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Tales Of The Punjab

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No sooner had he uttered the words, than a dishful of most delicious
sweets appeared on the holy place. These he ate, and then set off to
a city he saw in the distance.

As he entered the gate a proclamation was being made that any one who
would build a palace of gold, with golden stairs, in the middle of the
sea, in the course of one night, should have half the kingdom, and the
King's daughter in marriage; but if he failed, instant death should be
his portion.

Hearing this, the spendthrift Prince went at once to the Court and
declared his readiness to fulfil the conditions.

The King was much surprised at his temerity, and bade him consider
well what he was doing, telling him that many princes had tried to
perform the task before, and showing him a necklace of their heads, in
hopes that the dreadful sight might deter him from his purpose.

But the Prince merely replied that he was not afraid, and that he was
certain he should succeed.

Whereupon the King ordered him to build the palace that very night,
and setting a guard over him, bade the sentries be careful the young
boaster did not run away. Now when evening came, the Prince lay down
calmly to sleep, whereat the guard whispered amongst themselves that
he must be a madman to fling away his life so uselessly.
Nevertheless, with the first streak of dawn the Prince arose, and
making a holy place, laid the ring in the centre, sprinkled it with
buttermilk, and cried, 'O ring, I want a palace of gold, with golden
stairs, in the midst of the sea!'

And lo! there in the sea it stood, all glittering in the sunshine.
Seeing this, the guard ran to tell the King, who could scarcely
believe his eyes when he and all his Court came to the spot and beheld
the golden palace.

Nevertheless, as the Prince had fulfilled his promise, the King
performed his, and gave his daughter in marriage, and half his
kingdom, to the spendthrift.

'I don't want your kingdom, or your daughter either!' said the
Prince. 'I will take the palace I have built in the sea as my
reward.'

So he went to dwell there, but when they sent the Princess to him, he
relented, seeing her beauty; and so they were married and lived very
happily together.

Now, when the Prince went out a-hunting he took his dog with him, but
he left the cat and the parrot in the palace, to amuse the Princess;
nevertheless, one day, when he returned, he found her very sad and
sorrowful, and when he begged her to tell him what was the matter, she
said, 'O dear Prince, I wish to be turned into gold by the power of
the magic ring by which you built this glittering golden palace.'

So, to please her, he made a holy place, put the ring in the centre,
sprinkled it with buttermilk, and cried, 'O ring, turn my wife into
gold!'

No sooner had he said the words than his wish was accomplished, and
his wife became a golden Princess.

Now, when the golden Princess was washing her beautiful golden hair
one day, two long glittering hairs came out in the comb. She looked
at them, regretting that there were no poor people near to whom she
might have given the golden strands; then, determining they should not
be lost, she made a cup of green leaves, and curling the hairs inside
it, set it afloat upon the sea.

As luck would have it, after drifting hither and thither, it reached a
distant shore where a washerman was at work. The poor man, seeing the
wonderful gold hairs, took them to the King, hoping for a reward; and
the King in his turn showed them to his son, who was so much struck by
the sight that he lay down on a dirty old bed, to mark his extreme
grief and despair, and, refusing to eat or drink anything, swore he
must marry the owner of the beautiful golden hair, or die.

The King, greatly distressed at his son's state, cast about how he
should find the golden-haired Princess, and after calling his
ministers and nobles to help him, came to the conclusion that it would
be best to employ a wise woman. So he called the wisest woman in the
land to him, and she promised to find the Princess, on condition of
the King, in his turn, promising to give her anything she desired as a
reward.

Then the wise woman caused a golden barge to be made, and in the barge
a silken cradle swinging from silken ropes. When all was ready, she
set off in the direction whence the leafy cup had come, taking with
her four boatmen, whom she trained carefully always to stop rowing
when she put up her finger, and go on as long as she kept it down.

After a long while they came in sight of the golden palace, which the
wise woman guessed at once must belong to the golden Princess; so,
putting up her finger, the boatmen ceased rowing, and the wise woman,
stepping out of the boat, went swiftly into the palace. There she saw
the golden Princess, sitting on a golden throne; and going up to her,
she laid her hands upon the Princess's head, as is the custom when
relatives visit each other; afterwards she kissed her and petted her,
saying, 'Dearest niece! do you not know me? I am your aunt.'

But the Princess at first drew back, and said she had never seen or
heard of such an aunt. Then the wise woman explained how she had left
home years before, and made up such a cunning, plausible story that
the Princess, who was only too glad to get a companion, really
believed what she said, and invited her to stop a few days in the
palace.

Now, as they sat talking together, the wise woman asked the Princess
if she did not find it dull alone in the palace in the midst of the
sea, and inquired how they managed to live there without servants, and
how the Prince her husband came and went. Then the Princess told her
about the wonderful ring the Prince wore day and night, and how by its
help they had everything heart could desire.

On this, the pretended aunt looked very grave, and suggested the
terrible plight in which the Princess would be left should the Prince
come to harm while away from her. She spoke so earnestly that the
Princess became quite alarmed, and the same evening, when her husband
returned, she said to him, 'Husband, I wish you would give me the ring
to keep while you are away a-hunting, for if you were to come to harm,
what would become of me alone in this sea-girt palace?'

So, next morning, when the Prince went a-hunting, he left the magical
ring in his wife's keeping.

As soon as the wicked wise woman knew that the ring was really in the
possession of the Princess, she persuaded her to go down the golden
stairs to the sea, and look at the golden boat with the silken cradle;
so, by coaxing words and cunning arts the golden Princess was
inveigled into the boat, in order to have a tiny sail on the sea; but
no sooner was her prize safe in the silken cradle, than the pretended
aunt turned down her finger, and the boatmen immediately began to row
swiftly away.

Soon the Princess begged to be taken back, but the wise woman only
laughed, and answered all the poor girl's tears and prayers with slaps
and harsh words. At last they arrived at the royal city, where great
rejoicings arose when the news was noised abroad that the wise woman
had returned with the golden bride for the love-sick Prince.
Nevertheless, despite all entreaties, the Princess refused even to
look at the Prince for six months; if in that time, she said, her
husband did not claim her, she might think of marriage, but until then
she would not hear of it.

To this the Prince agreed, seeing that six months was not a very long
time to wait; besides, he knew that even should her husband or any
other guardian turn up, nothing was easier than to kill them, and so
get rid both of them and their claims.

Meanwhile, the spendthrift Prince having returned from hunting, called
out as usual to his wife on reaching the golden stairs, but received
no answer; then, entering the palace, he found no one there save the
parrot, which flew towards him and said, 'O master, the Princess's
aunt came here, and has carried her off in a golden boat.'

Hearing this, the poor Prince fell to the ground in a fit, and would
not be consoled. At last, however, he recovered a little, when the
parrot, to comfort him, bade him wait there while it flew away over
the sea to gather news of the lost bride.

So the faithful parrot flew from land to land, from city to city, from
house to house, until it saw the glitter of the Princess's golden
hair. Then it fluttered down beside her and bidding her be of good
courage, for it had come to help her, asked for the magic ring.
Whereupon the golden Princess wept more than ever, for she knew the
wise woman kept the ring in her mouth day and night, and that none
could take it from her.

However, when the parrot consulted the cat, which had accompanied the
faithful bird, the crafty creature declared nothing could be easier.

'All the Princess has to do,' said the cat, 'is to ask the wise woman
to give her rice for supper tonight, and instead of eating it all, she
must scatter some in front of the rat-hole in her room. The rest is
my business, and yours.'

So that night the Princess had rice for supper, and instead of eating
it all, she scattered some before the rat-hole. Then she went to bed,
and slept soundly, and the wise woman snored beside her. By and by,
when all was quiet, the rats came out to eat up the rice, when the
cat, with one bound, pounced on the one which had the longest tail,
and carrying it to where the wise woman lay snoring with her mouth
open, thrust the tail up her nose. She woke with a most terrific
sneeze, and the ring flew out of her mouth on to the floor. Before
she could turn, the parrot seized it in his beak, and, without pausing
a moment, flew back with it to his master the spendthrift Prince, who
had nothing to do but make a holy place, lay the ring in the centre,
sprinkle it with buttermilk, and say, 'O ring, I want my wife!' and
there she was, as beautiful as ever, and overjoyed at seeing the
golden palace and her dear husband once more.




THE JACKAL AND THE PEA-HEN


Once upon a time a Jackal and a Pea-hen swore eternal friendship.
Every day they had their meals together, and spent hours in pleasant
conversation.

Now, one day, the Pea-hen had juicy plums for dinner, and the Jackal,
for his part, had as juicy a young kid; so they enjoyed themselves
immensely. But when the feast was over, the Pea-hen rose gravely,
and, after scratching up the ground, carefully sowed all the
plum-stones in a row.

'It is my custom to do so when I eat plums,' she said, with quite an
aggravating air of complacent virtue; 'my mother, good creature,
brought me up in excellent habits, and with her dying breath bade me
never be wasteful. Now these stones will grow into trees, the fruit
of which, even if I do not live to see the day, will afford a meal to
many a hungry peacock.'

These words made the Jackal feel rather mean, so he answered loftily,
'Exactly so! I always plant my bones for the same reason.' And he
carefully dug up a piece of ground, and sowed the bones of the kid at
intervals.

After this, the pair used to come every day and look at their gardens;
by and by the plum-stones shot into tender green stems, but the bones
made never a sign.

'Bones do take a long time germinating,' remarked the Jackal,
pretending to be quite at his ease; 'I have known them remain
unchanged in the ground for months.'

'My dear sir,' answered the Pea-hen, with ill-concealed irony,
'_I_ have known them remain so for _years_!'

So time passed on, and every day, when they visited the garden, the
self-complacent Pea-hen became more and more sarcastic, the Jackal
more and more savage.

At last the plum-trees blossomed and bore fruit, and the Pea-hen sat
down to a perfect feast of ripe juicy plums.

'He! he!' sniggered she to the Jackal, who, having been unsuccessful
in hunting that day, stood by dinnerless, hungry, and in consequence
very cross; 'what a time those old bones of yours do take in coming
up! But when they do, my! what a crop you'll have!'

The Jackal was bursting with rage, but she wouldn't take warning, and
went on: 'Poor dear! you do look hungry! There seems some chance of
your starving before harvest. What a pity it is you can't eat plums
in the meantime!'

'If I can't eat plums, I can eat the plum-eater!' quoth the Jackal;
and with that he pounced on the Pea-hen, and gobbled her up.

_Moral_--It is never safe to be wiser than one's friends.

[Illustration: It is never safe to be wiser than ones friends. ]




THE GRAIN OF CORN


Once upon a time a farmer's wife was winnowing corn, when a crow,
flying past, swooped off with a grain from the winnowing basket and
perched on a tree close by to eat it. The farmer's wife, greatly
enraged, flung a clod at the bird with so good an aim that the crow
fell to the ground, dropping the grain of corn, which rolled into a
crack in the tree. The farmer's wife, seeing the crow fall, ran up to
it, and seizing it by the tail, cried, 'Give me back my grain of corn,
or I will kill you!'

The wretched bird, in fear of death, promised to do so, but, lo and
behold! when he came to search for the grain, it had rolled so far
into the crack that neither by beak nor claw could he reach it.

So he flew off to a woodman, and said--

'Man! man! cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the woodman refused to cut the tree; so the crow flew on to the
King's palace, and said--

'King! king! kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn.
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the King refused to kill the man; so the crow flew on to the
Queen, and said--

'Queen! Queen! coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the Queen refused to coax the King; so the crow flew on till he
met a snake, and said--

'Snake! snake! bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the snake refused to bite the Queen; so the crow flew on till he
met a stick, and said--

'Stick! stick! beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the stick refused to beat the snake; so the crow flew on till he
saw a fire, and said--

'Fire! fire! burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the fire refused to burn the stick; so the crow flew on till he
met some water, and said--

'Water! water! quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the water refused to quench the fire; so the crow flew on till he
met an ox, and said--

'Ox! ox! drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the ox refused to drink the water; so the crow flew on till he met
a rope, and said--

'Rope! rope! bind ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the rope wouldn't bind the ox; so the crow flew on till he met a
mouse, and said--

'Mouse! mouse! gnaw rope;
Rope won't bind ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the mouse wouldn't gnaw the rope; so the crow flew on until he met
a cat, and said--

'Cat! cat! catch mouse;
Mouse won't gnaw rope;
Rope won't bind ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
And I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

The moment the cat heard the name of mouse, she was after it; for the
world will come to an end before a cat will leave a mouse alone.

'So the cat began to catch the mouse,
The mouse began to gnaw the rope,
The rope began to bind the ox,
The ox began to drink the water,
The water began to quench the fire,
The fire began to burn the stick,
The stick began to beat the snake,
The snake began to bite the Queen,
The Queen began to coax the King,
The King began to kill the man,
The man began to cut the tree;
So the crow got the grain of corn,
And saved his life from the farmer's wife!'




THE FARMER AND THE MONEY-LENDER


There was once a farmer who suffered much at the hands of a
money-lender. Good harvests, or bad, the farmer was always poor, the
moneylender rich. At last, when he hadn't a farthing left, the farmer
went to the moneylender's house, and said, 'You can't squeeze water
from a stone, and as you have nothing to get by me now, you might tell
me the secret of becoming rich.'

'My friend,' returned the money-lender piously, 'riches come from
Ram--ask _him_.'

'Thank you, I will!' replied the simple farmer; so he prepared three
girdle-cakes to last him on the journey, and set out to find Ram.

First he met a Brâhman, and to him he gave a cake, asking him to point
out the road to Ram; but the Brâhman only took the cake and went on
his way without a word. Next the farmer met a Jôgi or devotee, and to
him he gave a cake, without receiving any help in return. At last, he
came upon a poor man sitting under a tree, and finding out he was
hungry, the kindly farmer gave him his last cake, and sitting down to
rest beside him, entered into conversation.

'And where are you going?' asked the poor man at length.

'Oh, I have a long journey before me, for I am going to find Ram!'
replied the farmer. 'I don't suppose you could tell me which way to
go?'

'Perhaps I can,' said the poor man, smiling, 'for _I_ am Ram!
What do you want of me?'

Then the farmer told the whole story, and Ram, taking pity on him,
gave him a conch shell, and showed him how to blow it in a particular
way, saying, 'Remember! whatever you wish for, you have only to blow
the conch that way, and your wish will be fulfilled. Only have a care
of that money-lender, for even magic is not proof against their
wiles!'

The farmer went back to his village rejoicing. In fact the
money-lender noticed his high spirits at once, and said to himself,
'Some good fortune must have befallen the stupid fellow, to make him
hold his head so jauntily.' Therefore he went over to the simple
farmer's house, and congratulated him on his good fortune, in such
cunning words, pretending to have heard all about it, that before long
the farmer found himself telling the whole story--all except the
secret of blowing the conch, for, with all his simplicity, the farmer
was not quite such a fool as to tell that.

Nevertheless, the money-lender determined to have the conch by hook or
by crook, and as he was villain enough not to stick at trifles, he
waited for a favourable opportunity and stole it.

But, after nearly bursting himself with blowing the thing in every
conceivable way, he was obliged to give up the secret as a bad job.
However, being determined to succeed, he went back to the farmer, and
said, 'Now, my friend! I've got your conch, but I can't use it; you
haven't got it, so it's clear you can't use it either. The matter is
at a standstill unless we make a bargain. Now, I promise to give you
back your conch, and never to interfere with your using it, on one
condition, which is this,--whatever you get from it, I am to get
double.'

'Never!' cried the farmer; 'that would be the old business all over
again!'

'Not at all!' replied the wily money-lender; 'you will have your
share! Now, don't be a dog in the manger, for if _you_ get all
you want, what can it matter to you if _I_ am rich or poor?'

At last, though it went sorely against the grain to be of any benefit
to a money-lender, the farmer was forced to yield, and from that time,
no matter what he gained by the power of the conch, the money-lender
gained double. And the knowledge that this was so preyed upon the
farmer's mind day and night, until he had no satisfaction out of
anything he did get.

At last there came a very dry season,--so dry that the farmer's crops
withered for want of rain. Then he blew his conch, and wished for a
well to water them, and, lo! there was the well. _But the
money-lender had two!_--two beautiful new wells! This was too much
for any farmer to stand; and our friend brooded over it, and brooded
over it, till at last a bright idea came into his head. He seized the
conch, blew it loudly, and cried out, 'O Ram, I wish to be blind of
one eye!' And so he was, in a twinkling, but the money-lender, of
course, was blind of both eyes, and in trying to steer his way between
the two new wells, he fell into one and was drowned.

Now this true story shows that a farmer once got the better of a
money-lender; but only by losing one of his eyes!




THE LORD OF DEATH


Once upon a time there was a road, and every one who travelled along
it died. Some folk said they were killed by a snake, others said by a
scorpion, but certain it is they all died.

Now a very old man was travelling along the road, and being tired, sat
down on a stone to rest; when suddenly, close beside him, he saw a
scorpion as big as a cock, which, while he looked at it, changed into
a horrible snake. He was wonderstruck, and as the creature glided
away, he determined to follow it at a little distance, and so find out
what it really was.

So the snake sped on day and night, and behind it followed the old man
like a shadow. Once it went into an inn, and killed several
travellers; another time it slid into the King's house and killed
him. Then it crept up the waterspout to the Queen's palace, and
killed the King's youngest daughter. So it passed on, and wherever it
went the sound of weeping and wailing arose, and the old man followed
it, silent as a shadow.

Suddenly the road became a broad, deep, swift river, on the banks of
which sat some poor travellers who longed to cross over, but had no
money to pay the ferry. Then the snake changed into a handsome
buffalo, with a brass necklace and bells round its neck, and stood by
the brink of the stream. When the poor travellers saw this, they
said, 'This beast is going to swim to its home across the river; let
us get on its back, and hold on to its tail, so that we too shall get
over the stream.'

Then they climbed on its back and held by its tail, and the buffalo
swam away with them bravely; but when it reached the middle, it began
to kick, until they tumbled off, or let go, and were all drowned.

When the old man, who had crossed the river in a boat, reached the
other side, the buffalo had disappeared, and in its stead stood a
beautiful ox. Seeing this handsome creature wandering about, a
peasant, struck with covetousness, lured it to his home. It was very
gentle, suffering itself to be tied up with the other cattle; but in
the dead of night it changed into a snake, bit all the flocks and
herds, and then, creeping into the house, killed all the sleeping
folk, and crept away. But behind it the old man still followed, as
silent as a shadow.

Presently they came to another river, where the snake changed itself
into the likeness of a beautiful young girl, fair to see, and covered
with costly jewels. After a while, two brothers, soldiers, came by,
and as they approached the girl, she began to weep bitterly.

'What is the matter?' asked the brothers; 'and why do you, so young
and beautiful, sit by the river alone?'

Then the snake-girl answered, 'My husband was even now taking me home;
and going down to the stream to look for the ferry-boat, fell to
washing his face, when he slipped in, and was drowned. So I have
neither husband nor relations!'

'Do not fear!' cried the elder of the two brothers, who had become
enamoured of her beauty; 'come with me, and I will marry you.'

'On one condition,' answered the girl: 'you must never ask me to do
any household work; and no matter for what I ask, you must give it
me.'

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