There was a poor man who wanted some money. He had heard that if he
could get hold of a ghost, he might command him to bring him money or
anything else he liked; so he was very anxious to get hold of one. He
went about searching for someone who could give him a ghost. He asked
everyone he met whether they knew any sage with great powers.
One day he met a group of woodcutters and asked them, ‘Brothers, you
go into the wood everyday. Have you ever seen any sage there?” To his
great joy one of the woodcutters replied, “Yes, sir, we know a hermit
who lives in this woods’, and they gave him the direction . The man
could not stop to thank them; but rushed to the spot. It was dark when
he reached the hermitage. An old monk with matted hair and a long beard
was meditating before a fire.
The man sat on the ground and waited patiently. When at last the sage
opened his eyes and stood up, he fell at his feet and started weeping.
“Why, what’s happened to you?” asked the surprised sage, ‘and who are
you? What do you want?”
“I’m a very poor man, sir and I want a ghost to work for me ‘,
replied the man.”Teach me, pray, how to get hold of one, sir, I desire
it very much.”
The sage listened gravely and said, ‘ Don’t disturb yourself, child , go home”.
But he would not giveup. Day after day he visited the sage and prayed
for a ghost. At last the sage, in disgust, said, “Take this Charm,
repeat this magic word, and a ghost will come and whatever you say to
him he’ll do. But , beware ; they’re terrible beings—if you fail to give
him work he ‘ll take your life “.
“That’s easy”, replied the man with a smile.” I can give him work all
his life”. Then the man went to a forest, sat on a rock, and started
repeating the magic word. After long repetition of the magic word, a
huge ghost appeared before him, and said in a deep voice “I ‘m a ghost.
I‘ve been conquered by your magic; but you must keep me constantly
employed. The moment you fail to give me work, i ‘ll kill you”. The man
was astounded that he could hardly speak at all for a moment. After some
time he manages to put his wish into words, “Build me a palace”.
The ghost waved his hand and instantly there rose a beautiful building. “It’s done; the palace is built”, said the ghost.
“Bring me money, jewels, gold, wealth”, he cried out in excitement.
“Here is your Wealth”, said the ghost. “The whole wood was instantly
lit up by a blaze of colour which came from some silver vases filled
with jewels precious stones and gold coins. He could hardly believe his
eyes. As he was greedily grazing at them, he heard the voice of the
ghost saying, “Give me work, give me More Work I can’t remain idle you
know else I ‘ll Kill you”
Tearing himself away from that fascinating sight with reluctance, the
man turned to the ghost, thought a little and then said,” O ghost, cut
this forest down, and build a city in its place. The city must have
beautiful palaces, towers, ponds, roads, gardens etc. Do you understand?
I want big beautiful city immediately”.
“Ah! This time certainly the ghost won’t be able to finish job so
quickly”, said the man to himself, “and in the meantime i ‘ll plan some
other work for him”. But hardly had he finished his thought when whole
forest disappeared and a huge city came up in its place.
“That’s done”, said the ghost “Anything More?”,
Now the man began to frightened for he thought he could give him
nothing more to do . The ghost said “Give me something to do or I’ll eat
you up”.
The poor man searched every nook and corner of his mind but could
find no further occupation for the ghost and was frightened. So he ran
and ran and at last reached the sage. “Oh, Sir”, said the man grasping,
“oh sir, please save my life!”
“What’s the matter?” asked the sage.
“I’ve nothing left to give ghost to do”, replied man in broken voice,
His knees were trembling in such a way as if they were not his own.
“Everything I tell him he does in a moment, sir, and now he threatens to
eat me up if I don’t give him more work”.
“O sage, please save my life, I know you can save me,” he went on
saying, “I don’t want money, I don’t want anything. Please be kind to me
and save me from the ghost”.
The sage felt pity for the poor man and said, ”You , fool stand up.
There is no time to lose.” Then pointing to a dog that was lying nearby,
he said, “Look at that dog with curly tail.. Take a weapon … er… yes,
that axe over there quick, and cut the tail off and give it to the
ghost, saying, “Straighten that out for me”.
The man dashed to the hut, picked up the axe rushed back to the dog,
cut off it’s tail and gave it to the ghost saying, “O ghost, straighten
this tail out for me”.
The ghost took it and said,”I’ll do it right now, and then will make
you a very good dinner for me, ha! Ha! No escape for you, my man, I ‘’
eat you sure”.
He sat on the ground and slowly and carefully straightened the curly
tail out. But as soon as he let it go, it instantly curled up again.
Once more he laboriously straightened it out, only to find it again
curled up as soon as he let go of it. So it went on for days and days,
until he was exhausted and said, ”I was never in such a trouble before
in my life. I ‘m a veteran ghost but never have I been in such a
trouble”.
At last the ghost said to the man “Sir, I’ll make a compromise with
you: you let me off and I‘ll let you keep all I‘ve given you and promise
not to harm you”.
The man took the offer gladly and heaved a sigh of relief.
Moral: This
world is like a dog’s curly tail, and people have been striving to
straighten it out for hundreds of years; but when they let it go, it has
curled up again. How could it be otherwise?
One must first know how to work without attachment, then one will
not be a fanatic. When we know that this world is like a dog’s curly
tail and will never get straightened, we shall not become fanatics. If
there were no fanaticism in the world, it would make much more progress
than it does now. It is a mistake to think that fanaticism can make for
the progress of mankind. On the contrary, it is a retarding element
creating hatred and anger, and causing people to fight each other, and
making them unsympathetic. We think that whatever we do or possess is
the best in the world, and what we do not do or possess is of no value.
So, always remember the instance of the curly tail of the dog whenever
you have a tendency to become a fanatic.
- Swami Vivekananda