Section 1
A beggar and his wife lived in poverty in a particular village. The man used to leave the house early in the morning carrying a clean jar and come back with enough rice for the day's supper. As a result, the man and his wife were able to survive in miserable circumstances.
They were once invited to a feast by a poor Mâdhva Brâhma, and for Mâdhvas, muffins (tô ai) are a staple of joyful good times. The beggar and his wife ate a lot of muffins at the feast. They were so happy with them that the wife was eager to make additional muffins at her house. She started saving a little rice from each delivery her husband made for this purpose each day. When sufficient resources had been gained in this manner, she begged the wife of a poor neighbor to give her a little black pulse, which the latter dutifully provided thanks to her generosity. That day, the beggar and his wife's faces literally sparkled with happiness because they were not going to get another chance to try those long-awaited muffins.
The woman quickly made a paste out of the rice she had been storing and the black pulse she had borrowed from her neighbor, and then, while her mouth was watering the entire time, she prepared five muffins by adding some salt, green chilies, coriander seed, and curds. She had just finished taking the fifth muffin out of the pan when her husband got home from collecting alms! And when she set all five muffins in front of him, his mouth also started to water. What was to be done with the fifth? He kept two for himself and put the other two in front of his wife. He struggled to see how to get out of this situation. He found it impossible to figure out that half and half equals one and that each person could eat two and a half muffins. He told his wife that one of them must take the other muffin because the favorite treats must not be crushed. However, how were they to choose who would be the chosen one?
The desire for the three muffins was so intense that both of them kept their end of the bargain, and the woman decided to endure the experience despite her mouth watering for the muffins. The five muffins were put in a pan, which was then covered with another pan. After gently closing the door, she asked her husband to enter the east balcony so she could lie down on the west one. She was unable to sleep and watched her husband with her eyes closed so that if he spoke first, he would only get two muffins, and the three that were left would be her portion. Her husband was equally suspicious of her.
Then came days one, two, and three! No one ever entered the house! No beggar showed up to collect the morning allowance. The entire village started to look for the missing beggar. What had happened to him? How had his wife fared? The old people said, "Check to see if his house is locked from the outside and if he has left us to go to another village." The door would not open, so the village watch arrived and tried to push it open. They asserted, "Surely, it is locked on the inside! There must have been a major catastrophe. Maybe there have been burglaries, and after robbing the people there of their belongings, they killed them."
But what assets are beggars likely to possess? They sent two guards to climb the roof and unlock the door latch from the inside after speaking to the village meeting and deciding not to lose time on pointless guesses. The entire village, including men, women, and children, gathered in front of the beggar's home to observe what had happened there. When the guards broke inside, they were horrified to see the beggar and his wife lying on opposite terraces like two dead bodies. The moment they pushed open the door, everyone in the area rushed in. People also witnessed the beggar and his wife lying motionless, leading them to believe they had passed away. However, despite hearing all that was going on around them, neither of the beggars would speak or open their eyes. Because the first person to do it would only get two muffins!
Two green litters made of bamboo and coconut leaves were prepared at the village's cost to transport the unhappy couple to the cremation place. Some of the older residents of the community said, "How loving they must have been to have died together like this."
