A cantankerous Zamindar (wealthy landowner) was known for his short temper. His house sat atop a tall hill and from the highest room you could see forever (or until your eyes failed you). He claimed all this land. The Zamindar also had a weak heart. Therefore, in his household, the servants were under orders that they should be very careful about what they said to him and the way in which they said it. Once, when he was off in foreign lands, a servant was dispatched with the most recent news from his land.
The master asked him, “You come from my house? How is everybody?”
“Very well, sir,” said the servant. “Only the Black Dog is dead.”
“Poor thing, when did it die? It seemed quite well when I left.”
“It died of indigestion. How could it help dying when it eats so much horse meat?”
“Horse meat? Where did it get horse meat?”
“Where else but our stables, sir.”
“What! Did our horses die?”
“How could they live when there were no grooms to feed them?”
“Why, what happened to the grooms?”
“Only what happens to people when they starve, sir, when there’s no one to pay them.”
“What are you saying? Why were they not paid? What happened to the steward, what happened to my wife?”
“How could they live when there’s no cook to make them food?”
“Why what happened to the cook?”
“How could he live, sir, when the kitchen caught fire and spread throughout the house and killed everyone?”
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