Lomadi , the Foolish Fox

By Vani Balaraman

Lomadi lived in the village, near the forest.

He was a foolish fox.
Nobody knew how Lomadi left the forest to begin living in the village.
The villagers didnt mind either because he was indeed very foolish and could cause no harm to
animals.
However, Lomadis eyes were always set on the innocent birds and chickens that went about their
daily lives searching for food.
One fine morning, Lomadi woke up , determined to catch a chicken for his lunch.
I am bored of eating left over food !.
Left over chappatis , and left over rice ! Day and night! , he exclaimed.
How delicious would the chickens taste , his mouth started watering at the sight of the chickens in
the farm.

Without much thought, Lomadi started chasing the chickens.

Little did he know that one of the chickens was indeed very clever.
She hid inside a huge vegetable that she had carved herself and began to sing a song .
DUM DUM DIGAAA DIGAAA . DUM DUM DIGAAA DIGAAAAA . !!!
DOUDTHA DOUDTHA AAYA BHOOTH
LAUKI SABJI WAALA BAYAANAK BOOTH
DUM DUM DIGAAA DIGAAA . DUM DUM DIGAAA DIGAAAAA . !!!!

It was a hot summer day, and foolish Lomadi indeed believed the vegetable that was moving to be a
ghost !
A vegetable ghost !!
He had often heard of ghosts that moved around in the village in search of food .

The chicken escaped ! , laughing her heart out at his foolishness !

One day, Lomadi set his eyes on the farmers goat.

The farmer tied a dhol around the goats neck
Everytime the goat sighted Lomadi, the goat began to beat his dhol loudly .
Would he ever get to trick and eat an animal !, Lomadi wondered .

Finally , one fine day he couldnt believe what he saw.

He saw the hare playing with his friend, the tortoise.
The hare leapt ahead when he sighted Lomadi , but the poor tortoise could not escape. He was too
slow!
Ha ha ! You might have own the race with the hare, but today , you cannot escape my clutches, said
Lomadi to the tortoise.
The hare however was clever. He knew Lomadi was very foolish.
Lomadi ! Dont you know that Didima, the village chieftains wife is hosting a feast today?, asked
the hare.
Lomadi was startled. A feast ! That too free of cost ! , he loosened grip of the tortoise whom he had
held in his mouth .
Yes indeed!, the hare continued .
Didima is hosting a feast to celebrate her sons birthday. She is in her yard , preparing the yummiest

kheer for dinner.

Lomadi s mouth began to water.

He imagined the cats and the rats queuing up to get a taste of the lovely kheer that Didima was
making.
Lomadi dropped the tortoise in haste and rushed to Didimas yard.
Lomadis mouth started to water at the thought of the kheer and as he ran , the gud-gud-gud boiling
of milk in the pot, the rich taste of cream , tasty cardamoms and dry fruits floating on the top of the
kheer haunted him.
And when he reached Didimas yard , he leapt on to the boiling pot , in haste!!
AIYOOOOOOOOOOAIYOOO ! He screamed , the kheer had burnt his tongue

Poor Lomadi !!
Not only did he sleep on an empty stomach that day ,he had to gulp buckets of water from the stream to
cure his burnt tongue!
That night, Lomadi learnt a lesson.
Never to trouble the animals and birds in the village ! And never to be greedy!
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