In the town of Kottazham, there was a big mango tree, standing on the brink of a pond. There were a lot of mangoes on that tree.

Now in Kerala, mangoes are preserved in salt, and a very good curry is made with them, which goes well with rice. The men of the place wanted to put all the mangoes on the tree in salt, but they had no jar large enough for the purpose. So one of them, more resourceful than the rest, made a suggestion. “Why not shake all the mangoes into the pond,” he said, “and then put plenty of salt into the water?” They all thought it was a very happy suggestion, and agreed to carry it out. They climbed the tree, shook the branches, and the mangoes fell into the water. Then they put a large quantity of salt into the pond.

A few weeks later, they decided that it was time to take the mangoes out. They had been in salt water long enough. So one of them tied a big jar around his neck and jumped into the pond with the idea of taking as many mangoes as he could. But the jar on his neck was soon full of water, and he drowned.

Those who waited for him on the bank thought that he was taking more than his share. Or else, he should have come up by now. So another man jumped in, with his jar tied around his neck. When he also did not come up, yet another jumped in. This way, a good number of people drowned on that day.

A Folktale sourced from Folk Tales of Kerala by K Jacob.

Click here to submit your Folklore.