The old woodman took his axe and went out to the forest and began to hew and hack the trees with all his strength and soon he had a large load of wood.
Chop! chop! chop! At every blow of his axe he would think of the savory khichri he would soon enjoy.
Suddenly a big black bear came lumbering along through the forest with his long black nose tilted in the air and his little keen eyes peering all about him, for bears are always curious.
“Grr-rr-Grr-rr! Good-day to you, my friend,” growled the bear. “And may I ask what you are doing with that large bundle of wood?”
“I cut it for my wife,” answered the woodman. “You see, she would not cook me any dinner unless I brought her the wood. Today she has made me khichri for dinner and I know that when she sees this large load of wood, she will give me a generous portion. Oh, just smell that khichri; it is delicious!”
This made the bear very hungry and so he growled, “Do you think that your wife would give me some khichri, if I brought her some wood?”
“Maybe she might, if you brought her a very large load,” answered the man.
After a long discussion, the bear agreed to bring in half a cord of wood, if the man would save him some of the khichri.
“Half a cord is a very large load of wood,” grumbled the bear.
“But there is saffron and rice and pulse and butter in the khichri. It is a very expensive dish,” said the woodman.
The bear licked his chops at this and his bright little eyes gleamed with greed.
“It is a bargain,” he cried. “I will bring you half a cord of wood, so go home and tell your wife to keep the khichri hot, for I shall be with you soon.”
The woodman went home and told his wife about his bargain with the bear. “Half a cord of wood is good pay for a share of our dinner,” said the man.
Now the wife knew that her husband had made a good bargain with the bear, but she always found fault and grumbled about everything, so she began to scold the old man.
“You should have made a better bargain with the bear. Bears are always greedy,” she stormed. “You know that he will gobble up all the khichri, before we have had a mouthful.”
[Illustration: “Do you think your wife would give me some khichri, if I brought her some wood?”]
[Illustration: “Do you think your wife would give me some khichri, if I brought her some wood?”]