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Naughty Ghanshyam

Once the elder brother Rama Pratap had gone to weed away grass in his field. His younger brother Ghanshyam was with him. Maize and cucumis grew side by side in the field. And the grass grown between these two was to be weeded out. On seeing the elder brother working, Ghanshyam also thought of working. So he also started working. But instead of weeding out grass, Ghanshyam was uprooting maize and cucumis. On seeing this, the elder brother scolded him, but Ghanshyam did not care. The elder brother scolded him, again but Ghanshyam did not care. The elder brother got angry. He angrily raised his hand to beat Ghanshyam.

Ghanshyam was offended. He ran down to the house, secretly hid himself in the heap of hay in the manger so that no one could find him. When the elder brother returned home in the afternoon, Bhaktimata, seeing him all alone, inquired about Ghanshyam. He replied, “ Ghanshyam has already come home.” “No, he hasn’t come yet,” said the mother. The elder brother was now surprised. He said, “He on being offended must have run away somewhere when I tried to beat him. “

Search for Ghanshyam began. All his village friends were inquired about Ghanshyam. But no one had seen Ghanshyam. Every place - the river, the pond, the temple, the tamarind tree and the mango tree - where Ghanshyam used to go were searched, but he was no where to be found. Messengers were sent to the nearby villages. At last they were disappointed and were helpless.

There was no limit to Bhaktimata’s plight. She began to cry: “Oh, dear Ghanshyam, my son Ghanshyam, where are you?” Ghanshyam could not tolerate mother’s wailing . He shouted from the heap of hay, “I am here, mother.” Soon aunt Sundaribai ran to the manger and brought back Ghanshyam, holding his hand. Bhaktimata clung to Ghanshyam. Ghanshyam hid his face in his mother’s lap and said, “Mother, my elder brother was searching me being excited. I was watching him.” “How naughty (playful-mischievous) my child Ghanshyam is!” exclaimed the mother.