‘Do you realise what you have done, Your Majesty?’ cried the parrot. ‘The horse has lost its powers and will need six months to recover. And where will it find the special food it needs to regain its strength?’
The king bitterly regretted his mistake, but there was nothing to be done. They spent the night uncomfortably on the hard forest floor and awoke the next morning to the sound of human voices. The old king of that country had come out hunting, and when his eye fell on the beautiful princess, he said, ‘Come with me, lovely lady. I will make you my queen.’
‘No!’ said the princess.
But he had a whole army of attendants with him. ‘Seize her,’ he commanded them. ‘And take the horse, too.’
The young prince fought with all his might to protect his beloved princess, but the attendants overpowered him and blinded him. Then they made off with the princess and the horse, leaving the young man sorely wounded and with no one but the parrot to help him. He was in despair, but the parrot said, ‘Do not worry, Your Majesty. Things will work out sooner or later.’
Meanwhile, the princess had arrived at the wicked king’s palace and was trying to think of a way to avoid marrying him. Remembering that the parrot had told her that the pakshiraj would take six months to recover its powers, she said, ‘Your Majesty, I have taken a six-month vow of devotion to Lord Shiva. During this time I cannot marry anyone.’
The old king had no choice but to agree. ‘I will wait, O Lovely Lady,’ he said. He gave her a luxurious palace to live in, with many servants to guard her and attend to her needs.
For six months, the princess pretended to engage in rituals. She visited the flying horse often and made sure it received its fill of the finest grain, along with a daily pinch of saffron.
Longing for news of the wounded king in the forest, the princess began to spread grain for the birds, hoping that the parrot would hear of the fine food and turn up. She was overjoyed to see a flash of emerald fluttering among the birds one day.
‘Six months are almost over,’ she told the parrot, after they had exchanged news. ‘I must get away from here. The pakshiraj is recovering its strength. But … if only we could cure the king somehow!’
‘I know of a way,’ said the parrot slowly. ‘In your country, there lives a magic bird with gold-tipped wings who possesses the power to cure blindness. I will fly there and persuade her to come and heal the king. In the meantime, you must escape to the forest on the flying horse.’
The next morning, the parrot flew off to find the magic bird. He came across her sitting in the tree outside the palace gates. When the parrot told the bird all that had happened, she said, ‘Why should I come so far to cure the man who carried off our princess?’
‘Because your princess loves him and plans to marry him,’ replied the parrot. ‘Don’t be so selfish. Didn’t you eat the grain she scattered every day when she lived here?’
‘Yes, I did,’ said the bird in some embarrassment. ‘You are right. I will come.’ Spreading her gold-tipped wings, she flew off to the forest with the parrot.
They found the king sitting despondently under a tree. ‘I thought you had abandoned me,’ he cried upon hearing the parrot’s voice.
Immediately, the magic bird flew to the young man and touched his eyes with her wings.
‘What is this? What is touching my eyes?’ the king murmured. Then suddenly, he cried out, ‘Oh, I can see! I can see again!’
And at that very moment, the princess arrived on the flying horse. She dismounted and ran up to the king, and they greeted each other with tears of joy. Then they turned to thank the magic bird, who agreed to take news of the princess back to his kingdom.
With the parrot on his shoulder, the king and his wise and beautiful princess wasted no time in mounting the pakshiraj and flying to the king’s country. Shortly afterwards, the two lovers were married amidst great rejoicing. As for the parrot, he remained always with the king and queen as their chief adviser, and the three of them led a long and happy life.
Night into Day
One day, young Prince Ripudaman went out hunting with his companions. While pursuing a stag, the prince got separated from the rest of the company. Intent on his prey, he didn’t notice that daylight was beginning to fade. Soon, the stag vanished into a thicket so dense that the prince could not follow. Disappointed, he turned his horse around and, realising he was all alone, whistled to signal to his companions. When no one replied, the prince shouted as loudly as he could. But all he heard was the shrill twitter of birds settling down for the night and the occasional sharp chatter of a monkey.
The prince quickly retraced his steps, but night was closing in rapidly. Soon he realised he was lost, without any hope of finding his companions until morning.
Just as he had resigned himself to spending a night in the forest, he noticed a faint light filtering through the trees. He rode towards it eagerly and, in a short time, found himself at the edge of the forest.
‘How can this be!’ he exclaimed, blinking in astonishment. It was pitch dark in the forest, but before him stretched a world filled with sunlight.
Wonderstruck, he rode on and entered the gates of a beautiful city. The streets buzzed with activity – people buying and selling, labourers carrying goods to and fro, hawkers calling out their wares. Unable to restrain his curiosity, the prince alighted at a shop and asked the owner, ‘How is it that the sun shines here while it is still night in the forest?’
The man smiled. ‘It is obvious you come from a distant kingdom, stranger,’ he said. ‘You have not heard of the City of Perpetual Light and our wondrous Princess Ujjwala – the Shining Princess. It is she who turns night into day.’
‘The Shining Princess? No, I have not heard of her. How does she turn night into day?’
‘She has special powers,’ said the shopkeeper. ‘Every evening, she bathes with 21 golden pots of water and goes up to the highest point of the palace. At once, light floods the city and darkness flees.’
‘Truly wondrous,’ said the prince. ‘I must go and see this princess for myself.’
So he galloped off towards the palace. When he reached it, he saw the princess standing on the terrace, shining like a jewel – no, a star. Dazzled by her beauty, he vowed to marry her and no other!
Immediately, he sought an audience with the king and presented himself as a suitor for the princess’s hand.
‘There is just one condition,’ said the king. ‘If you can supply the city with 21 wells of drinking water, Princess Ujjwala will be yours.’
‘A very small task in exchange for an extraordinary princess,’ said Prince Ripudaman, and he bowed low and hurried out.
The prince wasted no time arranging for labourers to dig the first well. However, as soon as it was complete and the second well begun, a strange thing happened. The first well started to fill up with earth, and soon it was as if it had never been dug at all!
Mystified, the prince directed his men to continue digging. But again, as soon as the second well was complete, it began to fill up too.
Little did the prince know that Princess Ujjwala’s father was a sorcerer. The king did not want his daughter to marry and go away, because then his kingdom would lose its source of light. So, using his magic powers, he was filling up the wells over and over again.
But Ripudaman was determined to wed the princess. He told his men to keep on digging, no matter how fast the wells filled up behind them.
When he ran out of money to pay the labourers, the prince sold the string of matchless pearls he wore around his neck. Then he sold the gleaming diamond studs on his brocade coat and a ruby as large as a pigeon’s egg from his turban. Next to go were his sparkling rings and the buckle of his waistband. After that, he was forced to sell his jewelled dagger. Then he had nothing left.
Still desperate to marry the princess, the prince picked up a spade himself and began digging.
Now Ujjwala had seen many suitors come and go, and their failure had not trou
bled her. But as she watched Ripudaman toiling in the hot sun, she felt something move in her heart. Nobody else had been so determined to win her. Knowing that he could never prevail against her father’s magic, she decided to help him.
She took a magic ring from her finger and asked her most trusted maid to carry it to the prince. ‘Tell him to throw it into the well as soon as he finishes digging it,’ the princess said. ‘But make sure no one sees you!’
The maid did as the princess commanded. So did the prince. As soon as he threw the ring in the well, 21 wells filled with the sweetest water sprang up around the city.
The king had to fulfil his promise though he knew he had been out-magicked. He pretended to be happy, however, and an auspicious day was chosen for the marriage.
The night before the wedding, the king told the princess, ‘My dear, this evening you must bathe with water from the wells your betrothed has dug.’
The princess happily agreed. Twenty-one pots of water were drawn from the 21 wells. But as the maid poured the first pot over her, the princess saw a cloud darken the sky. She shivered, but thinking it was because the water was cold, she asked her maid to pour the second and third pots over her, then the fourth and the fifth …
But the maid’s hand shook, and when she came to the 11th pot, she stopped and cried out, ‘Please, Your Highness, I cannot pour any more of this water over you!’
‘Are you out of your mind?’ cried the princess. ‘You must. Kindly continue.’
‘Please—,’ begged the maid. ‘Please, I cannot.’
‘You will do as I say,’ the princess commanded haughtily, ‘or you will be punished severely.’ So the maid was forced to continue.
But she shuddered as she did so, because with each pot of water, the princess seemed to age. Wrinkles appeared on her smooth, fresh face, her hair turned grey, her beauty vanished. Worse, little by little, her light began to die. And when the 21st pot of water was emptied on her, her light went out completely.
The princess, not knowing that her father had bewitched the water, went up to the terrace as usual. Only when darkness began to flow around her did a terrible fear strike her heart. Horror-struck, she ran screaming to her room.
The prince, too, saw the gathering darkness, and his heart turned cold. He fashioned a torch to light his way and rushed to the palace.
He asked for the princess. But when she came before him, he cried out in a rage, ‘Who is this hag? This is not the princess. Where is Princess Ujjwala?’
‘This is the princess,’ said the king with a mocking smile. ‘Only changed somewhat.’
‘It cannot be!’ cried the prince.
Princess Ujjwala turned away, shedding bitter tears, while the prince stormed out, full of despair. Not for a moment did he believe that this old woman was his beloved Princess Ujjwala.
Now the City of Perpetual Light turned into the City of Darkness, because the people possessed no lamps, no candles, no source of light at all. Pitying their plight, the prince set aside his sorrow and began to make torches and improvise lamps.
‘Who has done this?’ the princess asked her maid when she saw lights slowly springing up all over the city the next night.
‘It’s the prince,’ said the girl.
‘Ah,’ sighed the princess. ‘He is lighting up the whole city while I am left in darkness.’
‘But, Your Highness,’ the maid consoled her, ‘at least there’s a full moon tonight.’
‘A full moon!’ cried the princess. ‘To the well – quickly!’
She knew that on the night of the full moon, the well would return her magic ring. She also knew that the ring had the power to overcome her father’s spell. It was her only chance.
When she looked into the well, she saw the full moon reflected like a silver plate floating on a pool of ink. Just as the moon reached the exact centre, the princess saw something glimmering – her ring!
She reached out and grasped it. Slipping the ring on her finger, she muttered an incantation. Instantly, her youth and beauty returned.
‘Go and find the prince,’ she told the maid.
But the prince was already on his way to the palace, and behind him thronged the people of the city.
‘Your Majesty,’ they told the king, ‘Prince Ripudaman truly deserves to wed the princess. He has restored light to the city.’
‘He can have her,’ said the wicked king. ‘Call the princess here.’
To his astonishment, when the princess appeared, she was as radiant and youthful as ever. This time, the king had to allow the marriage and everyone in the city rejoiced.
Roll My Pumpkin!
An old woman had a married daughter who lived in a distant village. One day, she decided to go and visit her. The path went through a dense forest, which was full of wild animals. But the old woman had not met her daughter for a long time, so she decided to take a chance.
She set off bright and early. As she was hurrying along the narrow path, suddenly a tiger stepped out of the bushes. ‘What a find!’ It bared its teeth in a menacing smile. ‘Where are you off to, Granny, in such haste?’ it asked. ‘Wherever it be, you are not going to reach. You’ve arrived just in time for my breakfast.’
The old woman’s heart stood still, but she tried to look cool. ‘Dear Grandson,’ she said, returning its smile, ‘you are most welcome to eat me if you wish. But will these dry old bones be enough for you? I am going to visit my daughter and will return exactly a month from now. It’s better that you wait till then. She’ll cook all kinds of delicious food for me, and I’ll become nice and plump. You can have a hearty meal then.’
The tiger swished its tale in thought. ‘There seems to be some sense in what you’re saying,’ it replied. ‘All right, Granny. I’ll wait for you to come back, exactly one month from now. But no tricks! You won’t get away from me!’
Breathing a sigh of relief, the old woman sped through the forest. But after she had gone some distance, a crashing sound startled her. She stopped to see what it was. A huge black bear came lumbering out from between the dense oak trees. Her heart jumped into her mouth, but she gritted her teeth and pretended to smile. The bear growled, ‘Aha, Granny, good to see you! Where are you off to? Well … I don’t think you’re going to reach that place. I’ve been sleeping for a long time, and now my stomach is growling so loudly that I’m deaf to everything else. You appeared like the answer to a prayer!’
‘Is that so, dear Grandson?’ the old woman said with a laugh. Then she sighed deeply and said, ‘Look how skinny my arm is! Will these few old bones fill your big belly? They might just tickle your appetite and make you hungrier. What’ll you do then?’
The bear snarled. ‘Are you trying to get clever with me?’
‘No, no, my child, why would I do that? I would be only too happy to feed you,’ said the clever old woman. ‘But if you really want to feast off me, you should wait till I return from my daughter’s house. She’s an excellent cook and my mouth is watering at the thought of all the tasty food I’ll eat there. These dry bones will get covered with juicy flesh, and you’ll have an excellent meal when I return, exactly a month from now.’
The bear nodded slowly. ‘Maybe you are right, Granny,’ it said. ‘As they say, one should be patient and let fruit ripen properly. Then you can enjoy its sweetness. Have a good time at your daughter’s. But don’t forget, I’ll be waiting for you. Right here.’
What a stroke of luck, thought the old woman, sending up a silent prayer. She tried to quicken her pace, but the forest was large, and to her dismay, another fierce animal suddenly appeared on her path.
A lion! How could she not gasp with fright?
‘Scared you, Granny?’ boomed the lion, tossing its mane. ‘Ha, ha! What excellent timing! I feasted on a deer an hour back and am in the mood for a light snack now. You’ll do just fine.’
The old woman pretended to laugh too. ‘Ha, ha, you are a great one for joking, Grandson. But you are right, these old bones will just be a
light snack for you. Only if—’
‘Only if what?’ roared the lion. ‘Tell me quickly. No one dares play the fool with me! No one!’
‘I-I only meant, dear Grandson, that if you could wait till I returned from my daughter’s house … instead of a light snack, I could provide you with a sumptuous meal.’ She stuck out a bony arm and said, ‘Look at this. I’m a poor old woman living all alone on two dry chapattis a day. But my daughter owns several cows. At her place, I’ll feast on kheer every day, and everything I eat will be soaked in ghee. When I return, one month later, I’ll be so fat that you’ll probably not be able to recognise me.’
The lion’s mouth was watering already. ‘Why wouldn’t I be able to recognise you?’ it growled. ‘I’ll be waiting here, on this very path. And I will have my feast!’
Luckily for her, the old woman had almost crossed the forest by this point. So she now began to run. What a relief when she set her eyes on terraced fields and little houses with sloping roofs in the distance! She had arrived at her daughter’s village.
Her daughter and son-in-law welcomed her most affectionately. But she didn’t tell them about the adventures she had had on the way. She tried to forget them in the company of her grandchildren. But at the back of her mind, a question nagged her – would she survive her return trip?
As the days went by, she became more and more anxious.
Then one day, her daughter asked, ‘Mother, what’s the matter with you? Are you ill by any chance? I cook all kinds of delicious food for you but you’re getting thinner with every passing day. Is something troubling you?’
With a heavy heart, the old woman told her about the three ferocious beasts—the tiger, the bear and the lion—whom she had escaped with such difficulty. ‘Dear child,’ she said, ‘somehow I might manage to get away from one of them. But how will I escape the other two? I’m so worried that I cannot enjoy all this delicious food you cook for me.’
Sacked! Folk Tales You Can Carry Around Page 2