42. The Cloud
and the Farmer
Once a saint predicted
that it would not rain for seven years. When a simple farmer heard this news,
he took his plough and kept in home and thought if it would not rain for seven
years, then it's not necessary to irrigate the field. He sat three days at home
with no work but on the fourth day he felt bored. He thought, 'If I would not
irrigate the field, I will forget the use of plough.' Thinking this he took his
plough and went to irrigate his field. Now he was happy that he would practise
irrigation in spite of no rain. Then he saw a cloud while working, but he
didn't like to see it. Suddenly, the cloud called the farmer and said, “O
foolish farmer, it has been predicted that it would not rain for seven years.
Why are you wasting your time in the field? We would not come as rain.” Then
the farmer replied that he was baffled to think that if he would not use the
plough in irrigation, he might forget the use. Hearing this, the cloud thought,
‘That the farmer is right; if I would also not go as rain on earth, I can also
forget my work.' From that day on, it started raining.