Vern Feuy Saephan
Long ago there was a man who claimed he was a master trickster. One day some children were taking cows out to graze in the field. Along the way the master trickster met them. They asked the liar, “Mr. Trickster, you said you could play tricks very well. Why don’t you try to trick us? We don’t think anyone can fool us.”
The children carried their lunches with them while tending the cows. The trickster immediately had an idea for tricking the children and getting their lunches to eat.
He told the children, “How can I trick you? Your parents aren’t with you. You children came here alone to let the cows graze. If I trick you now, your parents might blame me later. I don’t think I can trick you now.”
He had begun his trick already.
The children said, “No, they won’t blame you. We suggested it ourselves. We dared you to trick us. How can they blame you? They can only blame us. If they say something, we can explain to them.”
The trickster said, “But, I don’t believe you. They are your parents. If I trick you, how can they not blame me? I’m afraid they might sue me later. But if you really want me to trick you, then climb up the tree to see if your father is coming. If he’s not coming, then I’ll try to trick you.”
He fooled the children into climbing up the trees, each child in a different tree. The children said, “No, he is not coming.”
They wanted to come down, but the trickster wouldn’t let them. He insisted, “If he comes, we may not be able to hear him. If he comes, we can’t hide from him. He might blame us.”
While the children were up in the trees, he opened their lunches and ate everything. After he had finished eating he told them, “Well, you have been looking out for him for a while now, and he’s not coming. If you want me to trick you, then come down. When you come down, then I’ll try to find an idea for tricking you.”
When they came down, they told him, “We don’t think he’s coming. If you want to trick us, then go ahead. We don’t believe you can trick us.”
He said, “Really? Then check your lunches.”
They checked their lunches, but they were all gone. The children got hungry and had to return home before dark.
When they got home, their parents asked, “Why are you coming home so early today? Have the cows eaten their fill of grass?”
The children said, “Well, the cows can’t be very hungry. Even if they’re a little hungry, they can’t be very hungry. The reason we came home early today is because we dared the trickster to fool us. He said he wouldn’t trick us until we had climbed up in the trees to look out for you. He would only trick us if we couldn’t see you. While we were up in the trees, he ate all of our lunches.”