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diff --git a/31209-8.txt b/31209-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1543bd0 --- /dev/null +++ b/31209-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11699 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Indian Fairy Tales, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Indian Fairy Tales + +Author: Anonymous + +Commentator: Mary Stokes + W. R. S. Ralston + +Editor: Maive Stokes + +Release Date: February 7, 2010 [EBook #31209] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDIAN FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Sam W. and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +There are some characters with diacritical marks in this text, which +are represented as follows: + +Characters with an underdot are shown as [x.], where x is the letter +concerned. + +Characters with an acute accent above, which are not available in this +character set, are shown as ['x]. + + + + + INDIAN FAIRY TALES + + COLLECTED AND TRANSLATED + + BY + + MAIVE STOKES. + + + _WITH NOTES BY MARY STOKES,_ + + _AND AN INTRODUCTION BY W. R. S. RALSTON, M.A._ + + + London: + ELLIS & WHITE, NEW BOND STREET. + 1880. + + [_All Rights reserved._] + + + + + To my dear Grannie, Susan Bazely. + + + + +[Decoration] + +PREFACE. + + +The first twenty-five stories in this book were told me at Calcutta +and Simla by two Ayahs, Dunkní and Múniyá, and by Karím, a Khidmatgar. +The last five were told Mother by Múniyá. At first the servants would +only tell their stories to me, because I was a child and would not +laugh at them, but afterwards the Ayahs lost their shyness and told +almost all their stories over again to Mother when they were passing +through the press. Karím would never tell his to her or before her. +The stories were all told in Hindústání, which is the only language +that these servants know. + +Dunkní is a young woman, and was born and brought up in Calcutta. She +got the stories, she told me, from her husband, Mochí, who was born in +Calcutta and brought up at Benares. + +Múniyá is a very old, white-haired woman. She has +great-grandchildren. She was born at Patna, but when she was seven +years old she was taken to Calcutta, where she was brought up and +married. She and Dunkní are both Hindús. + +Karím is a Muhammadan and was born at Lucknow. He says that "The +Mouse" and "The Wonderful Story" are both Lucknow tales. + +The notes to this book were written by Mother, and Father helped her +to spell the Native names and words. He also made the Index. + +Dr. George King helped us in the Botany; Mr. Tawney and Mr. Campbell +of Islay, who saw many of the stories in manuscript, have given us +several remarks. So has my uncle, John Boxwell. + + M. S. H. STOKES. + + CALCUTTA, + _March 24th, 1879_. + + + + +[Decoration] + +INTRODUCTION. + + +In almost every part of Europe the tales current among the common +people have been of late years diligently sought out, and carefully +collected. Variants of them pour in profusely every year. But it does +not seem probable that any entirely new stories will be discovered in +any European land. Nor is it likely that in fresh variants of the +longer and apparently more artificial tales, any quite new incidents, +or even any unquestionably novel features, will be found. The harvest +has been abundant, its chief fruits are now stored, and the work which +is still going on among the gleaners, although in itself good and +praiseworthy, may be regarded without the excitement of eager hope. +The task of the present seems to be, not so much the garnering of +European folk-tales, as their comparison and elucidation, and, so far +as possible, their explanation. But in many cases they do not appear +to contain in themselves the ingredients which are necessary for their +resolution into their primary elements. Nor do the records of the +lands in which they exist always supply what is wanted. The "fairy +tales" of Europe throw very little light upon, are but slightly +illuminated by, the histories of the widely differing lands in which +they so closely resemble each other. And the most interesting among +them, those which appear most clearly to bear witness to their being +embodiments of mythological ideas, or expansions of moral precepts, +seem to be but little in keeping with what we know of the sentiments +and beliefs of the heathen ancestors of the villagers in whose +memories they have been for so many centuries retained. Among such +tales of this kind, for instance, as linger on in our own islands, +there is but little to be found which can be looked upon as a +specially characteristic deposit left by the waves of Iberian, Celtic, +and Teutonic population which have successively passed over the face +of the land. This statement does not, of course, hold good in the case +of such legends about national heroes as Mr. J. F. Campbell has found +thriving in Ireland and the West Highlands of Scotland, and which he +justly believes to be "bardic recitations, fast disappearing, and +changing into prose." They belong to a different section of popular +fiction from that to which reference is now made. It is often +difficult to draw the line between these two classes of folk-tales. +But there is a striking difference between the typical representatives +of the two divisions, between cosmopolitan novelettes like Cinderella +or the Sleeping Beauty, on the one hand, and pseudo-historic legends +about local heroes on the other. It is unfortunate that we do not +possess a sufficiency of accurate designations for the numerous +species of the genus folk-tale. Their existence would prevent much +misapprehension. But in their absence, a discusser of popular tales +should take pains to define precisely to what tribe, family, or group +of stories his remarks are intended to apply. + +There are to be found, in all European lands, certain tales which are +of a more complex structure than the rest, which appear to have been +constructed by a skilled workman, to be artificial productions rather +than natural growths. It is only with such stories as these that we +have at present to deal. These novelettes or comediettas, as they may +be called, of the European common people, differ but little in their +essential parts, whether they are recited in the cold north or the +balmy south, the rude east or the cultured west. Their openings, it is +true, vary with their localities; but in the main body of the tale, +not only does the same leading idea pervade all the variants, but also +the same sequence of events leads up in almost every case to the same +termination. To this class of stories belong nearly all the tales +which, under considerably modified forms, have naturalized themselves +in the nurseries of Europe. In it are comprised many popular fictions, +on the obscurer parts of which a quite insufficient light is thrown by +researches among the manners and mythologies of old European +heathenism. + +It is upon such stories as these that a kindly light beams with the +greatest advantage from Asia. Very similar stories have been preserved +in the memories of the common people in many parts of Asia, but +especially in India. And their leading ideas are perfectly in +accordance with the mythology or the moral teaching of the Asiatics +who, age after age, have delighted in telling or hearing them. In such +cases as these it seems to be not very unreasonable to suppose that +the story was originally, if not created, at all events shaped and +trimmed in Asia, and thence was afterwards conveyed from lip to lip +into Europe. Such universal favourites as Beauty and the Beast and +Puss in Boots may be confidently cited as oriental fictions which have +taken possession of European minds. There is a rich store of other +popular fictions, which may be left to be accounted for according to +the two principal methods of interpretation in vogue. They may be +explained as independent developments of mythological germs common to +the ancestors of the various Aryan peoples of Europe. Or they may be +regarded as embodiments of certain ideas common to savages of all +races. It will be sufficient to deal at present with the more +limited, but better known class, to which special attention has been +called. + +Among the Asiatic folk-tales which seem likely to assist in their +explanation, none are more copious or more useful than those of India. +There the old religion has maintained itself with which so many of +these stories are linked, and there the moral teaching still prevails +which made its voice heard in other tales of the far-off time when +they first became current. Any collection of genuine Indian Fairy +Tales is therefore certain to be, not only of interest to the general +reader, but also of real value to the specialist who devotes himself +to the comparison of folk-tales. The collection now before us has +great merits of its own. The stories have been told in Hindústání to +the very young collector by two ayahs, who are both Hindús, and by a +Muhammadan man-servant. In this respect Miss Stokes's contribution to +our knowledge of India differs from the very similar, and very +charming, work by Miss Frere, "Old Deccan Days," the stories in which +were told by an ayah who was, as her father and grandfather had been, +a native Christian. The two books ought to be compared with each +other. No possessor of the one ought to be without the other. All the +stories contained in the present volume, as we learn from the notes, +have been read back by the young collector to the tellers in +Hindústání after they were told, and a second time by the annotator +before they were printed. "I never saw people more anxious to have +their tales retold exactly, than are Dunkní and Múniyá," the two +story-telling ayahs. Not till each tale was pronounced by them to be +exact was it sent to the press. The stories may be taken then as +faithful transcripts of Indian thought. The merits of the copious +Notes contributed by the late Mrs. Whitley Stokes, bearing witness to +a very wide range of reading, and to a most intelligent use of the +authorities referred to, will be fully acknowledged by all who have +had occasion to explore the regions from which she has gathered so +much valuable information. Throughout the whole of the work thus +conscientiously compiled and intelligently annotated, there will be +found scattered, in addition to its other merits, many a parallel with +our own popular tales, many an illustration or explanation of their +meaning--a ray of light shot here or there which illumines their dark +places, and may enable the explorers of their mystic domains to avoid +stumbles which are often somewhat mortifying. It remains only to point +out a few of the most important passages. + + * * * * * + +Some of the stories in this volume are so thoroughly oriental, so +little in accordance with western thought or feeling, that they have +not found an echo among ourselves; their counterparts are not to be +found naturalized in European lands. Of such a kind are the legends, +taken from literary sources, of "The Upright King," and of "Rájá +Harichand's Punishment," in which the patience of a religious monarch +is tried as was that of Job, and comes out from the trial equally +victorious. The sorrows of Patient Grissel have met with sympathy in +many lands, for meekness has ever been considered a womanly virtue. +But the heroism of a husband and father who sells his wife to a +merchant, and his son to a cowherd, in order that he may be able to +keep his promise to a holy mendicant, and bestow upon him two pounds +and a half of gold, can scarcely be expected to invest itself, to +western eyes, with the air of a manly virtue. In the same way, the +great sitting powers displayed by King Burtal, who never once moves +from his seat in the jungle for twelve whole years, during which space +of time he neither eats nor drinks, and thereby elevates himself to +the dignity of a fakír, are not of a kind to elicit the sympathies or +command the admiration of nations addicted to active exercise. + +The explanation of Nánaksá's thrice repeated laugh, also, could +retain its vitality only in an atmosphere pervaded by a belief in the +transmigration of souls. Buddhistic apologues have sometimes passed +into legends of Christian Saints. But it would be difficult to perform +the operation in the case of an account of how a woman, who had +tormented to death her husband's sister, was justly punished by the +reappearance in the world of the ill-used sister-in-law, in the form +of that unkind woman's exceedingly peevish baby daughter. Numerous, +also, as are European stories about ogres, vampires, and other +demoniacal cannibals, we shall not readily find a western counterpart +of the terrible tale, in No. 24, of the "Rakshas" which sometimes +appears as a goat, and sometimes as a most beautiful young girl, +dressed in grand clothes and rich jewels, but at midnight turns into a +devouring demon with a craving for human flesh. + +Just as some of the themes of these stories do not seem to have +European counterparts, so portions of their machinery appear to be +without exact western equivalents. The stupendous transformations +which now and then take place (see pp. 5, 148, 244) can reconcile +themselves only to an oriental imagination. However much the +occidental mind may attempt to "make believe," it cannot credit such a +statement as that when the Bél-Princess died, her eyes turned into two +birds, her heart into "a great tank," and her body into "a splendid +palace and garden," her arms and legs becoming "the pillars that +supported the verandah roof," and her head "the dome on the top of the +palace." In almost all countries, when a fairy hero has been slain by +a demoniacal or otherwise villainous personage, he is recalled to life +by magic means. In European folk-lore the resuscitating remedy is +usually a Water of Life, or a Balsam, or some similar fluid. In these +Indian tales, it is blood streaming from the resuscitator's little +finger. Thus when Loving Lailí (p. 83) found her husband dead and +headless, she put his head back on his shoulders, and smeared his neck +with the blood which flowed "like healing medicine," when "she cut +her little finger inside her hand straight down from the top of her +nail to her palm." A power of becoming at will invisible is everywhere +often attributed to heroes of romance. But it is generally connected +with "a cap of darkness," or some similar magic article. But the +Prince of No. 21, when he seeks the Bél-Princess, becomes invisible to +the "demons and fairies" who surround her, when he blows from the palm +of his hand, "all along his fingers," the earth which a friendly fakír +has given him for that purpose. A "sleep-thorn," or other somniferous +piece of wood, is commonly employed in our fairy tales, in order to +throw a hero or heroine into a magic slumber. In these Indian stories +a state of catalepsy, or of death, is produced or relieved by a +peculiar application of a magic stick. Thus the Princess who was +called the Golden Rání, "because her teeth and her hair were made of +gold," and who was stolen by a demon, informed the Prince who found +her, motionless but not sleeping, that "the Rakshas who had carried +her off, and whom she called papa, had a great thick stick, and when +he laid this stick at her feet she could not stir, but when he laid it +at her head she could move again." In "The Demon and the King's Son" +(No. 24), the hero opens a "forbidden chamber," and there finds the +demon's daughter lying on a bed, apparently lifeless; for "every day, +before her father went out he used to make the girl lie on her bed, +and cover her with a sheet, and he placed a thick stick at her head, +and another at her feet; then she died, till he came home in the +evening and changed the sticks, putting the one at her head at her +feet, and the one at her feet at her head. This brought her to life +again." An interesting parallel to the "sleep-thorn" is afforded by +the pin which, while it remains in the head of the bird which had been +the wife of the Pomegranate King (No. 2), prevents her from resuming +her human shape. When the Rájá pulled out the pin, "his own dear +wife, the Pomegranate Rání, stood before him." Magic boxes are common +in fairy land. But there is something new in at least the name of the +"sun-jewel box," which was sent by the "Red Fairy," who lived at the +bottom of the well, to "The Princess who loved her father like salt" +(No. 23), and which contained "seven little dolls, who were all little +fairies." + + * * * * * + +Of more general interest than the few peculiarities of these tales are +the many points in which they resemble and illustrate some of the +familiar features of European folk-lore. As an example of the latter +may be taken a "husk-myth," which is a valuable contribution to the +literature of the "Beauty and the Beast" cycle. In all the stories +belonging to that group, the action turns upon the union of the human +hero or heroine with a spouse who is really or apparently an inferior +animal. In the modified version of the story with which our nurseries +have become acquainted through a French literary medium, the species +of Beast to which the Beauty is wedded is not stated, and its +transformation into a princely husband is attributed to her unaided +love. But in by far the greater part of the variants of the folk-tale +on which it seems to have been founded, as well as of the other +stories in which a similar transformation is the principal +feature--variants which have been gathered in abundance from all parts +of Europe, not to speak of Asia--the animal nature of the mysterious +spouse is clearly defined. In them the husband whom the Beauty is +induced by filial affection, fear, or compassion to wed, is an +unmistakable Beast--a pig in Sicily, a bear in Norway, a hedgehog in +Germany, a goat in Russia. Sometimes he is even of a lower type, often +a frog or a snake. And once, in Wallachia, he has been transferred +from the animal to the vegetable world, and figures as a pumpkin. In +every instance he is represented as being able to change at times his +repulsive appearance for one of beauty, and this he generally does by +doffing a kind of husk which when donned conceals his real form, and +invests him with that of an inferior being. If this husk be destroyed +during the temporary absence of its owner, he loses his transforming +power. The destruction of the husk is generally the work of the wife, +who is sometimes rewarded, her husband remaining with her constant to +his true nature; at other times she is punished, he being lost to her +for a time or for ever. These stories about a monster husband have +their exact counterparts in tales about a monster wife, the leading +idea being the same in both groups; the only difference being that it +is the wife who appears at times as a frog or other inferior creature, +and who continues to do so until her transforming power terminates +with the destruction of her disguising husk. + +Now these temporary transformations, though common to the folk-tales +of all parts of Europe, are not in accordance with the European +superstitions of the present day, nor with those, so far as we are +acquainted with them, of old European heathenism. The nearest approach +to them is afforded by the wehr-wolf superstition, but that is an +isolated belief, and appears to be based upon altogether different +ideas. As to the metamorphoses of classical literature, they are of a +nature quite alien to that of the voluntary eclipse, under a degrading +form, of a Frog Princess or a Pig Prince. It may be said with +confidence that European "husk-myths" do not explain themselves; the +peasants among whom they are current, cannot explain them; and the +knowledge we have of ancient European paganism throws no light on +their meaning. But in India, where countless variants of such tales +exist--many of them preserved in ancient as well as in modern +literature, but by far the greater part still current among the +common people--the transformations in question are frequently, if not +generally, explained in the stories themselves, and explained in a +manner perfectly in accordance with the Indian thought of the present +as well as of the past. To Indian minds there is nothing monstrous in +the belief that a celestial being may have been condemned, in +consequence of the wrath of a superior divinity, or even of the magic +words pronounced by an offended sage, to assume for a time the +inferior form of a mere man or woman, or even to wear the shape of an +inferior animal--a monkey or a frog; and that this transformation is +to continue chronic, though not constant, until the destruction of the +disguising skin or husk, by the donning of which it is from time to +time brought about, deprives the curse of its power, and enables +earth's celestial visitor to return to heaven. The whole story is +closely connected with Indian religious beliefs, and may fairly be +looked upon, when found in India, as an expansion of a Hindu myth. Its +existence in other parts of Asia may, at least frequently, be +attributed to the natural spread of Hindu tales among the various +tribes and nations which accepted Buddhism from India. + +If all this be true, and the "husk-myth" stories which are current all +over Europe may justly be supposed to have drifted westwards from +India, then all Indian variants of these tales naturally become +invested with special importance. The specimen in the present volume, +the "Monkey Prince" (No. 10), belongs to a remarkably interesting +class--that in which the story-teller gives an explanation of the +hero's transformation. A childless king is told by a fakír to give +some mangoes to his seven wives. Six of them eat up the fruit, and +each of the six gives birth to a prince of the usual kind. But the +seventh wife, who has been able to obtain as her share only the stone +of one of the mangoes, "had a monkey, who was called in consequence +Bandarsábásá, or Prince Monkey." In reality, the story-teller goes on +to explain, "he was a boy, but no one knew it, for he had a +monkey-skin covering him." And this monkey-skin he takes off when he +wishes to appear in true princely form, as when he woos and wins the +Princess Jahúran. Finding out what his real nature is, she insists +upon marrying him, in spite of her vexed father's natural question: +"Who ever heard of any one marrying a nasty monkey?" When he is alone +with his wife he takes off his monkey-skin, and reveals himself in all +his beauty, replying to her questions as to its use, "I wear it as a +protection, because my brothers are naughty, and would kill me if they +knew what I really am." On one occasion, when he has gone in state to +a nautch, after taking off his monkey skin, folding it up, and laying +it under his wife's pillow, she reveals her husband's secret to his +mother, who, "though she was very glad her monkey-son had such a wife, +could never understand how it was that her daughter-in-law was so +happy with him." Taking the monkey-skin from under her pillow, "See," +she says, "when your son puts this on, then he is a monkey; when he +takes it off he is a beautiful man. And now I think I will burn this +skin, and then he must always be a man." So she throws it into the +fire. Prince Monkey's heart instantly tells him his wife has burnt his +skin, and he returns home in a rage. It passes off, however, and all +goes well. He now appears always as a beautiful prince, "with his hair +all gold." "Why did you wear that monkey-skin?" naturally asks his +father. "Because," he replies, "my mother ate the mango-stone instead +of eating the mango, and so I was born with this skin, and God ordered +me to wear it till I had found a wife." The story has evidently been +considerably altered in the course of time from its original form, but +it still keeps true to its ancient lines. In it, as in many other +specimens of the same class, the idea of the degradation of a divine +or semi-divine being has been lost, and the sufferer is merely a human +being cased in a disfiguring hide. It is noteworthy that, as we are +informed at p. 259, Dunkní, the narrator of the tale, "in telling this +husk-story, just as often called the monkey-skin a husk, as she called +it a skin." + +Another of the apparently mythological European folk-tales, +instructive parallels to which are contained in the present volume, is +that which may be designated as the Golden-locks myth. It relates the +fortunes of a brilliant being, usually a radiant prince, who, often +without any apparent reason, submits himself to a voluntary eclipse, +hides from sight his grandeur and his good looks, and assumes an +appearance of squalor and misery. Like Cinderella, whose male +counterpart he is, he at times arises from his low estate, becomes +again a brilliant prince, but always capriciously eludes those who +wish to retain him in that shape. At last he is always detected, and +then he has to remain constant to his true and magnificent form. His +temporary eclipse is somewhat similar to that of the hero of a +husk-myth; but no special power is attached to the wrappings under +which his brilliance is concealed, nor is his change of form imposed +upon him against his will. The meaning of the Golden-locks story, in +its original form, still remains to be discovered, as also does that +of the sister tale of Cinderella. That they both refer to the +temporary eclipse, seclusion, or obscuration of a brilliant being, is +evident. But what that brilliant being represents is a problem of +which several solutions have been confidently offered, but which does +not seem to have been as yet certainly solved. In the story of "The +Boy who had a Moon on his forehead and a Star on his chin" (No. 20), +the self-eclipsing process is brought about by a twist of his right +ear; "when the boy had twisted it, he was no longer a handsome prince, +but a poor, common-looking, ugly man; and his moon and star were +hidden." And so, after he has been chosen out of a number of suitors +by a princess whose heart he has won by the beauty of his singing, he +restores himself to his true form by twisting his left ear; after +which operation "he stood no longer a poor, common, ugly man, but a +grand young prince, with a moon on his forehead and a star on his +chin." + +A third class of stories for which an Asiatic origin may fairly be +claimed, contains those in which figures a monster or demon who cannot +be killed until some external object with which his life is +mysteriously linked has been destroyed. Such a being occurs at times +in European folk-tales, especially in those of the east and north of +Europe. The most familiar instance is that of "The Giant who had no +Heart in his body" of the "Tales from the Norse." Some of the best +specimens of this kind of monster are to be found in the Russian tales +about Koshchei the Deathless. But these remarkably abnormal beings +scarcely seem at home in western folk-lore. They are but little in +keeping with their European surroundings, and never seem to divest +themselves of their alien air. In oriental stories, on the other hand, +they figure frequently, and they seem to occupy a familiar and an +appropriate place. The oldest of the world's tales of wonder, the +Egyptian story of the Two Brothers, contains an heroic being whose +life comes to an end when his heart falls to the ground from the tree +upon which he has hung it. And in the modern folk-tales of India, +demons of this kind play their part without exciting any more than +usual surprise. Miss Frere's Deccan stories make us well acquainted +with one of these personages, "a wicked magician named Punchkin," +whose name serves as a convenient designation for the long-lived +monsters in question. The present collection contains several +specimens. In "Brave Hírálálbásá" (No. 11) we meet with a Rakshas, who +is induced, as usual by female wiles, to reveal the secret of his +life. "Sixteen miles away from this place," he says, "is a tree. Round +the tree are tigers, and bears, and scorpions, and snakes; on the top +of the tree is a very great flat snake; on his head is a little cage; +in the cage is a bird; and my soul is in that bird." When the bird is +seized by the hero of the story, the Rakshas feels that something +terrible has occurred. When the bird's legs and wings are pulled off, +the Rakshas becomes a mere head and torso; and when the bird's neck is +wrung, down falls the Rakshas dead. In like manner, in the tale of +"The Demon and the King's Son" (No. 24), the demon dies when the +prince has killed a certain bird, the lives of the bird and of the +demon being conterminable. According to the narrator Dunkní, "all +Rakshases keep their souls in birds;" but another authority asserts +(p. 261) that "a whole tribe of Rakshases, dwelling in Ceylon, kept +theirs in one and the same lemon." + +The tale of "The Voracious Frog" (No. 6) is a valuable contribution to +the store we already possess of what appear to be myths relating to +apparent destruction, but ultimate resuscitation. To this class seem +to belong the stories on which Little Red Riding Hood was probably +based, describing how a wolf or other monster swallowed various +innocent beings, but was at last forced to restore them uninjured to +the light of day. In its original form the tale may have been a nature +myth, illustrating the apparent annihilation brought about by the +darkness of night or the cold of winter, and the revival which +accompanies the return of the day or of spring; or, perhaps, a moral +apologue, intended to suggest that death may not be a lasting +annihilation. In its modern forms, whether in the east or the west, it +often assumes a grotesque air. A good illustration of this fact is +afforded by the well-known Norse tale of "The Greedy Cat," of which +"The Voracious Frog" (No. 6) is an Indian counterpart. The cat, after +devouring all that comes in its way, is at last split in half by a +goat, whereupon all its victims come forth unhurt. The frog, after +similar feats of gluttony, is cut open by a barber, who, while shaving +it, thinks that it looks very fat; and its victims also emerge +uninjured. + +There are many tales now current in different parts of Europe, but +chiefly in the south and east, which turn upon the relations existing +between human beings and their fates: each person being supposed to +have a special fate or fortune, a species of guardian demon, upon +whose good will all his or her success in life depends. It is very +doubtful whether such stories are products of European fancy, their +leading ideas seeming to be little in keeping with the religious +beliefs--whether of classic times, or of Teutonic, Slavic, or Celtic +antiquity--respecting either an overruling destiny, or a triad of +Fates or Norns. But in India a belief in a personal "luck" has +prevailed from very early times; and such stories as "The Man who went +to seek his Fate" (No. 12), appear there to be as indigenous as in +Europe they seem to be exotic. The Servian story, for instance, of the +man who sets out to look for his fate, and the Sicilian account of how +the unfortunate Caterina is persecuted by hers until she discovers its +hiding-place, and propitiates it by cakes (see Notes, p. 263), have a +foreign air about them, which does not manifest itself in the Indian +tale. The likeness between the Servian and the Indian variants of the +narrative, especially as regards the questions which the fate-seeker +is requested by the beings he meets on the way to ask when he arrives +at his destination, is too great to allow it to be supposed that they +have been independently developed from a common germ. They are +manifestly, so far as the journey is concerned, copies of the same +model, differing but slightly from each other. But the embodiment of +the wayfarer's destiny is quite differently represented in the two +stories. The Servian pilgrim first discovers his fortune, or rather +misfortune, in the person of a hag, who tells him she has been given +to him as his luck by Fate. Then he seeks out Fate, who appears in +human form. But in the Indian tale, "the fates are stones, some +standing, and others lying on the ground." One of the prostrate +stones, the traveller felt sure, must belong to him. "This must be +mine," he said; "it is lying on the ground, that's why I am so poor." +Whereupon he took to beating it, and continued to do so all day. When +night came, "God sent a soul into the poor man's fate, and it became a +man," who satisfied the wanderer's own wishes, and also answered the +questions which he had been requested to ask. Then "God withdrew the +soul, and the fate became a stone again, which stood up on the +ground." + +There are two stories which enjoy a world-wide popularity in peasant +circles, but which have not been made familiar by modern literature to +cultured children. One of them may for the sake of convenience be +known by the name of the Substituted Bride, and the other by that of +the Calumniated Wife. The first relates the sorrows of a maiden who is +compelled to see an impostor seated in the place which she was +intended to fill, by the side of the princely husband whom she was +meant to wed. The second describes the sufferings long undergone by a +faithful wife and tender mother, who is falsely accused of some crime +by an envious rival, and is hastily punished by her angry lord. In +both of them the supernatural usually plays a part, but their main +interests are always human, and it is easier to sympathize with their +heroines than with most of the similar characters of popular fiction. +Yet those ill-used but patient princesses are but little known to the +thousands of story-readers who are familiar with the adventures of +Cinderella and the Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, and the +wives of Bluebeard and of the Beast. They have at various times +entered into literature, but not into that section of it which has +supplied our nursery fiction. They figure in most of the now so +numerous collections of folk-tales, but they have not been introduced +into society by the novelists or playwrights who have made their +sister-sufferers undying favourites. They are essentially moral tales, +their good characters bearing their unmerited misfortunes with +unvarying meekness and patience, and being ultimately rewarded, while +the envious and malicious rivals who have supplanted or slandered them +are punished in the end. But they have not taken a firm hold on the +west, where they are probably destined to become forgotten when the +progress of education has replaced folk-lore by literature, while they +are likely to go on living for ages in the east, which seems to have +been their original home. + +In the present collection the story of the Substituted Princess occurs +several times. In "Phúlmati Rání" the heroine is a wife instead of a +bride, which makes the substitution more than usually improbable. As +she and her husband are resting beside a tank, a shoemaker's wife +comes up, and pushes her into the water, in which she is drowned. The +shoemaker's wife takes her place, though she is "very black and ugly," +one-eyed, and exceedingly wicked. It may be remarked that the +substitution in question generally takes place by the side of water. +In the "Bél-Princess," the beautiful maiden who has come out of the +fruit which the prince opened by the side of a well, is pushed into +the water, while the prince is asleep, by a wicked woman, very ugly, +and with "something wrong with one of her eyes," who then assumes her +place. In tales like the story of "The Princess who loved her Father +like Salt," the transformation scene is of a different nature, though +the leading idea of the change is the same. It is not an ordinary +bride or wife who is supplanted, and the substitution need not take +place beside water. The heroine is a stranger who, generally after +long wanderings, finds a prince really or apparently dead, by patient +watching all but effects his cure, but is at the last moment +supplanted by a servant, who gives the final touch to the work, claims +its entire merit, and is made the wife of the grateful patient. In the +Indian tale the prince lies motionless, his body "stuck full of +needles." The heroine sits down by the side of his couch, and there +remains for a whole week "without eating, or drinking, or sleeping, +pulling out the needles." At the end of two weeks more the needles are +all extracted, except those in the eyes. She then goes away to bathe; +and while she is absent, a servant maid whom she has left in charge of +the body pulls out the remaining needles. The prince opens his eyes, +thanks God for bringing him to life again, and makes the servant maid +his wife. The substitution is similar to that which takes place in +such stories as the Norse "Bushy Bride;" but closer parallels are +supplied by some of the stories of southern Europe. Mrs. Stokes refers +in her Notes to the dead prince in one of Gonzenbach's Sicilian tales, +who is brought to life by a wandering princess, who for more than +seven years rubs his body with grass from Mount Calvary. Pitre's great +collection of Sicilian _Fiabe_ also offers several variants of the +substitution story, in some of which occurs the singular incident, +known also to Swedish and Finnish folk-tales, of the imprisonment of +the heroine, after she has been flung into the sea, by a submarine +supernatural being. In some instances it is not water which the +heroine has to dread, but light. The true bride must be conveyed to +the bridegroom's palace in a darkened vehicle. Her supplanter draws +aside a curtain. The sunlight shines in. The princess turns into a +lizard or some other animal, and the false bride takes her place. + +The Calumniated Wife story which occurs in No. 20 of the present +collection, closely resembles many European variants. A king hears a +girl say that when she is married she will have a son with a moon on +his forehead and a star on his chin. So he marries her. She gives +birth to a boy who really is thus decorated. But the king's other +wives, naturally jealous of her, put a stone in her bed, and pretend +that it is the object which she has brought into the world, upon which +she is disgraced and turned into a servant maid. In other variants of +the story she is often accused of having murdered her children, and +even eaten them. In one instance her mortified husband is represented +as twice forgiving her, after remonstrating with her on her inordinate +appetite, but as thinking it necessary to take some precautions when +the possibility of her committing the crime for the third time makes +itself manifest. Sometimes all the innocent wives of a king are +accused of murderous habits by a guilty wife, who is in reality a +destroying and devouring demon. Such is the case in No. 20 of the +present collection, which ends with the restoration of the seven +calumniated wives, and the death by burning of the demon spouse. + + * * * * * + +Besides illustrating the themes or leading ideas of many groups of +European tales, these Indian stories frequently serve to throw light +upon some of their obscurer features, or at least to offer such +parallels to them as are useful contributions to our stock of +materials for a systematic classification. Among the strange +characters who figure in European folk tales, there are few more +puzzling than the fair maidens who are at times discovered inside +fruits, and who must be provided with water to drink the moment they +emerge into the light, or else they will die. They seem properly to +belong to the south and east of Europe, to such countries, for +instance, as Greece, Sicily, and Wallachia. When they are found +elsewhere, as in the Norse tale of "The Three Lemons," the very name +of which speaks of the sunny south, they seem out of keeping with +their surroundings. In these Indian stories, the enclosure of a +heroine in a fruit is an incident which does not appear to be more +than usually amazing. The need of immediate water drinking is not +referred to. But the hero is warned (p. 81) that he must not open the +fruit in public, because the enclosed maiden will be quite destitute +of clothes. In another story which is widely spread over Europe--but +which we know best in the form of the tale of "The Blue Bird," founded +upon the theme of "The Lay of Ywonec," by Marie de France--the +murderous means by which the bird-lover is all but done to death by +jealous hands, which set sharp knives in the narrow opening through +which he has to fly, or beset his path with some other instruments of +ill, find their counterpart in the powdered glass employed to injure +the hero of the "The Fan Prince" (No. 25). His wife's six sisters, who +"were angry at their youngest sister being married, while they who +were older were not married," insist upon making his bed, and cover +the spot on which he is to lie with the powder into which they have +ground a glass bottle. Whereupon the prince becomes very ill, from the +glass powder going into his flesh. + +The ordinary opening of many familiar folk-tales, including the +"Beauty and the Beast" story, finds a parallel in the same Indian tale +(p. 195). In all of them a man, when starting on a journey, promises +his youngest daughter that he will bring her back some object. This he +forgets to obtain. On his homeward journey, his ship refuses to move +until he has acquired the object in question. The Indian parent +promised to bring home Sabr to his daughter, having no idea what Sabr +meant. Not having obtained it, he set out on his homeward journey. +"But the boat would not move, because he had forgotten one thing--the +thing his youngest daughter had asked for." Sabr turns out to be a +fairy prince. It is a common incident in Indian tales for a hero or +heroine to demand a spouse, generally of a more or less supernatural +nature, whose name is known but nothing more. Just as the Fan Prince +was demanded, under the apparently meaningless name of Sabr, so is the +hand of the Princess Labám longed for by the Rájá's son in No. 22, +although her existence was unknown to him till he heard a parrot +pronounce her name one day; and so is the acquisition of a +Bél-Princess resolved upon by the prince in No. 21, because his +sisters-in-law say to him, in a disagreeable manner, "We think that +you will marry a Bél-Princess." Múniyá, the narrator of the story, +"says that telling the prince he would marry a Bél-Princess was +equivalent to saying he would not marry at all; for these brothers' +wives knew she lived in the fairy country, and that it would be very +difficult, if not impossible, for the prince to find her, and take her +from it." But this seems to be merely a rationalistic view of the +matter. Some mystery seems to underlie these suggestions of, or +desires for, unions with unfamiliar beings. They occur not +unfrequently in Russian tales. In one of Afanasief's skazkas (vol. +vii., No. 6) a baby prince cries, and refuses to go to sleep, till his +royal father rocks his cradle, crooning the while, "Sleep, beloved +one! When you grow up you shall marry Never-enough-to-be-gazed-at +Beauty, daughter of three mothers, sister of nine brothers." Having +slept vigorously, the baby awakes, asks for the king's blessing, and +sets out in search of the unknown Beauty in question. In another (vol. +i., No. 14), Prince Ivan, having married his three sisters to the +Wind, the Hail, and the Thunder, wanders forth in search of a bride. +Finding the remains of two slaughtered armies, and discovering that +their slaughterer was named Anastasia the Fair, he resolves, though +knowing nothing else about her, to make her his wife. Among the +numerous minor incidents which are common to eastern and western +folk-tales, may be mentioned the aid lent to heroes in difficulties by +Magic Instruments, as in No. 22, or by Grateful Beasts, as in No. 24. +A belief in magic is of course world-wide, but the particular +instruments referred to seem to have good reasons for claiming an +oriental extraction. The stories in which stress is laid upon the +gratitude of the inferior animals are almost always derivable from the +east; especially if, as in the correct versions of the tale on which +Puss in Boots is founded, their gratitude is contrasted with the +ingratitude of that superior animal, man. When we meet with so close a +resemblance as exists between the miracle wrought by Shekh Faríd (p. +97), who turns the lying carter's sugar into ashes, and that +attributed to St. Brigit, who turns the liar's salt into stones, we +need have little scruple about referring both stories to the same +source and, considering how much monastic legend-writers were indebted +to oriental fancy, in locating that source in the east. + +The comic elements of eastern and western folk-lore are closely akin, +and the Lie-stories, or _Lügenmärchen_, in Nos. 4, 8, and 17 of these +Indian Tales find their parallels in most European collections. As an +example of the close kinship which prevails among the jests which make +merry the hearts of men far apart from each other, we may take the +Indian story of "Foolish Sachúlí," and compare it with the Russian +tale of "The Fool and the Birch Tree" (Afanasief, vol. v., No. 22). +Sachúlí kills a woman; his Russian counterpart kills a man. The corpse +of the woman is hidden away in a well, that of the man in a cellar. In +each case the fool's sensible relatives, knowing that he will be sure +to tell the truth if he is asked, withdraw the body during his +absence, and substitute for it that of an animal killed for the +purpose. When the seekers after the victim arrive at Sachúlí's home, +he at once conducts them to the well. Being let down into it, he asks, +"Has she got eyes?" "Of course, every one has eyes," is the reply. +"Has she a nose?" "Yes, she has a nose." But at last he inquires if +she has four feet; and the seekers after the dead woman find that the +body in the well is that of a sheep. In the same way, when the Russian +fool has confessed his guilt, and has gone into the cellar to look for +his victim's remains, he finds there the body of a goat. So he calls +out to the anxious inquirers, "Was your man dark-haired?" "He was." +"And had he a beard?" "Yes, he had a beard." "And had he horns?" "What +horns are you talking about, fool?" they reply. So he hands up the +goat's head, and the Russian tale comes to the same conclusion as the +Indian. The likeness here is too strong to be attributed to an +accidental coincidence. + + * * * * * + +It does not, of course, follow that, because a story is found both in +Europe and Asia, therefore the western version has been borrowed from +the east. Europe has, doubtless, sometimes lent a fancy to Asia. Greek +fables are supposed to have exercised an influence upon the Indian +mind. European missionaries may have sometimes rendered a Christian +legend current among Hindus. Professor Monier Williams was assured by +an intelligent native that the spread of railways had materially +diminished the number of malignant ghosts in India. Still, as a +general rule, the east is stubbornly conservative. The Japanese, it is +true, are abandoning their own costume and art for ours, not entirely +to their advantage. But the various peoples of India have never shown +any such tendencies towards change. In their popular fiction, at all +events, they have never shown an inclination to import foreign +manufactures in order to replace their home products. In their +thoughts and feelings they are now very much what they have been for +periods of time which it would be difficult to define. When we find +stories now current in all parts of India, which we know from their +occurrence in Sanskrit literature must have existed there very long +ago, and we see that the mythological element in those stories is in +accordance with religious ideas that have prevailed there for +countless centuries, we can have no doubt that these stories were +framed there at a very early period. Then if we find almost identical +stories current in all parts of Europe, many of their at least +apparently mythological features offering difficulties which cannot be +removed by a reference to the mythologies of the heathen ancestors of +the peasants who now repeat them, it seems not unreasonable to come to +the conclusion that such stories have been borrowed by the west from +the east. From mythological germs common to European and Asiatic +Aryans, it is quite true that legends might arise in Europe and in +Asia, independent of each other, but similar in their general tenor. +But it is not likely that out of any common germ could be +independently developed in several different countries as many +variants of the same tale, in each of which there is a similar +sequence of scenes or acts, and the dramatic action is brought to a +close by a termination that scarcely ever varies. Far more difficult +is it to believe in such a triumph of independent development, than to +place reliance upon a statement to the effect that the wave of +story-telling, as well as of empire, has wended its way westward. + + W. R. S. RALSTON. + + + + +[Decoration] + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + I. PHÚLMATI RÁNÍ, OR THE FLOWER LADY 1 + + II. THE POMEGRANATE KING 7 + + III. THE CAT AND THE DOG 15 + + IV. THE CAT WHICH COULD NOT BE KILLED 18 + + V. THE JACKAL AND THE KITE 21 + + VI. THE VORACIOUS FROG 24 + + VII. THE STORY OF FOOLISH SACHÚLÍ 27 + + VIII. BARBER HÍM AND THE TIGERS 35 + + IX. THE BULBUL AND THE COTTON-TREE 39 + + X. THE MONKEY PRINCE 41 + + XI. BRAVE HÍRÁLÁLBÁSÁ 51 + + XII. THE MAN WHO WENT TO SEEK HIS FATE 63 + + XIII. THE UPRIGHT KING 68 + + XIV. LOVING LAILÍ 73 + + XV. HOW KING BURTAL BECAME A FAKÍR 85 + + XVI. SOME OF THE DOINGS OF SHEKH FARÍD 95 + + XVII. THE MOUSE 101 + + XVIII. A WONDERFUL STORY 108 + + XIX. THE FAKÍR NÁNAKSÁ SAVES THE MERCHANT'S LIFE 114 + + XX. THE BOY WHO HAD A MOON ON HIS FOREHEAD AND A STAR + ON HIS CHIN 119 + + XXI. THE BÉL-PRINCESS 138 + + XXII. HOW THE RÁJÁ'S SON WON THE PRINCESS LABÁM 153 + + XXIII. THE PRINCESS WHO LOVED HER FATHER LIKE SALT 164 + + XXIV. THE DEMON IS AT LAST CONQUERED BY THE KING'S SON 173 + + XXV. THE FAN PRINCE 193 + + XXVI. THE BED 201 + + XXVII. PÁNWPATTÍ RÁNÍ 208 + + XXVIII. THE CLEVER WIFE 216 + + XXIX. RÁJÁ HARICHAND'S PUNISHMENT 224 + + XXX. THE KING'S SON AND THE WAZÍR'S DAUGHTER 234 + + NOTES 237 + + GLOSSARY 295 + + LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO 297 + + INDEX 299 + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +INDIAN FAIRY TALES. + +I. + +PHÚLMATI RÁNÍ. + + +There were once a Rájá and a Rání who had an only daughter called the +Phúlmati Rání, or the Pink-rose Queen. She was so beautiful that if +she went into a very dark room it was all lighted up by her beauty. On +her head was the sun; on her hands, moons; and her face was covered +with stars. She had hair that reached to the ground, and it was made +of pure gold. + +Every day after she had had her bath, her father and mother used to +weigh her in a pair of scales. She only weighed one flower. She ate +very, very little food. This made her father most unhappy, and he +said, "I cannot let my daughter marry any one who weighs more than one +flower." Now, God loved this girl dearly, so he went down under the +ground to see if any of the fairy Rájás was fit to be the Phúlmati +Rání's husband, and he thought none of them good enough. So he went in +the form of a Fakír to see the great Indrásan Rájá who ruled over all +the other fairy Rájás. This Rájá was exceedingly beautiful. On his +head was the sun; and on his hands, moons; and on his face, stars. God +made him weigh very little. Then he said to the Rájá, "Come up with +me, and we will go to the palace of the Phúlmati Rání." God had told +the Rájá that he was God and not a Fakír, for he loved the Indrásan +Rájá. "Very well," said the Indrásan Rájá. So they travelled on until +they came to the Phúlmati Rání's palace. When they arrived there they +pitched a tent in her compound, and they used to walk about, and +whenever they saw the Phúlmati Rání they looked at her. One day they +saw her having her hair combed, so God said to the Indrásan Rájá, "Get +a horse and ride where the Phúlmati Rání can see you, and if any one +asks you who you are, say, 'Oh, it's only a poor Fakír, and I am his +son. We have come to stay here a little while just to see the country. +We will go away very soon.'" Well, he got a horse and rode about, and +Phúlmati Rání, who was having her hair combed in the verandah, said, +"I am sure that must be some Rájá; only see how beautiful he is." And +she sent one of her servants to ask him who he was. So the servant +said to the Indrásan Rájá, "Who are you? why are you here? what do you +want?" "Oh, it's only a poor Fakír, and I am his son. We have just +come here for a little while to see the country. We will go away very +soon." So the servants returned to the Phúlmati Rání and told her what +the Indrásan Rájá had said. The Phúlmati Rání told her father about +this. The next day, when the Phúlmati Rání and her father were +standing in the verandah, God took a pair of scales and weighed the +Indrásan Rájá in them. His weight was only that of one flower! "Oh," +said the Rájá, when he saw that, "here is the husband for the Phúlmati +Rání!" The next day, after the Phúlmati Rání had had her bath, her +father took her and weighed her, and he also weighed the Indrásan +Rájá. And they were each the same weight. Each weighed one flower, +although the Indrásan Rájá was fat and the Phúlmati Rání thin. The +next day they were married, and there was a grand wedding. God said he +was too poor-looking to appear, so he bought a quantity of elephants, +and camels, and horses, and cows, and sheep, and goats, and made a +procession, and came to the wedding. Then he went back to heaven, but +before he went he said to the Indrásan Rájá "You must stay here one +whole year; then go back to your father and to your kingdom. As long +as you put flowers on your ears no danger will come near you." (This +was in order that the fairies might know that he was a very great Rájá +and not hurt him.) "All right," said the Indrásan Rájá. And God went +back to heaven. + +So the Indrásan Rájá stayed for a whole year. Then he told the Rájá, +the Phúlmati Rání's father, that he wished to go back to his own +kingdom. "All right," said the Rájá, and he wanted to give him horses, +and camels, and elephants. But the Indrásan Rájá and the Phúlmati Rání +said they wanted nothing but a tent and a cooly. Well, they set out; +but the Indrásan Rájá forgot to put flowers on his ears, and after +some days the Indrásan Rájá was very, very tired, so he said, "We will +sit down under these big trees and rest awhile. Our baggage will soon +be here; it is only a little way behind." So they sat down, and the +Rájá said he felt so tired he must sleep. "Very well," said the Rání; +"lay your head in my lap and sleep." After a while a shoemaker's wife +came by to get some water from a tank which was close to the spot +where the Rájá and Rání were resting. Now, the shoemaker's wife was +very black and ugly, and she had only one eye, and she was exceedingly +wicked. The Rání was very thirsty and she said to the woman, "Please +give me some water, I am so thirsty." "If you want any," said the +shoemaker's wife, "come to the tank and get it yourself." "But I +cannot," said the Rání, "for the Rájá is sleeping in my lap." At last +the poor Rání got so very, very thirsty, she said she must have some +water; so laying the Rájá's head very gently on the ground she went to +the tank. Then the wicked shoemaker's wife, instead of giving her to +drink, gave her a push and sent the beautiful Rání into the water, +where she was drowned. The shoemaker's wife then went back to the +Rájá, and, taking his head on her knee, sat still until he woke. When +the Rájá woke he was much frightened, and he said, "This is not my +wife. My wife was not black, and she had two eyes." The poor Rájá felt +very unhappy. He said, "I am sure something has happened to my wife." +He went to the tank, and he saw flowers floating on the water and he +caught them, and as he caught them his own true wife stood before him. + +They travelled on till they came to a little house. The shoemaker's +wife went with them. They went into the house and laid themselves down +to sleep, and the Rájá laid beside him the flowers he had found +floating in the tank. The Rání's life was in the flowers. As soon as +the Rájá and Rání were asleep, the shoemaker's wife took the flowers, +broke them into little bits, and burnt them. The Rání died +immediately, for the second time. Then the poor Rájá, feeling very +lonely and unhappy, travelled on to his kingdom, and the shoemaker's +wife went after him. God brought the Phúlmati Rání to life a second +time, and led her to the Indrásan Rájá's gardener. + +One day as the Indrásan Rájá was going out hunting, he passed by the +gardener's house, and saw a beautiful girl sitting in it. He thought +she looked very like his wife, the Phúlmati Rání. So he went home to +his father and said, "Father, I should like to be married to the girl +who lives in our gardener's house." "All right," said the father; "you +can be married at once." So they were married the next day. + +One night the shoemaker's wife took a ram, killed it, and put some of +its blood on the Phúlmati Rání's mouth while the Rání slept. The next +morning she went to the Indrásan Rájá and said, "Whom have you +married? You have married a Rakshas. Just see. She has been eating +cows, and sheep, and chickens. Just come and see." The Rájá went, and +when he saw the blood on his wife's mouth he was frightened, and he +thought she was really a Rakshas. The shoemaker's wife said to him, +"If you do not cut this woman in pieces, some harm will happen to +you." So the Rájá took a knife and cut his beautiful wife into pieces. +He then went away very sorrowful. The Phúlmati Rání's arms and legs +grew into four houses; her chest became a tank, and her head a house +in the middle of the tank; her eyes turned into two little doves; and +these five houses, the tank and the doves, were transported to the +jungle. No one knew this. The little doves lived in the house that +stood in the middle of the tank. The other four houses stood round the +tank. + +One day when the Indrásan Rájá was hunting by himself in the jungle he +was very tired, and he saw the house in the tank. So he said, "I will +go into that house to rest a little while, and to-morrow I will return +home to my father." So, tying his horse outside, he went into the +house and lay down to sleep. By and by, the two little birds came and +perched on the roof above his head. They began to talk, and the Rájá +listened. The little husband-dove said to his wife, "This is the man +who cut his wife to pieces." And then he told her how the Indrásan +Rájá had married the beautiful Phúlmati Rání, who weighed only one +flower, and how the shoemaker's wife had drowned her; how God had +brought her to life again; how the shoemaker's wife had burned her; +and last of all, how the Rájá himself had cut her to pieces. "And +cannot the Rájá find her again?" said the little wife-dove. "Oh, yes, +he can," said her husband, "but he does not know how to do so." "But +do tell me how he can find her," said the little wife-dove. "Well," +said her husband, "every night, at twelve o'clock, the Rání and her +servants come to bathe in the tank. Her servants wear yellow dresses, +but she wears a red one. Now, if the Rájá could get all their dresses, +every one, when they lay them down and go into the tank to bathe, and +throw away all the yellow dresses one by one, keeping only the red +one, he would recover his wife." + +The Rájá heard all these things, and at midnight the Rání and her +servants came to bathe. The Rájá lay very quiet, and after they all +had taken off their dresses and gone into the tank, he jumped up and +seized every one of the dresses,--he did not leave one of them,--and +ran away as hard as he could. Then each of the servants, who were only +fairies, screamed out, "Give me my dress! What are you doing? why do +you take it away?" Then the Rájá dropped one by one the yellow dresses +and kept the red one. The fairy servants picked up the dresses, and +forsook the Phúlmati Rání and ran away. The Rájá came back to her with +her dress in his hand, and she said, "Oh, give me back my dress. If +you keep it I shall die. Three times has God brought me to life, but +he will bring me to life no more." The Rájá fell at her feet and +begged her pardon, and they were reconciled. And he gave her back her +dress. Then they went home, and Indrásan Rájá had the shoemaker's wife +cut to pieces, and buried in the jungle. And they lived happily ever +after. + + Told by Dunkní at Simla, July 25th, 1876. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +II. + +THE POMEGRANATE KING. + + +There was once a Mahárájá, called the Anárbásá, or Pomegranate King; +and a Mahárání called the Gulíanár, or Pomegranate-flower. The +Mahárání died leaving two children: a little girl of four or five +years old, and a little boy of three. The Mahárájá was very sorry when +she died, for he loved her dearly. He was exceedingly fond of his two +children, and got for them two servants: a man to cook their dinner, +and an ayah to take care of them. He also had them taught to read and +write. Soon after his wife's death the neighbouring Rájá's daughter's +husband died, and she said if any other Rájá would marry her, she +would be quite willing to marry him, and she also said she would like +very much to marry the Pomegranate Rájá. So her father went to see the +Pomegranate Rájá, and told him that his daughter wished to marry him. +"Oh," said the Pomegranate Rájá, "I do not want to marry again, for if +I do, the woman I marry will be sure to be unkind to my two children. +She will not take care of them. She will not pet them and comfort them +when they are unhappy." "Oh," said the other Rájá, "my daughter will +be very good to them, I assure you." "Very well," said the Mahárájá, +"I will marry her." So they were married. + +For two or three months everything went on well, but then the new +Rání, who was called the Sunkásí Mahárání, began to beat the poor +children, and to scold their servants. One day she gave the boy such +a hard blow on his cheek that it swelled. When the Mahárájá came out +of his office to get his tiffin, he saw the boy's swollen face, and, +calling the two servants, he said, "Who did this? how did my boy get +hurt?" They said, "The Rání gave him such a hard blow on his cheek +that it swelled, and she gets very angry with us if we say anything +about her ill-treatment of the children, or how she scolds us." The +Mahárájá was exceedingly angry with his wife for this, and said to +her, "I never beat my children. Why should you beat them? If you beat +them I will send you away." And he went off to his office in a great +rage. The Rání was very angry. So she told the little girl to go with +the ayah to the bazar. The ayah and the little girl set off, never +suspecting any evil. As soon as they had gone, the Rání took the +little boy and told him she would kill him. The boy went down on his +knees and begged her to spare his life. But she said, "No; your father +is always quarrelling with me, beating me, and scolding me, all +through your fault." The boy begged and prayed again, saying he would +never be naughty any more. The Rání shook her head, and taking a large +knife she cut off his head. She then cut him up and made him into a +curry. She then buried his head, and his nails, and his feet in the +ground, and she covered them well with earth, and stamped the ground +well down so that no one should notice it had been disturbed. When the +Pomegranate Rájá came home to his dinner, she put the curry and some +rice on the table before him; but the Rájá, seeing his boy was not +there, would not eat. He went and looked everywhere for his son, +crying very much, and the little girl cried very much too, for she +loved her brother dearly. After they had hunted for him for some time, +the little boy appeared. His father embraced him. "Where have you +been?" said he. "I cannot eat my dinner without you." The little boy +said, "Oh, I was in the jungle playing with other boys." They then +sat down to dinner, and the curry changed into a kid curry. The Rání +was greatly astonished when she saw the boy. She said to herself, "I +cut his head off; I cut him into little pieces, and I made him into a +curry, and yet he is alive!" She then went into the garden to see if +his head, and nails, and feet were in the hole where she had buried +them. But they were not there; it was quite empty. She then called a +sepoy, and said to him, "If you will take two children into the jungle +and kill them, I will give you as much money as you like." "All +right," said the sepoy. She then brought the children, and told him to +take them to the jungle. So he took them away to the jungle, but he +had not the heart to kill them, for they were exceedingly beautiful, +and he left them in the jungle near their dead mother's grave. Then he +returned to the Rání, saying he had done as she wished, and she gave +him as much money as he wanted. + +The poor Pomegranate Rájá was very unhappy when he saw his children +were not in the palace, and that they could not be found. He asked his +Rání where they were, but she said she did not know; they had gone out +to play and had never returned. From the day he lost his children the +Pomegranate Rájá became melancholy. He did not love the Rání any more; +he hated her. + +Meanwhile the children lived in a little house built close to their +mother's grave. God had given her life again that she might take care +of them. But they did not know she was their mother; they thought she +was another woman sent to take care of them. God sent also a man to +teach them. Somehow or other the Rání Sunkásí heard they were still +alive in the jungle. She did not know how she could kill them. So at +last she pretended she was very ill, and she said to the Rájá, "The +doctor says that in the jungle there are two children, and he says if +you will have them killed, and will bring their livers for me to +stand on when I bathe, then I shall get well." The Rájá sent a second +sepoy to kill the children, and this man killed them and brought their +livers to the Rání. She stood on them while bathing, and then said she +was quite well. She then threw the livers into the garden, and during +the night a tree grew up there with two large beautiful flowers on it. +Next morning the Rání looked out and said, "I will gather those +flowers to-day." Every day she said she would gather them, and every +day she forgot. At last one day she said, "Every day I forget to +gather those flowers, but to-day I really will do so," and she sent +her servant to pluck them. So he went out, and, just as he was going +to gather them, the flowers flew up just out of his reach. Then the +Rání went down, and when she was going to pick them they flew up so +high that they could not be seen. Every day she tried to gather them, +and every day they went high up, and came back again to the tree as +soon as she had gone. Then the flowers disappeared and two large +fruits came in their stead. The Rání looked out of her window: "Oh, +what delicious fruits! I'll eat them all myself. I won't give a bit to +anybody, and I'll eat them by myself quite quietly." She went down to +the garden, but they flew high up into the sky, and then they came +down again. So this went on, day after day, until she got so cross she +ordered the tree to be cut down. But it was of no use. The tree was +cut down, but the fruits flew high up into the sky, and in the night +the tree grew up again and the fruits came back again to it. And so +this went on for many days. Every day she cut down the tree, and every +night it grew up again, but she could never get the fruits. At last +she became very angry, and had the tree hewn into tiny bits and all +the bits thrown away, but still the tree grew again in the night, and +in the morning the fruits were hanging on it. So she went to the Rájá +and told him that in the garden was a tree with two fruits, and every +time she tried to get them, the fruits went up into the air. She had +had the tree cut down ever so many times, and it always grew up again +in the night and the fruits returned to it. "Why cannot you leave the +tree alone?" said the Rájá. "But I should like to see if what you say +is true." So the Rájá and the Rání went down to the garden, and the +Rání tried to get the fruits, but she could not, for they went right +up into the air. + +That evening the Rájá went alone to the garden to gather the fruits, +and the fruits of themselves fell into his hand. He took them into his +room, and putting them on a little table close to his bed, he lay down +to sleep. As soon as he was in bed a little voice inside one of the +fruits said, "Brother;" and a little voice in the other fruit said, +"Sister, speak more gently. To-morrow the Rájá will break open the +fruits, and if the Rání finds us she will kill us. Three times has God +made us alive again, but if we die a fourth time he will bring us to +life no more." The Rájá listened and said, "I will break them open in +a little while." Then he went to sleep, and after a little he woke and +said, "A little while longer," and went to sleep again. Several times +he woke up and said, "I will break the fruits open in a little while," +and went to sleep. At last he took a knife and began cutting the +fruits open very fast, and the little boy cried, "Gently, gently, +father; you hurt us!" So then the Rájá cut more gently, and he stopped +to ask, "Are you hurt?" and they said, "No." And then he cut again and +asked, "Are you hurt?" and they said, "No." And a third time he asked, +"Are you hurt?" and they answered, "No." Then the fruits broke open +and his two children jumped out. They rushed into their father's arms, +and he clasped them tight, and they cried softly, that the Rání might +not hear. + +He shut his room up close, and fed and dressed his children, and then +went out of the room, locking the door behind him. He had a little +wooden house built that could easily catch fire, and as soon as it was +ready he went to the Rání and said, "Will you go into a little house I +have made ready for you while your room is getting repaired?" "All +right," said the Rání; so she went into the little house, and that +night a man set it on fire, and the Rání and everything in it was +burnt up. Then the Pomegranate Rájá took her bones, put them into a +tin box, and sent them as a present to her mother. "Oh," said the +mother, "my daughter has married the Pomegranate Mahárájá, and so she +sends me some delicious food." When she opened the box, to her horror +she found only bones! Then she wrote to the Mahárájá, "Of what use are +bones?" The Mahárájá wrote back, "They are your bones; they belong to +you, for they are your daughter's bones. She ill-treated and killed my +children, and so I had her burnt." + +The Pomegranate Rájá and his children lived very happily for some +time, and their dead mother, the Gulíanár Rání, having a wish to see +her husband and her children, prayed to God to let her go and visit +them. God said she could go, but not in her human shape, so he changed +her into a beautiful bird, and put a pin in her head, and said, "As +soon as the pin is pulled out you will become a woman again." She flew +to the palace where the Mahárájá lived, and there were great trees +about the palace. On one of these she perched at night. The doorkeeper +was lying near it. She called out, "Doorkeeper! doorkeeper!" and he +answered, "What is it? Who is it?" And she asked, "Is the Rájá well?" +and the doorkeeper said, "Yes." "Are the children well?" and he said, +"Yes." "And all the servants, and camels, and horses?" "Yes." "Are you +well?" "Yes." "Have you had plenty of food?" "Yes." "What a great +donkey your Mahárájá is!" And then she began to cry very much, and +pearls fell from her eyes as she cried. Then she began to laugh very +much, and great big rubies fell from her beak as she laughed. The next +morning the doorkeeper got up and felt about, and said, "What is all +this?" meaning the pearls and the rubies, for he did not know what +they were. "I will keep them." So he picked them all up and put them +into a corner of his house. Every night the bird came and asked after +the Mahárájá and the children and the servants, and left a great many +pearls and rubies behind her. At last the doorkeeper had a whole heap +of pearls and rubies. + +One day a Fakír came and begged, and as the doorkeeper had no pice, or +flour, or rice to give, he gave him a handful of pearls and rubies. +"Well," said the Fakír to himself, "I am sure these are pearls and +rubies." So he tied them up in his cloth. Then he went to the Rájá to +beg, and the Rájá gave him a handful of rice. "What!" said the Fakír, +"the great Mahárájá only gives me a handful of rice when his +doorkeeper gives me pearls and rubies!" and he turned to walk away. +But the Mahárájá stopped him. "What did you say?" said he, "that my +doorkeeper gave you pearls and rubies?" "Yes," said the Fakír, "your +doorkeeper gave me pearls and rubies." So the Mahárájá went to the +doorkeeper's house, and when he saw all the pearls and rubies that +were there, he thought the man had stolen them from his treasury. The +Mahárájá had not as many pearls and rubies as his doorkeeper had. Then +turning to the doorkeeper he asked him to tell him truly where and how +he had got them. "Yes, I will," said the doorkeeper. "Every night a +beautiful bird comes and asks after you, after your children, after +all your elephants, horses, and servants; and then it cries, and when +it cries pearls drop from its eyes; and then it laughs, and rubies +fall from its beak. If you come to-night I dare say you will see it." +"All right," said the Pomegranate Rájá. + +So that night the Mahárájá pulled his bed out under the tree on which +the bird always perched. At night the bird came and called out, +"Doorkeeper! doorkeeper!" and the doorkeeper answered, "Yes, lord." +And the bird said, "Is your Mahárájá well?" "Yes." "Are the children +well?" "Yes." "And all his servants, horses, and camels and +elephants--are they well?" "Yes." "Are you well?" "Yes." "Have you had +plenty of food?" "Yes." "What a fool your Mahárájá is!" And then she +cried, and the pearls came tumbling down on the Mahárájá's eyes, and +the Mahárájá opened one eye and saw what a beautiful bird it was. And +then it laughed, and rubies fell from its beak on to the Mahárájá. + +Next morning the Mahárájá said he would give any one who would catch +the bird as much money as he wanted. So he called a fisherman, and +asked him to bring his net and catch the bird when it came that night. +The fisherman said he would for one thousand rupees. That night the +fisherman, the Mahárájá, and the doorkeeper, all waited under the +tree. Soon the bird came, and asked after the Mahárájá, after his +children, and all his servants and elephants, and camels and horses, +and then after the doorkeeper, and then it called the Mahárájá a fool. +Then it cried, and then it laughed, and just as it laughed the +fisherman threw the net over the bird and caught it. Then they shut it +up in an iron cage, and the next morning the Mahárájá took it out and +stroked it, and said, "What a sweet little bird! what a lovely little +bird!" And the Mahárájá felt something like a pin in its head, and he +gave a pull, and out came the pin, and then his own dear wife, the +Pomegranate-flower Rání, stood before him. The Rájá was exceedingly +glad, and so were his two children. And there were great rejoicings, +and they lived happily ever after. + + Told by Dunkní at Simla, 26th July, 1876. + + + + +[Decoration] + +III. + +THE CAT AND THE DOG. + + +_Introduction._ + +Now all cats are aunts to the tigers, and the cat in this story was +the aunt of the tiger in this story. She was his mother's sister. When +the tiger's mother was dying, she called the cat to her, and taking +her paw she said, "When I am dead you must take care of my child." The +cat answered, "Very well," and then the tiger's mother died. The tiger +said to the cat, "Aunt, I am very hungry. Go and fetch some fire. When +I go to ask men for fire they are afraid of me, and run away from me, +and won't give me any. But you are such a little creature that men are +not afraid of you, and so they will give you fire, and then you must +bring it to me." So the cat said, "Very good," and off she started, +and went into a house where some men were eating their dinner: they +had thrown away the bones, and the cat began to eat them. This house +was very near the place where the tiger lived, and on peeping round +the corner he saw his aunt eating the bones. "Oh," said he, "I sent my +aunt to fetch fire that I might cook my dinner as I am very hungry, +and there she sits eating the bones, and never thinks of me." So the +tiger called out, "Aunt, I sent you to fetch fire, and there you sit +eating bones and leave me hungry! If ever you come near me again, I +will kill you at once." So the cat ran away screaming, "I will never +go near the tiger again, for he will kill me!" This is why all cats +are so afraid of tigers, or of anything like a tiger. And this is why, +when the cat in the story saw the tiger, her nephew, fighting with the +man, she ran away as hard as she could. + + +_The Story._ + +There were once a dog and a cat. It was a very rainy day, and some men +were eating their dinner inside their house. The cat sat inside too, +eating her dinner, and the dog sat on the door-step. The cat called +out to the dog, "I am a high-caste person, and you are a very +low-caste person." "Oh," said the dog, "not at all. I am the +high-caste person and you are of very low caste. You eat all the men's +dinner up, and snatch the food from their hands just as they are +putting it into their mouths. And you scratch them, and they beat you; +while I sit away from them, and so they don't beat me. And if they +_give_ me any dinner I'll eat it; but if they don't, I won't." "Oh," +says the cat, "not a bit of it. I eat nice clean food; but you eat +nasty, dirty food, which the men have thrown away." "No," said the +dog, "I am high caste and you are very low caste, for if I gave you a +slap you would tumble down directly." "No, no!" said the cat. And they +went on disputing and began to fight, till the dog said, "Very well, +let us go to the wise jackal and ask him which of us is the better." +"Good," said the cat. So they went to the jackal and asked him. Said +the cat, "I am of the higher caste, and the dog is of the lower +caste." "No," said the jackal, "the dog is of the higher caste." The +cat said, "No," and the jackal said, "Yes," and they began to fight. +Then the jackal and the dog proposed to go and ask a great big beast +who lived in the jungle and was like a tiger. But the cat said, "I +cannot go near a tiger or anything like one." So then they said, "When +we come near the beast, you can remain behind, and we will go on and +speak to him." So they ran into the jungle, where there was a tiger +who had been lying on the ground with a great thorn sticking in his +foot. When his aunt, the cat, saw him, she scampered off, for she was +dreadfully frightened. + +The thorn had given the tiger great pain; for a long while he could +get no one to take it out, so had lain there for days. At last he had +seen a man passing by, to whom he called and said, "Take out this +thorn, and I promise I won't eat you." But the man refused through +fear, saying, "No, I won't, for you will eat me." Three times the +tiger had promised not to eat him; so at last the man took out the +thorn. Then the tiger sprang up and said, "Now I will eat you, for I +am very hungry." "Oh, no, no!" said the man. "What a liar you are! You +promised not to eat me if I would take the thorn out of your foot, and +now that I have done so you say you will eat me." And they began to +fight, and the man said, "If you won't eat me, I will bring you a cow +and a goat." But the tiger refused, saying, "No, I won't eat them; I +will eat you." + +At this moment the jackal and the dog came up. And the jackal asked, +"What is the matter? why are you fighting?" So then the man told him +why they were fighting; and the jackal said to the tiger, "I will tell +you a good way of eating the man. Go and fetch a big bag." So the +tiger went and fetched the bag, and brought it to the jackal. Then the +jackal said, "Get inside the bag, and leave its mouth open and I'll +throw the man in to you." So the tiger got inside the bag, and the +jackal, the dog and the man quickly tied it up as tight as they could. +Then they began to beat the tiger with all their might until at last +they killed him. Then the man went home, and the jackal went home, and +the dog went home. + + + + +[Decoration] + +IV. + +THE CAT WHICH COULD NOT BE KILLED. + + +There were once a dog and a cat, who were always quarrelling. The dog +used to beat the cat, but he never could hurt her. She would only +dance about and cry, "You never hurt me, you never hurt me! I _had_ a +pain in my shoulder, but now it is all gone away." So the dog went to +a _mainá_[1] and said, "What shall I do to hurt this cat? I beat her +and I bite her, and yet I can't hurt her. I am such a big dog and she +is rather a big cat, yet if I beat her I don't hurt her, but if she +beats me she hurts me so much." The _mainá_ said, "Bite her mouth +very, very hard, and then you'll hurt her." "Oh, no," said the cat, +who had just come up, laughing; "you won't hurt me at all." The dog +bit her mouth as hard as he could. "Oh, you don't hurt me," said the +cat, dancing about. So the dog went again to the _mainá_ and said, +"What shall I do?" "Bite her ears," said the _mainá_. So the dog bit +the cat's ears, but she danced about and said, "Oh, you did not hurt +me; now I can put earrings in my ears." So she put in earrings. + +The dog went to the elephant. "Can you kill this cat? she worries me +so every day." "Oh, yes," said the elephant, "of course I can kill +her. She is so little and I am so big." Then the elephant came and +took her up with his trunk, and threw her a long way. Up she jumped at +once and danced about, saying, "You did not hurt me one bit. I _had_ +a pain, but now I am quite well." Then the elephant got cross and +said, "I'll teach you to dance in another way than that," and he took +the cat and laid her on the ground and put his great foot on her. But +she was not hurt at all. She danced about and said, "You did not hurt +me one bit, not one bit," and she dug her claws into the elephant's +trunk. The elephant ran away screaming, and he told the dog, "You had +better beware of that cat. She belongs to the tiger tribe." The dog +felt very angry with the cat. "What shall I do," said he, "to kill +this cat?" And he bit her nose so hard that it bled. But she laughed +at him. "Now I can put a ring in my nose," said she. He got furious. +"I'll bite her tail in half," said he. So he bit her tail in half, and +yet he did not hurt her. + +He then went to a leopard. "If you can kill this cat I will give you +anything you want." "Very well, I'll kill her," said the leopard. And +they went together to the cat. "Stop," said the cat to the leopard; "I +want to speak to you first. I'll give you something to eat, and then +I'll tell you what I want to say." And then she ran off ever so far, +and after she had run a mile she stopped and danced, calling out, "Oh! +I'll give you nothing to eat; you could not kill me." The leopard went +away very cross, and saying, "What a clever cat that is." + +The dog next went to a man, and said, "Can you kill this cat, she +worries me so?" "Of course I can," said the man; "I'll stick this +knife into her stomach." And he stuck his knife into the cat's +stomach, but the cat jumped up, and her stomach closed, and the man +went home. + +And the dog went to a bear. "Can _you_ kill this cat? I can't." "I'll +kill her," said the bear; so he stuck all his claws into the cat, but +he didn't hurt her; and she stuck her claws into the bear's nose so +deep that he died immediately. + +Then the poor dog felt very unhappy, and went and threw himself into a +hole, and there he died, while the cat went away to her friends. + + Told by Dunkní at Simla, July 26th, 1876. + +FOOTNOTE: + + [1] A kind of starling. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +V. + +THE JACKAL AND THE KITE. + + +There was once a she-jackal and a she-kite. They lived in the same +tree; the jackal at the bottom of the tree, and the kite at the top. +Neither had any children. One day the kite said to the jackal, "Let us +go and worship God, and fast, and then he will give us children." So +the jackal said, "Very good." That day the kite ate nothing, nor that +night; but the jackal at night brought a dead animal, and was sitting +eating it quietly under the tree. By-and-by the kite heard her +crunching the bones, instead of fasting. "What have you got there," +said the kite, "that you are making such a noise?" "Nothing," said the +jackal; "it is only my own bones that rattle inside my body whenever I +move." The kite went to sleep again, and took no more notice of the +jackal. Next morning the kite ate some food in the name of God. That +night again the jackal brought a dead animal. The kite called out, +"What are you crunching there? Why are you making that noise? I am +sure you have something to eat." The jackal said, "Oh, no! It is only +my own bones rattling in my body." So the kite went to sleep again. + +Some time after, the kite had seven little boys--real little boys--but +the jackal had none, because she had not fasted. A year after that the +kite went and worshipped God, asking Him to take care of her children. +One day--it was their great day--the kite set out seven plates. On one +she put cocoa-nuts, on another cucumbers, on a third rice, on a +fourth plantains, and so on. Then she gave a plate to each of her +seven sons, and told them to take the plates to their aunt the jackal. +So they took the seven plates, and carried them to their aunt, crying +out, "Aunty, aunty, look here! Mamma has sent you these things." The +jackal took the plates, and cut off the heads of the seven boys, and +their hands, and their feet, and their noses, and their ears, and took +out their eyes. Then she laid their heads in one plate, and their eyes +in another, and their noses in a third, and their ears in a fourth, +and their hands in a fifth, and their feet in a sixth, and their +trunks in the seventh, and then she covered all the plates over. Then +she took the plates to the kite, and called out, "Here! I have brought +you something in return. You sent me a present, and I bring you a +present." Now the poor kite thought the jackal had killed all her +seven children, so she cried out, "Oh, it's too dark now to see what +you have brought. Put the plates down in my tree." The jackal put the +plates down and went home. Then God made the boys alive again, and +they came running to their mother, quite well. And instead of the +heads and eyes, and noses and ears, and hands and feet, and trunks, +there were again on the plates cocoa-nuts and cucumbers, and plantains +and rice, and so on. + +Now the jackal got hold of the boys again. And this time she killed +them, and cooked them and ate them; and again God brought them to +life. Well, the jackal was very much astonished to see the boys alive, +and she got angry, and said to the kite, "I will take your seven sons +and throw them into the water, and they will be drowned." "Very well," +said the kite, "take them. I don't mind. God will take care of them." +The jackal took them and threw them into the water, and left them to +die, while the kite looked on without crying. And again God made them +alive, and the jackal was so surprised. "Why," said she, "I put these +children into the water, and left them to drown. And here they are +alive!" Then God got very angry with the jackal, and said to her, "Go +out of this village. And wherever you go, men will try to shoot you, +and you shall always be afraid of them." So the jackal had to go away; +and the kite and her children lived very happily ever afterwards. + + Told by Dunkní. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +VI. + +THE VORACIOUS FROG. + + +There were a rat and a frog. And the rat said to the frog, "Go and get +me some sticks, while I go and get some flour and milk." So the frog +went out far into the jungle and brought home plenty of sticks, and +the rat went out and brought home flour and milk for their dinner. +Then she cooked the dinner, and when it was cooked she said to the +frog, "Now, you sit here while I go to bathe, and take care of the +food so that no one may come and eat it up." Then the rat went to take +her bath, and as soon as she had gone the frog made haste and ate up +the dinner quickly, and went away. + +When the rat came back she found no dinner, and she could not find the +frog. So she went out to look for him, calling to him as loudly as she +could, and she saw him in the distance, and overtook him. "Why have +you eaten my dinner? Why did you go away?" said the rat. Said the +frog, "Oh, dear! it was not I that ate your dinner, but a huge dog +that came; and I was only a tiny, tiny thing, and he was a great big +dog, and so he frightened me, and I ran away." "Very well," said the +rat; "go and fetch me more sticks while I go for flour and milk." So +the frog went out far into the jungle and brought back plenty of +sticks. And the rat went to fetch flour and milk. Then she lit the +fire and cooked the dinner, and told the frog to take care of the +dinner while she went to bathe. As soon as she had gone, the frog ate +up all the dinner, and went away and hid himself. When the rat came +back she saw no frog, no dinner. She went away into the jungle and +called to him, and the frog answered from behind a tree, "Here I am, +here I am." The rat went to him and said, "Why did you eat my dinner?" +"I didn't," said the frog. "It was a great big dog ate the dinner, and +he wanted to eat me too, and so I ran away." The rat said, "Very well. +Go and fetch me some more sticks, and I will go for flour and milk." +Then she cooked the dinner again and went to bathe. The frog ate up +all the dinner, and went away and hid himself. When the rat returned +she saw no dinner, no frog. So she went far into the jungle, found the +frog, and told him that it was he that had eaten the dinner. And the +frog said, "No," and the rat said, "Yes." And the frog said, "If you +say that again, I will eat you up." "All right," says the rat, "eat me +up." So he ate her up and sat behind a tree, and the baker came past. +The frog called out, "Baker, come here! come here! Give me some +bread." The baker looked about everywhere, could not see anybody, +could not think who was calling him. At last he saw the frog sitting +behind a tree. "Give me some bread," says the frog. The man said, "No, +I won't give you any bread. I am a great big man, and you are only a +little frog, and you have no money." "Yes, I have money. I will give +you some pice, and you will give me some bread." But the man said, +"No, I won't." "Well," said the frog, "if you won't give me bread, I +will eat you up first, and then I will eat up your bread." So he ate +up the man, and then ate up his bread. Presently a man with oranges +and lemons passed by. The frog called to him, "Come here! come here!" +The man was very much afraid. He didn't know who had called him. Then +he saw the frog, and the frog said, "Give me some lemons." The man +wouldn't, and said, "No." "Very well," says the frog, "if you won't, +I'll eat you up." So he ate up the man with his lemons and oranges. +Presently a horse and his groom went by. The frog says, "Please give +me a ride, and I will give you some money." "No," said the horse, "I +won't let you ride on me. You are like a monkey,--very little--I won't +let you ride on my back." The frog said, "If you won't, I'll eat you +up." Then the frog ate him up, and his groom too. Then a barber passed +by. "Come and shave me," says the frog. "Good," says the barber, "I'll +come and shave you." So he shaved him, and he thought the frog looked +_very_ fat, and so as he was shaving him he suddenly made a cut in his +stomach. Out jumped the rat with her flour and milk--the baker with +his bread--the lemon-seller with his oranges and lemons--the horse and +his groom. And the barber ran away home. And the frog died. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +VII. + +THE STORY OF FOOLISH SACHÚLÍ. + + +There once lived a poor old widow woman named Hungní, who had a little +idiot son called Sachúlí. She used to beg every day. One day when the +son had grown up, he said to his mother. "What makes women laugh?" "If +you throw a tiny stone at them," answered she, "they will laugh." So +one day Sachúlí went and sat by a well, and three women came to it to +fill their water-jars. "Now," said Sachúlí "I will make one of these +women laugh." Two of the women filled their water-jars and went away +home, and he threw no stones at them; but as the last, who also had on +the most jewels, passed him, he threw a great big stone at her, and +she fell down dead, with her mouth set as if she were smiling. "Oh, +look! look! how she is laughing!" said Sachúlí, and he ran off to call +his mother. + +"Come, come, mother," said he, "and see how I have made this woman +laugh." + +His mother came, and when she saw the woman lying dead, she was much +frightened, for the dead woman belonged to a great and very rich +family, and she wore jewels worth a thousand rupees. Hungní took off +all her jewels, and threw her body into the well. + +After some days the dead woman's father and mother and all her people +sent round a crier with a drum to try and find her. "Whoever brings +back a young woman who wears a great many gold necklaces and bracelets +and rings shall get a great deal of money," cried the crier. Sachúlí +heard him. "I know where she is," said he. "My mother took off all her +jewels, and threw her into the well." + +The crier said, "Can you go down into the well and bring her up?" + +"If you will tie a rope round my waist and let me down the well, I +shall be able to bring her up." + +So they set off towards the well, which was near Hungní's house; and +when she saw them coming, she guessed what they came for, and she ran +out and killed a sheep, threw it into the well, and took out the dead +woman and hid her. + +The crier got some men to come with him, and they let Sachúlí down the +well. "Has she got eyes?" said Sachúlí. "Of course, every one has +eyes," answered the men. "Has she a nose?" asked Sachúlí. "Yes, she +has a nose," said the men. "Has she got a mouth?" asked Sachúlí. +"Yes," said the men. "Has she a long face?" + +"What does he mean?" said the men, who were getting cross. "No one has +a long face; perhaps she has, though. Yes, she has a long face," cried +the men. + +"Has she a tail?" + +"A tail! Why no one has a tail. Perhaps, though, she has long hair. No +doubt that is what he calls a tail. Yes, she has a tail." + +"Has she ears?" + +"Of course, every one has ears." + +"Has she four feet?" + +"Four feet!" said the men. "Why, no one has four feet. Perhaps you +call her hands feet. Yes, she has four feet. Bring her up quickly." + +Then Sachúlí brought up the sheep. + +The men were very angry when they saw the sheep, and they beat +Sachúlí, and called him a very stupid fellow and a great liar, and +they went away feeling very cross. + +Sachúlí went home to his mother, who, as soon as she saw him coming, +ran out and put the woman's body back in the well, and when he got +home she beat him. "Mother," said he, "give me some bread, and I will +go away and die." His mother cooked him some bread, and he went away. + +He walked on, and on, and on, a long way. + +Now, some Rájá's ten camels had been travelling along the road on +which Sachúlí went, each carrying sacks of gold mohurs and rupees, and +one of these camels broke loose from the string and strayed away, and +the camel-drivers could not find it again. But Sachúlí met it, and +caught it and took it home. + +"See, mother! see what a quantity of money I have brought you!" cried +Sachúlí. Hungní rushed out, and was delighted to see so much money. +She took off the sacks at once and sent the camel away. Then she hid +the rupees and the gold with the jewels she had taken from the dead +woman. And, as she was a cunning woman, she went and bought a great +many comfits and scattered them all about her house, when Sachúlí was +out of the way. "Oh, look! look!" cried Sachúlí, "at all these +comfits." "God has rained them from heaven," said his mother. Sachúlí +began to pick them up and eat them, and he told all the people in the +village how God had rained down comfits from heaven on his mother's +house. "What nonsense!" cried they. "Yes, he has," said Sachúlí, "and +I have been eating them." "No comfits have fallen on our houses," said +they. "Yes, yes," cried he, "the day my mother got all those rupees, +God rained comfits on our house." "What lies!" cried the people; "as +if it ever rained comfits. Why did not the comfits rain down on our +houses? Why did they fall only on your house? And what's all this +about rupees?" And then they came to see if there were any rupees or +comfits in Hungní's house, and they found none at all, for Hungní had +hidden the rupees and thrown away the comfits. "There," said they to +Sachúlí, "where are your rupees? where are your comfits? What a liar +you are! as if it ever rained comfits. How can you tell such stories?" +And they beat him. "But it did rain comfits," said Sachúlí, "for I ate +them. It rained comfits the day my mother got the rupees." + +Now the Rájá who had lost his camel sent round the crier with his drum +to find his camel and his money-bags. "Whoever has found a camel +carrying money-bags and brings it and the money back to the Rájá, will +get a great many rupees," cried the crier. "Oh!" says Sachúlí, "I know +where the money is. One day I went out and I found a stray camel, and +he had sacks of rupees on his back, and I took him home to my mother, +and she took the sacks off his back and sent the camel away." So the +crier went to find the rupees, and the people in the bazar went with +him. But Hungní had hidden the rupees so carefully that, though they +hunted all over her house, they could find none, and they beat +Sachúlí, and told him he was a liar. "I am not telling lies," said +Sachúlí. "My mother took the rupees the day it rained comfits on our +house." So they beat him again, and they went away. Then Hungní beat +Sachúlí, and said, "What a bad boy you are! trying to get me beaten +and put into prison, telling every one about the rupees. Go away; I +don't want you any more, such a bad boy as you are! go away and die." +He said, "Very well, mother; give me some bread, and I'll go." + +Sachúlí set off and took an axe with him. "How shall I kill myself?" +said he. So he climbed up a tree and sat out on a long branch, and +began cutting off the branch between himself and the tree on which he +was sitting. "What are you doing up there?" said a man who came by. +"You'll die if you cut that branch off." "What do you say?" cries +Sachúlí, jumping down on the man, and seizing his hand. "When shall I +die?" "How can I tell? Let me go." "I won't let you go till you tell +me when I shall die." And at last the man said, "When you find a +scarlet thread on your jacket, then you will die." + +Sachúlí went off to the bazar, and sat down by some tailors, and one +of the tailors, in throwing away their shreds of cloth, threw a +scarlet thread on Sachúlí's coat. "Oh," said Sachúlí, when he saw the +thread, "now I shall die!" "How do you know that?" said the tailors. +"A man told me that when I found a scarlet thread on my jacket, I +should die," said Sachúlí; and the tailors all laughed at him and made +fun of him, but he went off into the jungle and dug his grave with his +axe, and lay down in it. In the night a sepoy came by with a large jar +of ghee on his head. "How heavy this jar is," said the sepoy. "Is +there no cooly that will come and carry my ghee home for me? I would +give him four pice for his trouble." Up jumped Sachúlí out of his +grave. "I'll carry it for you," said he. "Who are you?" said the +sepoy, much frightened. "Oh, I am a man who is dead," said Sachúlí, +"and I am tired of lying here. I can't lie here any more." "Well," +said the sepoy, very much frightened, "you may carry my ghee." So +Sachúlí put the jar on his head, and he went on, with the sepoy +following. "Now," said Sachúlí, "with these four pice I will buy a +hen, and I will sell the hen and her eggs, and with the money I get +for them I will buy a goat; and then I will sell the goat and her milk +and her hide and buy a cow, and I will sell her milk; and then I will +marry a wife, and then I shall have some children, and they will say +to me, 'Father, will you have some rice?' and I will say, 'No, I won't +have any rice.'" And as he said, "No, I won't have any rice," he shook +his head, and down came the jar of ghee, and the jar was smashed, and +the ghee spilled. "Oh, dear! what have you done?" cried the sepoy. +"Why did you shake your head?" "Because my children asked me to have +some rice, and I did not want any, so I shook my head," said Sachúlí. +"Oh," said the sepoy, "he is an utter idiot." And the sepoy went home, +and Sachúlí went back to his mother. "Why have you come back?" said +she. "I have been dead twelve years," said Sachúlí. "What lies you +tell!" said she. "You have only been away a few days. Be off! I don't +want any liars here." + +Sachúlí asked her to give him two flour-cakes, which she did, and he +went off to the jungle, and it was night. Five fairies lived in this +jungle, and as Sachúlí went along, he broke his flour-cakes into five +pieces, and said, "Now I'll eat one, then the second, then the third, +then the fourth, and then the fifth." And the fairies heard him and +were afraid, and said to each other, "What shall we do? Here is this +man, and he is going to eat us all up. What shall we do to save +ourselves? We will give him something." So they went out all five, and +said to Sachúlí, "If only you won't eat us, we will give you a +present." Now Sachúlí did not know there were fairies in this jungle. +"What will you give me?" said Sachúlí. "We will give you a +cooking-pot. When you want anything to eat, all you have to do is to +ask the pot for it, and you will get it." Sachúlí took the pot and +went off to the bazar. He stopped at a cook-shop, and asked for some +pilau. "Pilau? There's no pilau here," said the shopman. "Well," said +Sachúlí, "I have a cooking-pot here, and I have only to ask it for any +dish I want, and I get it at once." "What nonsense!" said the man. +"Just see," said Sachúlí; and he said to the cooking-pot, "I want some +pilau," and immediately the pot was full of pilau, and all the people +in the shop set to work to help him to eat it up, it was so good. +"Oh," thought the cook, "I must have that pot," so he gave Sachúlí a +sleepy drink. Then Sachúlí went to sleep, and while he slept the cook +stole the fairy cooking-pot, and put a common cooking-pot in its +place. Sachúlí went home with the cook's pot, and said, "Mother, I +have brought home a cooking-pot. If you ask it for any food you want, +you will get it." "Nonsense," said Hungní; "what lies you are +telling!" "It is quite true, mother; only see," and he asked the pot +for different dishes, but none came. Hungní was furious. "Go away," +she said. "Why do you come back to me? I want no liars here." "Give me +five flour-cakes and I will go," said her son. So she baked the bread +for him, and he set off for the jungle where he had met the five +fairies, and as he went along he said, "I will eat one, and I will eat +two, and I will eat three, and I will eat four, and I will eat five." +The five fairies heard him, and were terrified. "Here is this bad man +again," said they, "and he will eat us all five. Oh, what shall we do? +Let us give him a present." So they went to Sachúlí, and said, "Here +is a box for you. Whenever you want any clothes you have only to tell +this box, and it will give them to you; take it, and don't eat us." So +he took the box and went to the bazar, and he stopped at the cook-shop +again, and asked the cook for a red silk dress, and a pair of long +black silk trousers, and a blue silk turban, and a pair of red shoes, +and the cook laughed and asked how he should have such beautiful +things. "Well," said Sachúlí, "here is a box; when I ask it for the +dress and trousers, and turban and shoes, I shall get them." So the +cook laughed at him. "Just see," said Sachúlí, and he said, "Box, give +me a red silk dress and a pair of long black silk trousers, and a blue +silk turban, and red shoes," and there they were at once. And the cook +was delighted, and said to himself, "I will have that box," and he +gave Sachúlí a good dinner and a sleepy drink, and Sachúlí fell fast +asleep. While he slept the cook came and stole the fairy box, and put +a common box in its place. In the morning Sachúlí went home to his +mother and said, "Mother, I've brought you a box. You have only to ask +it for any clothes you may want, and you will get them." "Nonsense," +said his mother, "don't tell me such lies." "Only see, mother; I am +telling you truth," said he. He asked the box for coats and all sorts +of things--no; he got nothing. His mother was very angry, and said, +"You liar! you naughty boy! Go away and don't come back any more." And +she broke the box to pieces, and threw the bits away. "Well, mother, +bake me some flour-cakes." So she baked him the cakes and gave them to +him, and sent him away. He went off to the fairies' jungle, and as he +went he said, "Now I'll eat one, then two, then three, then four, then +five." The five fairies were very frightened. "Here is this man come +back to eat us all five. Let us give him a present." So they went to +him and gave him a rope and stick, and said, "Only say to this rope, +'Bind that man,' and he will be tied up at once; and to this stick, +'Beat that man,' and the stick will beat him." Sachúlí was very glad +to get these things, for he guessed what had happened to his +cooking-pot and box. So he went to the bazar, and at the cook-shop he +said, "Rope, bind all these men that are here!" and the cook and every +one in the shop were tied up instantly. Then Sachúlí said, "Stick, +beat these men!" and the stick began to beat them. "Oh, stop, stop +beating us, and untie, and I'll give you your pot and your box!" cried +the cook. "No, I won't stop beating you, and I won't untie you till I +have my pot and my box." And the cook gave them both to him, and he +untied the rope. Then Sachúlí went home, and when his mother saw him, +she was very angry, but he showed her the box and the cooking-pot, and +she saw he had told her the truth. So she sent for the doctor, and he +declared Sachúlí was wise and not silly, and he and Hungní found a +wife for Sachúlí, and made a grand wedding for him, and they lived +happily ever after. + + Told by Dunkní. + + + + +[Decoration] + +VIII. + +BARBER HÍM AND THE TIGERS. + + +Once there lived a barber called Hím, who was very poor indeed. He had +a wife and twelve children, five boys and seven girls: now and then he +got a few pice. One day he went away from his home feeling very cross, +and left his wife and children to get on as best they could. "What can +I do?" said he. "I have not enough money to buy food for my family, +and they are crying for it." And so he walked on till he came to a +jungle. It was night when he got there. This jungle was called the +"tigers' jungle," because only tigers lived in it; no birds, no +insects, no other animals, and there were four hundred tigers in it +altogether. As soon as Barber Hím reached the jungle he saw a great +tiger walking about. "What shall I do?" cried he. "This tiger is sure +to eat me." And he took his razor and his razor-strap, and began to +sharpen his razor. Then he went close up to the tiger, still +sharpening his razor. The tiger was much frightened. "What shall I +do?" said the tiger; "this man will certainly gash me." "I have come," +said the barber, "to catch twenty tigers by order of Mahárájá Káns. +You are one, and I want nineteen more." The tiger, greatly alarmed, +answered, "If you won't catch us, I will give you as much gold and as +many jewels as you can carry." For these tigers used to go out and +carry off the men and women from the villages, and some of these +people had rupees, and some had jewels, all of which the tigers used +to collect together. "Good," said Hím, "then I won't catch you." The +tiger led him to the spot where all the tigers used to eat their +dinners, and the barber took as much gold and as many jewels as he +could carry, and set off home with them. + +Then he built a house, and bought his children pretty clothes and good +food, and necklaces, and they all lived very happily for some time. +But at last he wanted more rupees, so he set off to the tigers' +jungle. There he met the tiger as he did before, and he told him the +Mahárájá Káns had sent him to catch twenty tigers. The tiger was +terrified and said, "If you will only not catch us, I will give you +more gold and jewels." To this the barber agreed, and the tiger led +him to the old spot, and the barber took as many jewels and rupees as +he could carry. Then he returned home. + +One day a very poor man, a fakír, said to him, "How did you manage to +become so rich? In old days you were so poor you could hardly support +your family." + +"I will tell you," said Hím. And he told him all about his visits to +the tigers' jungle. "But don't you go there for gold to-night," +continued the barber. "Let me go and listen to the tigers talking. If +you like, you can come with me. Only you must not be frightened if the +tigers roar." + +"I'll not be frightened," said the fakír. + +So that evening at eight o'clock they went to the tigers' jungle. +There the barber and the fakír climbed into a tall thick tree, and its +leaves came all about them and sheltered them as if they were in a +house. The tigers used to hold their councils under this tree. Very +soon all the tigers in the jungle assembled together under it, and +their Rájá--a great, huge beast, with only one eye--came too. +"Brothers," said the tiger who had given the barber the rupees and +jewels, "a man has come here twice to catch twenty of us for the +Mahárájá Káns; now we are only four hundred in number, and if twenty +of us were taken away we should be only a small number, so I gave him +each time as many rupees and jewels as he could carry and he went away +again. What shall we do if he returns?" The tigers said they would +meet again on the morrow, and then they would settle the matter. Then +the tigers went off, and the barber and the fakír came down from the +tree. They took a quantity of rupees and jewels and returned to their +homes. + +"To-morrow," said they, "we will come again and hear what the tigers +say." + +The next day the barber went alone to the tigers' jungle, and there he +met his tiger again. "This time," said he, "I am come to cut off the +ears of all the four hundred tigers who live in this jungle; for +Mahárájá Káns wants them to make into medicine." + +The tiger was greatly frightened, much more so than at the other +times. "Don't cut off our ears; pray don't," said he, "for then we +could not hear, and it would hurt so horribly. Go and cut off all the +dogs' ears instead, and I will give you rupees and jewels as much as +two men can carry." "Good," said the barber, and he made two journeys +with the rupees and jewels from the jungle to the borders of his +village, and there he got a cooly to help him to carry them to his +house. + +At night he and the fakír went again to the great tree under which the +tigers held their councils. Now the tiger who had given the barber so +many rupees and jewels had made ready a great quantity of meat, fowls, +chickens, geese, men the tigers had killed--everything he had been +able to get hold of--and he made them into a heap under the tree, for +he said that after the tigers had settled the matter they would dine. +Soon the tigers arrived with their Rájá, and the barber's tiger said, +"Brothers, what are we to do? This man came again to-day to cut off +all our ears to make medicine for Mahárájá Káns. I told him this +would be a bad business for us, and that he must go and cut off all +the dogs' ears instead; and I gave him as much money and jewels as two +men could carry. So he went home. Now what shall we do? We must leave +this jungle, and where shall we go?" The other tigers said, "We will +not leave the jungle. If this man comes again we will eat him up." So +they dined and went away, saying they would meet again to-morrow. + +After the tigers had gone, the barber and fakír came down from the +tree and went off to their homes, without taking any rupees or jewels +with them. They agreed to return the next evening. + +Next evening back they came and climbed into the great tree. The +tigers came too, and the barber's tiger told his story all over again. +The tiger Rájá sat up and said, fiercely, "We will not leave this +jungle. Should the man come again, I will eat him myself." When the +fakír heard this he was so frightened that he tumbled down out of the +tree into the midst of the tigers. The barber instantly cried out with +a loud voice, "Now cut off their ears! cut off their ears!" and the +tigers, terrified, ran away as fast as they could. Then the barber +took the fakír home, but the poor man was so much hurt by his fall +that he died. + +The barber lived happily ever after, but he took good care never to go +to the tigers' jungle again. + + Told by Dunkní. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +IX. + +THE BULBUL AND THE COTTON-TREE. + + +There was once a bulbul, and one day as he was flying about, he saw a +tree on which was a little fruit. The bulbul was much pleased and +said, "I will sit here till this fruit is ripe, and then I will eat +it." So he deserted his nest and his wife, and sat there for twelve +years without eating anything, and every day he said, "To-morrow I +will eat this fruit." During these twelve years a great many birds +tried to sit on the tree, and wished to build their nests in it, but +whenever they came the bulbul sent them away, saying, "This fruit is +not good. Don't come here." One day a cuckoo came and said, "Why do +you send us away? Why should we not come and sit here too? All the +trees here are not yours." "Never mind," said the bulbul, "I am going +to sit here, and when this fruit is ripe, I shall eat it." Now the +cuckoo knew that this tree was the cotton-tree, but the bulbul did +not. First comes the bud, which the bulbul thought a fruit, then the +flower, and the flower becomes a big pod, and the pod bursts and all +the cotton flies away. The bulbul was delighted when he saw the +beautiful red flower, which he still thought a fruit, and said, "When +it is ripe, it will be a delicious fruit." The flower became a pod, +and the pod burst. "What is all this that is flying about?" said the +bulbul. "The fruit must be ripe now." So he looked into the pod, and +it was empty; all the cotton had fallen out. Then the cuckoo came and +said to the angry bulbul, "You see if you had allowed us to come and +sit on the tree, you would have had something good to eat; but as you +were selfish, and would not let any one share with you, God is angry +and has punished you by giving you a hollow fruit." Then the cuckoo +called all the other birds, and they came and mocked the bulbul. "Ah! +you see God has punished you for your selfishness," they said. The +bulbul got very angry and all the birds went away. After they had +gone, the bulbul said to the tree, "You are a bad tree. You are of use +to no one. You give food to no one." The tree said, "You are mistaken. +God made me what I am. My flower is given to sheep to eat. My cotton +makes pillows and mattresses for man." + +Since that day no bulbul goes near a cotton-tree. + + Told by Dunkní. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +X. + +THE MONKEY PRINCE. + + +Once upon a time there was a Rájá called Jabhú Rájá, and he had a +great many wives; at least he had seven wives, but he had no children. +Although he had married seven wives, not one of them had given him a +child. At this he was greatly vexed and said, "I have married seven +wives, and not one of them has given me a child." And he got very +angry with God: he said, "Why does not God give me any children? I +will go into the jungle and die by myself." The Ránís coaxed him to +stay, but he wouldn't; he would go out into the jungle. + +So he went out into the jungle very far, and God sent him an old fakír +leaning on a stick. The Rájá met him, and the fakír said, "Why do you +come into the jungle? If you go far into the jungle you will meet +plenty of tigers, and they will eat you. Tell me what you want. +Whatever you want I will give you." "No, I won't tell you," said the +Rájá. But at last the Rájá told him, "I have seven wives, and none of +them has given me any children, and so here I will die by myself." +Then the fakír said, "Take this stick, and a little way off you will +find a mango-tree with some mangoes on it. Throw the stick at the +mangoes with one hand, and catch them as they fall with the other, and +when you have caught them all, take them home and give one to each of +your seven wives." So the Rájá went and knocked the mangoes off the +tree and caught them as the fakír had told him. Then he looked about +for the fakír, but he could not find him, for he had gone away into +another part of the jungle. So he went home and gave the seven mangoes +to his wives. But the fruit was so good that six of the wives ate it +up, and would not give the youngest wife any. She cried very much, and +went into the compound and picked up one of the mango stones which one +of the six wives had thrown away, and ate it. By and by each of the +six wives had a son; but the one who had eaten the stone had a monkey, +who was called in consequence Bandarsábásá, or Prince Monkey. He was +really a boy, but no one knew it, for he had a monkey-skin covering +him. His six brothers hated him. They went to school every day; and +the monkey went under the ground, and was taught by the fairies. His +mother did not know this; she thought, as he was a monkey, he went to +the jungle and swung in the trees. He was the best and the cleverest +of all the boys. + +Now, in a kingdom a three months' journey off by land from Jabhú +Rájá's country, there lived a king called King Jamársá. He had a very +beautiful daughter whose name was Princess Jahúran, and as her father +wanted a very strong son-in-law, he had a large heavy iron ball made, +and he sent letters to all the Rájás and Rájás' sons far and near to +say that whoever wished to marry his daughter, the Princess Jahúran, +must be able to throw this heavy ball at her and hit her. So many +Rájás went to try, but none of them could even lift the ball. Now, one +of these letters had come to Jabhú Rájá, and his six elder sons +determined they would go to King Jamársá's country, for each of them +was sure he could throw the ball, and win the princess. + +Prince Monkey laughed softly and said to himself, "I will go and try +too. I know I shall succeed." + +Off, therefore, the six brothers set on their long journey, and the +monkey followed them; but before he did so, he went into the jungle +and took off his monkey-skin, and God sent him a beautiful horse and +beautiful clothes. Then he followed his brothers and overtook them, +and gave them betel-leaf and lovely flowers. "What a beautiful boy!" +they said. "Who is it owns such a beautiful boy? He must be some +Rájá's son." Then he galloped quickly away, took off his grand clothes +and put them on his horse, and the horse rose into the air. He put on +his monkey-skin and followed his brothers. + +When they reached King Jamársá's palace they pitched their tents in +his compound, which was very big. Every evening the princess used to +stand in her verandah and let down her long golden hair so that it +fell all round her, and then the Rájás who wished to marry her had to +try to hit her with the great heavy ball that lay on the ground just +in front of where she stood. + +King Jamársá's house had more than one storey, and you had to go +upstairs to get to the Princess Jahúran's rooms which led into the +verandah in which she used to stand. + +Well, Prince Monkey's six elder brothers all got ready to go up to the +palace and throw the ball. They were quite sure they would throw it +without any trouble. Before they went they told their monkey brother +to take care of their tents, and to have a good dinner ready for them +when they returned. "If the dinner is not ready, we will beat you." + +As soon as they were gone, Prince Monkey took some gold mohurs he had, +and he went to a traveller's resting-house, which was a little way +outside King Jamársá's compound, and gave them to the man who owned +it, and bade him give him a grand dinner for his six brothers. Then he +took the dinner to the tents, went into the jungle, and took off his +monkey-skin. And God sent him a grand horse from heaven, and splendid +clothes. These he put on, mounted his horse, and rode to King +Jamársá's compound. There he took no notice of either the king, or +his daughter, or of the ball, or of the Rájás who were there to try +and lift it. He spoke only to his brothers, and gave them lovely +flowers and betel-leaf. Meanwhile, everybody was looking at him and +talking about him. "Who can he be? Did you ever see any one so lovely? +Where does he come from? Just look at his clothes! In our countries we +cannot get any like them!" As for the Princess Jahúran she thought to +herself, "That Rájá shall be my husband, whether he lifts the ball or +not." When he had given his brothers the flowers and betel-leaf, +Prince Monkey rode straight to the jungle, took off his clothes, laid +them on his horse (which instantly went up to heaven), put on his +monkey-skin, went back to the tents, and lay down to sleep. + +When his brothers came home they were talking eagerly about the +unknown beautiful Rájá. All the time they were eating their dinner +they could speak of nothing else. + +Well, every evening for about ten evenings it was just the same story. +Only every evening Prince Monkey appeared in a different dress. The +princess always thought, "That is the man I will marry, whether he can +throw the ball or not." Then about the eleventh evening, after he had +given his brothers the flowers and betel-leaf, he said to all the +Rájás who were standing there, and to King Jamársá and to all the +servants, "Now every one of you go and stand far away, for I am going +to throw the ball." "No, no!" they all cried, "we will stand here and +see you." "You must go far away. You can look on at a distance," said +the Monkey Prince; "the ball might fall back among you and hurt you." +So they all went off and stood round him at a distance. + +"Now," said Prince Monkey to himself, "I won't hit the princess this +time; but I will hit the verandah railing." Then he took up the ball +with one hand, just as if it were quite light, and threw it on the +verandah railing, and then he rode off fast to the jungle. + +The next evening it was the same thing over again, only this time he +threw the ball into the Princess Jahúran's clothes. + +The next evening the ball fell on one of her feet, and hurt her little +toe-nail. Now, Princess Jahúran was very angry that this unknown +beautiful prince should have thrown the ball three times, and hit her +twice, and hurt her the third time, and yet had never spoken to her +father, or let any one know who he was, and had always, on the +contrary, ridden away as hard as he could, no one knew where. She was +very much in love with him, and was very anxious to find this Rájá who +had hit her twice, so she ordered a bow and arrow to be brought to +her, and said she would shoot the Rájá the next time he hit her. She +would not kill him; she would only shoot the arrow at him. Well, the +next evening Prince Monkey threw the ball, and it fell on her other +foot and hurt her great toe-nail. When he saw she was hurt, he was +very sorry in his heart, and said, "Did I hurt you?" "Yes," she said, +"very much." "Oh, I am so sorry," said the prince. "I would not have +thrown the ball so hard had I thought it would hurt you." Then she +shot the arrow, and hit him in the leg, and a great deal of blood came +out of the wound; but he rode hard away to the jungle all the same, +only this time he did not take off his fine clothes, but he drew the +monkey-skin over them, and his horse went up to heaven, and he went +back to the tents. Then the princess sent a servant into the town, and +said, whoever or whatever he should hear crying with pain, he should +bring to her--were it a man, or a jackal, or a dog, or a wild beast. +So the servant went round the town. The six brothers had gone to +sleep, but the poor monkey brother could not sleep, but sat up crying +from pain. He could not help it, do what he would, and the servant, as +he went round the town, heard him crying. So he took him and brought +him to the princess, and the princess said she would marry him. + +"What!" cried her father, "marry that monkey? Never! Who ever heard +of any one marrying a monkey, a nasty monkey?" But in spite of all the +king said, the princess declared marry that monkey she would. "I like +that monkey very, very much," she said. "I will marry him. It is my +pleasure to marry him." "Well," said the Rájá at last, "if it is your +pleasure to marry him, you must marry him; but who ever heard of any +one marrying a nasty monkey?" + +So they were married at once; and the Monkey Prince wore his +monkey-skin for a wedding garment. + +That night when they went to bed, the young prince drew off his skin +and lay down by Jahúran, and when she saw her beautiful husband she +was so glad, so glad. "Why do you wear a monkey-skin?" she asked. He +answered, "I wear it as a protection, because my brothers are naughty, +and would kill me if they knew what I really am." + +They lived very happily with King Jamársá for six months, and the six +elder brothers went on living there too, and hating him more and more +for having such a beautiful wife. + +But one night Prince Monkey thought of his mother, and he said to his +wife, "My mother perhaps is crying for me. Let us go to my father's +kingdom, and see her." Princess Jahúran agreed; so next morning they +spoke to King Jamársá, who said they might go. + +The six brothers at once said, "We will go with you;" and they also +said, "Let us get two big boats, one for you and the princess, and one +for ourselves, and let us go by water, and not by land." Now by water +it took only six days to get to Jabhú Rájá's kingdom, by land it took +three months. The Monkey Prince agreed to all his brothers said. + +Princess Jahúran heard them planning to throw the monkey into the +water on the journey, and then to take her home to their father as the +wife of one of them; so as she was very wise she went to her father +and begged him to have six large beautiful mattresses, well stuffed +with cotton, made for her. + +"What can you want with six mattresses?" said the king. "I want my +bed to be very comfortable on board the boat," said his daughter. Her +father loved her dearly, so he had her mattresses made, beautiful +mattresses and well stuffed with cotton. The princess had them all +carried to her boat. + +When everything was ready they went on board the boats with the +monkey's six brothers. Now, the princess had warned her husband of his +brothers' wicked plans, and she said to him, "Never go near your +brothers; never speak to your brothers; for they want to kill you." +The first day the six brothers said to the monkey, "Please bring us a +little salt." But the monkey said, "No; my wife will take you some." +"No," said the brothers, "your wife cannot bring us any. She is a +princess. Do you bring us some." So they threw a rope from one boat to +another, and the monkey went on the rope, and the brothers untied it, +and the monkey fell into the water. Then the princess cried out, "My +husband will be drowned! My husband will be drowned!" And she threw +out one of the mattresses; the monkey sat on it; it floated back to +his boat, and the crew drew him up. + +The next day the six brothers begged Prince Monkey to bring them +water, and they threw a plank from their boat to his for him to cross +on. The prince set off with the water, in spite of all his wife's +entreaties, and his brothers tilted the plank into the water. The +prince would have been drowned had not the Princess Jahúran thrown him +a mattress. And the same thing happened during the next four days. The +brothers wanted something to eat or drink, and their monkey-brother +brought it them across a rope or plank, which they cut or dropped into +the water, and he would have died but for the mattresses which his +wife threw to him one by one. + +When they reached Jabhú Rájá's kingdom, the eldest son went on shore +up to his father's palace. Each of the Rájá's seven wives had a house +to herself in his compound. He went to his mother's house and said, +"Give me your palanquin, mother, for I have brought home a most lovely +wife, and want to bring her to the palace." + +At this news his mother was delighted, and she told it to the other +Ránís, and said, "My son has brought home such a lovely wife! I am so +glad! oh, I am so glad!" The youngest Rání began to cry bitterly. "My +son," she said, "is nothing but a monkey; he will never be married; he +will never have a wife at all." + +Then the palanquin was got ready, and the seven Ránís and the prince +went with it to the boat. The Princess Jahúran came on land with her +monkey, and when the Ránís saw her, they all cried, "How lovely she +is! how beautiful!" And the eldest Rání was gladder than ever, and the +youngest cried still more. The princess got into the palanquin with +her monkey. "What are you doing with that horrid monkey?" said the +eldest prince. "Put him out of the palanquin directly." "Indeed I will +not," said the princess. "He is my husband, and I love him." "What!" +cried all the Ránís, "are you married to that monkey?" "Yes," said the +princess. "Then get out of my palanquin at once," said the eldest +Rání. "You shall not ride in my palanquin with that nasty monkey." The +youngest Rání was very glad her son had such a beautiful wife. So the +princess got out, and took her monkey in her arms and walked with him +to the youngest Rání's house, and there they all lived for some time. +Now the little Rání did not know her son was really a beautiful man, +for the princess never told her, as her husband had forbidden her to +tell any one. + +One evening Jabhú Rájá's servants had a grand nautch in the Rájá's +compound, and the Rájá and his sons and the neighbouring Rájás all +came to see it. Prince Monkey said to his wife, "I, too, will go and +see this nautch." So he took off his monkey-skin, folded it up and +laid it under her pillow. Then he put on the clothes God had sent him +from heaven the last time he threw the ball, and which he had not +laid on his horse's back when he put his monkey-skin on again, and +when he came among all the Rájás and people who were looking on at the +nautch, they all exclaimed, "Who is that? Who can it be?" He was very +handsome, and he had beautiful hair all gold. When he had stayed some +time, Prince Monkey went quickly back to his wife, and in the morning +he put on his monkey-skin again. + +Now the little Rání, his mother, though she was very glad her monkey +son had such a wife, could never understand how it was that her +daughter-in-law was so happy with him. "How could you marry him?" she +used to say to her. "Because it pleased me to marry him," the princess +used to answer. "How can you be so happy with him?" said the mother. +"I love him," said the princess; and the poor Rání used to wonder at +this more and more. + +Well, one day there was another nautch, and Prince Monkey went to it; +but he left his skin under his wife's pillow. As soon as he had gone, +she called the little Rání, and said, "See, you think my husband is a +monkey; he is no monkey, but a very handsome man. There is no one like +him, he is so beautiful." The Rání did not believe her. Then the +princess took the skin from under her pillow. "See," she said, "when +your son puts this on, then he is a monkey; when he takes it off he is +a beautiful man. And now, I think I will burn this skin, and then he +must always be a man. What do you say?" "Are you sure it won't hurt +him if you burn his skin?" said his mother. "Perhaps he may die if it +is burnt." "Oh, no, he won't die," said the princess. "Shall I burn +it?" "Burn it," said the little Rání. Then the princess threw the skin +on the fire and burnt it quite up. + +Prince Monkey was sitting looking on at the nautch when suddenly his +heart told him his wife had burnt his skin. He jumped up directly and +went home, and when he found his heart had told him true, he was so +angry with his wife, that he would say nothing to her but "Why did you +burn my skin?" and he was in such a rage that he went straight to bed +and went to sleep. + +In the morning, while he slept, the princess went to the little Rání, +and said, "Come and see your beautiful son." "I am ashamed to do so," +said the Rání. "Ashamed to look at your own son? What nonsense! Come +directly," said Princess Jahúran. Then the little Rání went with her, +and when she saw her beautiful son she was indeed glad, and the prince +opened his eyes and saw her, and then he kissed her, and they were +very happy. + +The news spread through the compound, and Jabhú Rájá and his sons and +everybody came at once to see if it were true. When they saw the +beautiful young prince, with his hair all gold, they could not stand, +but fell down. Prince Monkey lifted his father and loved him, and put +his arms round him, and said, "I am your son, your own son; you must +not fall down before me." "Why did you wear that monkey-skin?" asked +his father. "Because," he said, "my mother ate the mango stone instead +of eating the mango, and so I was born with this skin, and God ordered +me to wear it till I had found a wife." His brothers said, "Who could +have guessed there was such a beautiful man inside that monkey-skin? +God's decrees are good!" And they left off hating their brother, +Prince Monkey. + +There were great rejoicings and feasts now, and all were very happy. +The six elder brothers lived always with their father and Prince +Monkey, but none of them ever married. + + Told by Dunkní. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XI. + +BRAVE HÍRÁLÁLBÁSÁ. + + +Once there was a Rájá called Mánikbásá Rájá, or the Ruby King, who had +seven wives and seven children. One day he told his wives he would go +out hunting, and he rode on and on, a long, long way from his palace. +A Rakshas was sitting by the wayside, who, seeing the Rájá coming, +quickly turned herself into a beautiful Rání, and sat there crying. +The Rájá asked her, "Why do you cry?" And the Rakshas answered, "My +husband has gone away. He has been away many days, and I think he will +never come back again. If some Rájá will take me to his house and +marry me, I shall be very glad." So the Rájá said, "Will you come with +me?" And the Rakshas answered, "Very well, I will come." And then the +Rájá took the pretended Rání home with him and married her. He gave +her a room to live in. Every night at twelve o'clock the Rakshas got +up and devoured an elephant, or a horse, or some other animal. The +Rájá said, "What can become of my elephants and horses? Every day +either an elephant or a horse disappears. Who can take them away?" The +Rakshas-Rání said to him, "Your seven Ránís are Rakshases, and every +night at twelve o'clock they devour a horse, or an elephant, or some +other creature." + +So the Rájá believed her, and had a great hole dug just outside his +kingdom, into which he put the seven Ránís with their children, and +then he sent a sepoy to them and bade him take out all the Ránís' +eyes, and bring them to him. This the sepoy did. After a time the +poor Ránís grew so hungry that six of them ate their children, but the +seventh Rání, who was the youngest of them all, declared she would +never eat her child though she might die of hunger, "for," she said, +"I love him a great deal too much." God was very pleased with the +seventh Rání for this, and so every day he sent her a little food, +which she divided with the other Ránís. And every day her little boy +grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until he had become a strong lad, +when, as he thought it was very dark in the hole, he climbed out of it +and looked all about. Then he came back to his mothers (for he called +all the seven Ránís "Mother" now), who told him he was not to clamber +up out of the hole any more, for if he did, some one might kill him. +"Still, if you will go," they added, "do not go to your father's +kingdom, but stay near this place." The boy said, "Very well," and +every day he climbed out of the hole and only went where his seven +mothers told him he might go, and he used to beg the people about to +give him a little rice, and flour and bread, which they did. + +One day he said to his mothers, "If you let me go now to my father's +kingdom, I will go." "Well, you may go," they said; "but come back +again soon." This he promised to do, and he went to his father's +kingdom. For some time he stood daily at the door of his father's +palace and then returned to the hole. One day the Rakshas-Rání was +standing in the verandah, and she thought, "I am sure that is the +Rájá's son." The servants every day asked the boy, "Why do you always +stand at the door of the palace?" "I want service with the Rájá," he +would reply. "If the Rájá has any place he can give me, I will take +it." + +The Rakshas-Rání said to the Rájá, "The boy standing out there wants +service. May I take him into mine?" The Rájá answered, "Very well, +send for him." So all the servants ran and fetched the boy. The +Rakshas-Rání asked him, "Are you willing to do anything I tell you?" +The boy said, "Yes." "Then you shall be my servant," she said, and +first she told him he must go to the Rakshas country to fetch some +rose-water for her. "I will give you a letter," she said, "so that no +harm may happen to you." The lad answered, "Very well, only you must +give me three shields full of money." She gave him the three shields +full of money, and he took them and went home to his mothers. Then he +got two servants for them, one to take care of them, and one to go to +the bazar. His mothers gave him food for the journey, and he left them +the remainder of his money, telling them to take great care of it. He +then returned to the Rakshas-Rání for his letter. She told the Rájá +she was feeling ill, and would not be quite well until she got some +rose-water from the Rakshas country. The Rájá said, "Then you had +better send this boy for it." So she gave him a letter, in which she +had written, "When this boy arrives among you, kill him and eat him +instantly," and he set out at once. + +He went on and on till he came to a great river in which lived a huge +water-snake. When the water-snake saw him it began to weep very much, +and cried out to the boy, "If you go to the Rakshas country you will +be eaten up." The lad, whose name was Hírálálbásá, said, "I cannot +help it; I am the Rání's servant, so I must do what she tells me." +"Well," said the water-snake, "get on my back, and I will take you +across this river." So he got on the water-snake's back, and it took +him over the river. Then Hírálálbásá went on and on until he came to a +house in which a Rakshas lived. A Rání lived there too that the +Rakshas had carried off from her father and mother when she was a +little girl. She was playing in her father the Sondarbásá Rájá's +garden, which was full of delicious fruits, which the Rakshas came to +eat, and when he saw Sonahrí Rání he seized her in his mouth and ran +off with her. Only she was so beautiful he could never find it in his +heart to eat her, but brought her up as his own child. Her name was +Sonahrí Rání, that is, the Golden Rání, because her teeth and her hair +were made of gold. Now the Rakshas who had carried her off, and whom +she called Papa, had a great thick stick, and when he laid this stick +at her feet she could not stir, but when he laid it at her head, she +could move again. + +When the Rájá's son came up, Sonahrí Rání was lying on her bed with +the thick stick at her feet, and as soon as she saw the Rájá's son she +began to cry very much. "Oh, why have you come here? You will surely +be killed," she said. The Rájá's son answered, "I cannot help that. I +am the Rání's servant, so I must do what she tells me." "Of course," +said Sonahrí Rání; "but put this stick at my head, and then I shall be +able to move." The Rájá's son laid the stick at her head, and she got +up and gave him some food, and then asked him if he had a letter. +"Yes," he answered. "Let me see it," said the Sonahrí Rání. So he gave +her the letter, and when she had read it she cried, "Oh, this is a +very wicked letter. It will bring you no good; for if the Rakshases +see it, they will kill you." "Indeed," said Hírálálbásá. And the +Sonahrí Rání tore up the letter and wrote another in which she said, +"Make much of this boy. Send him home quickly, and give him a jug of +rose-water to bring back with him, and see that he gets no hurt." Then +the Rájá's son set out again for the Rakshas-Rání's mother's house. He +had not gone very far when he met a very big Rakshas, and he cried out +to him, "Uncle." "Who is this boy," said the Rakshas, "who calls me +uncle?" And he was just going to kill him when Hírálálbásá showed his +letter, and the Rakshas let him pass on. He went a little further +until he met another Rakshas, bigger than the first, and the Rakshas +screamed at him and was just going to fall on him and kill him, but +the Rájá's son showed the letter, and the Rakshas let him pass +unhurt. When Hírálálbásá came to the Rakshas-Rání's mother he showed +her the letter, and she gave him the rose-water at once and sent him +off. All the Rakshases were very good to him, and some carried him +part of the way home. When he came to Sonahrí Rání's house she was +lying on her bed with the stick at her feet, and as soon as she saw +Hírálálbásá she laughed and said, "Oh, you have come back again? Put +this stick at my head." "Yes," said the Rájá's son, "I've come back +again, but I was dreadfully frightened very often." Then he put the +stick at her head, and she gave him some food to eat. After he had +eaten it he went on again, and when he came to the river the +water-snake carried him across to the other side, and he travelled to +his father's kingdom. There he went to the Rakshas-Rání and gave her +the rose-water. She was very angry at seeing him, and said, "I'm sure +my father and my mother, my brothers and my sisters, don't love me one +bit." + +And she said to Hírálálbásá, "You must go to-morrow to the Rakshas +kingdom to fetch me flowers." "I will go," said Hírálál, "but this +time I must have four shields full of rupees." The Rakshas-Rání gave +him the four shields full of rupees; and the Rájá's son went to his +mother's hole and bought a quantity of food for them, enough to last +them all the time he should be away, and he hired two servants for +them, and said good-bye to his seven mothers and returned to +Mánikbásá's palace for his letter. This the Rakshas-Rání gave him, and +in it she wrote, "Kill him and eat him at once. If you do not, and you +send him back to me, I will never see your faces again." Hírálál took +his letters and went on his way. When he reached the river the +water-snake took him across to the other side, and he walked on till +he came to Sonahrí Rání's house. She was lying on the bed with the +stick at her feet. "Oh, why have you come here again?" she said. "How +can I help coming?" said the Rájá's son. "I must do what my mistress +bids me." "So you must," said the Sonahrí Rání; "but put this stick at +my head." This he did, and she got up and gave him food, and asked him +to let her see his letter, and when she had read it she cried, "This +is a very wicked letter. If you take it with you, you will surely +die." Then she tore up the letter and burnt it, and wrote another in +which she said, "You must all be very good to this boy. Show him all +the gardens and see that he is not hurt in any way." She gave it to +Hírálál, and he begged her to ask the Rakshas, her father, where he +kept his soul. Sonahrí Rání promised she would. She then turned +Hírálál into a little fly, and put him into a tiny box, and put the +box under her pillow. When the Rakshas came home he began sniffing +about and said, "Surely there is a man here." "Oh, no," said Sonahrí +Rání; "no one is here but me." The Rakshas was satisfied. When Sonahrí +Rání and her father were in bed she asked, "Papa, where is your soul?" +"Why do you want to know?" said the Rakshas. "I will tell you another +day." + +The next day at nine in the morning the Rakshas went away, and Sonahrí +Rání took Hírálál and restored him to his human shape, and gave him +some food, and he travelled on till he reached the Rakshas-Rání's +mother, whom he called Grannie. She welcomed him very kindly and +showed him the garden, which was very large. The Rájá's son noticed a +number of jugs and water-jars. So he said, "Grannie, what is there in +all these jars and jugs?" She answered, showing them to him one by +one, "In this is such and such a thing," and so on, telling him the +contents of each, till she came to the water-jar in which were his +mothers' eyes. "In this jar," said the Rakshas, "are your seven +mothers' eyes." "Oh, grannie dear!" said Hírálál, "give me my mothers' +eyes." "Very well, dear boy," said the old Rakshas, "you shall have +them." She gave him, too, some ointment, and told him to rub the eyes +with it when he put them into his mothers' heads, and that then they +would see quite well; and he took the eyes and tied them up in a +corner of his cloth. His grannie gave him the flowers, and he went +back to Sonahrí Rání. She was lying on her bed with the stick at her +feet, and when she saw him she laughed and said, "Oh, so you have come +back again?" "Yes, I have," said Hírálál; "and I have got the flowers, +and my seven mothers' eyes too." "Have you indeed?" said Sonahrí Rání. +"Put this stick at my head." He did so, and she got up and gave him +some food, and he told her to ask her father the Rakshas where his +soul was. She promised she would, and she changed him into a little +fly, and shut him up in a tiny box, and put the tiny box under her +pillow. By and by home came the Rakshas, and began to sniff about +crying, "A man is here!" "Oh, no," said Sonahrí Rání; and she gave him +some dinner, and when they were in bed she asked him, "Papa, where is +your soul?" "I'll tell you another day," said the Rakshas. The next +day, when he had gone out to find food, Sonahrí Rání took the little +fly, Hírálál, and restored him to his human shape, and gave him some +food and sent him on his way. When he reached the river, the +water-snake took him over to the other side, and he journeyed on till +he came to his father's kingdom. First he went to his mothers' hole +and gave them their fourteen eyes, and he put them into their heads +with the ointment which the Rakshas-grannie had given him. Then he +went to Mánikbásá Rájá's palace, and when the Rakshas-Rání saw him she +was furious. "I am sure my father and my mother, my sisters and my +brothers, do not love me one bit. I will never see their faces again. +But I'll send him to them once more." + +This is what she thought, but she took the flowers and said, "You must +go a third time to the Rakshas country." + +"I will," said the boy: "only I'll not go till the fourth day from +to-day, for I am very tired. And you must give me four shields full of +rupees." "Good," said the Rakshas-Rání. "This time you must get me a +sárí."[2] And she gave him the four shields full of money. Then he +went to his mothers, and bought them a house and got food for them, +and stayed with them four days. + +At the end of the four days he went to the Rakshas-Rání, who gave him +a letter in which she had written, "If you do not kill and eat this +boy as soon as he arrives, I will never see your faces again." The +Rájá's son took the letter and set out on his journey. + +When he came to the river, the water-snake took him across; and when +he arrived at Sonahrí Rání's house, there she was lying on her bed +with the thick stick at her feet. She said, "Oh, you have come here +again, have you?" "Yes," he said, "I have come for the last time." +"Put the stick at my head," said she. So he laid the stick at her +head. Then she gave him some food, and just before the Rakshas came +home, he bade her ask him where he kept his soul. When she saw him +coming, Sonahrí Rání turned Hírálálbásá into a little fly, put him in +a tiny box, and put the box under her pillow. As soon as she and the +Rakshas had gone to bed, she asked him, "Papa, where do you keep your +soul?" "Sixteen miles away from this place," said he, "is a tree. +Round the tree are tigers, and bears, and scorpions, and snakes; on +the top of the tree is a very great fat snake; on his head is a little +cage; in the cage is a bird; and my soul is in that bird." The little +fly listened all the time. The next morning, when the Rakshas had +gone, Sonahrí Rání took the fly and gave him back his human form, gave +him some food, and then asked to see his letter. When she had read it +she screamed and said, "Oh! if you go with this letter you will +surely die." So she tore it up into little bits and threw it into the +fire. And she wrote another in which she said, "Make a great deal of +this boy; see that he gets no hurt; give him the sárí for me; show him +the garden; and be very kind to him." She then gave Hírálál the +letter, and he journeyed on in safety till he reached his +Rakshas-grannie's house. + +The Rakshas-grannie was very good to him; showed him the garden, and +gave him the sárí; and he then said his mother, the Rakshas-Rání, was +in great trouble about her soul, and wanted very much to have it. So +the Rakshas-grannie gave him a bird in which was the Rakshas-Rání's +soul, charging him to take the greatest care of it. Then he said, "My +mother, the Rakshas-Rání, also wants a stone such that, if you lay it +on the ground, or if you put it in your clothes, it will become gold, +and also your long heavy gold necklace that hangs down to the waist." +Both these things the Rakshas-grannie gave to Hírálál. Then he +returned to Sonahrí Rání's house, where he found her lying on her bed +with the thick stick at her feet. "Oh, there you are," said Sonahrí +Rání, laughing. "Yes," he said, "I have come." And he put the stick at +her head, and she got up and gave him some food. + +He told her he was going to fetch her Rakshas-father's soul, but that +he did not quite know how to pass through the tigers and bears, and +scorpions and snakes, that guarded it. So she gave him a feather, and +said, "As long as you hold this feather straight, you can come to no +harm, for you will be invisible. You will see everything, but nothing +will see you." + +He carried the feather straight as she had bidden him and reached the +tree in safety. Then he climbed up it, took the little cage, and came +down again. Though the Rakshas was far off, he knew at once something +had happened to his bird. Hírálál pulled off the bird's right leg, and +the Rakshas' right leg fell off, but on he hopped on one leg. Then +the Rájá's son pulled off the bird's left leg, and off fell the +Rakshas' left leg, but still he went on towards his house on his +hands. Then Hírálál pulled off the bird's wings, and the Rakshas' two +arms fell off. And then, just as the Rakshas reached the door of his +house, Hírálál wrung the bird's neck, and the Rakshas fell dead. +Sonahrí Rání was greatly frightened when she heard such a heavy thing +fall thump on the ground so close to the house, but she could not +move, for the thick stick lay at her feet. Hírálál ran as fast as he +could to Sonahrí Rání. When he arrived at the door of her house he saw +the Rakshas lying dead, and he went in and told Sonahrí Rání that her +Rakshas-father was killed. "Nonsense," she said. "It is true," said +Hírálál; "come and see." So he put the stick at her head. "I am sure +you are telling a lie," said Sonahrí Rání. "I should be very glad if +he were dead, for I do not like living with him, I am so afraid of +him." "Indeed he's dead. Do come and see," said Hírálál. Then they +went outside, and when Sonahrí Rání saw her Rakshas-father lying there +dead, she was exceedingly happy, and said to Hírálál, "I will go home +with you, and be your wife." So they were married, and then they went +into Sonahrí Rání's Rakshas-father's house and took all the money and +jewels they could find. And Hírálál gave the sárí, the stone, and the +necklace to Sonahrí Rání, and he took some flowers for the +Rakshas-Rání. + +When they came to the river, the water-snake carried them across to +the other side, and they travelled on till they came to Mánikbásá +Rájá's kingdom. There Hírálál went first of all to his mothers, and +when they saw Sonahrí Rání they wondered who the beautiful woman could +be that their son had brought home. He said to them, "This is Sonahrí +Rání, my wife. But for her I should have died." Then he bought a grand +house for Sonahrí Rání and his seven mothers to live in, and he got +four servants for Sonahrí Rání, two to cook, and two to wait on her. +The seven mothers and Sonahrí used all to sit on a beautiful, clean +quilted cushion, as big as a carpet, Sonahrí Rání in the middle and +the seven mothers round her, while they sewed, or wrote, and talked. +Hírálál then went to the Rakshas-Rání and said, "I could not get the +sárí you sent me for, so I brought you these flowers instead." When +she saw the flowers she was frantic. She said, "My father, my mother, +my sisters, my brothers, don't care for me, not one bit! not one +scrap! I will never see their faces again--never! never! I will send +some other messenger to them." + +One day the Rájá's son came to Mánikbásá and said, "Would you like to +see a grand sight?" Mánikbásá Rájá said, "What sight?" Hírálál said, +"If you would like to see a really grand sight you must do what I tell +you." "Good," answered Mánikbásá, "I will do whatever you tell me." +"Well, then," said his son, "you must build a very strong iron house, +and round it you must lay heaps of wood. In that house you must put +your present Rání." So Mánikbásá Rájá had a very strong iron house +built, round which he set walls of wood. Then he went to his +Rakshas-Rání and said, "Will you go inside that iron house, and see +what it is like?" "Yes, I will," answered she. The Rájá had had great +venetians made for the house, and only one door. As soon as the +Rakshas-Rání had gone in, he locked the door. Then Hírálál took the +little bird, a cockatoo, in which was the Rakshas-Rání's soul, and +showed it to the Rakshas-Rání from afar off. When she saw it she +turned herself into a huge Rakshas as big as a house. She could not +turn in the iron house because she was so huge. Mánikbásá was +dreadfully frightened when he saw his Rání was a horrible Rakshas. +Then Hírálál pulled off the bird's legs, and as the Rakshas was +breaking through the iron house to seize Hírálál, he wrung the +cockatoo's neck, and the Rakshas died instantly. They set fire to the +walls of wood, and the body of the wicked Rakshas was burnt to fine +ashes. + +The Rájá's Wazír turned to the Rájá and said, "What a fool you were to +marry this Rakshas, and at her bidding to send your seven wives and +your seven sons away into the jungle, taking out your seven wives' +eyes, and being altogether so cruel to them! You are a great, great +fool!" The poor Rájá wept, and then the Wazír, pointing to Hírálál, +said, "This is your seventh and youngest Rání's son." The Rájá then +embraced Hírálálbásá and asked his forgiveness. And Hírálál told him +his story, how he and his mothers had lived a long, long time in the +hole; how six of the Ránís had eaten their children; how his mother +had not had the heart to eat him; how he had got his seven mothers' +eyes from the Rakshas-grannie; and lastly, how he had married Sonahrí +Rání. Then the Rájá ordered seven litters for his seven Ránís, and a +beautiful litter with rich cloth for Sonahrí Rání. The Rájá and his +Wazír and his attendants, and his son, all went with the litters to +Hírálál's house; and when the Rájá saw Sonahrí Rání he fell flat on +his face, he was so struck by her beauty. For she had a fair, fair +skin, rosy cheeks, blue eyes, rosy lips, golden eyelashes, and golden +eyebrows, and golden hair. When she combed her hair, she used to put +the hair she combed out in paper and to lay the paper on the river, +and it floated down to where the poor people caught it, and sold it, +and got heaps of money for it. Her sárí was of gold, her shoes were of +gold, for God loved her dearly. Then the Rájá rose and embraced all +his wives and Sonahrí Rání, and the seven Ránís walked into the seven +litters; but Sonahrí Rání was carried to hers, for fear she should +soil her feet, or get hurt. Then Mánikbásá Rájá gave Hírálál's house +to his Wazír, while his seven Ránís and Hírálál and Sonahrí Rání lived +with him in his palace. And they lived happily for ever after. + + Told by Dunkní at Simla, 26th July and 1st August, 1876. + +FOOTNOTE: + + [2] A long piece of stuff which Hindú women wind round the body + as a petticoat, passing one end over the head, like a veil. + + + + +[Decoration] + +XII. + +THE MAN WHO WENT TO SEEK HIS FATE. + + +Once there was a very poor man who had a wife and twelve children, and +not a single rupee. The poor children used to cry with hunger, and the +man and his wife did not know what to do. At last he got furious with +God and said, "How wicked God is! He gives me a great many children, +but no money." So he set out to find his fate. In the jungle he met a +camel with two heavy sacks of gold on its back. This camel belonged to +a Rájá, and once it was travelling with other camels and with the +Rájá's servants to another country, and carrying the sacks of gold. +Every night they encamped and started again early in the morning; but +one morning the servants forgot to take this camel with them, and the +camel forgot the road home, and the sacks were too tightly strapped +for it to get rid of them. So it wandered about the jungle with the +sacks on its back for twelve years. The camel asked the poor man where +he was going. "I am going to seek my fate, to ask it why I am so +poor," he answered. The camel said, "Ask it, too, why for twelve years +I have had to carry these two sacks of gold. All this time I have not +been able to lie down, or to eat, or to drink." "Very well," said the +man, and he went on. + +Then he came to a river in which he saw an alligator. The alligator +took him across, and when he got to the other side it asked him where +he was going. The man said, "I am going to seek my fate, to ask it +why I am so poor." "Then," said the alligator, "ask it also why for +twelve years I have a great burning in my stomach." "I will," said the +man. + +Then he went on and on till he came to a tiger, who was lying on the +ground with a great thorn sticking in his foot. This tiger had gone +out one day to hunt for food, and not looking where he was going, he +put his foot on the thorn, and the thorn ran into his foot. And so God +grew very angry and said, "Because you are such a careless, stupid +fellow, and don't look where you are going, for twelve years this +thorn shall remain in your foot." "Where are you going?" the tiger +asked the man. "I am going to seek my fate, to ask it why I am so +poor. Some one told me that my fate was far, far away, a twelve years' +journey from my own country, and that it was lying down, and that I +must take a thick stick and beat it with all my might." "Ask it, too," +said the tiger, "why for twelve years I have had this thorn in my foot +and cannot get it out, though I have tried hard to do so." "Yes, I +will," said the man. + +Then he came to the place where every one's fate lives. The fates are +stones, some standing and others lying on the ground. "This must be +mine," he said; "it is lying on the ground, that's why I am so poor." +So he took the thick stick he had in his hand, and beat it, and beat +it, and beat it, but still it would not stir. As night was approaching +he left off beating it, and God sent a soul into the poor man's fate, +and it became a man, who stood looking at the poor man and said, "Why +have you beaten me so much?" "Because you were lying down, and I am +very poor, and at home my wife and my children are starving." "Oh, +things will go well with you now," said the fate, and the man was +satisfied. He said to his fate, "While coming here I met a camel who +for twelve years has had to wander about with two heavy sacks of gold +on its back, and it wants to know why it must carry them." "Oh," said +the fate, "just take the sacks off its back and then it will be free." +"I will," said the poor man. "Then I met an alligator who for twelve +years has had a great burning in its stomach." The fate said, "In its +stomach is a very large ruby, as big as your hand. If the alligator +will only throw up the ruby, it will be quite well." "Next I met a +tiger who has had for twelve years a great thorn in his foot which he +cannot take out." "Pull it out with your teeth," said the fate; and +then God withdrew the soul, and the fate became a stone again which +stood up on the ground. + +Then the man set out on his journey home, and he came to the tiger. +"What did your fate say?" said the tiger. "Give me your foot and I +will take out the thorn," said the poor man. The tiger stretched out +the foot with the thorn in it, and the man pulled out the thorn with +his teeth. It was a very large thorn, as big as the man's hand. The +tiger felt grateful to the poor man, and as he was very rich, for he +had eaten a great many Rájás and people, and had all their money, he +said to the man, "I will give you some gold in return for your +kindness." "You have no money," said the man. "I have," said the +tiger, and he went into his den, and the poor man followed. "Give me +your cloth," said the tiger. The man laid it on the ground. Then the +tiger took quantities of gold and jewels and filled the cloth with +them. And the poor man took up his cloth, thanked the tiger, and went +his way. Then he met the alligator who took him across the river. The +alligator said, "Did you ask your fate why there is such burning in my +stomach?" "I did," said the man. "It is because you have a very large +ruby in your stomach. If you will only throw it up, you will be quite +well." Then the alligator threw the ruby up out of its mouth, and that +very instant the burning in its stomach ceased. "Ah," said the +alligator, looking at the ruby, "I swallowed that one day when I was +drinking." And he gave the ruby to the man, saying, "In return for +your kindness I will give you this ruby. It is a very precious stone." +(In old days every Rájá possessed such a ruby; now very few Rájás, if +any, have one.) The poor man thanked the alligator, put the ruby into +his cloth, and went on his way till he came to the camel, who said, +"Did you ask your fate why I have to carry these two sacks of gold?" +"I did," said the man, and he took the sacks off the camel's back. How +happy and grateful the camel felt! "How kind of you," he said to the +man, "to take the sacks off. Now I can eat, now I can drink, and now I +can lie down. Because you have been so kind to me, I give you the two +sacks of gold, and I will carry them and your bundle home to your +house for you, and then I will come back and live here in the jungle." +Then the poor man put the two sacks of gold and his bundle on the +camel, who carried them to his house. When he got there, he took the +sacks and his bundle off the camel, who thanked him again for his +kindness and went back to his jungle, feeling very glad at having got +rid of his heavy burthen. + +When the poor man's wife and children saw the gold and jewels and the +ruby, they cried, "Where did you get these?" And the man told them his +whole story. And he bought food for his wife and children, and gave +them a beautiful house, and got them clothes, for now he was very +rich. + +Another poor man who was not quite, but nearly, as poor as this man +had been, asked him where he had got his riches. "I got them out of a +river," answered the man. "I drew the water with a bucket, and in +every bucketful there was gold." The other man started off to the +river and began drawing up water in a bucket. "Stop, stop!" cried an +alligator, who was the king of the fishes; "you are taking all the +water out of the river and my fishes will die." "I want money," said +the man, "and I can find none, so I am taking the water out of the +river in order to get some." "You shall have some in a minute," said +the alligator, "only do stop drawing the water." Then a great wave of +water dashed on to the land and dashed back into the river, leaving +behind it a great heap of gold, which the man picked up joyfully. The +next day he came again, and night and day he drew water out of the +river. At last the alligator got very angry, and said, "My fishes will +all die for want of water. Once I gave the man a heap of gold, and yet +he wants more. I won't give him any," and the alligator thrust up his +head out of the river, and swallowed the man whole. For four days and +four nights the man lived in the alligator's stomach. At the end of +the fourth night the king of the fishes said to him, "I will let you +get out of my stomach on condition that you tell no man what has +happened to you. If you do, you will die instantly." The man jumped +out of the alligator's mouth and walked towards his house. On his way +he met some men and told them what had happened to him, and as soon as +he got home he told his wife and children, and the moment he had done +so he became mad and dumb and blood came out of his mouth, and he fell +down dead. + + Told by Dunkní. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XIII. + +THE UPRIGHT KING. + + +There was a great Mahárájá whose name was Harchand Rájá, and he had an +only son called Mánikchand. He was very rich and had a great deal of +money, and he also had a very large garden full of lovely flowers and +fruits which he prized greatly. Every morning before he bathed he used +to give some poor fakír two pounds and a half of gold. Now Harchand +Mahárájá used to pray a great deal to God, and God was very fond of +him, so he said one day, "To see if Harchand Mahárájá really loves me, +I will make him very poor for twelve years." And at night God came +down in the shape of a great boar, and ate up everything that was in +Harchand Mahárájá's garden. The boar then ran away into the jungle. +Next morning the gardener got up and looked out into the garden, and +what was his astonishment when he saw it was all spoilt. Nothing was +left in it; it was not a garden any more. He went quickly to the +Mahárájá and said, "Oh, master! oh, Mahárájá! your garden is quite +spoilt. Last night a boar came and ate up everything in it." +"Nonsense," said the Mahárájá, who would not believe him. "It is quite +true," said the gardener; "you can come and see for yourself." So the +Rájá got up at once and put on his clothes, and went into the garden, +and found it all empty. He went back to the house very melancholy. +Then as usual he gave a fakír his two pounds and a half of gold. After +breakfast he went out hunting. The boar which had run away into the +wood changed himself into a very old fakír, who shook from old age. As +Harchand Mahárájá passed, the old fakír held out his hand, saying, +"Please give me a few pice, I am so poor and hungry." The Mahárájá +said, "Come to my palace and I will give you two pounds and a half of +gold." "Oh, no," said the fakír, "surely you would never give me so +much as that." "Yes, I will," said the Mahárájá. "Every morning before +I bathe I give a fakír two pounds and a half of gold." "Nonsense," +said the fakír, "you don't give away your money in that way." "Really, +I do," said the Mahárájá, "and I promise to give you two pounds and a +half of gold." So the fakír followed Harchand Mahárájá home, and when +they reached the palace, the Mahárájá told his treasurer to give the +old fakír two pounds and a half of gold. The treasurer went into the +treasury, but all the Mahárájá's gold and silver and jewels had become +charcoal! The treasurer came out again to the Mahárájá saying, "Oh, +Mahárájá, all your gold and silver and jewels are turned into +charcoal!" "Oh, nonsense," said the Mahárájá. "Come and see, +Mahárájá," said the treasurer, who was in a great fright. The Mahárájá +went into his treasury, and was quite sad at the sight of the +charcoal. "Alas!" he said, "God has made me very poor, but still I +must give this fakír his money." So he went to the fakír and said, +"All my gold and silver and jewels are turned into charcoal; but I +will sell my wife, and my boy, and myself, and then I will give you +the money I promised you." And he went and fetched his wife and son, +and left his palace, his houses, servants, and possessions. + +He then went to a merchant, who bought from him his Mahárání, who was +called Hírálí, that is, the diamond lady, for she was very beautiful, +and her face shone like a diamond. Her hands were very small, and so +were her feet. The merchant gave the Mahárájá a pound of gold for the +Mahárání. Next, Harchand Mahárájá went to a cowherd and sold him his +son Mánikchand. The cowherd gave him for the boy half a pound of gold. +Then he went to a dom, that is, a man of a very low caste, who kept a +tank into which it was his business to throw the bodies of those who +died. If it was a dead man or woman, the dom took one rupee, if it was +a dead child he was only paid eight annas. To this dom Harchand sold +himself for a pound of gold, and he gave the two pounds and a half of +gold to the fakír, who then went home. The dom said, "Will you stay by +the tank for a few days while I go home and do my other work, which is +weaving baskets? If any one brings you a dead body you must throw it +into the water. If it is the body of a man or woman, take one rupee in +payment; if it is a dead child, take eight annas; and if the bearers +have got no money, take a bit of cloth. Don't forget." And the dom +went away, leaving Harchand sitting by the tank. + +Well, Harchand Mahárájá sat for some days by the tank, and when any +one brought him dead bodies he threw them into it. For a dead man or +woman he took one rupee, for a dead child eight annas, and if the +bearers had no money to give him, he took some cloth. Some time had +passed, and Mánikchand, the Mahárájá's son, died; so Hírálí Rání went +to the cowherd to ask him for her dead child. The cowherd gave him to +her, and she took him to the tank. Harchand Mahárájá was sitting by +the tank, and when Hírálí Mahárání saw him she said, "I know that man +is my husband, so he will not take any money for throwing his child +into the water." So she went up to him and said, "Will you throw this +child into the tank for me?" "Yes, I will," said Harchand Mahárájá; +"only first give me eight annas." "You surely won't take any money for +throwing your own son into the tank?" said the Mahárání. "You must pay +me," said Harchand Mahárájá, "for I must obey the dom's orders. If you +have no money, give me a piece of cloth." So the Mahárání tore off a +great piece of her sárí and gave it him, and the Mahárájá took his son +and threw him into the tank. As he threw him in he cried out to the +king of the fishes, who was an alligator, "Take great care of this +body." The king of fishes said, "I will." Then the Mahárání went back +to the merchant. + +And the Mahárájá caught a fish, and cooked it, and laid it by the +tank, saying, "I will go and bathe and then I will eat it." So he took +off his clothes and went into the tank to bathe, and when he had +bathed he put on fresh clothes, and as he took hold of his fish to eat +it, it slipped back alive into the water, although it had been dead +and cooked. The Mahárájá sat down by the tank again, very sad. He +said, "For twelve years I have found it hard to get anything to eat; +how long will God keep me without food?" God was very pleased with +Harchand for being so patient, for he had never complained. + +Some days later God came down to earth in the shape of a man, and with +him he took an angel to be his Wazír. The Wazír said to God, "Come +this way and let us see who it is sitting by the tank." "No," said +God, "I am too tired, I can go no further." "Do come," said the Wazír; +"I want so much to go." God said, "Well, let us go." Then they walked +on till they came to the place where Harchand Mahárájá was sitting, +and God said to him, "Would you like to have your wife, and your son, +and your kingdom back again?" "Yes, I should," said the Mahárájá; "but +how can I get them?" "Tell me truly," said God, "would you like to +have your kingdom back again?" "Indeed I should," said the Mahárájá. +Then Mánikchand's body, which had never sunk to the bottom of the tank +like the other bodies, but had always floated on the water, rose up +out of the water, and Mánikchand was alive once more. The father and +son embraced each other. "Now," said God, "let us go to the dom." +Harchand Mahárájá agreed, and they went to the dom and asked him how +much he would take for Harchand Mahárájá. The dom said, "I gave one +pound of gold for him, and I will take two pounds." So they paid down +the two pounds of gold. Then they went to the merchant and said to +him, "How much will you take for Hírálí Rání?" The merchant said, "I +gave a pound of gold for her; I will take four pounds." So they paid +down the four pounds of gold, took Hírálí Rání, and went to the +cowherd. "How much will you take for Mánikchand?" said they to him. "I +gave half a pound of gold for him," answered the cowherd; "I will take +one pound." So they paid down the pound of gold, and Harchand Mahárájá +went home to his palace, taking with him Hírálí Rání and Mánikchand, +after thanking the strange man for his goodness to them. When they +reached the palace, the garden was in splendid beauty; the charcoal +was turned back into gold, and silver, and jewels; the servants were +in waiting as usual, and they went into the palace and lived happily +for evermore. + + Told by Dunkní. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XIV. + +LOVING LAILÍ. + + +Once there was a king called King Dantál, who had a great many rupees +and soldiers and horses. He had also an only son called Prince Majnún, +who was a handsome boy with white teeth, red lips, blue eyes, red +cheeks, red hair, and a white skin. This boy was very fond of playing +with the Wazír's son, Husain Mahámat, in King Dantál's garden, which +was very large and full of delicious fruits, and flowers, and trees. +They used to take their little knives there and cut the fruits and eat +them. King Dantál had a teacher for them to teach them to read and +write. + +One day, when they were grown two fine young men, Prince Majnún said +to his father, "Husain Mahámat and I should like to go and hunt." His +father said they might go, so they got ready their horses and all else +they wanted for their hunting, and went to the Phaláná country, +hunting all the way, but they only found jackals and birds. + +The Rájá of the Phaláná country was called Múnsúk Rájá, and he had a +daughter named Lailí, who was very beautiful; she had brown eyes and +black hair. + +One night, some time before Prince Majnún came to her father's +kingdom, as she slept, God sent to her an angel in the form of a man +who told her that she should marry Prince Majnún and no one else, and +that this was God's command to her. When Lailí woke she told her +father of the angel's visit to her as she slept; but her father paid +no attention to her story. From that time she began repeating, +"Majnún, Majnún; I want Majnún," and would say nothing else. Even as +she sat and ate her food she kept saying, "Majnún, Majnún; I want +Majnún." Her father used to get quite vexed with her. "Who is this +Majnún? who ever heard of this Majnún?" he would say. "He is the man I +am to marry," said Lailí. "God has ordered me to marry no one but +Majnún." And she was half mad. Meanwhile, Majnún and Husain Mahámat +came to hunt in the Phaláná country; and as they were riding about, +Lailí came out on her horse to eat the air, and rode behind them. All +the time she kept saying, "Majnún, Majnún; I want Majnún." The prince +heard her, and turned round. "Who is calling me?" he asked. At this +Lailí looked at him, and the moment she saw him she fell deeply in +love with him, and she said to herself, "I am sure that is the Prince +Majnún that God says I am to marry." And she went home to her father +and said, "Father, I wish to marry the prince who has come to your +kingdom; for I know he is the Prince Majnún I am to marry." "Very +well, you shall have him for your husband," said Múnsúk Rájá. "We will +ask him to-morrow." Lailí consented to wait, although she was very +impatient. As it happened, the prince left the Phaláná kingdom that +night, and when Lailí heard he was gone, she went quite mad. She would +not listen to a word her father, or her mother, or her servants said +to her, but went off into the jungle, and wandered from jungle to +jungle, till she got farther and farther away from her own country. +All the time she kept saying, "Majnún, Majnún; I want Majnún;" and so +she wandered about for twelve years. + +At the end of the twelve years she met a fakír--he was really an +angel, but she did not know this--who asked her, "Why do you always +say, 'Majnún, Majnún; I want Majnún'?" She answered, "I am the +daughter of the king of the Phaláná country, and I want to find Prince +Majnún; tell me where his kingdom is." "I think you will never get +there," said the fakír, "for it is very far from hence, and you have +to cross many rivers to reach it." But Lailí said she did not care; +she must see Prince Majnún. "Well," said the fakír, "when you come to +the Bhágírathí river you will see a big fish, a Rohú; and you must get +him to carry you to Prince Majnún's country, or you will never reach +it." + +She went on and on, and at last she came to the Bhágírathí river. +There there was a great big fish called the Rohú fish. It was yawning +just as she got up to it, and she instantly jumped down its throat +into its stomach. All the time she kept saying, "Majnún, Majnún." At +this the Rohú fish was greatly alarmed and swam down the river as fast +as he could. By degrees he got tired and went slower, and a crow came +and perched on his back, and said, "Caw, caw." "Oh, Mr. Crow," said +the poor fish, "do see what is in my stomach that makes such a noise." +"Very well," said the crow, "open your mouth wide, and I'll fly down +and see." So the Rohú opened his jaws and the crow flew down, but he +came up again very quickly. "You have a Rakshas in your stomach," said +the crow, and he flew away. This news did not comfort the poor Rohú, +and he swam on and on till he came to Prince Majnún's country. There +he stopped. And a jackal came down to the river to drink. "Oh, +jackal," said the Rohú, "do tell me what I have inside me." "How can I +tell?" said the jackal. "I cannot see unless I go inside you." So the +Rohú opened his mouth wide, and the jackal jumped down his throat; but +he came up very quickly, looking much frightened and saying, "You have +a Rakshas in your stomach, and if I don't run away quickly, I am +afraid it will eat me." So off he ran. After the jackal came an +enormous snake. "Oh," says the fish, "do tell me what I have in my +stomach, for it rattles about so, and keeps saying, 'Majnún, Majnún; I +want Majnún.'" The snake said, "Open your mouth wide, and I'll go +down and see what it is." The snake went down: when he returned he +said, "You have a Rakshas in your stomach; but if you will let me cut +you open, it will come out of you." "If you do that, I shall die," +said the Rohú. "Oh, no," said the snake, "you will not, for I will +give you a medicine that will make you quite well again." So the fish +agreed, and the snake got a knife and cut him open, and out jumped +Lailí. + +She was now very old. Twelve years she had wandered about the jungle, +and for twelve years she had lived inside her Rohú; and she was no +longer beautiful, and had lost her teeth. The snake took her on his +back and carried her into the country, and there he put her down, and +she wandered on and on till she got to Majnún's court-house, where +King Majnún was sitting. There some men heard her crying, "Majnún, +Majnún; I want Majnún," and they asked her what she wanted. "I want +King Majnún," she said. So they went in and said to Prince Majnún, "An +old woman outside says she wants you." "I cannot leave this place," +said he; "send her in here." They brought her in and the prince asked +her what she wanted. "I want to marry you," she answered. "Twenty-four +years ago you came to my father the Phaláná Rájá's country, and I +wanted to marry you then; but you went away without marrying me. Then +I went mad, and I have wandered about all these years looking for +you." Prince Majnún said, "Very good." "Pray to God," said Lailí, "to +make us both young again, and then we shall be married." So the prince +prayed to God, and God said to him, "Touch Lailí's clothes and they +will catch fire, and when they are on fire, she and you will become +young again." When he touched Lailí's clothes they caught fire, and +she and he became young again. And there were great feasts, and they +were married, and travelled to the Phaláná country to see her father +and mother. + +Now Lailí's father and mother had wept so much for their daughter +that they had become quite blind, and her father kept always +repeating, "Lailí, Lailí, Lailí." When Lailí saw their blindness, she +prayed to God to restore their sight to them, which he did. As soon as +the father and mother saw Lailí, they hugged her and kissed her, and +then they had the wedding all over again amid great rejoicings. Prince +Majnún and Lailí stayed with Múnsúk Rájá and his wife for three years, +and then they returned to King Dantál, and lived happily for some time +with him. + +They used to go out hunting, and they often went from country to +country to eat the air and amuse themselves. + +One day Prince Majnún said to Lailí, "Let us go through this jungle." +"No, no," said Lailí; "if we go through this jungle, some harm will +happen to me." But Prince Majnún laughed, and went into the jungle. +And as they were going through it, God thought, "I should like to know +how much Prince Majnún loves his wife. Would he be very sorry if she +died? And would he marry another wife? I will see." So he sent one of +his angels in the form of a fakír into the jungle; and the angel went +up to Lailí, and threw some powder in her face, and instantly she fell +to the ground a heap of ashes. + +Prince Majnún was in great sorrow and grief when he saw his dear Lailí +turn into a little heap of ashes; and he went straight home to his +father, and for a long, long time he would not be comforted. After a +great many years he grew more cheerful and happy, and began to go +again into his father's beautiful garden with Husain Mahámat. King +Dantál wished his son to marry again. "I will only have Lailí for my +wife; I will not marry any other woman," said Prince Majnún. "How can +you marry Lailí? Lailí is dead. She will never come back to you," said +the father. "Then I'll not have any wife at all," said Prince Majnún. + +Meanwhile Lailí was living in the jungle where her husband had left +her a little heap of ashes. As soon as Majnún had gone, the fakír had +taken her ashes and made them quite clean, and then he had mixed clay +and water with the ashes, and made the figure of a woman with them, +and so Lailí regained her human form, and God sent life into it. But +Lailí had become once more a hideous old woman, with a long, long +nose, and teeth like tusks; just such an old woman, excepting her +teeth, as she had been when she came out of the Rohú fish; and she +lived in the jungle, and neither ate nor drank, and she kept on +saying, "Majnún, Majnún; I want Majnún." + +At last the angel who had come as a fakír and thrown the powder at +her, said to God, "Of what use is it that this woman should sit in the +jungle crying, crying for ever, 'Majnún, Majnún; I want Majnún,' and +eating and drinking nothing? Let me take her to Prince Majnún." +"Well," said God, "you may do so; but tell her that she must not speak +to Majnún if he is afraid of her when he sees her; and that if he is +afraid when he sees her, she will become a little white dog the next +day. Then she must go to the palace, and she will only regain her +human shape when Prince Majnún loves her, feeds her with his own food, +and lets her sleep in his bed." So the angel came to Lailí again as a +fakír and carried her to King Dantál's garden. "Now," he said, "it is +God's command that you stay here till Prince Majnún comes to walk in +the garden, and then you may show yourself to him. But you must not +speak to him, if he is afraid of you; and should he be afraid of you, +you will the next day become a little white dog." He then told her +what she must do as a little dog to regain her human form. + +Lailí stayed in the garden, hidden in the tall grass, till Prince +Majnún and Husain Mahámat came to walk in the garden. King Dantál was +now a very old man, and Husain Mahámat, though he was really only as +old as Prince Majnún, looked a great deal older than the prince, who +had been made quite young again when he married Lailí. + +As Prince Majnún and the Wazír's son walked in the garden, they +gathered the fruit as they had done as little children, only they bit +the fruit with their teeth; they did not cut it. While Majnún was busy +eating a fruit in this way, and was talking to Husain Mahámat, he +turned towards him and saw Lailí walking behind the Wazír's son. "Oh, +look, look!" he cried, "see what is following you; it is a Rakshas or +a demon, and I am sure it is going to eat us." Lailí looked at him +beseechingly with all her eyes, and trembled with age and eagerness; +but this only frightened Majnún the more. "It is a Rakshas, a +Rakshas!" he cried, and he ran quickly to the palace with the Wazír's +son; and as they ran away, Lailí disappeared into the jungle. They ran +to King Dantál, and Majnún told him there was a Rakshas or a demon in +the garden that had come to eat them. "What nonsense," said his +father. "Fancy two grown men being so frightened by an old ayah or a +fakír! And if it had been a Rakshas, it would not have eaten you." +Indeed King Dantál did not believe Majnún had seen anything at all, +till Husain Mahámat said the prince was speaking the exact truth. They +had the garden searched for the terrible old woman, but found nothing, +and King Dantál told his son he was very silly to be so much +frightened. However, Prince Majnún would not walk in the garden any +more. + +The next day Lailí turned into a pretty little dog; and in this shape +she came into the palace, where Prince Majnún soon became very fond of +her. She followed him everywhere, went with him when he was out +hunting, and helped him to catch his game, and Prince Majnún fed her +with milk, or bread, or anything else he was eating, and at night the +little dog slept in his bed. + +But one night the little dog disappeared, and in its stead there lay +the little old woman who had frightened him so much in the garden; and +now Prince Majnún was quite sure she was a Rakshas, or a demon, or +some such horrible thing come to eat him; and in his terror he cried +out, "What do you want? Oh, do not eat me; do not eat me!" Poor Lailí +answered, "Don't you know me? I am your wife Lailí, and I want to +marry you. Don't you remember how you would go through that jungle, +though I begged and begged you not to go, for I told you that harm +would happen to me, and then a fakír came and threw powder in my face, +and I became a heap of ashes. But God gave me my life again, and +brought me here, after I had stayed a long, long while in the jungle +crying for you, and now I am obliged to be a little dog; but if you +will marry me, I shall not be a little dog any more." Majnún, however, +said "How can I marry an old woman like you? how can you be Lailí? I +am sure you are a Rakshas or a demon come to eat me," and he was in +great terror. + +In the morning the old woman had turned into the little dog, and the +prince went to his father and told him all that had happened. "An old +woman! an old woman! always an old woman!" said his father. "You do +nothing but think of old women. How can a strong man like you be so +easily frightened?" However, when he saw that his son was really in +great terror, and that he really believed the old woman would come +back at night, he advised him to say to her, "I will marry you if you +can make yourself a young girl again. How can I marry such an old +woman as you are?" + +That night as he lay trembling in bed the little old woman lay there +in place of the dog, crying, "Majnún, Majnún, I want to marry you. I +have loved you all these long, long years. When I was in my father's +kingdom a young girl, I knew of you, though you knew nothing of me, +and we should have been married then if you had not gone away so +suddenly, and for long, long years I followed you." "Well," said +Majnún, "if you can make yourself a young girl again, I will marry +you." + +Lailí said, "Oh, that is quite easy. God will make me a young girl +again. In two days' time you must go into the garden, and there you +will see a beautiful fruit. You must gather it and bring it into your +room and cut it open yourself very gently, and you must not open it +when your father or anybody else is with you, but when you are quite +alone; for I shall be in the fruit quite naked, without any clothes at +all on." In the morning Lailí took her little dog's form, and +disappeared in the garden. + +Prince Majnún told all this to his father, who told him to do all the +old woman had bidden him. In two days' time he and the Wazír's son +walked in the garden, and there they saw a large, lovely red fruit. +"Oh!" said the Prince, "I wonder shall I find my wife in that fruit." +Husain Mahámat wanted him to gather it and see, but he would not till +he had told his father, who said, "That must be the fruit; go and +gather it." So Majnún went back and broke the fruit off its stalk; and +he said to his father, "Come with me to my room while I open it; I am +afraid to open it alone, for perhaps I shall find a Rakshas in it that +will eat me." "No," said King Dantál; "remember, Lailí will be naked; +you must go alone, and do not be afraid if, after all, a Rakshas is in +the fruit, for I will stay outside the door, and you have only to call +me with a loud voice, and I will come to you, so the Rakshas will not +be able to eat you." + +Then Majnún took the fruit and began to cut it open tremblingly, for +he shook with fear; and when he had cut it, out stepped Lailí, young +and far more beautiful than she had ever been. At the sight of her +extreme beauty, Majnún fell backwards fainting on the floor. + +Lailí took off his turban and wound it all round herself like a sárí +(for she had no clothes at all on), and then she called King Dantál, +and said to him sadly, "Why has Majnún fallen down like this? Why will +he not speak to me? He never used to be afraid of me; and he has seen +me so many, many times." King Dantál answered, "It is because you are +so beautiful. You are far, far more beautiful than you ever were. But +he will be very happy directly." Then the King got some water, and +they bathed Majnún's face and gave him some to drink, and he sat up +again. Then Lailí said, "Why did you faint? Did you not see I am +Lailí?" "Oh!" said Prince Majnún, "I see you are Lailí come back to +me, but your eyes have grown so wonderfully beautiful, that I fainted +when I saw them." Then they were all very happy, and King Dantál had +all the drums in the place beaten, and had all the musical instruments +played on, and they made a grand wedding-feast, and gave presents to +the servants, and rice and quantities of rupees to the fakírs. + +After some time had passed very happily, Prince Majnún and his wife +went out to eat the air. They rode on the same horse, and had only a +groom with them. They came to another kingdom, to a beautiful garden. +"We must go into that garden and see it," said Majnún. "No, no," said +Lailí; "it belongs to a bad Rájá, Chumman Básá, a very wicked man." +But Majnún insisted on going in, and in spite of all Lailí could say, +he got off the horse to look at the flowers. Now, as he was looking at +the flowers, Lailí saw Chumman Básá coming towards them, and she read +in his eyes that he meant to kill her husband and seize her. So she +said to Majnún, "Come, come, let us go; do not go near that bad man. I +see in his eyes, and I feel in my heart, that he will kill you to +seize me." "What nonsense," said Majnún. "I believe he is a very good +Rájá. Anyhow, I am so near to him that I could not get away." "Well," +said Lailí, "it is better that you should be killed than I, for if I +were to be killed a second time, God would not give me my life again; +but I can bring you to life if you are killed." Now Chumman Básá had +come quite near, and seemed very pleasant, so thought Prince Majnún; +but when he was speaking to Majnún, he drew his scimitar and cut off +the prince's head at one blow. + +Lailí sat quite still on her horse, and as the Rájá came towards her +she said, "Why did you kill my husband?" "Because I want to take you," +he answered. "You cannot," said Lailí. "Yes, I can," said the Rájá. +"Take me, then," said Lailí to Chumman Básá; so he came quite close +and put out his hand to take hers to lift her off her horse. But she +put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a tiny knife, only as long +as her hand was broad, and this knife unfolded itself in one instant +till it was such a length! and then Lailí made a great sweep with her +arm and her long, long knife, and off came Chumman Básá's head at one +touch. + +Then Lailí slipped down off her horse, and she went to Majnún's dead +body, and she cut her little finger inside her hand straight down from +the top of her nail to her palm, and out of this gushed blood like +healing medicine. Then she put Majnún's head on his shoulders, and +smeared her healing blood all over the wound, and Majnún woke up and +said, "What a delightful sleep I have had! Why, I feel as if I had +slept for years!" Then he got up and saw the Rájá's dead body by +Lailí's horse. "What's that?" said Majnún. "That is the wicked Rájá +who killed you to seize me, just as I said he would." "Who killed +him?" asked Majnún. "I did," answered Lailí, "and it was I who brought +you to life." "Do bring the poor man to life if you know how to do +so," said Majnún. "No," said Lailí, "for he is a wicked man, and will +try to do you harm." But Majnún asked her for such a long time, and so +earnestly to bring the wicked Rájá to life, that at last she said, +"Jump up on the horse, then, and go far away with the groom." "What +will you do," said Majnún, "if I leave you? I cannot leave you." "I +will take care of myself," said Lailí; "but this man is so wicked, he +may kill you again if you are near him." So Majnún got up on the +horse, and he and the groom went a long way off and waited for Lailí. +Then she set the wicked Rájá's head straight on his shoulders, and she +squeezed the wound in her finger till a little blood-medicine came out +of it. Then she smeared this over the place where her knife had +passed, and just as she saw the Rájá opening his eyes, she began to +run, and she ran, and ran so fast, that she outran the Rájá, who tried +to catch her; and she sprang up on the horse behind her husband, and +they rode so fast, so fast, till they reached King Dantál's palace. + +There Prince Majnún told everything to his father, who was horrified +and angry. "How lucky for you that you have such a wife," he said. +"Why did you not do what she told you? But for her, you would be now +dead." Then he made a great feast out of gratitude for his son's +safety, and gave many, many rupees to the fakírs. And he made so much +of Lailí. He loved her dearly; he could not do enough for her. Then he +built a splendid palace for her and his son, with a great deal of +ground about it, and lovely gardens, and gave them great wealth, and +heaps of servants to wait on them. But he would not allow any but +their servants to enter their gardens and palace, and he would not +allow Majnún to go out of them, nor Lailí; "for," said King Dantál, +"Lailí is so beautiful, that perhaps some one may kill my son to take +her away." + + Told by Dunkní. + + + + +[Decoration] + +XV. + +HOW KING BURTAL BECAME A FAKÍR. + + +Once there was a great king called Burtal, and he had a hundred and +sixty wives, but he had no children, which made him sad. One day he +said to his wives, "I am going to a very distant jungle which is full +of antelopes, to hunt them." "Very well," they answered, "go." So he +went. In that jungle lived neither tigers nor men, but only antelopes. +When King Burtal reached the jungle, some of the antelopes came to him +and said, "Pray don't kill the black antelope, for he is our Rájá, and +we have no other antelope like him among us; but try to kill any of +the others--the brown or the yellow antelopes--that you choose." Now, +the king was not a kind man, and he said, "I will kill your black +antelope, and no other." So he shot him dead. When the other antelopes +saw this they began to scream and cry with sorrow. But the dead +antelope's wife said to them, "There is a holy man, a fakír, in the +jungle. Let us take the dead body to him and ask him to bring our Rájá +to life." And King Burtal laughed at them and said, "How can any man +bring a dead antelope to life?" But the antelopes took the body of +their dead Rájá on their backs, and the dead antelope's wife went at +their head; and King Burtal went too; and they carried it to the +fakír, who was called Goraknáth, and who was resting in the jungle, +and they said to him, "Bring our Rájá to life again, for what can we +do without a Rájá? and he has left no son to succeed him." And the +queen antelope said, "I have no other husband. I had only this one +husband. Do bring him to life for me." King Burtal laughed and mocked +them, and said to the fakír, "I never heard of any man being able to +bring a dead antelope to life. I don't believe you can do it." At this +Goraknáth got angry, and he knelt down and asked God to bring the +antelope to life; and God told him to take a wand and beat the dead +antelope with it, and then the antelope would be alive again. So +Goraknáth took a wand and beat the dead antelope, and it was alive +once more, and then it instantly sprang up into heaven. The antelopes +were delighted to see their Rájá alive again, and they said, "We do +not mind his going up to heaven, for he will come down again to us." + +King Burtal had stood by all the time, and he said to Goraknáth, "Make +me a fakír like yourself," for he thought it would be fine to do such +wonderful things. But Goraknáth would not, and King Burtal stayed in +the jungle with Goraknáth for twelve years, and all that time he never +ceased begging and praying to be made a fakír, till at last Goraknáth +said, "I cannot make you a fakír unless you go home and address your +wives as 'Mamma,' and ask them to give you money and food." Now, it is +a very shameful thing to call one's wife 'Mamma,' for if a wife is +called 'Mamma' she has to leave her husband. Then Goraknáth took off +the king's clothes, and dressed him only in a cloth and a tiger's +skin; and the king went to his palace and began begging for rice and +food, and he would not take any from the palace servants: he said he +must and would see the Ránís, and that they themselves should give him +food. The servants told the Ránís about this fakír who said he must +and would see them himself, and that they should give him food and +rice with their own hands, and one of their ayahs, who had recognized +King Burtal, told them the fakír was their husband who had been away +twelve years. The Ránís cried out, "Do not talk nonsense. That fakír +can never be our husband." "Go and see for yourselves," answered the +ayah. They went, and the fakír said to them, "Mamma, give me rice." +"Why do you call us 'Mamma'?" they said. "We have no sons. You are not +our son." But at last they saw he was indeed their husband, and they +wrung their hands and wept bitterly, and threw themselves on the +ground before him and said, "Why have you called us 'Mamma'? Why do +you ask for bread? We must now leave you." "Don't go away," said the +king. "Take my kingdom, my money, my houses, and stay here till I +return. I am going to be a fakír." His wives gave him some rice and +some money, and he went back to Goraknáth. + +In old days men who intended to become fakírs had to do three tasks +set them by one who was already a fakír; so Goraknáth said to the +king, "Now you must go to a jungle that I will show you, and stay +there for twelve years." Then King Burtal took the flat pan and the +rolling-pin which he used in making his flour cakes, and was quite +ready to start for the jungle, but the fakír stopped him. "You must +leave your pan and your rolling-pin behind," he said; "and all these +twelve years you must neither eat nor drink, or you can never be a +fakír. You must sit quite still on the same spot and never move." "I +shall die if I don't eat," said the king; "but I don't care if I do +die, so I will do all you tell me." Then the fakír took him to a +jungle, and made him sit down on the grass, and instantly all the +grass round him grew up so tall and thick that King Burtal was quite +hidden by it, and no one could see him. Here he lived for twelve +years, and never moved, and he ate nothing, and drank nothing, and +nobody knew he was there. + +At the end of that time Goraknáth came and took him away and said, +"Now go home to your wives." "Why should I go to my wives? I do not +wish to see my wives, for they have given me no children," said King +Burtal. But Goraknáth said, "Go and see them." So King Burtal went; +and he begged for rice from them; and they entreated him to stay with +them, but he would not. "I will return to the fakír Goraknáth," he +said. "Why should I stay with you? You have never given me a child. +What use is all my wealth to me? I have no son to take it when I am +dead. I will become a fakír." And they threw themselves on the ground +and wrung their hands, and said, "Oh, why will you leave us?" He +answered, "Because it pleases me to do so." And he called them all +"Mamma," and told them to stay in his palace and take all he possessed +for their own use. Then he returned to Goraknáth. + +"Now," said Goraknáth, "you must learn to be sweeper to all the beasts +of the jungle, and you must serve them for twelve years." So for +twelve years King Burtal cleared the grass and kept the jungle clean +for all the creatures in it--cows, sheep, goats, tigers, cats, bears. +Sometimes he stayed in one part of the jungle, and sometimes in +another. + +When the twelve years were over he went to Goraknáth, who said to him, +"Good; you have learnt to serve the wild beasts; now you must learn to +serve men." Then the fakír took the king to a village, and bade him +sweep it and keep it clean for twelve years. Here King Burtal stayed +for another twelve years, and all that time he was the village-sweeper +and kept the village clean, and he swept all the dust and dirt into a +great heap till the heap was as high and as big as a hut. + +When the twelve years were over he returned to Goraknáth and stood +before him, and as he stood there came a man who was an angel sent by +God, and he threw some dirt on King Burtal's head; but the king never +moved nor spoke. "Now," cried Goraknáth, "I see you are a true fakír: +go and cleanse yourself by bathing in the river." + +The river in which he was sent to bathe was the Jamná. In this river +lived water-nymphs, and the nymph Gangá was playing in it when her +sister Jamná[3] came to her and said, "Come quickly; our father is +dying and wants to see you;" and off Jamná went to her father. Gangá +was hurrying after her when King Burtal saw her, and stopped her, and +asked her where she was going so fast. "To my father, who is very ill +and dying," said Gangá; "let me go." "I will not let you go," said +King Burtal. Then Gangá began to run, and said, "You cannot keep me, +you cannot catch me; no man can catch me, no man can keep me." This +provoked King Burtal, and he said, "I can catch you, and I can keep +you." "No, no," she answered; "no one can catch me, no one can hold +me." Then King Burtal got quite vexed, and he ran till he caught her, +and then he said, "Now, I will not let you go; I will keep you." Then +he held her in his hands and rubbed her between his palms, and when he +opened his hands she had turned into a little round ball. He tried to +hide the ball in his hair, but could not, for his hair was too short, +and he found he could not hold Gangá, as she was too strong for him; +so he thought he would take her to Mahádeo,[4] who had long thick +hair, and make him keep her, for King Burtal was dreadfully frightened +and did not dare let the ball go, for fear Gangá, who he knew was very +angry, should take her own form and bring a great flood to drown him. +So he went quickly to Mahádeo, and gave the ball to him. Mahádeo said, +"Why not keep her yourself?" "I cannot," said King Burtal, "for my +hair is too short to tie her into; and I cannot hold her, for she is +too strong for me; but your hair is long, and so you can hide her in +it." Then Mahádeo had a round box made of bamboo, and in this box was +a hole into which he dropped the ball. And he let down his long hair, +and it reached to the ground, and was thick--so thick; he put the box +in his hair on the top of his head, and rolled his long hair all round +his head and over the box just like a turban. + +Jamná finding her sister did not follow her, came up from the bottom +of the river to look for her, and she asked whether any one had seen +her, and at last some one said, "King Burtal has taken her away." +Jamná set off to King Burtal and said, "Give me my sister Gangá, for +our father is dying and wants to see her." "It is true that I took her +away," said King Burtal, "but I have not got her now; she is with +Mahádeo." So Jamná went to Mahádeo,--"Give me my sister quickly, for +our father is dying and wants to see her." (Now Gangá was in a great +passion inside her box.) "I cannot give you Gangá," said Mahádeo, "for +she is so angry that if I let her loose she will flood the country +with water." "No, she will not; indeed, she will not," said Jamná. "If +I give her to you, you will not be able to keep her," said Mahádeo. +"Yes, yes, I shall," said Jamná. "I do not think you will," said +Mahádeo; "but here is the box in which said is. Hold it tight, and be +careful that neither you nor any one else mentions her name on the +journey." Jamná said she would be very careful, and took the box; but +she had to pass through a jungle in which were a number of cowherds +and holy men, one of whom was called Gangá. Just as Jamná passed by, +one of these men called to this man by his name, Gangá, and instantly +Gangá burst the box and flooded the country with water. The holy men +and the cowherd called to her to have pity on them, and so did Jamná; +but Gangá was too angry to listen to them or speak to them, so she +drowned all the holy men and the cowherds, and when she got to her +father's house and found he was dead, she was in such a rage that she +declared she would send a still greater flood to ruin the country; and +so she did. + +After this, King Burtal went to Goraknáth and stayed with him some +years, till Goraknáth said, "Now go to your own kingdom." But King +Burtal refused, saying, "I wish to stay with you; my wives have never +given me a child. I have no son. I do not care to return to my +kingdom." However, Goraknáth would not allow him to stay. "Go to your +own kingdom," he said again; "but first tell me how many wives you +have." "A hundred and sixty," answered the King. "Here are a hundred +and sixty líchí fruits for you," said the fakír. "Give one to each of +your wives to eat, and they will each have a son, and I will go with +you." So King Burtal obeyed, and Goraknáth went with him. + +Seventy years had passed since King Burtal had left his kingdom. When +he and Goraknáth reached it, they went to an open plain and made a +fire and sat down beside it. Everybody who passed them said, "Who are +these fakírs?" Some servants of King Burtal's Ránís passed too, and +when they got home they told the Ránís that their husband had returned +to his kingdom. But the Ránís said, "What nonsense you talk! King +Burtal went away with the fakír Goraknáth." The servants answered, "We +are quite sure that King Burtal is here, for Goraknáth is here, and +with him is another man, and we are sure this man is King Burtal." So +all the Ránís went to see for themselves, and when they saw the fakír +that was with Goraknáth they knew he was their husband. Then the first +Rání, who was very angry with him for having left them, said a spell +over him: "God is very angry with you for leaving us, and he will send +you a bad illness." But King Burtal answered, "Do not be angry with +me. I am your husband, and have come back to you after an absence of +seventy years." At this the youngest Rání was very glad, and she +ordered drums to be beaten and she beat a drum herself, and they sang +songs, and all went to the palace together, and Goraknáth with them. + +Then Goraknáth said he must now go away, but first he asked King +Burtal to show him a grand feat as a proof of his skill. So King +Burtal sent to the smith for a great iron chain. Then he lit a big +fire. This alarmed the palace servants, who wondered if he were going +to burn his palace and his wives. King Burtal next sent for some ghee. +"What is he going to do with the ghee?" said the palace servants. Then +he drove a nail into the wall, rubbed his hands with the ghee, put the +iron chain into the fire and drew it out red-hot; flames came from the +iron. Then King Burtal hung it on the nail and pulled and pulled at +the chain till he drew it off the nail, and his hands were not in the +least burnt. The Ránís and palace servants were greatly astonished and +Goraknáth much pleased. "You know how to do your work well," said he +to the king. Then Goraknáth bade him good bye, telling him to look +after his kingdom and his wives; but they all said he must not leave +them, and they built him a grand house in the compound, and gave him a +great many servants to wait on him, and plenty of money; so Goraknáth +agreed to live in this house; only, as he was a fakír, he often went +away by himself to spend some time in his jungle, always returning to +his house in King Burtal's compound. Meanwhile King Burtal gave each +of his wives a líchí to eat, and after a little while each wife had a +little son. They were all such beautiful children; but the biggest and +handsomest of all was the eldest Rání's little son. His name was +Sazádá, and his father and mother loved him dearly. + +When Prince Sazádá was about six or seven years old, the fakír +Goraknáth came to King Burtal and said, "Now you must give me your +son Sazádá, for I want to take him away with me for some years." The +Rání, his mother, refused to let him go, but at last she had to do so, +and then she became mad and very sick for grief. + +Goraknáth took the little prince to Indrásan to be taught by the +fairies, and on arriving he married him to Jahúr Rání, who was the +daughter of the greatest of the fairy queens. Goraknáth made a grand +wedding for the little prince, and all the fairies were delighted that +he should be the little Jahúr Rání's husband, for he was such a +beautiful child they all fell in love with him the moment they saw +him, and they taught him to play on all kinds of instruments, and to +sing beautifully, and to read and write, and he grew handsomer and +handsomer every day in the fairy kingdom. Goraknáth came often to see +him, and the fairies took great care of him. + +When Prince Sazádá had grown a fine strong young man, Goraknáth took +him and his wife, the Jahúr Rání, and brought them in great state to +King Burtal's kingdom. First he took the young prince and presented +him to his father and said, "See, here is your son. Now he can read +and write, sing and play on all kinds of instruments, for I have had +him taught all these things." But they, when they saw him, fell on +their faces, for they could not look at him on account of his great +beauty. He had grown so handsome in Indrásan, and his cheeks were red. +"How can this beautiful boy be our son?" they said, and they did not +recognize him. "Stand up," said Goraknáth. "This is your son Sazádá; +do not fall down before your son." So they stood up, and the fakír +said, "I have married your son to the fairy princess Jahúr Rání, and I +will bring her to you." So then he brought the little Rání, and when +they saw her they fell down again, for they could not look at her +beauty. Her hair was like red gold, her eyes were dark, and her +eyelashes black. But Goraknáth made them stand up; and when they +really understood it was their son and his wife that he had brought +them, they took Prince Sazádá into their arms, and kissed him and +loved him, and his Rání too. Goraknáth made a grand wedding-feast for +them all, and they were all very happy. + + Told by Dunkní. + +FOOTNOTES: + + [3] Yamuná. + + [4] Mahadeva, _i.e._ Siva. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XVI. + +SOME OF THE DOINGS OF SHEKH FARÍD. + + +Once there was a Rájá called Hámánsá Rájá. He had a son, named Gursan +Rájá, who married Kheláparí Rání, the daughter of Gulábsá Rájá. After +the wedding Gursan Rájá brought her home to his father's house. + +One day Gursan Rájá came home from hunting, very very tired and +thirsty. It was about twelve or one o'clock in the day. He asked +Kheláparí Rání to fetch him some water, and while she went for it he +fell asleep. When she came back she found him still sleeping, and +because he was so tired he slept all the afternoon and all night, and +never woke till the next morning. His wife stood by him all the time +holding the water in a brass cup. When he woke and found she had stood +there all the afternoon and all night he was very sorry, and asked God +to forgive him, and to give his wife whatever she wished for, no +matter what it might be. So Kheláparí wished that whatever happened in +any country, she might know of it at once of herself without any one +telling her, no matter how far away the country might be. + +One day Kheláparí Rání went to draw water from the tank, and by the +tank sat an old man, the fakír Shekh Faríd. He said to the Rání, "Give +me a little water to drink." "I will," she said, "only drink it +quickly, for my father's house is on fire, and I am going to put it +out." "How far off is your father's country?" asked Shekh Faríd. +"About twenty miles," answered Kheláparí. "Then how can you know his +house is on fire!" said Shekh Faríd; "I have been a fakír for twelve +years, and for twelve years neither ate nor drank, and yet I do not +know what happens twenty miles away." "But I know," she answered. +"Leave your water-jar here," he said, "and go and see if the house +really is on fire, and I will not drink till you return to me." + +So off went Kheláparí Rání to her father's country, and when she got +there his house was burning, and she stayed till the fire was put out, +and then returned to the tank where she left the fakír. "Is it true," +he asked, "that your father's house was on fire?" "Quite true," she +answered. The fakír wondered. "How could she know it when the fire was +twenty miles off?" he said to himself, and he determined to go to +Gulábsá Rájá's country to see if the Rání had told him the truth. + +He went by a roundabout road, as he did not know the way, so it took +him three or four days to get there. When he did, he asked some +villagers if there had been a fire at their Rájá's house. "Yes, a few +days ago there was," they answered. So the fakír, still more +astonished, decided he would go back to Hámánsá Rájá's palace and ask +Kheláparí Rání how it came to pass that she was wiser than Shekh +Faríd. + +As he was returning, he met a bullock-cart laden with bags of sugar, +and he asked the driver what the bags contained. The driver was put +out because his bullocks would not go on quickly, and he was tired +with beating and goading them, so he said crossly, "It's ashes." +"Good," said Shekh Faríd, "let it be ashes." When the cartman got to +the bazar, and went to make over the sugar to the merchant who had +sent him for it, he found all his bags full of ashes, nothing but +ashes. He was in a great state of mind, for a good deal of money had +been paid for the sugar, and he was a poor man. So he went back to +Shekh Faríd and fell down at his feet, saying, "I am a poor, poor +man. My sugar is turned to ashes. Do make the ashes sugar again." +"Good," said the fakír; "go home, and you will find sugar, and next +time you are asked what you have in your cart, tell the truth and not +lies." The cartman went home, and when he saw his sugar was sugar once +more, and no longer ashes, he was very, very glad. + +One of his brother-villagers thought, "How pleasant it would be to +become a fakír and do such things myself! I will go to this fakír and +learn from him to be a fakír too." So he went after Shekh Faríd and +found him walking along the road, and he followed him. Now Shekh Faríd +knew at once what this man wanted, so as they passed a heap of clay +bricks, he said, "O God, let it be thy pleasure to give me power to +turn these clay bricks into gold." Instantly they became gold, and +Shekh Faríd walked on; but the villager took up two of the bricks and +put one under each arm, and then followed the fakír. Suddenly Shekh +Faríd turned round, and said to him, "You have two clay bricks under +your arms." The man looked, saw it was true, and threw them away. Then +Shekh Faríd said to him, "You steal bricks, and yet wish to be a +fakír?" The man was ashamed, and went back to his village. + +Shekh Faríd continued his journey and got to Hámánsá Rájá's country; +but when he got there he found Kheláparí had gone to another country +for a little while, so he never saw her, nor found out how it was that +she knew what happened twenty miles off. + +In a jungle in Hámánsá Rájá's country he met a man, called +Fakír-achand, and his wife, who were very poor. They were going to +bury their only son, and were crying bitterly. Shekh Faríd asked them, +"Would you like your son to be alive again?" "Yes," they said. "Will +you give him to me, and I will bring him to life, and then he shall +return to you?" said Shekh Faríd. "Yes," they answered, and gave him +their dead son, and went to their home. + +The fakír carried the dead boy, who was called Mohandás, a little +further on, and then laid him on the ground, and struck him with a +long thin bamboo wand he carried in his hand. The boy stood up. Shekh +Faríd asked him, "Would you like to go home to your father and mother, +or to stay with me?" "To stay with you," said Mohandás. (Had he wished +to go home, the fakír would have been very angry.) "Then," said Shekh +Faríd, "I will call your mother here." He did so, and when she came, +he said to her, "See, here is your son alive. Will you give him to me +for twelve years?" The woman said, "Yes," and went home. The fakír +gave her and her husband a quantity of rupees and built them a +beautiful house. Then he and Mohandás set out on their travels, and +wandered about the jungles for one whole year, till they came to a +country full of large splendid gardens belonging to a very rich Rájá, +called Dumkás Rájá. + +This Rájá had a beautiful daughter, Champákálí Rání. She had lovely +golden hair, golden eyebrows, golden eyelashes, blue eyes, and her +skin was transparent. In Dumkás Rájá's country they had never seen a +fakír, so when Shekh Faríd and Mohandás arrived, the Rájá sent to +them, and asked Shekh Faríd to come to talk to him. "No," said the +fakír, "I will not go to the Rájá: if the Rájá wants me, he must come +to me." + +Dumkás Rájá was very angry when his messengers returned with this +answer, and he ordered Shekh Faríd to leave his country immediately; +but the fakír said he would not go until he had married his adopted +son, Mohandás, to Champákálí Rání. The people all laughed at him for +saying this, and declared such a marriage would never take place. +However, the fakír and Mohandás walked about and saw the town, and +looked at everything, and everybody stared at them. Then they went to +live on the border of Dumkás Rájá's country, and lived there for some +time. + +One day Shekh Faríd bought Mohandás a beautiful horse and fine clothes +such as Rájás wear, and told the boy to ride about the fields and high +roads. He also told him not to speak to any one unless they spoke to +him. Mohandás promised to do as he was bid. As he was riding along, he +met the Princess Champákálí, who was also riding. She asked him who he +was. "A Rájá's son," he said. "What Rájá?" asked Champákálí. "Never +mind what Rájá," said Mohandás. The princess then went home, and so +did Mohandás; but every day after this they met and talked together, +and the princess fell very much in love with Mohandás. + +At last she said to her father, "I wish to marry a young man who rides +about on the border-land every day, and is very handsome." The Rájá +consented, for it was time his daughter was married, and now no Rájá +from another country would come to marry her, as the demons who +guarded the princess swallowed all her suitors at one gulp, and had +already swallowed many Rájás who had come on this errand. + +Shekh Faríd said to Mohandás, "Now go up to the palace, and claim the +princess for your wife." "If I do," said Mohandás, "the demons will +swallow me." "I will not let them swallow you," said Shekh Faríd. So +Mohandás consented and set off for the palace, Shekh Faríd following +him. When Mohandás came to the demons, they were going to swallow him; +but the fakír, who had his sword in his hand, killed them all, and as +he did so, the Rájás and princes who had come as suitors to the +Princess Champákálí, and had therefore been swallowed by the demons, +all came jumping out of the demons' stomachs and ran off in all +directions as hard as they could, from fear not knowing where they +went. + +Mohandás was greatly frightened at all this; but Shekh Faríd explained +everything to him, so he went on to the palace, and the fakír went +too. There Mohandás asked Dumkás Rájá to give him his daughter as his +wife, and the Rájá consented. So he was married to Champákálí Rání, +and her father gave them a great many elephants, and horses, and +camels, and a great deal of money and many jewels. And Mohandás and +his wife set off with the fakír to his father Fakír-achand's house, +and they took all the elephants, camels, horses, money and jewels with +them. On the way Mohandás told Champákálí Rání that he was not a great +Rájá's son, but the son of poor people. Champákálí's heart was very +sad at this; however, she was not angry, only sorry. + +When they reached Hámánsá Rájá's country, and had come to +Fakír-achand's house, the fakír said to Mohandás's mother, "See, you +lent me one child, and I have brought you back two children. Does this +please you?" "Indeed it does please me," she answered; "I am very +happy." + +They built a beautiful palace and all lived in it together. The mother +begged Shekh Faríd to stay with them, saying, "Only stay with us; I +will give you a bungalow, and you shall have everything you want." But +Shekh Faríd said, "I am a fakír, and so cannot stay with you, as I may +never stay in one place, and must, instead, wander from country to +country and from jungle to jungle." So he said good-bye to them and +went on his wanderings, and never returned to them. + +Mohandás, his wife, and his father and mother, all lived happily +together. + + Told by Dunkní. + + + + +[Decoration] + +XVII. + +THE MOUSE. + + +There was a mouse who wanted something to eat; so he went to a garden, +where many kinds of grain, and fruit, and cabbages, and other +vegetables were growing. All round the garden the people to whom it +belonged had planted a hedge of thorns, that nothing might get in. The +mouse scrambled through the hedge, but great thorns pierced his tail, +and he began to cry. He came out of the garden again through the +hedge, and on his way home he met a barber. + +"You must take out these thorns," said he to the barber. + +"I cannot," said the barber, "without cutting off your tail with my +razor." + +"Never mind cutting off my tail," said the mouse. + +The barber cut off the mouse's tail. But the mouse was in a rage. He +seized the razor and ran away with it. At this the poor barber was +very unhappy and began to cry, for he had no pice wherewith to buy +another. + +The mouse ran on and on until at last he came to another country, in +which there were no knives or sickles to cut the grass with. There the +mouse saw a man pulling the grass out of the ground with his hands. + +"You will cut your hands," said the mouse. + +"There are no knives here," said the man, "so I must pull up the grass +in this way." + +"You must take my razor then," said the mouse. + +"Suppose your razor should break? I could not buy you another," said +the man. + +"Never mind if it does break," said the mouse, "I give it to you as a +present." + +So the man took the razor and began cutting the grass, and as he was +cutting, the razor broke. + +"Oh, why have you broken my razor?" exclaimed the mouse. + +"Did not I tell you it would break?" answered the man. + +The mouse snatched up the man's blanket and ran off with it. The +grass-cutter began to cry. "What shall I do?" said he. "The mouse has +carried away my blanket, and I have not money wherewith to buy +another." And he went home very sad. + +Meanwhile the mouse ran on and on until he arrived at another country, +where he saw a grain merchant chopping up sugar-canes; only as he had +no blanket or cloth to lay the canes on, he chopped them up on the +ground, and so they got dirty. + +"Why do you chop up your canes on the ground?" said the mouse; "they +all get dirty." + +"What can I do?" answered the man. "I have no pice wherewith to buy a +blanket to chop them on." + +"Then why don't you take mine?" said the mouse. + +"If I took yours it would get cut, and I have no money to buy you +another," said the grain merchant. + +"Never mind; I don't want another," said the mouse. + +So the man took the blanket, and of course he cut it. When he had +finished chopping up his sugar-canes, he gave it back to the mouse. + +When the mouse saw the blanket was full of holes, he was very angry +indeed with the man, and seizing all the sugar-canes he ran away with +them as fast as he could. The grain merchant began to cry. "What shall +I do?" said he; "I have no more sugar-canes." And he went home very +sorrowful. + +Then the mouse ran on and on till he came to another country, where he +stopped at a sweetmeat-seller's shop. Now in this country there was no +salt and no sugar. And the sweetmeat-seller made his sweetmeats of +flour and ghee without either sugar or salt, so that they were very +nasty. + +"Will you give me some sweetmeats for a pice?" said the mouse to the +sweetmeat-seller. "Yes," answered the man, and he gave one. The mouse +began to eat it and thought it very nasty indeed. + +"Why, there is no sugar in it!" exclaimed the mouse. + +"No," said the man; "we have no sugar in this country. The few +sugar-canes we have are so dear, that poor people like myself cannot +buy them." + +"Then take my sugar-canes," cried the mouse. + +"No," said the man. "Where should I find the money to pay you for +them? They would be all used in making sweetmeats." + +"Take them," said the mouse; "I give them to you." + +The sweetmeat-seller took them and began making sweetmeats of all +kinds, so that he used all the sugar-canes. + +"Why have you used all my sugar-canes?" cried the mouse. + +"Did not I tell you I should do so?" said the man. + +"You are a thief!" cried the mouse, and he knocked down the +sweetmeat-seller, seized all his sweetmeats, and ran off with them. + +"What shall I do now?" cried the sweetmeat-seller. "I have no money to +buy flour and ghee to make more sweetmeats with; and if I quarrel with +the mouse, he will doubtless kill me." + +Meanwhile the mouse ran on and on till he reached a country, the Rájá +of which had a great many cows--hundreds of cows. The mouse stopped at +the pasture-ground of these cows. Now, the cowherds were so poor they +could not buy bread every day, and sometimes they ate bread which was +twelve days old. When the mouse arrived, the cowherds were eating +their bread, and it was very stale and mouldy. + +"Why do you eat that stale bread?" said the mouse. + +"Because we have no money to buy any other with," answered the +cowherds. + +"Look at all these sweetmeats," said the mouse. "Take them and eat +them instead of that stale bread." + +"But if we eat them, we must pay you for them, and where shall we get +the money?" said the cowherds. + +"Oh, never mind the money," said the mouse. + +So the cowherds took the sweetmeats and ate them all up. At this the +mouse was furious. He stuck a pole into the ground, and ran and +fetched ropes, and tied the cowherds hand and foot to the pole. Then +he took all the cows and ran off with them. + +He ran on and on till he got to a country where there were no fowls, +no cows, no buffaloes, no meat of any kind; and the people in it did +not even know what milk and meat were. The day the mouse arrived was +the day the Rájá's daughter was to be married, and a great many people +were assembled together. The Rájá's cooks were cooking, but they had +neither meat nor ghee. + +"Why are all these people assembled together?" said the mouse. + +"To-day is our Rájá's daughter's wedding-day, and we are cooking the +dinner," answered the cooks. + +"But you have no meat," said the mouse. + +"No," said the cooks. "There is no meat of any kind in our country." + +"Take my cows," said the mouse. + +"No," said the cooks; "our Rájá could not pay for them; he is too +poor." (He was only a petty Rájá.) + +"It does not matter," said the mouse. "I don't want money." + +So the cooks took the cows and the sheep and killed them, and dressed +their flesh in different ways; made pilaus and curries; they roasted +some and boiled some, and gave it to the people to eat. In this way +they made an end of all the cows. + +"Why have you made an end of all my cows?" cried the mouse. + +"Did not we tell you we should make use of them all?" said the cooks. + +"Give me my cows," said the mouse. + +"We can't. The people have eaten them all up," said the cooks. + +The mouse was in a great rage. He ran off to the bridegroom, who was +walking near the kitchen, saying to himself, "Now I will go and fetch +my bride." + +"Give me the money for my cows," cried the mouse to him. "Your people +have eaten them all up, and your cooks won't pay me, so you must." + +"What have I to do with your cows?" said the bridegroom. "I won't pay +you for them." + +"Then if you won't pay me, your wife's father must," said the mouse. + +"Oh, _he_ is too poor to pay for your cows," said the bridegroom, "and +I won't." + +"Then if I am not paid, I will take away your bride," said the mouse; +and he ran off and carried away the bride. + +The Rájá was very angry at this; but the mouse ran on and on with his +wife (so he called the Rájá's daughter) till he came to another +country. + +Now, on the day he arrived in it there were going to be grand sights +and fun to please its Rájá. Some jugglers and rope-dancers were going +to perform. + +"Take my wife and let her walk on the rope; she is young, and your +wives are old," said the mouse to the rope-dancers. + +"No," they answered, "for she does not know how to walk on a rope and +carry at the same time a wooden plate on her head. She would fall and +break her neck." + +"But you must take my wife," said the mouse. "She won't fall; she is +young, and your wives are old. You really must take her." + +So the rope-dancers took her, much against their will, and when she +began to walk on the rope with the wooden plate on her head, she fell +and died. + +"Oh, why have you killed my wife?" cried the mouse. + +"Did we not tell you she would fall and kill herself?" answered the +rope-dancers. + +The mouse seized all the jugglers' and rope-dancers' wives, and the +things they used in dancing and juggling, and ran off with them. Then +the rope-dancers and jugglers began to cry, and said, "What shall we +do? Our wives and our property are all gone!" + +Meanwhile the mouse ran on and on until he came to another country, +where he got a house to live in. And he ate a great deal, and grew so +fat that he could not get through the door of his house. + +"Send for a carpenter," said he to the rope-dancers' and jugglers' +wives, "and tell him to cut off some of my flesh. Then I shall be able +to get into my house." + +The women sent for a carpenter, and when he came the mouse said to +him, "cut off some of my flesh, then I shall be able to go into my +house." + +"If I do," said the carpenter, "you will die." + +"No, I shan't die," said the mouse. "Do as I bid you." + +So the carpenter took his knife, and cut off some of the mouse's +flesh. + +"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" cried the mouse; "how it does hurt! What can I +do to make it stop paining me?" + +"You must go to a certain place, where a particular kind of grain +grows, and rub the grain on your wounds. Then they will get quite +well," said the carpenter. + +So the mouse ran off to the place to which the carpenter had told him +to go, and rubbed his wounds with the grain. This gave him such pain +that he fell down and died. + +The rope-dancers' and jugglers' wives went home to their husbands with +all the things the mouse had carried away, and they all lived happily +ever after. + + Told by Karím. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XVIII. + +A WONDERFUL STORY. + + +Once there lived two wrestlers, who were both very very strong. The +stronger of the two had a daughter called Ajít; the other had no +daughter at all. These wrestlers did not live in the same country, but +their two villages were not far apart. + +One day the wrestler that had no daughter heard of the wrestler that +had a daughter, and he determined to go and find him and wrestle with +him, to see who was the stronger. He went therefore to Ajít's father's +country, and when he arrived at his house, he knocked at the door and +said, "Is any one here?" Ajít answered, "Yes, I am here;" and she came +out. "Where is the wrestler who lives in this house?" he asked. "My +father," answered Ajít, "has taken three hundred carts to the jungle, +and he is drawing them himself, as he could not get enough bullocks +and horses to pull them along. He is gone to get wood." This +astonished the wrestler very much. "Your father must indeed be very +strong," he said. + +Then he set off to the jungle, and in the jungle he found two dead +elephants. He tied them to the two ends of a pole, took the pole on +his shoulder, and returned to Ajít's house. There he knocked at the +door, crying, "Is any one here?" "Yes, I am here," said Ajít. "Has +your father come back?" asked the wrestler. "Not yet," said Ajít, who +was busy sweeping the room. Now, her father had twelve elephants. +Eleven were in the stables, but one was lying dead in the room Ajít +was sweeping; and as she swept, she swept the dead elephant without +any trouble out of the door. This frightened the wrestler. "What a +strong girl this is!" he said to himself. When Ajít had swept all the +dust out of the room, she came and gathered it and the dead elephant +up, and threw dust and elephant away. The wrestler was more and more +astonished. + +He set off again to find Ajít's father, and met him pulling the three +hundred carts along. At this he was still more alarmed, but he said to +him, "Will you wrestle with me now?" "No," said Ajít's father, "I +won't; for here there is no one to see us." The other again begged him +to wrestle at once, and at that moment an old woman bent with age came +by. She was carrying bread to her son, who had taken his mother's +three or four thousand camels to browse. + +The first wrestler called to her at once, "Come and see us wrestle." +"No," said the old woman, "for I must take my son his dinner. He is +very hungry." "No, no; you must stay and see us wrestle," cried both +the wrestlers. "I cannot stay," she said; "but do one of you stand on +one of my hands, and the other on the other, and then you can wrestle +as we go along." "You carry us!" cried the men. "You are so old, you +will never be able to carry us." "Indeed I shall," said the old woman. +So they got up on her hands, and she rested her hands, with the +wrestlers standing on them, on her shoulders; and her son's +flour-cakes she put on her head. Thus they went on their way, and the +men wrestled as they went. + +Now the old woman had told her son that if he did not do his work +well, she would bring men to kill him; so he was dreadfully frightened +when he saw his mother coming with the wrestlers. "Here is my mother +coming to kill me," he said: and he tied up the three or four +thousand camels in his cloth, put them all on his head, and ran off +with them as fast as he could. "Stop, stop!" cried his mother, when +she saw him running away. But he only ran on still faster, and the old +woman and the wrestlers ran after him. + +Just then a kite was flying about, and the kite said to itself, "There +must be some meat in that man's cloth," so it swept down and carried +off the bundle of camels. The old woman's son at this sat down and +cried. + +The wrestlers soon came up to him and said, "What are you crying for?" +"Oh," answered the boy, "my mother said that if I did not do my work, +she would bring men to kill me. So, when I saw you coming with her, I +tied all the camels up in my cloth, put them on my head, and ran off. +A kite came down and carried them all away. That is why I am crying." +The wrestlers were much astonished at the boy's strength and at the +kite's strength, and they all three set off in the direction in which +the kite had flown. + +Meanwhile the kite had flown on and on till it had reached another +country, and the daughter of the Rájá of this country was sitting on +the roof of the palace, combing her long black hair. The princess +looked up at the kite and the bundle, and said, "There must be meat in +that bundle." At that moment the kite let the bundle of camels fall, +and it fell into the princess's eye, and went deep into it; but her +eye was so large that it did not hurt her much. "Oh, mother! mother!" +she cried, "something has fallen into my eye! come and take it out." +Her mother rushed up, took the bundle of camels out of the princess's +eye, and shoved the bundle into her pocket. + +The wrestlers and the old woman's son now came up, having seen all +that had happened. "Where is the bundle of camels?" said they, "and +why do you cry?" they asked the princess. "Oh," said her mother, "she +is crying because something fell into her eye." "It was the bundle of +camels that fell into her eye, and the bundle is in your pocket," said +the old woman's son to the Rání: and he put his hand into her pocket +and pulled out the bundle. Then he and the wrestlers went back to +Ajít's father's house, and on the way they met his old mother, who +went with them. + +They invited a great many people to dinner, and Ajít took a large +quantity of flour and made it into flat cakes. Then she handed a cake +to the wrestler who had come to see her father, and gave one to +everybody else. "I can't eat such a big cake as this," said the +wrestler. "Can't you?" said Ajít. "I can't indeed," he answered; "it +is much too big." "Then I will eat it myself," said Ajít, and taking +it and all the other cakes she popped them into her mouth together. +"That is not half enough for me," she said. Then she offered him a can +of water. "I cannot drink all that water," he said. "Can't you?" said +Ajít; "I can drink much more than that." So she filled a large tub +with water, lifted it to her mouth, and drank it all up at a draught. + +The wrestler was very much astonished, and said to her, "Will you come +to my house? I will give you a dinner." "You will never be able to +give me enough to eat and drink," said Ajít. "Yes, I shall," he said. +"You will not be able to give me enough, I am sure," said Ajít; "I +cannot come." "Do come," he said. "Very well," she answered, "I will +come; but I know you will never be able to give me enough food." + +So they set off to his house. But when they had gone a little way, she +said, "I must have my house with me." "I cannot carry your house," +said the wrestler. "You must," said Ajít, "if you don't, I cannot go +with you." "But I cannot carry your house," said the wrestler. "Well, +then," said Ajít, "I will carry it myself." So she went back, dug up +her house, and hoisted it on her head. This frightened the wrestler. +"What a strong woman she must be!" he thought. "I will not wrestle +with her father; for if I do, he will kill me." + +Then they all went on till they came to his house. When they got to +it, Ajít set her house down on the ground, and the wrestler went to +get the dinner he had promised her. He brought quantities of +things--all sorts of things--everything he could think of. Three kinds +of flour, milk, dhall, rice, curries, and meat. Then he showed them +all to Ajít. "That is not enough for my dinner," she said. "Why, that +would be hardly enough for my mice!" + +The wrestler wondered very much at this, and asked, "Are your mice so +very big?" "Yes, they are very big," she answered; "come and see." So +he took up all the food he had brought, and laid it on the floor of +Ajít's house. Then at once all the mice came and ate it up every bit. +The wrestler was greatly surprised; and Ajít said, "Did I not tell you +true? and did I not tell you, you would never be able to get me enough +to eat?" "Come to the Nabha Rájá's country," said the wrestler. "There +you will surely get enough to eat." + +To this she agreed; so she, her father, and the wrestler went off to +the Nabha Rájá's country. "I have brought a very strong girl," said +the wrestler to the Nabha Rájá. "I will try her strength," said the +Rájá. "Give me three elephants," said Ajít, "and I will carry them for +you." Then the Rájá sent for three elephants, and said to her, "Now, +carry these." "Give me a rope," said Ajít. So they gave her a rope, +and she tied the three elephants together, and flung them over her +shoulder. "Now, where shall I throw them?" she said to the astonished +Rájá. "Shall I throw them on to the roof of your palace? or on to the +ground? or away out there?" "I don't know," said the Rájá. "Throw them +upon my roof." She threw the elephants up on to the roof with such +force that it broke, and the elephants fell through into the palace. + +"What have you done?" cried the Rájá. "It is not my fault," answered +Ajít. "You told me to throw the elephants on to your roof, and so I +did." Then the Rájá sent for a great many men and bullocks and horses +to pull the elephants out of his palace. But they could not the first +time they pulled; then they tried a second time and succeeded, and +they threw the elephants away. + +Then Ajít went home. "What shall I do with this dreadful woman?" said +the Nabha Rájá. "She is sure to kill me, and take all my country. I +will try to kill her." So he got his sepoys and guns into order, and +went out to kill Ajít. She was looking out of her window, and saw them +coming. "Oh," she said, "here is the Nabha Rájá coming to kill me." +Then she went out of her house and asked him why he had come. "To kill +you," said the Rájá. "Is that what you want to do?" she said; and with +one hand she took up the Rájá, his guns, and his sepoys, and put them +all under her arm: and she carried them all off to the Nabha Rájá's +country. There she put the Rájá into prison, and made herself Rání of +his kingdom. She was very much pleased at being Rání of the Nabha +country; for it was a rich country, and there were quantities of +fruits and of corn in it. And she lived happily for a long, long time. + + Told by Karím, 13th January, 1877. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XIX. + +THE FAKÍR NÁNAKSÁ SAVES THE MERCHANT'S LIFE. + + +In a country there was a grain merchant who was a very good man. Now a +fakír named Nánaksá, who was also a very good man, came constantly to +talk with him. + +One day he came as usual, and the merchant and his wife were very glad +to see him. As they were all sitting together, they saw a goat led +away to be killed. The goat escaped from the man who was leading him +and hid behind the merchant, but he was caught and marched off to +death. + +At this the merchant said nothing, but the fakír laughed. + +A little later they saw an old woman who had done something wrong, +and, therefore, the king had ordered her to be taken to the jungle and +there put to death. The old woman escaped from the men who were +leading her and took refuge behind the merchant, but she was seized +and led away to die. + +The merchant said nothing; the fakír laughed, and the merchant's wife +saw him laugh. + +At this moment the merchant's little daughter woke and began to +scream. Her mother took her in her arms; the child was cross and +pulled her mother's clothes all awry. + +The fakír laughed. + +The mother put her dress straight and held her child in her arms and +stopped her crying. She then took a knife and went up to the fakír, +saying, "Why did you laugh three times? Tell me the truth. What made +you laugh three times?" Nánaksá answered, "What does it signify +whether I cry or laugh? Ask me no questions, for I am a fakír, and it +does not matter in the least whether I laugh or cry." However, the +merchant's wife insisted on knowing why he laughed, and she said, "If +you do not tell me, I will kill you with my knife." "Good," said +Nánaksá; "if you really do wish to know, I will tell you." "I really +do wish to know," she answered. + +"Well," said Nánaksá, "you remember the goat took refuge behind your +husband? That goat in his former life was your husband's father, and +your husband would have saved him from death had he given the man who +was taking him to be killed four rupees, for the man would then have +gone away contentedly without the goat." + +"Good," said the woman. "Why did you laugh the second time?" + +"Well," said Nánaksá, "that old woman who hid herself behind your +husband was his grandmother in her former life. Had your husband given +the men who were taking her to the jungle twenty rupees, they would +have given her up to him, and he would have saved her from death. +Should a wild beast or a man ever take refuge behind us, it is our +duty to save his life." + +"Well," said the merchant's wife, "you have told me why you laughed +the first two times. Now tell me why you laughed the third time." + +"Listen," said Nánaksá. "You remember your husband's sister whom you +tormented so much? She died, but then God caused her to be born again +as your daughter, that she might torment you and punish you for having +been so unkind to her in her former life when she was your +sister-in-law." + +"Is that true?" said the woman. + +"Quite true," answered the fakír, "and that is why I laughed the third +time. But now would you like to hear something I wish to tell you? If +you promise not to cry, I will tell it you." + +"I promise not to cry, so tell me," she said. + +"Then listen," said Nánaksá. "God has decreed that your husband shall +die to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. He will send four angels to +fetch him." + +At this the poor woman began to cry bitterly. + +"Do not cry," said the fakír. "I will tell you something more. Listen +to me. To-morrow morning at four o'clock you must get up, and make +your house quite clean and neat. Then buy new dishes and make all the +nicest and most delicious sweetmeats you can." + +"I will do so," she answered. + +When it was yet night she rose, and did all the fakír had bidden her. +Then she went to him and said, "The sweetmeats are ready." "Now," said +Nánaksá, "go and get a fine, clean cloth; take it and the sweetmeats +with you, and set out and walk on and on till you come to a plain +which is a long way from this. But you must go on till you reach it, +and on it you will see a tank and a tree. By the tank and the tree you +must spread your cloth and lay out your sweetmeats on it. At nine +o'clock you will see four men, who will come and bathe in the tank. +When they have bathed they will come towards you, and you must say to +them, 'See! you are four angels, therefore you must eat some of my +sweetmeats.'" + +The woman set out for the plain and did all Nánaksá had told her to +do; and everything happened as he had foretold. When the four men had +bathed, they came towards the woman, and she said to them, "See! you +are four angels, and therefore you must eat some of my sweetmeats." +The chief of the four angels, who was called Jabrá'íl, and the three +other angels answered, "We have no money, wherewith to buy your +sweetmeats, so how can we eat any of them?" "Never mind the money," +said the woman; "you can pay me another day. Come now and eat some." +So the four angels sat down and ate a great many of her sweetmeats. + +When they had finished they stood up and said to each other, "Now we +must go to the village and fetch the merchant." Then the woman made +them a great many salaams and said, "That merchant is my husband. +Still, if it is your pleasure to take him away, take him away." + +At this the angels were sad, and said to her, "How can we take your +husband's life now that we have eaten your food? But stay under this +tree till we return, and then we will pay you for your sweetmeats." + +So the angels left her, and the wife waited under the tree. She was +very sad; and after some time she thought, "Now I will go home: +perhaps these angels are gone to take his life;" and then she cried +bitterly and remained under the tree. + +Meanwhile the four angels had gone back to God, who asked them, "Have +you brought the merchant?" They were sorry not to have brought him, +and told God all that had happened. And God was very angry; but he +said to them. "Never mind. I know the fakír Nánaksá is with the +merchant and his wife just now, and it is he who has played you this +trick." + +Then God wrote a letter in which he promised the merchant twenty years +more life, only at the end of the twenty years he was really to die +and not to be allowed to live any longer. This letter he gave to the +angels, and bade them take it to the merchant's wife and tell her to +have a silver box made, into which she was to put the letter, and +then hang it round her husband's neck, so that he should live for +twenty years more. + +The four angels came down to earth again, and went to the tree under +which they had left the woman. They found her waiting for them, and +gave her the letter saying, "You must get a silver box made and put +this letter in it; then hang it round your husband's neck, so that he +may live for twenty years more." + +The woman thanked them, and was very happy. She took the letter and +went home. There she found her husband quite well, and with him was +Nánaksá. She gave Nánaksá the letter and told him what the angels had +bidden her do with it. Nánaksá read the letter, and was very much +pleased. Then he said to her, "Call a silversmith here, and let him +make you the silver box. Then you must get a great dinner ready, and +ask all your friends, rich and poor, to come and eat it." + +All this she did, and when the dinner was ready and all their friends +had come, the fakír said, "None who are here, men, women, or children, +must eat, till they have put their hands before their faces and +worshipped God." Everybody hid his face in his hands at once and +worshipped God: while they did this the fakír stole away from them, so +when they uncovered their faces he was nowhere to be seen. No one knew +where he had gone, and no one had seen him go. Some of the men went to +look for him, but they could not find him, and none of them ever saw +him again. + +But the merchant and his wife lived happily together. + + Told by Múniyá. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XX. + +THE BOY WHO HAD A MOON ON HIS FOREHEAD AND A STAR ON HIS CHIN. + + +In a country were seven daughters of poor parents, who used to come +daily to play under the shady trees in the King's garden with the +gardener's daughter; and daily she used to say to them, "When I am +married I shall have a son. Such a beautiful boy as he will be has +never been seen. He will have a moon on his forehead, and a star on +his chin." Then her playfellows used to laugh at her and mock her. + +But one day the King heard her telling them about the beautiful boy +she would have when she was married, and he said to himself he should +like very much to have such a son; the more so that though he had +already four wives he had no child. He went, therefore, to the +gardener and told him he wished to marry his daughter. This delighted +the gardener and his wife, who thought it would indeed be grand for +their daughter to become a princess. So they said "Yes" to the King, +and invited all their friends to the wedding. The King invited all +his, and he gave the gardener as much money as he wanted. Then the +wedding was held with great feasting and rejoicing. + +A year later the day drew near on which the gardener's daughter was to +have her son; and the King's four other wives came constantly to see +her. One day they said to her, "The King hunts every day; and the time +is soon coming when you will have your child. Suppose you fell ill +whilst he was out hunting and could therefore know nothing of your +illness, what would you do then?" + +When the King came home that evening, the gardener's daughter said to +him, "Every day you go out hunting. Should I ever be in trouble or +sick while you are away, how could I send for you?" The King gave her +a kettle-drum which he placed near the door for her, and he said to +her, "Whenever you want me, beat this kettle-drum. No matter how far +away I may be, I shall hear it, and will come at once to you." + +Next morning, when the King had gone out to hunt, his four other wives +came to see the gardener's daughter. She told them all about her +kettle-drum. "Oh," they said, "do drum on it just to see if the King +really will come to you." "No, I will not," she said; "for why should +I call him from his hunting when I do not want him?" "Don't mind +interrupting his hunting," they answered. "Do try if he really will +come to you when you beat your kettle-drum." So at last, just to +please them, she beat it, and the King stood before her. + +"Why have you called me?" he said. "See, I have left my hunting to +come to you." "I want nothing," she answered; "I only wished to know +if you really would come to me when I beat my drum." "Very well," +answered the King; "but do not call me again unless you really need +me." Then he returned to his hunting. + +The next day, when the King had gone out hunting as usual, the four +wives again came to see the gardener's daughter. They begged and +begged her to beat her drum once more, "just to see if the King will +really come to see you this time." At first she refused, but at last +she consented. So she beat her drum, and the King came to her. But +when he found she was neither ill nor in trouble, he was angry, and +said to her, "Twice I have left my hunting and lost my game to come +to you when you did not need me. Now you may call me as much as you +like, but I will not come to you," and then he went away in a rage. + +The third day the gardener's daughter fell ill, and she beat and beat +her kettle-drum; but the King never came. He heard her kettle-drum, +but he thought, "She does not really want me; she is only trying to +see if I will go to her." + +Meanwhile the four other wives came to her, and they said, "Here it is +the custom before a child is born to bind its mother's eyes with a +handkerchief that she may not see it just at first. So let us bind +your eyes." She answered, "Very well, bind my eyes." The four wives +then tied a handkerchief over them. + +Soon after, the gardener's daughter had a beautiful little son, with a +moon on his forehead and a star on his chin; and before the poor +mother had seen him, the four wicked wives took the boy to the nurse +and said to her, "Now you must not let this child make the least sound +for fear his mother should hear him; and in the night you must either +kill him, or else take him away, so that his mother may never see him. +If you obey our orders, we will give you a great many rupees." All +this they did out of spite. The nurse took the little child and put +him into a box, and the four wives went back to the gardener's +daughter. + +First they put a stone into her boy's little bed, and then they took +the handkerchief off her eyes and showed it her, saying, "Look! this +is your son!" The poor girl cried bitterly, and thought, "What will +the King say when he finds no child?" But she could do nothing. + +When the King came home, he was furious at hearing his youngest wife, +the gardener's daughter, had given him a stone instead of the +beautiful little son she had promised him. He made her one of the +palace servants, and never spoke to her. + +In the middle of the night the nurse took the box in which was the +beautiful little prince, and went out to a broad plain in the jungle. +There she dug a hole, made the fastenings of the box sure, and put the +box into the hole, although the child in it was still alive. The +King's dog, whose name was Shankar, had followed her to see what she +did with the box. As soon as she had gone back to the four wives (who +gave her a great many rupees), the dog went to the hole in which she +had put the box, took the box out, and opened it. When he saw the +beautiful little boy, he was very much delighted and said, "If it +pleases God that this child should live, I will not hurt him; I will +not eat him, but I will swallow him whole and hide him in my stomach." +This he did. + +After six months had passed, the dog went by night to the jungle, and +thought, "I wonder whether the boy is alive or dead." Then he brought +the child out of his stomach and rejoiced over his beauty. The boy was +now six months old. When Shankar had caressed and loved him, he +swallowed him again for another six months. At the end of that time he +went once more by night to the broad jungle-plain. There he brought up +the child out of his stomach (the child was now a year old), and +caressed and petted him a great deal, and was made very happy by his +great beauty. + +But this time the dog's keeper had followed and watched the dog; and +he saw all that Shankar did, and the beautiful little child, so he ran +to the four wives and said to them, "Inside the King's dog there is a +child! the loveliest child! He has a moon on his forehead and a star +on his chin. Such a child has never been seen!" At this the four wives +were very much frightened, and as soon as the King came home from +hunting they said to him, "While you were away your dog came to our +rooms, and tore our clothes and knocked about all our things. We are +afraid he will kill us." "Do not be afraid," said the King. "Eat your +dinner and be happy. I will have the dog shot to-morrow morning." + +Then he ordered his servants to shoot the dog at dawn, but the dog +heard him, and said to himself, "What shall I do? The King intends to +kill me. I don't care about that, but what will become of the child if +I am killed? He will die. But I will see if I cannot save him." + +So when it was night, the dog ran to the King's cow, who was called +Surí, and said to her, "Surí, I want to give you something, for the +King has ordered me to be shot to-morrow. Will you take great care of +whatever I give you?" "Let me see what it is," said Surí; "I will take +care of it if I can." Then they both went together to the wide plain, +and there the dog brought up the boy. Surí was enchanted with him. "I +never saw such a beautiful child in this country," she said. "See, he +has a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin. I will take the +greatest care of him." So saying she swallowed the little prince. The +dog made her a great many salaams, and said, "To-morrow I shall die;" +and the cow then went back to her stable. + +Next morning at dawn the dog was taken to the jungle and shot. + +The child now lived in Surí's stomach; and when one whole year had +passed, and he was two years old, the cow went out to the plain, and +said to herself, "I do not know whether the child is alive or dead. +But I have never hurt it, so I will see." Then she brought up the boy; +and he played about, and Surí was delighted; she loved him and +caressed him, and talked to him. Then she swallowed him, and returned +to her stable. + +At the end of another year she went again to the plain and brought up +the child. He played and ran about for an hour to her great delight, +and she talked to him and caressed him. His great beauty made her very +happy. Then she swallowed him once more and returned to her stable. +The child was now three years old. + +But this time the cowherd had followed Surí, and had seen the +wonderful child and all she did to it. So he ran and told the four +wives, "The King's cow has a beautiful boy inside her. He has a moon +on his forehead and a star on his chin. Such a child has never been +seen before!" + +At this the wives were terrified. They tore their clothes and their +hair and cried. When the King came home at evening, he asked them why +they were so agitated. "Oh," they said, "your cow came and tried to +kill us; but we ran away. She tore our hair and our clothes." "Never +mind," said the King. "Eat your dinner and be happy. The cow shall be +killed to-morrow morning." + +Now Surí heard the King give this order to the servants, so she said +to herself, "What shall I do to save the child?" When it was midnight, +she went to the King's horse called Katar, who was very wicked, and +quite untameable. No one had ever been able to ride him; indeed no one +could go near him with safety, he was so savage. Surí said to this +horse, "Katar, will you take care of something that I want to give +you, because the King has ordered me to be killed to-morrow?" "Good," +said Katar; "show me what it is." Then Surí brought up the child, and +the horse was delighted with him. "Yes," he said, "I will take the +greatest care of him. Till now no one has been able to ride me, but +this child shall ride me." Then he swallowed the boy, and when he had +done so, the cow made him many salaams, saying, "It is for this boy's +sake that I am to die." The next morning she was taken to the jungle +and there killed. + +The beautiful boy now lived in the horse's stomach, and he stayed in +it for one whole year. At the end of that time the horse thought, "I +will see if this child is alive or dead." So he brought him up; and +then he loved him, and petted him, and the little prince played all +about the stable, out of which the horse was never allowed to go. +Katar was very glad to see the child, who was now four years old. +After he had played for some time, the horse swallowed him again. At +the end of another year, when the boy was five years old, Katar +brought him up again, caressed him, loved him, and let him play about +the stable as he had done a year before. Then the horse swallowed him +again. + +But this time the groom had seen all that happened, and when it was +morning, and the King had gone away to his hunting, he went to the +four wicked wives, and told them all he had seen, and all about the +wonderful, beautiful child that lived inside the King's horse Katar. +On hearing the groom's story the four wives cried, and tore their hair +and clothes, and refused to eat. When the King returned at evening and +asked them why they were so miserable, they said, "Your horse Katar +came and tore our clothes, and upset all our things, and we ran away +for fear he should kill us." "Never mind," said the King. "Only eat +your dinner and be happy. I will have Katar shot to-morrow." Then he +thought that two men unaided could not kill such a wicked horse, so he +ordered his servants to bid his troop of sepoys shoot him. + +So the next day the King placed his sepoys all round the stable, and +he took up his stand with them; and he said he would himself shoot any +one who let his horse escape. + +Meanwhile the horse had overheard all these orders. So he brought up +the child and said to him, "Go into that little room that leads out of +the stable, and you will find in it a saddle and bridle which you must +put on me. Then you will find in the room some beautiful clothes such +as princes wear; these you must put on yourself; and you must take the +sword and gun you will find there too. Then you must mount on my +back." Now Katar was a fairy-horse, and came from the fairies' +country, so he could get anything he wanted; but neither the King nor +any of his people knew this. When all was ready, Katar burst out of +his stable, with the prince on his back, rushed past the King himself +before the King had time to shoot him, galloped away to the great +jungle-plain, and galloped about all over it. The King saw his horse +had a boy on his back, though he could not see the boy distinctly. The +sepoys tried in vain to shoot the horse; he galloped much too fast; +and at last they were all scattered over the plain. Then the King had +to give it up and go home; and his sepoys went to their homes. The +King could not shoot any of his sepoys for letting his horse escape, +for he himself had let him do so. + +Then Katar galloped away, on, and on, and on; and when night came they +stayed under a tree, he and the King's son. The horse ate grass, and +the boy wild fruits which he found in the jungle. Next morning they +started afresh, and went far, and far, till they came to a jungle in +another country, which did not belong to the little prince's father, +but to another king. Here Katar said to the boy, "Now get off my +back." Off jumped the prince. "Unsaddle me and take off my bridle; +take off your beautiful clothes and tie them all up in a bundle with +your sword and gun." This the boy did. Then the horse gave him some +poor, common clothes, which he told him to put on. As soon as he was +dressed in them the horse said, "Hide your bundle in this grass, and I +will take care of it for you. I will always stay in this jungle-plain, +so that when you want me you will always find me. You must now go away +and find service with some one in this country." This made the boy +very sad. "I know nothing about anything," he said. "What shall I do +all alone in this country?" "Do not be afraid," answered Katar. "You +will find service, and I will always stay here to help you when you +want me. So go, only before you go, twist my right ear." The boy did +so, and his horse instantly became a donkey. "Now twist your right +ear," said Katar. And when the boy had twisted it, he was no longer a +handsome prince, but a poor, common-looking, ugly man; and his moon +and star were hidden. + +Then he went away further into the country, until he came to a grain +merchant of the country, who asked him who he was. "I am a poor man," +answered the boy, "and I want service." "Good," said the grain +merchant, "you shall be my servant." + +Now the grain merchant lived near the King's palace, and one night at +twelve o'clock the boy was very hot; so he went out into the King's +cool garden, and began to sing a lovely song. The seventh and youngest +daughter of the King heard him, and she wondered who it was who could +sing so deliciously. Then she put on her clothes, rolled up her hair, +and came down to where the seemingly poor common man was lying +singing. "Who are you? where do you come from?" she asked. But he +answered nothing. "Who is this man who does not answer when I speak to +him?" thought the little princess, and she went away. On the second +night the same thing happened, and on the third night too. But on the +third night, when she found she could not make him answer her, she +said to him, "What a strange man you are not to answer me when I speak +to you." But still he remained silent, so she went away. + +The next day when he had finished his work, the young prince went to +the jungle to see his horse, who asked him, "Are you quite well and +happy?" "Yes, I am," answered the boy. "I am servant to a grain +merchant. The last three nights I have gone into the King's garden and +sung a song. And each night the youngest princess has come to me and +asked me who I am, and whence I came, and I have answered nothing. +What shall I do now?" The horse said, "Next time she asks you who you +are, tell her you are a very poor man, and came from your own country +to find service here." + +The boy then went home to the grain merchant, and at night, when +every one had gone to bed, he went to the King's garden and sang his +sweet song again. The youngest princess heard him, got up, dressed, +and came to him. "Who are you? Whence do you come?" she asked. "I am a +very poor man," he answered. "I came from my own country to seek +service here, and I am now one of the grain merchant's servants." Then +she went away. For three more nights the boy sang in the King's +garden, and each night the princess came and asked him the same +questions as before, and the boy gave her the same answers. + +Then she went to her father, and said to him, "Father, I wish to be +married; but I must choose my husband myself." Her father consented to +this, and he wrote and invited all the Kings and Rájás in the land, +saying, "My youngest daughter wishes to be married, but she insists on +choosing her husband herself. As I do not know who it is she wishes to +marry, I beg you will all come on a certain day, for her to see you +and make her choice." + +A great many Kings, Rájás, and their sons accepted this invitation and +came. When they had all arrived, the little princess's father said to +them, "To-morrow morning you must all sit together in my garden" (the +King's garden was very large), "for then my youngest daughter will +come and see you all, and choose her husband. I do not know whom she +will choose." + +The youngest princess ordered a grand elephant to be ready for her the +next morning, and when the morning came, and all was ready, she +dressed herself in the most lovely clothes, and put on her beautiful +jewels; then she mounted her elephant, which was painted blue. In her +hand she took a gold necklace. + +Then she went into the garden where the Kings, Rájás, and their sons +were seated. The boy, the grain merchant's servant, was also in the +garden: not as a suitor, but looking on with the other servants. + +The princess rode all round the garden, and looked at all the Kings +and Rájás and princes, and then she hung the gold necklace round the +neck of the boy, the grain merchant's servant. At this everybody +laughed, and the Kings were greatly astonished. But then they and the +Rájás said, "What fooling is this?" and they pushed the pretended poor +man away, and took the necklace off his neck, and said to him, "Get +out of the way, you poor, dirty man. Your clothes are far too dirty +for you to come near us!" The boy went far away from them, and stood a +long way off to see what would happen. + +Then the King's youngest daughter went all round the garden again, +holding her gold necklace in her hand, and once more she hung it round +the boy's neck. Every one laughed at her and said, "How can the King's +daughter think of marrying this poor, common man!" and the Kings and +the Rájás, who had come as suitors, all wanted to turn him out of the +garden. But the princess said, "Take care! take care! You must not +turn him out. Leave him alone." Then she put him on her elephant, and +took him to the palace. + +The Kings and Rájás and their sons were very much astonished, and +said, "What does this mean? The princess does not care to marry one of +us, but chooses that very poor man!" Her father then stood up, and +said to them all, "I promised my daughter she should marry any one she +pleased, and as she has twice chosen that poor, common man, she shall +marry him." And so the princess and the boy were married with great +pomp and splendour: her father and mother were quite content with her +choice; and the Kings, the Rájás and their sons, all returned to their +homes. + +Now the princess's six sisters had all married rich princes--and they +laughed at her for choosing such a poor ugly husband as hers seemed +to be, and said to each other, mockingly, "See! our sister has married +this poor, common man!" Their six husbands used to go out hunting +every day, and every evening they brought home quantities of all kinds +of game to their wives, and the game was cooked for their dinner and +for the King's; but the husband of the youngest princess always stayed +at home in the palace, and never went out hunting at all. This made +her very sad, and she said to herself, "My sisters' husbands hunt +every day, but my husband never hunts at all." + +At last she said to him, "Why do you never go out hunting as my +sisters' husbands do every day, and every day they bring home +quantities of all kinds of game? Why do you always stay at home, +instead of doing as they do?" + +One day he said to her, "I am going out to-day to eat the air." "Very +good," she answered; "go, and take one of the horses." "No," said the +young prince, "I will not ride, I will walk." Then he went to the +jungle-plain where he had left Katar, who all this time had seemed to +be a donkey, and he told Katar everything. "Listen," he said; "I have +married the youngest princess; and when we were married everybody +laughed at her for choosing me, and said, 'What a very poor, common +man our princess has chosen for her husband!' Besides, my wife is very +sad, for her six sisters' husbands all hunt every day, and bring home +quantities of game, and their wives therefore are very proud of them. +But I stay at home all day, and never hunt. To-day I should like to +hunt very much." + +"Well," said Katar, "then twist my left ear;" and as soon as the boy +had twisted it, Katar was a horse again, and not a donkey any longer. +"Now," said Katar, "twist your left ear, and you will see what a +beautiful young prince you will become." So the boy twisted his own +left ear, and there he stood no longer a poor, common, ugly man, but +a grand young prince with a moon on his forehead and a star on his +chin. Then he put on his splendid clothes, saddled and bridled Katar, +got on his back with his sword and gun, and rode off to hunt. + +He rode very far, and shot a great many birds and a quantity of deer. +That day his six brothers-in-law could find no game, for the beautiful +young prince had shot it all. Nearly all the day long these six +princes wandered about looking in vain for game; till at last they +grew hungry and thirsty, and could find no water, and they had no food +with them. Meanwhile the beautiful young prince had sat down under a +tree, to dine and rest, and there his six brothers-in-law found him. +By his side was some delicious water, and also some roast meat. + +When they saw him the six princes said to each other, "Look at that +handsome prince. He has a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin. +We have never seen such a prince in this jungle before; he must come +from another country." Then they came up to him, and made him many +salaams, and begged him to give them some food and water. "Who are +you?" said the young prince. "We are the husbands of the six elder +daughters of the King of this country," they answered; "and we have +hunted all day, and are very hungry and thirsty." They did not +recognize their brother-in-law in the least. + +"Well," said the young prince, "I will give you something to eat and +drink if you will do as I bid you." "We will do all you tell us to +do," they answered, "for if we do not get water to drink, we shall +die." "Very good," said the young prince. "Now you must let me put a +red-hot pice on the back of each of you, and then I will give you food +and water. Do you agree to this?" The six princes consented, for they +thought, "No one will ever see the mark of the pice, as it will be +covered by our clothes; and we shall die if we have no water to +drink." Then the young prince took six pice, and made them red-hot in +the fire; he laid one on the back of each of the six princes, and gave +them good food and water. They ate and drank; and when they had +finished they made him many salaams and went home. + +The young prince stayed under the tree till it was evening; then he +mounted his horse and rode off to the King's palace. All the people +looked at him as he came riding along, saying, "What a splendid young +prince that is! He has a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin." +But no one recognized him. When he came near the King's palace, all +the King's servants asked him who he was; and as none of them knew +him, the gate-keepers would not let him pass in. They all wondered who +he could be, and all thought him the most beautiful prince that had +ever been seen. + +At last they asked him who he was. "I am the husband of your youngest +princess," he answered. "No, no, indeed you are not," they said; "for +he is a poor, common-looking, and ugly man." "But I am he," answered +the prince; only no one would believe him. "Tell us the truth," said +the servants; "who are you?" "Perhaps you cannot recognize me," said +the young prince, "but call the youngest princess here. I wish to +speak to her." The servants called her, and she came. "That man is not +my husband," she said at once. "My husband is not nearly as handsome +as that man. This must be a prince from another country." + +Then she said to him, "Who are you? Why do you say you are my +husband?" "Because I am your husband. I am telling you the truth," +answered the young prince. "No you are not, you are not telling me the +truth," said the little princess. "My husband is not a handsome man +like you. I married a very poor, common-looking man." "That is true," +he answered, "but nevertheless I am your husband. I was the grain +merchant's servant; and one hot night I went into your father's garden +and sang, and you heard me, and came and asked me who I was and where +I came from, and I would not answer you. And the same thing happened +the next night, and the next, and on the fourth I told you I was a +very poor man, and had come from my country to seek service in yours, +and that I was the grain merchant's servant. Then you told your father +you wished to marry, but must choose your own husband; and when all +the Kings and Rájás were seated in your father's garden, you sat on an +elephant and went round and looked at them all; and then twice hung +your gold necklace round my neck, and chose me. See, here is your +necklace, and here are the ring and the handkerchief you gave me on +our wedding day." + +Then she believed him, and was very glad that her husband was such a +beautiful young prince. "What a strange man you are!" she said to him. +"Till now you have been poor, and ugly, and common-looking. Now you +are beautiful and look like a prince; I never saw such a handsome man +as you are before; and yet I know you must be my husband." Then she +worshipped God and thanked him for letting her have such a husband. "I +have," she said, "a beautiful husband. There is no one like him in +this country. He has a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin." +Then she took him into the palace, and showed him to her father and +mother and to every one. They all said they had never seen any one +like him, and were all very happy. And the young prince lived as +before in the King's palace with his wife, and Katar lived in the +King's stables. + +One day, when the King and his seven sons-in-law were in his +court-house, and it was full of people, the young prince said to him, +"There are six thieves here in your court-house." "Six thieves!" said +the King. "Where are they? Show them to me." "There they are," said +the young prince, pointing to his six brothers-in-law. The King and +every one else in the court-house were very much astonished, and would +not believe the young prince. "Take off their coats," he said, "and +then you will see for yourselves that each of them has the mark of a +thief on his back." So their coats were taken off the six princes, and +the King and everybody in the court-house saw the marks of the red-hot +pice. The six princes were very much ashamed, but the young prince was +very glad. He had not forgotten how his brothers-in-law had laughed at +him and mocked him when he seemed a poor, common man. + +Now when Katar was still in the jungle, before the prince was married, +he had told the boy the whole story of his birth, and all that had +happened to him and his mother. "When you are married," he said to +him, "I will take you back to your father's country." So two months +after the young prince had revenged himself on his brothers-in-law, +Katar said to him, "It is time for you to return to your father. Get +the King to let you go to your own country, and I will tell you what +to do when we get there." + +The prince always did what his horse told him to do; so he went to his +wife and said to her, "I wish very much to go to my own country to see +my father and mother." "Very well," said his wife; "I will tell my +father and mother, and ask them to let us go." Then she went to them, +and told them, and they consented to let her and her husband leave +them. The King gave his daughter and the young prince a great many +horses, and elephants, and all sorts of presents, and also a great +many sepoys to guard them. In this grand state they travelled to the +prince's country, which was not a great many miles off. When they +reached it they pitched their tents on the same plain in which the +prince had been left in his box by the nurse, where Shankar and Surí +had swallowed him so often. + +When the King, his father, the gardener's daughter's husband, saw the +prince's camp, he was very much alarmed, and thought a great King had +come to make war on him. He sent one of his servants, therefore, to +ask whose camp it was. The young prince then wrote him a letter, in +which he said, "You are a great King. Do not fear me. I am not come to +make war on you. I am as if I were your son. I am a prince who has +come to see your country and to speak with you. I wish to give you a +grand feast, to which everyone in your country must come--men and +women, old and young, rich and poor, of all castes; all the children, +fakírs, and sepoys. You must bring them all here to me for a week, and +I will feast them all." + +The King was delighted with this letter, and ordered all the men, +women, and children of all castes, fakírs and sepoys, in his country +to go to the prince's camp to a grand feast the prince would give +them. So they all came, and the King brought his four wives too. All +came, at least all but the gardener's daughter. No one had told her to +go to the feast, for no one had thought of her. + +When all the people were assembled, the prince saw his mother was not +there, and he asked the King, "Has every one in your country come to +my feast?" "Yes, everyone," said the King. "Are you sure of that?" +asked the prince. + +"Quite sure," answered the King. "I am sure one woman has not come," +said the prince. "She is your gardener's daughter, who was once your +wife and is now a servant in your palace." "True," said the King, "I +had forgotten her." Then the prince told his servants to take his +finest palanquin and to fetch the gardener's daughter. They were to +bathe her, dress her in beautiful clothes and handsome jewels, and +then bring her to him in the palanquin. + +While the servants were bringing the gardener's daughter, the King +thought how handsome the young prince was; and he noticed +particularly the moon on his forehead and the star on his chin, and he +wondered in what country the young prince was born. + +And now the palanquin arrived bringing the gardener's daughter, and +the young prince went himself and took her out of it, and brought her +into the tent. He made her a great many salaams. The four wicked wives +looked on and were very much surprised and very angry. They remembered +that, when they arrived, the prince had made them no salaams, and +since then had not taken the least notice of them; whereas he could +not do enough for the gardener's daughter, and seemed very glad to see +her. + +When they were all at dinner, the prince again made the gardener's +daughter a great many salaams, and gave her food from all the nicest +dishes. She wondered at his kindness to her, and thought, "Who is this +handsome prince, with a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin? I +never saw any one so beautiful. What country does he come from?" + +Two or three days were thus passed in feasting, and all that time the +King and his people were talking about the prince's beauty, and +wondering who he was. + +One day the prince asked the King if he had any children. "None," he +answered. "Do you know who I am?" asked the prince. "No," said the +King. "Tell me who you are." "I am your son," answered the prince, +"and the gardener's daughter is my mother." The King shook his head +sadly. "How can you be my son," he said, "when I have never had any +children?" "But I am your son," answered the prince. "Your four wicked +wives told you the gardener's daughter had given you a stone and not a +son; but it was they who put the stone in my little bed, and then they +tried to kill me." The King did not believe him. "I wish you were my +son," he said; "but as I never had a child, you cannot be my son." +"Do you remember your dog Shankar, and how you had him killed? And do +you remember your cow Surí, and how you had her killed too? Your wives +made you kill them because of me. And," he said, taking the King to +Katar, "do you know whose horse that is?" + +The King looked at Katar, and then said, "That is my horse Katar." +"Yes," said the Prince. "Do you not remember how he rushed past you +out of his stable with me on his back?" Then Katar told the King the +prince was really his son, and told him all the story of his birth, +and of his life up to that moment; and when the King found the +beautiful prince was indeed his son, he was so glad, so glad. He put +his arms round him and kissed him and cried for joy. + +"Now," said the King, "you must come with me to my palace, and live +with me always." "No," said the prince, "that I cannot do. I cannot go +to your palace. I only came here to fetch my mother; and now that I +have found her, I will take her with me to my father-in-law's palace. +I have married a King's daughter, and we live with her father." "But +now that I have found you, I cannot let you go," said his father. "You +and your wife must come and live with your mother and me in my +palace." "That we will never do," said the prince, "unless you will +kill your four wicked wives with your own hand. If you will do that, +we will come and live with you." + +So the King killed his wives, and then he and his wife, the gardener's +daughter, and the prince and his wife, all went to live in the King's +palace, and lived there happily together for ever after; and the King +thanked God for giving him such a beautiful son, and for ridding him +of his four wicked wives. + +Katar did not return to the fairies' country, but stayed always with +the young prince, and never left him. + + Told by Múniyá. + + + + +[Decoration] + +XXI. + +THE BÉL-PRINCESS. + + +In a country lived a King who had seven sons. Six of these sons +married, but the seventh and youngest son would not marry; and, +moreover, he disliked his six sisters-in-law, and could not bear to +take food from their hands. One day, they got very angry with him for +disliking them, and they said to him, taunting him, "We think that you +will marry a Bél-Princess." + +"A Bél-Princess," said the young prince to himself. "What is a +Bél-Princess? and where is one to be found? I will go and look for +one." But the next day he thought, "How can I find a Bél-Princess? I +don't know where to seek for her." + +At last one day he saddled and bridled one of his father's beautiful +horses. Then he put on his grand clothes, took his sword and gun, and +said good-bye to his father and mother, and set out on his search. +They cried very much at parting with him. + +He rode from his father's country for a long, long way. At length, +when he had journeyed for six months, he found himself in a great +jungle, through which he went for many nights and days, until he at +last came to where a fakír lay sleeping. The young prince thought, "I +will watch by this fakír till he wakes. Perhaps he can help me." So he +stayed with the fakír for one whole month; and all that time he took +care of him and watched by him, and kept his hut clean. + +This fakír used to sleep for six whole months at a time, and then he +would remain awake for six months. + +When the prince had watched over him for one month the fakír woke, for +his six months' sleep had come to an end; and when he saw what care +the young prince had taken of him, and how clean his hut was, he was +very much pleased with the King's son, and said to him, "How have you +been able to reach this jungle, to which no man can come? and who are +you? and whence do you come?" + +"I am a King's son," answered the prince. "My father's country is a +six months' journey away from this; and I am come to look for a +Bél-Princess. I hear there is a Bél-Princess, and I want to find her. +Can you tell me where she is?" + +"It is true that there is one," answered the fakír, "and I know where +she is. She is in the fairies' country, whither no man can go." + +This made the young prince very sad. "What shall I do?" he said. "I +have left my father and mother, and have travelled a long, long way to +find the Bél-Princess. And now you tell me I cannot go where she +lives." + +"I will help you," said the fakír, "and if you do exactly what I tell +you, you will find her. But, first, stay here with me for a little +while." + +So the King's son stayed for another month with the fakír, and took +care of him, and did everything for him, as he did for his own father. + +At the end of the month, the fakír gave him his stick, and said to +him, "Now you must go to the fairies' country. It is one week's +journey distant from this jungle. When you get there, you will see a +number of demons and fairies who live in it." Then the fakír took a +little earth from the ground, and put it in the prince's hand. "When +you have come to the fairies' country, in order that they and the +demons may not see you, you must blow all this earth away from the +palm of your hand, and then you will be invisible. You must ride on +till you come to a great plain in the middle of their garden, and on +this plain you will see a large bél-tree and on it one big bél-fruit. +In this fruit is the Bél-Princess. You must throw my stick at it, and +it will fall; but you must take care to catch the fruit in your shawl, +and not let it fall to the ground. Then ride quickly back to me, for +as soon as the fruit falls you will cease to be invisible, and the +fairies and demons who guard the fruit will all come running after +you, and they will all call to you. But take care, take care not to +look behind you when they call you. Ride straight on to me with the +fruit, and do not look behind you. If you do, you will become stone, +and your horse too, and they will take the bél-fruit back to its +tree." + +The prince promised to do all the fakír bade him. He rode for a week, +and then he came to the fairies' country. He blew the earth the fakír +had given him away from his palm all along his fingers, just as he had +been told, and then he became invisible. He rode through the great +garden to the plain. There he saw the bél-tree, and the one fruit +hanging all alone. He threw the fakír's stick at it, and caught it in +a corner of his shawl as it fell, but then he was no longer invisible. +All the fairies and demons could see him, and they came running after +him as he rode quickly away, and called to him. He looked behind at +them, and instantly he and his horse became stone; and the bél-fruit +went back to its tree and hung itself up. + +For one week the fakír sat in his jungle, waiting for the King's son. +But the moment he was turned into stone, the fakír knew of it, and he +set off at once for the fairies' country. He walked all through it, +but neither the fairies nor demons could touch him. He went straight +to the great plain, and there he saw the King's son sitting on his +horse, and both he and the horse were stone. + +This made the fakír very sad; and he said to God, "What will the +father and mother do, now that their son is changed into a stone?" And +he prayed to God and said, "If it be God's pleasure, may this King's +son be alive once more." Then he cut his little finger on the inside +from the tip to the palm, and smeared the prince's forehead with the +blood that came from it. He rubbed some blood on the horse too, all +the time praying to God to give the prince his life again. The King's +son and his horse were alive once more. The fakír took the prince back +to his jungle, and said to him, "Listen. I told you not to look behind +you, and you disobeyed me and so were turned to stone. Had I not come +to save you, you would always have remained stone." + +The fakír kept the prince with him in the jungle for one whole week. +Then he gave him his stick and some earth he picked up from the ground +on which they were standing, and said, "Now you must go to the +fairies' country again, and throw my stick at the bél-fruit, and catch +it in a corner of your shawl as you did before. But mind, mind you do +not look behind you this time. If you do you will be turned to stone, +and you will for ever remain stone. Ride straight back to me with the +fruit, and take care never to look behind you once till you get to +me." + +So the King's son went again to the fairies' country, and all happened +as before, till he had caught the fruit in his shawl. But then he rode +straight back to the fakír without looking behind him, although the +fairies and demons ran after him and called to him the whole way. + +He rode so fast they could not catch him, and when he came to the +fakír, the fakír turned him into a fly and thus hid him. Up came all +the fairies and demons and said to the fakír, "There is a thief in +your hut." "A thief! Where is the thief?" said the fakír. "Look +everywhere for him, and take him away if you can find him." Then they +searched and searched everywhere, but could not find the prince; so at +last they went away. + +When they had all gone, the fakír took the little fly and turned it +back into a King's son. A few days afterwards he said to the prince, +"Now you have found what you wanted; you have the Bél-Princess you +came to seek. So go back to your father and mother." "Very well," said +the prince. Then he got his horse all ready for the journey, took the +bél-fruit, and made many salaams to the fakír, who said to him, "Now, +listen. Take care not to open the fruit on the road. Wait till you are +in your father's house with your father and mother, and then open it. +If you do not do exactly as I tell you, evil will happen to you; so +mind you only open the fruit in your father's house. Out of it will +come the Bél-Princess." + +The prince set out on his journey, and rode on and on for six months +till he came to his father's country, and then to his father's garden. +There he sat down to rest by a well under a clump of great trees. He +said to himself, "Now that I am in my father's country, and in my +father's garden, I will sit and rest in this cool shade; and when I am +rested I will go up to the palace." He bathed his face and his hands +in the well, and drank some of its water. Then he thought, "Surely, +now that I am in my father's country and in his garden, I need not +wait till I get to his palace to open my bél-fruit. What harm can +happen if I do open it here?" + +So he broke it open, in spite of all the fakír had told him, and out +of it came such a beautiful girl. She was more beautiful than any +princess that ever was seen--so beautiful that the King's son fainted +when he saw her. The princess fanned him, and poured water on his +face, and presently he recovered, and said to her, "Princess, I should +like to sleep for a little while, for I have travelled for six months, +and am very tired. After I have slept we will go together to my +father's palace." So he went to sleep, and the princess sat by him. + +Presently a woman came to the well for water, and she said to herself, +"See, here is the King's youngest son. What a lovely princess that is +sitting by him! What fine clothes and jewels she has on!" And the +wicked woman determined to kill the princess and to take her place. +Then she came up to the beautiful girl, and sat down beside her, and +talked to her. "Listen to me, princess," she said at last. "Let us +change clothes with each other. Give me yours, and I will give you +mine." The princess, thinking no harm, did as the woman suggested. +"And now," said the woman, "let me put on your beautiful jewels." The +princess gave them to her, and then the wicked, wicked woman, said to +her, "Let us walk about this pretty garden, and look at the flowers, +and amuse ourselves." By and by she said, "Princess, let us go and +look at ourselves in the well, and see what we look like, you in my +clothes, and I in yours." The young girl consented, and they went to +the well. As they bent over the side to look in, the wicked woman gave +the princess a push, and pushed her straight over the edge into the +water. + +Then she went and sat down by the sleeping prince, just as the +princess had done. When he awoke and saw this ugly, wicked woman, +instead of his Bél-Princess, he was very much surprised, and said to +himself, "A little while ago I had a beautiful girl by me, and now +there is such an ugly woman. It is true she has on the clothes and +jewels my Bél-Princess wore; but she is so ugly, and there is +something wrong with one of her eyes. What has happened to her?" Then +he said to this wicked woman, whom he took for his Bél-Princess, +"What is the matter with you? Has anything happened to you? Why have +you become so ugly?" She answered, "Till now I have always lived in a +bél-fruit. It is the bad air of your country that has made me ugly, +and hurt one of my eyes." + +The prince was ashamed of her, and very, very sorry. "How shall I take +her to my father's palace now?" he thought. "My mother and all my +brothers' wives will see her, and what will they say? However, never +mind; I must take her to my house, and marry her. I cannot think what +can have happened to her." Then he got a palanquin, and took her up to +the palace. + +His father and mother were very glad that their youngest son had come +back to them; but when they saw the wicked woman, and heard she was +his Bél-Princess, they, and every one else in the palace, said, "Can +she be a Bél-Princess? She is not at all pretty, and she is not at all +pleasant." "She was lovely when she came out of the fruit," said the +prince. "No one ever saw such a beautiful girl before. I cannot think +what has happened to her. It must be the bad air of this country that +has made her so ugly." Then he told them all about his journey to the +jungle where he had met the fakír, and how, with the fakír's help, he +had found his Bél-Princess, and how he had opened the fruit in his +father's garden, and then fallen asleep. + +The King made a great wedding-feast for his son, and he and the wicked +woman were married, and all the time the King's youngest son thought +he was marrying the Bél-Princess. + +Meanwhile, the beautiful girl had not been drowned in the well, but +had changed into a most lovely pink lotus-flower. This flower was +first seen by a man from the village who came to the well for water. +"What a lovely lotus-flower!" said the man; "I must gather it." But +when he tried to reach it the flower floated away from him. Then he +went and told all the people in the village of the beautiful flower, +and then the palace servants heard of it. They all tried to gather it, +but could not, for the flower always went just out of their reach. +Then the King and his six elder sons heard of it, and they came to the +well; but the King tried in vain to gather it, and his six sons too. +The lotus-flower always floated away from them. + +Last of all, the youngest prince heard of the lotus, and he grew very +curious to see it, and said, "I will try if I cannot gather this +wonderful flower that no one can touch." So he, too, came to the well, +and stooped, and stretched out his hand, and the minute he did so the +flower floated of itself into his hand. + +Then he was very happy and proud, and he took the flower up to his +wife and showed it to her. "Just see," he said, "every one in the +village and the palace were talking of this lotus-flower; and every +one tried to gather it; and no one could, for the flower would not let +any one touch it. My father tried, and my brothers all tried, and +they, too, could not gather it; but as soon as I stretched out my hand +the flower floated into it of itself." + +When his wicked wife saw the flower, she said nothing; but her heart +told her it was the beautiful girl she had pushed into the well. The +prince laid the flower on his pillow, and was very glad and happy. As +soon as he had gone out, his wife seized the lotus-flower, tore it to +bits, and threw them far away into the garden. + +In a few days a bél-tree was growing on the spot where she had thrown +the pieces of the lotus-flower. On it grew one big bél-fruit, and it +was so fine and large that every one in the village and the palace +tried to gather it; but no one could touch it, for the fruit always +went just out of reach. The King and his six elder sons also tried, +but they could not touch it. The youngest prince heard of this fruit, +so he said to his wife, "I will go and see if I can gather this +bél-fruit that no one can even touch." The wicked woman's heart said +to her, "In the bél-fruit is the Bél-Princess;" but she said nothing. + +The prince went to the bél-tree; the bél-fruit came into his hand, and +he broke it off the tree, and brought it home to his wife. "See," he +said, "here is the bél-fruit; it let me gather it at once." And he was +very proud and happy. Then he laid the fruit on a table in his room. + +When he had gone out the wicked wife came, and took the fruit, and +flung it away in the garden. In the night the fruit burst in two, and +in it lay a lovely, tiny girl baby. The gardener, as he went round the +garden early in the morning, found the little baby; and he wondered +who had thrown away the beautiful fruit, and who the lovely baby girl +could be. She was so tiny and so pretty, and the gardener was +delighted when he saw her, for he had no children, and thought God had +sent him a little child at last. + +He took her in his arms and carried her to his wife. + +"See," he said, "we have never had any children, and now God has sent +us this beautiful little girl." His wife looked at the child, and she +was as delighted with her as her husband was. "Yes," she said, "God +has sent us this child, and she is certainly most beautiful. I am very +happy. But I have no milk for her; if only I had milk for her, I could +nurse her and she would live." And the gardener's wife was very sad to +think she had no milk in her breasts for the little child. + +Then her husband said, "Let us ask God to send you milk for her." So +they prayed to God and worshipped him. And God was pleased with them +both, and sent the gardener's wife a great deal of milk. + +The little girl now lived in the gardener's house, and he and his wife +took the greatest care of her, and were very happy to think they had +now a child. She grew very fast, and became lovelier every day. She +was more beautiful than any girl that had ever been seen, and all the +people in the King's country used to say, "How lovely the gardener's +daughter is! She is more beautiful than any princess." + +The King's youngest son's wicked wife heard of the child, and her +heart told her, "She is the Bél-Princess." She said nothing, but she +often thought of how she could contrive to have her killed. + +One day, when the gardener's daughter was seven years old, she was out +in her father's garden, making a little garden of her own near the +house-door. While she was busy over her flowers, the wicked woman's +cow strayed into the garden and began eating the plants in it. The +little girl would not let it make its dinner off her father's flowers +and grass, but pushed it out of the garden. + +The wicked woman was told how the gardener's daughter had treated her +cow; so she cried all day long, and pretended to be ill. When her +husband asked her what was the matter, she answered, "I am sick +because the gardener's daughter has ill-treated my cow. She beat it, +and turned it out of her father's garden, and said many wicked things. +If you will have the girl killed, I shall live; but if you do not kill +her, I shall die." The prince at once ordered his servants to take the +gardener's daughter the next morning to the jungle, and there kill +her. + +So the next morning early the servants went to the gardener's house to +take away his daughter. He and his wife cried bitterly, and begged the +servants to leave the girl with them. They offered them a great many +rupees, saying, "Take these rupees, and leave us our daughter." "How +can we leave you your daughter," said the servants, "when the King's +youngest son has ordered us to take her to the jungle and kill her, +that his wife may get well?" + +So they led the girl away; and as they went to the jungle, they said +to each other, "How beautiful this girl is!" They found her so +beautiful that they grew very sorrowful at the thought of killing her. + +They took the girl to a great plain, which was about ten miles distant +from the King's country; but when they got there they said they could +not kill her. She was so beautiful that they really could not kill +her. She said to them, "You were ordered to kill me, so kill me." +"No," they answered, "we cannot kill you, we cannot kill you." + +Then the girl took the knife in her own hand and cut out her two eyes; +and one eye became a parrot, and the other a _mainá_. Then she cut out +her heart and it became a great tank. Her body became a splendid +palace and garden--a far grander palace than was the King's palace; +her arms and legs became the pillars that supported the verandah roof; +and her head the dome on the top of the palace. + +The prince's servants looked on all the time these changes were taking +place, and they were so frightened by them, that when they got home +they would not tell the prince or any one else what they had seen. No +one lived in this wonderful house. It stood empty in its garden by its +tank, and the parrot and _mainá_ lived in the garden trees. + +Some time afterwards the youngest prince went out hunting, and towards +evening he found himself on the great plain where stood the wonderful +palace. He rode up to it and said to himself, "I never saw any house +here before. I wonder who lives here?" He went through the great gate +into the garden, and then he saw the large tank, and how beautiful the +garden was. He went all through the garden and was delighted with it, +and he saw that it was beautifully kept, and was in perfect order. +Then he went into the palace, and went through all the rooms, and +wondered more and more to whom this beautiful house could belong. He +was very much surprised, too, at finding no one in the palace, though +the rooms were all splendidly furnished, and very clean and neat. + +"My father is a great king," he said to himself, "and yet he has not +got a palace like this." It was now deep night, so the prince knew he +could not go home till the next day. "Never mind," he said, "I will +sleep in the verandah. I am not afraid, though I shall be quite +alone." + +So he lay down to sleep in the verandah, and while he lay there, the +parrot and _mainá_ flew in, and they perched near him, for they knew +he was there, and they wanted him to hear what they said to each +other. Then they began chattering together; and the parrot told the +_mainá_ how the prince's father was king of the neighbouring country, +and how he had seven sons, and how six of the sons had married six +princesses, "but this prince, who was the youngest son, would not +marry; and what is more, he did not like his brother's wives at all." +Then the birds stopped talking and did not chatter any more that +night. The prince was very much surprised at the birds knowing who he +was, and all about his dislike to his brothers' wives. + +The next morning he rode home; and there he stayed all day, and would +not talk. His wife asked him, "What is the matter with you? Why are +you so silent?" "My head aches," he answered: "I am ill." But towards +evening he felt he must go back to the empty palace on the great +plain, so he said to his wife, "I am going out to eat the air for a +little while." Then he got on his horse and rode off to the palace. + +As soon as he had laid himself down in the verandah, the parrot and +the _mainá_ perched near him; and the parrot told the _mainá_ how the +prince had heard of the Bél-Princess; and all about his long journey +in search of her, and how he found the bél-fruit, and how he was +turned to stone. Then he stopped chattering, and the birds said +nothing more to each other that night. + +In the morning the King's son rode home, and was as silent and grave +as he had been before. He told his wife his head ached when she asked +him whether he was ill. + +That night he again slept in the verandah of the strange palace, and +heard a little more of his story from the birds. + +The next day he was still silent and grave, and his wife was very +uneasy. "I am sure the Bél-Princess is alive," she said to herself, +"and that he goes every night to see her." Then she asked him, "Why do +you go out every evening? Why do you not stay at home?" "I am not +well," he answered, "so I go to my mother's house" (the prince had a +little house of his own in his father's compound). "I will not sleep +at home again till I am well." + +That night he lay down to sleep again in the verandah of the great +empty palace, and heard the parrot tell the _mainá_ all that happened +to the prince up to the time that he fell asleep in his father's +garden with the beautiful Bél-Princess sitting beside him. + +On the fifth night the prince lay down to sleep again in the verandah +of the palace on the great plain, and watched eagerly for the little +birds to begin their talk. This night the parrot told how the wicked +woman had come and taken the Bél-Princess's clothes, and thrown her +down the well; how the princess became a lotus-flower which the wicked +wife broke to bits; how the bits of the lotus-flower turned into a +bél-fruit which she threw away; how out of the fruit came a tiny +girl-baby that the gardener adopted; how the wicked woman persuaded +the prince to have this girl killed when she was seven years old; how +he and the _mainá_ had once been this girl's eyes; how the tank was +once her heart, and how her body had changed into this palace and +garden, while her head became the dome on the top of the palace. + +Then the _mainá_ asked the parrot where the Bél-Princess was. "Cannot +she be found?" said the _mainá_. "Yes," said the parrot, "she can be +found; but the King's youngest son alone can find her, and he is so +foolish! He believes that his ugly, wicked wife is the beautiful +Bél-Princess!" "And where is the princess?" asked the _mainá_. "She is +here," said the parrot. "If the prince would come one day and go +through all the rooms of this palace till he came to the centre room, +he would see a trap-door in the middle of that room. If he lifted the +trap-door he would see a staircase which leads to an underground +palace, and in this palace is the Bél-princess." "And can no one but +the prince lift the trap-door?" asked the _mainá_. "No one," answered +the parrot. "It is God's order that only the King's youngest son can +lift the trap-door and find the Bél-Princess." + +The next day the young prince went through all the rooms of the +palace, instead of going home. When he came to the centre room, he +looked for the trap-door, and when he had lifted it he saw the +staircase. He went down it, and found himself in the under-ground +palace, which was far more beautiful than the one above-ground. It was +full of servants; and in one room a grand dinner was standing ready. +In another room he saw a gold bed, all covered with pearls and +diamonds, and on the bed lay the Bél-Princess. + +Day and night she prayed to God and read a holy book. She did nothing +else. + +When the prince went into her room and she saw him, she was very sad, +not happy, for she thought, "He is so foolish; he knows nothing of +what has happened to me." Then she said to him, "Why did you come +here? Go home again to your father's palace." + +The prince burst out crying. "See, princess," he said, "I knew nothing +of your palace. I only found it by chance five nights ago. I have +slept here in the verandah for the last five nights, and only last +night did I learn what had happened to you, and how to find you." "I +know it is true," she said, "that you knew nothing of what happened to +me. But now that you have found me, what will you do?" + +"I will go home to my father's palace," he answered, "and make +everything ready for you, and then I will come and marry you and take +you home." + +So it was all settled, and he ate some food, and returned to his +father. He told his father and mother all that had happened to the +Bél-Princess, and how her body had turned into the beautiful garden +and palace that stood on the big plain; and of the little birds; and +of the underground palace in which she now lived. So his father said +that he and the prince's mother, and his six brothers and their wives, +would all take him in great state to the palace and marry him to the +beautiful Bél-Princess; and that then they would all return to their +own palace, and all live together. "But first the wicked woman must be +killed," said the King. + +So he ordered his servants to take her to the jungle and kill her, and +throw her body away. So they took her away at four o'clock in the +afternoon and killed her. + +One morning two or three days later, the prince and his father and +mother, and brothers and sisters-in-law, went to the great palace on +the wide plain; and there, in the evening, the king's youngest son was +married to the Bél-Princess. And when his father and mother and +brothers, and his brothers' wives, saw her, they all said, "It is +quite true. She is indeed a Bél-Princess!" + +After the wedding they all returned to the King's palace, and there +they lived together. But the King and his sons used often to go to the +palace on the great plain to eat the air; and they used to lend it +sometimes to other rájás and kings. + + Told by Múniyá. + + + + +[Decoration] + +XXII. + +HOW THE RÁJÁ'S SON WON THE PRINCESS LABÁM. + + +In a country there was a Rájá who had an only son who every day went +out to hunt. One day the Rání, his mother, said to him, "You can hunt +wherever you like on these three sides; but you must never go to the +fourth side." This she said because she knew if he went on the fourth +side he would hear of the beautiful Princess Labám, and that then he +would leave his father and mother and seek for the princess. + +The young prince listened to his mother, and obeyed her for some time; +but one day, when he was hunting on the three sides where he was +allowed to go, he remembered what she had said to him about the fourth +side, and he determined to go and see why she had forbidden him to +hunt on that side. When he got there, he found himself in a jungle, +and nothing in the jungle but a quantity of parrots, who lived in it. +The young Rájá shot at some of them, and at once they all flew away up +to the sky. All, that is, but one, and this was their Rájá, who was +called Híráman parrot. + +When Híráman parrot found himself left alone, he called out to the +other parrots, "Don't fly away and leave me alone when the Rájá's son +shoots. If you desert me like this, I will tell the Princess Labám." + +Then the parrots all flew back to their Rájá, chattering. The prince +was greatly surprised, and said, "Why, these birds can talk!" Then he +said to the parrots, "Who is the Princess Labám? Where does she live?" +But the parrots would not tell him where she lived. "You can never +get to the Princess Labám's country." That is all they would say. + +The prince grew very sad when they would not tell him anything more; +and he threw his gun away, and went home. When he got home, he would +not speak or eat, but lay on his bed for four or five days, and seemed +very ill. + +At last he told his father and mother that he wanted to go and see the +Princess Labám. "I must go," he said; "I must see what she is like. +Tell me where her country is." "We do not know where it is," answered +his father and mother. "Then I must go and look for it," said the +prince. "No, no," they said, "you must not leave us. You are our only +son. Stay with us. You will never find the Princess Labám." "I must +try and find her," said the prince. "Perhaps God will show me the way. +If I live and I find her, I will come back to you; but perhaps I shall +die, and then I shall never see you again. Still I must go." + +So they had to let him go, though they cried very much at parting with +him. His father gave him fine clothes to wear, and a fine horse. And +he took his gun, and his bow and arrows, and a great many other +weapons, "for," he said, "I may want them." His father, too, gave him +plenty of rupees. + +Then he himself got his horse all ready for the journey, and he said +good-bye to his father and mother; and his mother took her +handkerchief and wrapped some sweetmeats in it, and gave it to her +son. "My child," she said to him, "when you are hungry eat some of +these sweetmeats." + +He then set out on his journey, and rode on and on till he came to a +jungle in which were a tank and shady trees. He bathed himself and his +horse in the tank, and then sat down under a tree. "Now," he said to +himself, "I will eat some of the sweetmeats my mother gave me, and I +will drink some water, and then I will continue my journey." He +opened his handkerchief, and took out a sweetmeat. He found an ant in +it. He took out another. There was an ant in that one too. So he laid +the two sweetmeats on the ground, and he took out another, and +another, and another, until he had taken them all out; but in each he +found an ant. "Never mind," he said, "I won't eat the sweetmeats; the +ants shall eat them." Then the Ant-Rájá came and stood before him and +said, "You have been good to us. If ever you are in trouble, think of +me and we will come to you." + +The Rájá's son thanked him, mounted his horse and continued his +journey. He rode on and on till he came to another jungle, and there +he saw a tiger who had a thorn in his foot, and was roaring loudly +from the pain. + +"Why do you roar like that?" said the young Rájá. "What is the matter +with you?" "I have had a thorn in my foot for twelve years," answered +the tiger, "and it hurts me so; that is why I roar." "Well," said the +Rájá's son, "I will take it out for you. But, perhaps, as you are a +tiger, when I have made you well, you will eat me?" "Oh, no," said the +tiger, "I won't eat you. Do make me well." + +Then the prince took a little knife from his pocket, and cut the thorn +out of the tiger's foot; but when he cut, the tiger roared louder than +ever, so loud that his wife heard him in the next jungle, and came +bounding along to see what was the matter. The tiger saw her coming, +and hid the prince in the jungle, so that she should not see him. + +"What man hurt you that you roared so loud?" said the wife. "No one +hurt me," answered her husband; "but a Rájá's son came and took the +thorn out of my foot." "Where is he? Show him to me," said his wife. +"If you promise not to kill him, I will call him," said the tiger. "I +won't kill him; only let me see him," answered his wife. + +Then the tiger called the Rájá's son, and when he came the tiger and +his wife made him a great many salaams. Then they gave him a good +dinner, and he stayed with them for three days. Every day he looked at +the tiger's foot, and the third day it was quite healed. Then he said +good-bye to the tigers, and the tiger said to him, "If ever you are in +trouble, think of me, and we will come to you." + +The Rájá's son rode on and on till he came to a third jungle. Here he +found four fakírs whose teacher and master had died, and had left four +things,--a bed, which carried whoever sat on it whithersoever he +wished to go; a bag, that gave its owner whatever he wanted, jewels, +food, or clothes; a stone bowl that gave its owner as much water as he +wanted, no matter how far he might be from a tank; and a stick and +rope, to which its owner had only to say, if any one came to make war +on him, "Stick, beat as many men and soldiers as are here," and the +stick would beat them and the rope would tie them up. + +The four fakírs were quarrelling over these four things. One said, "I +want this;" another said, "You cannot have it, for I want it;" and so +on. + +The Rájá's son said to them, "Do not quarrel for these things. I will +shoot four arrows in four different directions. Whichever of you gets +to my first arrow, shall have the first thing--the bed. Whosoever gets +to the second arrow, shall have the second thing--the bag. He who gets +to the third arrow, shall have the third thing--the bowl. And he who +gets to the fourth arrow, shall have the last things--the stick and +rope." To this they agreed, and the prince shot off his first arrow. +Away raced the fakírs to get it. When they brought it back to him he +shot off the second, and when they had found and brought it to him he +shot off his third, and when they had brought him the third he shot +off the fourth. + +While they were away looking for the fourth arrow, the Rájá's son let +his horse loose in the jungle, and sat on the bed, taking the bowl, +the stick and rope, and the bag with him. Then he said, "Bed, I wish +to go to the Princess Labám's country." The little bed instantly rose +up into the air and began to fly, and it flew and flew till it came to +the Princess Labám's country, where it settled on the ground. The +Rájá's son asked some men he saw, "Whose country is this?" "The +Princess Labám's country," they answered. Then the prince went on till +he came to a house where he saw an old woman. "Who are you?" she said. +"Where do you come from?" "I come from a far country," he said; "do +let me stay with you to-night." "No," she answered, "I cannot let you +stay with me; for our king has ordered that men from other countries +may not stay in his country. You cannot stay in my house." "You are my +aunty," said the prince; "let me remain with you for this one night. +You see it is evening, and if I go into the jungle, then the wild +beasts will eat me." "Well," said the old woman, "you may stay here +to-night; but to-morrow morning you must go away, for if the king +hears you have passed the night in my house, he will have me seized +and put into prison." + +Then she took him into her house, and the Rájá's son was very glad. +The old woman began preparing dinner, but he stopped her. "Aunty," he +said, "I will give you food." He put his hand into his bag, saying, +"Bag, I want some dinner," and the bag gave him instantly a delicious +dinner, served upon two gold plates. The old woman and the Rájá's son +then dined together. + +When they had finished eating, the old woman said, "Now I will fetch +some water." "Don't go," said the prince. "You shall have plenty of +water directly." So he took his bowl and said to it, "Bowl, I want +some water," and then it filled with water. When it was full, the +prince cried out, "Stop, bowl," and the bowl stopped filling. "See, +aunty," he said, "with this bowl I can always get as much water as I +want." + +By this time night had come. "Aunty," said the Rájá's son, "why don't +you light a lamp?" "There is no need," she said. "Our king has +forbidden the people in his country to light any lamps; for, as soon +as it is dark, his daughter, the Princess Labám, comes and sits on her +roof, and she shines so, that she lights up all the country and our +houses, and we can see to do our work as if it were day." + +When it was quite black night, the princess got up. She dressed +herself in her rich clothes and jewels, and rolled up her hair, and +across her head she put a band of diamonds and pearls. Then she shone +like the moon, and her beauty made night day. She came out of her +room, and sat on the roof of her palace. In the daytime she never came +out of her house; she only came out at night. All the people in her +father's country then went about their work and finished it. + +The Rájá's son watched the princess quietly, and was very happy. He +said to himself, "How lovely she is!" + +At midnight, when everybody had gone to bed, the princess came down +from her roof, and went to her room; and when she was in bed and +asleep, the Rájá's son got up softly, and sat on his bed. "Bed," he +said to it, "I want to go to the Princess Labám's bed-room." So the +little bed carried him to the room where she lay fast asleep. + +The young Rájá took his bag and said, "I want a great deal of +betel-leaf," and it at once gave him quantities of betel-leaf. This he +laid near the princess's bed, and then his little bed carried him back +to the old woman's house. + +Next morning all the princess's servants found the betel-leaf, and +began to eat it. "Where did you get all that betel-leaf?" asked the +princess. "We found it near your bed," answered the servants. Nobody +knew the prince had come in the night and put it all there. + +In the morning the old woman came to the Rájá's son. "Now it is +morning," she said, "and you must go; for if the king finds out all I +have done for you, he will seize me." "I am ill to-day, dear aunty," +said the prince; "do let me stay till to-morrow morning." "Good," said +the old woman. So he stayed, and they took their dinner out of the +bag, and the bowl gave them water. + +When night came the princess got up and sat on her roof, and at twelve +o'clock, when every one was in bed, she went to her bed-room, and was +soon fast asleep. Then the Rájá's son sat on his bed, and it carried +him to the princess. He took his bag and said, "Bag, I want a most +lovely shawl." It gave him a splendid shawl, and he spread it over the +princess as she lay asleep. Then he went back to the old woman's house +and slept till morning. + +In the morning, when the princess saw the shawl, she was delighted. +"See, mother," she said; "God must have given me this shawl, it is so +beautiful." Her mother was very glad too. "Yes, my child," she said; +"God must have given you this splendid shawl." + +When it was morning the old woman said to the Rájá's son, "Now you +must really go." "Aunty," he answered, "I am not well enough yet. Let +me stay a few days longer. I will remain hidden in your house, so that +no one may see me." So the old woman let him stay. + +When it was black night, the princess put on her lovely clothes and +jewels, and sat on her roof. At midnight she went to her room and went +to sleep. Then the Rájá's son sat on his bed and flew to her bed-room. +There he said to his bag, "Bag, I want a very, very beautiful ring." +The bag gave him a glorious ring. Then he took the Princess Labám's +hand gently to put on the ring, and she started up very much +frightened. + +"Who are you?" she said to the prince. "Where do you come from? Why do +you come to my room?" "Do not be afraid, princess," he said; "I am no +thief. I am a great Rájá's son. Híráman parrot, who lives in the +jungle where I went to hunt, told me your name, and then I left my +father and mother, and came to see you." + +"Well," said the princess, "as you are the son of such a great Rájá, I +will not have you killed, and I will tell my father and mother that I +wish to marry you." + +The prince then returned to the old woman's house; and when morning +came, the princess said to her mother, "The son of a great Rájá has +come to this country, and I wish to marry him." Her mother told this +to the king. "Good," said the king; "but if this Rájá's son wishes to +marry my daughter, he must first do whatever I bid him. If he fails I +will kill him. I will give him eighty pounds weight of mustard seed, +and out of this he must crush the oil in one day. If he cannot do this +he shall die." + +In the morning the Rájá's son told the old woman that he intended to +marry the princess. "Oh," said the old woman, "go away from this +country, and do not think of marrying her. A great many Rájás and +Rájás' sons have come here to marry her, and her father has had them +all killed. He says whoever wishes to marry his daughter must first do +whatever he bids him. If he can, then he shall marry the princess; if +he cannot, the king will have him killed. But no one can do the things +the king tells him to do; so all the Rájás and Rájás' sons who have +tried have been put to death. You will be killed too, if you try. Do +go away." But the prince would not listen to anything she said. + +The king sent for the prince to the old woman's house, and his +servants brought the Rájá's son to the king's court-house to the king. +There the king gave him eighty pounds of mustard seed, and told him to +crush all the oil out of it that day, and bring it next morning to him +to the court-house. "Whoever wishes to marry my daughter," he said to +the prince, "must first do all I tell him. If he cannot, then I have +him killed. So if you cannot crush all the oil out of this mustard +seed, you will die." + +The prince was very sorry when he heard this. "How can I crush the oil +out of all this mustard seed in one day?" he said to himself; "and if +I do not, the king will kill me." He took the mustard seed to the old +woman's house, and did not know what to do. At last he remembered the +Ant-Rájá, and the moment he did so, the Ant-Rájá and his ants came to +him. "Why do you look so sad?" said the Ant-Rájá. The prince showed +him the mustard seed, and said to him, "How can I crush the oil out of +all this mustard seed in one day? And if I do not take the oil to the +king to-morrow morning, he will kill me." "Be happy," said the +Ant-Rájá; "lie down and sleep: we will crush all the oil out for you +during the day, and to-morrow morning you shall take it to the king." +The Rájá's son lay down and slept, and the ants crushed out the oil +for him. The prince was very glad when he saw the oil. + +The next morning he took it to the court-house to the king. But the +king said, "You cannot yet marry my daughter. If you wish to do so, +you must first fight with my two demons and kill them." The king a +long time ago had caught two demons, and then, as he did not know what +to do with them, he had shut them up in a cage. He was afraid to let +them loose for fear they would eat up all the people in his country; +and he did not know how to kill them. So all the kings and kings' sons +who wanted to marry the Princess Labám had to fight with these demons; +"for," said the king to himself, "perhaps the demons may be killed, +and then I shall be rid of them." + +When he heard of the demons the Rájá's son was very sad. "What can I +do?" he said to himself. "How can I fight with these two demons?" Then +he thought of his tiger: and the tiger and his wife came to him and +said, "Why are you so sad?" The Rájá's son answered, "The king has +ordered me to fight with his two demons and kill them. How can I do +this?" "Do not be frightened," said the tiger. "Be happy. I and my +wife will fight with them for you." + +Then the Rájá's son took out of his bag two splendid coats. They were +all gold and silver, and covered with pearls and diamonds. These he +put on the tigers to make them beautiful, and he took them to the +king, and said to him, "May these tigers fight your demons for me?" +"Yes," said the king, who did not care in the least who killed his +demons, provided they were killed. "Then call your demons," said the +Rájá's son, "and these tigers will fight them." The king did so, and +the tigers and the demons fought and fought until the tigers had +killed the demons. + +"That is good," said the king. "But you must do something else before +I give you my daughter. Up in the sky I have a kettle-drum. You must +go and beat it. If you cannot do this, I will kill you." + +The Rájá's son thought of his little bed; so he went to the old +woman's house and sat on his bed. "Little bed," he said, "up in the +sky is the king's kettle-drum. I want to go to it." The bed flew up +with him, and the Rájá's son beat the drum, and the king heard him. +Still, when he came down, the king would not give him his daughter. +"You have," he said to the prince, "done the three things I told you +to do; but you must do one thing more." "If I can, I will," said the +Rájá's son. + +Then the king showed him the trunk of a tree that was lying near his +court-house. It was a very, very thick trunk. He gave the prince a wax +hatchet, and said, "To-morrow morning you must cut this trunk in two +with this wax hatchet." + +The Rájá's son went back to the old woman's house. He was very sad, +and thought that now the Rájá would certainly kill him. "I had his +oil crushed out by the ants," he said to himself. "I had his demons +killed by the tigers. My bed helped me to beat his kettle-drum. But +now what can I do? How can I cut that thick tree trunk in two with a +wax hatchet?" + +At night he went on his bed to see the princess. "To-morrow," he said +to her, "your father will kill me." "Why?" asked the princess. + +"He has told me to cut a thick tree-trunk in two with a wax hatchet. +How can I ever do that?" said the Rájá's son. "Do not be afraid," said +the princess; "do as I bid you, and you will cut it in two quite +easily." + +Then she pulled out a hair from her head, and gave it to the prince. +"To-morrow," she said, "when no one is near you, you must say to the +tree-trunk, 'The Princess Labám commands you to let yourself be cut in +two by this hair.' Then stretch the hair down the edge of the wax +hatchet's blade." + +The prince next day did exactly as the princess had told him; and the +minute the hair that was stretched down the edge of the hatchet-blade +touched the tree-trunk, it split into two pieces. + +The king said, "Now you can marry my daughter." Then the wedding took +place. All the Rájás and kings of the countries round were asked to +come to it, and there were great rejoicings. After a few days the +prince's son said to his wife, "Let us go to my father's country." The +Princess Labám's father gave them a quantity of camels and horses and +rupees and servants; and they travelled in great state to the prince's +country, where they lived happily. + +The prince always kept his bag, bowl, bed, and stick; only as no one +ever came to make war on him, he never needed to use the stick. + + Told by Múniyá. + + + + +[Decoration] + +XXIII. + +THE PRINCESS WHO LOVED HER FATHER LIKE SALT. + + +In a country there lived a king who had seven daughters. One day he +called them all to him and said to them, "My daughters, how much do +you love me?" The six eldest answered, "Father, we love you as much as +sweetmeats and sugar;" but the seventh and youngest daughter said, +"Father, I love you as much as salt." The king was much pleased with +his six eldest daughters, but very angry with his youngest daughter. +"What is this?" he said; "my daughter only loves me as much as she +does salt!" Then he called some of his servants, and said to them, +"Get a palanquin ready, and carry my youngest daughter away to the +jungle." + +The servants did as they were bid; and when they got to the jungle, +they put the palanquin down under a tree and went away. The princess +called to them, "Where are you going? Stay here; my father did not +tell you to leave me alone in the jungle." "We will come back," said +the servants; "we are only going to drink some water." But they +returned to her father's palace. + +The princess waited in the palanquin under the tree, and it was now +evening, and the servants had not come back. She was very much +frightened and cried bitterly. "The tigers and wild beasts will eat +me," she said to herself. At last she went to sleep, and slept for a +little while. When she awoke she found in her palanquin some food on a +plate, and a little water, that God had sent her while she slept. She +ate the food and drank the water, and then she felt happier, for she +thought, "God must have sent me this food and water." She decided that +as it was now night she had better stay in her palanquin, and go to +sleep. "Perhaps the tigers and wild beasts will come and eat me," she +thought; "but if they don't, I will try to-morrow to get out of this +jungle, and go to another country." + +The next morning she left her palanquin and set out. She walked on, +till, deep in the jungle, she came to a beautiful palace, which did +not belong to her father, but to another king. The gate was shut, but +she opened it, and went in. She looked all about, and thought, "What a +beautiful house this is, and what a pretty garden and tank!" + +Everything was beautiful, only there were no servants nor anybody else +to be seen. She went into the house, and through all the rooms. In one +room she saw a dinner ready to be eaten, but there was no one to eat +it. At last she came to a room in which was a splendid bed, and on it +lay a king's son covered with a shawl. She took the shawl off, and +then she saw he was very beautiful, and that he was dead. His body was +stuck full of needles. + +She sat down on the bed, and there she sat for one week, without +eating, or drinking, or sleeping, pulling out the needles. Then a man +came by who said to her, "I have here a girl I wish to sell." "I have +no rupees," said the princess; "but if you will sell her to me for my +gold bangles, I will buy her." The man took the bangles, and left the +girl with the princess, who was very glad to have her. "Now," she +thought, "I shall be no longer alone." + +All day and all night long the princess sat and pulled out the +needles, while the girl went about the palace doing other work. At +the end of other two weeks the princess had pulled out all the needles +from the king's body, except those in his eyes. + +Then the king's daughter said to her servant-girl, "For three weeks I +have not bathed. Get a bath ready for me, and while I am bathing sit +by the king, but do not take the needles out of his eyes. I will pull +them out myself." The servant-girl promised not to pull out the +needles. Then she got the bath ready; but when the king's daughter had +gone to bathe, she sat down on the bed, and pulled the needles out of +the king's eyes. + +As soon as she had done so, he opened his eyes, and sat up. He thanked +God for bringing him to life again. Then he looked about, and saw the +servant-girl, and said to her, "Who has made me well and pulled all +the needles out of my body?" "I have," she answered. Then he thanked +her and said she should be his wife. + +When the princess came from her bath, she found the king alive, and +sitting on his bed talking to her servant. When she saw this she was +very sad, but she said nothing. The king said to the servant-maid, +"Who is this girl?" She answered, "She is one of my servants." And +from that moment the princess became a servant-girl, and her +servant-girl married the king. Every day the king said, "Can this +lovely girl be really a servant? She is far more beautiful than my +wife." + +One day the king thought, "I will go to another country to eat the +air." So he called the pretended princess, his wife, and told her he +was going to eat the air in another country. "What would you like me +to bring you when I come back?" She answered, "I should like beautiful +sárís and clothes, and gold and silver jewels." Then the king said, +"Call the servant-girl, and ask her what she would like me to bring +her." The real princess came, and the king said to her, "See, I am +going to another country to eat the air. What would you like me to +bring for you when I return?" + +"King," she answered, "if you can bring me what I want I will tell you +what it is; but if you cannot get it, I will not tell you." "Tell me +what it is," said the king. "Whatever it may be I will bring it you." +"Good," said the princess. "I want a sun-jewel box." Now the princess +knew all about the sun-jewel boxes, and that only fairies had such +boxes. And she knew, too, what would be in hers if the king could get +one for her, although these boxes contain sometimes one thing and +sometimes another. + +The king had never heard of such a box, and did not know what it was +like; so he went to every country asking all the people he met what +sort of box was a sun-jewel box, and where he could get it. At last +one day, after a fruitless search, he was very sad, for he thought, "I +have promised the servant to bring her a sun-jewel box, and now I +cannot get one for her; what shall I do?" + +Then he went to sleep, and had a dream. In it he saw a jungle, and in +the jungle a fakír who, when he slept, slept for twelve years, and +then was awake for twelve years. The king felt sure this man could +give him what he wanted, so when he woke he said to his sepoys and +servants, "Stay here in this spot till I return to you; then we will +go back to my country." + +He mounted his horse and set out for the jungle he had seen in his +dream. He went on and on till he came to it, and there he saw the +fakír lying asleep. He had been asleep for twelve years all but two +weeks: over him were a quantity of leaves, and grass, and a great deal +of mud. The king began taking off all the grass, and leaves, and mud, +and every day for a fortnight when he got up he cleared them all away +from off the fakír. When the fakír awoke at the end of the two weeks, +and saw that no mud, or grass, or leaves were upon him, but that he +was quite clean, he was very much pleased, and said to the king, "I +have slept for twelve years, and yet I am as clean as I was when I +went to sleep. When I awoke after my last sleep, I was all covered +with dirt and mud, grass and leaves; but this time I am quite clean." + +The king stayed with the fakír for a week, and waited on him and did +everything for him. The fakír was very much pleased with the king, and +he told this to him: "You are a very good man." He added, "Why did you +come to this jungle? You are such a great king, what can you want from +me?" "I want a sun-jewel box," answered the king. "You are such a good +man," said the fakír, "that I will give you one." + +Then the fakír went to a beautiful well, down which he went right to +the bottom. There, there was a house in which lived the red fairy. She +was called the red fairy not because her skin was red, for it was +quite white, but because everything about her was red--her house, her +clothes, and her country. She was very glad to see the fakír, and +asked him why he had come to see her. "I want you to give me a +sun-jewel box," he answered. "Very good," said the fairy, and she +brought him one in which were seven small dolls and a little flute. +"No one but she who wants this box must open it," said the fairy to +the fakír. "She must open it when she is quite alone and at night." +Then she told him what was in the box. + +The fakír thanked her, and took the box to the king, who was delighted +and made many salaams to the fakír. The fakír told him none but the +person who wished for the box was to open it; but he did not tell him +what more the fairy had said. + +The king set off on his journey now, and when he came to his servants +and sepoys, he said to them he would now return to his country, as he +had found the box he wanted. When he reached his palace he called the +false princess, his wife, and gave her her silks and shawls, and sárís, +and gold and silver jewels. Then he called the servant-girl--the true +princess--and gave her her sun-jewel box. She took it, and was +delighted to have it. She made him many salaams and went away with her +box, but did not open it then, for she knew what was in it, and that +she must open it at night and alone. + +That night she took her box and went out all by herself to a wide +plain in the jungle, and there opened it. She took the little flute, +put it to her lips, and began to play, and instantly out flew the +seven little dolls, who were all little fairies, and they took chairs +and carpets from the box, and arranged them all in a large tent which +appeared at that moment. Then the fairies bathed her, combed and +rolled up her hair, put on her grand clothes and lovely slippers. But +all the time the princess did nothing but cry. They brought a chair +and placed it before the tent, and made her sit in it. One of them +took the flute and played on it, and all the others danced before the +princess, and they sang songs for her. Still she cried and cried. At +last, at four o'clock in the morning, one of the fairies said, +"Princess, why do you cry?" "I took all the needles out of the king, +all but those in his eyes," said the princess, "and while I was +bathing, my servant-girl, whom I had bought with my gold bangles, +pulled these out. She told the king it was she who had pulled out all +the other needles and brought him to life, and that I was her servant, +and she has taken my place and is treated as the princess, and the +king has married her, while I am made to do a servant's work and +treated as the servant." "Do not cry," said the fairies. "Everything +will be well for you by and by." + +When it was close on morning, the princess played on the flute, and +all the chairs, sofas, and fairies became quite tiny, and went into +the box, and the tent disappeared. She shut it up, and took it back to +the king's palace. The next night she again went out to the +jungle-plain, and all happened as on the night before. + +A wood-cutter was coming home late from his work, and had to pass by +the plain. He wondered when he saw the tent. "I went by some time +ago," he said to himself, "and I saw no tent here." He climbed up a +big tree to see what was going on, and saw the fairies dancing before +the princess, who sat outside the tent, and he saw how she cried +though the fairies did all they could to amuse her. Then he heard the +fairies say, "Princess, why do you cry?" And he heard her tell them +how she had cured the king, and how her servant-girl had taken her +place and made her a servant. "Never mind, don't cry," said the +fairies. "All will be well by and by." Near morning the princess +played on her flute, and the fairies went into the box, and the tent +disappeared, and the princess went back to the palace. + +The third night passed as the other two had done. The wood-cutter came +to look on, and climbed into the tree to see the fairies and the +princess. Again the fairies asked her why she cried, and she gave the +same answer. + +The next day the wood-cutter went to the king. "Last night and the +night before," he said, "as I came home from work, I saw a large tent +in the jungle, and before the tent there sat a princess who did +nothing but cry, while seven fairies danced before her, or played on +different instruments, and sang songs to her." The king was very much +astonished, and said to the wood-cutter, "To-night I will go with you, +and see the tent, and the princess, and the fairies." + +When it was night the princess went out softly and opened her box on +the plain. The wood-cutter fetched the king, and the two men climbed +into a tree, and watched the fairies as they danced and sang. The king +saw that the princess who sat and cried was his own servant-girl. He +heard her tell the fairies all she had done for him, and all that had +happened to her; so he came suddenly down from the tree, and went up +to her, and took her hand. "I always thought you were a princess, and +no servant-girl," he said. "Will you marry me?" + +She left off crying, and said, "Yes, I will marry you." She played on +her flute, and the tent disappeared, and all the fairies, and sofas, +and chairs went into the box. She put her flute in it, as she always +did before shutting down the lid, and went home with the king. + +The servant-girl was very vexed and angry when she found the king knew +all that had happened. However, the princess was most good to her, and +never treated her unkindly. + +The princess then sent a letter to her mother, in which she wrote, "I +am going to be married to a great king. You and my father must come to +my wedding, and must bring my sisters with you." + +They all came, and her father and mother liked the king very much, and +were glad their daughter should marry him. The wedding took place, and +they stayed with her for some time. For a whole week she gave their +servants and sepoys nice food cooked with salt, but to her father and +mother and sisters she only gave food cooked with sugar. At last they +got so tired of this sweet food that they could eat it no longer. At +the end of the week she gave them a dinner cooked with salt. Then her +father said, "My daughter is wise though she is so young, and is the +youngest of my daughters. I know now how much she loved me when she +said she loved me like salt. People cannot eat their food without +salt. If their food is cooked with sugar one day, it must be cooked +with salt the next, or they cannot eat it." + +After this her father and mother and sisters went home, but they +often came to see their little daughter and her husband. + +The princess, the king, and the servant-maid all lived happily +together. + + Told by Múniyá. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XXIV. + +THE DEMON IS AT LAST CONQUERED BY THE KING'S SON. + + +In a country there were seven men, no two of whom belonged to the same +family, or were of the same trade. One was a grain merchant's son, one +a baker's, and so on; each had a different trade. + +These seven men determined they would go to seek for service in +another country. They said good-bye to their fathers and mothers, and +set off. + +They travelled every day, and walked through many jungles. At last, a +long way from their homes, they came to a wide plain in the midst of a +jungle, and on it they saw a goat which seemed to be a very good +milch-goat. The seven men said to each other, "If this goat belonged +to any one, it would not be left all alone in the jungle. Let us take +it with us." They did so, and no one they met asked them any questions +about the goat. + +In the evening they arrived at a village where they stayed for the +night. They cooked and ate their dinners, and gave the goat grass and +grain. At midnight, when they were all asleep, the goat became a great +she-demon, with a great mouth, and swallowed one of the seven men. +Then she became a goat again, and went back to the place where she had +been stabled. + +The men got up in the morning, and were very much surprised to find +they were only six, not seven. "Where is the seventh gone?" they +said. "Well, when he returns we will all go on together." They sat +waiting and waiting for him, till, as it was getting late and he had +not come, they all thought they had better start without him. So they +continued their journey, taking the goat with them. Before they went +they said to the villagers, "If our seventh man comes back to you, +send him after us." + +At evening they came to another village, where they stayed for the +night. They cooked and ate their dinners, and gave grain and grass to +the goat. At midnight, when they were fast asleep, the goat became a +demon and swallowed another man, and then took her goat's shape again. + +In this way she ate five men. The two that were left were very sad at +finding themselves alone. "We were seven men," they said, "now we are +but two." The grain merchant's son was one of the two, and he was very +quick and sharp. He determined he would not say anything to his +companion, but that he would watch by him that night, and find out, if +he could, what had happened to his other friends. To keep himself +awake he cut a piece out of his finger, and rubbed a little salt into +the wound, so that when his companion went to sleep, he should not be +able to sleep because of the pain. At midnight the goat came and +turned into a huge demon. She went quickly up to the sleeping man to +swallow him; but the merchant's son rushed at her, beat her, and +snatched his companion from her mouth. The demon turned instantly into +a goat, and went back to the place where it had been stabled. + +The two men next morning set out from the village where they had +passed the night. They would have killed the goat had they been able. +As they could not do so, they took it with them till they came to a +plain in the jungle, where they tied it up to a tree, and left it. +Then they continued their journey, and were very sorry they had not +known how wicked the goat was before it had swallowed their five +companions. + +The goat meanwhile turned itself into a most beautiful young girl, +dressed in grand clothes and rich jewels, and she sat down in the +jungle and began to cry. Just then the king of another country was +hunting in this jungle; and when he heard the noise of the crying, he +called his servants and told them to go and see who was crying. The +servants looked about until they saw the beautiful girl. They asked +her a great many questions, but she only cried, and would not answer. +The servants returned to the king, and told him it was a most +beautiful young girl who was crying; but she would do nothing but cry, +and would not speak. + +The king left his hunting and went himself to the girl, and asked her +why she cried. "My husband married me," she said, "and was taking me +to his home. He went to get some water to drink, and left me here. He +has never come back, and I don't know where he is; perhaps some tiger +has killed him, and now I am all alone, and do not know where to go. +This is why I cry." The king was so delighted with her beauty, that he +asked her to go with him. He sent his servants for a fine palanquin, +and when it came he put the girl into it, and took her to his palace, +and there she stayed. + +At midnight she turned into a demon, and went to the place where the +king's sheep and goats were kept. She tore open all their stomachs, +and ate all their hearts. Then she dipped seven knives in their blood, +and laid the knives on the beds of the seven queens. + +Next morning the king heard that all his sheep and goats were lying +dead; and when his seven wives woke, they saw that their clothes were +all bloody, and that bloody knives lay on their beds. They wondered +who had done this wicked thing to them. + +The next night at twelve o'clock the beautiful girl turned into a +demon again, and went to the cow-house. There she tore open the cows +and ate their hearts. Then she smeared the queens' clothes, and laid +knives dipped in blood on their beds; but she washed her own hands and +clothes, so that no blood should show on them. For a long time the +same thing happened every night, till she had eaten all the elephants, +horses, camels,--every animal, indeed, belonging to the king. The king +wondered very much at his animals all being killed in this way, and he +could not understand either why every morning his wives' clothes were +bloody, and bloody knives found on their beds. + +When she had eaten all the animals, the demon said to the king, "I am +afraid your wives are very wicked women. They must have killed all +your cows and sheep, goats, horses, elephants, and camels. I am afraid +one day they will eat me up." "I have been married to them for many +years," answered the king, "and anything like this has never happened +before." "I am very much afraid of them," said the demon, who all this +time looked a most beautiful girl. "I am very much afraid; but if you +cut out their eyes, then they cannot kill me." + +The king called his servants and said to them, "Get ready seven +palanquins, and carry my seven wives into the jungle. There you must +leave them; only first take out their eyes, which you must bring to +me." The servants took the queens to a jungle a long way from the +king's country. There they took out their eyes, and left them, and +brought the eyes to the king, who gave them into the demon's hands. +She pounded them to bits with a stone, and threw the bits away. + +The seven queens in the jungle did not know which way to go; so they +walked straight on, and fell into a dry well which lay just before +them. In this well they stayed; and the day when they thought they +must die of hunger and thirst was drawing near. But before it came the +eldest queen had a little son. She and the five next wives were so +hungry, that they agreed to kill the child, and divide it into seven +pieces. They each ate a piece, and gave one to the seventh and +youngest wife. She said nothing, and hid the piece. These five wives +each had a son one after the other, and they killed and divided their +children as the eldest wife had done with hers. But the youngest wife +hid all the six pieces that were given her, and would eat none. Her +son was born last of all. Then the six eldest wives said, "Let us kill +and divide your child." "No," she said, "I will never kill or divide +my boy; I would rather die of hunger. Here are the six pieces you gave +me. I would not eat them. Take them and eat them, but you must not +touch my son." God was so pleased with her for not killing her child, +that he made the boy grow bigger and bigger every day; and the little +queen was very happy. + +They all lived in the dry well without any food till the little prince +was five years old. By that time he was very quick and clever. One day +he said to his mother, "Why have we lived all this while in the well?" +His mother and all the other wives told him about the wicked demon who +lived in his father's palace, and how the king believed her to be a +beautiful girl and had married her, and of all the evil things that +she had done to them, and how she had made the king send them to the +jungle and have their eyes cut out and given to her, and how from not +being able to see they had fallen into this well, and how they had +eaten all his brothers, because they were so very hungry they thought +they should die--all but his mother at least, for she would not eat +the other wives' children and would not kill her own little son. "Let +me climb out of this well," said the boy, who determined in his heart +that he would kill this wicked demon one day. His mother said, "No, +stay here; you are too young to leave the well." + +The boy did not listen to her, but scrambled out. Then he saw they +were in a wide plain in the jungle. He ran after a few birds, caught +and killed them. Then he roasted the birds and brought them with some +water to his seven mothers in the well. When they had eaten them and +drunk the water, they were happy and worshipped God. The six mothers +who had eaten their children were full of sorrow, and said, "If our +six sons were now living, how good it would be for us: how happy we +should be." The young prince went out hunting for little birds every +day, and in the evening he cooked those he caught and brought them, +with water, to his mothers. + +Now the demon, because she was a demon and was therefore wiser than +men and women, knew that the seven queens lived in the well, and that +the son of the youngest queen was still alive. She determined to kill +him; so she pretended her eyes hurt her, and began crying, and making +a great to-do. The king asked her, "What is the matter?" "See, king, +see my eyes," she said. "They ache and hurt me so much." "What +medicine will make them well again?" said the king. "If I could only +bathe them with a tigress's milk, they would be well," she answered. + +The king called two of his servants and said to them, "Can either of +you get me a tigress's milk? Here are two thousand rupees for +whichever of you brings me the milk." Then he gave them the rupees, +and told them to get it at once. + +The servants took the rupees, and said nothing to the king, but they +said to each other, "How can we get a tigress's milk?" And they were +very sad. They left the king's country, and wandered on till they came +to the jungle-plain, where lived the young prince and his mothers. +There they saw him sitting by a dry well and roasting birds. "Do you +live in this jungle?" they said to him. "Yes," answered the boy. Then +the servants talked together. "See," they said, "this boy lives in the +jungle, so he will surely be able to get us the milk. Let us tell him +to get it, and give him the two thousand rupees." + +So they came back to the boy, who asked them where they were going. +"Our queen is very ill with pain in her eyes, and our king has sent us +for some tigress's milk for her to bathe them with, that they may get +well. He has given us two thousand rupees, for whichever of us to keep +who gets the milk. But we do not know where or how to get it." + +"Good," said the boy; "give me the two thousand rupees and I will get +it for you. Come here for it in a week's time." + +The king's servants were very much pleased at not having to try and +get it themselves, so they gave him the rupees and went home. The +demon knew quite well when she asked for the milk that none of the +king's servants would dare to go for it, but that his son would be +brave enough to go. This is why she asked for it, for she meant the +tigers to kill him. + +The little prince now took his seven mothers out of the well, and they +all went together to his father's country. There he got a small house +for them, and good clothes and food. He got a servant, too, for them, +to cook their dinner and take care of them. "Be very tender to them," +he said to the servant, "for they cannot see." For himself he bought a +little horse, and good clothes, and a gun, and a sword. Then he made +his mothers many salaams, and told them he was going to get a +tigress's milk. They all cried and begged him not to go. + +But he set off and rode for three or four days through the jungles. +Then he came to a large jungle which was in a great blaze, and two +tiger-cubs were running about in the jungle trying to get out of the +fire. He jumped off his horse, and took them in his hands; then he +mounted his horse again and rode out of the jungle. He rode on till +he came to another which was not on fire. He let the cubs loose in it +that they might run away; but they placed themselves in front of his +horse, and said, "We will not let you go till you have seen our father +and mother." + +Meanwhile the tiger and tigress saw the boy coming with their cubs, +and they came running to meet them. Till then they had thought their +cubs were burned in the jungle-fire. Now they knew at once this boy +had saved them. The cubs said to their father and mother, "We should +have died had it not been for this boy. Give him food; and when he has +eaten some food, we will drink milk." The tigers were very happy at +having their children safe. They went to a garden and got food and +good water for the boy, who ate and drank. Then the little cubs drank +their mother's milk. + +The tiger said to the prince, "You are such a little child, how is it +your mother let you come alone to this jungle?" + +"My mother's eyes are sore and pain her; and the doctor says that if +she bathes them in a tigress's milk they will get well. So I came to +see if I could get a little for her." + +"I will give you some," said the tigress, and she gave him a little +jar full of her milk. The cubs said, "One of us will go with you, and +the other will stay with our father and mother." "No," said the little +prince, "do you both stay with your father and mother. I will not take +either of you away. What should I do with you?" "No," said one of the +cubs; "I will go with you. I will do all you tell me. Wherever you bid +me stay, there I will stay; and I will eat any food you give me." +"Take him with you," said the old tiger; "one day you will find him of +use." So the boy took the cub and the milk, and made his salaam to the +old tigers and went home. His mothers were delighted at his return, +though, as they had no eyes, they could not see him. + +He tied up the tiger's cub and fed him. Then he took a little of the +milk, and went to the dry well in the jungle and sat down by it. The +king's servants came when the week had passed, and the boy gave them +the milk. The servants took it to the king, who gave it to the demon. +She was very angry when she found the tigers had not eaten the boy; +but she bathed her eyes with the milk, and said nothing. + +At the end of another week she would not eat or drink, and did nothing +but cry. "What is the matter?" said the king. "See how my eyes pain +me," she answered. "If I could only get an eagle's feather to lay on +them they would be well. Oh, how they hurt me!" + +The king called his servants and gave them four thousand rupees. "Go +and get me an eagle's feather," he said, "and he who gets it is to +take the four thousand rupees." "Let us go to the jungle well," they +said, "and find the boy who got us the tigress's milk. We could never +get an eagle's feather, but this child certainly can get one for us." + +So they went to the well where they found the boy. The little prince +was very wise, though he was such a little child; and he knew the +demon would try to send him on some other errand that she might get +rid of him. He was quite willing to go on her errands, for he thought +he might thus learn how to kill her. He was not a bit afraid of being +killed himself, for he knew that God loved him, and that no one but +God could kill him. + +He at once asked the king's servants, "What do you want now?" "Our +king has sent us for an eagle's feather to lay on the queen's eyes, +which pain her again. Here are four thousand rupees for you if you +will get it for us." "Give me the rupees," said the king's son. "Come +here in two weeks, and I will give you the feather." + +He took the rupees to his mothers, and told them he was going to fetch +an eagle's feather. "Where will you find one?" they said. "I don't +know," he answered, "but I am going to look for one." He hired some +more servants, and told them to take care of his mothers and the +tiger-cub. + +He rode straight on for two or three days, and at last came to a very +dense jungle, through which he rode for another three or four days. +When he got out of it he found himself on a beautiful smooth plain in +which was a tank. There, too, was a large fig-tree, and under the tree +cool shade, and cool, thick grass. He was very much pleased when he +saw the tank and the tree. He got off his horse, bathed in the tank, +and sat down under the fig-tree, thinking, "Here I will sleep a little +while before I go further." + +While he lay asleep in the grass, a great snake crawled up the tree, +at the top of which were two young eagles. They began screaming very +loud. Their cries awakened the little prince. He looked about and saw +the great snake in the tree. Then he took his gun and fired at it, and +the snake fell dead to the ground. He cut it into five pieces, and hid +them in the long grass. Then he lay down again and went to sleep. + +The baby eagles were alone in the tree, as their father and mother had +gone to another country. But now the old birds came home, and found +the king's son sleeping in the grass. "See," they said, "here is the +thief who every year robs us of our children! But now he cannot get +away. We will kill him." However, they thought it better to go and +look first at their children, to see if they were safe or not. They +flew up to the top of the tree, and when they found their children +safe, they wished to give them food. All the time they kept saying, +"Eat; then we will kill the thief who steals away our children every +year." The young eagles thought, "Oh, if God would only give us the +power to speak, then we would tell our father and mother that this +boy is no thief." Then God gave them the power to speak, and they said +to the old eagles, "Listen; if that boy had not been here, we should +have died, for he killed a huge snake that was going to swallow us: +only go and look, and you will see it dead and cut into pieces." And +the eaglets refused to eat till the boy had been fed. + +The big eagles flew down and found the bits of the snake: so they flew +away to a beautiful garden, where they got delicious fruits and water. +These they brought to the boy, and awoke him and fed him. Then they +said to him, "It is indeed good to find our children alive. Hitherto +our children have always been eaten by that snake. How are your father +and mother? Why did they let you come to this jungle? What have you +come here for?" The little prince said, "My mother's eyes are very +sore; but they would be cured if she could have an eagle's feather to +lay on them. So I came to look for one." Then the mother gave him one +of her feathers. + +When the boy was going home, the eaglets said they would go with him. +"No," he said, "I will not take you with me." But the old birds said, +"Take one of them, it will help you one day." The little prince made +his salaam to the big eagles, and took one of their young ones, +mounted his horse, and rode off. The eaglet flew over his head to +shade him from the sun. + +When he got home to his seven mothers, he took the feather and went +and sat by the dry well. The king's servants came there to him, and he +gave them the feather, and said, "Take it to your king." This they +did, and the king gave it to the demon, who flew into a great rage. +She said to herself, "The tigers did not kill him, and now the eagles +have not killed him." + +At the end of two weeks she began to cry and would not eat. The king +asked her, "What is the matter with you? what has happened to you?" +"My eyes pain me so much," she said. "What will cure them?" said the +king. "If I had only some night-growing rice," she said, "I would boil +it, and make rice-water, which I would drink. Then I should get well." +Now this night-growing rice was a wonderful rice that no men, and only +one demon, possessed. This was the demon-queen's brother. He used to +put a grain of this rice into his huge cavern of a mouth at night when +he went to sleep, and when he woke in the morning this grain would +have become a tree. Then the demon used to take the rice-tree out of +his mouth. + +The demon, who seemed such a lovely girl, now wrote a letter to her +brother, in which she said, "The bearer of this letter goes to you for +some night-growing rice. You must kill him at once; you must not let +him live." The king gave this letter to his servants, with six +thousand rupees. "Take this letter," he said, "and fetch some of the +night-growing rice. Here are six thousand rupees for whichever of you +finds it." The king had no idea that it was not these men who had gone +for the tigress's milk and the eagle's feather. + +The servants said, "Let us go to the well, to the boy who has helped +us before. We don't know where to get this night-growing rice, but +that boy is sure to know." + +The boy was sitting by the well, and asked what they wanted. They +answered, "See, the king has given us six thousand rupees and a +letter, and told us to fetch him some night-growing rice." "Very +good," said the king's son. "Come here in three weeks' time, and I +will give you some." The servants gave him the rupees and returned +home. + +He took the rupees to his mothers, and told them he was going on a +fresh errand, and they were to keep the money. Then he made them +salaams, took his letter, and rode off. The eaglet went too, and flew +above his head. The tiger's cub he left at home. + +He rode on and on through a very large jungle, and he rode a long, +long way: at last in a jungle he saw a fakír, who was living in it. He +made him salaams, and the fakír was delighted to see him, "because," +he said, "for many years I have been in this country, and all that +time have never seen any man." The prince sat down by the fakír, and +the fakír was very much pleased. He asked the boy who had sent him to +the jungle, and why he had come to it. "My mother has sore eyes," he +answered, "and wants some night-growing rice. She has given me a +letter to the man who owns it." + +The fakír took and read the letter, and was very sorry. He tore it up +and threw it away. Then he wrote another, in which he said, "Your +sister is very ill, and her son has come for some night-growing rice +for her." This he gave to the boy, and told him to continue his +journey. He also told him that the man who had the rice was a huge +demon, and that he lived in the country by the great sea. Then he told +him the way. + +The boy rode on and on, and after a week's journeying he came to the +demon's country. There he saw the huge demon sitting on the ground, +with his great, big mouth, that was just like a cavern. As soon as the +demon saw him he stood up and said, "It is many days since a man came +here. Now I will eat this one." He went towards the prince to seize +him, and a great rushing wind came blowing from the demon, as it +always did when he was angry. But the boy, who had begun to walk +towards him when he stood up, threw the letter to him with all his +might, so that it fell on him; at the same time he made many salaams. +The demon read the letter, and found his sister was very ill, and this +was her son; so he stopped the wind, and came up to the boy, who he +thought was his sister's son. "You have come for the rice for my +sister who is ill," he said to him; "you shall have it." + +The demon had a splendid house full of beautiful things, and a great +many servants. He took the little prince home with him, and told his +servants to get water ready and gave the child a bath. They were also +to cook a good dinner for him. Then the demon showed the boy all his +gardens, and all his beautiful things, and took him through all the +rooms of his house. One room he did not show to the prince. He told +him he was never to go into it, though he might go everywhere else +that he liked. In this room lived the demon's daughter, who was very +beautiful, just like a fairy. She was ten years old. Every day before +her father went out, he used to make the girl lie on her bed, and +cover her with a sheet, and he placed a thick stick at her head, and +another at her feet; then she died till he came home in the evening +and changed the sticks, putting the one at her head at her feet, and +the one at her feet at her head. This brought her to life again. + +The next day, when the demon had gone out, the boy went to this room, +and opened the door, for he wanted to see what was in it. He went in, +and saw the beautiful girl lying on the bed. "How lovely she is!" he +said; "but she is dead." Then he saw the sticks, and, to amuse +himself, he put the one at her head at her feet, and the one at her +feet at her head, just as the demon did every evening. The girl at +once came to life, and opened her eyes and got up. "Who is this?" she +said to herself, when she saw the king's son. "This is not my father." +She asked him, "Who are you? Why do you come here? If my father sees +you he will eat you." "No, he won't," said the prince, "for I am your +aunt's son, and your father himself brought me to his house. But why +is it that you are dead all day, and alive all night?" The girl had +told him that her father brought her to life every evening, and made +her dead every morning. "Such is my father's pleasure," she answered. + +So they talked together all day, and he said to her, "Suppose one day +your father made you dead as usual, and that he was killed before he +had brought you to life, what would you do? You would always be dead +then." "Listen," she said; "no one can kill my father." "Why not?" +said the boy. "Listen," she answered; "on the other side of the sea +there is a great tree, in that tree is a nest, in the nest is a +_mainá_. If any one kills that _mainá_, then only will my father die. +And if, when the _mainá_ is killed, its blood falls to the ground, a +hundred demons would be born from the blood. This is why my father +cannot be killed." + +At evening, before the demon came home, the prince made the girl dead. +Then he went softly into another room. + +The fakír had said to the boy, when they were in the jungle together, +"If ever you are in trouble, come to me and I will help you. It will +take you now one week to ride to the demon's country; but if ever you +need me, you shall be able to come to me here in this jungle, and to +return to the demon's house in one day." The fakír was such a holy man +that everything he said should happen did happen. So now the prince +determined he would go to the fakír and ask him what he should do to +kill this _mainá_. In the morning, therefore, as soon as the demon had +gone out, he set off for the fakír's jungle, and, thanks to the holy +man's power, he got there very quickly. He told him everything, and +the fakír made a paper boat which he gave him. "This boat will take +you over the sea," he said to the prince. "This paper boat!" said the +boy. "How can a paper boat go over the sea? It will get soaked and +sink." "No, it will not," said the fakír. "Launch it on the sea, and +get into it. The boat will of itself carry you to the tree where the +_mainá's_ nest is." + +The prince took the boat, and went back to the demon's house. He got +there before the demon came home, so that he did not know the boy had +been to the fakír. When the demon returned that evening, the king's +son said, "To-morrow I will go home, as my mother is very ill. Will +you give me the rice?" "Good," said the demon, "you shall have it +to-morrow." Next morning he gave the rice, and went off to the jungle. + +Then the boy took his paper boat down to the sea, launched it, and got +into it; and of itself the boat went straight over the sea to the +opposite shore. The eaglet flew above his head; but he left his horse +on land. When he got to the other side, he saw the great tree, with +the nest and the _mainá_. He climbed the tree, and took down the nest, +and the demon, who was far away, knew it at once, and said to himself, +"Some one has come to catch and kill me." He set out at once for the +tree. The prince saw him coming, so he wrapped the _mainá_ up in his +handkerchief, that no blood should fall to the ground. Then he broke +off one of its legs, and one of the demon's legs fell off. Still the +demon came on. Then he broke off the other leg, but the demon walked +on his hands. The boy saw him coming nearer and nearer, so he wrung +the bird's head off, and the demon fell dead. + +The prince jumped into his paper boat, and of itself the boat went +straight back to the other shore, to the demon's country. Then he went +up to the demon's house, and made his daughter alive. + +She was frightened, and said to him, "Oh, take care. If my father +comes back, and finds us together, he will eat us both." "He will not +come back," said the prince. "I have killed him." + +Then he dressed her in boy's clothes, that no one might know she was a +girl, and he found a horse, and had it made ready for her. Her father +had collected a quantity of rupees. Some of these the prince gave to +the servants as a present, and said to them, "Stay here and be happy; +do not be afraid, for there is no demon now to come and eat you." + +Then he took the rice and mounted his horse, and made the girl mount +also, and went off to the fakír. The paper boat he left, as he did not +want it any more. He and the demon's daughter made the fakír many +salaams, and they stayed with him for a day before they rode to the +prince's country. Here they went to his seven mothers, who were very, +very glad to see them, and thanked God that their son had come back +safe. + +He took a little of the rice, and went and sat by the well till the +king's two servants came. Then he gave them the rice for their king, +and the king gave it to the demon. She said nothing while the king was +with her; but when she was alone she cried, for she knew the boy must +have killed her brother, as he had brought her the rice. + +She waited a week, and then she began to cry again, and would not eat. +The king was very sorry, and thought, "What can I do to make her well +and happy?" Then he said, "What will cure your eyes?" "See, king," she +answered, "if I could only bathe my eyes with water from the +Glittering Well, they would not pain me any more." This well was in +the fairies' country, and was guarded by the demon's sister, whose +name was Jangkatar. She lived in the well; and when any one came to +draw water from it, she used to drag him down and eat him. + +The king called his servants, gave them eight thousand rupees, and +said, "Go and fetch me water from the Glittering Well." The servants +went at once to the dry well in the jungle. There they found the +prince, who asked them what they wanted. "Here are eight thousand +rupees," they said; "and the king has ordered us to bring him water +from the Glittering Well." "Come in three weeks, and I will give it +to you," said the king's son. He took to his mothers the eight +thousand rupees which the servants had given him, and said to them, +"Take care of these rupees, for I am going away for a little while." +Then he got his horse ready and mounted it, and made many salaams to +his mothers. The tiger-cub said to him, "Take me with you this time. +Last time you only took the eagle. Now we will both go with you." + +So he rode off; and the eaglet flew above his head and the young tiger +ran by his side. It took him a week to get to the fairies' country, +and then he came to a beautiful smooth plain, in which was a garden, +but no house. In the middle of this garden was the Glittering Well. It +was a deep well, and the water sprang up out of it like a fountain, +and then fell back into the well, and the water shone and sparkled as +if it were gold, and silver, and diamonds. This is why it was called +the Glittering Well. + +The prince dipped his jar in the well, and Jangkatar put up her hand +and caught him. She dragged him into the water and swallowed him +whole. Then the young eagle flew down into the well, seized Jangkatar +in his talons, and took her out and threw her on the ground. The +tiger-cub rushed at her instantly, tore her open, and pulled the +king's son out of her. But he was half dead. The cub and the eaglet +lay down on him to warm him, and when they had warmed him, he was +better. + +"We have saved you," they said to him. "But for us you would have +died." The young prince thanked them and caressed them. "It is quite +true," he said; "without you I should have died." Then he filled his +jar with water, and mounted his horse and rode home. He made salaams +to his seven mothers, with whom all this time the demon's daughter had +stayed. He bathed his mothers' eyes with the water from the Glittering +Well, and then they saw perfectly once more. + +He took a little of the water, and went to wait for the king's +servants by the dry jungle well, and he was very happy thinking that +now his mothers could see. He gave the water to the king's servants, +who took it to the king, and the king gave it to his demon-wife, and +she was very sad and angry, for she knew the boy must have killed her +sister, the guardian of the Glittering Well. + +When a whole month had passed, and he had not been sent on any more +errands, the king's son said to himself, "Good; now nothing more is +going to happen to me. I am not to be sent anywhere else." So he +bought a fine horse and grand clothes, and rode to the king's +court-house. He went in, and seated himself at the king's right hand; +but he made no salaam to the king, and spoke to no one. This he did +every day for three days. Everybody was wondering who this boy was, +and why he never made any salaam to the king. + +On the fourth day, as he sat at the king's right hand, the king asked +him, "Whose child are you? Where do you come from? Where are you +going?" The young prince answered, "See, king, I am a merchant's son; +my ship has been wrecked, and I want to find service with some one." +"What can you do?" asked the king. "I don't know any trade," said his +son; "but I can tell you a story." "What wages do you want?" said the +king. "One thousand rupees a day," answered the boy. "I shall only +stay a short time in your country." "Good," said the king; "I will +give you one thousand rupees a day, and a servant to wait on you +besides. So come every day to my court-house, and tell me your story." + +The prince told the king his own story. He began from where the king +found the beautiful demon-girl crying in the jungle, and ended it +where his demon-wife cried and cried for her sister Jangkatar. It took +him three weeks to tell the story; and when he had finished it, the +king knew that he himself was the king in the story, and that this boy +was his own son. "How can I find my seven queens again?" he said. "If +you will kill this wicked demon-woman they will come back to you," +said his son. The king was very sad, and thought, "My seven wives and +my boy must have suffered very much." Then he loved his son, and was +very happy that he had found him. He ordered his servants to dig a +deep pit in the jungle, so deep that should his demon-wife take her +demon form when put into it, only her head would be above it. He +thought that if her body were buried in the ground she would not be +able to do them much harm while they were shooting her. Then he, and +his son, and his servants took their guns and bows and arrows, and +took the demon with them to the deep pit. She went quite quietly, +though she knew they were going to kill her. Since Jangkatar's death +she had been very quiet and sad. And now she thought, "That boy will +most certainly kill me as he has killed my sister and brother. He is +stronger than I am. I have no one else to send him to; and if I had, +he could not be killed. What is the use of my trying to save myself?" +So she went along quite quietly, looking like a beautiful girl. She +let them put her into the pit, and shoot her to death with their guns +and bows and arrows. Then they filled the pit up with earth. + +The king went to his seven wives, and begged them to forgive him. He +brought them, his son, and the demon's daughter home to his palace. +Later the king married his son to the demon's daughter, and every one +was glad. + +But the king grieved that his six other sons were dead. + + Told by Múniyá. + + + + +[Decoration] + +XXV. + +THE FAN PRINCE. + + +In a country there lived a king who had a wife and seven daughters. +One day he called all his daughters to him, and said to them, "My +children, who gives you food? and by whose permission do you eat it?" +Six of them answered, "Father, you give us food; and by your +permission we eat it." But the seventh and youngest said, "Father, God +gives me my food; and by my own permission I eat it." This answer made +her father and mother very angry with their youngest daughter. They +said, "We will not let our youngest child stay with us any longer." +And her father called some servants and said to them, "Get a palanquin +ready, and put my youngest daughter into it; then carry her away to +the jungle, and there leave her." + +The servants got the palanquin ready, put the youngest princess into +it, and carried her into the jungle. There they put the palanquin down +and said to her, "We are going to drink some water." "Go home now," +said the girl, "as my father ordered you to do." They left her, +therefore, in the jungle alone, and went back to the king's palace. + +The girl prayed to God and worshipped him; then she went to sleep for +a little while in her palanquin. When she awoke, it was evening, and +she found in her palanquin a jar of water and some food on a plate +which God had sent her while she slept. She knew that God had sent her +this nice dinner, and thanked him and worshipped him. Then she bathed +her face and hands in a little of the water, and ate and drank, and +went to sleep quietly in her palanquin as night had come. + +This little princess had always been a very gentle girl, and had +always done what was right, and been very good, so God loved her +dearly. While she slept, therefore, he made a beautiful palace for her +on the jungle-plain where she was lying in her palanquin. God made a +garden and tank for her, too. When the princess woke in the morning, +and got out of her palanquin, she saw the palace standing by its tank +in a beautiful garden. "I never saw that palace before," she said. "It +was not here last night." She went into the garden, and servants met +her and made her salaams. The palace was far finer than her father's; +and when she went into it she found it full of servants. "To whom does +this palace belong?" she asked. "To you," they answered. "God made all +this for you last night, and he sent us to wait on you and be your +servants." (Now, they were all men, not angels, that God had sent to +take care of her.) The princess thanked God, and worshipped him. + +A few days later, her father heard that in the jungle to which he had +sent her a beautiful palace and garden and tank had suddenly appeared, +and that in this palace she was living; and he said, "Yes; my daughter +told me the truth: it is God who gives us everything. I know it is he +who gave her this beautiful house." So some time passed, and the +princess lived in her palace in the jungle; but her father did not go +to see her. + +One day he said to himself, "To-day I will go and eat the air in +another country, and I will go by water." So he ordered a boat to be +got ready, and he went to his six daughters, and told them he was +going away for a little while. "What would you like me to bring you +from this other country?" he said. "I will bring you anything you +would like to have." Some of them wanted jewels, a necklace, a pair of +earrings, and so on; and some wanted silk stuffs for sárís and other +clothes. Then the king remembered his youngest child, and thought, "I +must send to her, and see what she would like." He called one of his +servants, and told him to go to the jungle to his youngest daughter +and say, "Your father is going to eat the air of another country. He +wishes to know what you would like him to bring back for you." + +The servant found the little princess reading her prayer-book. He gave +her the king's message. She said, "Sabr" (that is _wait_), for she +meant him to wait for her answer till she had finished reading her +prayers. The servant, however, did not understand, but went away at +once to the king and told him, "Your daughter wants you to bring her +Sabr." "Sabr?" said the king; "what is Sabr? Never, mind, I will see +if I can find any Sabr; and if I do, I will bring it for her." + +The king then went in his boat to another country. There he stayed for +a little while and bought the jewels and silks for his six elder +daughters. When he thought he should like to go home again, he went +down to his boat and got into it. But the boat would not move, because +he had forgotten one thing; the thing his youngest daughter had asked +for. + +Suddenly he remembered he had not got any Sabr. So he gave one of his +servants four thousand rupees, and told him to go on shore, and go +through the bazar, and try and find the Sabr, and he was to give the +four thousand rupees for it. + +The man went to the bazar and asked every one if they had Sabr to +sell. Then he asked if they could tell him what it was. "No," they +said, "but our king's son is called Sabr; you had better speak to +him." + +The servant went to Prince Sabr. "Our king's youngest daughter," he +said, "has asked her father to bring her Sabr, and the king has given +me four thousand rupees to buy it for her; but I cannot get any, and +no one knows what it is." The prince said, "Very good. Give this +little box to your king, and tell him to give it to his youngest +daughter. But it is only the princess who has asked for Sabr who is to +open the box." Then he told the man to keep the four thousand rupees +as a present from him. + +The servant went back to the boat to the king and gave him the box, +saying, "In this is the Sabr," and he told him Prince Sabr said no one +but the youngest princess was to open it. And now the boat moved quite +easily, and the king journeyed home safely. + +He gave his six eldest daughters the presents he had brought for them, +and sent the little box to his youngest daughter. She said, "My father +has sent me this. I will look at it by and by." Then she put it away +and forgot it. At the end of a month she found the little box, and +thought, "I will see what my father has sent me," and opened the box. +In it was a most lovely little fan. She was very much pleased, and +fanned herself with it, and at once a beautiful prince stood before +her. + +The princess was delighted. "Who are you? Where did you come from?" +she said. "My name is Prince Sabr," he answered. "Your father came to +my father's country, and he said you had asked him to bring you Sabr, +so I gave him this little fan for you. I am obliged to come to whoever +uses this little fan with the right side turned outwards. And when you +want me to go away, you must turn the right side of the fan towards +you and then fan yourself with it." The little princess said, "Very +good. And so your name is Prince Sabr?" They talked together for some +time. Then she turned her fan, so that the wrong side was outside, +and fanned herself with it, and the prince disappeared. + +This went on for a month. The princess used to fan herself with the +right side turned outwards, and then Prince Sabr came to her. When she +turned her fan wrong side outwards and fanned herself, then he +vanished. + +One day the prince said to her, "I should like to marry you. Will you +marry me?" "Yes," she answered. Then she wrote a letter to her father +and mother and six sisters, in which she said, "Come to my wedding. I +am going to marry Prince Sabr." They all came. Her father was very +glad that she married Prince Sabr, and said, "I see it is true that +God loves my youngest daughter." + +The day of the wedding her six sisters said to her, "To-day we will +not let the servants make your bed. We will make it ourselves for +you." "I have plenty of servants to make it," she said; "but you can +do so if you like." Her sisters went to make the bed. They took a +glass bottle and ground it into a powder, and they spread the powder +all over the side where Prince Sabr was to lie. This they did because +they were angry at their youngest sister being married, while they, +who were older, were not married, and they thought, being her elders, +they should have married first, especially as they had lived in their +father's palace, and been cared for, while she was cast out in the +jungle. + +When the wedding was over, and Prince Sabr and his wife had gone to +bed, the prince became very ill, from the glass powder going into his +flesh. "Turn your fan the wrong way and fan yourself quickly, that I +may go home to my father's country," he said to her, "for I am very +ill, and dare not remain here." So she fanned herself at once with the +fan turned the wrong way. Then he went home to his father, and was +very ill for a long while. The poor princess knew nothing of the glass +powder. + +Her father and mother and sisters went home after the wedding, and +left the princess alone in her palace. Every day she turned her fan +the right side outwards and fanned and fanned herself; but Prince Sabr +never came. He was far too ill. One day she cried a great deal, and +was very, very sad. "Why does my prince not come to me?" she said. "I +don't know where he is, or what has become of him." That night she had +a dream, and in her dream she saw Prince Sabr lying very ill on his +bed. + +When she got up in the morning she thought she must go and try to find +her prince. So she took off all her beautiful clothes and jewels, and +put on a yogí's dress. Then she mounted a horse and set out in the +jungle. No one knew she was a woman, or that she was a king's +daughter; every one thought she was a man. + +She rode on till night, and then she had come to another jungle. Here +she got off her horse, and took it under a tree. She lay down under +the tree and went to sleep. At midnight she was awakened by the +chattering of a parrot and a _mainá_, who came and sat on the tree +knowing she was lying underneath. + +The _mainá_ said to the parrot, "Parrot, tell me something." The +parrot said, "Prince Sabr is very, very ill in his own country. The +day he was married, the bride's six sisters took a glass bottle and +ground it to powder. Then they spread the powder all over the prince's +bed, so that when he lay down it got into his flesh. The glass powder +has made him very ill." "What will make him well?" said the _mainá_; +"what will cure him?" "No doctors can cure him," said the parrot; "no +medicine will do him any good: but if any one slept under this tree, +and took some of the earth from under it, and mixed it with cold +water, and rubbed it all over Prince Sabr, he would get well." + +All this the princess heard. She got up and longed for morning to +come. When it was day she took some of the earth, mounted her horse, +and rode off. She went on till she came to Prince Sabr's country. Then +she asked to whom the country belonged; she was told it was Prince +Sabr's father's country, "but Prince Sabr is very ill." + +"I am a yogí," said the princess, "and I can cure him." This was told +to the king, Prince Sabr's father. "That is very good," he said. "Send +the yogí to me." So the little princess went to the king, who said to +her, "My son is very, very ill; make him well." "Yes," she said, "I +will make him well. Bring me some cold water." + +They brought her the cold water, and she mixed it with the earth she +had got from under the tree. This she rubbed all over the prince. For +three days and nights she rubbed him with it. After that he got +better, and in a week he was quite well. He was able to talk, and +could walk about as usual. + +Then the yogí said, "Now I will go back to my own country." But the +king said to her, "First you must let me give you a present. You shall +have anything that you like. As many horses, or sepoys, or rupees as +you want you shall have; for you have made my son well." "I want +nothing at all," said the princess, "but Prince Sabr's ring, and the +handkerchief he has with his name worked on it." She had given him +both these things on their wedding day. Prince Sabr's father and +mother went to their son and begged him to give the handkerchief and +ring to the yogí; and he did so quite willingly. "For," he thought, +"were it not for that yogí, I should never see my dear princess +again." + +The yogí took the ring and handkerchief and went home. When she got +there, she took off her yogí's dress and put on her own beautiful +clothes. Then she turned her fan right side outwards, and fanned +herself with it, and immediately her Prince Sabr stood by her. "Why +did you not come to me before?" she said. "I have been fanning and +fanning myself." "I was very ill, and could not come," said Prince +Sabr. "At last a yogí came and made me well, and as a reward I gave +him my ring and handkerchief." "It was no yogí," said the princess. +"It was I who came to you and made you well." "You!" said the prince. +"Oh, no; it was a yogí. You were sitting here in your palace while the +yogí came and cured me." "No, indeed," she said; "I was the yogí. See, +is not this your ring? is not this your handkerchief with your name +worked on it?" Then he believed her, and she told him of her dream, +and her journey in the yogí's dress, and the birds' talk, and all that +had happened. + +And Prince Sabr was very happy that his wife had done so much for him, +and they lived happily together. + + Told by Múniyá. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XXVI. + +THE BED. + + +In a country there was a grain merchant's son, whose father and mother +loved him so dearly that they did not let him do anything but play and +amuse himself while they worked for him. They never taught him any +trade, or anything at all; for they never reflected that they might +die, and that then he would have to work for himself. When he was old +enough to be married, they found a wife for him, and married him to +her. Then they all lived happily together for some years till the +father and mother both died. + +Their son and his wife lived for a while on the pice his father and +mother had left him. But the wife grew sadder and sadder every day, +for the pice grew fewer and fewer. She thought, "What shall we do when +they are all gone? My husband knows no trade, and can do no work." One +day when she was looking very sorrowful, her husband asked her, "What +is the matter? Why are you so unhappy?" "We have hardly any pice +left," she answered, "and what shall we do when we have eaten the few +we have? You know no trade, and can do no work." "Never mind," said +her husband, "I can do some work." + +So one day when there were hardly any pice left, he took an axe, and +said to his wife, "I am going out to-day to work. Give me my dinner to +take with me, and I will eat it out of doors." She gave him some +food, wondering what work he had; but she did not ask him. + +He went to a jungle, where he stayed all day, and where he ate his +dinner. All day long he wandered from tree to tree, saying to each, +"May I cut you down?" But not a tree in the jungle gave him any +answer: so he cut none down, and went home in the evening. His wife +did not ask where he had been, or what he had done, and he said +nothing to her. + +The next day he again asked her for food to take with him to eat out +of doors, "for," he said, "I am going to work all day." She did not +like to ask him any questions, but gave him the food. And he took his +axe, and went out to a jungle which was on a different side to the one +he had been to yesterday. In this jungle also he went to every tree, +and said to it, "May I cut you down?" No tree answered him; so he ate +his dinner and came home. + +The next day he went to a third jungle on the third side. There, too, +he asked each tree, "May I cut you down?" But none gave him any +answer. He came home therefore very sorrowful. + +On the fourth day he went to a jungle on the fourth side. All day long +he went from tree to tree, asking each, "May I cut you down?" None +answered. At last, towards evening, he went and stood under a +mango-tree. "May I cut you down?" he said to it. "Yes, cut me down," +answered the tree. God loved the merchant's son and wished him to grow +a great man, so he ordered the mango-tree to let itself be cut down. + +Now the grain merchant's son was happy, for he was quite sure he could +make a bed, if he only had some wood; so he hewed down the mango-tree, +put it on his head, and carried it home. His wife saw him coming, and +said to herself, "He is bringing home a tree! What can he be going to +do with a tree?" + +Next morning he took the tree into one of the rooms of his house. He +told his wife to put food and water to last him for a week in this +room, and to make a fire in it. Then he went up to the room, and said +to her, "You are not to come in here for a whole week. You are not to +come near me till I call you." Then he went into the room and shut the +door. The whole week long his wife wondered what he could be doing all +alone in that room. "I cannot see into it," she said to herself, "and +I dare not open the door. I wonder what he is about." + +By the end of the week the grain merchant's son had carved a most +beautiful bed out of the mango-tree. Such a beautiful bed had never +been seen. Then he called his wife, and when she came he told her to +open the door, and when she opened it he said, "See what a beautiful +bed I have made." "Did _you_ make that bed?" she said. "Oh, what a +beautiful bed it is! I never saw such a lovely bed!" + +He rested that day, and on the day following he took the bed to the +king's palace, and sat down with it before the palace gate. The king's +servants all came to look at the bed. "What a bed it is!" they said. +"Did any one ever see such a bed! It is a beautiful bed. Is it yours?" +they asked the merchant's son. "Is it for sale? Who made it? Did you +make it?" But he said, "I will not answer any of your questions. I +will not speak to any of you. I will only speak to the king." So the +servants went to the king and said to him, "There is a man at your +gate with a most beautiful bed. But he will not speak to any of us, +and says he will only speak to you." "Very good," said the king; +"bring him to me." + +When the grain merchant's son came before the king with his bed, the +king asked him, "Is your bed for sale?" "Yes," he said. "What a +beautiful bed it is!" said the king. "Who made it?" "I did," he said. +"I made it myself." "How much do you want for it?" said the king. +"One thousand rupees," answered the merchant's son. "That is a great +deal for the bed," said the king. "I will not take less," said the +merchant's son. "Good," said the king, "I will give you the thousand +rupees." So he took the bed, and the merchant's son said to him, "The +first night you pass on it, do not go to sleep. Take care to keep +awake, and you will hear and see something." Then he took the rupees +home to his wife, who was frightened when she saw them. "Are those +your rupees?" she said. "Where did you find such a quantity of +rupees?" "The king gave them to me for my bed," he said. "I am not a +thief; I did not steal them." Then she was happy. + +That night the king lay down on his bed, and at ten o'clock he heard +one of the bed's legs say to the other legs, "Listen, you three. I am +going out to see the king's country. Do you all stand firm while I am +away, and take care not to let the king fall." "Good," the three legs +answered; "go and eat the air, and we will all stand fast, so that the +king does not fall while you are away." + +Then the king saw the leg leave the bed, and go out of his room door. +The leg went out to a great plain, and there it saw two snakes +quarrelling together. One snake said, "I will bite the king." The +other said, "I will bite him." The first said, "No, you won't; I will +climb on to his bed and bite him." "That you will never do," said the +second. "You cannot climb on to his bed; but I will get into his shoe, +and then when he puts it on to-morrow morning, I will bite his foot." + +The bed-leg came back and told the other legs what it had seen and +heard. "If the king will shake his shoe before he puts it on to-morrow +morning," it said, "he will see a snake drop out of it." The king +heard all that was said. + +"Now," said the second bed-leg, "I will go out and eat the air of the +king's country. Do you all stand firm while I am away." "Go," the +others answered; "we will take care the king does not fall." The +second bed-leg then went out, and went to another plain on which stood +a very old palace belonging to the king, and the wind told it the +palace was so ruinous that it would fall and kill the king the first +time he went into it: the king had never once had it repaired. So it +came back and told the three other legs all about the palace and what +the wind had said. "If I were the king," said the second bed-leg, "I +would have that palace pulled down. It is quite ready to fall; and the +first time the king goes into it, it will fall on him and kill him." +The king lay, and listened to everything. As it happened, he had +forgotten all about his old palace, and had not gone near it for a +long time. + +Then the third bed-leg said, "Now I will go out and see all the fun I +can. Stand firm, you three, while I am away." He went to a +jungle-plain on which lived a yogí. Now there was a sarai[5] not far +off in which lived a woman, the wife of a sepoy, whose husband had +gone a year ago to another country, leaving her in the sarai. She was +so fond of the yogí, that she used to come and talk to him every +night. That very day her husband came back to her, and therefore it +was later than usual when she got to the yogí; so he was very vexed +with her. "How late you are to-night," he said. "It is not my fault," +she answered. "My husband came home to-day after having been away a +year, and he kept me." "Which of us do you love best?" asked the yogí; +"your husband or me?" "I love you best," said the woman. "Then," said +the yogí, "go home and cut off your husband's head, and bring it here +for me to see." The sepoy's wife went straight to the sarai, cut off +her husband's head, and brought it to the yogí. "What a wicked woman +you are to do such a thing at my bidding!" he said. "Go away at once. +You are a wicked woman, and I do not want to see you." She took the +head home, set it again on the body and began to cry. All the people +in the sarai came to see what was the matter. "Thieves have been +here," she said, "and have killed my husband, and cut off his head," +and then she cried again. The third bed-leg now went back to the +palace, and told the others all it had seen and heard. The king lay +still and listened. + +The fourth bed-leg next went out to see all it could, and it came to a +plain on which were seven thieves, who had just been into the king's +palace, and had carried off his daughter on her bed fast asleep; and +there she lay still sleeping. They had, too, been into the king's +treasury and had taken all his rupees. The fourth bed-leg came quickly +back to the palace, and said to the other three legs, "Now, if the +king were wise he would get up instantly and go to the plain. For some +thieves are there with his daughter and all his rupees which they have +just stolen out of his palace. If he only made haste and went at once, +he would get them again." + +The king got up that minute, and called his servants and some sepoys, +and set off to the plain. He shook his shoe before he put it on, and +out tumbled the snake (the other had quietly gone into the jungle, and +not come to the palace); so he saw that the first bed-leg had spoken +the truth. + +When he reached the plain he found his daughter and his rupees, and +brought them back to his palace. The princess slept all the time, and +did not know what had happened to her. The king saw the fourth leg had +told the truth. The thieves he could not catch, for they all ran away +when they saw him coming with his sepoys. + +The king sent men to the old palace to pull it down. They found it +was just going to fall, and would have fallen on any one who had +entered it, and crushed him. So the second bed-leg had told the truth. + +When the king was sitting in his court-house he heard how during the +night thieves had gone into the sarai and killed a sepoy there and cut +off his head. Then he sent for the sepoy's wife, and asked her who had +killed her husband. "Thieves," she said. The king was very angry, for +he was sure the third bed-leg had told the truth as the other three +legs had done. So he ordered the man to be buried; and bade his +servants make a great wooden pile on the plain, and take the woman and +burn her on it. They were not to leave her as long as she was alive, +but to wait till she was dead. + +He next sent for the grain merchant's son, and said to him, "Had it +not been for your bed, I should this morning have been bitten by a +snake; and, perhaps, killed by my old palace falling on me, as I did +not know it was ready to fall, and so might have gone into it. My +daughter would certainly have been stolen from me; and a wicked woman +been still alive. So now, to-morrow, bring as many carts as you like, +and I will give you as a present as many rupees as you can take away +on them in half a day." + +Early the next morning the merchant's son brought his cart and took +away on them as many rupees as he could in half a day. His wife was +delighted when she saw the money, and said, "My husband only worked +for one week, and yet he earned all these rupees!" And they lived +always happily. + + Told by Múniyá, February 23rd, 1879. + +FOOTNOTE: + + [5] That is, a resting-place for travellers, composed of a number + of small houses in a walled enclosure. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XXVII. + +PÁNWPATTÍ RÁNÍ. + + +In a country a big fair was held, to which came a great many people +and Rájás from all the countries round. Among them was a Rájá who +brought his daughter with him. Opposite their tent another tent was +pitched, in which lived a Rájá's son. He was very beautiful; so was +the little Rání, the other Rájá's daughter. + +Now, the Rájá's son and the Rájá's daughter did not even know each +other's names, but they looked at each other a great deal, and each +thought the other very beautiful. "How lovely the Rájá's daughter is!" +thought the prince. "How beautiful the Rájá's son is!" thought the +princess. + +They lived opposite each other for a whole month, and all that time +they never spoke to each other nor did they speak of each other to any +one. But they thought of each other a great deal. + +When the month was over, the little Rání's father said he would go +back to his own country. The Rájá's son sat in his tent and watched +the servants getting ready the little Rání's palanquin. As soon as the +princess herself was dressed and ready for the journey, she came out +of her tent, and took a rose in her hand. She first put the rose to +her teeth; then she stuck it behind her ear; and lastly, she laid it +at her feet. All this time the Rájá's son sat in his tent and looked +at her. Then she got into her palanquin and was carried away. + +The Rájá's son was now very sad. "How lovely the princess is!" he +thought. "And I do not know her name, or her father's name, or the +name of her country. So how can I ever find her? I shall never see her +again." He was very sorrowful, and determined he would go home to his +country. When he got home he laid himself down on his bed, and night +and day he lay there. He would not eat, or drink, or bathe, or change +his clothes. This made his father and mother very unhappy. They went +to him often, and asked him, "What is the matter with you? Are you +ill?" "I want nothing," he would answer. "I don't want any doctor, or +any medicine." Not one word did he say to them, or to any one else, +about the lovely little Rání. + +The son of the Rájá's kotwál[6] was the prince's great friend. The two +had always gone to school together, and had there read in the same +book; they had always bathed, eaten, and played together. So when the +prince had been at home for two days, and yet had not been to school +or seen his friend, the kotwál's son grew very anxious. "Why does the +prince not come to school?" he said to himself. "He has been here for +two days, and yet I have not seen him. I will go and find out if +anything is the matter. Perhaps he is ill." + +He went, therefore, to see the prince, who was lying very miserable on +his bed. "Why do you not come to school? Are you ill?" asked his +friend. "Oh, it is nothing," said the prince. "Tell me what is the +matter," said the kotwál's son; but the Rájá's son would not answer. +"Have you told any one what is the matter with you?" said the kotwál's +son. "No," answered the prince. "Then tell me," said his friend; "tell +me the truth: what is it that troubles you?" + +"Well," said the prince, "at the fair there was a Rájá who had a most +beautiful daughter. They lived in a tent opposite mine, and I used to +see her every day. She is so beautiful! But I do not know her name, or +her father's name, or her country's name; so how can I ever find her?" +"I will take you to her," said his friend; "only get up and bathe, and +eat." "How can you take me to her?" said the prince. "You do not even +know where she is; so how can you take me to her?" "Did she never +speak to you?" said the kotwál's son. "Never," said the prince. "But +when she was going away, just before she got into her palanquin, she +took a rose in her hand; and first she put this rose to her teeth; +then she stuck it behind her ear; and then she laid it at her feet." +"Now I know all about her," said his friend. "When she put the rose to +her teeth, she meant to tell you her father's name was Rájá Dánt [Rájá +Tooth]; when she put it behind her ear she meant you to know her +country's name was Karnátak [on the ear]; and when she laid the rose +at her feet, she meant that her name was Pánwpattí [Foot-leaf]. Get +up; bathe and dress, eat and drink, and we will go and find her." + +The prince got up directly, and told his father and mother he was +going for a few days to eat the air of another country. At first they +forbad his going; but then they reflected that he had been very ill, +and that perhaps the air of another country might make him well; so at +last they consented. The prince and his friend had two horses saddled +and bridled, and set off together. + +At the end of a month they arrived in a country where they asked (as +they had asked in every other country through which they had ridden), +"What is the name of this country?" "Karnátak" [the Carnatic]. "What +is your Rájá's name?" "Rájá Dánt." Then the two friends were glad. +They stopped at an old woman's house, and said to her, "Let us stay +with you for a few days. We are men from another country and do not +know where to go in this place." The old woman said, "You may stay +with me if you like. I live all alone, and there is plenty of room for +you." + +After two or three days the kotwál's son said to the old woman, "Has +your Rájá a daughter?" "Yes," she answered; "he has a daughter; her +name is Pánwpattí Rání." "Can you go to see her?" asked the kotwál's +son. "Yes," she said, "I can go to see her. I was her nurse, and she +drank my milk. It is the Rájá who gives me my house, and my food, and +clothes--everything that I have." "Then go and see her," said the +kotwál's son, "and tell her that the prince whom she called to her at +the fair has come." + +The old woman went up to the palace, and saw the princess. After they +had talked together for some time, she said to the little Rání, "The +prince you called to you at the fair is come." "Good," she said; "tell +him to come to see me to-night at twelve o'clock. He is not to come in +through the door, but through the window." (This she said because she +did not want her father to know that the prince had come, until she +had made up her mind whether she would marry him.) + +The old woman went home and told the kotwál's son what the Princess +Pánwpattí said. That night the prince went to see her, and every night +for three or four nights he went to talk with her for an hour. Then +she told her mother she wished to be married, and her mother told her +father. Her father asked whom she wished to marry, and she said, "The +Rájá's son who lives in my nurse's house." Her father said she might +marry him if she liked; so the wedding was held. The kotwál's son went +to the wedding, and then returned to the old woman's house; but the +prince lived in the Rájá's palace. + +Here he stayed for a month, and all that time he never saw his friend. +At last he began to fret for him, and was very unhappy. "What makes +you so sad?" said Pánwpattí Rání. "I am sad because I have not seen +my friend for a whole month," answered her husband. "I must go and see +him." "Yes, go and see him," said his wife. The Rájá's son went to the +old woman's house, and there he stayed a week, for he was so glad to +see the kotwál's son. Then he returned to his wife. Now she thought he +would only have been away a day, and was very angry at his having +stayed so long from her. "How could you leave me for a whole week?" +she said to him. "I had not seen my friend for a month," he answered. +Pánwpattí Rání did not let her husband see how angry she was; but in +her heart she thought, "I am sure he loves his friend best." + +The prince remained with her for a month. Then he said, "I must go and +see my friend." This made her very angry indeed. However, she said, +"Good; go and see your friend, and I will make you some delicious +sweetmeats to take him from me." She set to work, and made the most +tempting sweetmeats she could; only in each she put a strong poison. +Then she wrapped them in a beautiful handkerchief, and her husband +took them to the kotwál's son. "My Rání has made you these herself," +he said to his friend, "and she sends you a great many salaams." The +Rájá's son knew nothing of the poison. + +The kotwál's son put the sweetmeats on one side, and said, "Let us +talk, and I will eat them by and by." So they sat and talked for a +long time. Then the kotwál's son said, "Your Rání herself made these +sweetmeats for me?" "Yes," said the Rájá's son. His friend was very +wise, and he thought, "Pánwpattí Rání does not like me. Of that I am +sure." So he took some of the sweetmeats, and broke them into bits and +threw them to the crows. The crows came flying down, and all the crows +who ate the sweetmeats died instantly. Then the kotwál's son threw a +sweetmeat to a dog that was passing. The dog devoured it and fell +dead. This put the Rájá's son into great rage. "I will never see my +Rání again!" he exclaimed. "What a wicked woman she is to try and +poison my friend--my friend whom I love so dearly; but for whom I +should never have married her!" He would not go back to his wife, and +stayed in the old woman's house. The kotwál's son often told him he +ought to return to his wife, but the prince would not do so. "No," he +said, "she is a wicked woman. You never did her any evil or hurt; yet +she has tried to poison you. I will never see her again." + +When a month had passed, the kotwál's son said to the prince, "You +really must go back to Pánwpattí Rání; she is your wife, and you must +go to her, and take her away to your own country." Still the Rájá's +son declared he would never see her again. "If you would like to see +something that will please you," said his friend, "go back to your +wife for one day; and to-night 'when she is asleep' you must take off +all her jewels, and tie them up in a handkerchief, and bring them to +me. But before you leave her you must wound her in the leg with this +trident." So saying, he gave him a small iron trident. + +The prince went back to the palace. His wife was very angry with him, +though she did not show her anger. At night 'when she was fast asleep' +he took off all her jewels and tied them in a handkerchief, and he +gave her a thrust in the leg with his trident. Then he went quickly +back to his friend. The princess awoke and found herself badly hurt +and alone; and she saw that her jewels were all gone. In the morning +she told her father and mother that her jewels had been stolen; but +she said nothing about the wound in her leg. The king called his +servants, and told them a thief had come in the night and stolen his +daughter's jewels, and he sent them to look for the thief and seize +him. + +That morning the kotwál's son got up and dressed himself like a yogí. +He made the prince put on common clothes such as every one wears, so +that he could not be recognized, and sent him to the bazar to sell his +wife's jewels. He told him, too, all he was to say. The pretended yogí +went to the river and sat down by it, and the Rájá's son went through +the bazar and tried to sell the jewels. The Rájá's servants seized him +immediately. "You thief!" they said to him, "what made you steal our +Rájá's daughter's jewels?" "I know nothing about the jewels," said the +prince. "I am no thief; I did not steal them. The holy man, who is my +teacher, gave them to me to sell in the bazar for him. If you want to +know anything more about them, you must ask him." "Where is this holy +man?" said the servants. "He is sitting by the river," said the Rájá's +son. "Let us go to him. I will show you where he is." + +They all went down to the river, and there sat the yogí. "What is all +this?" said the servants to him. "Are you a yogí, and yet a thief? Why +did you steal the little Rání's jewels?" "Are those the little Rání's +jewels?" said the yogí. "I did not steal them; I did not know to whom +they belonged. Listen, and I will tell you. Last night at twelve +o'clock I was sitting by this river when a woman came down to it--a +woman I did not know. She took a dead body out of the river, and began +to eat it. This made me so angry, that I took all her jewels from her, +and she ran away. I ran after her and wounded her in the leg with my +trident. I don't know if she were your Rájá's daughter, or who she +was; but whoever she may be, she has the mark of the trident's teeth +in her leg." + +The servants took the jewels up to the palace, and told the Rájá all +the yogí had said. The Rájá asked his wife whether the Princess +Pánwpattí had any hurt in her leg, and told her all the yogí's story. +The Rání went to see her daughter, and found her lying on her bed and +unable to get up from the pain she was in, and when she looked at her +leg she saw the wound. She returned to the Rájá and said to him, "Our +daughter has the mark of the trident's teeth in her leg." + +The Rájá got very angry, and called his servants and said to them, +"Bring a palanquin, and take my daughter at once to the jungle, and +there leave her. She is a wicked woman, who goes to the river at night +to eat dead people. I will not have her in my house any more. Cast her +out in the jungle." The servants did as they were bid, and left +Pánwpattí Rání, crying and sobbing in the jungle, partly from the pain +in her leg, and partly because she did not know where to go, and had +no food or water. + +Meanwhile her husband and the kotwál's son heard of her being sent +into the jungle, so they returned to the old woman's house and put on +their own clothes. Then they went to the jungle to find her. She was +still crying, and her husband asked her why she cried. She told him, +and he said, "Why did you try to poison my friend? You were very +wicked to do so." "Yes," said the kotwál's son; "Why did you try to +kill me? I have never done you any wrong or hurt you. It was I who +told your husband what you meant by putting the rose to your teeth, +behind your ear, and at your feet. Without me he would never have +found you, never have married you." Then she knew at once who had +brought all this trouble to her, and she was very sorry she had tried +to kill her husband's friend. + +They all three now went home to her husband's country; and his father +and mother were very glad indeed that their son had married a Rájá's +daughter, and the Rájá gave the kotwál's son a very grand present. + +The young Rájá and his wife lived with his father and mother, and were +always very happy together. + + Told by Múniyá, February, 1879. + +FOOTNOTE: + + [6] The chief police officer in a town. + + + + +[Decoration] + +XXVIII. + +THE CLEVER WIFE. + + +In a country there was a merchant who traded in all kinds of +merchandise, and used to make journeys from country to country in his +boat to buy and sell his goods. He one day said to his wife, "I cannot +stay at home any more, for I must go on a year's journey to carry on +my business." And he added, laughing, "When I return I expect to find +you have built me a grand well; and also, as you are such a clever +wife, to see a little son." Then he got into his boat and went away. + +When he was gone his wife set to work, and she spun four hanks of +beautiful thread with her own hands. Then she dressed herself in her +prettiest clothes, and put on her finest jewels. "I am going to the +bazar," she said to her ayahs, "to sell this thread." "That is not +right," said one of the ayahs. "You must not sell your thread +yourself, but let me sell it for you. What will your husband say if he +hears you have been selling thread in the bazar?" "I will sell my +thread myself," answered the merchant's wife. "You could never sell it +for me." + +So off she set to the bazar, and every one in it said, "What a +beautiful woman that is!" At last the kotwál saw her, and came to her +at once. + +"What beautiful thread!" he said. "Is it for sale?" "Yes," she said. +"How much a hank?" said the kotwál. "Fifty rupees," she answered. +"Fifty rupees! Who will ever give you fifty rupees for it?" "I will +not sell it for less," said the woman. "I shall get fifty rupees for +it." "Well," said the kotwál, "I will give you the fifty rupees. Can I +dine with you at your house?" "Yes," she answered, "to-night at ten +o'clock." Then he took the thread and gave her fifty rupees. + +Then she went away to another bazar, and there the king's wazír saw +her trying to sell her thread. "What lovely thread! Is it for sale?" +he said. "Yes, at one hundred rupees the hank," she answered. "Well, I +will give you one hundred rupees. Can I dine with you at your house?" +said the wazír. "Yes," she answered, "to-night at eleven o'clock." +"Good," said the wazír; "here are the hundred rupees." And he took the +thread and went away. + +The merchant's wife now went to a third bazar, and there the king's +kází saw her. "Is that beautiful thread for sale?" he asked. "Yes," +she answered, "for one hundred and fifty rupees." "I will give you the +hundred and fifty rupees. Can I dine with you at your house?" "Yes," +she said, "to-night at twelve o'clock." "I will come," said the kází. +"Here are one hundred and fifty rupees." So she took the rupees and +gave him the thread. + +She set off with the fourth hank to the fourth bazar, and in this +bazar was the king's palace. The king saw her, and asked if the thread +was for sale. "Yes," she said, "for five hundred rupees." "Give me the +thread," said the king; "here are your five hundred rupees. Can I dine +with you at your house?" "Yes," she said, "to-night at two o'clock." + +Then she went home and sent one of her servants to the bazar to buy +her four large chests; and she told her other servants that they were +to get ready four very good dinners for her. Each dinner was to be +served in a different room; and one was to be ready at ten o'clock +that night, one at eleven, one at twelve, and one at two in the +morning. The servant brought her four large chests, and she had them +placed in four different rooms. + +At ten o'clock the kotwál arrived. The merchant's wife greeted him +graciously, and they sat down and dined. After dinner she said to him, +"Can you play at cards?" "Yes," he answered. She brought some cards, +and they sat and played till the clock struck eleven, when the +doorkeeper came in to say, "The wazír is here, and wishes to see you." +The kotwál was in a dreadful fright. "Do hide me somewhere," he said +to her. "I have no place where you can hide in this room," she +answered; "but in another room I have a big chest. I will shut you up +in that if you like, and when the wazír is gone, I will let you out of +it." So she took him into the next room, and he got into one of the +four big chests, and she shut down the lid and locked it. + +Then she bade the doorkeeper bring in the wazír, and they dined +together. After dinner she said, "Can you play at cards?" "Yes," said +the wazír. She took out the cards, and they played till twelve +o'clock, when the doorkeeper came to say the kází had come to see her. +"Oh, hide me! hide me!" cried the wazír in a great fright. "If you +come to another room," she said, "I will hide you in a big chest I +have. I can let you out when he is gone." So she locked the wazír up +in the second chest. + +She and the kází now dined. Then she said, "Can you play at cards?" +"Yes," said the kází. So they sat playing at cards till two o'clock, +when the doorkeeper said the king had come to see her. "Oh, what shall +I do?" said the kází, terribly frightened. "Do hide me. Do not let me +be seen by the king." "You can hide in a big chest I have in another +room, if you like," she answered, "till he is gone." And she locked up +the kází in her third chest. + +The king now came in, and they dined. "Will you play a little game at +cards?" she asked. "Yes," said the king. So they played till three +o'clock, when the doorkeeper came running in (just as she had told him +to do) to say, "My master's boat has arrived, and he is coming up to +the house. He will be here directly." "Now what shall I do?" said the +king, who was as frightened as the others had been. "Here is your +husband. He must not see me. You must hide me somewhere." "I have no +place to hide you in," she said, "but a big chest. You can get into +that if you like, and I will let you out to-morrow morning." So she +shut the lid of the fourth chest down on the king and locked him up. +Then she went to bed, and to sleep, and slept till morning. + +The next day, after she had bathed and dressed, and eaten her +breakfast, and done all her household work, she said to her servants, +"I want four coolies." So the servants went for the coolies; and when +they came she showed them the four chests, and said, "Each of you must +take one of these chests on your head and come with me." Then they set +out with her, each carrying a chest. + +Meanwhile the kotwál's son, the wazír's son, the kází's son, and the +king's son, had been roaming about looking everywhere for their +fathers, and asking every one if they had seen them, but no one knew +anything about them. + +The merchant's wife went first to the kotwál's house, and there she +saw the kotwál's son. She had the kotwál's chest set down on the +ground before his door. "Will you buy this chest?" she said to his +son. "What is in it?" he asked. "A most precious thing," she answered. +"How much do you want for it?" said his son. "One thousand rupees," +she said; "and when you open the chest, you will see the contents are +worth two thousand. But you must not open it till you are in your +father's house." "Well," said the kotwál's son, "here are a thousand +rupees." The woman and the other three chests went on their way, while +he took his into the house. "What a heavy chest!" he said. "What can +be inside?" Then he lifted the lid. "Why, there's my father!" he +cried. "Father, how came you to be in this chest?" The kotwál was very +much ashamed of himself. "I never thought she was the woman to play me +such a trick," he said; and then he had to tell his son the whole +story. + +The merchant's wife next stopped at the wazír's house, and there she +saw the wazír's son. The wazír's chest was put down before his door, +and she said to his son, "Will you buy this chest?" "What is inside of +it?" he asked. "A most precious thing," she answered. "Will you buy +it?" "How much do you want for it?" asked the son. "Only two thousand +rupees, and it is worth three thousand." So the wazír's son bought his +father, without knowing it, for two thousand rupees. "You must not +open the chest till you are in the house," said the merchant's wife. +The wazír's son opened the chest in the house at once, wondering what +could be in it; and the wazír's wife stood by all the time. When they +saw the wazír himself, looking very much ashamed, they were greatly +astonished. "How came you there?" they cried. "Where have you been?" +said his wife. "Oh," said the wazír, "I never thought she was a woman +to treat me like this;" and he, too, had to tell all his story. + +Now the merchant's wife stopped at the kází's door, and there stood +the kází's son. "Will you buy this chest?" she said to him, and had +the kází's chest put on the ground. "What is in it?" said the kází's +son. "Silver and gold," she answered. "You shall have it for three +thousand rupees. The contents are worth four." "Well, I will take it," +said the son. "Don't open it till you are in your house," she said, +and took her three thousand rupees and went away. Great was the +excitement when the kází stepped out of the chest. "Oh!" he groaned, +"I never thought she could behave like this to me." + +The merchant's wife now went to the palace, and set the king's chest +down at the palace gates. There she saw the king's son. "Will you buy +this chest?" she said. "What is in it?" asked the prince. "Diamonds, +pearls, and all kinds of precious stones," said the merchant's wife. +"You shall have the chest for five thousand rupees, but its contents +are worth a great deal more." "Well," said the king's son, "here are +your five thousand rupees; give me the chest." "Don't open it out +here," she said. "Take it into the palace and open it there." And away +she went home. + +The king's son opened the chest, and there was his father. "What's all +this?" cried the prince. "How came _you_ to be in the chest?" The king +was very much ashamed, and did not tell much about his adventure; but +when he was sitting in his court-house, he had the merchant's wife +brought to him, and gave her a quantity of rupees, saying, "You are a +wise and clever woman." + +Now the kotwál knew the wazír had gone to see the merchant's wife; and +the wazír knew the kází had gone; and the kází, that the king had +gone; but this was all that any of them knew. + +The merchant's wife had now plenty of rupees, so she had a most +beautiful well built and roofed over. Then she locked the door of the +well, and told the servants no one was to drink any of its water, or +bathe in it, till her husband came home: he was to be the first to +drink its water, and bathe in the well. + +Then she sent her ayah to the bazar to buy her clothes and ornaments +such as cowherd's wives and daughter's wear; and when the ayah had +brought her these, she packed them up in a box. Then she dressed +herself in men's clothes, so that no one could tell she was a woman, +and ordered a horse to be got ready for her. "I am going to eat the +air of another country for a little while," she said. "You must all +take great care of the house while I am away." The servants did not +like her going away at all; they were afraid her husband might return +during her absence, and that he would be angry with them for having +let her go. "Don't be afraid," she said. "There is nothing to be +frightened about. I shall come back all right." + +So she set out, taking the key of the well, the box with the clothes +her ayah had bought for her in the bazar, and plenty of rupees. She +also took two of her servants. She travelled a long, long way, asking +everywhere for her husband's boat. At last at the end of a month she +came to where it was. Here she hired a little house, and dressed +herself like a cowherd's daughter. Then she got some very good milk, +and went down to the banks of the river to sell it. Everybody said, +"Do look what a beautiful woman that is selling milk!" She sold her +milk very quickly, it was so good. This she did for several days, till +her husband, the merchant, saw her. He thought her so beautiful, that +he asked her to bring him some milk to his boat. So every day for a +little while she sold him milk. One day he said to her, "Will you +marry me?" "How can I marry you?" she said. "You are a merchant, and I +am a cowherd's daughter. Soon you will be leaving this country, and +will travel to another in your boat; you will want me to go with you. +Then I shall have to leave my father and mother, and who will take +care of them?" "Let us be married," said the merchant. "I am going to +stay here for three months. When I go, you shall return to your father +and mother, and later I will come back to you." To this she agreed, +and they were married, and she went to live in the boat. At the end +of three months, the merchant said to her, "My business here is done, +and I must go to another country. Would you like to go home to your +father and mother while I am away?" "Yes," she said. "Here are some +rupees for you to live on in my absence," he said. "I do not want any +rupees," said his wife. "I only want you to give me two things: your +old cap, and your picture." These he gave her, and then he went to his +boat, and she went back to her own home. + +Some time afterwards she had a little son. The servants were greatly +frightened, for they thought their master would not be pleased when he +came home; and he was not pleased when he did come two months later. +He was so cross that he would not look at the baby-boy, and he would +hardly look at his beautiful well. + +One night he lay awake thinking, and he thought he would kill his wife +and her little son. But the next day she came to him: "Tell me the +truth," she said; "you are angry with me? Don't be angry, for I want +to show you a picture I like very much--the picture of my boy's +father." Then she showed him his own picture, and the old cap he had +given her on board his boat; and she told him how she had been the +cowherd's daughter; and also how she had gained the money to build his +well. "You see," she said, "I have done all you bade me. Here is your +well, and here is your son." Then the merchant was very happy. He +kissed and loved his little son, and thought his well was beautiful; +and he said to his wife, "What a clever woman you are!" + + Told by Múniyá, Calcutta, March 3rd, 1879. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XXIX. + +RÁJÁ HARICHAND'S PUNISHMENT. + + +There was once a great Rájá, Rájá Harichand, who every morning before +he bathed and breakfasted used to give away one hundred pounds weight +of gold to the fakírs, his poor ryots, and other poor people. This he +did in the name of God, "For," he said, "God loves me and gives me +everything that I have; so daily I will give him this gold." + +Now God heard what a good man Rájá Harichand was, and how much the +Rájá loved him, and he thought he would go and see for himself if all +that was said of the Rájá were true. He therefore went as a fakír to +Rájá Harichand's palace and stood at his gate. The Rájá had already +given away his hundred pounds' weight of gold, and gone into his +palace and bathed and breakfasted; so when his servants came to tell +him that another fakír stood at his gate, the Rájá said, "Bid him come +to-morrow, for I have bathed, and have eaten my breakfast, and +therefore cannot attend to him now." The servants returned to the +fakír, and told him, "The Rájá says you must come to-morrow, for he +cannot see you now, as he has bathed and breakfasted." God went away, +and the next day he again came, after all the fakírs and poor people +had received their gold and the Rájá had gone into his palace. So the +Rájá told his servants, "Bid the fakír come to-morrow. He has again +come too late for me to see him now." + +On the third day God was once more too late, for the Rájá had gone +into his palace. The Rájá was vexed with him for being a third time +too late, and said to his servants, "What sort of a fakír is this that +he always comes too late? Go and ask him what he wants." So the +servants went to the fakír and said, "Rájá Harichand says, 'What do +you want from him?'" "I want no rupees," answered God, "nor anything +else; but I want him to give me his wife." The servants told this to +the Rájá, and it made him very angry. He went to his wife, the Rání +Báhan, and said to her, "There is a fakír at the gate who asks me to +give you to him! As if I should ever do such a thing! Fancy my giving +him my wife!" + +The Rání was very wise and clever, for she had a book, which she read +continually, called the kop shástra; and this book told her +everything. So she knew that the fakír at the gate was no fakír, but +God himself. (In old days about two people in a thousand, though not +more, could read this book; now-a-days hardly any one can read it, for +it is far too difficult.) So the Rání said to the Rájá, "Go to this +fakír, and say to him, 'You shall have my wife.' You need not really +give me to him; only give me to him in your thoughts." "I will do no +such thing," said the Rájá in a rage; and in spite of all her +entreaties, he would not say to the fakír, "I will give you my wife." +He ordered his servants to beat the fakír, and send him away; and so +they did. + +God returned to his place, and called to him two angels. "Take the +form of men," he said to them, "and go to Rájá Harichand. Say to him, +'God has sent us to you. He says, Which will you have--a twelve years' +famine throughout your land during which no rain will fall? or a great +rain for twelve hours?'" + +The angels came to the Rájá and said as God had bidden them. The Rájá +thought for a long while which he should choose. "If a great rain +pours down for twelve hours," he said to himself, "my whole country +will be washed away. But I have a great quantity of gold. I have +enough to send to other countries and buy food for myself and my ryots +during the twelve years' famine." So he said to the angels, "I will +choose the famine." Then the angels came into his palace; and the +moment they entered it, all the Rájá's servants that were in the +palace, and all his cows, horses, elephants, and other animals became +stone. So did every single thing in the palace, excepting his gold and +silver, and these turned to charcoal. The Rájá and Rání did not become +stone. + +The angels said to them, "For three weeks you will not be able to eat +anything; you will not be able to eat any food you may find or may +have given you. But you will not die, you will live." Then the angels +went away. + +The Rájá was very sad when he looked round his palace and saw +everything in it, and all the people in it, stone, and saw all his +gold and silver turned to charcoal. He said to his wife, "I cannot +stay here. I must go to some other country. I was a great Rájá; how +can I ask my ryots to give me food? We will dress ourselves like +fakírs, and go to another country." + +They put on fakírs' clothes and went out of their palace. They +wandered in the jungle till they saw a plum-tree covered with fruit. +"Do gather some of those plums for me," said the Rání, who was very +hungry. The Rájá went to the tree and put out his hand to gather the +plums; but when he did this, they at once all left the tree and went a +little way up into the air. When he drew back his hand, the plums +returned to the tree. The Rájá tried three times to gather the plums, +but never could do so. + +He and the Rání then went on till they came to a plain in another +country, where was a large tank in which men were fishing. The Rání +said to her husband, "Go and ask those men to give us a little of +their fish, for I am very hungry." The Rájá went to the men and said, +"I am a fakír, and have no pice. Will you give me some of your fish, +for I have not eaten for four days and am hungry?" The men gave him +some fish, and he and his wife carried it to a tank on another plain. +The Rání cleaned and prepared the fish for cooking, and said to her +husband, "I have nothing in which to cook this fish. Go up to the town +(there was a town close by) and ask some one to give you an earthen +pot with a lid, and some salt." + +The Rájá went up to the town, and some one in the bazar gave him the +earthen pot, and a grain merchant put a little salt into it. Then he +returned to the Rání, and they made a fire under a tree, put the fish +into the pot, and set the pot on the fire. "I have not bathed for some +days," said the Rájá. "I will go and bathe while you cook the fish, +and when I come back we will eat it." So he went to bathe, and the +Rání sat watching the fish. Presently she thought, "If I leave the lid +on the pot, the fish will dry up and burn." Then she took off the lid, +and the fish instantly jumped out of the pot into the tank and swam +away. This made the Rání sad; but she sat there quiet and silent. When +the Rájá had bathed, he returned to his wife, and said, "Now we will +eat our fish." The Rání answered, "I had not eaten for four days, and +was very hungry, so I ate all the fish." "Never mind," said the Rájá, +"it does not matter." + +They wandered on, and the next day came to another jungle where they +saw two pigeons. The Rájá took some grass and sticks, and made a bow +and arrow. He shot the pigeons with these, and the Rání plucked and +cleaned them. Her husband and she made a little fire, put the pigeons +in their pot, and set them on it. There was a tank near. "Now I will +go and bathe," said the Rání; "I have not bathed for some days. When I +come back, we will eat the pigeons." So she went to bathe, and the +Rájá sat down to watch the pigeons. Presently he thought, "If I leave +the pot shut, the birds will dry up and burn." So he took off the lid, +and instantly away flew the pigeons out of the pot. He guessed at once +what the fish had done yesterday, and sat still and silent till the +Rání came back. "I have eaten the pigeons in the same way that you ate +the fish yesterday," he said to her. The Rání understood what had +happened, and saw the Rájá knew how the fish had escaped. + +So they wandered on; and as they went the Rání remembered an oil +merchant, called Gangá Télí, a friend of theirs, and a great man, just +like a Rájá. "Let us go to Gangá Télí, if we can walk as far as his +house," she said. "He will be good to us." He lived a long way off. +When they got to him, Gangá Télí knew them at once. "What has +happened?" he said. "You were a great Rájá; why are you and the Rání +so poor and dressed like fakírs?" "It is God's will," they answered. +Gangá Télí did not think it worth while to notice them much now they +were poor; so, though he did not send them away, he gave them a +wretched room to live in, a wretched bed to lie on, and such bad food +to eat that, hungry as they were, they could not touch it. "When we +were rich," they said to each other, "and came to stay with Gangá +Télí, he received us like friends; he gave us beautiful rooms to live +in, beautiful beds to lie on, and delicious food to eat. We cannot +stay here." + +So they went away very sorrowful, and wandered for a whole week, and +all the time they had no food, till they came to another country whose +Rájá, Rájá Bhoj, was one of their friends. Rájá Bhoj received them +very kindly. "What has brought you to this state? How is it you are so +poor?" he said. "What has happened to you?" "It is God's will," they +answered. Rájá Bhoj gave them a beautiful room to live in, and told +his servants to cook for them the very nicest dinner they could. This +the servants did, and they brought the dinner into Rájá Harichand's +room, and set it before him and left him. Then he and the Rání put +some of the food on their plates; but before they could eat anything, +the food both in the dishes and on their plates became full of +maggots. So they could not eat it. They felt greatly humbled. However, +they said nothing, but worshipped God; and they buried all the food in +a hole they dug in the floor of their room. + +Now the daughter of Rájá Bhoj had left her gold necklace hanging on +the wall of the room in which were Rájá Harichand and the Rání Báhan. +At night when Rájá Harichand was asleep, the Rání saw a crack come in +the wall and the necklace go of itself into the crack; then the wall +joined together as before. She at once woke her husband, and told him +what she had seen. "We had better go away quickly," she said. "The +necklace will not be found to-morrow, and Rájá Bhoj will think we are +thieves. It will be useless breaking the wall open to find it." The +Rájá got up at once, and they set out again. Rájá Bhoj, when the +necklace was not found, thought Rájá Harichand and the Rání Báhan had +stolen it. + +They wandered on till they came to a country belonging to another +friend, called Rájá Nal, but they were ashamed to go to his palace. +The three weeks were now nearly over, only two more days were left. So +the Rání said, "In two days we shall be able to eat. Go into the +jungle and cut grass, and sell it in the bazar. We shall thus get a +few pice and be able to buy a little food." The Rájá went out to the +jungle, but he had to break and pull up the grass with his hands. He +worked half the day, and then sold the grass in the bazar for a few +pice. They were able to buy food, and worshipped God and cooked it; +and as the three weeks were now over they were allowed to eat it. + +They stayed in Rájá Nal's country, and lived in a little house they +hired in the bazar. Rájá Harichand went out every day to the jungle +for grass, which he pulled up or broke off with his hands, and then +sold in the bazar for a few pice. The Rání saved a pice or two +whenever she could, and at the end of two years they were rich enough +to buy a hook such as grass-cutters use. The Rájá could now cut more +grass, and soon the Rání was able to buy some pretty-coloured silks in +the bazar. + +Her husband went daily to cut grass, and she sat at home making +head-collars with the silks for horses. Four years after they had +bought the hook, she had four of these head-collars ready, and she +took them up to Rájá Nal's palace to sell. It was the first time she +had gone there, for she and her husband were ashamed to see Rájá Nal. +Their fakírs' dresses had become rags, and they had only been able to +get wretched common clothes in their place, for they were miserably +poor. + +"What beautiful head-collars these are!" said Rájá Nal's coachmen and +grooms; and they took them to show to their Rájá. As soon as he saw +them he said, "Where did you get these head-collars? Who is it that +wishes to sell them?" for he knew that only one woman could make such +head-collars, and that woman was the Rání Báhan. "A very poor woman +brought them here just now," they answered. "Bring her to me," said +Rájá Nal. So the servants brought him Rání Báhan, and when she saw the +Rájá she burst into tears. "What has brought you to this state? Why +are you so poor?" said Rájá Nal. "It is God's will," she answered. +"Where is your husband?" he asked. "He is cutting grass in the +jungle," she said. Rájá Nal called his servants and said, "Go into the +jungle, and there you will see a man cutting grass. Bring him to me." +When Rájá Harichand saw Rájá Nal's servants coming to him, he was very +much frightened; but the servants took him and brought him to the +palace. As soon as Rájá Nal saw his old friend, he seized his hands, +and burst out crying. "Rájá," he said, "what has brought you to this +state?" "It is God's will," said Rájá Harichand. + +Rájá Nal was very good to them. He gave them a palace to live in, and +servants to wait on them; beautiful clothes to wear, and good food to +eat. He went with them to the palace to see that everything was as it +should be for them. "To-day," he said to the Rání, "I shall dine with +your husband, and you must give me a dinner cooked just as you used to +cook one for me when I went to see you in your own country." "Good, I +will give it you," said the Rání; but she was quite frightened, for +she thought, "The Rájá is so kind, and everything is so comfortable +for us, that I am sure something dreadful will happen." However, she +prepared the dinner, and told the servants how to cook it and serve +it; but first she worshipped God, and entreated him to have mercy on +her and her husband. The dinner was very good, and nothing evil +happened to any one. They lived in the palace Rájá Nal gave them for +four and a half years. + +Meanwhile the farmers in Rájá Harichand's country had all these years +gone on ploughing and turning up the land, although not a drop of rain +had fallen all that time, and the earth was hard and dry. Now just +when the Rájá and Rání had lived in Rájá Nal's palace for four and a +half years Mahádeo was walking through Rájá Harichand's country. He +saw the farmers digging up the ground, and said, "What is the good of +your digging and turning up the ground? Not a drop of rain is going to +fall." "No," said the farmers, "but if we did not go on ploughing and +digging, we should forget how to do our work." They did not know they +were talking to Mahádeo, for he looked like a man. "That is true," +said Mahádeo, and he thought, "The farmers speak the truth; and if I +go on neglecting to blow on my horn, I shall forget how to blow on it +at all." So he took his deer's horn, which was just like those some +yogís use, and blew on it. Now when Rájá Harichand had chosen the +twelve years' famine, God had said, "Rain shall not fall on Rájá +Harichand's country till Mahádeo blows his horn in it." Mahádeo had +quite forgotten this decree; so he blew on his horn, although only ten +and a half years' famine had gone by. The moment he blew, down came +the rain, and the whole country at once became as it had been before +the famine began; and moreover, the moment it rained, everything in +Rájá Harichand's palace became what it was before the angels entered +it. All the men and women came to life again; so did all the animals; +and the gold and silver were no longer charcoal, but once more gold +and silver. God was not angry with Mahádeo for forgetting that he said +the famine should last for twelve years, and that the rain should fall +when Mahádeo blew on his horn in Rájá Harichand's country. "If it +pleased Mahádeo to blow on his horn," said God, "it does not matter +that eighteen months of famine were still to last." As soon as they +heard the rain had fallen, all the ryots who had gone to other +countries on account of the famine returned to Rájá Harichand's +country. + +Among the Rájá's servants was the kotwál, and very anxious he was, +when he came to life again, to find the Rájá and Rání; only he did not +know how to do so, and wondered where he had best seek for them. + +Meanwhile the Rání Báhan had a dream that God sent her, in which an +angel said to her, "It is good that you and your husband should return +to your country." She told this dream to her husband; and Rájá Nal +gave them horses, elephants, and camels, that they might travel like +Rájás to their home, and he went with them. They found everything in +order in their own palace and all through their country, and after +this lived very happily in it. But the Rání said to Rájá Harichand, +"If you had only done what I told you, and said you would give me to +the fakír, all this misery would not have come on us." + +Later they went to stay again with Rájá Bhoj, and slept in the same +room as they had had when they came to him poor and wretched. In the +night they saw the wall open, and the necklace came out of the crack +and hung itself up as before, and the wall closed again. The next day +they showed the necklace to Rájá Bhoj, saying, "It was on account of +this necklace that we ran away from you the last time we were here," +and they told him all that had happened to it. + +As for Gangá Télí, they never went near him again. + + Told by Múniyá, March 4th, 1879. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +XXX. + +THE KING'S SON AND THE WAZÍR'S DAUGHTER. + + +In a country there was a great king who had a wazír. One day he +thought he should like to play at cards with this wazír, and he told +him to go and get some for him, and then play a game with him. So the +wazír brought the cards, and he and the king sat down to play. Now +neither the king nor the wazír had any children; and as they were +playing, the king said, "Wazír, if I have a son and you have a +daughter, or if I have a daughter and you have a son, let us marry our +children to each other." To this the wazír agreed. A year after the +king had a son; and when the boy was two years old, the wazír had a +daughter. Some years passed, and the king's son was twelve years old, +and the wazír's daughter ten. Then the king said to the wazír, "Do you +remember how one day, when we were playing at cards, we agreed to +marry our children to each other?" "I remember," said the wazír. "Let +us marry them now," said the king. So they held the wedding feast; but +the wazír's little daughter remained in her father's house because she +was still so young. + +As the king's son grew older he became very wicked, and took to +gambling and drinking till his father and mother died of grief. After +their death he went on in the same way, gambling and drinking, until +he had no money left, and had to leave the palace, and live anywhere +he could in the town, wandering from house to house in a fakír's +dress, begging his bread, and sleeping wherever he found a spot on +which to lie down. + +Meanwhile the wazír's daughter was living alone, for her husband had +never come to fetch her as he should have done when she was old +enough. Her father and mother were dead too. She had given half of the +money they left her to the poor, and she lived on the other half. She +spent her days in praying to God, and in reading in a holy book; and +though she was so young, she was very wise and good. + +One day, as the prince was roaming about in his fakír's rags, not +knowing where to find food or shelter, he remembered his wife, and +thought he would go and see her. She ordered her servants to give him +good food, a bath, and good clothes; "for," she said, "we were married +when we were children, though he never fetched me to his palace." The +servants did as she bade them. The prince bathed and dressed, and ate +food, and he wished to stay with his wife. But she said, "No; before +you stay with me you must see four sights. Go out in the jungle and +walk for a whole week. Then you will come to a plain where you will +see them." So the next day he set out for the plain, and reached it in +one week. + +There he saw a large tank. At one corner of the tank he saw a man and +a woman who had good clothes, good food, good beds, and servants to +wait on them, and seemed very happy. At the second corner he saw a +wretchedly poor man and his wife, who did nothing but cry and sob +because they had no food to eat, no water to drink, no bed to lie on, +no one to take care of them. At the third corner he saw two little +fishes that were always going up and down in the air. They would shoot +down close to the water, but they could not go into it or stay in it; +then they would make a salaam to God, and would shoot up again into +the air, but before they got very high, they had to drop down again. +At the fourth corner he saw a huge demon who was heating sand in an +enormous iron pot, under which he kept up a big fire. + +The prince returned to his wife, and told her all he had seen. "Do you +know who the happy man and woman are?" she said. "No," he answered. +"They are my father and mother," she said. "When they were alive, I +was good to them, and since their death I gave half their money to the +poor; and on the other half I have lived quietly, and tried to be +good. So God is pleased with them, and makes them happy." "Is that +true?" said her husband. "Quite true," she said. "And the miserable +man and woman who did nothing but cry, do you know who they are?" +"No," said the prince. "They are your father and mother. When they +were alive, you gambled and drank; and they died of grief. Then you +went on gambling and drinking till you had spent all their money. So +now God is angry with them, and will not make them happy." "Is that +true?" said the prince. "Quite true," she said. "And the fishes you +saw were the two little children we should have had if you had taken +me to your home as your wife. Now they cannot be born, for they can +find no bodies in which to be born; so God has ordered them to rise +and sink in the air in these fishes' forms." "Is that true?" asked the +prince. "Quite true," she answered. "And by God's order the demon you +saw is heating that sand in the big iron pot for you, because you are +such a wicked man." + +The moment she had told all this to her husband, she died. But he did +not get any better. He gambled and drank all her money away, and lived +a wretched life, wandering about like a fakír till his death. + + Told by Múniyá, March 8th, 1879. + + + + +[Decoration] + +NOTES. + + +INTRODUCTORY. + +In these stories the word translated God, is _Khudá_. Excepting in +"How king Burtal became a Fakír" (p. 85), and in "Rájá Harichand's +Punishment" (p. 224), in which Mahádeo plays a part, the tellers of +these tales would never specify by name the god they spoke of. He was +always _Khudá_, "the great _Khudá_ who lives up there in the sky." In +this they differed from the narrator of the _Old Deccan Days_ stories, +who almost always gives her gods and goddesses their Hindú +names--probably because, from being a Christian, she had no religious +scruples to deter her from so doing. + +When the heroes of these stories are called Rájás, the word Rájá has +been kept: when they are called Bádsháhs, we have called them kings. +The Ayahs say, "A Bádsháh is a much greater man than a Rájá." When +_bádsháh_ (the Persian _pádisháh_) in its corrupted form of _básá_ is +tacked on to a proper name, such as _Anár_ (_Anárbásá_), _Hírálál_ +(_Hírálálbásá_), the _básá_ has been preserved, because, Dunkní says, +in these cases _básá_ is no longer a title, but part of the proper +name. + +Old Múniyá tells her stories with the solemn, authoritative air of a +professor. She sits quite still on the floor, and uses no gestures. +Dunkní gets thoroughly excited over her tales, marches up and down the +room, acting her stories, as it were. For instance, in describing the +thickness of Mahádeo's hair in King Burtal's story, she put her two +thumbs to her ears, and spread out all her fingers from her head +saying, "His hair stood out like this," and in "Loving Lailí," after +moving her hand as if she were pulling the magic knife from her pocket +and unfolding it, she swung her arm out at full length with great +energy, and then she said, "Lailí made one 'touch'" (here she brought +back the edge of her hand to her own throat), "and the head fell off." +Dunkní sometimes used an English word, such as the "touch" in the +present case. + +All these stories were read back in Hindústání by my little girl to +the tellers at the time of telling, and nearly all a second time by me +this winter before printing. I never saw people more anxious to have +their tales retold exactly than are Dunkní and Múniyá. Not till each +tale was pronounced by them to be _thík_ (exact) was it sent to the +press. + +It is strange in these Indian tales to meet golden-haired, +fair-complexioned heroes and heroines. Mr. Thornton tells me that in +the Panjáb when one native speaks of another with contempt, he says, +"he is a black man," _ek kálá ádmí hai_. Sir Neville Chamberlain tells +me that if you wish to praise a native for his valour and brave +conduct, you say to him, "Your countenance is red," or "your cheeks +are red," and that nothing is worse than to tell him his "face is +black." And this is what Mr. Boxwell says about the expression "kálá +ádmí" and our fairy tales:-- + + "The stories are of the Aryan conquerors from beyond the + Indus; distinguished by their fair skin from the dark + aborigines of India. In Vedic times Var[n.]a, 'colour,' + is used for stock or blood, as the Latins used Nomen. It + is in India 'Yas Dásam var[n.]am adharam guhákar.' 'Who + sank in darkness the Barbarian colour.' R. V. II. 4. + + "Indra, again, 'Hatvé Dasyún pra Áryam var[n.]am ávat.' + 'Having slain the Barbarians, helped the Aryan colour.' + R. V. III. 34. + + "Again, in K. V. I. 104. They pray-- + + "'Te nas ávaksa suvitáya var[n.]am.' 'May they bring our + colour to success.' + + "In later times 'var[n.]a' is the regular word for + caste; and the Brahmins and the rest of the twice-born + who still represent the Aryan var[n.]a are much fairer + than the Çúdras and Hill people. + + "In the Ikhwán ussafa the black skin is one of the + results of the Fall to Adam and Hawa. + + "'Áftáb ki garmí se rang mutaghaiyar aur siáh ho gayá.' + 'From the heat of the sun their colour became changed + and black.'" + +But I think the fact that the conquering races that invaded India from +the north were fair and ruddier than the aborigines, and that their +descendants, the high-caste natives, are to this day fairer than the +aborigines, though it explains the phrases, "he is only a black man," +and "your cheeks are red," does not account for the golden hair and +fair skin of so many of our princes and princesses. I believe that +they all owe their characteristics to the fact that such are the +characteristics of the solar hero, although they cannot all lay claim +to a solar origin for themselves. For this golden hair and white skin, +at first the property of the shining sun-hero alone, would naturally +in the course of time be given to other Indian folk-lore heroes on +whose beauty and brightness it was necessary to lay a stress. Prince +Majnún, for instance, certainly has nothing solar about him, yet his +hair is described as red. Dunkní, in answer to a half incredulous, +half inquiring exclamation of mine when I heard this, asserted, "Red! +yes, it was red: red like gold." + +The black-haired Maoris give their sea-nymphs yellow hair (_Old New +Zealand_, p. 19); and Sir George Grey in his _Polynesian Mythology_, +p. 295, writes thus of the Maori fairies: "Their appearance is that of +human beings, nearly resembling an European's; their hair being very +fair, and so is their skin. They are very different from the Maoris, +and do not resemble them at all." But as the Maoris do not seem to +have any myths of golden-haired solar heroes, these peculiarities of +hair and complexion cannot be referred to the same cause as those of +my little daughter's Indian princes and princesses. + + +I.--PHÚLMATI RÁNÍ. + +1. Phúlmati is a garden rose, not a wild rose. It must be a local name +for the flower. I can find it in no dictionary. Dunkní says her +heroine was named after a pink rose. + +2. She has hair of pure gold. Compare in this book: Princess Jahúran, +p. 43, the Monkey Prince, p. 50, Sonahrí Rání, p. 54, Jahúr Rání, p. +93, Prince Dímá-ahmad and Princess Atása, Notes, p. 253. Also, Híra +Bai, the cobra's daughter in _Old Deccan Days_, p. 35. So many +princely heroes and heroines in European fairy tales are noteworthy +for their dazzling golden hair that I will only mention one of them, +Princess Golden-Hair, one of whose hairs rings if it falls to the +ground--see Naake's _Slavonic Fairy Tales_, p. 100. And devils being +fallen heroes or angels, the following references may be made to them. +In Haltrich's _Siebenbuergische Maerchen_, p. 171, in "Die beiden +Fleischhauer in der Hoelle," the devil's grandmother gives the good +brother a hair that had fallen from the devil's head while he slept. +The man carries it home and the hair suddenly becomes as big as a +"Heubaum" and is "of pure gold." Also in one of Grimm's stories the +hero is sent to fetch three golden hairs from the devil's head--see +_Kinder und Hausmaerchen_, vol. I. p. 175, "Der Teufel mit den drei +goldenen Haaren." + +3. Her beauty lights up a dark room. In this shining quality she +resembles many Asiatic and European fairy-tale heroes and heroines. +See in this book Hírálí, whose face shone like a diamond, p. 69; and +the Princess Labám, who shone like the moon, and her beauty made night +day, p. 158. In _Old Deccan Days_, p. 156, the prince's dead body on +the hedge of spears dazzles those who look at it till they can hardly +see. Pánch Phúl Rání, p. 140, shines in the dark jungle like a star. +So does the princess in Chundun Rájá's dark tomb, p. 229. In a +Dinájpur story published by Mr. G. H. Damant in the _Indian Antiquary_ +for February 1875, vol. IV. p. 54, the dream-nymph, Tillottama, +whenever she appears, lights up the whole place with her beauty. "At +every breath she drew when she slept, a flame like a flower issued +from her nostril, and when she drew in her breath the flower of flame +was again withdrawn." Her beauty lit up her house "as if by +lightning." See Appendix _A_. In Naake's _Slavonic Fairy Tales_, p. +96, is the Bohemian tale quoted above of Princess Golden-Hair. "Every +morning at break of day she [the princess] combs her golden locks; its +brightness is reflected in the sea, and up among the clouds," p. 102. +When she let it down "it was bright as the rising sun," and almost +blinded Irik with its radiance, p. 107. The golden children (Schott's +_Wallachische Maerchen_, p. 125) shine in the darkened room "like the +morning sun in May." Gubernatis in the 2nd vol. of his _Zoological +Mythology_, mentions at p. 31 a golden boy who figures in one of +Afanassieff's stories; when this child's body is uncovered on his +restoration to his father, "all the room shines with light." And at p. +57 of the same volume he quotes another of Afanassieff's stories, in +which the persecuted princess has three sons "who light up whatever is +near them with their splendour." Of Gerd in Jötunheim, the beautiful +giant maiden with the bright shining arms, Thorpe says (_Northern +Mythology_, vol. I. p. 47), when she raised "her arms to open the +door, both air and water gave such a reflection that the whole world +was illumined." The boar Trwyth (who was once a king, but because of +his sons was turned into a boar) after his fall preserves some of his +old kingly splendour; for "his bristles were like silver wire, and +whether he went through the wood or through the plain he was to be +traced by the glittering of his bristles" (_Mabinogion_, vol. II. p. +310). In the same work (vol. III. p. 279), in "The Dream of Maxen +Wledig," is a maiden, of whom it is told: "Not more easy than to gaze +upon the sun when brightest was it to look upon her by reason of her +beauty." And in "Goldhaar" (Haltrich's _Siebenbuergische Maerchen_, +p. 61) when the hero's cap fell off he stood there "in all splendour +and his golden locks fell round his head, and he shone like the sun." + +In a Santhali tale published by the Rev. F. T. Cole in the _Indian +Antiquary_ for January 1875, p. 10, called "Toria the Goatherd and the +Daughter of the Sun," a beggar's eyes are as dazzled by the Sun's +daughter's beauty "as if he had stared at the sun." + +4. Phúlmati Rání has on her head the sun, on her hands moons, and her +face is covered with stars. Compare in these stories "The Indrásan +Rájá," p. 1, "The boy who had a moon on his forehead and a star on his +chin," p. 119, and "Prince Dímá-ahmad and Princess Atása," Notes, p. +253. In Fräulein Gonzenbach's _Sicilian Fairy Tales_, No. 5 (vol. I. +p. 21), the king's son's children are born, the boy with a golden +apple in his hand, the girl with a star on her forehead. In the Notes +to this story (vol. II. p. 207) Herr Köhler mentions a Tyrolean fairy +tale, "Zingerle, II. p. 112," where the king's son's daughter has a +golden apple in her hand, and her brother a golden star on his +forehead. In Milenowsky's _Bohemian Fairy Tales_, p. 1, is the story +"Von den Sternprinzen" in which the king's son by the queen has a gold +star on his forehead, and his son by the old woman has a silver star, +p. 2. These princes' children also are born with gold and silver stars +on their foreheads, p. 30. In a Hungarian tale, "Die verwandelten +Kinder," the old man's youngest daughter promises, and keeps her +promise, to give the king, if he marries her, twin sons, who will be +most beautiful, will have golden hair, and each a golden ring on his +arm; further, one is to have a planet, the other a sun on his +forehead--Stier's _Ungarische Volksmaerchen_, p. 57. Also in the same +author's _Ungarische Sagen und Maerchen_ in "Die beiden juengsten +Koenigskinder," the hero wins a bride (p. 77) who has a sun on her +forehead, a moon on her right, and three stars on her left, breast. In +"Eisenlaci" in the same collection the snake-king's daughter has a +star on her forehead (p. 109). Gubernatis (_Zoological Mythology_, +vol. I. p. 412) says, "In the seventh story of the third book of +Afanassieff, the queen bears two sons; one has a moon on his forehead +and the other a star on the nape of his neck. Her wicked sister +buries them; a golden and a silver sprout spring up which a sheep eats +and then has two lambs, one with a moon on its head, the other with a +star on its neck. The wicked sister who has married the king orders +them to be torn in pieces, and their intestines to be thrown into the +road. The good, lawful queen eats them and again gives birth to her +sons." Gubernatis in the 2nd volume of the same work, p. 31, quotes +another of Afanassieff's stories, the thirteenth of the third book, in +which a merchant's wife has a son "whose body is all of gold, effigies +of stars, moon, and sun covered it." This is the gold boy mentioned in +the preceding paragraph as lighting up the room when his body was +uncovered. In "Das Schwarze Lamm," the empress bears a son with a +golden star on his forehead (Karadschitsch, _Volksmaerchen der +Serben_, p. 177). + +5. Phúlmati Rání weighs but one flower: compare Pánch Phúl Rání in +_Old Deccan Days_, p. 133. + +6. Indrásan (= Indra + Ásana, Indra's throne or home), says Dunkní, is +the name of the underground fairy country. Its inhabitants, the +fairies (parí) are called the Indrásan people; they delight in all +lovely things; everything about them is beautiful; they play +exquisitely on all kinds of musical instruments; they dance and sing a +great deal; they have wings and can fly. They taught the little Monkey +Prince (p. 42), and King Burtal's eldest son was taken to them as a +pupil by the fakír Goraknáth, p. 93. In Indrásan grows a tree of which +no man can ever see the flowers or fruit, as the fairies gather them +in the night and take them away. The Irish "good people" who live in +clefts of rocks, caves, and mounds, and the Irish fairies who live in +the beautiful land of youth under the sea, have many points in common +with the Indian fairies. They, too, dance beautifully, are wonderful +musicians, and have everything about them lovely and splendid. The +"good people" also sometimes impart their knowledge to mortals. See +pp. x, xii, and xviii of the Introduction to the _Irische +Elfenmaerchen_ translated into German by the brothers Grimm. Some of +the Cornish fairies, the Small People, like the Indrásan people, live +underground (Hunt's _Romances and Drolls of the West of England_, pp. +116, 118, 125), aid those to whom they take a fancy and are very +playful among themselves (_ib._ p. 81); they have the most ravishing +music (_ib._ pp. 86, 98); their singing is clear and delicate as +silver bells (_ib._ p. 100); everything about them is joyous and +beautiful (_ib._ pp. 86, 99, 100); they are a tiny race (_ib._ p. 81), +but can at pleasure take the size of human beings (_ib._ pp. 115, 122, +123); and their queen has hair "like gold threads" (_ib._ p. 102). The +fair-haired New Zealand fairies are, too, a kindly happy race. See +Grey's _Polynesian Mythology_, pp. 287 to 295. Nothing is said about +their dancing, but they are described as "merry, cheerful, and always +singing like a cricket" (_ib._ p. 295), and from one of their +fishing-nets left on the sea shore, when its fairy owners were +surprised by the rising of the sun, the Maoris learnt the stitch for +netting a net. Like the Indian fairies they appear to be as big as +human beings. + +7. Phúlmati Rání is drowned in a tank and becomes a flower; she is +killed and brought to life several times: compare in this collection +the story of the "Pomegranate Children" and note to that story. In one +of Ralston's _Russian Folk-Tales_, "The Fiend," p. 15, the heroine is +killed through witchcraft: from her grave springs a flower which is +herself transformed: she afterwards regains her human shape. + +8. With Phúlmati's last transformation compare the last that the +Bél-Princess goes through (p. 148 of this collection), and that of a +woman, who figures in a Dinájpur story published by Mr. G. H. Damant +in the _Indian Antiquary_ of April 5th, 1872, vol. I. p. 115. She, +though living in the Rakshas country, is not a Rakshas, but does not +appear to be an ordinary mortal, and when cut to bits by a certain +magic knife becomes a tree. "Her feet became a silver stem, her two +hands golden branches, her head ornaments were diamond leaves, all her +bracelets and bangles were pearly fruits, and her head was a peacock +dancing and playing in the branches." As soon as the magic knife is +thrown to the ground she regains her human form. + +Eisenlaci in Stier's _Ungarische Sagen und Maerchen_ (pp. 107-109) +comes in the form of a horse to the twelve-headed dragon's house. He +is killed; the first two drops of his blood are thrown into the garden +and from them springs a tree with golden apples: the tree is cut +down, but the first two chips (which are flung into the pond) become a +gold fish: the gold fish turns into Eisenlaci himself in human form. + +9. Winning a wife by seizing her dress while she bathes is an incident +common to fairy tales of many countries. + + +II.--THE POMEGRANATE KING. + +1. Such is the story as told by Dunkní in 1876; at that time, when it +was read over to her, she said it was correct. On my asking her in +1878, when the story was going through the press, to explain some +points in it, such as why the children said they had been brought to +life _three_ times, the boy having only died twice, and the girl once, +she told me the following variation: After the attempt to get rid of +the boy by making him into a curry had failed, the Rání Sunkásí sent +for a sepoy and bade him carry the two children to the jungle and +there kill them; and as a proof of their death he was to bring her +their livers. Once in the jungle with the children, the sepoy had not +the heart to kill them; so he left them in it, and brought the livers +of two goats to Sunkásí Rání. She buried the livers in the garden and +was content; but some months later as she was walking (literally +"eating the air") in the jungle she saw her step-children playing +about; she returned to the palace, sent for the sepoy, and asked him +why he had not killed the children. "I did kill them," said the sepoy, +"and brought you their livers." "Those livers were not the children's +livers," answered the Rání; "I have just seen the children alive and +playing in the jungle." "They must have been other people's children +that you saw," said the sepoy, "yours I killed." "Do not tell me +lies," said the Rání. "Now you must at once go to the jungle, kill the +children, and bring me their eyes." The sepoy went to find the +children, but when he found them he could not kill them, so he took +them to some people who lived in a hut, and said to these people, +"Take great care of the two children. Be very kind to them." He then +killed two goats and took their eyes to the Rání, who was now +satisfied for some time. But one day another of the Pomegranate +Rájá's sepoys passed near the hut, and saw the children playing about. +So he went to Sunkásí Rání and told her the children were alive and +well. At this the Rání was very angry, and she thought, "It is of no +use my sending the first sepoy again to kill them. I will send this +man." She said, therefore, to the second sepoy, "If you will kill +these children for me, you shall have a great reward." The sepoy +agreed, went to the little hut, and seized the children. The poor +people who took care of the children begged and prayed him to have +pity on them; but the sepoy said, "No." He had the Rání's orders to +kill them, and they must and should be killed. And so he killed them +and brought their livers to the Rání as she had bidden him. Sunkásí +Rání was very happy when she saw the livers, and she buried them close +to a large tank that was in her garden. + +Some three months later her servants came to her and told her a +beautiful large bél-fruit was floating on the water of the tank. +Sunkásí Rání went at once with them to the tank, and when she saw the +fruit she was seized with a great longing to have it. So she sent all +her servants, one after the other, into the tank to fetch it; but all +to no purpose, for as soon as any one of them got close to the fruit +it floated away from him. Then the Rání herself went into the tank. +She, however, was not a whit more able to get it: when she thought she +had only to put out her hand to take it, the fruit rose up into the +air, and fell into the water again as soon as she had come up out of +the tank. She went to the Mahárájá and told him of this lovely +bél-fruit, and then went to her room while he came down to the tank. +He said, "I should like to catch the fruit: I wonder if I can do so. +What a lovely fruit!" As soon as he put his hand into the water the +fruit came floating towards him, and floated into it. "I think this +fruit is quite ripe," said the Mahárájá. "Quite ripe," said the +servants, and they struck it with a stone to break it open. "Oh, you +hurt us! you hurt us!" cried little voices from inside the bél-fruit. +"Gently, gently; don't hurt us." The Mahárájá and all the servants +were greatly surprised, and the Mahárájá went to Sunkásí Rání, and +told her all about the little voices. She at once guessed her +step-children were in the fruit, so she said to the Mahárájá, "You +had better take the fruit to the jungle and there break it open with a +big stone, so that anything inside it may be crushed to bits." "I will +not do that," said the Mahárájá. Then he went back to his servants and +made them cut the fruit's rind very carefully cross-ways and the fruit +broke into halves: in one half sat his little son, in the other his +little daughter. As soon as the halves were laid on the ground the +children stepped out, and at once grew to their natural size. Their +father was very angry when he saw them. "Why, I thought you were at +school," said he. "The Mahárání told me you were at school. Why are +you not there? What funny (Dunkní's own word) children you are to get +into this bél-fruit! What made you like to live in a fruit?" But to +all his questionings and scoldings the children said not one word. At +last he sent them up to the palace, and there they stayed with him for +some three months. But the Mahárání said to him, "These are not your +children. Yours are at school." "They _are_ my children," he answered. + +All this time the Mahárání hated them more and more, and at last she +went to them and said, "Now I really will kill you." "Just as you +please," answered the children; "we don't mind being killed. You may +kill us three times, four times, as often as you like: it does not +matter in the least; for God will always bring us to life again." + +At this Sunkásí Rání flew into a rage and she called her servants and +said, "Kill these children, cut them into mince-meat and throw them to +the crows and kites. When the crows and kites have eaten them, they +cannot come to life any more." So the servants killed the children, +and chopped them up very fine and fed the crows and kites with their +flesh; and now the Mahárání was very happy. + +Some months later, as she was walking in her garden, she saw two +beautiful flower-buds on a large bél-tree that grew in it. She showed +them to the gardener, and asked if he had seen them before. "Never," +said the man. "On this tree there have never been either flowers or +fruit till now." "Gather the flowers for me," said the Rání, "I do so +wish to have them." The gardener said to her, "Wait till the buds are +fully blown and then I will gather them for you." At the end of three +or four days the Rání Sunkásí asked if the buds had grown into large +flowers, and the gardener said, "Yes, to-day I will gather them for +you." He got a long, long bamboo cane, and tied a piece of wood +cross-ways on one of its ends so as to make a sort of hook wherewith +to catch hold of and break off the flowers. He tried and tried to get +them, but all in vain. Then he made all the servants try. It was of no +use, no one could make the hook touch the flowers. They always bent +themselves just out of its reach. Then Sunkásí Rání tried, but with no +better success. She told the Mahárájá, who said, "I will try to-morrow +to gather these wonderful flowers." + +That night as the Rání lay in her bed she suddenly thought, "Those +children are in the flowers," and she determined to be with her +husband when he gathered them, to get them into her own hands some way +or other. + +The next morning Anárbásá Mahárájá and his wife went to the bél-tree, +and as soon as he held out his hand towards the flowers, they dropped +into it. "What lovely flowers! What beautiful flowers! Do give them to +me," said Sunkásí Rání. "No," said the Mahárájá, "I will keep them +myself." Then he carried them to his room and laid them on the table +while he shut the door and the venetians. Then he came and sat down +before them: he took them in his hand, and looked at them and laid +them again on the table; then he took them and smelt them, and they +smelt, oh! so sweet. This he did many times. At last he held them to +his ears, for the adventure of the bél-fruit had made him wise +(_hushyár_), and he heard little tiny voices, saying, "Papa" (Dunkní's +own word), "we want to stay with you; we should like to be with you." +The Mahárájá looked very carefully at the flowers, and at last, in one +of them he saw a little splinter of wood like a thorn sticking: he +pulled this out, and his own little son stood before him. Then he +looked at the other flower, and in that, too, was a little splinter of +wood sticking. When he pulled it out his little girl stood there. + +The Mahárájá was vexed with his children, and asked them why they were +so naughty, and why they liked to live in fruits and flowers instead +of staying in the palace or going to school. The children answered, +"We go to school sometimes, and then we come back and live in our +flowers, and then we return to school, and then we come back to our +flower-homes again." "This is a lie you are telling me," said their +father. "You know quite well you have not been at school at all." The +Mahárání came in to hear what all this talking meant, and when she saw +the children she said to Anárbásá Mahárájá, "These are not your +children, yours are at school." "They are my children," he answered, +"and they have never been at school at all, and they are very +naughty." He then sent them away to play, and the Rání returned to her +room. But he sat alone in his room, for he was angry and cross. As he +sat there one of his chaprásís came to him and said, "Maháráj, you do +not know how ill the Mahárání treats your children, or you would not +be angry with them. She has killed them several times, and sent them +away into the jungle; and after they came out of the bél-fruit she +killed them and chopped them into small pieces, and fed the kites and +crows with their flesh." When the Mahárájá heard all this, he said to +the chaprásí, "You must have a beautiful little house built for me; +you must take care that it is chiefly made of wood; the flooring must +be very thin and of wood; and the hollow place under the flooring must +be filled with dry wood. Then you must put plenty of flowers inside +the house, and plenty outside so as to make it very pretty." + +As soon as the house was ready the Mahárájá went to his wife and asked +her if she would go out with him to eat the air. "I should like to +show you a new house I have had built for you," he said. So she went +with him and thought her new house lovely. While she was inside +looking at the pretty flowers in the rooms, the Mahárájá slipped out, +and bolted the door so that she could not escape, and he told his +servants to set fire to the wood under the flooring. When the flames +began to rise the Rání got very frightened. She rushed to the window +and called to the Mahárájá and his servants, who were standing there +looking on, to save her. No one said anything to her. "Save me," she +cried, "or I shall be burnt to death." "If you are burnt, what does it +matter?" said the Mahárájá. "You ill-treated my children; you killed +them; so, now burn." + +As soon as she was burnt to death the Mahárájá had all her bones +collected and put into four dishes, and he gave them to one of his +servants to take to Sunkásí Rání's mother. When her mother uncovered +dish after dish and found nothing but bones, she asked the servant, +"Of what use are bones?" "These are your daughter's bones," said he: +"therefore Anárbásá Mahárájá sent them to you. Sunkásí Rání +ill-treated and killed his children, and so he burnt her." + +The rest of the story she pronounced exact (_thík_). + +2. The bél-tree is the _Ćgle Marmelos_ of botanists. + +3. With the different deaths and transformations of the children +compare in this book: Phúlmati Rání, pp. 3 and 4: the Kite's Children, +p. 22: the Bél-Princess, pp. 144, 145, 148: and in _Old Deccan Days_ +Surya Bai, pp. 85, 86. In "Die goldenen Kinder" (Schott's +_Wallachische Maerchen_) the golden children are killed and buried (p. +122). From their hearts spring two apple-trees having golden leaves +and apples. The trees are destroyed; but a sheep has eaten an apple +and then has two golden lambs. The step-mother kills them at once and +sends the maid to wash the entrails in the stream, intending to cook +them for her husband to eat (compare the curry in the "Pomegranate +King," p. 8; the broth (_Suhr_) in Grimm's "von dem Machandelboom," +_Kinder und Hausmaerchen_, vol. I. p. 271; and the stew in the +Devonshire story, "The Rose-Tree," told in Henderson's _Folk-lore of +the Northern Counties of England_, p. 314). A piece of the entrail +escapes, and as it floats away it swells and swells. On reaching the +opposite bank it bursts, and out of it step the golden children. In a +Hungarian story the children, one with a planet and one with a sun on +his forehead, and each with a ring on his arm, are killed by a wicked +woman who wants her daughter to take their mother's place as queen. +They turn first into two golden pear-trees. These are destroyed by +fire, but one glowing coal from the fire is eaten by an old she-goat. +The old goat then has two little golden-fleeced kids. They are killed, +an old crow swallows a piece of the entrails as they are being washed +in the brook; she flies to the seventy-seventh island in the ocean, +builds a nest and lays two golden eggs. Out of the eggs come the +golden-haired children with their planet, sun and golden rings. The +old crow sends them for seven years to school to a hermit (here is the +holy man again, see p. 283 of these notes), and then flies home with +them to their father. The pillar of salt, into which their mother was +changed, answers all the king's questions. It is not said that she +regained her human form ("Die verwandelten Kinder," Stier's +_Ungarische Volksmaerchen_, p. 58). In a Siebenburg story, "Die beiden +goldenen Kinder," the children are killed by an envious woman who +becomes queen in their mother's place. From their remains spring two +golden pine-trees which are burnt; a sheep eats two of the sparks and +has two golden lambs that are killed; from two pieces of the entrails +step forth the golden-haired children (Haltrich's _Siebenbuergische +Maerchen_, pp. 2, 3). In this tale the children are restored to their +father, the king, by the intervention of God himself (p. 4), who in +these _Siebenbuergische Maerchen_ plays a part just as often as +"Khudá" does in the Indian tales, taking for the purpose the form of a +"good old man," and often wearing a grey mantle that reminds one of +Odin. In the Netherlandish story of "The knight with the swan" +(Thorpe's _Northern Mythology_, vol. III. p. 302), King Oriant's +mother persuades the king his wife gave him seven puppies instead of +seven children (each born with a silver chain round its neck in "proof +of their mother's nobility"). She sends the children to the forest to +be destroyed. They are left there alive, and are fostered by an old +man. When the queen-mother learns this, she sends servants to kill +them. These are content with depriving six of the children of their +silver chains, on which the children instantly become swans. (The +seventh child is absent and so is saved.) A goldsmith makes two +beakers out of one of the chains, and keeps the others intact. When +the chains are hung again round the five swans' necks, and the beaker +shown to the sixth, they regain their human forms. See also paragraph +8 of the notes to Phúlmati Rání. + +4. With the children in the fruit and flowers compare in these +stories, Phúlmati Rání, p. 3: Loving Lailí, p. 81: the Bél-Princess, +p. 146, and paragraph 5 of the notes to that story, p. 283: and in +_Old Deccan Days_, "Surya Bai," p. 86: and "Anár Rání and her two +maids," p. 95. With these may be compared the Polish Madey (Naake's +_Slavonic Fairy Tales_, p. 220). Madey is a robber who commits fearful +crimes; he repents, and sticks his "murderous club" upright in the +ground, swearing to kneel before it till the boy who has caused his +repentance returns as a bishop. Years go by: the boy, now a bishop, +passes through Madey's forest. The club has become an apple-tree full +of apples and he discovers Madey through their sweet odour. At Madey's +request the bishop confesses him; and as Madey confesses his crimes, +the apples on the tree, one after another, become white doves and fly +to heaven. They were the souls of those he had murdered. + +In an unpublished story told by Dunkní, the incidents of the children +being in the fruit, and the fruit not letting itself be gathered by +any but the rightful owner of its contents (as is the case also with +the Bél-Princess), again occur. In this story there is a prince called +Aisab, who, as he wished very much to have children, married. At the +same time he took an oath that if his child, when he had one, cried, +he would kill it, and then if his wife cried he would kill her too. +His first wife gave him a child who died; she cried and was killed by +her husband. The same thing happened to the second wife. He then +married a third wife, called Gulíanár. She had a little son, +Dímá-ahmad, and two or three years later another son, called Karámat. +The first boy died, but Gulíanár did not cry--she only grieved for him +in her heart. Karámat was unhappy from seeing other children playing +with their brothers and sisters, and asked his mother "why he had no +brother or sister to play with?" She said, "Once you had a little +brother and he died." Then Karámat began to cry, and his father killed +him immediately with his sword because of his oath, though he loved +Karámat dearly. The "mother was still sadder than before, but she +never wept." Then God took pity on her and sent down into Prince +Aisab's garden a big bél-tree, and on this bél-tree was a fruit. Every +one tried to gather this fruit, even Prince Aisab tried, but each time +their hands approached it the fruit rose into the air and returned +again when the hands were withdrawn. Then Gulíanár stretched out her +hand "and the fruit fell into it." She took it into the house and +tried to break it open with a stone, and a voice called out, "Mother, +mother, not so hard; you hurt us." She was very much frightened, +thinking a Rakshas or a demon was in the fruit. Prince Aisab was +equally alarmed, but his wazír, Mamatsa, broke the fruit open gently +in obedience to the little voice that called out, "Don't knock so +hard, Mamatsa; you hurt us;" and out of it stepped the two little +children Dímá-ahmad and Karámat. Dímá-ahmad was very beautiful. On his +head was the sun, on his face the moon, and on his hands stars, and he +had long golden hair. He married a princess, Atása, who also had the +sun on her head, the moon on her face, stars on her hands, and "her +hair was of pure gold and reached down to the ground." The idea that +none but the rightful owner can catch the child is found too in Grey's +_Polynesian Mythology_ at pp. 116, 117, in the story of Whakatau, who +was fashioned in the sea from his mother Apakura's apron by the god +Rongota-kawiu. This child lived at the bottom of the sea; but one day +he came on shore after his kite, and all who saw him tried in vain to +catch him. Then said Whakatau, "You had better go and bring Apakura +here; she is the only person who can catch me and hold me fast." His +mother then comes and catches him. + +5. Sunkásí's bones are sent to her mother. In the _Sicilianische +Maerchen_ collected by Laura Gonzenbach, it is a common practice for +husbands to punish their second wives' treachery with death, and then +to send their remains to their mothers, who feast on them, thinking +they are eating tunny-fish, and die of grief on learning what they +have really swallowed. + +6. With Gulíanár's change into a bird compare Laura Gonzenbach's 13th +_Sicilianische Maerchen_, vol. I. p. 82, where the real bride is +transformed into a dove by a black-headed pin being driven into her +head, and regains her human form when the pin is pulled out. Schott +has a similar incident in his _Wallachische Maerchen_, p. 251. So has +Gubernatis (_Zoological Mythology_, vol. II. p. 242) in a story from +near Leghorn, where the woman is changed into a swallow (in all these +stories it is the husband who pulls out the pin); and he says similar +stories with a transformation into a dove are told in Piedmont, in +other parts of Tuscany, in Calabria, and are to be found in the +_Tutiname_. Ralston's Princess Mariya (_Russian Folk Tales_, p. 183), +and Thorpe's second story of "The Princess that came out of the water" +(_Yule Tide Stories_, p. 41), may also be compared. + +7. The golden bird in the Siebenburg story drops pearls from its beak +whenever it sings ("Der goldne Vogel," Haltrich's _Siebenbuergische +Maerchen_, pp. 31, 35). The princess, its mistress, wears (p. 39) a +golden mantle "adorned with _carbuncles_ and pearls from the golden +bird." + + +III.--THE CAT AND THE DOG. + +1. The Tiger promises not to eat the man who helps him and then tries +to break his promise. Compare "The Brahman, the Tiger, and the six +Judges," _Old Deccan Days_, p. 159; and "Ananzi and the Lion" in +Dasent's _Ananzi Stories_, p. 490. + +2. In a Slavonic story mentioned by Gubernatis (_Zoological +Mythology_, vol. II. p. 111), a bear is about to kill a peasant in +revenge. A fox appears, "shakes its tail and says to the peasant, +'Man, thou hast ingenuity in thy head and a stick in thy hand.' The +peasant immediately understands the stratagem," and persuades the bear +to get into a sack he has with him that he may carry the bear three +times round the field instead of doing penance, after which the bear +is to do what he likes with him. The bear gets into the sack, the man +"binds it strongly" together, and then beats the bear to death with +his stick. Gubernatis at p. 132 of the same volume tells a similar +story from Russia in which a wolf plays the part of the bear and of +our tiger. + + +IV.--THE CAT THAT COULD NOT BE KILLED. + +1. In an unpublished story told us by Gangiyá, a hill-man from near +Simla, a cat saves herself from being eaten by a jackal very much in +the same way that this cat saved herself from the leopard. The jackal +(in Gangiyá's story) ate anything it came across, whether it were dead +or alive. One day he met a tiger and said to him, "I will eat you. I +will not let you go." "Very good," said the tiger, "eat me." So the +jackal ate him up. He went a little further and met a leopard; he said +to the leopard, "I will eat you." "Very good," said the leopard. So he +ate the leopard. He went a little further and met a tiny mouse. +"Mouse," he said, "I have eaten a tiger and a leopard, and now I will +eat you." "Very good," said the mouse. He ate the mouse. He went a +little further and met a cat. "I will eat you," said the jackal. The +cat answered, "What will it profit you to eat me, who am so small? A +little further on you will see a dead buffalo: eat that." So the +jackal left the cat and went to eat the buffalo. He walked on and on, +but could find no buffalo; and the cat, meanwhile ran away. The jackal +was very angry, and set off to seek the cat, but could not find her. +He was furious. + + +VI.--THE RAT AND THE FROG. + +Compare the Bohemian "Long-desired child," Naake's _Slavonic Fairy +Tales_, p. 226. This child is carved out of a tree-root by a woodman, +who brings him home to his wife. They delight in having a child at +last. The child eats all the food in the house; his father and mother; +a girl with a wheelbarrow full of clover; a peasant, his hay-laden +cart, and his cart-horses; a man and his pigs; a shepherd, his flock +and dog; lastly, cabbages belonging to an old woman who cuts him in +two with her mattock just as he tries to eat her. Out of him jump +unhurt every thing and every one he has swallowed. In a story from the +south of Siberia (Gubernatis' _Zoological Mythology_, vol. I. p. 140) +the hero vanquishes a demon, who tells him that in his stomach he will +find a silver casket. He cuts the monster open and out of him come +"innumerable animals, men, treasures, and other objects. Some of the +men say, 'What noble youth has delivered us from the black night?'" +In two of the caskets the hero finds the eyes of an old woman who has +befriended him, and money, "and from the last casket came forth more +men, animals, and valuables of every kind." In a Russian story quoted +by Gubernatis (_Zoological Mythology_, vol. I. pp. 406, 407) the wolf +eats the kids all but one. The mother goat persuades him to jump over +a fire. The fire splits his belly open, out tumble all the little +kids, lively as ever. There is a very similar story with fox, goat, +and kid for actors in Campbell's _Popular Tales of the West +Highlands_, vol. III. p. 93; and Grimm has one also, "Der Wolf und die +sieben jungen Geislein," in his _Kinder und Hausmaerchen_, vol. I. p. +29. In the notes to this story, vol. III. p. 15, Grimm says, "In +Pomerania this is told of a child who when his mother had gone out was +swallowed by the child-spectre, resembling the varlet Ruprecht. But +the stones which he swallows with the child make the spectre so heavy +that he falls to the earth, and the child unhurt springs out of him." +See, too, the demons at p. 99 of these stories, who swallow the +Princess Champákálí's suitors. + + * * * * * + +Tylor in his _Primitive Culture_, vol. I. p. 341, classes Little Red +Riding Hood among these Day and Night myths. It is, he says, +"mutilated in the English Nursery version, but known more perfectly by +old wives in Germany, who can tell that the lovely little maid in her +shining red satin cloak was swallowed with her grandmother by the +wolf, but they both came out safe and sound when the hunter cut open +the sleeping beast." He also quotes among these myths (_ib._ p. 338) a +story of the Ojibwas in which the hero is swallowed by a great fish +and cut out again by his sister; and another belonging to the Basutos +in which all mankind save the hero and his mother were devoured by a +monster. The hero "attacked the creature and was swallowed whole, but +cutting his way out he set free all the inhabitants of the world." At +the same page is the story of the Zulu Princess Untombinde who was +carried off by a dreadful beast. "The king gathered his army and +attacked it, but it swallowed up men, and dogs, and cattle, all but +one warrior; he slew the monster, and there came out cattle, and +horses, and men, and last of all the princess herself." Mr. Tylor +quotes, too (_ib._ p. 336), in connexion with this class of myths, the +story of the death of the New Zealand sun-hero, Maui, which he tells +more fully than does Sir George Grey in his _Polynesian Mythology_; +and he goes on at pp. 338, 339, 340, to connect these myths with those +of Perseus and Andromeda; Heracles and Hesione; the story of Jonah and +his fish; the Greenland angakok swallowed by bear and walrus and +thrown up again; and the legend of Hades. + +Besides the angakok mentioned by Mr. Tylor, Dr. Rink, in his _Tales +and Traditions of the Eskimo_, has two other stories of escapes from +the stomach of a dead animal when it is cut open. In the first, at p. +260, the boy is devoured by a gull; his sister kills the bird, takes +her brother's bones from its pouch and carries them home: on the way +the boy comes to life again. The other tale, p. 438, tells how +Nakasungnak jumped out of the hole his friends had made in the dead +"ice-covered" bear's side; but his hair as well as the skin of his +face had come off, and he shivered from cold and ague. And in +Ralston's _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 177, is a story of a snake +who steals "the luminaries of the night. A hero cuts off his head, and +out of the slain monster issue the Bright Moon and the Morning Star." + + +VII.--FOOLISH SACHÚLÍ. + +1. Foolish Sachúlí lives in many lands. In his Russian dress he +figures in "The Fool and the Birch-tree," Ralston's _Russian Folk +Tales_, p. 52. In the Sicilian "Giufá" we find him again (Gonzenbach's +_Sicilianische Maerchen_, vol. I. p. 249). In England he appears in an +out-of-the-way village in the south (see _Pall Mall Budget_, July 12, +1878, p. 11, _Wild Life in a Southern Country_, No. XIV.) with, to use +his mother's words, "no more sense than God had given him." She +wishing to have his testimony discredited when he bears witness +against her, as she knows he will, goes upstairs and rains raisins on +him from the window. So when asked to specify the time he speaks of, +he says, "When it rained raisins," and is of course disbelieved. + +Note by Mr. J. F. Campbell: "This story of a stupid boy has a parallel +in a Gaelic tale in my collection, where the boy dated an event which +was true by a fall of pancakes or something of the kind which was not +true, and was not believed though he told the truth." [At p. 385, vol. +II. of the _Tales of the West Highlands_ a "half booby" is inveigled +by his mother into dating his theft of some planks by a "shower of +milk-porridge."] + +2. The magic gifts given by the fairies are a common incident in fairy +tales: so is the adventure with the jar of ghee. + + +VIII.--BARBER HÍM AND THE TIGERS. + +1. Forbes in his Hindústání Dictionary says _Kans_ or _Kansa_ was the +name of a wicked tyrant whom Krish[n.]a was born to destroy, and that +the word now means a wicked tyrant. But Rájá Káns is an historical +character. All that is known of him is told by the late Professor +Blochmann in the Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal for 1873, Pt. I. p. +264. + +2. In the note (p. 380) to the XIXth Tale in the _Sagas from the Far +East_, is a story in which Barber Hím's part is played by a he-goat, +and that of his tigers by a lion. See, too, "How the three clever men +outwitted the demons" in _Old Deccan Days_, pp. 273-278. In a Santálí +tale, "Kanran and Guja," sent by the Rev. F. T. Cole to the _Indian +Antiquary_, vol. IV. September 1875, p. 257, two brothers, Kanran and +Guja, climb into a tál tree. Here they are discovered by a tiger whom +they have deprived of his tail, and who has brought a number of his +friends to help him revenge himself on the brothers. The tailless +tiger proposes they shall all stand one the top of the other, to reach +the men in the tree. His friends agree provided he takes his stand at +the bottom, and they climb as proposed till they almost reach the +brothers. Then Kanran calls out to Guja, "Give me your axe. I will +kill the tailless tiger." The tigers in terror all tumble to the +ground, crushing their tailless friend in their fall, and flee to +their homes. In "The Leopard and the Ram" (Bleek's _Hottentot Fables +and Tales_, p. 24) the ram and the leopard play the parts of the +barber and his tigers. See, too, "The Lion and the Bushman," p. 59 of +the same collection. + +Note by Mr. J. F. Campbell: "Compare the Irish story of two hunchbacks +in Keightley. A version is in Mitford's Japanese book; and far better +versions are common in Japan." + + +IX.--THE BULBUL AND THE COTTON-TREE. + +1. Cotton-tree, in Hindústání _Semal_. + +2. Koel, Indian cuckoo. + + +X.--THE MONKEY PRINCE. + +1. Bandarsá means like a monkey; Dunkní in telling this husk-story +just as often called the monkey-skin a husk (_chhilka_) as she called +it a skin (_chamrá_). + +2. Princess Jahúran throws mattresses to her drowning husband. In a +Manípúrí tale published by Mr. G. H. Damant in the _Indian Antiquary_, +vol. IV. September 1875, p. 260, Basanta's wife throws him a pillow +that he may save himself when the envious merchant, on board whose +boat they are, pitches the prince into the river that he may secure +the princess for himself. + + +XI.--BRAVE HÍRÁLÁLBÁSÁ. + +1. With this story all through compare "The Demon is at last conquered +by the King's Son," p. 173 of this collection. + +2. Rakshas means protector, and is, probably, an euphemistic term. The +chapter on Mystic Animals in Swedish traditions (Thorpe's _Northern +Mythology_, vol. II. p. 83) gives a list of certain creatures that are +not to be mentioned by their own but by euphemistic names for fear of +incurring their wrath. This belief, Thorpe in the same chapter, p. 84, +says, extends to certain inanimate things: water used for brewing, for +instance, must not be called _vatn_ (water) or the beer will not be so +good; and fire occasionally is to be spoken of as _hetta_ (heat). The +girl in an Esthonian tale quoted by Gubernatis at p. 151 of the 1st +vol. of his _Zoological Mythology_ addresses a crow whose help she +needs as "Bird of light." Fiske says (_Myths and Mythmakers_, p. 223), +"A Dayak will not allude by name to the small-pox, but will call it +'The chief' or 'Jungle leaves;' the Laplander speaks of the bear as +'the old man with the fur coat;' in Annam the tiger is called +'Grandfather,' or 'Lord.' The Finnish hunters called the bear 'the +Apple of the Forest, the beautiful Honey-claw, the Pride of the +thicket'" ("The Mythology of Finnland," _Fraser's Magazine_, May +1857). The Furies, as every one knows, were called the Eumenides, or +the gracious ones. + +The Rakshases are a kind of huge demons who delight in devouring men +and beasts. They can take any shape they please. The female Rakshas +often assumes that of a beautiful woman. Compare the demon Mara as +described by Fiske at p. 93 of his book above quoted. + +The Rakshases do not travel in the way mortals do. See a Dinájpur +story told by Mr. G. H. Damant in the _Indian Antiquary_ (February +1875, vol. IV. p. 54), where the hero, who has married both the +Rakshas-king's daughter and his niece, asks his father-in-law's leave +to return home with his Rakshas-wives. The King consents (p. 58), but +says, "We Rakshases do not travel in pálkís (palanquins), but in the +air." Accordingly the prince, his two Rakshas wives and his mortal +wife, all travel towards his father's country through the air "along +the sky." One kind of jinn travel in the same way (Lane's _Arabian +Nights_, vol. I., "Notes to Introduction," p. 29). So do the drakes +and kobolds in Northern Germany. The drake is as big as a cauldron, "a +person may sit in him," and travel with him to any spot he pleases. +Both drakes and kobolds look like fiery stripes. The kobolds appear +sometimes as a blue, sometimes as a red, stripe passing through the +air (Thorpe's _Northern Mythology_, vol. III. pp. 155, 156). + +3. Dunkní says, "All Rakshases keep their souls in birds." Those that +do so resemble in this respect some of the Indian demons, and the +giants, trolls, and such like noxious actors in the Norse, Scotch, and +other popular tales. + +Tylor (_Primitive Culture_, vol. II. pp. 152, 153) mentions the Tatar +story of the giant who could not be killed till the twelve-headed +snake in which he kept his soul was destroyed. This tale, he says, +"illustrates the idea of soul-embodiment," and "very likely" indicates +the sense of the myths where giants, &c., keep their souls out of +their own bodies. The civilized notion of soul-embodiment, he adds +(quoting from "Grose's bantering description of the art of laying +ghosts in the last century,") is that of conjuring ghosts into +different objects: "one of the many good instances of articles of +savage belief serving as jests among civilized men." Possibly these +giants, trolls, rakshases, demons, once belonged to that class of +spirits who could, in popular belief, enter at pleasure into stocks +and stones and other objects of idolatrous veneration. + +But all Rakshases do not keep their souls in birds. Some have their +souls in bees (see a Dinájpur tale published by Mr. G. H. Damant in +the _Indian Antiquary_ for April 6, 1872, p. 115): and in another +Dinájpur story printed by Mr. Damant in the _Indian Antiquary_ for +June 7, 1872, p. 120, a whole tribe of Rakshases dwelling in Ceylon +kept theirs in one and the same lemon. + +4. In the first quoted of these stories collected by Mr. Damant, that +where the Rakshases keep their life in bees, the hero is a prince who +starts in search of the wonderful tree mentioned in paragraph 8 of the +note to Phúlmati Rání (p. 244). In his wanderings he finds himself in +the Rakshas country. There he meets with the woman who when cut up +turns into the tree he seeks. When he first sees her she lies dead on +a bed with a golden wand on one side of her, and a silver wand on the +other. He accidentally touches her with the golden wand and she +wakes. She tells him the Rakshases, every morning when they go out in +search of food, make her dead by touching her with the silver wand, +and wake her with the golden wand when they return at night. Mr. +Damant has another story in the _Indian Antiquary_ (July 5, 1872, vol. +I. p. 219), from Dinájpur, in which there is a prince Dalim who dies +and is laid in a tomb above ground, not buried. Daily the Apsarases, +the dancing-girls in the court of Indra, wake him from death by +touching his face with a golden wand, and make him dead again by +touching him with a silver wand. These wands they always leave lying +beside him. His wife comes one day to mourn over him and accidentally +discovers the secret of bringing him to life. He is, finally, restored +to her by the Apsarases. + +5. According to Gubernatis, "three and seven are sacred numbers in +Aryan faith" (_Zoological Mythology_, vol. I. p. 6). + +6. Hírálálbásá addresses the Rakshas as "uncle." The two brothers +Kanran and Guja (in a Santálí fairy tale bearing their name printed by +the Rev. F. T. Cole in the _Indian Antiquary_, September 1875, vol. +IV. p. 257), address a tiger by the same propitiatory title. The tiger +in return addresses them as nephews, and gives them the fire they +want. + +"Uncle" and "aunt" are used in a propitiatory sense over a great part +of the world. Hunt at p. 6 of his introduction to the _Romances and +Drolls of the West of England_ says, "Uncle is a term of respect, +which was very commonly applied to aged men by their juniors in +Cornwall. Aunt ... was used in the same manner when addressing aged +women." "Mon oncle" and "ma tante" are sometimes used in the same way +in France. Fiske in his _Myths and Mythmakers_, pp. 166, 167, tells +how the Zulu solar hero Uthlakanyana outwits a cannibal: in this story +the hero addresses the cannibal as "uncle," and the cannibal in return +calls him "child of my sister." Fiske, quoting from Dr. Callaway, at +p. 166, says, "It is perfectly clear that the cannibals of the Zulu +legends are not common men; they are magnified into giants and +magicians; they are remarkably swift and enduring; fierce and terrible +warriors." In the Hottentot story of the "Lion who took a woman's +shape," the lion and the woman address each other as "my aunt," and +"my uncle" (Bleek's _Hottentot Fables and Tales_, pp. 51, 52). In +Siberia the Yakuts worship the bear under the name of their "beloved +uncle" (Tylor's _Primitive Culture_, vol. II. p. 231); and when the +Russian peasant calls on the dreaded Lyeshy to appear he cries, "Uncle +Lyeshy" (Ralston's _Songs of the Russian people_, p. 159). + +"Grannie" is the word used by Dunkní herself. + +7. The Rakshas queen is tricked to her death in the same way as the +wicked step-mother in the "Pomegranate King," p. 12 of this +collection. + + +XII.--THE MAN WHO WENT TO SEEK HIS FATE. + +1. Compare a Servian story, "Das Schicksal" (Karadschitsch, +_Volksmaerchen der Serben_, p. 106), in which a man sets out to seek +his fate, and on the road is commissioned by a rich householder to ask +the fate why, though he gives abundance of food to his servants, he +can never satisfy their hunger, and why his aged, miserable father and +mother do not die: by another man, to ask why his cattle diminish +instead of thriving: and, thirdly, by a river whose waters bear him +safely across it, to ask why no living thing lives in it. His fate +answers all these questions, and instructs him how to thrive himself. +In Fräulein Gonzenbach's _Sicilian Fairy Tales_, "Die Geschichte von +Caterina und ihrem Schicksal," vol. I. p. 130, Caterina is persecuted +by her fate, who wears the form of a lovely woman. At last she begs +her mistress's fate, to whom she daily carries a propitiatory +offering, to intercede for her with her own fate. She is told in +answer that her own fate is wrapped in seven veils and so cannot hear +her prayer. Finally her mistress's fate leads her to her own. In the +same collection, in "Feledico und Epomata" (vol. I. p. 350), +Feledico's fate plays a personal part. + +This Indian story looks like a relic of stock and stone worship (see +Tylor's _Primitive Culture_, vol. II. chapters XIV. and XV.). Compare +the man's beating his fate-stone with the treatment the Ostyak gives +his puppet. If it is good to him he clothes and feeds it with broth; +"if it brings him no sport he will try the effect of a good thrashing +on it, after which he will clothe and feed it again" (_ib._ p. 170). +Other examples are given at the same page. These spirits and gods, for +whose dwelling-place stocks and stones and other objects had been +supplied, were not supposed always to inhabit these abodes; but they +did so at pleasure. Compare Elijah's address to the priests of Baal, +"Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, +or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth" (1 Kings xviii. +27), with Caterina's seven-veiled fate, and the prostrate fate-stone +in our story whose spirit-owner was evidently absent on some +expedition. These fates may be compared with the patron or guardian +spirits of whom Mr. Tylor speaks at pp. 199-203 of the same volume. He +says (p. 202), "The Egyptian astrologer warned Antonius to keep far +from the young Octavius, 'for thy demon,' said he, 'is in fear of +his.'" If one man's demon or genius were at enmity with that of +another man, it would probably be friendly to that of a third man, and +would therefore be acquainted with its secrets and with its motives of +behaviour to the man it guarded. Hence the advice given by her +mistress to Caterina to inquire of her own fate from her mistress's +fate, and the questions to be put to their fates when found given to +the men in the Indian and Servian stories. These questions remind one +of those entrusted to the youths in European tales as they journey to +the dragon or devil to whom they are sent for destruction. Like the +fates in the Indian and Servian stories, these dragons and devils live +at the end of a long and difficult journey. Caterina has to climb a +mountain to visit her mistress's fate. + +2. Gubernatis (_Zoological Mythology_, vol. I. p. 22), speaking of the +three _Ribhavas_, says, "During the twelve days (the twelve hours of +the night or the twelve months in the year) in which they are the +guests of Agohyas," &c. So possibly the twelve years in this and other +stories in this collection may be the twelve hours of the night. In an +unpublished story told by Dunkní, "Prince Húsainsá's journey," the +prince journeys for twelve years. When he returns home he finds his +parents as he had left them--fast asleep in bed. To them the twelve +years had only been as one night. + + +XIII.--THE UPRIGHT KING. + +1. The Boar is an avatár of Vish[n.]u. + +2. A [d.]om (the d is lingual) is a Hindú of a very low caste. + +3. Possibly this king is the same as the king Harichand in the last +story but one in the collection, p. 224, and he may also be the +Hariçchandra of the following letter from Mr. C. H. Tawney:-- + +"I have been looking up the story of 'Hariçchandra.' It is to be found +in Muir, vol. I. He gives a summary of it from the _Marka[n.][d.]eya +Purá[n.]a_. It is also found in the 'Chanda Kauçikam,' and in Mutu +Coomara Swamy's 'Martyr of Truth.' The following is Muir's summary +summarized. Hariçchandra was a king who lived in the Tretá age, and +was renowned for his virtue, and for the universal prosperity, moral +and physical, which prevailed during his reign. One day he heard a +sound of female lamentation which proceeded from the Sciences who were +becoming mastered by the austere Sage, Viçvamitra, in a way they had +never been before. He rushed to their assistance as a Kshatriya bound +to succour the oppressed. By a haughty speech he provoked Viçvamitra, +and in consequence of his wrath the Sciences instantly perished. (In +the 'Chanda Kauçikam,' as far as I remember, we are told that the +anger of Viçvamitra interfered with the success of his austerity.) The +king says he had only done his duty as a king, which involves the +bestowal of gifts on Bráhmans and the succour of the weak. Viçvamitra +thereupon demands from the king as a gift the whole earth, everything +but himself, his son, and his wife. The king gives it him. Then +Viçvamitra demands his sacrificial fee; the king goes to Benares, +followed by the relentless Sage, the ruler of Çiva, and is compelled +to sell his wife. She is bought by a rich old Bráhman. The son cries +and the Bráhman buys him too. But Hariçchandra has not enough, even +now, to satisfy Viçvamitra, so he sells himself to a Chá[n.][d.]ála, +who is really Dharma, the god of righteousness. The Chá[n.][d.]ála +(man of the lowest caste), carries off the king, bound, beaten, and +confused. The Chá[n.][d.]ála sends him to steal clothes in a cemetery. +There he lives twelve months. His wife comes to the cemetery to +perform the obsequies of her son, who had died from the bite of a +serpent. The two determine to burn themselves with the corpse of their +son. When Hariçchandra, after placing his son on the funeral pyre, is +meditating on the Supreme Spirit, the lord Hari Náráya[n.]a +Krish[n.]a, all the gods arrive headed by Dharma (righteousness) and +accompanied by Viçvamitra. Dharma entreats the king to desist from his +rash enterprise, and Indra announces to him that he, his wife, and his +son have gained heaven by their good works. Ambrosia and flowers are +rained by the god from the sky, and the king's son is restored to the +bloom of youth. The king, adorned with celestial clothing and +garments, and the queen, embrace their son. Hariçchandra, however, +declares that he cannot go to heaven till he has received his master +the Chá[n.][d.]ála's permission, and paid him a ransom. Dharma, the +god of righteousness, then says that he had miraculously assumed the +form of a Chá[n.][d.]ála. The king requests that his subjects may +accompany him to heaven, at least for one day. This request is granted +by Indra; and after Viçvamitra has inaugurated the king's son, +Rohitaçva, as his successor, Hariçchandra, his friends and followers, +all ascend to heaven." + + +XIV.--LOVING LAILÍ. + +1. Majnún is a celebrated lover, whose love for Lailí or Lailá is the +subject of many Eastern poems. In this story he does not play a +brilliant part. + +2. Lailí's knife is like the sun-hero's weapon (the sun's ray), which +lengthens at its owner's pleasure (Gubernatis, _Zoological Mythology_, +vol. II. p. 147). + +3. She cuts her little finger. See "the Bél Princess," p. 141, and +paragraph 2 of the note to "Shekh Faríd." "The little finger, though +the smallest, is the most privileged of the five. It is the one that +knows everything." A Piedmontese mother says, "My little finger tells +me everything" (Gubernatis, _Zoological Mythology_, vol. I. p. 166). +We have a somewhat similar saying in England. In a Russian story +quoted by the same author in the same work (vol. II. p. 151), an old +woman while baking a cake, cuts off her little finger and throws it +into the fire. From the little finger in the fire is born a strong +dwarf who afterwards does many wonderful things. In the tale of the +five fingers ("Die Maehr von den fuenf Fingern," Haltrich's +_Siebenbuergische Maerchen_, p. 325), where each finger decides what +it will do, the little one says, "I will help with wise counsel." In +consequence of this assistance, to this day, "when any one has a wise +idea (Einfall), he says 'that his little finger told him that'" (p. +327). In Finnish mythology we again find the little finger. "The Para, +also originated in the Swedish Bjaeren or Bare, a magical three-legged +being, manufactured in various ways, and which, says Castrén, attained +life and motion when its possessor, cutting the little finger of his +left hand, let three drops of blood fall on it, at the same time +pronouncing the proper spell." ("The Mythology of Finnland," _Fraser's +Magazine_ for May 1857, p. 532.) + +In Rink's _Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo_, p. 441, there is an +account of Kanak's visit to the man of the moon, where he meets a +woman who, he is warned, will take out his entrails if she can only +make him laugh. He follows the moon-man's advice, which is to rub his +leg with the nail of his little finger when he can no longer keep from +smiling, and so saves himself from the old hag. Rishya ['S]rińga (to +return to the land of our fairy tales) threw a drop of water from the +nail of his little finger on a Rakshas who, in the form of a tiger, +was rushing to devour him. The demon instantly quitted the tiger's +body, and asked the Rishi what he should do. He followed the holy +man's instructions and obtained môksha (salvation)--see _Indian +Antiquary_ for May 1873, p. 142, "The Legend of Rishya ['S]rińga," +told by V. N. Narasimmiyengar of Bangalor. + + +XV.--HOW KING BURTAL BECAME A FAKÍR. + +1. The Fakír strikes the dead antelope with his wand (_chábuk_), as in +"Shekh Faríd," p. 98. In both cases Dunkní says the wand used was a +long, slender piece of bamboo. I do not know whether the bamboo is a +lightning-plant. Possibly it is, being a grass (some grasses are +lightning-plants, see Fiske's _Myths and Mythmakers_, pp. 56, 61), and +also because its long slender stems are lance-shaped. If it does +belong to this class, naturally a blow from a bamboo (or lightning) +wand would give life, for, says Fiske (_ib._ p. 60), "the association +of the thunder-storm with the approach of summer has produced many +myths in which the lightning is symbolized as the life-renewing wand +of the victorious sun-god." + +2. The king tries to hide the ball in his hair. The wonderful power +and strength of hair appears in tales from all lands: Signor de +Gubernatis suggests that, in the case of solar heroes, their hair is +the sun's rays (_Zoological Mythology_, vol. I. p. 117, vol. II. p. +154); and it seems to me possible that, just as the _colour_ of the +solar hero's hair has been appropriated by Indian fairy-tale princes +who are not solar, the _qualities_ of his hair may have been +attributed to that of folk-lore heroes who are not solar, and may also +have been the origin of some of the strange superstitions prevalent +about human hair. This theory, if correct, would account for most of +the strange things that I have hitherto met about hair. It must be +remembered that the sun's rays are also his weapons; they turn to +thunderbolts when the sun is hidden in the rain-clouds (Gubernatis, +_ib._ vol. I. pp. 9, 17), and also to lightning (see _ib._ vol. II. p. +10, where the sun under the form of a bull is spoken of as the fire +which sends forth lightning). + +First there is Samson, whose name, according to Gesenius, means +"solar," "like the sun." Of the hero Firud, it is told "that a single +hair of his head has more strength in it than many warriors" +(Gubernatis, _Zoological Mythology_, vol. I. p. 117). Conan was the +weakest man of the Féinn, because they used to keep him cropped. "He +had but the strength of a man; but if the hair should get leave to +grow, there was the strength of a man in him for every hair that was +in his head; but he was so cross that if the hair should grow he would +kill them all" (Campbell's _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_, vol. +III. p. 396). At p. 91 of Schmidt's _Griechische Maerchen, Sagen und +Volkslieder_, is the story of a king, "Der Capitän Dreizehn," who is +"the strongest of his time," and who has three long hairs, so long +that they could be twisted twice round the hand on his breast. When +these are cut off he becomes the weakest of men. When these grow again +he regains his strength. The sun's rays have most power when they are +longest, _i.e._ when the sun is in apogee. + +Possibly from this old forgotten myth about the solar hero's hair came +some superstition to which was due the Merovingian decree that only +princes of the blood-royal should wear their hair long; cutting their +long hair made them incapable of becoming kings. Their slaves were +shaved. The barbarians ruled that only their free men should wear long +hair, and that the slaves should be shaved. Professor Monier Williams, +in the _Contemporary Review_ for January 1879, p. 265, says that +Govind, the 10th Guru and founder of the Sikh nationality, ordered the +Sikhs to wear their hair long to distinguish themselves from other +nations. + +In the Slavonic story, "Leben, Abenteuer und Schwaenke des kleinen +Kerza," is a dwarf magician with a long white beard. With a hair from +this beard Kerza binds the magician's wicked wife, who has taken the +form of a wooden pillar the better to carry out her evil ends. From +that moment it was impossible for her to take again her own shape or +to use her former magic powers (Vogl's _Volksmaerchen_, p. 227). One +of the tasks set by Yspaddaden Penkawr to Kilhwch before he will give +him his daughter Olwen to wife, is to get him "a leash made from the +beard of Dissull Varvawc, for that is the only one that can hold the +two cubs. And the leash will be of no avail unless it be plucked from +his beard while he is alive, and twitched out with wooden tweezers ... +and the leash will be of no use should he be dead because it will be +brittle,"--that is, when the sun is set (dead) his rays have no power +(_Mabinogion_, vol. II. p. 288). The same idea lies at the bottom of +the English superstition that "if a person's hair burn brightly when +thrown into the fire, it is a sign of longevity; the brighter the +flame, the longer the life. On the other hand, if it smoulder away, +and refuse to burn, it is a sign of approaching death" (Henderson's +_Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England_, p. 84). + +The Malays have a story of a woman, called Utahigi, in whose head grew +a single white hair endowed with magic power. When her husband pulled +it out a great storm arose and Utahigi went up to heaven. She was a +bird (or cloud) maiden, and this hair must have been the lightning +drawn from the cloud. The Servian Atalanta, when nearly overtaken by +her lover, takes a hair from the top of her head and throws it behind +her. It becomes a mighty wood (clouds are the forests and mountains of +the sky, Gubernatis, _Zoological Mythology_, vol. I. p. 11), +Karadschitsch, _Volksmaerchen der Serben_, p. 25, in the story "von +dem Maedchen das behender als das Pferd ist." In Schmidt's +_Griechische Maerchen, Sagen und Volkslieder_, p. 79, the king's +daughter as she flies with her lover from the Lamnissa throws some of +her own hairs behind her, and they become a great lake (thunderbolts +and lightning bring rain). At p. 98 of the same work is the story "Der +Riese vom Berge." When this giant wishes to enter his great high +mountain, he takes a hair from his head and touches the mountain with +it. The mountain at once splits in two (p. 101). The king's daughter +in her encounter with the Efreet, "plucked a hair from her head and +muttered with her lips, whereupon the hair became converted into a +piercing sword with which she struck the lion [the Efreet], and he was +cleft in twain by her blow; but his head became changed into a +scorpion" (Lane's _Arabian Nights_, vol. I. p. 156). A Baba Yaga, in +Ralston's _Russian Folk Tales_, p. 147, plucks one of her hairs, ties +three knots in it, and blows, and thus petrifies her victims. She is a +personification of the spirit of the storm, _ib._ p. 164. In _Old +Deccan Days_, at p. 62, the old Rakshas says to Ramchundra, "You must +not touch my hair;" "the least fragment of my hair thrown in the +direction of the jungle would instantly set it in a blaze." Ramchundra +steals two or three of the hairs, and when escaping from the Rakshas, +flings them to the winds and fires the jungle. Chandra (p. 266 of the +same book) avenges the death of her husband by tearing her hair, which +burns and instantly sets fire to the land; all the people in it but +herself and a few who had been kind to her and are therefore saved, +were burnt in this great fire. + +In these tales a single hair from the head of the Princess Labám (the +lunar ray can pierce the cloud as well as a solar ray) cuts a thick +tree-trunk in two, p. 163. + +Hair has another property; it can tell things to its owners. See the +three hairs the Queen gives Coachman Toms, saying, "They will always +tell you the truth when you question them." (Stier's _Ungarische +Volksmaerchen_, p. 176), and which, later in the story (p. 186) +adjudge the king worthy of death. (See Grimm's story _Kinder und +Hausmaerchen_, vol. II. p. 174, "The clear sun brings day.") Also "Das +wunderbare Haar" (Karadschitsch _Volksmaerchen der Serben_, p. 180), +which is blood-red, and in which when split open were found written a +multitude of noteworthy events from the beginning of the world. (The +sun's rays have existed since the early ages of the world.) The girl +from whose head the hair is taken threads a needle with the sun's rays +and embroiders a net made of the hair of heroes. + +See, too, the Eskimo account of the removal of Disco Island in Rink's +_Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo_, p. 464, where one old man vainly +tries to keep back the island by means of a seal-skin thong which +snaps, while two other old men haul it away triumphantly by the hair +from the head of a little child, chanting their spells all the time. +Their success was, perhaps, due to the spells, not to the hair. In the +notes to Der Capitän Dreizehn in Schmidt's _Griechische Maerchen, +Sagen und Volkslieder_, there are some instances of the strength given +by hair to those on whom it grows. + +2. The líchí is Nephelium Litchi. + +3. King Burtal's eldest son's name _Sazádá_ is perhaps the boy's title +Shahzádá (born of a king), prince. Dunkní says it is his name. + + +XVI.--SOME OF THE DOINGS OF SHEKH FARÍD. + +1. Kheláparí means "playful fairy:" Gulábsá, "like a rose." + +2. In another version told to me this year by Dunkní, when Gursan Rájá +wakes and learns how long his wife has stood by him, he is horrified, +and refuses the water, saying he does not want it. He tells her that +as a reward for her patience and goodness, she shall know of herself +everything that happens in other countries--floods, fires, and other +troubles; that she shall be able to bring help; and should any one die +from having his throat cut she shall be able to restore him to life, +by smearing the wound with some blood taken from an incision in her +little finger. Kheláparí's acquaintance with Shekh Faríd begins in +this version as follows:--She was standing at the door of her house +looking down the road, when she saw coming towards her Shekh Faríd, +the cartman, and the bullock-cart laden with what once was sugar, but +now, thanks to the fakír, is ashes. Through her gift Kheláparí knows +all that has happened, though the miracle was not performed in her +sight; and Shekh Faríd being a fakír, though his all-knowing talent +does not equal hers, knows that she knows. The cartman is in despair +when he discovers the ashes, and implores Shekh Faríd to help him. The +fakír sends him to Kheláparí, saying he must appeal to her as her +power of doing good excels his (the fakír's); that though he could +turn sugar to ashes, he could not turn the ashes to sugar. Kheláparí +at the cartman's prayer performs this miracle. Their next encounter is +by a tank in the jungle by which the holy man is resting. She is +hurrying along to put out the fire at her father's palace. The Shekh +cannot understand how it is possible for any woman to know of herself +what is happening twenty miles off, when he, a fakír, can only know +what passes at a short distance, so he follows the Rání to test her +truthfulness, and arrives in time to see her helping to put out the +fire. The rest of the story is the same as the version printed in this +collection. + +3. This Shekh Faríd was a famous Súfí saint. He was a contemporary of +Nának, and many of his sayings are embodied in the Granth. In Central +India, there is a holy hill of his called Girur. The Gazetteer of the +Central Provinces edited by C. Grant, 2nd edition, Nágpur, 1870, says +that articles of merchandise belonging to two travelling traders who +mocked the saint passed before him, on which he turned the whole +stock-in-trade into stones as a punishment. They implored his pardon, +and he created a fresh stock for them from dry leaves, on which they +were so struck by his power that they attached themselves permanently +to his service, and two graves on the hill are said to be theirs. In +the _Pioneer_ for 5th August 1878, Pekin has a poem on a similar +legend about the saint. Standing on his holy hill, one day Shekh Faríd +saw a packman pass and he begged for alms. The packman mocked him. +Then the saint asked what his sacks contained. "Stones," was the +answer. The Shekh said, "Sooth--they are but worthless stones." +Whereupon all the sacks burst, and the contents, at one time different +kinds of spices, fell stones to the ground. The owner implored the +saint's mercy. Shekh Faríd told him to fill his sacks with leaves from +the trees, which was done, and then the leaves became gold mohurs. The +packman turned saint too and left his bones on Girur. A similar +miracle is told of the Irish Saint, Brigit. "Once upon a time Brigit +beheld a man with salt on his back. 'What is that on thy back?' saith +Brigit; 'Stones,' saith the man. 'They shall be stones then,' saith +Brigit, and of the salt stones were made. The same man again cometh to +(or past) Brigit. 'What is that on thy back?' saith Brigit. 'Salt,' +saith the man. 'It shall be salt then,' saith Brigit. Salt was made +again thereof through Brigit's word." (_Three Middle Irish Homilies_, +p. 81.) + +4. Fakírchand means the moon of fakírs. Mohandás, the servant of the +Mohan (Krish[n.]a). Champákálí is a necklace made in imitation of the +closed buds of the champa or champak flowers. + +5. The demons, in Hindústání _dew_ (pronounced deo), god, are +something like the Rakshases. They have wings, and have exceedingly +long lips, one of which sticks up in the air, while the other hangs +down. One of King Arthur's warriors, "Gwevyl, the son of Gwestad, on +the day that he was sad, he would let one of his lips drop below his +waist while he turned up the other like a cap upon his head" +(_Mabinogion_, vol. II. p. 266, "Kilhwch and Olwen"). + + +XVII.--THE MOUSE. + +1. Unluckily, when Karím was with us, I neglected to write down the +name of the grain that kills the mouse, and all the wonderful things +he told us of the properties of this grain. His explanations were a +kind of note given after he had finished the story. + +2. The only parallel I can find to this story is one in Bleek's +_Hottentot Fables and Tales_, p. 90, called "The unreasonable child to +whom the dog gave its deserts; or a receipt for putting any one to +sleep," in which the child indulges in the uncalled for generosity and +unreasonable rage of the mouse. + + +XVIII.--A WONDERFUL STORY. + +1. Ajít means unsubdued, invincible. + +2. The wrestler's mode of announcing his arrival at Ajít's house is, +probably, the solitary result of many efforts to induce Karím himself +to knock at the nursery door before he marched into the nursery. I +never heard of natives knocking at each other's house-doors. + +3. With these wrestlers compare Grimm's "Der junge Riese," _Kinder und +Hausmaerchen_, vol. II. p. 23, and "Eisenhans" in Haltrich's +_Siebenbuergische Maerchen_, p. 77. + +4. Ajít carries her house. Note by Mr. J. F. Campbell: "Compare an +Irish story about Fionn and a giant who was told that the hero turned +the house when the wind blew open the door." [See, too, Campbell's +_Tales of the Western Highlands_, vol. III. p. 184] + +5. When Karím was here I forgot to ask him how big were Ajít's cakes, +can, and mice. Mr. Campbell of Islay, who read this story in +manuscript, wrote in the margin where the mice were mentioned: "The +fleas in the island of Java are so big that they come out from under +the bed and steal potatoes. They do many such things. Compare [with +Ajít's can] a Gaelic story about a man who found the Fenians in an +island, and was offered a drink in a can so large that he could not +move it." + +6. Mr. G. H. Damant, in the _Indian Antiquary_ for September 1873, +vol. II. p. 271, has a Dinájpur story called "Two gánja-eaters" which +is very like our Wonderful Story. In it a gánja-eater who can eat six +maunds of gánja[7] hears of another gánja-eater who can eat nine +maunds; so he takes his six maunds of gánja, and sets off for his +rival's country with the intention of fighting him. On the road he is +thirsty and drinks a whole pond dry, but this fails to quench his +thirst. Arrived at the nine-maund gánja-eater's house, he learns from +the wife that her husband has gone to cut sugar-cane, and decides to +go and meet him. He finds him in the jungle, and wishes to fight there +and then; but his rival does not agree to this, saying he has eaten +nothing for seven days. The other answers he has eaten nothing for +nine; whereupon the nine-maund gánja-eater suggests they shall wait +till they get back to his country, as in the jungle they will have no +spectators. The six-maund gánja-eater consents. So the nine-maund +gánja-eater takes up all the sugar-cane he has cut during the last +seven days and sets off for his country with his rival. On the way +they meet a fish-wife, and call her to stop and see them fight; she +answers she must carry her fish without delay to market, being already +late, and proposes they should stand on her arm and fight, and that +then she could see them as they go along. While they are fighting on +her arm, down sweeps a kite which carries off "the gánja-eaters; fish +and all." They are thrown by a storm in front of a Rájá's daughter, +who has them swept away thinking they are bits of straw. + +FOOTNOTE: + + [7] An intoxicating preparation of the hemp-plant (_Cannabis + sativa_ or _C. indica_). + + +XIX.--THE FAKÍR NÁNAKSÁ SAVES THE MERCHANT'S LIFE. + +1. Nánaksá, _i.e._ Nának Sháh, is doubtless the first guru of the +Sikhs (about A.D. 1460-1530). + +2. With the transmigration of the souls of the merchant's father, +grandmother, and sister into the goat, the old woman and his little +daughter, compare a Dinájpur story published by Mr. G. H. Damant in the +_Indian Antiquary_ for June 7, 1872, vol. I. p. 172, in which a king +threatens to kill a Bráhman if he does not explain what he means by +saying to the king every day, "As thy liberality, so thy virtue." By +his new-born daughter's advice the Bráhman tells the king this child +would explain it to him. Accordingly the king comes to the Bráhman's +house and is received smilingly "by the two-and-a-half-days-old +daughter. She sends the king for the desired information to a certain +red ox, who in his turn" sends him to a clump of Shahara (_Trophis +aspera_) trees. The trees tell him he has been made king in this state +of existence, because in a former state of existence he was liberal and +full of charity; that in this former state the child just born as the +Bráhman's daughter was his wife: that the red ox was then his son, and +that this son's wife, as a punishment for her hardness and +uncharitableness, had "become the genius of this grove of trees." + +3. Jabrá'íl is the Archangel Gabriel. + + +XX.--THE BOY WHO HAD A MOON ON HIS FOREHEAD AND A STAR ON HIS CHIN. + +1. For these marks see paragraph 4 of the notes to Phúlmati Rání. I +think the silver chains with which King Oriant's children are born +(see the Netherlandish story, the Knight of the Swan, quoted in +paragraph 3 of the notes to the Pomegranate King) are identical with +the suns, moons, and stars that the hero in this and in many other +tales possesses. They are his princely insignia and proofs of his +royalty. When the boy in this tale twists his right ear his insignia +are hidden, and so long as they remain concealed no one can guess he +is a king's son, unless he chooses to reveal himself, as he does, +partially, through his sweet singing to the youngest princess. With +this partial revelation compare the Sicilian "Stupid Peppe" revealing +himself in part by means of the ring he gave to his youngest princess. +This ring has the property of flashing brightly whenever he is near. +(See the story "Von dem muthigen Königssohn, der viele Abenteuer +erlebte" quoted in paragraph 6 of the notes to this story, p. 280.) +The shape of the insignia may have been destroyed, as in the case of +the sixth swan's chain, in the Netherlandish story, but its substance +remains, and as soon as it reappears the hero clothes himself with his +own royal form. Chundun Rájá's necklace (_Old Deccan Days_, p. 230) +and Sodewa Bai's necklace (_ib._ p. 236), in which lay their life, +belong, perhaps, to these insignia. Their princely owners' existence +depends on their keeping these proofs of their royalty in their own +possession, and is suspended whenever the proofs pass into the hands +of others. + +2. The gardener's daughter promises to bear her husband a son with the +moon on his forehead and a star on his chin. Compare "Die verstossene +Königin und ihre beiden ausgesetzten Kinder," Gonzenbach's +_Sicilianische Maerchen_, vol. I. p. 19, where the girl (p. 21) +promises to give the king, if he marries her, a son with a golden +apple in his hand, and a daughter with a silver star on her forehead. +Also compare with our story "Truth's Triumph" in _Old Deccan Days_, p. +50. In Indian stories, as in European tales, the gardener and his +family often play an important part, the hero being frequently the son +of the gardener's daughter, or else protected by the gardener and his +wife. + +3. With the kettle-drum compare the golden bell given by the Rájá to +Guzra Bai in "Truth's Triumph" (_Old Deccan Days_, p. 53); and the +flute given by the nymph Tillottama to her husband in the "Finding of +the Dream," a Dinájpur story published by Mr. G. H. Damant in the +_Indian Antiquary_, February 1875, vol. IV. p. 54. See also paragraph +7, p. 287, of notes to "How the Rájá's son won the Princess Labám." + +4. _Ka[t.]ar_ (the _t_ is lingual) means cruel, relentless. With this +fairy-horse compare the Russian hero-horses in Dietrich's collection +of Russian tales, who remain shut up behind twelve iron doors, and +often loaded with chains as well, till the advent of heroes great +enough to ride them. They generally speak with human voices, are their +masters' devoted servants, fight for him, often slaughtering more of +his enemies than he does himself, and when turned loose in the free +fields, as Ka[t.]ar was in his jungle, till they are needed, always +staying in them and coming at once to their master when he calls. See +in the collection by Dietrich (_Russische Volksmaerchen_) No. 1, "Von +Ljubim Zarewitch," &c., p. 3; No. 2, "Von der selbstspielenden Harfe," +p. 17; No. 4, "Von Ritter Iwan, dem Bauersohne," p. 43; No. 10, "Von +Bulat dem braven Burschen," p. 133; Jeruslan Lasarewitsch in the story +that bears his name (No. 17, p. 208) catches and tames a wonderful +horse near which even lions and eagles do not dare to go, p. 214. And +the Hungarian fairy horses (Zauberpferde) who, like the Servian +hero-horses, become ugly and lame at pleasure, and speak with human +voice, must also be compared to Ka[t.]ar. One in particular plays a +leading part in the story of "Weissnittle" (Stier's _Ungarische +Volksmaerchen_, p. 61). He saves the king's son twice from death and +then flies with him to another land. He speaks with human voice, +advises him in all his doings, and marries him to a king's daughter; +Weissnittle obeying his horse as implicitly as our hero does Ka[t.]ar. +The heroes' horses in Haltrich's _Siebenbuergische Maerchen_ also +speak with human voice and give their masters good counsel. See p. 35 +of "Der goldne Vogel;" p. 49 of "Der Zauberross;" p. 101 of "Der Knabe +und der Schlange." These last two horses have more than four legs: +like Odin's Sleipnir, they each have eight. See, too, the dragon's +horse and this horse's brother in "Der goldne Apfelbaum und die neun +Pfauinnen" (Karadschitsch, _Volksmaerchen der Serben_, pp. 33-40). The +"steed" in the "Rider of Grianaig," pp. 14 and 15 of vol. III. of +Campbell's _Tales of the Western Highlands_, and the "Shaggy dun +filly" in "The young king of Easaidh Ruadh," at p. 4 of vol. I. of the +same work, may also be compared; and, lastly, in a list of hero-horses +Cúchulainn's Gray of Macha deserves a place. On the morning of the day +which was to see his last fight, Cúchulainn ordered his charioteer, +Loeg, to harness the Gray to his chariot. "'I swear to God what my +people swears,' said Loeg, 'though the men of Conchobar's fifth +(Ulster) were around the Gray of Macha, they could not bring him to +the chariot.... If thou wilt, come thou, and speak with the Gray +himself.' Cúchulainn went to him. And thrice did the horse turn his +left side to his master.... Then Cúchulainn reproached his horse, +saying that he was not wont to deal thus with his master. Thereat the +Gray of Macha came and let his big round tears of blood fall on +Cúchulainn's feet." The hero then leaps into his chariot, and goes to +battle. At last the Gray is sore wounded, and he and Cúchulainn bid +each other farewell. The Gray leaves his master; but when Cúchulainn, +wounded to death, has tied himself to a stone pillar to die standing, +"then came the Gray of Macha to Cúchulainn to protect him so long as +his soul abode in him, and the 'hero's light' out of his forehead +remained. Then the Gray of Macha wrought the three red routs all +around him. And fifty fell by his teeth and thirty by each of his +hooves. This is what he slew of the host. And hence is (the saying) +'Not keener were the victorious courses of the Gray of Macha after +Cúchulainn's slaughter.'" Then Lugaid and his men cut off the hero's +head and right hand and set off, driving the Gray before them. They +met Conall the Victorious, who knew what had happened when he saw his +friend's horse. "And he and the Gray of Macha sought Cúchulainn's +body. They saw Cúchulainn at the pillar-stone. Then went the Gray of +Macha and laid his head on Cúchulainn's breast. And Conall said, 'A +heavy care to the Gray of Macha is that corpse.'" Conall himself, in +the fight he has with Lugaid, to avenge his friend's slaughter, is +helped by his own horse, the Dewy-Red. "When Conall found that he +prevailed not, he saw his steed, the Dewy-Red, by Lugaid. And the +steed came to Lugaid and tore a piece out of his side." ("Cúchulainn's +Death, abridged from the Book of Leinster," _Revue celtique_, Juin +1877, pp. 175, 176, 180, 182, 183, 185.) + +5. The prince makes his escape at five years old. Jeruslan +Jeruslanowitsch at the same age sets out in search of his father, +Jeruslan Lasarewitsch, equipped as a knight, at p. 250 of the 17th +Russian Maerchen in the collection by Dietrich quoted above. He meets +and fights bravely with his father, proving himself worthy of him (p. +251). Sohrab, Rustam's famous son, gives proof of a lion's courage at +five, and at ten years old vanquishes all his companions (Gubernatis, +_Zoological Mythology_, vol. I. p. 115). + +6. The princess chooses the ugly common-looking man. In _Old Deccan +Days_, p. 119, so does the Princess Buccoulee. In the episode of Nala +and Damayantí we have the assemblage of suitors, and the public choice +of a husband by a princess (_svayamvara_). Damayantí recognizes the +mortal Nala among the gods, (each of whom has made himself resemble +Nala) from the fact that the flowers of which Nala's garlands were +composed had faded while the garlands of the gods were blooming +freshly. In a story from Manípúrí told by Mr. G. H. Damant in the +_Indian Antiquary_, September 1875, vol. IV. p. 260, Prince Basanta, +effectually disguised by misery, and travel-stained, arrives with the +merchant at a certain place where the king's daughter that day is to +choose her husband. The merchant takes his seat among the princely +suitors; Basanta a little way off. There is a general storm of +scoffings when the princess hangs her garland of flowers round +Basanta's neck. In one of Laura Gonzenbach's Sicilian stories, "Von +einem muthigen Königssohn, der viele Abenteuer erlebte," vol. II. p. +21, we have three kings' sons (brothers) and three princesses +(sisters.) The two elder brothers marry the two elder sisters. At a +tournament held on purpose that she may choose her husband, the +youngest sister, to the general disgust, chooses the youngest prince +(disguised as the dirty, ill-dressed servant of the court tailor), and +who is not even present as a suitor. Her suitors, princes, have passed +before her for three days. After the marriage the prince keeps up the +disguise. His brothers by way of amusing themselves at his expense +take "Stupid Peppe," as they call him, to the wood to shoot birds; he +shoots a great number, while they run here and there and cannot find +one. They agree to let him brand them with black spots on their +shoulders, on condition he gives them his birds. In the notes to this +story, vol. II. p. 240. Herr Köhler gives Spanish, Russian, South +Siberian, and others parallels. And in Stier's _Ungarische +Volksmaerchen_, p. 61, in the story of "Weissnittle," we have not only +the hero-horse mentioned in paragraph 4 of these notes, but also the +assemblage of suitors for the princess to choose her husband: her +choice of a seemingly stupid gardener's boy, who has partially +revealed himself to her; the prince retaining his disguise, after his +marriage, towards every one, even his wife: two brothers-in-law, who +are kings' sons and the wife's elder sisters' husbands; their hunting +on three different days, each time meeting a handsome prince in whom +they do not recognize their despised brother-in-law, Weissnittle, who +sells them his game the first day for their wedding-rings, the second +for leave to brand them with these rings on their foreheads, the third +for permission to brand them with a gallows on their backs: lastly, we +have Weissnittle, as a splendid young prince, publicly shaming his +brothers-in-law by exposing their branding marks. In India this +branding with red-hot pice was the punishment for stealing. Compare in +Taylor's _Confessions of a Thug_, p. 411, Amír Ali's horror at being +so branded by the Rájá of Jhalone. It was, he says years later, a +punishment worse than death, as the world would think him a thief, and +he would carry to his grave "a mark only set on the vile and the +outcasts from society." + +7. Múniyá tells me that, in a variation of this story, the dog, cow, +and horse each swallow the child three times, but for shorter periods, +as he is only five years old when he escapes on Ka[t.]ar. Then when +the princess chooses her husband she rides three times round the +assemblage of Rájá's, who all sit on a great plain, and each time she +chooses the pretended _old_ man; for in this version the boy loses his +youth as well as his good looks. Instead of taking service with the +grain merchant, the boy is told by his horse to go boldly to the +king's palace and ask for service there. The shaming of the +brothers-in-law happens thus. The boy invites these princes, the king, +all the king's servants, and all the people in the king's country, to +a grand entertainment in the king's court-house. When they are all +assembled he has the six princes stripped and every one mocks at the +pice-marks on their backs. These are the only variations in the other +version. + +Sir George Grey, in his _Polynesian Mythology_, p. 73, tells how the +hero Tawhaki when he climbed into heaven in search of his lost wife +"disguised himself, and changed his handsome and noble appearance, and +assumed the likeness of a very ugly old man." If fact, he looks such a +thoroughly common old man that in the heavens he is taken for a slave +instead of a great chief, and treated as such. + + +XXI.--THE BÉL-PRINCESS. + +1. Múniyá says that telling the prince he would marry a Bél-Princess +was equivalent to saying he would not marry at all, for these +brothers' wives knew she lived in the fairy-country, and that it would +be very difficult, if not impossible, for the prince to find her, and +take her from it. + +2. With the fakír's sleep compare that of the dragon who sleeps for a +year at a time in the Transylvanian story "Das Rosenmaerchen" +(_Siebenbuergische Maerchen_, pp. 124, 126). + +3. In a Greek story, "Das Schloss des Helios" (Schmidt's _Griechische +Maerchen, Sagen und Volkslieder_, p. 106), the heroine is warned by a +monk that as she approaches the magic castle voices like her brothers' +voices will call her; but if, consequently, she looks behind she will +become stone. Her two elder brothers go to seek her, and, as they meet +no monk to warn them, they become stone. The third brother meets the +monk, obeys his warning, and thus, like his sister, escapes the evil +fate. To save him from Helios, the sister turns him into a thimble +till she has Helios's promise to do him no harm. (Compare the Tiger +and Tigress, p. 155 of this collection.) Helios gives him some water +in a flask with which he sprinkles the stone brothers, whereupon they +and all the other stone princes come to life. In these Indian tales +the healing blood from the little finger plays the part of the waters +of life and death, found in so many Russian and other European +stories. + +When reading of the fate of all these princes, it is impossible not +to think of Lot's wife. + +The danger of looking back, when engaged on any dealings with +supernatural powers, is insisted on in the tales and practices of the +Russians, Eskimos, Zulus, and the Khonds of Orissa. In Russia the +watcher for the golden fern-flower must seize it the instant it +blossoms and run home, taking care not to look behind him: whether +through fear of giving the demons, who also watch for it, power over +him, or whether through a dread of the flower losing its magic powers +if this precaution is neglected, Mr. Ralston does not say (_Songs of +the Russian People_, p. 99). When "the Revived who came to the +under-world people" (Dr. Rink tells us in his _Tales and Traditions of +the Eskimo_, p. 299) took the old couple to visit the ingnersuit +(supernatural beings "who have their abodes beneath the surface of the +earth, in the cliffs along the sea-shore, where the ordinarily +invisible entrances to them are found" _ib._ p. 46), he warned "them +not to look back when they approached the rock which enclosed the +abode of the ingnersuit, lest the entrance should remain shut for +them.... When they had reached the cliff, and were rowing up to it, it +forthwith opened; and inside was seen a beautiful country, with many +houses, and a beach covered with pebbles and large heaps of fish and +matak (edible skin). Perceiving this the old people for joy forgot the +warning and turned round, and instantly all disappeared: the prow of +the boat knocked right against the steep rock and was smashed in, so +that they all were thrown down by the shock. The son [the revived] +said, 'Now we must remain apart for ever.'" Mr. Tylor, in the 2nd +volume of his _Primitive Culture_, at p. 147 mentions a Zulu remedy +for preventing a dead man from tormenting his widow in her dreams; the +sorcerer goes with her to lay the ghost, and when this is done +"charges her not to look back till she gets home:" and he says the +Khonds of Orissa, when offering human sacrifices to the earth-goddess +bury their portions of the offering in holes in the ground behind +their backs without looking round (_ib._ p. 377). + +4. In most of the stories of this kind the command is to open the +fruit or casket only near water, for if the beautiful maiden inside +cannot get water immediately she dies. Such is the case in the "Drei +Pomeranzen" (Stier's _Ungarische Maerchen und Sagen_, p. 83), in "Die +Schoene mit dem sieben Schleier" (_Sicilianische Maerchen_, vol. I. p. +73), and in "Die drei Citronen" (Schmidt's _Griechische Maerchen, +Sagen und Volkslieder_, p. 71). "Die Ungeborene Niegesehene" (Schott's +_Wallachische Maerchen_, p. 248) must be compared with these, though +the beautiful maiden does not come out of the golden fairy-apple. She +appears suddenly and the prince must give her water to drink and the +apple to eat, before he can take her and keep her. In all these +stories the hero has a long journey, and encounters many dangers, in +seeking his bride. In the Sicilian story he is helped by hermits; in +the Greek story, by a monk--monks in Greek and hermits in Sicilian and +Servian stories playing the part of the fakírs in these Indian tales. +In all these stories, too, the maiden is killed or transformed by a +wicked woman who takes her place. In the Wallachian and Sicilian fairy +tales the rightful bride becomes a dove only. But in the Hungarian +tale she is drowned in a well and becomes a gold fish; the wicked +gipsy has no rest till she has eaten the fish's liver: from one of its +scales springs a tree; she has the tree cut down and burnt. The +wood-cutter who hews down the tree makes a cover for his wife's +milk-pot from a piece of the wood, and they find their house kept in +beautiful order from this moment. So to discover the secret, they peep +through the keyhole one day and see a lovely fairy come out of the +milk-jar. Then they enter their house suddenly and the girl tells her +story: the wood-cutter's wife burns the wooden lid to force her to +keep her own form, and goes to the king's son to tell him where he +will find his Pomegranate-bride again. In the Greek story a Lamnissa +eats the citron-girl, but a tiny bone falls unnoticed into the water +and becomes a gold-fish. The prince not only takes the Lamnissa home +with him, but he takes the gold-fish too, and keeps it in his room, +"for he loved it dearly." The Lamnissa never rests till he gives her +the fish to eat. Its bones are thrown into a garden and from them +springs a rose bush on which blooms a rose which the king's old +washerwoman wishes to break off to sell it at the castle. From out of +the bush springs the beautiful citron-maiden, and tells the old woman +her story. She also gives her the rose for the king's son, and in the +basket with the rose she lays a ring he had given her, but charges the +old woman to say nothing about her to him. The next day he comes to +the old woman's cottage and finds his real bride. + +5. The youngest prince alone can gather the lotus-flower and +bél-fruit. Compare the Pomegranate-king, pp. 10 and 11, and paragraphs +1 and 4, pp. 245, 252, of the notes to that story. In his _Northern +Mythology_, vol. I., in the footnotes at p. 290, Thorpe mentions a +maiden's grave from which spring "three lilies which no one save her +lover may gather." I think he must quote from a Danish ballad. + +6. The princess after drowning is first in a lotus-flower; then in a +bél-fruit again; and, lastly, her body is changed to a garden and +palace. Signor de Gubernatis at p. 152 of the 1st volume of his +_Zoological Mythology_ mentions an Esthonian story where a girl (she +who addressed the crow as "bird of light"--see paragraph 2, p. 259 of +the notes to "Brave Hírálálbásá") while fleeing with her lover is +thrown into the water by a magic ball sent after them by the old +witch, and there becomes "a pond-rose (lotus-flower)." Her lover eats +hogs'-flesh and thus learns the language of birds, and then sends +swallows to a magician in Finnland to ask what he must do to free his +bride. The answer is brought by an eagle; and the prince following the +magician's instructions helps the girl to recover her human form. And +just as Surya Bai is born again in her mango (_Old Deccan Days_, p. +87) and the Bél-Princess in her bél-fruit, so is the girl in the +Hottentot tale of "The Lion who took a woman's shape" born from her +heart in the calabash full of milk in which her mother has put it. The +lion had eaten the girl; but her mother burns the lion and persuades +the fire in which she burns him to give her her daughter's heart +(Bleek's _Hottentot Fables and Tales_, pp. 55 and 56). With the change +into the garden and palace compare the Russian story of a maiden whose +servant-girl blinds her and takes her place as the king's wife. After +some time the false queen learns her mistress is still living; so she +has her murdered and cut to pieces. "Where the maiden is buried a +garden arises, and a boy shows himself. The boy goes to the palace and +runs after the queen, making such a din that she is obliged, in order +to silence him, to give him the girl's heart which she had kept +hidden. The boy then runs off contented, the king follows him, and +finds himself before the resuscitated maiden" (Gubernatis, _Zoological +Mythology_, vol. I. pp. 218, 219). See paragraphs 7 and 8 of the notes +to "Phúlmati Rání," p. 244, and 1, 3 and 4, pp. 245, 250, 252, of +those to "The Pomegranate-king." + +7. The commonplace fate of the wonderful palace is deplorable. + + +XXII.--HOW THE RÁJÁ'S SON WON THE PRINCESS LABÁM. + +1. The "four sides" in this story (p. 153), the "four directions" (p. +156) which ought to have been translated four sides and the four sides +in "The Bed," p. 202, are the four points of the compass. They appear +in a Dinájpur story told by Mr. G. H. Damant in the _Indian +Antiquary_, 5th April 1872, p. 115. In the first Russian fairy tale +published by Dietrich, the hero's parents give their elder sons +permission "to go on the four sides" when they start on their journeys +(_Russische Volksmaerchen_, p. 1). In another fairy tale in the same +collection (No. 11, p. 144) the Prince Malandrach, when he has lost +his way flying in the air and is over the sea, raises himself by a +last effort and looks on all the "four sides" in search of a +resting-place for his foot, p. 147. Of course, too, like orthodox +Russians, the Russian heroes generally bow to all the "four sides," +before attempting their journeys and adventures. + +2. Híráman is the name of a kind of parroquet. Irik in the Bohemian +tale "Princess Golden-Hair" (Naake's _Slavonic Fairy Tales_, p. 99) +first hears of the princess's existence from the chattering of birds. + +3. "Aunty" was the word used in English by old Múniyá. + +4. With the stone bowl compare the pot in Grimm's "Der suesse Brei," +_Kinder und Hausmaerchen_, vol. II. p. 104. + +5. With the tigers' coats compare the robes of honour wherewith the +knights in the Mabinogion clothe themselves when they go to combat. +"And he (Gwalchmai) went forth to meet the knight (Owain), having over +himself and his horse a satin robe of honour sent him by the daughter +of the Earl of Rhangyw; and in this dress he was not known by any of +the host" ("The Lady of the Fountain," _Mabinogion_, vol. I. p. 67). +Peredur wears "a bright scarlet robe of honour over his armour" given +him by the king's daughter (_ib._ p. 363 of "Peredur the son of +Evrawc"). And in "The Dream of Rhonabwy" a knight and his horse wear a +robe of honour (_ib._ vol. II. p. 413). + +6. With the tigers' fight with the demons compare the combat of the +grateful lion with the giant, in which the lion bears the brunt of the +battle. On the giant's saying, "Truly, I should find no difficulty in +fighting with thee were it not for the animal that is with thee," +Owain shuts the lion up in the castle. "The lion in the castle roared +very loud, for he heard that it went hard with Owain," so he climbed +to the top of the castle, sprang down and "joined Owain. And the lion +gave the giant a stroke with his paw, which tore him from his shoulder +to his hip, and his heart was laid bare. And the giant fell down dead" +("The Lady of the Fountain," _Mabinogion_, vol. I. pp. 79, 80). + +7. Gubernatis in vol. I. p. 160, of his _Zoological Mythology_, says, +"The drum or kettle-drum thunder is a familiar image in Hindu poetry, +and the gandharvas, the musician warriors of the Hindu Olympus, have +no other instrument than the thunder." "The magic flute is a variation +of the same celestial instrument," _ib._ p. 161. + +8. For the hair, see note to "How King Burtal became a Fakír," +paragraph 2, p. 268. + + +XXIII.--THE PRINCESS WHO LOVED HER FATHER LIKE SALT. + +1. With the task of pulling out the needles, the purchase of the +maid-servant, the sleep of the princess, the usurping of her place by +the maid who makes the prince believe the princess is her +servant-girl, compare "Der böse Schulmeister und die wandernde +Königstochter," in Laura Gonzenbach's _Sicilianische Maerchen_, vol. +I. p. 59. Here, too, the princess is driven forth from her home; she +finds a prince lying dead with a tablet by him on which is written, +"If a maiden will rub me seven years, seven months and seven days long +with grass from Mount Calvary, I shall return to life, and she shall +become my wife" (p. 61). + +2. Sun-jewel box. The word thus translated is Rav-ratan-ke-pitárá. +_Raví_, sun; _ratan_, jewel; _pitárá_, a kind of box. + +3. In one of Grimm's stories, "Die Gänsehirtin am Brunnen," _Kinder +und Hausmaerchen_, vol. II. p. 419, a king asks his three daughters +how much they love him (p. 425). The eldest loves him as much as the +"sweetest sugar," the second as much as her "finest dress," and the +third as much as salt. So her father in a rage has a sack of salt +bound on her back, and makes two of his servants take her away to the +forest. See also Auerbach's _Barfüssele_, Stuttgart, 1873, ss. 236, +237. + + +XXIV.--THE DEMON IS AT LAST CONQUERED BY THE KING'S SON. + +1. The leading idea of this story is the same as that in "Brave +Hírálálbásá." + +2. With this demon as a goat, compare the Rakshas in the Pig's Head +Soothsayer in _Sagas from the Far East_, p. 63, and the Rakshas in a +Bengáli story printed by Mr. G. H. Damant in the _Indian Antiquary_, +7th June, 1872, p. 120. This last story opens with seven labourers, +brothers, six of whom go down to the water to drink and never return. +The seventh goes to see what has happened to them, and finds, instead +of his brothers, a goat which is really a Rakshas. This goat then +turns into a beautiful woman who marries the king, first making him +give into her hands the eyes of his queen, who is sent blind into the +forest, where she bears a little son. The Rakshas wife learns this, +and when the boy later takes service with the king she sends him three +times to her people in Ceylon, with orders to them to kill him. He has +to bring her foam from the sea, a wonderful rice which is sown, +ripens, and can be boiled in one day, and a singular cow. With the +help of a Sannyásí (a Bráhman of the fourth order, a religious +mendicant), he does these errands safely. The Rakshases in Ceylon +receive him as their sister's son, show him his own mother's eyes and +the clay with which they can be set again in any human sockets, a +lemon which contains the life of the tribe, and a bird in which is +that of the Rakshas-queen. The boy cuts up the lemon, and thereby +kills them all, carries her eyes to his mother, and kills the +Rakshas-queen by killing the bird. In this story, as in "Brave +Hírálálbásá," the Rakshas-queen takes her own fearful form on seeing +her danger. + +3. The _Bargat_, fig-tree, is the _Ficus Bengalensis_ of Linnćus. + +4. Múniyá sends her hero for a _Garpank's_ feather; _Garpank_ I can +find in no dictionary, but have ventured to translate it by eagle, as +she says it is like a kite, only very much bigger; she sent us to see +a statue of a garpank that stood over a gateway in a street in +Calcutta, which might be that of an eagle or of a huge hawk. She said +such birds did not exist in Bengal, and that it was not the Garu[d.]a +(the sovran of the feathered race and vehicle of Vish[n.]u, Benfey). +Gubernatis, in the 2nd volume of his _Zoological Mythology_, p. 189, +tells a story from Monferrat where a king is blind, and can only be +cured by "bathing his eyes in oil with a feather" of a griffin that +lives on a high mountain. His third and youngest son catches and +brings him one of the griffins and the king regains his sight. + +5. Winning the gratitude of a bird by killing the snake or dragon that +year after year devours its young birds is such a common incident in +fairy tales, that I will only mention two instances. One occurs in a +Dinájpur tale published by Mr. G. H. Damant in the _Indian Antiquary_ +for 5th April, 1872, p. 145, where the hero saves the young birds from +the snake. They tell the old birds. He lies under the tree and listens +to the old birds relating how he will find the tree with the silver +stem and golden branches he has come to seek. The other occurs at pp. +119, 110, of a story collected by Vogl (_Volksmaerchen_ [Slavonic], p. +79) called Schön-Jela. In this tale the hero is sheltered in the +dreadful underground wilderness by a hermit. Here there is the +gigantic bird, Einja, who every third year has a brood of four young +birds which a dragon as regularly devours. The hero, Prince Milan, +watches by the nest for the dragon and kills him. The young birds, +overjoyed, fly out of the nest and cover the hero with their wings +till the old bird on her return asks who has saved them. Then they +unfold their wings and she sees Prince Milan. In return she carries +him to the upper world. + +6. The word translated "night-growing rice" is Rát-vashá-ke-dhán; and +the ayah's description of this rice is given in the story. In this +description she spoke of it as cháwal, the common word for uncooked +rice, and said the Rakshas wished to drink its kánjí-pání +(rice-water). As it is a fairy plant I am afraid it is hopeless trying +to find its botanical name. Unluckily, Dr. George King says _vashá_ is +not rice at all. This is what he wrote to me on the subject: "_Vashá_ +is, I suppose, the same as _vasaka_, and in that case is _Justitia +Adhatoda_, a straggling shrub common over the whole of India [very +unlike the Rát-vashá-ke-dhán] and which was in the Sanscrit as it is +in the native pharmacopoeias. It is not a kind of rice, but belongs +to the natural order of Acanthaceć (the family to which Acanthus and +Thunbergia belong)." This night-growing rice may be compared to the +day-growing rice in paragraph 2, p. 288, of the notes to this story. + +7. Compare with the paper boat the rolled-up burdock leaf given to the +hero by the dwarf in the seventh Esthonian tale quoted by Gubernatis +(_Zoological Mythology_, vol. I. p. 155): whenever this hero wishes to +cross water he unrolls his burdock-leaf. Gubernatis compares this leaf +to the lotus-leaf on which the Hindús represented their god as +floating in the midst of the waters (_ibid._). + +8. With the great wind that comes from the demon, compare the +following Swedish account of a giant in Thorpe's _Northern Mythology_, +vol. II. p. 85. He asks his road of a lad, who directs him: then "he +went off as in a whirlwind, and the lad now discovered, to his no +small astonishment, that his forefinger with which he had pointed out +the way had followed along with the giant." In the old Scandinavian +belief the Giant Hrćsvelgr sat at the end of heaven in an eagle's garb +(arna ham). From the motion of his wings came the wind which passed +over men (_ib._ vol. I. p. 8). It must be mentioned also that "in the +German popular tales the devil is frequently made to step into the +place of the giants" (_ib._ vol. I. p. 234), and that Stöpke or Stepke +is in Lower Saxony an appellation of the devil or of the whirlwind, +from which proceed the fogs which spread over the land (_ib._ p. 235). +The devil sits in the whirlwind and rushes howling and raging through +the air (Mark Sagen, _ib._ p. 377). The whirlwind is also ascribed to +witches. If a knife be cast into it, the witch will be wounded and +become visible (Schreiber's Taschenbuch, 1839, p. 323; _ib._ vol. I. +p. 235). Mr. Ralston, in his _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 382, +says the Russian peasant attributes whirlwinds to the mad dances in +which the devil celebrates his marriage with a witch, and at p. 155 of +the same book tells us how the malicious demon Lyeshy not only makes +use of the whirlwind as a travelling conveyance for himself and a +means of turning intruders out of quarters he had selected for his own +refuge, but sends home in it people to whom he is grateful. In Ireland +we find a wind blowing from hell. King Loegaire tells Patrick, "I +perceived the wind cold, icy, like a two-ridged spear, which almost +took our hair from our heads and passed through us to the ground. I +questioned Benén as to this wind. Said Benén to me, 'This is the wind +of hell which has opened before Cúchulainn.'" _Lebar na huidre_, p. +113 a. This "wind of hell" makes one think of the sweet-scented wind +from the mid-day regions, and the evil-scented wind from the north, +which in old Persian religious belief blew to meet pure and wicked +souls after death (Tylor's _Primitive Culture_, vol. II. pp. 98, 99). +Mr. Tylor mentions also the Fanti negroes' belief that the men and +animals they sacrifice to the local fetish are carried away in a +whirlwind imperceptibly to the worshippers (_ib._ p. 378). + +8. Ábjhamjham-ke pání is what has been translated by "water from the +glittering well." + +9. The king had a great pit dug in the jungle. This is how Kai and +Bedwyr plucked out the beard of Dillus Varvawc, which had to be +plucked out during life. They made him eat meat till he slept. "Then +Kai made a pit under his feet, the largest in the world, and he struck +him a violent blow, and squeezed him into the pit. And there they +twitched out his beard completely with the wooden tweezers; and after +that they slew him altogether" ("Kilhwch and Olwen," _Mabinogion_, +vol. II. p. 304). + + +XXV.--THE FAN PRINCE. + +1. The boat would not move because the king had forgotten to get the +thing his youngest daughter had asked him to bring her. Signor de +Gubernatis (_Zoological Mythology_, vol. II. p. 382) mentions an +unpublished story from near Leghorn in which a sailor promises to +bring his youngest daughter a rose. The eldest daughter is to have a +shawl, and the second a hat. "When the voyage is over, he is about to +return, but having forgotten the rose, the ship refuses to move; he is +compelled to go back to look for a rose in a garden; a magician hands +the rose with a little box to the father to give it to one of his +daughters, whom the magician is to marry. At midnight, the father, +having returned home, relates to his third daughter all that had +happened. The little box is opened; it carries off the third daughter +to the magician, who happens to be King Pietraverde, and is now a +handsome young man." + +2. The princess's ring recalls Portia and Nerissa. + +3. A yogí is a Hindú religious mendicant. + + +XXVI.--THE BED. + +The merchant's son possibly was afraid of incurring the wrath either +of an original spirit residing in the tree, or of some human soul who +had been born again as its genius (see paragraph 1, p. 276, of note +to "The fakír Nánaksá saves the merchant's life"). Múniyá could give +no reason for his asking each tree's permission to cut it down. + + +XXVII.--PÁNWPATTÍ RÁNÍ. + +See another version of this tale in the Baital Pachísi, No. 1. There +the heroine is called Padmávatí, and her father King Dantavát. + + +XXVIII.--THE CLEVER WIFE. + +1. The merchant's wife tricks the four men into chests. Upakosá makes +the like appointments, and plays a similar trick: compare her story +translated from the Kathápítha by Dr. G. Bühler in the _Indian +Antiquary_ for 4th October, 1872, pp. 305, 306: and in "The +Touchstone," a Dinájpur legend told by Mr. G. H. Damant at p. 337 of +the _Indian Antiquary_ for December, 1873, the hero-prince's second +wife, Pránnásiní, in order to regain the touchstone for her husband +(like Upakosá and the Clever Wife) makes appointments with, and then +tricks, the kotwál, the king's councillor, the prime minister, and +lastly the king himself. + +2. She plays cards (_tás_). Forbes in his Hindústání and English +Dictionary p. 543, says _tás_ is the word used for _Indian_ playing +cards. The Indian pack, he says, contains eight suits, each suit +consisting of a king, wazír, and ten cards having various figures +represented on them from one to ten in number. + +[A close parallel to this tale is _Adi's Wife_, a Bengáli legend from +Dinagepore, told by the late Mr. Damant in the _Indian Antiquary_ for +January, 1880, p. 2.] + + +XXIX.--RÁJÁ HARICHAND'S PUNISHMENT. + +1. This king is probably the same as "The Upright King," Harchand +Rájá, p. 68 of this collection. + +2. The Kop Shástra. Múniyá says _kop_ is a Hindústání, not a Bengáli +word, and has nothing whatever to do with demons. This is what Mr. +Tawney writes on the subject: "It might mean _kapi_, or _kapila_ if +the woman is a Bengáli. _Kapi_ is a name of Vish[n.]u, possibly it +might be the Rámáyana as treating of monkeys, but I really do not +know. I see Monier Williams says that there are certain demons called +_kapa_. But of course _kópa_ is anger. I suppose you know that the +natives of Bengal pronounce the short _a_ as _o_ in the English word +_hop_." Múniyá pronounces _kop_ like the English word _cope_. This +Shástra seems as hopelessly mythical as the _Rát-vashá-ke-dhán_. + + +XXX.--THE KING'S SON AND THE WAZÍR'S DAUGHTER. + +In a Servian story, "Des Vaters letzter Wille," pp. 134, 135, 136, of +the _Volksmaerchen der Serben_ collected by Karadschitsch, the +youngest brother has to take his brother-in-law's horse over a bridge +under which he sees an immense kettle full of boiling water in which +men's heads are cooking while eagles peck at them. He then passes +through a village where all is song and joyfulness because, so the +inhabitants tell him, each year is fruitful with them and they live, +therefore, in the midst of plenty. Then he sees two dogs quarrelling +which he cannot succeed in separating. He next passes through a +village where all is sorrow and tears because each year comes hail, so +the inhabitants "have nothing." Next he sees two boars fighting +together and cannot separate them any more than he could part the +dogs. Lastly, he reaches a beautiful meadow. In the evening his +brother-in-law expounds the meaning of all he has seen. The heads in +the boiling vessel represent the everlasting torment in the next +world. The happy villagers are good, charitable men, with whom God is +well pleased. The dogs are his elder brothers' wives. The sorrowing +villagers are men who know neither righteousness, concord, nor God. +The boars are his two wicked elder brothers. The meadow is paradise. + + + + +[Decoration] + +GLOSSARY. + + +Bél, a fruit; _Ćgle marmelos_. + +Bulbul, a kind of nightingale. + +Chaprásí, a messenger wearing a badge (_chaprás_). + +Cooly (Tamil _kúli_), a labourer in the fields; also a porter. + +Dál, a kind of pulse; _Phaseolus aureus_, according to Wilson; +_Paspalum frumentaceum_, according to Forbes. + +Dom (the d is lingual), a low-caste Hindú. + +Fakír, a Muhammadan religious mendicant. + +Ghee (_ghí_), butter boiled and then set to cool. + +Kází, a Muhammadan Judge. + +Kotwál, the chief police officer in a town. + +Líchí, a fruit; _Scytalia litchi_, Roxb. + +Mahárájá (properly Maháráj), literally great king. + +Mahárání, literally great queen. + +Mainá, a kind of starling. + +Maund (_man_), a measure of weight, about 87 lb. + +Mohur (_muhar_), a gold coin worth 16 rupees. + +Nautch (_nátya_), a union of song, dance, and instrumental music. + +Pálkí, a palanquin. + +Pice (_paisa_), a small copper coin. + +Pilau, a dish made of either chicken or mutton, and rice. + +Rájá, a king. + +Rakshas, a kind of demon that eats men and beasts. + +Rání, a queen. + +Rohú, a kind of big fish. + +Rupee (_rúpíya_), a silver coin, now worth about twenty pence. + +Ryot (_rŕíyat_), a cultivator. + +Sarai, a walled enclosure containing small houses for the use of +travellers. + +Sárí, a long piece of stuff which Hindú women wind round the body as a +petticoat, passing one end over the head. + +Sepoy (_sipáhí_), a soldier. + +Wazír, prime minister. + +Yogí, a Hindú religious mendicant. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO. + + +Bleek. _Hottentot Fables and Tales_, London, 1864. + +Campbell, J. F. _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_, 4 vols. + Edinburgh, 1860. + +Dasent, G. _Norse Tales_, Edinburgh, 1859. + +Dietrich, Anton. _Russische Volksmaerchen_, Leipzig, 1831. + +Fiske. _Myth and Mythmakers_, London, 1873. + +Frere, Miss. _Old Deccan Days_, 2nd edition, London, 1870. + +Gonzenbach, Laura. _Sicilianische Maerchen_, Leipzig, 1870. + +Grant, C. _Gazetteer of India for the Central Provinces_, edited by, + 2nd edition, Nágpur, 1870. + +Grey. _Polynesian Mythology_, London, 1855. + +Grimm. _Kinder und Hausmaerchen_, 3 vols., Goettingen, first 2 vols. + 1850, 3rd vol. 1856. + +Grimm. _Irische Elfenmaerchen, uebersetzt von den Bruedern Grimm_, + Leipzig, 1826. + +Gubernatis, Angelo de. _Zoological Mythology_, 2 vols., London, 1870. + +Guest, Lady Charlotte. _The Mabinogion_, translated by, 3 vols. + Llandovery, 1849. + +Haltrich, Joseph. _Deutsche Volksmaerchen aus dem Sachsenlande in + Siebenbuergen_, Berlin, 1856. + +Henderson. _Folklore of the Northern Counties of England and the + Border_, London, 1866. + +Hunt. _Romances and Drolls of the West of England_, 2nd edition, + London, 1871. + +_Indian Antiquary_, vols. I. (1872), II. (1873), and IV. (1875), + Bombay. + +Karadschitsch, W. S. _Volksmaerchen der Serben_, Berlin, 1854. + +Lane. _Arabian Nights_, 3 vols., London, 1859. + +_Lebar na Huidre._ Lithographic facsimile, Dublin, 1870. + +Milenowsky. _Maerchen aus Boehmen_, Breslau, 1853. + +Naake. _Slavonic Fairy Tales_, London, 1874. + +_Old New Zealand_, 1876. + +Ralston. _Songs of the Russian People_, London, 1872. _Russian Folk + Tales_, London, 1873. + +Rink. _Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo_, Edinburgh and London, + 1875. + +_Sagas from the Far East_, London, 1873. + +Schmidt, G. _Griechische Volksmaerchen, Sagen und Volkslieder_, + Leipzig, 1877. + +Schott. _Wallachische Maerchen_, Stuttgart und Tuebingen, 1845. + +Stier, G. _Ungarische Maerchen und Sagen_, Berlin, 1850. _Ungarische + Volksmaerchen_, Pesth (preface is dated 1857). + +Taylor, Meadows. _Confessions of a Thug_, London, 1873. + +Thorpe. _Yule Tide Stories_, London, 1853. + +_Three Middle Irish Homilies_, Calcutta, 1877. + +Tylor. _Primitive Culture_, 2nd edition, London, 1873. + +Vogl, Johann, N. _Volksmaerchen_ [Slavonic], Wien, 1837. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Decoration] + +INDEX. + + + Adam and Eve, blackened after the Fall, 239 + + Alligator, 63 + King of the Fishes, 66, 71 + + Angels, 77, 88, 116, 225 + + Antelopes, 85 + + Ants, grateful, 155, 161 + + Apsarases, 262 + + Ashes, Lailí becomes, 77 + sugar turned into, 96 + + "Aunt," used to propitiate, 157, 262 + + Avatár, 265 + + + Bádsháh, 237 + + Bag, magic, 156 + + Bamboo wand, 86, 98, 268 + + Barber outwits tigers, 35 + + Bear, 254 + tries to kill cat, 19 + + Beauty, effects of, 62, 93, 142 + radiance of, 1, 240, 241, 242 + + Bed, 201 + magic, 156 + + Bees, Rakshases keeping their souls in, 261 + + Bél Princess, 138, 282 + + Bhágírathí river, 75 + + Birds, souls in, 58, 59, 61, 261 + conversing, 149, 150, 198 + + Birth-marks, 1, 119, 242, 243, 253, 276 + + Blindness cured, 77 + + Blood of little finger, 83, 84, 141, 272 + + Boar, God in shape of, 68 + + Boar Trwyth, the, 241 + + Boat refusing to move, 195, 292 + + Body, star on, 243 + sun on, 243 + + Bones of daughter sent to mother, 12, 250, 253 + + Bowl, magic, 156 + + Branch, cutting, 30 + + Branding, 131, 134, 281 + + Bricks turned into gold, 97 + + Bulbul, 39 + + Burning alive, 12, 61, 207, 249, 250 + + + Camel, strayed, 29, 63 + + Card-playing, 218, 219, 234 + + Cards, 293 + + Cat, 255 + aunt to tiger, 15 + cheats jackal, 19 + leopard, 19 + which could not be killed, 18 + + Chá[n.][d.]ála, 266 + + Charcoal, gold and silver turned into, 69, 226 + + Chests, concealment in, 218 + + Child, all-devouring, 255 + + Children eaten, 52, 177 + + Chin, star on, 119 + + Clothes-box, magic, 33 + + Cloud-myth, 257 + + Cockatoo, Rakshas Rání's soul in, 61 + + Colour, 93 + + Comfits, rain of, 29 + + Cooking-pot, magic, 32 + + Cotton-tree, 39 + + Cow swallows child alive, 123 + + Crow, 75 + + Cuckoo, 39 + + + Daughter, _see Former life_. + + Day and night Myths, 256, 257 + + Dead sheep mistaken for woman, 28 + + Deer's horn, Mahádeo's, 232 + + Demon, 173 + as a goat, 173, 288 + heating sand, 236 + swallowing suitors, 99 + tigers fighting with, 162 + + _Dew_ (Demon), 273 + + Dharma, 265 + + Diamond, face shining like, 69 + + Dog disputes with cat, 16 + Lailí becomes, 78, 79 + swallows child alive, 122 + + Dolls, 168, 169 + + Dom, 70 + + Doves, eyes changed into, 5 + + Dream, 232 + + Dresses, seizure of, 6 + + + Eagle's feather, 181 + + Eaglets, speaking, 183 + + Earth blown away, 140 + cure with, 198, 199 + + Ear, twisting, 130 + + Elephant tries to kill cat, 18, 19 + + Errands, 53, 55, 58, 179, 181, 184, 189, 288 + + Euphemisms, 259 + + Eve, _see Adam_. + + Eyes become birds, 5, 148 + pounded to bits, 176 + torn out of Rání's head 51, 176, 289 + + + Face, star on, 1, 242, _see Powder_. + + Fainting at beauty, 82 + + Fairies in jungle, 32 + teach monkey prince, 42 + and Prince Sazádá, 93 + Indian, 243 + Irish and Cornish, 243 + of Maoris, 239, 244 + + Fairy Rájás, 1 + red, 168 + + Fakír's feats, 92 + gifts to, 68, 224 + God in form of, 224 + helpful, 41, 185 + sleep of, 139, 167 + tasks to be performed by intending, 87 + + Fan, 196, 197 + + Fan Prince, 193 + + Faríd, Shekh, 272 + + Fasting, _see Jackal_, _Kite_. + + Fate, 263 + seeking one's, 63 + + Feather, causing invisibility, 59 + + Feats of Fakírs, 92 + + Figure of clay, water and ashes 78 + + Fish, cooked, becomes alive, 71, 227, _see Rohú_. + + Fishes, king of, 66, 71 + souls of unborn children in, 235, 236 + + Fire, _see Rejuvenescence_. + + Flower, children in, 10, 247, 248, 252 + hero weighing, 2 + heroine weighing, 1 + + Flowers, life in, 4, 10, 144, 244, 247, 248, 252, 284 + on ears, 3 + + Flute, 168, 169, 171, 287 + + Fly, change into, 56, 57, 141 + + Fools, 257 + + Former life, 115, 276 + + Four sides, 153, 156, 285, 286 + + Fox, 254 + + Frog, the voracious, 24 + slit open, 26 + + Fruits, children, born from eating, 42, 91 + children in, 11, 246, 247, 252 + heroine in, 81, 142, 146, 246 + + + Gambling, 234 + + Gangá, 89, 90 + + Gardener, 277 + + Garpank, 289 + + Gesture language, 208, 210 + + Glass powder, 197 + + Glittering well, 189, 190 + + Goat, demon in form of, 173, 288, _see Former life_. + + Gold, stones becoming, 59 + bricks turned into, 97 + in river, 66 + + Golden wand, 262 + + Grateful animals, 155, 161, 162 + + + Hair, power of, 268, 271 + of Mahádeo, 89, 90 + of gold, 1, 49, 62, 238, 240 + tree split with, 163 + + Hand, star on, 253 + + Handkerchief, 199 + + Harchand Rájá, 68 + + Harichand Rájá, 224 + + Hariçchandra, 265, 266 + + Head, sun on, 1, 242, 253 + becomes a dome, 148 + a house, 5 + a peacock, 244 + + Head-collars, 230 + + Heart becomes tank, 148 + + Horse, hero's, 124, 125, 126, 277, 278 + swallows child alive, 124, 125 + + House, arm or leg changed into, 5 + + Husband, public choice of, 128, 280 + + Husk story, 259 + + + Ikhwán Ussafa cited, 239 + + Indrásan, 93, 243 + + Invisibility caused by feather, 59 + by blowing earth from palm, 140 + + + Jackal, 75, 255 + arbitrates, 16 + cheats the tiger, 17 + its fear of men, 23 + kills kite's sons, 22 + will not fast, 21 + + Jamná, 89, 90 + + + Kettle-drum, 120, 121, 162, 287 + + Khudá, 237 + + Kite worships and fasts, 21 + + Knife, magic, 83, 266 + dipped in blood, 175, 176 + + Knowledge of far-off events, 95, 272 + + Kop Shástra, 225 + + + Lailí, 73 + + Lamnissa, 284 + + Leg becomes pillar, 148 + + Lemon, Rakshases keeping their souls in, 261 + + Leopard tries to kill cat, 19 + + Líchí, 91 + + Life, restoration to, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 22, 26, 71, 78, 83, 84, + 86, 98, 141, 146, 151, 166, 227, 228, 232, 245, 247, 248, 250, + 251, 253, 255, 256, 257, 282, 284, 285 + + Life, former, 115, 276 + + Lips of demons long, 273 + + Little finger, 83, 141, 266, 267, 272 + + Livers, standing on, 10 + + Looking back, prohibited, 141 + danger of, 282 + + Lotus-flower, heroine changed into, 144, 285 + + + Magic gifts, 32, 33, 34 + + Mahádeo, 89, 90, 231, 232 + + Mainá, 148 + advises dog, 18 + demon's soul in, 187, 188 + + Majnún, 73, 266 + + Mangoes, 41 + mango-tree, 202 + mango-stone, consequence of eating, 50 + + Mattresses thrown to save drowning prince, 47 + + Milk sent by God, 146 + of tigress, 178 + + Monkey, 42 + + Moon on hand, 1 + on forehead, 119, 242 + princess shines like, 158 + + Mothers eating sons, 52, 177 + + Mouth, demon's, 185 + + Mouse, 101 + + Music, 93, 243, 287 + + Mustard-seed, oil crushed out of, 160 + + + Nabha, 113 + + Nának, 276 + + Neck, star on, 242 + + Necklace disappears into wall, 229 + reappears, 233 + + Needles, body stuck full of, 165, 287 + + Numbers, sacred, 262 + + + Ointment restoring sight, 56 + + Old woman, _see Former life_. + + + Paper boat, 187, 188, 290 + + Parrot, 148, 153 + + Peacock, head becomes, 244 + + Pearls drop from bird's eyes, 12 + from bird's beak, 254 + + Phaláná country, 73, 74 + + Phúlmati, 240 + + Pigeons, cooked, come to life, 228 + + Pin, in bird's head, 12, 14 + transformation caused by, 254 + + Pit dug for demon's execution, 192 + for Dillus Varvawc, 292 + + Poison, 212 + + Portrait, 223 + + Powder flung in face, 77 + + + Rakshas, 5, 260 + as a goat, 288 + turned into Rání, 51 + + Rat and frog, 24 + + Red cheeks, 93 + + Rejuvenescence by fire, 76 + + Revival of murdered heroines, 244, _see Life_. + + Rice, 289 + night-growing, 184 + + Rig Veda cited, 238, 239 + + Ring, 199, 292 + + Robes of honour, 287 + + Rohú fish, 75 + + Rope and stick-magic, 34, 156 + + Ruby, 65, 66 + falling from beak, 13, 14 + + + Salt, 171, 288 + Princess who loved her father like, 164 + + Sárí, 58 + + Seven children, 51 + queens, 175 + small dolls, 168 + sons, 177 + wives, 41, 51 + + Shahzádá, 271 + + Shekh Faríd, 95, 268, 272 + + Shield full of money, 53, 55, 58 + + Sight restored, 57, 190, 289 + + Silver, _see Charcoal_, _Wand_. + + Singing, hero, 127, 128 + + Skin of monkey, 42 + burnt, 49 + + Sleep, fakír's, 139, 167 + dragon's, 282 + + Snake, 75 + conversing, 204 + + Son-in-law how chosen, 42 + + Soul embodiment 261, _see Birds_, _Cockatoo_, _Lemon_, _Mainá_. + + Soul or life of Rakshas, 56, 57, 261 + + Spell, 91 + + Star on body, 243 + on chin, 119 + on face, 1, 242 + on hands, 253 + on neck, 242 + + Stepmother, 7 + + Stick and rope, magic, 156 + + Stick suspends and restores life, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 186 + + Stones becoming gold, 59 + fates are, 64 + transformation into, 140, 226, 282 + substituted for baby, 121 + + Strength, feats of, 108 + + Strong woman, 108 + + Sugar, _see Ashes_. + + Summer and winter myth, 257 + + Sun on head, 1, 242, 253 + on body, 243 + + Sun jewel-box, 167 + + Sun's rays, 266, 268, 271 + + Svayamvara 280 + + Sweeper, 88 + + + Tank, heart becomes, 148 + + Thorn in tiger's foot, 17, 64, 155 + + Three, 87 + + Tiger, 254, 258 + grateful, 65, 155, 162, 180 + outwitted by barber, 35 + nephew of cat, 15 + stores of, 35, 36, 65, _see Thorn_. + + Transformations, 244, 250, 251, 284, 285 + + Transmigration of souls, 276 + + Tree split with hair, 163 + + Trees, 292 + + Twelve hours, 225 + twelve years, 32, 63, 64, 87, 88, 98, 167, 225, 264 + + + "Uncle" used to propitiate, 54, 262 + + Underground palace, 151 + + + Var[n.]a, 238 + + Viçvamitra, 265 + + Vish[n.]u, 265 + + + Wand, bamboo, 86, 98, 268 + golden, reviving by, 261 + silver, death caused by touching with, 261 + + Water, opening fruit or casket containing maiden near, 284 + + Water-nymphs, 89 + + Water-snake, 53 + + Wax hatchet, 162 + + Weight of heroine, 243 + + Well, fairy living at bottom of, 168 + glittering, 189, 190 + + Wind blowing from demon, 185, 290 + foretelling fall of palace, 205 + + Wishes, 95 + + Wives called Mamma, 86, 87 + + Worship, _see Kite_. + + Wrestlers, 108 + + + Yogí, personating, 198, 214 + + + + LONDON: + GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, + ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Printer errors (for example, omitted or transposed characters) have +been repaired, as have punctuation errors. + +Variable spelling, hyphenation and use of accents are preserved as +printed in quoted material, but have otherwise been made consistent +where there was a clear prevalence of one form over the other. + +Some of the spelling of Hindi words vary from modern spelling, and +these have been preserved as printed. There is also some variation +within the text--for example, dhall is used in the text while the +glossary shows Dál. These are also preserved as printed. + +There are some discrepancies between the title of stories as given in +the index and main text, and in the notes at the end. These have been +preserved as printed. + +Errors in page references in the index have been repaired. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Indian Fairy Tales, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDIAN FAIRY TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 31209-8.txt or 31209-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/0/31209/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Sam W. and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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