Keshav, a kind farmer, meets a man named Rajesh on the road who claims to be Keshav's childhood friend, but Keshav does not recognize him. Keshav invites Rajesh to stay with him to try to remember, but he and his wife Mathi grow suspicious of Rajesh. Mathi pretends her trumpet can grant wishes to test Rajesh. When Rajesh tries to steal the trumpet, a fierce dog locked inside attacks him, revealing that Rajesh was lying about being Keshav's friend. Keshav and Mathi laugh, glad the dog scared Rajesh away from their village.

1. Friend-Detector
Story: N. Chokkan, N. Nangai, N. Mangai
Illustrations: Pratham Books
Illustrations Courtesy: Pratham Books
Released In “Creative Commons – Attribution”

2. Once upon a time, there
was a kind farmer named
Keshav.
He liked helping
everyone in need.
One day, while he was
going to a nearby village
in his bullock cart, he
met a person on the way.

3. That person saw Keshav and
jumped with joy. ‘Oh,
Keshav, is that you?’
‘Yes!’ answered Keshav,
‘But, how do you know my
name?’
‘Keshav, you forgot me,
didn’t you?’ that man asked,
‘I am Rajesh, your childhood
friend.’

4. But, Keshav couldn’t
recognize Rajesh at all.
He thought hard, really
hard. But, even after
checking every corner of
his brain, he couldn’t
remember even seeing
this person before. He
looked at him with a
puzzled face.

5. Finally, Keshav decided, ‘He
may really be my friend, I
guess my memory is just
bad.’
So, Keshav invited Rajesh to
come and stay in his home
for few days.
Rajesh agreed and hopped
on to the bullock cart.

6. Keshav’s wife Mathi welcomed them and
served a tasty meal. Rajesh ate well and
slept.
After that, Keshav discussed his
confusion with his wife. ‘Do you really
think he is my friend?’
Mathi thought for few minutes and made
up a plan to test their unknown guest.
She asked her husband to go and bring a
goat.
‘Why do you need a goat?’ asked Keshav.
‘You will know soon’ she told with a
mischievous smile.

7. Mathi went inside and
took her favorite trumpet.
She started blowing it.
Rajesh woke up from his
sleep and looked around.
He saw Mathi and asked
her ‘Why are you making
such a big noise?’

8. Mathi told him, ‘Sorry to wake
you up. This is a magic
trumpet. Whenever I blow it, I
would get whatever I wish for!’
Rajesh looked at that trumpet
with greedy eyes. He asked
her, ‘Are you serious? What did
you wish for now?’
‘I wished for a goat. Let us go
out and see if I get it.’

9. They both came out of the
hut and saw Keshav coming
with a goat.
‘Wow, this really works!’
told Rajesh. ‘Will you sell
that Magic Trumpet to me?’
‘Of course, not’ told Mathi,
and locked the trumpet
carefully.

10. That night, after Keshav and
Mathi went to sleep, Rajesh
woke up and went near the
box where the trumpet was
kept.
He took out an iron rod and
inserted it in the lock hole. He
twisted it in all directions and
suddenly, the lock opened.
With a nasty grin, he opened
the box and looked inside.

11. Out came a fierce looking dog.
It was locked there by Mathi,
when Rajesh went for his
evening walk.
The dog jumped on Rajesh,
who ran for his life.
Keshav and Mathi woke up
from their pretended sleep
and started laughing. ‘Hahaha,
Our dog will ensure that he
will never enter our village
again!’