Punyakoti - an unforgettable fable

I am not too sure how many of you have heard the story of Punyakoti. People home grown in Karnataka should know this fable by heart since this has been cascaded to us thru generations. I have heard this story many a times as a child. Yesterday my daughter was after my mother , to tell her a story…. As a true granny she had all the patience to start her narration.
“once upon a time in a forest there was a herd of cows, which went grazing at dawn and would return back to the village stable by dusk. Punyakoti was a cow in this herd and one day while grazing it strayed away. When she realized that she had moved far away from the herd she began moving fast to reach since it was getting dark. On the way was a tiger and Punyakoti began to shiver. The tiger said “ I am really hungry and what better could I have asked for” , I am going to kill you and have a feast tonight.
On this Punyakoti said to the tiger “ oh tiger, I know you are the strongest of them all and there is no way for me to escape from here” you can surely eat me, but before I die, I want to go back to my herd as I have left my baby calf there. I wish to feed it some milk and request my other sisters to take care of my child from now on”. Please allow me to do so and I assure you that I will come back.
The tiger looked at the cow for a moment and something made him say “alright, you may go now and be back quickly, else I will come to your herd and kill many more”.
Punyakoti thanked him for this gesture and starting moving to the herd fast. She reached the place and saw her calf, which was very restless and mowing… all the other cows were also worried as to where Punyakoti had gone… As soon as she saw her calf, she licked it , tucked it , fed milk to the little one and narrated the whole instance to the others. She then requested them to take care of her little one as she was going to die. All the cows told her not to go and said the tiger would never venture in the village, but Punyakoti refused and said she had to keep her word. Saying so, she left the place with tears in her eyes and a heavy heart. She entered the forest and went to where the tiger was waiting,
She said “ oh tiger, as promised I am back. You can now eat me and fulfill your hunger”
The tiger was astonished to see the cow back. “I cannot believe that you have come back” for which Punyakoti said ‘you have laid your trust on me for which I should abide” she narrated what she did when she went back and for this tears rolled down the tigers eyes, “for the honesty you have shown and the trust that you have kept I cannot kill you, please go back to your herd and take good care of your child” so said the tiger and went deep into the forest. Punyakoti was very happy and rushed back to the village. On seeing her , her calf and her friends were very happy. And after that everything ended on a happy note. So the moral of the story is that one should always be honest and trust worthy. If you follow the path of honesty , then god is always on your side and will do good for you. So said my mother.
By the time she finished the story, I was sitting next to my daughter listening to is as curiously as a first timer….