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Once in a certain village lived a mother- less child named Tuhuro. Though his father was kind to him, his stepmother was horribly cruel. She forced him to do all the work of the house but never gave him enough to eat. She made him live on the ground floor, among the goats and the chickens, while the rest of the family lived above.

Now the time came for Dasain, the biggest and gayest of all the festivals. The people of the village were busy preparing the most delicious feasts of the year. They served their children hearty meals of meat and fine rice.

But Tuhuro was treated no differently during this happy sea- son. He gnawed only on dry bread made from the husks of corn. When his father asked his stepmother to give him some bread made of fine white rice flour, the woman only hurled a crust at the hungry boy. Tuhuro tried to catch the crust, but it rolled by him and out the door, down the path and toward the road. Finally he caught up with it and was just about to eat it, when he had an idea. "What if I plant this crust in the ground?" he thought. "Perhaps a tree will grow bearing bread on all of its branches. Then I need never go home and I will never again be hungry."

Pleased with his idea, Tuhuro ran to the outskirts of the village and dug a deep hole. He buried the crust of bread and after a time, a lovely tree grew up, bearing bread on all of its branches. Tuhuro was delighted and climbed up into the high branches of the tree. There he filled his stomach with delicious fresh bread, pleased to be far from his cruel stepmother.

After a time, an old giantess walking by smelled the boy high in the tree. Glancing up, she saw Tuhuro looking wonderfully plump. Her great mouth watered, and she tried to think of a way she could capture him and have him for supper.

Now the giantess knew she couldn't climb the tree, so she called up, "Dear little boy, I am an old woman who has been without food for many days. Can you spare me some bread? The gods will surely reward you.

The boy, taking pity on the old woman, plucked a loaf from the nearest branch and dropped it to the ground. The giantess pretended to try to catch it but instead let it fall into a heap of dung. "Oh dear," she whined. "Now see what has happened. The loaf is ruined. Won't you come down and hand me another?"

The kindhearted boy climbed down from the tree with another loaf in his hand. But when his feet touched the ground, the old woman grabbed him and stuffed him into her sack. Then quickly she made her way home.

Feeling thirsty along the way, she stopped and asked a farmer where she could find some water. The farmer pointed to a nearby stream, and the old woman put down her sack and went to have a drink.

The farmer, noticing something moving inside the sack, went to have a look. You can imagine his surprise when he opened the sack and out popped Tuhuro. The boy told him his story and asked for his help. The farmer agreed, and the two decided to trick the giantess by filling her sack with small boulders and stinging nettle plants.

When the old woman came back from the stream, she picked up her sack and ambled on, her load feeling heavier than before and stinging her back. She thought the boy must be pinching her."I know how to deal with you, naughty boy, she scolded. "When my sharp teeth sink into your plump body, you will know why I have taken so much trouble with you."

When the giantess reached home it was dusk, and her daughter stood waiting in the doorway. "Here's a splendid feast for both of us," the giantess said, throwing the sack in a corner. "Start the water boiling, while I sharpen my teeth."

The obedient girl did as she was told, but when she opened the sack, all she could see were some sharp-edged rocks and a clump of stinging nettle plants. The old woman was puzzled, but she only said to her daughter, "Line the hearth with rocks, for tomorrow we will feast."

The next day the giantess went back to the bread-bearing tree and, in her sweetest voice, called up to the boy sitting high in its branches. "Have pity on a hungry old woman and bring me down some bread."

The boy, recognizing the woman, refused. Now the old woman tried harder.

"My eyesight is so poor. Yesterday I mistook you for a loaf of bread and tossed you in my sack. Today I am so hungry I would like only enough bread to fill my empty stomach. Tuhuro, taking pity on the old woman, came down from the tree, this time carrying two loaves of bread.

When his feet touched the ground, the old woman grabbed him and stuffed him into her sack, tying it tighter than before. She went directly home, not stopping for an instant. She greeted her daughter in the doorway, saying, "Kill and cook what is in this sack. I am going to the blacksmith's to sharpen my teeth."

The giantess left, and the obedient girl opened the sack. You can imagine her surprise when out leaped Tuhuro, looking so handsome and kind she could not bear to strike him.

Instead she led him to the back of the house where a swift horse was standing. Tuhuro jumped on the horse's back and, calling his thanks to the giantess' daughter, he rode off. When he reached the bread-bearing tree, Tuhuro climbed up into its branches, where he stayed for the rest of his days, in peace and contentment, his stomach always round and full.