Annamalai and Kattuswami were bosom friends. They were always together whenever not at home. One day, the two set out on a boating trip to the sea. The sea was calm. The two friends were rowing and bantering merrily.
Suddenly, the stormy winds began to blow. The sea waves rose higher and higher. Their small boat was being tossed about by the waves like a toy.
They were in grave danger.
The storm was becoming fiercer.
Then, suddenly, their boat upturned. The two fell into the waves. The boat got tossed far away and it disappeared from the sight. The two struggled.
The death was stalking them. Suddenly, a wooden plank came floating towards them. It appeared to be a life saviour.
The two friends swam and grabbed it. But the plank was too light and small to bear the weight of both of them.
Anna said to Kattu, “Look friend, you are a married man. You have a wife and children to take care of. You must stay alive. I am a bachelor. My death won’t make much difference.”
Kattu spoke, “No friend. Don’t forget you too have a mother and a sister. If you die, who would take care of them? The sister is yet to be married and the mother needs a support in her old age.”
“Friend! If I die, you can take care of my mother and sister. But I can’t play husband to your wife or father to your children.”
” So, goodbye friend! Take care of my mother and sister.” Anna let go of the plank and was drowned.
Kattu held the plank and somehow managed to stay afloat and get carried to the shore. He was alive at a big cost. His dear friend had sacrificed his life.
He mourned at the shore for a long time before going home.
First, he gave the sad news to his friend’s mother and sister and took them to his house. The sister was married off and the mother had a committed caretaker of her old age.
Moral : A friend in need is a friend indeed.
