The trail to the treasure

I have something in mind for Mother’s Day,” said Ashwin to Ashwini. “You know how Mummy is fond of proverbs, which are quite unappealing.”

Ashwini nodded. “I can’t stand that one about the early bird catching the worm,” she said. “As someone once pointed out, the poor worm was early, too!”

“What can’t be cured must be endured,” said her twin, with a grimace. “True, perhaps, but rather unpleasant. And how can knowledge, however little, possibly be dangerous?”

“Mummy quoted that when we used a search engine to fix a gas leak,” said Ashwini, giggling. “If you recall, we nearly blew up the house. Anyway,” she continued, as Ashwin chuckled, “what shall we do on Mother’s Day?”

“How about a treasure hunt?” suggested Ashwin. “The clues will be proverbs, one leading to another until Mummy finds the prize.”

“Wonderful, Ashwin!” said Ashwini warmly. “Let’s get started. After all, proliferation is the thief of time?”

“Procrastination,” Ashwin corrected her, smiling. “An unnecessarily big word when postponement would do as well. That gives me an idea,” he added. “It might be fun to tweak the proverbs, even change them around.”

When Mother’s Day arrived, Ashwin and Ashwini informed their mother that she would be the sole participant in a proverb quest. Their father was welcome to watch and cheer her on, but could not offer assistance. “This is the first clue, Mummy,” announced the twins. “An apple today may be hidden away.”

Mother lunged for a bowl on the dining table, sending fruits flying. In her eagerness to identify the elusive apple, she stepped heavily on a fallen mango, leaving a splotch on the floor. She suddenly realised that ‘may be’ meant that the apple need not be concealed. Sure enough, it sat openly on the fridge, atop the second clue.

“All work, all play,” Mother read aloud. That, she reasoned, must be the place where the twins kept their board games and sports gear. After rummaging in a tin of Chess pieces and sifting through Scrabble letters, Mother upset a pile of neatly stacked cards and dice. As she tugged at the closet doors, balls and racquets tumbled out. The room looked tornado-struck by the time she figured out the catch in the clue. “All work,” she muttered, so ‘play’ could refer to a dramatist whom the children were studying. “Shakespeare!” she exclaimed, and found the third clue within the pages of ‘Julius Caesar’.

“There’s some use trying under spilt milk,” announced Father, peering over his wife’s shoulder. “Tiddles!” he yelled, forgetting his relegated role of silent spectator. With remarkable alacrity, Mother raced to the kitchen, where the family’s plump and pampered cat usually sloshed liquid food about, in the complacent assurance that supplies would be replenished. As Mother reached for the fourth clue beneath the bowl, Tiddles charged forward, causing her to upset the dish. Milk flowed freely over the paper, which bore the next link in the chain. As Mother struggled to retrieve it, Tiddles, far from crying over spilt milk, lapped it up joyfully.

“A bird in hand ____” began Mother. “I can’t make out the rest,” she complained, “but it must be related to Polly.”

Ashwin and Ashwini roared with laughter as Mother opened Polly’s cage and reached for the sleeping parrot. Enraged at this impolite intrusion, Polly flew out and perched on a pelmet.

“You missed the second half,” said the children, as their mother searched frantically for a stepladder. “A bird in hand is worth less than its stand.”

The clue was clearly visible on a wooden structure on which the cage rested. “Pride shows before a wall,” Mother repeated to herself, shaking her head in perplexity.

Ashwin and Ashwini exchanged glances, wondering whether she would decode their last, most challenging clue. “Both of you enjoy puns,” said Mother, “so ‘pride’ here is not arrogance, but ____” Breaking off, she dashed to the drawing room. There hung a painting the family had acquired on a trip to Gir National Park. “A pride of lions,” declared Mother triumphantly, pouncing on the treasure behind the picture, a book coupon.

“I felt rather left out,” grumbled Father. “Ashwin and Ashwini, you must come up with an equally exciting event for my special day next month. Necessity, after all, is the mother — or should I say, father... of invention!”