The Strange Story of Farsha Kotin

This is the story of Farsha Kotin and all that happened to him this year.

 

Farsha Kotin was a happy and handsome young man before misfortunes befell him.

He lived with his mother and father in his hometown. He was soon to be married to a girl who had luminous eyes shaded with long eyelashes. 

 

Pottery was Farsha's family trade. He had learned to make pots from his father. 

This summer, Farsha spent all his days making pots to sell in the market. He expertly moulded the clay, added decorative touches, and fired the pots in a big oven. The pots were of various sizes, brick-red, and round. On the night before the market day, he arranged them neatly outside his hut and went to sleep.

Fortunately or unfortunately, a pack of wild dogs had a fight in the middle of the night outside the hut. Farsha was woken up in the middle of the night by their barking. He knew that anybody who interfered in these fights was torn to pieces in no time. So Farsha stayed put inside his hut but he couldn't sleep. The next morning he found that all the pots that he had made over the summer were broken. He bent down and swept their odd broken shapes into a big desolate heap. 

Farsha's long hardworking hands dangled by his side limply as he entered the hut with stooping shoulders and said to his father,

"Baba, our pots cannot be sold at the market today."

His father sat up in his bed and had a bad fit of coughing. Farsha gave him some warm water to drink. The old man cleared his throat and then asked, 

"Today is Friday, ahem, isn't it?"

"Yes, Baba."

"Ahem, ahem, ahem, then you must go to the market with the pots you have made."

"Baba, the pots cannot be sold because they are broken."

"What? Broken? All of them? Ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem!"

"Yes, Baba, the wild dogs had a fight last night."

"All broken? All? Ahem, aheM, ahEM, aHEM, AHEM...." so saying Farsha's father coughed violently, clutched at his heart, and died.

Farsha and his mother spent five days in mourning. On the sixth day, Farsha picked up his grandfather's axe. His mother asked,

"Where are you going so early in the morning, Farsha?"

"I am going to cut trees" answered Farsha.

"Are you going to get some cheese?" said his mother cupping her ears with her fingers to hear better. 

"Now, now, my boy, why would you want to get cheese? We do not have so much money" she added worriedly.

"Aai," Farsha said to his mother, "I am going to the woods to cut some trees so that I can sell it in the market and make money."

"Honey? Isn't honey very expensive?" asked his mother with a wrinkle in the middle of her eyebrows. 

"Aai, I have to go with the other woodcutters now or else I will be late" said Farsha and left the hut with the axe slung over his shoulder. 

Farsha learnt how to cut wood from the other woodcutters. He sold the wood in the market and earned money. He purchased cheese, honey, and other nice things to eat for his old mother. He also bought flowers for the girl with the long eyelashes whom he was going to marry when he would save enough money. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, one day towards the end of the fiery summer, the woodcutters smelt smoke on their way to the woods. They soon saw tongues of fire reaching out towards the sky. Terrified, they returned to the town. 

After the forest fire burned down the trees, there was no work for Farsha and the woodcutters. Tired and hungry, they wandered about in the market in search of work. Farsha's mother, who did not get much to eat, soon grew weak and died.

Farsha mourned for his mother for five days. On the sixth day, he looked up at the sky and found dark rainclouds looming. He picked up his great grandfather's shovel and went to the little piece of farmland near his hut. He loosened up the earth and planted grains and seeds. It was a tough task. Then Farsha waited for the rainy season to begin so that he could watch his crop and plants grow. He could then earn good money and marry the girl with the long eyelashes. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, the rainclouds which had brought so much hope, sailed away without shedding a drop of rain.  Famine struck the town and all the farmers suffered. Once more, Farsha roamed the market place in search of a job. His cheekbones stood out in his face and most times his stomach was empty. When the girl with the long eyelashes saw him, she could hardly recognise him. She said, 

"How can I marry a man who cannot feed himself?". 

Then she left him.

Farsha's heart felt like it was tied down with iron balls. He mourned for five days and then went to the market place again.

He found that the fishermen were the ones who got good catches every day.

Soon enough, Farsha rented a small boat and a fishing net with whatever little money he had and set out into the sea to catch fish. He kept a bucket of sea water in his boat to put any fish he would catch.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Farsha went fishing day after day but did not catch a single fish.  One day, he climbed into his boat and desperately sailed into the deep sea where no other fishermen dared to go. He spread his nets and waited all day but no fish came. At sundown, Farsha sat down and closed his eyes. The winter wind grazed against his body through his tattered clothes and he shivered. A large teardrop rolled away from his left eye.  

When Farsha opened his eyes after a long time, he saw dragons lurking in the deep waters. Farsha wondered whether those dragons were his fears. He looked up at the sky and found that the clouds had formed the images of big fish. He stared at the fish and wondered if those were his dreams. 

Art : Aurea D'Cruz, 17, India

The first star suddenly appeared in the sky, and at that very moment, Farsha heard a fish jump into his bucket of water. 

SPLASH!

The fish glittered like gold in the moonlight. Farsha's heart was filled with precious hope once more and he sailed home humming a tune that he remembered from happier days. 

In the morning, Farsha noticed that a golden scale of the fish had fallen down. Gently, without disturbing the fish, he picked it up. To his amazement, he realised that the scale was made of solid gold. He touched the fish and found that it was indeed covered in golden scales. 

Farsha had been hungry for many days so he sold the golden scale to a jeweller in the market. With the money he got in return, he purchased some food and shared it with the jobless woodcutters, the famine-stricken farmers, and the poor fishermen who had no luck.  

It so happened that the golden fish shed a scale everyday and Farsha sold it at the market to feed himself and his friends. This continued for several days. Better days came soon. The woodcutters found another dense forest, the farmers planted winter crops using water from the river, and the fishermen became luckier. Farsha went back to making beautiful pots and worked very hard through the day. He built a bungalow for himself and a shed to keep his pots.

Then, one day, the fish shed its last golden scale.  It looked thin and ugly without its glittering golden sheath. Farsha felt sorry for the fish who had helped him during his lean times. Looking gratefully at the fish, he said, 

"I will take care of you, dear fish, in good times and in bad times."

As soon as he said that, the fish changed its appearance in the blink of an eye and turned into a golden-skinned young lady. 

"And I will live with you and never go away" she said with a dimpled smile. 

Farsha named her Sonpari and they got married. Their friends - the woodcutters, the farmers, and the fishermen came for the wedding.  

Everybody wished them a life that was happy ever after.   

 

   

(An original story by Aashoo dedicated to and inspired by Aurea D'Cruz. Protected by Copyright, 2016)