THE MAGIC KADAHI (PAN)

Once upon a time there was a small village. Salma with her sweet little daughter lived in a small cottage in the village. They were very happy and contented.  Salma had a magic kadahi (pan), which was given to her by a sage who had come to the village just after Salma was married. This pan was a big support to Salma and her daughter.

    At mealtime Salma would put the pan on the stove and say: " Pan. O Pan! Please cook. And quickly too. I am hungry. Cook some porridge." No sooner these words were said than boiling porridge would appear in the pan and the pan would start filling up with it. When there was enough porridge for both Salma and her daughter Salma would say: Pan, O Pan! Please stop. And quickly too. Our stomachs are full. And thank you too." The moment these words were uttered the pan would stop cooking and Salma would place it on the table and she and her daughter would eat their fill. Salma would then say, "Pan, O Pan! Clean thyself. We are full for now. And thank you too." The pan would then become sparkling new and Salma would put it away,
Rahimchacha was Salma's neighbor and a very inquisitive man. He often said to himself, " Salma and her daughter seem very well fed and healthy, but I never hear the rattle of pots and pans which is an indication of someone cooking. I also have never seen her washing her pots and pans ever. The question is do they cook? If they do then when do they cook and as I have never seen her buying any foodstuff, what do they cook?"

Rahimchacha was astonished as the pan went to work and it filled up with boiling porridge. He was afraid of being seen and quietly left at this point and said to himself, "Ah! Now I know the secret of Salma's affluence and her cooking. I am going to take away this magic pan when Salma and her daughter go out."
Next day when Salma and her daughter went out to work, Rahimchacha crept into their house and stole the pan. He came back to his house, went into his kitchen, put the pan on the stove and said: "Pan O Pan! Please cook. And quickly, too. I am hungry. Cook some porridge."
Boiling porridge appeared in the pan and the pan started filling up with it. The pan was soon full. Rahimchacha who had only heard the words that began the cooking did know the magic words that would tell the pan to stop cooking. So he said, " All right enough, please stop cooking……"

The pan did not stop cooking. The porridge began to overflow and spill out from the pan. The whole kitchen floor was full of porridge, and then the other rooms filled and the porridge started flowing out on the streets. Rahimchacha watched helplessly and then began to run away from the boiling flowing porridge.

The porridge was chasing Rahimchacha wherever he went. Rahimchacha now alarmed ran helter skelter shouting for help, " Please! Somebody please help me! Somebody please come and say something to this pan. The whole village will fill up with it. The crows will fill the village to eat it. The village and my house will drown in porridge!"
The porridge continued to overflow and chase Rahimchacha wherever he went.

Meanwhile Salma and her daughter came home. When she saw the street in front of her house filled with porridge she knew what had happened. She walked into Rahimchacha's kitchen; Lo and Behold the porridge made a place for her to walk through. She went up to the pan and whispered to it, " Pan O Pan! Please stop. And quickly, too. Our stomachs are full. And thank you too."

    The pan stopped cooking. Rahimchacha said to Salma, "Please forgive me. I had become greedy. So I stole your pan. Now I do not want this pan or the porridge it cooks. Please pardon me for my behavior."

Rahimchacha had not heard the words Salma had spoken to the pan. Even now he has nightmares and wakes up in fright as he sees the porridge chasing him.