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Tales Of The Punjab

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Prince Lionheart and the Carpenter had not journeyed far ere they came
to a big town, where they halted to rest; and as luck would have it
the Carpenter fell in love with the fairest maiden in the city, who
was as beautiful as the moon and all the stars. He began to sigh and
grumble over the good fortune of the Knifegrinder and the Blacksmith,
and wish that he too could find a kingdom and a lovely bride, until
his master took pity on him, and sending for the chief inhabitants,
told them who he was, and ordered them to make the Carpenter king, and
marry him to the maiden of his choice.

This order they obeyed, for Prince Lionheart's fame had been noised
abroad, and they feared his displeasure; so when the marriage was
over, and the Carpenter duly established as king, Prince Lionheart
went forth on his journey alone, after giving a barley plant, as he
had done before, by which his prosperity or misfortune might be known.

Having journeyed for a long time, he came at last to a river, and as
he sat resting on the bank, what was his astonishment to see a ruby of
enormous size floating down the stream! Then another, and another
drifted past him, each of huge size and glowing hue! Wonderstruck, he
determined to find out whence they came. So he travelled up stream
for two days and two nights, watching the rubies sweep by in the
current, until he came to a beautiful marble palace built close to the
water's edge. Gay gardens surrounded it, marble steps led down to the
river, where, on a magnificent tree which stretched its branches over
the stream, hung a golden basket. Now if Prince Lionheart had been
wonderstruck before, what was his astonishment when he saw that the
basket contained the head of the most lovely, the most beautiful, the
most perfect young Princess that ever was seen! The eyes were closed,
the golden hair fluttered in the breeze, and every minute from the
slender throat a drop of crimson blood fell into the water, and
changing into a ruby, drifted down the stream!

Prince Lionheart was overcome with pity at this heartrending sight;
tears rose to his eyes, and he determined to search through the palace
for some explanation of the beautiful mysterious head.

So he wandered through richly-decorated marble halls, through carved
galleries and spacious corridors, without seeing a living creature,
until he came to a sleeping-room hung with silver tissue, and there,
on a white satin bed, lay the headless body of a young and beautiful
girl! One glance convinced him that it belonged to the exquisite head
he had seen swinging in the golden basket by the river-side, and,
urged by the desire to see the two lovely portions united, he set off
swiftly to the tree, soon returning with the basket in his hand. He
placed the head gently on the severed throat, when, lo and behold!
they joined together in a trice and the beautiful maiden started up to
life once more. The Prince was overjoyed, and, falling on his knees,
begged the lovely girl to tell him who she was, and how she came to be
alone in the mysterious palace. She informed him that she was a
king's daughter, with whom a wicked Jinn had fallen in love, in
consequence of which passion he had carried her off by his magical
arts: and being desperately jealous, never left her without first
cutting off her head, and hanging it up in the golden basket until his
return.

Prince Lionheart, hearing this cruel story, besought the beautiful
Princess to fly with him without delay, but she assured him they must
first kill the Jinn, or they would never succeed in making their
escape. So she promised to coax the Jinn into telling her the secret
of his life, and in the meantime bade the Prince cut off her head once
more, and replace it in the golden basket, so that her cruel gaoler
might not suspect anything.

The poor Prince could hardly bring himself to perform so dreadful a
task, but seeing it was absolutely necessary, he shut his eyes from
the heartrending sight, and with one blow of his sharp bright sword
cut off his dear Princess's head, and after returning the golden
basket to its place, hid himself in a closet hard by the
sleeping-room.

By and by the Jinn arrived, and, putting on the Princess's head once
more, cried angrily, 'Fee! fa! fum! This room smells of man's flesh!'

Then the Princess pretended to weep, saying, 'Do not be angry with me,
good Jinn, for how can I know aught? Am I not dead whilst you are
away? Eat me if you like, but do not be angry with me!'

Whereupon the Jinn, who loved her to distraction, swore he would
rather die himself than kill her.

'That would be worse for me!' answered the girl, 'for if you were to
die while you are away from here, it would be very awkward for me: I
should be neither dead nor alive.'

'Don't distress yourself!' returned the Jinn; 'I am not likely to be
killed, for my life lies in something very safe.'

'I hope so, I am sure!' replied the Princess,' but I believe you only
say that to comfort me. I shall never be content until you tell me
where it lies, then I can judge for myself if it is safe.'

At first the Jinn refused, but the Princess coaxed and wheedled so
prettily, and he began to get so very sleepy, that at last he replied,
'I shall never be killed except by a Prince called Lionheart; nor by
him unless he can find the solitary tree, where a dog and a horse keep
sentinel day and night. Even then he must pass these warders unhurt,
climb the tree, kill the starling which sits singing in a golden cage
on the topmost branch, tear open its crop, and destroy the bumble bee
it contains. So I am safe; for it would need a lion's heart, or great
wisdom, to reach the tree and overcome its guardians.'

'How are they to be overcome?' pleaded the Princess; 'tell me that,
and I shall be satisfied.'

The Jinn, who was more than half asleep, and quite tired of being
cross-questioned, answered drowsily, 'In front of the horse lies a
heap of bones, and in front of the dog a heap of grass. Whoever takes
a long stick and changes the heaps, so that the horse has grass, and
the dog bones, will have no difficulty in passing.'

The Prince, overhearing this, set off at once to find the solitary
tree, and ere long discovered it, with a savage horse and furious dog
keeping watch and ward over it. They, however, became quite mild and
meek when they received their proper food, and the Prince without any
difficulty climbed the tree, seized the starling, and began to twist
its neck. At this moment the Jinn, awakening from sleep, became aware
of what was passing, and flew through the air to do battle for his
life. The Prince, however, seeing him approach, hastily cut open the
bird's crop, seized the bumble bee, and just as the Jinn was alighting
on the tree, tore off the insect's wings. The Jinn instantly fell to
the ground with a crash, but, determined to kill his enemy, began to
climb. Then the Prince twisted off the bee's legs, and lo! the Jinn
became legless also; and when the bee's head was torn off, the Jinn's
life went out entirely.

So Prince Lionheart returned in triumph to the Princess, who was
overjoyed to hear of her tyrant's death. He would have started at
once with her to his father's kingdom, but she begged for a little
rest, so they stayed in the palace, examining all the riches it
contained.

Now one day the Princess went down to the river to bathe, and wash her
beautiful golden hair, and as she combed it, one or two long strands
came out in the comb, shining and glittering like burnished gold. She
was proud of her beautiful hair, and said to herself, 'I will not
throw these hairs into the river, to sink in the nasty dirty mud,' so
she made a green cup out of a _pîpal_ leaf, coiled the golden
hairs inside, and set it afloat on the stream.

It so happened that the river, farther down, flowed past a royal city,
and the King was sailing in his pleasure-boat, when he espied
something sparkling like sunlight on the water, and bidding his
boatmen row towards it, found the _pîpal_ leaf cup and the
glittering golden hairs.

He thought he had never before seen anything half so beautiful, and
determined not to rest day or night until he had found the owner.
Therefore he sent for the wisest women in his kingdom, in order to
find out where the owner of the glistening golden hair dwelt.

The first wise woman said, 'If she is on Earth I promise to find her.'

The second said, 'If she is in Heaven I will tear open the sky and
bring her to you.'

But the third laughed, saying, 'Pooh! if you tear open the sky I will
put a patch in it, so that none will be able to tell the new piece
from the old.'

The King, considering the last wise woman had proved herself to be the
cleverest, engaged her to seek for the beautiful owner of the
glistening golden hair.

Now as the hairs had been found in the river, the wise woman guessed
they must have floated down stream from some place higher up, so she
set off in a grand royal boat, and the boatmen rowed and rowed until
at last they came in sight of the Jinn's magical marble palace.

Then the cunning wise woman went alone to the steps of the palace, and
began to weep and to wail. It so happened that as Prince Lionheart
had that day gone out hunting, the Princess was all alone, and having
a tender heart, she no sooner heard the old woman weeping than she
came out to see what was the matter.

'Mother,' said she kindly, 'why do you weep?'

'My daughter,' cried the wise woman, 'I weep to think what will become
of you if the handsome Prince is slain by any mischance, and you are
left here in the wilderness alone.' For the witch knew by her arts
all about the Prince.

'Very true!' replied the Princess, wringing her hands; 'what a
dreadful thing it would be! I never thought of it before!'

All day long she wept over the idea, and at night, when the Prince
returned, she told him of her fears; but he laughed at them, saying
his life lay in safety, and it was very unlikely any mischance should
befall him.

Then the Princess was comforted; only she begged him to tell her
wherein it lay, so that she might help to preserve it.

'It lies,' returned the Prince, 'in my sharp sword, which never
fails. If harm were to come to it I should die; nevertheless, by fair
means naught can prevail against it, so do not fret, sweetheart!'

'It would be wiser to leave it safe at home when you go hunting,'
pleaded the Princess, and though Prince Lionheart told her again there
was no cause to be alarmed, she made up her mind to have her own way,
and the very next morning, when the Prince went a-hunting, she hid his
strong sharp sword, and put another in the scabbard, so that he was
none the wiser.

Thus when the wise woman came once more and wept on the marble stairs,
the Princess called to her joyfully, 'Don't cry, mother!--the Prince's
life is safe to-day. It lies in his sword, and that is hidden away in
my cupboard.'

Then the wicked old hag waited until the Princess took her noonday
sleep, and when everything was quiet she stole to the cupboard, took
the sword, made a fierce fire, and placed the sharp shining blade in
the glowing embers. As it grew hotter and hotter, Prince Lionheart
felt a burning fever creep over his body, and knowing the magical
property of his sword, drew it out to see if aught had befallen it,
and lo! it was not his own sword but a changeling! He cried aloud, 'I
am undone! I am undone!' and galloped homewards. But the wise woman
blew up the fire so quickly that the sword became red-hot ere Prince
Lionheart could arrive, and just as he appeared on the other side of
the stream, a rivet came out of the sword hilt, which rolled off, and
so did the Prince's head.

Then the wise woman, going to the Princess, said, 'Daughter! see how
tangled your beautiful hair is after your sleep! Let me wash and
dress it against your husband's return.' So they went down the marble
steps to the river; but the wise woman said, 'Step into my boat,
sweetheart; the water is clearer on the farther side.'

And then, whilst the Princess's long golden hair was all over her eyes
like a veil, so that she could not see, the wicked old hag loosed the
boat, which went drifting down stream.

In vain the Princess wept and wailed; all she could do was to make a
great vow, saying, 'O you shameless old thing! You are taking me away
to some king's palace, I know; but no matter who he may be, I swear
not to look on his face for twelve years!'

At last they arrived at the royal city, greatly to the King's delight;
but when he found how solemn an oath the Princess had taken, he built
her a high tower, where she lived all alone. No one save the hewers
of wood and drawers of water were allowed even to enter the courtyard
surrounding it, so there she lived and wept over her lost Lionheart.

Now when the Prince's head had rolled off in that shocking manner, the
barley plant he had given to the Knifegrinder king suddenly snapped
right in two, so that the ear fell to the ground.

This greatly troubled the faithful Knifegrinder, who immediately
guessed some terrible disaster had overtaken his dear Prince. He
gathered an army without delay, and set off in aid, meeting on the way
with the Blacksmith and the Carpenter kings, who were both on the same
errand. When it became evident that the three barley plants had
fallen at the selfsame moment, the three friends feared the worst, and
were not surprised when, after long journeying, they found the
Prince's body, all burnt and blistered, lying by the river-side, and
his head close to it. Knowing the magical properties of the sword,
they looked for it at once, and when they found a changeling in its
place their hearts sank indeed! They lifted the body, and carried it
to the palace, intending to weep and wail over it, when, lo! they
found the real sword, all blistered and burnt, in a heap of ashes, the
rivet gone, the hilt lying beside it.

'That is soon mended!' cried the Blacksmith king; so he blew up the
fire, forged a rivet, and fastened the hilt to the blade. No sooner
had he done so than the Prince's head grew to his shoulders as firm as
ever.

'My turn now!' quoth the Knifegrindcr king; and he spun his wheel so
deftly that the blisters and stains disappeared like magic, and the
sword was soon as bright as ever. And as he spun his wheel, the burns
and scars disappeared likewise from Prince Lionheart's body, until at
last the Prince sat up alive, as handsome as before.

'Where is my Princess?' he cried, the very first thing, and then told
his friends of all that had passed.

'It is my turn now!' quoth the Carpenter king gleefully; 'give me your
sword, and I will fetch the Princess back in no time.'

So he set off with the bright strong sword in his hand to find the
lost Princess. Ere long he came to the royal city, and noticing a
tall new-built tower, inquired who dwelt within. When the townspeople
told him it was a strange Princess, who was kept in such close
imprisonment that no one but hewers of wood and drawers of water were
allowed even to enter the courtyard, he was certain it must be she
whom he sought. However, to make sure, he disguised himself as a
woodman, and going beneath the windows, cried, 'Wood! wood! Fifteen
gold pieces for this bundle of wood!'

The Princess, who was sitting on the roof, taking the air, bade her
servant ask what sort of wood it was to make it so expensive.

'It is only firewood,' answered the disguised Carpenter,' but it was
cut with this sharp bright sword!'

Hearing these words, the Princess, with a beating heart, peered
through the parapet, and recognised Prince Lionheart's sword. So she
bade her servant inquire if the woodman had anything else to sell, and
he replied that he had a wonderful flying palanquin, which he would
show to the Princess, if she wished it, when she walked in the garden
at evening.

She agreed to the proposal, and the Carpenter spent all the day in
fashioning a marvellous palanquin. This he took with him to the tower
garden, saying, 'Seat yourself in it, my Princess, and try how well it
flies.'

But the King's sister, who was there, said the Princess must not go
alone, so she got in also, and so did the wicked wise woman. Then the
Carpenter king jumped up outside, and immediately the palanquin began
to fly higher and higher, like a bird.

'I have had enough!--let us go down,' said the King's sister after a
time.

Whereupon the Carpenter seized her by the waist, and threw her
overboard, just as they were sailing above the river, so that she was
drowned; but he waited until they were just above the high tower
before he threw down the wicked wise woman, so that she got finely
smashed on the stones.

Then the palanquin flew straight to the Jinn's magical marble palace,
where Prince Lionheart, who had been awaiting the Carpenter king's
arrival with the greatest impatience, was overjoyed to see his
Princess once more, and set off, escorted by his three companion
kings, to his father's dominions. But when the poor old King, who had
very much aged since his son's departure, saw the three armies coming,
he made sure they were an invading force, so he went out to meet them,
and said, 'Take all my riches, but leave my poor people in peace, for
I am old, and cannot fight. Had my dear brave son Lionheart been with
me, it would have been a different affair, but he left us years ago,
and no one has heard aught of him since.'

On this, the Prince flung himself on his father's neck, and told him
all that had occurred, and how these were his three old friends--the
Knifegrinder, the Blacksmith, and the Carpenter. This greatly
delighted the old man; but when he saw the golden-haired bride his son
had brought home, his joy knew no bounds.

So everybody was pleased, and lived happily ever after.




THE LAMBIKIN


[Illustration: Lambikin surrounded by vicious animals]

Once upon a time there was a wee wee Lambikin, who frolicked about on
his little tottery legs, and enjoyed himself amazingly.

Now one day he set off to visit his Granny, and was jumping with joy
to think of all the good things he should get from her, when whom
should he meet but a Jackal, who looked at the tender young morsel and
said--'Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll _eat_ _you_!'

But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said--

'To Granny's house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so.'

The Jackal thought this reasonable, and let
Lambikin pass.

By and by he met a Vulture, and the Vulture, looking hungrily at the
tender morsel before him, said--'Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll _eat_
_you_!'

But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said--

'To Granny's house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so.'

The Vulture thought this reasonable, and let
Lambikin pass.

And by and by he met a Tiger, and then a Wolf, and a Dog, and an
Eagle, and all these, when they saw the tender little morsel, said--
'Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll _eat_ _you_!'

But to all of them Lambikin replied, with a little frisk--

'To Granny's house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so.'

At last he reached his Granny's house, and said, all in a great hurry,
'Granny, dear, I've promised to get very fat; so, as people ought to
keep their promises, please put me into the corn-bin _at once!_

So his Granny said he was a good boy, and put him into the corn-bin,
and there the greedy little Lambikin stayed for seven days, and ate,
and ate, and ate, until he could scarcely waddle, and his Granny said
he was fat enough for anything, and must go home. But cunning little
Lambikin said that would never do, for some animal would be sure to
eat him on the way back, he was so plump and tender.

'I'll tell you what you must do,' said Master Lambikin,' you must make
a little drumikin out of the skin of my little brother who died, and
then I can sit inside and trundle along nicely, for I'm as tight as a
drum myself.'

So his Granny made a nice little drumikin out of his brother's skin,
with the wool inside, and Lambikin curled himself up snug and warm in
the middle, and trundled away gaily. Soon he met with the Eagle, who
called out--

'Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?'

And Mr. Lambikin, curled up in his soft warm nest, replied--

'Lost in the forest, and so are you,
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa, tum-too!'

'How very annoying!' sighed the Eagle, thinking regretfully of the
tender morsel he had let slip.

Meanwhile Lambikin trundled along, laughing to himself, and singing--

'Tum-pa, tum-too;
Tum-pa, tum-too!'

Every animal and bird he met asked him the same question--

'Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?'

And to each of them the little sly-boots replied--

'Lost in the forest, and so are you,
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa, tum-too;
Tum-pa, turn-too; Tum-pa, tum-too!'

Then they all sighed to think of the tender little morsel they had let
slip.

At last the Jackal came limping along, for all his sorry looks as
sharp as a needle, and he too called out--

'Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?'

And Larnbikin, curled up in his snug little nest, replied gaily--

'Lost in the forest, and so are you,
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa---'

But he never got any further, for the Jackal recognised his voice at
once, and cried, 'Hullo! you've turned yourself inside out, have you?
Just you come out of that!'

Whereupon he tore open Drumikin and gobbled up Lambikin.




BOPOLÛCHÎ


Once upon a time a number of young girls went to draw water at the
village well, and while they were filling their jars, fell a-talking
of their betrothals and weddings.

Said one--'My uncle will soon be coming with the bridal presents, and
he is to bring the finest clothes imaginable.'

Said a second--'And my uncle-in-law is coming, I know, bringing the
most delicious sweetmeats you could think of.'

Said a third--'Oh, my uncle will be here in no time, with the rarest
jewels in the world.'

But Bopolûchî, the prettiest girl of them all, looked sad, for she was
an orphan, and had no one to arrange a marriage for her. Nevertheless
she was too proud to remain silent, so she said gaily--'And my uncle
is coming also, bringing me fine dresses, fine food, and fine jewels.'

Now a wandering pedlar, who sold sweet scents and cosmetics of all
sorts to the country women, happened to be sitting near the well, and
heard what Bopolûchî said. Being much struck by her beauty and
spirit, he determined to marry her himself, and the very next day,
disguised as a well-to-do farmer, he came to Bopolûchî's house laden
with trays upon trays full of fine dresses, fine food, and fine
jewels; for he was not a real pedlar, but a wicked robber, ever so
rich.

Bopolûchî could hardly believe her eyes, for everything was just as
she had foretold, and the robber said he was her father's brother, who
had been away in the world for years, and had now come back to arrange
her marriage with one of his sons, her cousin.

Hearing this, Bopolûchî of course believed it all, and was ever so
much pleased; so she packed up the few things she possessed in a
bundle, and set off with the robber in high spirits.

But as they went along the road, a crow sitting on a branch croaked--

'Bopolûchî, 'tis a pity!
You have lost your wits, my pretty!
'Tis no uncle that relieves you,
But a robber who deceives you!'

'Uncle!' said Bopolûchî, 'that crow croaks funnily. What does it
say?'

'Pooh!' returned the robber, 'all the crows in this country croak like
that.'

A little farther on they met a peacock, which, as soon as it caught
sight of the pretty little maiden, began to scream--

'Bopolûchî, 'tis a pity!
You have lost your wits, my pretty!
'Tis no uncle that relieves you,
But a robber who deceives you!'

'Uncle!' said the girl, 'that peacock screams funnily. What does it
say?'

'Pooh!' returned the robber, 'all peacocks scream like that in this
country.'

By and by a jackal slunk across the road; the moment it saw poor
pretty Bopolûchî it began to howl--

'Bopolûchî, 'tis a pity!
You have lost your wits, my pretty!
'Tis no uncle that relieves you,
But a robber who deceives you!'

'Uncle!' said the maiden, 'that jackal howls funnily. What does it
say?'

'Pooh!' returned the robber, 'all jackals howl like that in this
country.'

So poor pretty Bopolûchî journeyed on till they reached the robber's
house. Then he told her who he was, and how he intended to marry her
himself. She wept and cried bitterly, but the robber had no pity, and
left her in charge of his old, oh! ever so old mother, while he went
out to make arrangements for the marriage feast.

Now Bopolûchî had such beautiful hair that it reached right down to
her ankles, but the old mother hadn't a hair on her old bald head.

'Daughter!' said the old, ever so old. mother, as she was putting the
bridal dress on Bopolûchî, 'how did you manage to get such beautiful
hair?'

'Well,' replied Bopolûchî, 'my mother made it grow by pounding my head
in the big mortar for husking rice. At every stroke of the pestle my
hair grew longer and longer. I assure you it is a plan that never
fails.'

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