"There she is," said Pottala. "This is a special blowpipe, Not only can it hit a duck far away, but it brings it back to the kitchen, too."
"Oh, let me have that pipe, Pottala," said the headman.
"Give me the blowpipe and you need not to give me back the money."
"Well, if that's what you wish, sir, of course you may have the blowpipe," said Pottala. The excited headman went home with his blowpipe. He was so impatient to try it out that he did not want to wait for Pottala to cook the wild duck. As soon as he arrived home, the headmen aimed the blowpipe at the sky and blew in it. Then he ran to the kitchen. But to his great dissapoinment, there was no duck on the table. He ran back to the verandah and belw and blew till he was red in the face. But still no duck appeared. The whole day, the headman ran to and from his verandah to the kitchen, until he fell exhausted on the floor. And still no duck appeared on the kitchen table. Then the headman understood that again he had been cheated by Pottala.
The next day, he went back to the peasant and demanded his money. "But sir, I've paid you with the blowpipe," said Pottala innocently.
"Here's your blowpipe, I don't want it. Give me my money!" shouted the headman angrily. "You've cheated me, Pottala!"
"But sir, you saw yourself that I killed a duck with it yesterday," answered Pottala.
"Give me back my money!"
"Please sir, I haven't got the money yet. Can you give me some more time?" Although he was angry, the headman agreed to give Pottala another two days to find the money.
This time, Pottala caught a dog and put a silver coin under its tail. When the headman came and asked for his money, he said," Sir, I haven't got the money yet. The people who bought my rice and fruit have not paid me yet. But I was given a rather special dog who might be able to help a bit. Would you like to see this dog, sir?"
"Yes," said the headman, "just bring him here."
Pottala took the dog out of the house and put him on a mat. He stroke the animal and said," Come now, give me a coin." The dog wagged his tail and Pottala took the silver coin from under it.
" There you are, sir," he said, offering the coin to the headman. "Can I give this coin to you? The dog only gives one coin at a time."
The headman was delighted. "Oh, Pottala," he said. "Give me that dog and you need not pay me the rest of the money."
"As you wish, sir," said Pottala obediently. So the headman took the dog home. At home, he tied the dog under his bed and waited impatiently for several hours. Then, when he thought the dog had rested long enough, he stroked his back and said, "Come now, give me a coin." The dog wagged his tail happily, but that's all he did. And again the headman understood that he had been tricked by the clever peasant.
"That's it! Now I'm going to arrest him!" he shouted. He ordered two guardsmen to go to Pottala, put him in a bag, throw him into the river. The men went to Pottalo's hut and carried out their orders. Fortunately, Pottala had his knife with him, and when he was thrown into the river, he cut a hole in the bag and swam to safety. He left his village and went into the forest where he opened a new field. After some time, when his field had grown some sweet potatoes, he went back to the village to sell them. At the market, he met the headman who stared at him amazement.
"Pottala! I thought my guardsmen threw you into the river," he called out.
"Yes sir, I was thrown into the river," answered Pottala.
"But, when I reached the bottom, the water folk rescued me. I lived with them for a while, but I got homesick for my village, so I asked them to take me back up to land."
"Is it beautiful down there? asked the headman curiously.
"Oh, it's the most beautiful place one could ever see," answered Pottala.
"Then put me in a bag and throw me into the river, because I want to see the place where the water folk live," said the headman.
"As you wish, sir," said Pottala. He put the headman in a bag and threw the bag into the river, where the headman drowned. Then Pottala went back to his field in the forest and lived peacefully for the rest of his life.
