Who could scare the devil?

The farmer known as Punchi gamarala felt extremely tired after half a day's hard work in the blazing hot sun in his farming plot full of plants. For sometime he had collected his harvest and kept in a barn which he protected as a treasure trove. But he was not feeling happy about his harvest this time, as it did not yield a good result of his sweat.

"I work so hard but the results are not too good," he thought, "this is the way of our life. Some farmers are gifted with wealth while others are not. Some are helped by some sort of invisible forces, while others are not at all helped." So in a mood of a certain sense of dismay and frustration, he wanted to go home and rest a while after a good midday meal.

"I can sell whatever I have collected so far," he thought "and do some hard work later."

He knew there were certain people accustomed to rob some of the hard gathered harvest. This was an additional worry for him.

"I need more and more working hands," he thought. ''But the people around are busy with their own work, and as such they could not be requested to help me. The only solution is to get self help as much as possible." He was determined to do his work for himself.

He entered the house to see his wife cooking the midday meal.
"I didn't know you are coming home at this time," she said.
"Need to rest a while."
"The meals will be ready in a short while. Take rest."

"I am so thirsty. I need to drink something. I think I had some king coconuts under my bed."

So he entered his room, which was full of various weapons and utensils and sacks full of grain. He also felt hungry as he was trying to get at a king coconut.

He knew that the king coconut will only quench his thirst. But very soon he could partake of the meal prepared by his wife. As he entered his room he was muttering some words to himself which he was usually fond of doing in a sing-song rhythmic pattern. This time he said to himself.

"Oh how hungry I am! Oh how hungry I am! I have come all the way from the field, now I can eat even a devil. How very hungry I am! I can even eat a devil! Let any devil come! I am not afraid of devils.

I want to kill one of them these days. As he was uttering these words, to his grave surprise something strange happened.

A devil hiding under the bed came out of his hiding and was seen shivering with hands clasped in veneration.

"Who are you?" asked Punchi gamarala .
"I am a devil, sir."
"What brought you here?"
"Forgive me sir. I was hungry."
"Answer me properly," said the farmer shielding his fright to the devil.

"I felt hungry and I wanted to steal something from your house. Forgive me great farmer! I did not know that there are humans who eat devils. But this is the only occasion where I found one of that caliber. I heard your words. Please don't eat me I will do anything for you."

"This is indeed a good chance to get work out of this devil," thought the farmer and quietly asked:

"If you want to live what will you grant me?"
"Whatever you ask."
"Are you a poor devil?"
"Yes I am."
"Can you be my helper?"
"Yes certainly!"
"Can you toil the land?"
"Yes I can if you teach me how."
"Yes I can teach you."
"What more can I do for you sir?"

"I need to have more sacks full of grain not only to sell but also to serve myself and my wife."

"That could be done."
"But tell me how you are going to do that?"

"I will bring you some gunny sacks full of grains out of the ones I have already collected from several places."

"How did you collect them?"
"I used to rob from farmers and barn keepers."

"So then you got to stop that from this moment and promise me that you are not going to do that in future and earn a decent living. Understood?"

"Yes."

"So then I pardon you today. But will you keep a promise sternly as agreed?"

"Yes I will. I promise"
"We got to start work."

"Yes sir." Punchi gamarala looked at the face of the devil. It was shuddering with fear. Can this be a real devil, he wondered. Punchi gamarala knew the manners of the devils. He could not gauge whether he is honest or not. So he got him to do some work in the grinding stone, not as a mere punishment, but to ascertain the stability of the devil. While the farmer was having his mid day meal he told his wife what actually happened.

"Are there devils like that?" she asked.

"Yes there are devils who come to plunder the humans. But they could be tamed under certain circumstances."

"Is he going to be a good worker?"
"I got to test it. I have already given him some work."

Later on the farmer Punchi gamarala found the devil is a good hard worker and a servant.

He kept up to his promise by bringing sacks full of grains initially and then resumed to do fieldwork as promised. Punchi gamarala had a very good time with the devil. They became good friends, and the devil did not plunder the wealth of others, but helped the farmer to get a good harvest.