Once upon a time， there lived a silly man called Sanu. And what a silly man he was. There was nothing that he could do right. His mother was always very worried about him.

　　In good time， Sanu was married to a pretty girl. The girl's family invited him to visit them. Sanu was very excited and put on his best clothes. As he was about to leave， his mother said， 'Son， you must impress your wife's family with your good behavior. So listen carefully to what I tell you.

　　First…… here is some money. But something for them as a gift. Second…… be sure that your seat is not low. Third…… speak in a sweet， cooing voice. Fourth…… don't appear greedy at mealtimes. Refuse all second helpings.

　　Now don't forget any of these things. Good-bye and God bless you.“

　　Sanu set off， reciting aloud his mother's instructions. Being an obedient son， he was determined to follow them to the letter.

　　Along the way， he came to a very big marketplace. At once he remembered his mother's first instruction： Buy something as a gift.

　　So he went to the biggest and busiest shop and asked， “sir do you have a good something？”

　　The shopkeeper was amazed. He had never heard of a product called something. Helplessly， he shook his head.

　　Sanu went to the next shop and again asked for something. The busy shopkeeper simply told him not to be absurd and shooed him away.

　　He went from shop to shop but none seemed to have heard of something. “Something must be very rare，” he thought to himself， “no wonder Mother asked me to buy it as a gift for my wife's family.”

　　He scoured whole market searching in vain for that elusive something. Tired and dispirited， he was sitting by the roadside when along came a man with a load of pumpkins on his head. Sanu called to him， “Tell me， kind sir， do you have a something to sell to me？”

　　The shrewd pumpkin seller immediately knew that he was dealing with a fool. With a beaming smile， he set down his basket and said， “I am the only something-seller in this market. See， what beautiful something， I have！ Which one do you want？”

　　Silly Sanu！ He was delighting to have found the something at last. Having paid a large sum of money， he shouldered an enormous pumpkin and set off on his way.

　　It took him a long time to reach his wife's home， more so because the pumpkin was so heavy and he had to rest frequently. However， tired and sweaty he finally arrived there.

　　His in-laws came running to greet him. This was the first time he was visiting them but before they could say anything， Sanu put down the pumpkin and said， “I have brought a something for you. This was the best something in the market and only one man was stocking them.”

　　The in-laws thought Sanu was playing a joke on them. So they laughed good naturedly and praised his mother's waning： Be sure your seat is not low.

　　What should he do now？ His in-laws were fussing over him. He asked for a glass of water and everyone ran off to do his bidding.

　　Sanu looked around carefully for high seat. The only tall piece of furniture was a big cupboard. So he clambered onto it and sat atop.

　　The in-laws were back with the glass of water but they could not see Sanu. “Where has he gone？” they asked each other.

　　“Sanu ji， Sanu ji， they called.

　　Now Sanu had recollected his mother's third instruction： Speak in a sweet cooing voice.

　　So obligingly， he called down “Coo-hoo.”

　　The in-laws were very surprised to hear a cuckoo calling inside their house. However， they kept calling out to Sanu and he went on cooing at them.

　　By now， it was noon and Sanu was feeling hungry. Also the game was losing its charm and the cupboard top was uncomfortable. So gathering all his strength， he roared out “COO-HOO！！！”

　　The in-laws leapt in the air with fright. Then they saw Sanu up on the cupboard. “What are you doing there？，” they asked.

　　“My mother had said that I must not sit on a low seat，” he replied.

　　The in-laws felt ashamed that they had not looked after Sanu properly. They also admired his novel way of explaining to them. With great apologies， they led him to the dining room.

　　What a great feast had been laid out for him！ All kinds of delicious dishes had been prepared. He was about to tuck into the food when his mother's fourth warning flashed through his head： Don't appear greedy. Refuse second helpings.

　　So with hunger in his belly， he sat there toying with the food and refusing all second servings.

　　Meat， fish， vegetables， pulao-he refused everything though actually he was longing to eat heartily. Finally， his mother-in-law came with some rice-pudding. “No， no， no，” said Sanu， waving his hands violently. “Just a little， just a little，” said his mother-in-law， somehow managing to put a little on his plate.

　　Sanu had never tasted anything as wonderful as that rice-pudding. The taste lingered on his tongue and kept thinking about it right till bedtime.

　　“This must have been made with my something，” he thought， “no wonder it was so nice. I wonder if there is some left over.”

　　Everybody was fast asleep but poor hungry Sanu kept thinking about the rice pudding. Finally he could not sit still any more. Quietly， he tiptoed into the dark kitchen and began searching for the rice pudding.

　　It was so dark that he could not see anything. In desperation， he started putting his head into the pots. In one， there was a little rice pudding. Greedily， he licked it up. But when he tried to withdraw his head， he found it was well and truly stuck.

　　He was in a panic. Hopping round in a frenzy， he darted forward straight into a rack of dishes that fell all over him with a clatter.

　　“Thief！ thief！” shouted the in-laws. Their sticks rained down on the man with the pot on his head. One blow landed on the pot and it broke into pieces.

　　“Wa-aa-aa”， wailed Sanu.

　　“Aaah，” shrieked the in-laws， feeling in great embarrassment.

　　Poor Sanu！ He walked through the night weeping and groaning. When he reached home， his mother had just woken up.

　　“What happened？” she asked.

　　When she heard the whole story， she could scarcely help laughing. “You silly fellow，” she said， “you had better stay at home and not go anywhere.”

　　So Sanu lived happily at home， looked after by his mother and wife.

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