DHONCHOLECHA (A wise goat)

DHONCHOLECHA (A wise goat) a folk tale popular in Newar Community.

Pranmaya, Bekhanaracha’s wife, is in her deathbed. She tells her daughter, Punathakumanicha, that her father would ger remarried and she will suffer at the hands of the stepmother. Meanwhile, Bekhanaracha buys a she-goat named Dhoncholecha. Punthakumaicha finds a new friend in the she-goat. When Pranmaya dies, Bekhanaracha passes his days in grief while his daughter enjoys herself playing with her boy friend pakacha and talking the domestic animal Dhoncholecha in the grazing land. Though bekhanarayancha is reluctant to get married at first, he, on insistence of a matchmaker, marries Banlamaicha, a pretty widow, a mother of a daughter Yachucha from her late husband. Balanmaicha also has a brother named Haracha.

Balamaicha starts ignoring punthakumaicha (her step daughter), who starts becoming everyday lean and thin. On the other hand, the wise Dhoncholecha feels pity on the poor girl and feeds her with hot rice and pulse.

One day this fact (the extraordinary power of Dhoncholecha) is disclosed as Dhoncholecha. At this balamaicha, being furious with her step-daughter, decides to sacrifice Dhoncholecha to the god Bhimsen. Though Bekhanaracha disagrees with his wife, he is helpless in front of Balamaicha and Harancha (his brother-in-law).

As Harancha and Yachucha drag the she-goat away, Punthakumaicha seems to hear the words of advice from the she-goat Dhoncholecha. The she-goat asks Punthakumaicha not to eat her meat. Instead she is requested to burry the she-goat’s bone in the grazing land.

Punthakumaicha follows the instruction of the she-goat. As a result, a tree laden with yomaris (sweet breads) appears. She and her boy friend Pakacha enjoy plucking and eating yomaris.

The Lakhe and Lasin (husband and wife demons) arrive there singing yomari songs and ask Punthakumaicha to offer them yomari sweet breads which she generously offers them. Then the demons think that the girl who eats such sweet yomari breeds, must be more delicious than the bread. So they take her forcefully to their dwelling place. And one day they decide to kill her. They ask her to bake the bread for their supper and they leave for bathing in the nearby river.

As Punthakumaicha is busy in baking bread, a rat, singing a bread song, appears and asks for bread in return for valuable information. When she offers bread, the rat tells her to gather as much jewels and ornaments as she can from the demon’s store and flee otherwise the demon will come back very soon and kill her.

Punthakumaicha hurriedly collets valuable ornaments and jewels and returns to her parent’s house. At first her step mother doesn’t like to receive her but later on she welcomes her when she comes to learn that her step daughter has returned with jewels and precious ornaments.

Balamaicha is envious of her step daughter. So she wants her own daughter Yachucha also to do the same. So following her mother’s instructions, Yachucha becomes ready for the adventure. But unfortunately she suffers at the hands of demons and dies.

A crow singing the song of tragedy brings the message of yachucha’s death at the hands of demons. At this Balamaicha (yachucha’s mother) is shocked. Bekhanaracha and Punthakumai arrive there to help her.

When Balamaicha comes back to her sense, her eyes fall on the beautiful as well as artistic statue of Dhoncholecha -  the wise she goat sculpted by Punthakumaicha for worshipping it on the auspicious occasion of Yomari purnima (The full moon day celebration of making steamed sweet breads of rice flour i.e. Yomari).

At last Balamaicha repents for her cruel deeds embraces the little statue of Dhoncholecha promising to take care of it from this moment onwards.