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In the place where the peasant was killed, one of the
fingers took root, like a plant, and grew rapidly every
day until it resembled a palm tree.
Whenever anyone passed the area, he would avoid the
place for fear the giant finger would fall on his head and
kill him. So the
road from the village was abandoned from fear of the finger
tree, and wild beasts roamed the area freely.
The peasant’s son grew into a strong and brave young
man. One day he
told his mother it was time to seek revenge against the
beast that had killed his father. He vowed not to return until that had been
done. But the mother
was afraid for her son’s life.
She grabbed his clothes and pleaded that he not do
this alone in case the beast kill the son as well as the
father.
The mind of the boy was made up, however. He freed himself from his mother’s grasp as
the tears streamed down her face.
After picking up a short stick, he went along the
road his father had taken. When he reached the tall finger as big as a
palm tree, he did not circle and avoid it as everyone else
from the village did. Instead
he walked closer and closer until he saw a large beast in
front of him. The beast was ready to pounce on the young man and tear him apart.
So the son raised his stick in order to beat back
the wild fiend.
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As the beast neared the tall finger tree hovering over
the scene, the earth suddenly began to move beneath its
feet. The ground shook so violently that the animal
fell over. Rocks
from a nearby hill rolled down a cliff and buried it.
The son watched as the beast raged and tried to escape. But it was to no avail as the rocks continued
to cover it and eventually took their toll. Then the son turned toward the tall finger and watched in amazement
as it grew smaller and smaller and finally disappeared into
the ground.
After this the young man went over to the rocks heaped on
top of the dead beast.
He removed these one by one until he reached the
carcass. Then he skinned it and fashioned the carcass
into clothing, which he proudly wore on his way back to
the village. On the way he met his mother and a group of
village men she had gathered to come with shovels and sticks
and rescue him. Seeing
the young man dressed in the beast’s hide, they shouted
for joy and rushed forward to embrace him and praise him
for his valor, courage, and great strength in killing the
savage beast. Then
they made him sheikh of the village.
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