There once was a nimble village man who loved to eat fish and mangoes. On the outskirts of his village, there was a temple dedicated to Kali, a Hindu goddess, and on the grounds of this temple were a pond of glorious carp and an orchard of healthy mango trees. According to the law of the land, however, plants and animals that grow on temple grounds are not to be eaten, and anyone caught doing so was punished most harshly.
Of course, the village man desired both the bright orange temple fish and the succulent mangoes that grew in such divine protection. Finally, one day, he devised a plan. He sauntered casually by the temple, and with his long hand and his dexterous foot, he both picked a mango and caught a fish at the same time. He flipped both items into his sack, and quickly scurried home, certain that no one had seen him commit this crime.
The village man was very excited to present his stolen gains to his wife who was equally as sly. She had no qualms against eating illegal food, and immediately set about cooking the fish and mango together.
The combination of the two foods was a delicacy in these parts, and both the man and his wife swooned in anticipation when the odour of the meal reached their nostrils. The man was impatient to eat the delicious meal, but decided to distract himself by working in his garden. His wife had no choice, however, but to remain with the pan of food, as it cooked, tempted by its wonderful odour.
As she cooked and added various spices, she needed to taste the fish and fruit from time to time. It was indeed a marvellous combination, and she tasted more and more. After a few minutes, to her horror, she realized she had eaten the whole thing!
From behind her, she heard her husband returning from the garden. "That smells so good!" he shouted. "I can't wait to taste that fish!" The wife began to panic. Her husband would be furious when he found she had eaten the whole meal, so she thought quickly, bringing that devious mind of hers into full play. She put a lid on top of the empty pan, and ruffled her hair and clothes.
"How dare you steal from my temple!" she bellowed to her husband.
"What?" he cried. "What are you saying?"
"It is I, the goddess Kali," the wife said. "I have taken possession of this woman's body so that you might know my displeasure!" The man dropped to his knees in terror, his lips quivering and his limbs shaking.
"O Kali," he pleaded, "please please forgive me! I was foolish, and I promise to never do it again."
"Indeed you shall not," the wife said in regal tones. "This is what you must do to earn my forgiveness..."
"Anything!"
"Take the fish and the mango back to the temple grounds," she said, handing her husband the covered pan, "and drop the covered pan into the fish pond. Instantly, the fish you have killed and cooked will return to life and swim away, and the mango you have viciously picked will spring back onto the branches of the tree. Then, and only then, will you be forgiven."
The man leapt to his feet and ran back to the temple. Following the instructions perfectly, he dropped the pan into the pond. As no fried fish or cooked mango sank to the bottom of the pond, he saw it as a miracle. He fished out the empty pan and returned it to his wife, much relieved to find that she was no longer possessed by the terrible goddess Kali.
Needless to say, he never tried to steal from a goddess again.
The wife went to bed happily that night, and left her husband to fill his belly with legally earned rice.