Poor Farmer Becomes Rich with a Magic Axe

Seized by fear, they quickly fled the forest and ran back to the village.

The story of the golden ox witnessed by Ragu and Gopal quickly spread through the village, but Hariya paid no attention to such absurd tales.

He worked diligently every day but suffered from the landlord's harsh debt collection and could not escape poverty.

When Hariya earned 10 coins from selling wood, the landlord immediately appeared and forcibly took 8 coins as interest.

Despite Hariya's protests, the landlord threatened him to repay the debt and took the money.

With only 2 coins remaining, life became impossible, deepening the conflict between Hariya and his wife, Kamala.

Hariya despaired at the reality of earning only two coins after cutting wood in the forest every day, all to repay the landlord's debt.

To him, who constantly argued with his wife over livelihood issues, his neighbor Bhola Uncle offered comfort, saying that good opportunities would surely come after difficult times.

The mother-in-law warned Hariya, who spent 8 out of 10 daily earnings on debt, not to even think about bringing her daughter back until he became much richer, and then took his wife, Kamala, and left.

To break the vicious cycle of repaying debt with interest, Hariya decided to venture deeper into the forest.

There, he witnessed an unknown golden ox, confirming that the rumors of a golden ox told by the villagers were true.

The golden ox recognized Hariya's honesty, saw through his impoverished situation, told him the location of a treasure, and then disappeared.

What emerged when he dug the spot indicated by the golden ox was not treasure but a magic axe.

This was no ordinary axe; it had the ability to reveal if treasure was buried beneath any tree it struck.

Hariya, full of hope, took the axe and returned home.

Hariya could have paid off all his debt, including interest, with one gold coin, but he gave the landlord another, warning him not to bother him again.

Thus, Hariya settled all his debts with the landlord.

Hariya, who had decided not to call his wife back due to past resentment, tore down his old hut and built a grand mansion, then began to help the poor.

He resolved not to call back his wife, who had left him during difficult times, just because good times had come.

As villagers no longer bowed to the landlord, his servant Shamu mocked his master's changed circumstances.

Hariya not only did not charge them interest but also granted repayment deferrals, improving the residents' economic situation.

Seeing the tree itself reveal that treasure was buried where the axe touched, the landlord understood Hariya's method of finding treasure locations with the axe.

The next morning, Hariya confirmed the axe was gone and began to track down the thieves.

Uncle Bhola informed Hariya that he had seen the landlord and his servant Shamu loitering around Hariya's mansion the previous night.

Based on this information, Hariya confronted the landlord and demanded the axe's return. The landlord and his party were surprised by Hariya's changed demeanor and influence, as he was supported by the villagers.

A few days earlier, the king had learned about a magic axe in this temple and, blinded by greed, came here. He ignored the temple god's warning to leave the axe in its original place.

Consequently, the king was cursed and transformed into a golden ox as punishment for using the axe.

As the landlord tried to strike the golden ox with the axe, Hariya threw himself in the way, blocking the attack.

The god's condition that the curse would be broken when a truthful and good person used the axe fairly and sacrificed themselves for others was met by Hariya.

Thanks to Hariya's sacrifice, King Hukum Singh was able to return to his original form.

The king proposed the marriage of Princess Padma to Hariya and declared Hariya the successor to the throne of this country. Even after Hariya revealed he already had a wife, the king valued his honesty and goodness and did not mind.