Asudem soon settled down in her stepmother's home with Boon-Nam. It turned out that Boon-Nam is a skilled carpenter and with the help of a contractor, they began to make renovations to the hut. In a matter of weeks, they had a modest little place with two bedrooms, a small kitchen and a living room. Asudem's stepmother was very pleased indeed with her son-in-law and when Asudem gave birth to a baby girl, she gave both mother and daughter all her attention and love.
Unfortunately, their happiness was short-lived. Asudem had invited CC and I to the hut one morning as she had not decided yet on what name to give the baby and thought CC would be able to help. When we arrived at the hut, we were taken aback when Asudem came running out, screaming something about her baby! She was quite incoherent and CC and I rushed to the baby's room to find out what had happened.
"CC," sobbed Asudem. "I found her covered in snakes this morning. What are we going to do? If we try to remove the snakes, they may bite her..."
CC then remembered he had some holy water in his bag, so he took it out and sprinkled it over the snakes but it didn't work, they seemed to have a powerful hold over the baby as she lay there.
Suddenly, I had this idea about contacting the Witches Union. I remembered that Asudem had told us of one kind witch who had helped to destroy her stepmother's curse. Perhaps this witch would be able to help.
Asudem thought it was a good idea and we immediately set off to the W.U. leaving her stepmother and Boon-Nam with the baby. It was a long walk through the forest and sometimes we lost our way as Asudem couldn't remember exactly where the witches gathered. After walking for some time, we decided to take a rest. Asudem started to cry again and nothing CC said would console her.
Then we heard a movement in the bushes and a voice said, "Are you looking for me?"
Asudem leapt with joy when she saw that it was the kind witch who had helped her before. She started pouring out her story with sobs inbetween.
The kind witch whose name is Luna went into a trance for a while, then opened her eyes and said, "I'm afraid your stepmother's curse is the reason behind this. Though you may have been saved from it, the "after effects" have passed down to your child, hence the snakes came back."
"But....but does that mean she will have to live with them all her life?" stammered Asudem.
Luna's face melted with pity, then said, "I will help you but you must be prepared to make a big sacrifice."
"What must I do?" cried Asudem.
"Bring the child, cradle and all, to the river bank again, same place as you went last time but go before sunrise."
"Then what?" asked Asudem.
Luna looked at her, then asked, "You say you will do anything for your child?"
"Yes, yes," replied Asudem. "I will do anything to save my baby."
"Alright then," said Luna. "As soon as the first rays of the sun touch the sky, cut off your tongue and throw it into the river. The snakes will disappear one by one when you have done that."
Asudem's face paled, then tossing her head defiantly, said, "I may be dumb for the rest of my life, but at least my baby will live a normal life! Yes, I will do it!"
"Take heed, my dear," said Luna. "If you change your mind or am too afraid to do what I said, your child will turn into another Medusa when she is three months old."
Asudem gasped in horror. "No, no, I can't let that happen. I will do what you say to save my baby."
CC and I were appalled at the thought of Asudem having to cut off her tongue. In fact CC was quite sceptical and began to doubt whether Luna's "remedy" would work but there seemed no other solution.
When we arrived back at the hut, Asudem told her stepmother what Luna had instructed her to do. Her stepmother became very distraught and cursed herself for all that had happened.
"It's all my fault! I am the one who should be punished, not you, Asudem, I will not let you ruin your life, I will save your baby ...." she screamed wildly and before we could stop her, she grabbed a kitchen knife and ran out of the house in a frenzy.
"Stop, stop," CC yelled and ran after her. Boon-Nam and I also followed. For an old woman, she could, to our surprise, run quite fast, but when we caught up with her, it was too late. She had cut off her tongue, slashed her throat and was quite dead.
Boon-Nam gathered her up in his arms, tears in his eyes. He had become very fond of her for she had treated him well and never looked down on him. We stood there in horror, what were we going to tell Asudem?
Then all of a sudden, the sky darkened, thunder rolled and heavy rain fell. Then just as suddenly as it came, the rain stopped in a few minutes, the sky cleared and the sun came through shining brightly. We didn't know what to make of that but hoped it was a good sign from above.
When we arrived back at the hut, we found Asudem waiting anxiously at the door but before we could say anything, she ran towards us excitedly and said that all the snakes in the baby's cradle had vanished - just like that - and there was no need to cut off her tongue after all!
Later, when CC and I sat down together, he said that probably the sacrifice made by Asudem's stepmother had miraculously reversed the situation causing the heavens to shower pity and compassion on Asudem and saved her baby from the snakes.
"She was a brave woman," I said, feeling admiration for Asudem's stepmother.
"Yes. Poor Asudem, she was so devastated over her stepmother's death."
"By the way, what name did you and Asudem give the baby?" I asked.
CC grinned. "Well, I would have liked to name her after me - haha - but in the end we decided on "Mulan", the brave girl warrior in Chinese history. I guess Asudem wants her baby to grow up like the heroine Mulan was."
CC grinned again, then said, "Just think, in a few year's time, she will be calling me "Uncle CC" and you "Uncle Vege Cat" - or should it be Uncle Meow Meow - hahaha!"
We both had a good laugh and went back to our respective temples. It had been a long day and we needed to re-charge our batteries at the lotus feet of our Master.
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