Friday, October 3, 2008

Fingé and Kukro

There was a giant, his name was Fingé. He used to roam around with a four-fifty feet long baobab wood-rod. There was another giant, his name was Kukro. He punched cast iron dumbbells flat.

Whichever other giants were around, Kukro beat them all flat on all fours.Only Fingé was left. Now, he began searching for Fingé all around the globe.

One morning, he heard Fingé had gone to seaside. So, he went there too.
But before Kukro reached, Fingé got the news and fled to his house over the mountain top.

As the house was on a mountain top, anyone could see ten days' walk from there. So, Fingé thought if he stayed there Kukro could not suddenly attack.

Seeing Fingé come back hurriedly, his wife Oona got scared. She asked, "What happened?"

Fingé pointed to the sea and said, "Kukro is coming. That guy smashes iron dumbbells in a punch. This time I'm done for."

Oona looked at the sea and saw Kukro coming. But, he seemed to be very far, at least three-four days' walk away. So, she told Fingé, "You don't worry. Just sit n relax. Leave this to me."

But, could Fingé breathed a relief on such false hopes? He kept shivering on thinking about the pains that he would get after Kukro's beating.

While Fingé was trembling in fear sitting in his chair, Oona was arranging things. She went to the village houses and gathered all discarded blades, spades, spears, bolts, rods, hammers and nails in baskets. Then, for two days, she baked pies and cakes, stuffing all those things in them.

Fingé could not understand a thing, and he kept asking her.

But Oona said,  "Don't bother yourself about this. Just sit and watch."

After the pies were ready, she prepared three tubful of cheese. Then, she repeatedly taught Fingé what to do once Kukro came.

Next day, before lunch, Kukro reached the house. As soon as he climbed to the top, he growled like thunder, "Where's Fingé?"

Oona came out and said, "He's not home. Some newbie braggart called Kukro was boasting about his prowes. so, Fingé became very angry and went out to kill him with the baobab rod. If Fingé can catch him, that poor guy won't be in single piece."

Hearing this, Kukro got so surprised that he sat down and said, "But, that's me only. I'm Kukro. I came here to fight him."

On that Oona almost died laughing. Then she observed Kukro for a long time, with wrinkled nose, and said, "You'll fight Fingé with such a lizardly body? You're a kid. You don't know him. Why do you want to lose life so soon? Follow my advice n you'll get back alive.

"Do something meanwhile. Too much windy now. Fingé is not home. Who'll rotate the house? Do it if you can."

Kukro thought, "My god! Fingé rotates this house to stop wind? Now, if I say no, these people will laugh at me."

So, he clicked his mid-finger knuckle very well. This knuckle held all his power, he was nothing without that. After the knuckle was clicked, he hugged the house and rotated it so much that the mountain top rotated too.

Fingé was lying inside, under a blanket, as if he was Oona's baby boy. He started hiccup seeing all these.

But, Oona seemed to be very pleased with Kukro. She told him, "Good boy you are! But, there's not a single drop of water in the room. How can I give you sweets? There's lots of water under the mountain. When Fingé is here, he pushes the mountain and gets the water for us. But, he's not home now, what'll I do? Could you please push the mountain a little so I can get water?"

Kukro again clicked his knuckle, and went downhill. There he pushed the mountain so hard that a hundred feet deep lake appeared from nowhere. Seeing this, Oona almost cried out in awe. But, she was too wise for that. So, he controlled herself, and said, "Well done. Now sit here. I'll give you pies to eat."

He sat on the table as Oona served him with the pies and cakes. So greedy was he, that he took ten of those pies together. As soon as the pies went into his mouth, the whole house shook by his loud ouch. The asbestos ceiling almost whiffed away by that sound. Oona saw his four teeth dropping out from a bleeding mouth.

She said, "Hey! Don't cry so much! Baby is asleep. I thought you were a strong man, you'd love this pie. Fingé n baby eat this pie everyday."

As she spoke, the baby bellowed like a bull, "Ayannn! Gimme cake. Gimme pie."

Fingé almost jumped from the chair hearing that unworldly sound. But, he kept himself calm. Oona made some normal pies for the baby. She gave him some from that store. But, Kukro did not know that. He saw the baby eating the pies that broke his four teeth. He then thought, "By Odin! If the baby eats such pies so easily, what can his dad do! I'm lucky he's not home."

Meanwhile, the baby finished his pies, and said, "Gimme my stone. I play."

Oona gave the baby handful of cheese and Kukro a white lava stone, and said, "All the time he plays one thing. Squeezing water out of stone. You too try on this one."

Kukro's stone was so strong that he could do nothing even after pressing it with all his effort. But, the baby's cheese released lots of water. Now, Kukro started trembling in fear and thought, "My gosh! I must run away in time. If his dad returns I'll be nowhere. Only, I'm too curious to check the bay's teeth. I must see how are those teeth with which he eats such pies."

Thinking that, he quickly poked his fingers in the baby's mouth. And the baby bit them off from the base, in a quicker manner.

Kukro had all the power in his finger. So, he lost all his strength immediately and dropped to the floor. And without delay, "the baby" grabbed his four-fifty feet long baobab rod and broke Kukro's bones in no time.

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