Peasie and Beansie: A Tale of Kindness and Greed

Once upon a time, two sisters named Peasie and Beansie lived together. The elder sister, Beansie, was quarrelsome and difficult to please, always ready to disagree with everyone around her. Peasie, the younger sister, was quite different. She was gentle, warm-hearted and always willing to help others.

One day, Peasie said to her sister, “Beansie, don’t you think we should visit our poor old father? It is harvest time, and he has been left alone at home. He may need our help.”

Beansie immediately refused. She said that she did not care whether their father was tired or needed help and that she had no intention of walking through the heat merely to please him. So Peasie set off alone. On her way, Peasie came across a plum-tree. The tree asked her to tidy the thorns that were scattered around it and making it uncomfortable. Peasie looked at the tree and agreed. She carefully cleared away the thorns until the tree was neat and tidy.

A little farther along, she came across a fire. The fire was almost smothered by ashes and asked Peasie to clear its hearth. Peasie immediately set to work, removing the ashes until the fire could burn brightly again. Next, Peasie met a pîpal tree with a broken branch. The tree asked her to bind up the wounded branch so that it would not die. Feeling sorry for the tree, Peasie tore a strip from her veil and carefully tied the broken branch in place.

After a while, Peasie reached a stream. The stream was blocked with sand and dead leaves and could hardly flow. It asked Peasie to clear its channel. Once again, Peasie stopped and helped. She removed the sand and leaves until the water was able to flow freely once more. Eventually, Peasie reached her father’s house. Her father was delighted to see her and was so pleased by her visit that he insisted she stay for the evening. When she was ready to leave, he gave her many gifts, including a spinning-wheel, a buffalo, brass pots, a bed and other household possessions.

Peasie loaded the gifts onto the buffalo and began her journey home. When she reached the stream, she noticed a beautiful piece of fine cloth floating in the water. The stream told her to take it as a reward for the kindness she had shown by clearing its channel. Peasie gratefully picked it up and placed it on the buffalo. When she reached the pîpal tree, she saw a string of pearls hanging from the branch she had carefully tied. The tree told her that it had caught the pearls from a prince’s turban and wanted Peasie to have them as a reward for her kindness. Peasie put the pearls around her neck and continued on her way.

When she came to the fire, she found a delicious sweet cake waiting for her. The fire told her that it had cooked the cake especially for her in return for her kindness. Peasie took the cake, divided it into two pieces and kept one piece aside for her sister before eating the other. Finally, Peasie reached the plum-tree. Its branches were now bending under the weight of ripe yellow fruit. The tree invited her to take some plums as a reward for the help she had given earlier. Peasie filled her veil with fruit, ate some herself and carefully kept the rest for Beansie.

When Peasie arrived home, however, Beansie was not pleased by her good fortune. Instead, she became jealous and angry. Peasie felt sorry that her sister was upset and suggested that Beansie visit their father herself. Perhaps she too would receive some gifts. The following morning, Beansie set out, hoping to return with even more gifts than Peasie. When she reached the plum-tree, it asked her to tidy its thorns. Beansie refused and complained that she could travel several miles in the time it would take to do such a pointless task.

The fire made the same request, asking Beansie to clear away the ashes that were choking it. Beansie refused again. She told the fire that it was foolish to have ashes and that she would not waste her time helping something that could not help itself. When the pîpal tree asked her to tie up its broken branch, Beansie laughed at the request and walked on. When the stream asked her to clear away the sand and dead leaves blocking its flow, Beansie again refused. She said that she was not going to stop merely so that the stream could run freely.

At last Beansie reached her father’s house. She had come expecting to receive a large collection of gifts and was determined not to leave empty-handed. But before she could even enter properly, her brother and his wife confronted her. They were angry because Peasie had visited the previous day while they were working and their father had given her his best buffalo and many other things. They accused Beansie of coming to take more from the family and drove her away from the house.

Beansie returned along the road tired, bruised, hungry and disappointed. She remembered the rewards Peasie had received and decided that she would collect them for herself.

When she reached the stream, she saw a beautiful piece of cloth floating in the water. It was even finer than the one Peasie had received. Beansie rushed into the stream to get it, but the water was deep. She nearly drowned, and the cloth floated away before she could catch it. Next she saw the string of pearls hanging from the broken branch of the pîpal tree. Beansie jumped to grab them, but the branch fell on her head and left her stunned. By the time she recovered, someone else had taken the pearls.

Beansie then hurried to the fire, hoping to find the sweet cake that Peasie had received. The cake was there, smelling delicious, but Beansie grabbed it too quickly and burned her fingers. She dropped the cake, and before she could recover it, a crow carried it away. Finally, Beansie reached the plum-tree. The ripe yellow fruit looked tempting, and she tried desperately to reach it. But the thorns scratched and tore her hands and face. No matter how she tried, she could not get the plums.

By the time Beansie returned home, she was bruised, wet, sore, hungry and covered in scratches. Peasie, despite everything that had happened, did not turn her sister away. She gave Beansie food and comfort and shared half of her own good fortune with her. And so the two sisters learned, in very different ways, that kindness cannot simply be copied for the sake of reward. Peasie’s good fortune came from the help she willingly gave to others, while Beansie’s selfishness left her with nothing but disappointment.