mouth.” “ Ah!,” said the great miser. “Then what we need is butternot bread,” So off our misers went to the dairy, where the great miser enquired the price of butter. The dairy man exclaimed. “My butter is good. like ghee.” “In that case,” muttered the great miser. “ Perhaps it would be better to have ghee.” ~*T have plenty of ghee,’ said the dairy man. “ Good ghee, as clear as water.”’ “Then,” said the great miser It’s just a eae to the other miser. “Let us drink water, which will be as clear as ghee.’ So the two misers returned to the house, and the great miser poured out some water, which they drank with great relish. Our miser returned home, congratulating himself on the good fortune of having met someone, who had showed him that water was as good as anything for a meal. ‘There! It definitely moved! You couldn't do that when you started uix weeke agol”ae AGREE There was once a very hand- some young prince, who ruled over a great and rich country. His people adored him and for one smile from him, they would have given anything, even their own lives. The prince could have been very happy, but he never smiled. at all. All day long he sighed with a great sadness and kept on saying: “Oh, if only I could have the three oranges.” _ There was a reason for his sadness. A wicked fairy had put a curse on him and had given him an illness. In vain all the best doctors and the most powerful magicians had tried. to find a cure for him. They all said the same thing. Somehow he must find the three magic oranges, for which he | sighed.so much. One day, the young prince made up his mind to leave the kingdom in the faithful care of one of his ministers and go out in search of the precious fruit. ORANGES First, however, he consulted the Court magician, who was named Celio, asking his advice. “Yes, you must go yourself in search of the three oranges, my honoured prince,” said the magician. ‘‘ They can be found in a castle a thousand miles away—but I must warn you that the guardian of the castle is an evil magician, namedCreona, who uses many tricks to defend himself and to keep out strangers.” ““What must I do to get the better of him?" asked the young prince. “First of all, take this bottle of special oil with you and use it to oil the hinges of the castle gates,” replied the Court magician. “‘* Secondly, take this piece of bread to give to the starving dog which guards the entrance to the castle. Thirdly, you must take with you this flue-brush, with which to sweep the chimney of the castic.” Gratefully, the prince took things offered to him. “Is there anything else I need?’ he asked. ““One more thing you must do when you reach the castle,”’ nodded “Celio. “That is to take up a piece of damp rope which you will find lying in the middle of the courtyard and stretch it out in the sun, When you have done all these things you will come upon the three oranges—but take great care not to peel them and open them unless there is fresh water nearby.” i The prince promised to obey the instructions given to him and the magician snappéd his fingers, causing a sudden whifl- wind to arrive, which snatched up the prince and carried him swiftly over a thousand miles of land to the castle of Creona. Before he went inside, the prince carefully oiled the hinges of the huge iron doors, then threw the piece of bread towards the hungry dog, which came leaping at him with teeth bared ready to bite him. While the dog was busy swallowing the piece of bread, the princeslipped inside the castle and used the flue-brush to sweep the chimney of the fireplace. That done, he hurried back into the courtyard, picked up a length of damp rope that he found “there and‘ stretched: it out to dry in the sun. huge sf Now to find the three oranges,” he thought to himself, a little surprised that, so far, nothing had Happened to him. Finding a tree in the garden, he was delighted to see three golden oranges hanging from its branches. Me feo de ~ iThese he quickly picked, but almost as soon as he touched them, the ground shook beneath his feet and the trembling of an earthquake made the castle shake to its foundations. The sun was blacked out and above all the noise, the mighty voice of Creona, the wicked magician, could be heard shouting: “ Fire, burn up the intruder!”’ “T cannot,” the fire replied. “He has swept my chimney with a flue-brush.” “Rope, bind him shouted Creona. “T cannot,” the rope replied. “He has stretched me out in the sun and dried me.” “Dog, bite him!” shrieked Creona. up! “T cannot,” the dog replied. “He has given me a piece of bread to eat. I am not hungry any more.” “Doors, close and squash him!” shouted Creona. “We cannot,” replied the doors. “He has oiled’ our hinges.” When Sam was asked how he budgeted his income, he about 40 percent for food, 30 percent for shelter, jo percent it for amusement and incidentals.” and 20 The magician, in a frenzy, gave an even louder shout of despair and a great flash of lightning came down from the’ sky, It burned him up and the whole castle came tumbling down to the ground in broken pieces. As this “all happened, the prince found himself in a wood not far from his own city. He made his way towards it and when he came to the shores of a lake, he peeled and opened the largest of the three oranges. Out of the orange came a most beautiful girl, who at once said to the prince: “Whoever you are, my saviour, give me something to drink or I shail die.” The prince hurried to the edge of the lake to’ scoop up some of the water for her to drink. When she had drunk it, she breathed a sigh of relief and told him that she was called WNinetta and was the daughter of a king on the ied: “Oh, clothing “But, Sam, that makes 120 percent!” “Lord, don't I know it!” Sam agreed.other side of the World. “The wicked magician, Creona, was angry with my father and captured me,” she said. “‘He imprisoned me inside an orange. I was not able to escape, because if I did and was not able to find water to drink within a few seconds, I would shrivel up and die.” “Tt is more thanks to my own wise magician than to me that you were saved, princess,” said the young prince. He himself felt that his strange illness and sadness had gone forever and he joyfully took Ninetta back to his Kingdom, where they were married amid great rejoicing.There were once two rogues, who made a very good living by posing as holy men, and selling worthless charms to gullible people, with resounding promises that the charms would fend off ill-fortune and cure any disease. All went well for some time, and the pickings were very good. And our two rogues took care not to stay in any place too long, and certainly never to visit the same town twice. Then there came the day, which started off very well with plenty of folk willing to part with their money for so called lucky charms, but amongst the crowd was a visitor, who had been cheated by these frauds some months before. He promptly accused them of ‘THE TWO ROGUES roguery and trickery, and the crowd ever willing to welcome a diversion, were soon pelting the two rogues with rotten vegetables and anything else they laid their hands on. Dishevelled and bruised, the two rogues were happy to get away. from that town, and they realised that it was time they thought of a better scheme by which to hoodwink the public. After arguing over the possi- bilities of various ideas, the two rogues parted. Eventually the first rogue came to a small town, many miles away. Here he seated himself in the public square, and with closed eyes, was sup- posedly deep in meditation. Soon a crowd had gathered round this holy man, curious to who he was, and from wherehe had come. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was showered with questions and many asked for his help and guidance. The rogue spoke quietly to the gathering. ““My friends, no matter what ails you. Whether it be sickness of the body or of the mind, I can cure you all.” At this many of the people pressed forward, to seek help from this ‘holy man’. But he held up his hand. “I do not seek alms,” he said. “ But I am commanded to build a temple to the Lord Shiva. So. if you be truly devoted, I beseech you to give liberally.” Very soon he was busy gathering into a pile not only coins, but costly ornaments. At that moment, there was a shout from the back of the crowd, and pushing his way through, the second rogue con- fronted the ‘holy man,’ and in a voice of scorn shouted, “Charlatan, and rogue! You are no holy man, but a cheap: deceiver of good people.” The crowd was taken back at such a savage outburst, and several would have laid hands on the intruder, but the ‘ holy man” stopped them by merely raising his hand. “Do not touch my accuser. But let methe penalty for slandering a holy man, such as I,” he said. With that the ‘holy man’ took up a bowl of water, and sprinkling some into the palm of his hand; mumbled some show you mystic words, Then rising to his feet, he sprinkled water on to his accuser, who immediately fell heavily to the ground. There were cries from the crowd, “ He is dead,” and every one stared in horror at the body. But several of the kindly folk beseeched the * holy man ”* to bring the wrong-doer back to life. The ‘holy man’ appeared 18 to relent, for he again sprinkled water on the corpse, and again mumbled something, at which the corpse came to life, and slowly got to his feet and stum- bled away out of sight. The next morning the ‘holy man’ and the ‘corpse” met outside the town, and gloated over the proceeds the crowd had contributed. So with ‘professional pride they made their way to the next town. But, the miracle of bringing a man back to life preceeded them, and when they tried the same act again, the only contribution they received was a heavy prison sentence.The Bridge of Crocodiles Here is a very old story of India, and maybe it is true. There was once a wise monkey who wished to cross a river. But the river was in flood, so swimming across was rather risky, especially as the river was infested by ever hungry crocodiles. Making his way down to the river bank, the wise monkey called out to a huge crocodile that was close by. “Hullo, crocodile,” the monkey called out. “I hope you and all your family are well?” “We are all in good health,” replied the crocodile. “ But, of course you haven't a very large family,” the monkey said. ‘* Whereas J have a family of over twenty.” “*That’s nothing,” retorted” the crocodile. “ My family is more than twice that.” “* Impossible,” said the monkey, shaking his head in disbelief. “fT will soon show you,” replied the crocodile very indig- nantly, and giving a series of short barks, a number of other crocodiles were soon on the scene, “My, My,” exclaimed the monkey. “ You do have a big, family. There must be nearly: twenty of you.” “Nonsense,” replied the crocodile with a scornful, bellow. “Count. them. fora a yourself, and you will find my family is much bigger than yours.” : **T will do that,’ replied the monkey, and promptly jumped on the back of the nearest crocodile and started counting “one,” “ two,” “three,” And as he counted, the monkey jumped from one" back to another crocodile’s back, until he was safely across the river. “Thank you,” shouted the monkey, “ your family supplied me with a nice safe bridge to cross the river.”” It Is wise to stay clear of the animal hidden in this puzzle. To find out what it is shade in the dotted areas with a pencil. —————— ht Ke [Cs fe G AK YallTHE GOLDEN APPLES Odin, king of all the gods, had ‘a son called Bragi. He was a handsome youth and because he sang so sweetly, he was the god of poetry and song. Bragi did not spend all his, time in Asgard, the home of the gods, which lay far above the Earth. He liked to wander far and wide, all over the world. One day as he sat in a boat on a peaceful river, singing his sweet songs, he saw Idunn, the daughter of one of the dwarfs, coming across the meadow. The dwarfs were small and ugly. They lived in the dark caves beneath the Earth and they spent all their time mining the gold and precious stones which were hidden in the Earth and working at their forges, making their metalwork. Idunn’s father and brothers were like all the other dwarfs, bent and ugly. They could never come to the surface by day, for a ray of sunlight would have turned them to stone. finely-wrought ~ a Only Idunn was different. She was beautiful and gentle and kind-hearted. She could walk about among the trees and flowers in the daylight and come to no harm.Loki saw an eagle, sitting on a rock, staring ct them. When Bragi saw her, he took her with him in his boat, for he had fallen in love with her at once. He took her back with him to Asgard, the home of the gods, and there they were married. To Idunn was given charge of the golden apples which the gods and goddesses ate to keep them everlastingly young and immor- tal. Without the: golden apples, they would have grown old and died, just like mortals. Now it happened that Odin and two of the other gods, Loki and Honir, were travelling through the world one day, looking for adventure. At last, : tired and weary, they came to 22 a herd of oxen in a valley and they decided to kill an ox; cook and eat it and then rest. They made a fire of logs and put the ox over the flames, but it would not cook. At last Odin said, “‘ There is some evil power here which wishes us harm.” Loki looked around and nearby he saw an eagle, sitting on a rock, staring at them. “Perhaps it is someone who has taken the shape of a bird,” said Loki. : Honir called to the cagle and asked if he was stopping the ox from cooking. ‘ Share your food with me and it will cook,” replied the eagle. “Come and join us,” invited Odin. The eagle flew down and fanned the flames with his wings, so that the ox soon cooked, but he insisted on having the first portion for all his hard work and he tookmore than half of the meat for himself. Then he took a second bite. : Loki, very angry, picked up a stick and dealt the eagle a powerful blow, but he found that he could not lift the stick from its body again, nor could he let go the end he held, so that when the eagle rose into the air, Loki rose with it. “T am Thiazi, the storm giant,” it said. “I have long wished to harm the gods. Now I have you, Loki.” “Let me go and I will give you whatever you ask,” said Loki. » “You can go only if you give Idunn and her golden apples into my power, for I wish to have eternal youth,” said the eagle. Loki, des- pairing of getting free any other way, finally agreed. Back in Asgard, Loki went to Idunn and told her that he had found a tree, covered with golden apples like hers, in a wood near Asgard. Idunn would not believe this and wanted to see them for herself, so Loki offered to take her there. “Bring your own apples, so that you can com- pare them,” he said, “for I do not know if these others have magic powers.” Idunn, carrying her casket of golden apples, followed Loki As the eagle rose into the air, Loki rose with it.they out of Asgard. Soon reach the dark wood and as they walked among the trees a big eagle, which was really the giant Thiazi in disguise, swooped down from the trees and seized Idunn. The eagle carried her way up, over the trees and back to his home in Jotenheim, the land of the giants. * Idunnwas shut up in Thiazis” great, gloomy castle, high in the mountains. All the time the wind roared through the pine trees and the wolves howled as they prowled around below. Idunn was very un- happy, but however much Thiazi coaxed and threatened, not one bite of her apples would she give him. In Asgard, the gods missed Idunn and wondered where she was. Bragi grew sad without his wife and the gods grew tired and jaded without the golden apples to keep their youth. At last, they held a council, to decide what should be done and one of them told how he had seen Idunn set out with Loki, carrying her casket of apples Only Loki had returned, At this, Loki had to admit that Idunn was with the storm giant’ and the gods were very angry. They threatened Loki with a terrible punishment if he did not bring her back. “I will get Idunn back,” replied Loki, “‘ not because I am afraid of you, but because I am tired of growing old and ugly.” Loki changed himself into a hawk and flew to Thiazi’s castlein the country of the giants. He waited until Thiazi left the castle and was pleased to see that he looked no younger than before, so he was sure that Idunn had parted with none of her golden apples. Then, he flew in through the window and dropping to the floor at Idunn’s feet, changed. back to his proper shape. “I have come to take you back,” he said. “The gods long for a sight of your sweet smile and a taste of your apples.” [dunn did not trust Loki, now, but there seemed. no other way of returning to Asgard, so she allowed him to say some magic words over her. At once she was turned into a tiny nut. Loki changed back into a hawk, picked up the nut in his claws and flew out of the window, but Thiazi saw him and ‘was sure it was one of the gods, come to rescue Idunn. He changed into an eagle and pursued the hawk and being more powerful, he was fast gaining on Loki by the time they reached Asgard. The gods, watching for Loki’s return, saw him flying back, closely pursued by the eagle. They gathered wood 25 Loki had to admit that Idunn was with the storm giant. and piled it up before the walls of Asgard and then lit it. The flames rose high into the air and Loki swooped through it, to enter Asgard. Becaus® he was the god of fire, he came through it unharmed, the _nut tightly clutched in his