Soon, Sheikh Chilli got an assistant. He was a bigger fool than Sheikh himself. One summer, the mosquito menace hit the village quite badly. The villagers started suffering from malaria. The disease became rampant. The mosquitoes were breeding around the village pond. Swarms of mosquitoes hovered over the pond. As pesticides did not exist in those times, the only recourse left was to swat them. Sheikh and his assistant decided they would rid the village of the mosquitoes. They would, then, become heroes. People were quite amused at this two-man army. Sheikh requested the headman for two swords. With swords swishing to and fro, they first performed a war dance. Everybody laughed at the sight. Sheikh and his assistant, then, went on to the pond, shouting battle cries. In the evening, Sheikh returned alone, tired and dirty, with clothes helter-skelter. When the headman asked him how the battle went, Sheikh said both sides fared equally well. The enemy lost one member and his army lost one man, too, it poor assistant!
Royal Battle
