The Decision of the Panchayat

This is the story 'The Decision of the Panchayat' from your book, Santoor (Chapter 8). Here it is, told in short.

Once, in a small village, there lived a farmer who worked very hard. He had two fields. When he prospered, he bought a third field. There was a well next to it, and since the farmer needed water for his fields, he bought the well from his neighbour. But the neighbour was a cunning man, and he made a plan to cheat the farmer.

The next day, when the farmer came to the well, the neighbour was standing there and would not let him take any water. "I sold you only the well, not the water," he said. "The water is still mine." The worried farmer went to the village chief, a woman, and told her, "He is not letting me take the water."

The chief called a meeting of the Panchayat. On the chosen day, the members gathered under the banyan tree in the middle of the village, and most of the villagers came too. The farmer and his neighbour were both summoned. The neighbour said the same thing again, and although the Panchayat and the villagers tried to reason with him, he was adamant and would not change his mind. The members talked it over among themselves and then stood up to give their judgment.

The chief said, "We agree that only the well was sold." The neighbour smiled, pleased. "But," she went on, "if the water is yours, then you have no right to keep your water in his well. Take the water out or use it all up at once. If not, the water will belong to the owner of the well." The farmer shouted with joy. The cunning neighbour understood that cheating would get him nowhere. He had to pay a fine and say sorry to the farmer, and the villagers praised the wisdom of the Panchayat.