Nadeem and the old Priest

Arrival of God

Once many centuries ago there lived a giant of 8 feet by the name Nadeem. He lived with his wife and children. To feed them he did both jobs of woodsman and farmer.

One day Nadeem received a visit from an old priest, who said to him: "Honourable woodsman, I am afraid you never pray."
Nadeem replied by saying that If priest had a wife and a large family to keep, you would never have time to pray.
This remark made the priest angry, and the old man gave the woodcutter a vivid description of the horror of being reborn as a toad, or a mouse, or an insect for millions of years. Nadeem was horrified by his words, and he accordingly promised the priest that in future he would pray.
"Work and pray not only pray," said the priest as he was leaving.

Unfortunately Nadeem did nothing but pray. He prayed all day long and refused to do any work, so that his rice crops died and his wife and family starved. Nadeem's wife, who upto now never said a harsh or bitter word to her husband, now became extremely angry, and, pointing to the poor thin bodies of her children, she exclaimed: "Rise, Nadeem, take up your axe and do something more helpful to us all than the mere mumbling of prayers."

Nadeem became both amazed and terrified by his wife’s words. But now his answering words were harsh.
"Woman," said he, "the Gods come first. You are an atheist creature to speak to me so, and I will have nothing more to do with you." Nadeem snatched up his axe and, without looking round to say farewell, he left the hut, walked around in wood, and climbed up a mountain, where a mist hid him from sight.
When Nadeem had seated himself upon the mountain he heard a soft rustling sound, and immediately afterward saw a fox running there. Now Nadeem was amazed to see this creature and, forgetting his prayers, he stood up and ran around in the hope of again finding this sharp-nosed little creature.
He was about to give up the chase when, coming to an open space in a wood, he saw two ladies sitting down by a tree and playing chess. The woodsman was so completely fascinated that he could do nothing but sit down and watch them. There was no sound except the soft click of pieces on the board. The ladies took no notice of Nadeem, as they were completely absorbed in their chess pieces as it had become a never ending game. Nadeem could not keep his eyes off these fair women. He watched their little quick hands that shot out now and again from their big silk sleeves in order to move the pieces.

After he had been sitting there for three hundred years, though to him it was but a summer's afternoon, he saw that one of the players had made a false move. "Wrong move lady" he exclaimed excitedly. In a moment these women turned into foxes and ran away.
When Nadeem attempted to pursue them he found to his horror that his limbs were terribly stiff, that his hair was very long, and that his beard was touching the ground. He discovered, moreover, that the handle of his axe, though made of the hardest wood, had crumbled away into a little heap of dust.

After many painful efforts Nadeem was able to stand on his feet and proceed very slowly toward his little home. When he reached the spot he was surprised to see no hut and, perceiving a very old woman, he said: "Good lady, I am shocked to find that my little home has disappeared. I went away this afternoon, and now in the evening it has vanished."
To that old lady his words seemed to be of madman but after inquiring his name she replied in somewhat harsh words.
You must indeed be mad. Nadeem lived three hundred years ago. He went away one day, and he never came back again."
"Three hundred years" Nadeem was shocked to hear this. "It cannot be possible. Where are my dear wife and children?"
They were already buried both your wife and children. The Gods must have prolonged your miserable life in punishment for having neglected your wife and little children."
Big tears ran down Nadeem’s cheeks as he said in a husky voice: I have lost my valuables. I was praying when my dear ones starved and needed the labour of my once strong hands. Old woman, remember my last words: "If you pray, work too.