A Heart-Wrenching Tale of a Mother and Daughter

A Story of Love and Regret

In a small village, a widow lived with her young daughter, who was around six or seven years old. They were struggling to make ends meet in their impoverished circumstances.

One morning, the mother went out to gather grass and brought back some kafal berries. The sight of the berries filled the daughter with joy.

The mother said, "I’m going to work in the fields. We will eat the kafal when I return," and she covered the berries with a cloth in the basket.

The daughter eagerly awaited the moment she could taste the kafal, repeatedly lifting the cloth to imagine their sweet and sour flavor. However, being obedient, she refrained from eating any.

When evening came, the mother returned home. The daughter rushed to her and asked, "Mom, can we eat the kafal now?"

The mother, exhausted, replied, "Let me catch my breath first, dear."

Upon opening the basket, the mother noticed that the kafal were fewer than before.

Angrily, she asked, "Did you eat any?"

The daughter replied, "No, Mom, I didn’t even touch them!"

Frustrated from fatigue, hunger, and the heat, the mother slapped her daughter in anger. The daughter cried out, "I didn’t eat them, Mom…" and collapsed in tears.

Realizing her mistake, the mother took her daughter in her arms and wept, saying, "Oh God! What have I done! I picked these kafal for her…"

She cried throughout the night, having thrown the basket outside in her rage.

The next morning, she discovered that the basket was full of kafal again! The heat had wilted the berries, making them appear fewer, but the cool night air had revived them.

Seeing this, the mother, overwhelmed with regret, lost her life right there.

Legend has it that both mother and daughter transformed into birds. Even today, when kafal ripen, one bird sings sorrowfully, "kafal pako, mai ni chakho" (The kafal are ripe, but I haven’t tasted them). The other bird replies, "poor putai poor poor" (It’s full, daughter, it’s full).