The story of the mongoose son is one of the amazing folktales from around the world that originated in South Asia. It is one of the best folktale stories with moral lessons that suit everyone anywhere in the world. The story revolves around a family in a village in a rural area. And it falls into categories such as folktales for kids, folktales with moral lessons, and moral stories. However, although the story is one of the best folktale stories with moral lessons, parents are advised to read the story before they read it out for kids, especially as a bedtime story, since this story has a tragic ending. Happy storytelling!
Once upon a time, there was a farming family in a village. The husband was called Gamarala, and his wife was called Gamahamine. They lived in a small, mud-thatched house with a rice-straw roof. They had been expecting a child for quite some time. Gamarala was a hard-working and caring man. He went to his cultivation to work in the fields early in the morning and came back in the evening. Meanwhile, his wife did all the household work, including cooking, collecting firewood, doing laundry by hand, keeping the house neat and clean and feeding the cows. Months passed by like this.
Gamahamine finally told Gamarala the good news they’d been waiting for. The good news was that Gamahamine was pregnant. Gamarala and Gamahamine were so happy that they were pregnant. Then they did everything they could for the baby. After nine months, a boy was born. Gamahamine and her husband were so happy. They warmly welcomed their first child, a new-born boy, to the family. After the baby was born, Gamahamine was very concerned about the child because they had waited so long for a child. She was very protective of her son.
Soon after the baby was born, Gamarala came home in the evening holding something in his arms. “What is it?” Gamahamine asked. “It’s a little mongoose,” Gamarala replied. Hearing that, Gamahamine did not seem to be very happy.
“Eww, those are wild animals. Why did you bring it here?” Gamahamine asked.
“I was walking home. On the way, I saw that this little cub had fallen into a mud pit. It was about to drown. So, I hurried and rescued it. Then, surprisingly, it stayed with me. It didn’t want to get down from my arm,” Gamarala said.
“So, why did you bring it here? You could scare it off and leave it there in the jungle,” Gamahamine asked.
“Why so angry, honey? This is a cute little animal. See how innocent it is. I looked around to see if this one’s mother was there. But there was no sign of her. So I brought it home. I think this is a male animal,” Gamarala said.
“Do what you need to do. But do not bring this animal any closer to the kid,” Gamahamine said angrily. She was not happy with Gamarala’s decision to adopt the mongoose cub at home.
TIme flew. Little by little, despite the resistance of Gamahamine, the mongoose and the baby became friends. Since there was no one else at home, Gamahamine had to stay home to babysit. The only time she had to do other work was when the baby was sleeping or when her husband was at home.
One day, Gamahamine had to go out. Gamarala was at his cultivation. There was no one to look after the baby. So, Gamahamine fed her son breast milk and made him sleep by singing a lullaby. She carefully kept him in the cradle and went out.
After finishing the task she went out for, Gamahamine rushed to the house. She was worried about her son. She arrived at the house. While she was passing the gate, she saw the mongoose with blood on its mouth. “Oh god!” she shouted. “What have you done to my child?” she shouted, jumping and catching the mongoose. Then she beat it with a stick. The mongoose stopped moving.
Then Gamahamine ran into the house and went straight to the cradle. Seeing the her, the baby chuckled at her. She checked everywhere in the baby’s body. No bite marks. Nothing! Then she turned around to come out of the house. She was stunted by what she saw.
It was a snake. And it was dead. It was a cobra and its head was bitten off. Instantaneously, she realized what had happened. The snake had come into the house. Then, the mongoose had fought with the snake and saved the baby.
Gamahamine kept the baby back in the cradle and ran to the mongoose. Still, it was lying on the ground where she left it.
“My mongoose son! forgive me! Oh dear, what have I done? I am sorry. You had saved my own son from death. But I beat you, not looking at what happened. Forgive me, my mongoose son!” Gamahamine wailed.
But the mongoose never woke up. The mongoose son was gone!
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