The Weaver and the Princess - Part 1

In the kingdom there were two hard working friends. One of them was a weaver and the other was a carpenter. 

Once as both the friends were walking along the royal path they saw a beautiful woman looking out of the terrace of the palace.

The weaver immediately fell in love with her. 

That was when the two men realized that the beautiful girl was the princess of their own kingdom.

The carpenter first advised the weaver to forget the princess because the carpenter felt that there was no way that a poor man could marry such a rich princess. 

But the weaver was determined. He was smitten by the beauty of the princess and he wanted to marry no one else. 

The carpenter, seeing the state of his friend, came up with a plan. The carpenter built a bird out of wood which could fly. The carpenter designed the wooden bird to look exactly like Garuda. 

Garuda is the vehicle of Lord Vishnu the God of preservation. 

The carpenter gave the bird to his friend and advised him. “I have created a wooden bird that can fly. Using this bird you can fly over to the palace gates and meet the princess.” 

The weaver was overjoyed hearing the words of his friend. 

That evening the weaver dressed himself as Vishnu, the God of Preservation. 

The weaver then sat on the wooden bird and flew over the palace gates and landed the bird on the terrace. 

The princess saw the carpenter disguised as Vishnu and she was shocked. But then when she saw that he had flown in she felt that this was the real Lord Vishnu and his Garuda. 

Though the princess wanted to marry Lord Vishnu she advised the man on the wooden bird to come and talk to her father to ask for her hand in marriage. 

However the weaver reminded the princess that as per gandharva form of marriage, the princess could marry any one of her choice without the permission of her parents. 

So the princess happily married the weaver thinking that he was Lord Vishnu. 

Unfortunately for the weaver, he was seen by the guards who were around the princess’ room Worse, the kingdom had bigger problems. The kingdom shared one of its borders with a huge kingdom. 

And the king of the neighbouring kingdom had sent a notice to the king of this kingdom telling him that he wanted to attack this kingdom unless the king paid him tribute.

Adapted from the Panchatantra.