The Story of Pataliputra - Part One

In the pilgrimage place of Kanakhala, a husband and wife performed severe austerities. 

After that, three sons were born to them. 

Soon after that the couple died.

After the death of the husband and the wife, the three sons went to a place named Rajagriha to acquire more knowledge.

The three sons studied the various sciences at Rajagriha.

After finishing their studies, the three sons went to the temple of Lord Kartikeya. 

After the visit to the temple, the three sons reached the city of Chinchini. The city of Chinchini was on the shore of the sea.

In that city there was a rich man who had three daughters.

The rich man gave his three daughters in marriage to the three sons and divided his wealth equally among his children.

After that the rich man went to the river Ganga to perform austerities.

The six of them lived in the house of the rich man. After that, they lived happily for a few years and then a terrible famine almost  destroyed the city. The three men abandoned their wives and fled the place. 

At that time the second sister was pregnant. The three ladies stayed in the house of Yagnadutta who was a friend of their father. There the middle sister gave birth to a son.

All the three women loved the boy very much. 

It was at this time that Lord Shiva, who was the father of Lord Kartikeya adopted the little boy born to the middle sister as his protégé.

In his previous life, the little boy and his wife had performed severe austerities towards Shiva. So Lord Shiva decided to bless the boy in this birth. Lord Shiva realized that he had to bring the wealth of the family back and for this Lord Shiva also blessed that every time the little boy who was to be called as Putraka, would sleep and wake up, a thousand gold pieces would be found under his pillow and that Putraka would eventually become a king.

Adapted From the Katha Sarith Sagara

The Golden Fish - Part Four

The father of the bride once looked when the bear hunter was sleeping and there, he found that there was a golden man on the bed. On the ground lay the bear’s skin. 

That was when the father realized that the golden man was not what he seemed and he was glad that he had not killed the husband of her daughter. 

That night the golden man dreamed that he hunted a fine stag in the forest. 

He woke up the next morning and told his wife that he had to be off to a hunt.  

“Do you have to go?” The wife asked him to stay because she was sure that some danger may befall her husband. 

The golden man felt that he had to go on a hunt and finally convinced his wife to let him go. 

He rode away into the forest and there he saw a stag just as he had seen in his dreams. 

He aimed at the stag, but the stag sprang off. He followed it the whole day and in the evening it disappeared from his sight.  

When the golden man looked around, he found himself before a little house. 

The little house belonged to a witch. 

He knocked on the door when an old woman came out. “What are you doing so late in the middle of this forest?” 

“Have you seen a stag?” The golden man asked the witch. 

“Yes, I know the stag very well.” The witch replied. 

Just then, a little dog which was inside the witch's house barked loudly. 

“Be quiet!” The golden man yelled at the dog. 

The witch grew very angry on hearing this. “Why are you shouting at my dog?” 

In anger, the witch turned the golden man into stone.

Back at his home the golden man's wife waited for him. But he did not come back 

In the fisherman's house, one of the golden lilies suddenly fell off.  

The other brother looked at it and realized that some great misfortune had befallen his brother. 

The fisherman however, stopped the second son. “If I lose you too, what will happen to me? 

The second son however, pacified the father. “I will go and I will come back successfully.”

He mounted his golden horse and rode until he came to a large forest where his brother lay in the form of a stone. 

The old witch came out and looked at the elder brother. Immediately the elder brother pulled out his bow and arrow and pointed it at the old witch. “I will shoot you if you do not restore my brother back to life.” 

The witch was afraid of the brave man and she touched the stone statue with her fingers. 

After this, the golden man became human again. 

Then the two golden men were very happy and they parted ways at the end of the forest. 

One went to his bride and the other to his father, and they lived happily till the end of their lives.

Adapted from the Grimm brothers Fairytale

The Golden Fish - Part Three

The two sons of the fisherman grew up to be fair and handsome and with them grew the two lilies and the two colts. 

One day the children told the father. “We will mount on our golden horses and we will travel the world.” 

The fisherman was however anguished. “How will we know how you are if you are so far away from us?” 

“The golden lilies,” said one of the two sons. “They will remain here and when you see them, you will know how we have fared. If they are fresh, we are well. If they droop, we are ill. If the lilies are dead, that means so are we.”

With these words the two sons rode on.

They came to an end in another village.  They were about to go in, when they heard the jeers of the people around them. The people looked at the two golden children and laughed. 

One of the two boys was very ashamed on hearing this and he turned around and went back home. 

The other rode on till he came to the edge of a large forest. Just as he was about to ride into it then the people there came and shook their heads. “You should not go there. The forest is full of robbers and they may hurt you and your golden horse. There is a chance they may even kill you.” 

The young boy thought about it. 

Then he hunted some bears and took the bear skins and covered himself and his horse with it. That way no one would know that he had golden skin. After doing this, he rode into the woods.  

He had ridden some way when he heard some rustling among the bushes, he heard a voice. 

“There is someone driving in our way.” One man was whispering to the other.

“Let him alone. He is only a bear hunter and look at him! He looks poor and cold. What shall we do with him?” 

So the boy rode unharmed through the forests. 

He came to the next village and there he saw a beautiful maiden. She was so beautiful that the boy fell in love with her immediately. He asked her whether she would be his wife. The maiden studied the boy and agreed to his request. “Yes, I will be your wife and be faithful to you all your life.” 

There was a great wedding feast and they were married. 

They were still at the table when the father of the bride came and in great anger wanted to know who the bridegroom was.

When the golden boy who still wore his bear skin came forward the father of the girl was enraged. “I will never let a bear hunter marry my daughter.”

The man would have killed the golden boy. 

But the bride begged for his life. “He is my husband and I love him with all my heart.” 

So at last the father of the bride consented not to hurt him.

Adapted from the Grimm Brothers Fairy Tale

The Golden Fish - Part Two

The man sadly went back to his fishing. 

Wonders of wonders, he caught the golden fish a second time too. 

The fish looked at the man who had caught him and  sighed. The fish gave the same offer to the man with the same caveat. The fish was willing to make the fisherman very rich, but the fisherman should not tell anyone about the secret of his wealth. 

The fisherman agreed to this condition and he was determined not to tell anything to his wife. 

However, the fisherman was unable to hold his tongue after a few days in his luxurious castle, and he finally told his nagging wife the secret of his wealth the second time too.  

He and his wife then found themselves back in the old hut. 

The third time the man went fishing again and the fisherman caught the golden fish again. “I guess I am fated to be caught by you. So this time take me home and cut me into six pieces. Give two pieces to your wife to eat. Give two pieces to your horse.  And put two pieces into the ground and then things will go right for you.”

The man took the fish home and did as he had been told.

From the two pieces which he had sowed to the ground golden lilies grew up. From the two pieces eaten by the horse two golden colts were born. From the wife's share she and the fisherman had two golden children.  

Both the sons of the fisherman grew up to be handsome and fair, and with them grew the two lilies and the two colts.

Adapted from the Grimm Brothers Fairy Tales

The Golden Fish - Part One

 

There once lived a very poor fisherman. The fisherman caught fish daily and that was how he and his wife lived a hand to mouth existence.

Once when the fisherman cast his net into the waters, he caught a golden fish. He was surprised because the fish spoke to him. “Please release me back into the waters and in return I will grant you any boon that you want. In fact I shall make the hut that you live in as grand as a castle.”

The man sighed and shook his head. “What use was a castle to me if I cannot get any good food?”

The fish smiled at the fisherman. “You will have a huge cupboard in your house and that will be filled with food.” 

The fisherman agreed to this and was about to let the fish back into the water when the fish told the fisherman an important thing. “If you tell anyone about how you came across your wealth, then everything will disappear and you will move back to poverty.” 

The fisherman agreed to this and he let the golden fish go.

When he went back home, he was stunned because there was a huge castle in the place of his hut and his wife came to him wearing very rich clothes. They found a huge cupboard in the castle. It was filled with a variety of good food.

Having eaten to their fill, the couple slept happily that night. 

But the next morning, the fisherman's wife was curious about how all this had happened. 

She kept pestering her husband to know the truth. 

After some time, her husband was unable to tolerate the nagging of his wife and told her everything.

The minute the fisherman had done so the castle changed into a hut and everything grand around them became poor again.

Adapted from the Grimm Brothers fairy tale

Simpleton and his Two Brothers - Part Two

The king then announced another contest, where he decided that the person who brings the most beautiful ring to him shall inherit the kingdom. Same as before he blew the three feathers into the air and each brother was to follow one of the feathers' directions to see whether they could fulfill their destiny.

This time too the eldest brother went east and the second brother went west. Again Simpleton's feather flew straight ahead and fell to the ground.

Then Simpleton climbed down to see the toad. There, Simpleton told the toad that he needed a beautiful ring. 

The toad had a box brought out again and from it brought out a ring this time. The ring had precious stones and looked very beautiful.

The two elder brothers did not make too much effort this time either. Instead, they drove the nails out of an old wagon ring and brought it to the king. When Simpleton presented his ring, the king decided that the kingdom had to go to Simpleton.

Naturally, the two oldest sons would not hear it and they wanted a third contest.

The third contest of the king involved finding the most beautiful woman.

Again, the king blew the three feathers into the air and they flew in the same direction as before. This time too, Simpleton was led by the feather to the toad under the trap door.

The toward smiled on listening to Simpleton's request. 

This time the toad gave simpleton a hollowed out yellow turnip, which was harnessed to six little mice. Simpleton was confused. “What am I supposed to do with this?” 

The toad shrugged. “Just put one of my little toads inside the turnip.” 

Simpleton grabbed one of the mice from the group and set it inside the yellow coach. 

The little toad was scarcely inside when it turned into a beautiful young lady. The turnip turned into a coach and the six mice became horses. 

Simpleton was stunned and he kissed the beautiful girl and raced away with the horses and brought her to the king. 

His brothers had come forward with girls of their own. However, they had not made an effort to find a beautiful woman and they simply brought along the first peasant woman that they came upon.  

The king again decided that the kingdom had to go to the youngest son. 

However, the oldest sons again shook their heads. “We cannot allow Simpleton to become the king.” 

The two eldest sons demanded that the crown should go to the brother whose woman could jump through a hoop that was hanging in the middle of the hall.  The elder brothers were sure that the peasant women would be able to do that very well because they were very strong. However, Simpleton's beautiful lady would not be able to do it. 

The old king agreed to this as well. 

The two peasant women indeed jumped through the hoop, but they were so plump that each fell down and broke their arms and legs.  

The beautiful lady that Simpleton had brought jumped through the hoop as lightly as a deer. 

After this, all the protests stopped and Simpleton became the ruler of the king and he ruled the kingdom wisely for a long time.

Adapted from the  Grimm Brothers Stories

Simpleton and his Two Brothers - Part One

Once there was a king who had three sons. 

All the three of them were clever and intelligent, but the third one did not talk much. That was why the two elder brothers called him Simpleton. 

When the king became old and weak, he was not sure who among his three sons should inherit his kingdom. So he decided to set a test for the three of them to determine who would get the kingdom after him.  

“If you bring the finest carpet in the world, you shall be the king after me,” he told them.

So that there was no dispute between them he led them in front of the castle and he blew three feathers into the air. 

“As they fly, so you should go to find your destiny.” 

The first feather flew east and the other feather flew west. 

The first two brothers went East and West, respectively, in search of the finest carpet. 

The third feather flew straight ahead and fell into the ground after a short distance. 

Simpleton sat down and looked at the feather. That was when he noticed that there was a trap door next to his feather.  He lifted it and found a stairway there. He walked inside and came to another door and knocked it. 

When the door opened, he saw a big fat toad sitting there surrounded by a large number of smaller toads. 

The fat toad asked the Prince what he wanted.

Simpleton shrugged. “I want the most beautiful and finest carpet.” 

The fat toad called out to one of the younger toads to bring him a large box. 

When the young toad brought the box, the fat toad opened it and inside it was the most beautiful woven carpet ever. 

Simpleton was astonished to see it. 

The toad offered the carpet to him. 

Simpleton thanked the toad and climbed out of the trap door. The other two brothers were sure that Simpleton would not bring anything back. “So why should we spend a lot of effort looking for a carpet?” They asked each other.

Then they took some pieces of cloth from the first shepherd's wife, they came to and took them back home to the king. 

That was when they saw the carpet that Simpleton had brought back.  

Then the king decided that the kingdom had to go to the youngest son. 

However, the other two sons were not willing to do so and they wanted another contest

Adapted from the Grimm Brothers Stories

The Mount of the Golden Queen - Part Two

When the young man came to the sister who was nine yards taller than her sister, she also did not know the way to the Mount of Golden Queen. She directed the young man to her brother who was nine yards taller than her and who lived in a hill far away. 

So the man came to the hill where smoke was rising and knocked. 

A man who was taller than both his sisters came out of the place. 

The young man asked the huge giant the way to the Mount of Golden Queen. 

The giant took a whistle and blew it in all the directions. 

All the animals from the forest came on hearing the whistle. A bear led the other animals to the place. When the giant asked the bear about the Mount of the Golden Queen, the animals and the bear in particular knew nothing of it. 

Then once more the giant blew his whistle and called all the birds of the air. All the birds led by the Eagle came to answer the giant's question. 

“Yes, I know where the Mount of the Golden Queen is.” The eagle told the giant. 

The giant was very happy on hearing this. “Then take this young man there, but do not treat him unkindly.” 

 The Eagle promised that to the giant and allowed the young man to sit himself on its back and then flew through the air over the fields and forests and they were over the ocean where they could see nothing but the sky and the water. 

Then the Eagle dipped the young man into the ocean up to his ankles. “Are you afraid?” The Eagle asked. 

The man shook his head. “No,” he replied. 

Then the Eagle flew for a while and then again dipped the young man in water up to his knees. “Are you afraid?” The Eagle asked.

“Yes,” the young man replied, “but then the giant asked you not to treat me unkindly.”

The Eagle nodded at the young man. “The fear that you now feel is the same fear when the princess gave the letter and the golden band in your hand.” 

After that, the Eagle reached a large high mountain which had a great iron door.

They knocked and a maid appeared to open the door. 

The young man remained and was well received there, but the Eagle bade him goodbye and flew away. 

Then the young man asked the maid for a drink and when he had been given a refreshing drink, he emptied it and returned the vessel with a golden band in it. 

The maid brought back the vessel to her to the princess of the mount of the golden Queen. 

The princess immediately realized that someone had come to see her.

When the maid confirmed that someone had come to see her, the princess asked the young man to come in.

The young man gave her the letter that he had received in his dream.

At that minute the curse of the princess was lifted and the mountain turned into the castle of the princess.

Adapted from Swedish Folk Tales