Indian Fairy Tales (13 page)

She nearly died of envy and spite, determining to destroy the lad
without delay; therefore, sending a servant to bring him to her
presence, she asked him if he would sell her the pigeon he had just
shot.

"No," replied the sturdy lad, "the pigeon is for my seven blind
mothers, who live in the noisome dungeon, and who would die if I did
not bring them food."

"Poor souls!" cried the cunning white witch; "would you not like to
bring them their eyes again? Give me the pigeon, my dear, and I
faithfully promise to show you where to find them."

Hearing this, the lad was delighted beyond measure, and gave up the
pigeon at once. Whereupon the white Queen told him to seek her mother
without delay, and ask for the eyes which she wore as a necklace.

"She will not fail to give them," said the cruel Queen, "if you show
her this token on which I have written what I want done."

So saying, she gave the lad a piece of broken potsherd, with these
words inscribed on it—"Kill the bearer at once, and sprinkle his blood
like water!"

Now, as the son of seven Queens could not read, he took the fatal
message cheerfully, and set off to find the white Queen's mother.

Whilst he was journeying be passed through a town, where every one of
the inhabitants looked so sad, that he could not help asking what was
the matter. They told him it was because the King's only daughter
refused to marry; so when her father died there would be no heir to the
throne. They greatly feared she must be out of her mind, for though
every good-looking young man in the kingdom had been shown to her, she
declared she would only marry one who was the son of seven mothers, and
who ever heard of such a thing? The King, in despair, had ordered every
man who entered the city gates to be led before the Princess; so, much
to the lad's impatience, for he was in an immense hurry to find his
mothers' eyes, he was dragged into the presence-chamber.

No sooner did the Princess catch sight of him than she blushed, and,
turning to the King, said, "Dear father, this is my choice!"

Never were such rejoicings as these few words produced.

The inhabitants nearly went wild with joy, but the son of seven Queens
said he would not marry the Princess unless they first let him recover
his mothers' eyes. When the beautiful bride heard his story, she asked
to see the potsherd, for she was very learned and clever. Seeing the
treacherous words, she said nothing, but taking another similar-shaped
bit of potsherd, she wrote on it these words—"Take care of this lad,
giving him all he desires," and returned it to the son of seven Queens,
who, none the wiser, set off on his quest.

Ere long he arrived at the hovel in the ravine where the white witch's
mother, a hideous old creature, grumbled dreadfully on reading the
message, especially when the lad asked for the necklace of eyes.
Nevertheless she took it off, and gave it him, saying, "There are only
thirteen of 'em now, for I lost one last week."

The lad, however, was only too glad to get any at all, so he hurried
home as fast as he could to his seven mothers, and gave two eyes apiece
to the six elder Queens; but to the youngest he gave one, saying,
"Dearest little mother!—I will be your other eye always!"

After this he set off to marry the Princess, as he had promised, but
when passing by the white Queen's palace he saw some pigeons on the
roof. Drawing his bow, he shot one, and it came fluttering past the
window. The white hind looked out, and lo! there was the King's son
alive and well.

She cried with hatred and disgust, but sending for the lad, asked him
how he had returned so soon, and when she heard how he had brought home
the thirteen eyes, and given them to the seven blind Queens, she could
hardly restrain her rage. Nevertheless she pretended to be charmed with
his success, and told him that if he would give her this pigeon also,
she would reward him with the Jogi's wonderful cow, whose milk flows
all day long, and makes a pond as big as a kingdom. The lad, nothing
loth, gave her the pigeon; whereupon, as before, she bade him go ask
her mother for the cow, and gave him a potsherd whereon was written—
"Kill this lad without fail, and sprinkle his blood like water!"

But on the way the son of seven Queens looked in on the Princess, just
to tell her how he came to be delayed, and she, after reading the
message on the potsherd, gave him another in its stead; so that when
the lad reached the old hag's hut and asked her for the Jogi's cow, she
could not refuse, but told the boy how to find it; and bidding him of
all things not to be afraid of the eighteen thousand demons who kept
watch and ward over the treasure, told him to be off before she became
too angry at her daughter's foolishness in thus giving away so many
good things.

Then the lad did as he had been told bravely. He journeyed on and on
till he came to a milk-white pond, guarded by the eighteen thousand
demons. They were really frightful to behold, but, plucking up courage,
he whistled a tune as he walked through them, looking neither to the
right nor the left. By-and-by he came upon the Jogi's cow, tall, white,
and beautiful, while the Jogi himself, who was king of all the demons,
sat milking her day and night, and the milk streamed from her udder,
filling the milk-white tank.

The Jogi, seeing the lad, called out fiercely, "What do you want here?"

Then the lad answered, according to the old hag's bidding, "I want your
skin, for King Indra is making a new kettle-drum, and says your skin is
nice and tough."

Upon this the Jogi began to shiver and shake (for no Jinn or Jogi dares
disobey King Indra's command), and, falling at the lad's feet, cried,
"If you will spare me I will give you anything I possess, even my
beautiful white cow!"

To this the son of seven Queens, after a little pretended hesitation,
agreed, saying that after all it would not be difficult to find a nice
tough skin like the Jogi's elsewhere; so, driving the wonderful cow
before him, he set off homewards. The seven Queens were delighted to
possess so marvellous an animal, and though they toiled from morning
till night making curds and whey, besides selling milk to the
confectioners, they could not use half the cow gave, and became richer
and richer day by day.

Seeing them so comfortably off, the son of seven Queens started with a
light heart to marry the Princess; but when passing the white hind's
palace he could not resist sending a bolt at some pigeons which were
cooing on the parapet. One fell dead just beneath the window where the
white Queen was sitting. Looking out, she saw the lad hale and hearty
standing before her, and grew whiter than ever with rage and spite.

She sent for him to ask how he had returned so soon, and when she heard
how kindly her mother had received him, she very nearly had a fit;
however, she dissembled her feelings as well as she could, and, smiling
sweetly, said she was glad to have been able to fulfil her promise, and
that if he would give her this third pigeon, she would do yet more for
him than she had done before, by giving him the million-fold rice,
which ripens in one night.

The lad was of course delighted at the very idea, and, giving up the
pigeon, set off on his quest, armed as before with a potsherd, on which
was written, "Do not fail this time. Kill the lad, and sprinkle his
blood like water!"

But when he looked in on his Princess, just to prevent her becoming
anxious about him, she asked to see the potsherd as usual, and
substituted another, on which was written, "Yet again give this lad all
he requires, for his blood shall be as your blood!"

Now when the old hag saw this, and heard how the lad wanted the
million-fold rice which ripens in a single night, she fell into the
most furious rage, but being terribly afraid of her daughter, she
controlled herself, and bade the boy go and find the field guarded by
eighteen millions of demons, warning him on no account to look back
after having plucked the tallest spike of rice, which grew in the
centre.

So the son of seven Queens set off, and soon came to the field where,
guarded by eighteen millions of demons, the million-fold rice grew. He
walked on bravely, looking neither to the right or left, till he
reached the centre and plucked the tallest ear, but as he turned
homewards a thousand sweet voices rose behind him, crying in tenderest
accents, "Pluck me too! oh, please pluck me too!" He looked back, and
lo! there was nothing left of him but a little heap of ashes!

Now as time passed by and the lad did not return, the old hag grew
uneasy, remembering the message "his blood shall be as your blood"; so
she set off to see what had happened.

Soon she came to the heap of ashes, and knowing by her arts what it
was, she took a little water, and kneading the ashes into a paste,
formed it into the likeness of a man; then, putting a drop of blood
from her little finger into its mouth, she blew on it, and instantly
the son of seven Queens started up as well as ever.

"Don't you disobey orders again!" grumbled the old hag, "or next time
I'll leave you alone. Now be off, before I repent of my kindness!"

So the son of seven Queens returned joyfully to his seven mothers, who,
by the aid of the million-fold rice, soon became the richest people in
the kingdom. Then they celebrated their son's marriage to the clever
Princess with all imaginable pomp; but the bride was so clever, she
would not rest until she had made known her husband to his father, and
punished the wicked white witch. So she made her husband build a palace
exactly like the one in which the seven Queens had lived, and in which
the white witch now dwelt in splendour. Then, when all was prepared,
she bade her husband give a grand feast to the King. Now the King had
heard much of the mysterious son of seven Queens, and his marvellous
wealth, so he gladly accepted the invitation; but what was his
astonishment when on entering the palace he found it was a facsimile of
his own in every particular! And when his host, richly attired, led him
straight to the private hall, where on royal thrones sat the seven
Queens, dressed as he had last seen them, he was speechless with
surprise, until the Princess, coming forward, threw herself at his
feet, and told him the whole story. Then the King awoke from his
enchantment, and his anger rose against the wicked white hind who had
bewitched him so long, until he could not contain himself. So she was
put to death, and her grave ploughed over, and after that the seven
Queens returned to their own splendid palace, and everybody lived
happily.

Once upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future
Buddha returned to life as his son and heir. And when the day came for
choosing a name, they called him Prince Brahma-datta. He grew up in due
course; and when he was sixteen years old, went to Takkasila, and
became accomplished in all arts. And after his father died he ascended
the throne, and ruled the kingdom with righteousness and equity. He
gave judgments without partiality, hatred, ignorance, or fear. Since he
thus reigned with justice, with justice also his ministers administered
the law. Lawsuits being thus decided with justice, there were none who
brought false cases. And as these ceased, the noise and tumult of
litigation ceased in the king's court. Though the judges sat all day in
the court, they had to leave without any one coming for justice. It
came to this, that the Hall of Justice would have to be closed!

Then the future Buddha thought, "It cannot be from my reigning with
righteousness that none come for judgment; the bustle has ceased, and
the Hall of Justice will have to be closed. I must, therefore, now
examine into my own faults; and if I find that anything is wrong in me,
put that away, and practise only virtue."

Thenceforth he sought for some one to tell him his faults, but among
those around him he found no one who would tell him of any fault, but
heard only his own praise.

Then he thought, "It is from fear of me that these men speak only good
things, and not evil things," and he sought among those people who
lived outside the palace. And finding no fault-finder there, he sought
among those who lived outside the city, in the suburbs, at the four
gates. And there too finding no one to find fault, and hearing only his
own praise, he determined to search the country places.

So he made over the kingdom to his ministers, and mounted his chariot;
and taking only his charioteer, left the city in disguise. And
searching the country through, up to the very boundary, he found no
fault-finder, and heard only of his own virtue; and so he turned back
from the outer-most boundary, and returned by the high road towards the
city.

Now at that time the king of Kosala, Mallika by name, was also ruling
his kingdom with righteousness; and when seeking for some fault in
himself, he also found no fault-finder in the palace, but only heard of
his own virtue! So seeking in country places, he too came to that very
spot. And these two came face to face in a low cart-track with
precipitous sides, where there was no space for a chariot to get out of
the way!

Then the charioteer of Mallika the king said to the charioteer of the
king of Benares, "Take thy chariot out of the way!"

But he said, "Take thy chariot out of the way, O charioteer! In this
chariot sitteth the lord over the kingdom of Benares, the great king
Brahma-datta."

Yet the other replied, "In this chariot, O charioteer, sitteth the lord
over the kingdom of Kosala, the great king Mallika. Take thy carriage
out of the way, and make room for the chariot of our king!"

Then the charioteer of the king of Benares thought, "They say then that
he too is a king! What
is
now to be done?" After some consideration,
he said to himself, "I know a way. I'll find out how old he is, and then
I'll let the chariot of the younger be got out of the way, and so make
room for the elder."