Week 11 Story: The Magical Cow

(A picture of some very cute 'Guernsey' cattle. Guernsey is a type of cattle. Image can be sourced here).

The most updated version of this story can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/indianepicsgalore/the-magical-cow

Long ago in a village lived a grandmother, granddaughter, and their. The three were once part of a larger family that had a lot of wealth, but lost it when their village. The mother had given up many possessions for food, but she was running out of ideas. She was too old to work and her granddaughter too young. She realized she would have to give up their beloved cow as it was the only valuable thing they had. She did consider using the cow for food, but she could not imagine doing so as the cow was like a second grandchild.

The grandmother took the cow to a local merchant. The merchant carefully inspected the cow, ensuring there were no defects. He fed the cow some lettuce, and notice while the cow was eating some of its saliva got on his hands. The merchant had severe burn scars on his hand from childhood, and notice they magically disappeared with the saliva. Quickly he realized this cow was magical, but did not want to tell the grandmother so he could purchase the cow for cheaper. He told her the cow was old and worthless. His plan was to convince her of the cow's low-worth and then later buy it for a cheaper price.

The grandmother, felt dejected by this merchants comments. She contemplated whether she should approach another merchant only to hear the same response, but then was reminded of her grandmother and convinced herself to garner the courage to. She approached a crippled merchant inquiring about the cow.

"Dear sir, I hope you may have some change to offer for my darling cow. She may be old, but she is sturdy and in good-health. I treasure her but feel guilty keeping her after looking into my starved granddaughters eyes." said the grandmother.

The cow licked the merchant's crippled leg. Instantly, he felt sensations in his leg that he hadn't felt in years. When he looked down, he saw his atrophied leg was now muscular and youthful. He tried walking on it, and to his amazement, was able to walk on it.

"My god! Since birth I have been unable to properly walk with this leg. Your cow is a healer with magical powers! Of course I will take her, but only if you insist? I am not a mere merchant, but the brother of the king. I feel cooped up in the headquarters which is why I travel from village to village, interacting with people. I can take this cow with me and heal as many people as I can. I of course will compensate, much more than some spare change."

The grandmother was ecstatic. She no longer felt guilty for selling the cow for money. She knew the cow would do more good healing others in various places than in her home. She agreed to the merchants offer and was off.

The first merchant approached her again while she was walking home. She informed him she already sold the cow and of its powers. He acted surprised but internally felt a surge of burning regret.

AUTHORS NOTE:
I based this story on The Merchant of Seri. My story was pretty similar to the original in terms of characters (the grandmother, grand-daughter, and two merchants) with a pretty similar plot. The main difference is that instead of a cow, the original uses a golden bowl. I figured the grandmother would have been aware of the golden bowl's price. I felt that being wealthy at one point, she would have been aware of what gold is and its price. I picked a cow partly as a tribute to Indian culture but I also thought selling the cow to do good makes for a more "feel-good" story.  I liked the overall message of greed so wanted to keep that message.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Title: The Merchant of Seri
Author: Ellen C. Babbitt