The Adventures of Dapplegrim, the Horse - Part Five

“But that is not part of our bargain.” The boy whined when the king was ready with another competition, instead of handing over half the kingdom to him.

“But this is also something that you have to do if you have to marry the princess and rule half of my kingdom.” The king told the boy firmly.

Unhappily, the boy realized that he could not change the mind of the king. 

“What should I do?”

The king loftily looked around his palace. “You should make sure that the sun shines into my palace.”

The boy looked stunned. There were huge hills around the palace and that was the reason that the sun could not shine on the palace. 

He was sure that he could not complete this condition, but he went to Dapplegrim and told the horse everything.

“I can do it.” The horse told the boy confidently as soon as he had heard the boy.

The boy was stunned as the horse continued and imposed the same condition as before. The horse wanted ten pounds of iron and twelve pounds of steel and two smiths to make horse shoes for it.

This was done by the king himself this time because he realized that he could not refuse this to the boy after imposing such a condition.

Dapplegrim wore strong horseshoes and this time the horse and the boy went to the top of every hill and stomped on top of every hill. For every stomp from the horse, the hill went down and soon, the horse and the boy flattened the entire hill.

The king was shocked when the sun shone through his palace.

But he still did not want the boy to marry his daughter.

Adapted from Norwegian Folktales

The Adventures of Dapplegrim, the Horse - Part Four

Dapplegrim nodded after hearing the boy. “The princess is kept on top of a mountain by the troll. The mountain is straight as a house wall and looks like it is made of glass.” Dapplegrim nodded again. “But we will be able to do it.”

The boy looked happy as Dapplegrim continued. “But you need to go to the king and ask for ten pounds of iron and twelve pounds of steel.”

The boy was surprised as Dapplegrim continued. “Using all that, two iron smiths should make horse shoes for me.”

The boy nodded as Dapplegrim finished. “Using this we should be able to get to the top of the mountain.”

Everybody in the kingdom was willing to help the boy and soon Dapplegrim had fine shoes.

They set off towards the mountain where the princess had been kept captive.

In the first attempt, Dapplegrim climbed one fourth of the mountain, but it slipped there. In the second attempt, Dapplegrim slipped again after reaching half the mountain.

Picking themselves up, the horse and the boy tried again and in the third time they reached the top. Once there, Dapplegrim sped off and the boy was able to carry off the princess from the top, even before the troll could recover.

The boy brought the princess back to the kingdom, and the king was very happy with this. 

But slowly the others managed to convince the king that the boy did not deserve half the kingdom or the princess’s hand for what he had done.

So the king decided to set up another competition for the boy and his horse.

Adapted from Norwegian Folktales

The Adventures of Dapplegrim, the Horse - Part Three

“Before you go to work for the king, you need to ask for a huge stable and good hay for me.” Dapplegrim told the boy.

The boy promised Dapplegrim that he would definitely ask the king that.

As soon as the boy and his huge horse came to the kingdom, the king could not but stare at the horse. 

The king was even more thrilled when he realized that the boy with the fine horse wanted to work for him. The king agreed to it and he even happily agreed to the boy’s condition of the stable and hay for his horse.

Dapplegrim was so huge that all the other horses from the stable had to be vacated and the horse was given the finest hay as food.

The other horsemen were envious of this. But they did not want to openly badmouth the boy before the king. So the other horsemen came up with an ingenious way to get rid of the boy.

It so happened that the princess of the kingdom had been carried away from a troll a long time back. However, unfortunately, the troll that had carried away the princess was huge and powerful and no one was strong enough to bring her back.

The king had announced that anyone who brought back the princess would get half his kingdom and even the princess as his wife.

But fearing the troll no one was willing to do this, even after several years.

The other horsemen in their jealousy soon led the king to believe that the boy had volunteered to free the princess from the clutches of the troll.

After hearing this, the king was thrilled and promised the reward if he freed the princess.

The boy knew that there was no point in denying all this and went to Dapplegrim with his problem.

Adapted from Norwegian Folktales

The Adventures of Dapplegrim, the Horse - Part Two

The boy went to the foal and patted it. “What a fine horse you shall become!”

The foal spoke to the boy. “Kill all the other foals of the mares, so that I can drink the milk of all the mares for a year!” The foal continued. “Then you shall see how big and strong I will become.”

The boy agreed to do this.

When he came back by the end of the year, he was stunned to see that Dapplegrim had grown huge and strong.

By this time, the other mares had other foals too. But this too, Dapplegrim wanted to drink the milk of the mares all by himself.

This went on for two years and by the end of the three years Dapplegrim had become huge and strong. 

After three years, the boy could not even reach the neck of Dapplegrim. It was only when the horse got down that the boy was able to climb on it.

The boy went to his brothers and this time he gave the mares and the other foals that the mares had for this year to the brothers. 

The boy decided to keep only Dapplegrim for himself.

The brothers were all stunned with the huge horse and appreciated the brother and his horse. Because the brothers got the other mares and foals for themselves, the brothers decided to help their brother by making horseshoes, a saddle and bridle for their youngest brother’s horse.

So, the boy had the best horseshoes, along with the saddle and bridle for Dappelgrim.

After three years, the boy and Dapplegrim decided to go on an adventure together.

This time they went to the same kingdom that the boy had first been too.

But this time, the kingdom had problems unlike before.

Adapted from Norwegian Folktales

The Adventures of Dapplegrim, the Horse - Part One

There were once a very rich couple and they had twelve sons. The twelfth son wanted to go out into the world and make his own fortune. However, his parents wanted the boy to be at home.

The boy was adamant and finally having no choice, the rich couple let the boy go to the world and have his adventures.

The boy went on his other travels and saw many other kingdoms and was impressed with one particular kingdom and decided to stay there for a year.

However, after a year, the boy wanted to come back to his home and see his parents.

The boy was shocked when he went back home. 

His parents had died during the time that he had been away and his brothers had divided all the inheritance between them without leaving anything for the boy.

“Why do I not receive anything?” The boy asked his brothers.

“You were away for so long that we were not sure whether you would ever come back.” One of the brothers pointed at the hills further away. “There are twelve mares there that belong to our parents. The mares belong to our parents and we have not yet divided it among us. You can keep all the twelve mares as your share.”

The boy then went to the hill where the twelve mares were there and he saw that all the twelve mares had a foal each. 

One particular foal looked so bright that it almost seemed like it was shining.

This foal was named Dapplegrim.

Adapted from Norwegian Folktales

Benten Sama, the Goddess of Mothers - Part Three

 

That night a dangerous storm howled through the entire place. The people were all terrified and stayed hidden in their homes. The storm gave way to the Thunder God and the Thunder God roared furiously, five times.

After each roar, each one of the dragons lay dead.

The next day when the people stepped out of their homes, the sun shone through the entire land and it seemed beautiful and different.

What was shocking was that the Marsh of the terrible Dragons had disappeared with the storm. 

Instead in the place of the marsh stood a bright and beautiful island. On top of the island, all the people saw Goddess Benten Sama and she was seated on a throne of a rainbow.

The people were thrilled when they realized that the dragons were dead and they realized that it was all because of Goddess Benten Sama. 

The people made a shrine for the Goddess at the exact place where she had appeared in the sky.

O Ume San married the fisherman whom she loved and they lived happily ever after.

Adapted from Japanese Folktales

Benten Sama, the Goddess of Mothers - Part Two

 

Benten Sama heard the girls’ prayer and she turned to her son Ebisu. 

That day, Hakuga caught many fish and with this he made a lot of money.

Hakuga then sought a professional matchmaker as his go-between and sent the professional matchmaker to O Ume San’s father to ask for her hand. Hakuga sent the professional matchmaker because a Japanese person never seeks a wife for himself.

The Go-between went to O Ume San’s father and told the father that Hakuga now had a lot of money and could keep his daughter happy.

But the father refused. “I will do that only when the five terrible marshland dragons are no more.”

The Go-between sadly returned and told Hakuga everything.

When O Ume San heard this, she again went to the Goddess Benten Sama. “Please curse these terrible dragons and ask your son Hatei to bestow some mirth on us.”

Benten Sama heard the girl’s prayers and had an idea.

Goddess Tatsu Hima, the Goddess of Autumn ruled at the time of November and Goddess Benten Sama went to Tatsu Hima.

Goddess Benten Sama asked Goddess Tatsu Hima for some help to fulfill the girl’s wishes.

Adapted from Japanese Folktales

Benten Sama, the Goddess of Mothers - Part One

This story took place at the time when the river Kashigoye flowed into the sea passing through a marsh called the Marsh of Terrible Dragons.

There was a reason that this marsh was given this name. This particular marsh had five dragons and every year these five dragons came forward and snatched and ate the maidens of the village. 

There were no humans that could stop these terrible dragons. So the people of the villages prayed to Goddess Benten Sama. Benten Sama was the Goddess of mothers and she bestowed love and beauty on those who prayed to her. Benten Sama had many sons like Daikuko who gave wealth to people, Hatei who was full of mirth, and Ebisu who was the god of fishermen.

Benten Sama loved Ebisu the most among all her sons and because of this Benten Sama also loved all the fishermen.

At this time, O Ume San was the daughter of the headman of a village and she sought blessings from the Goddess for her lover. O Ume San’s lover was a fisherman.

O Ume San prayed to the Goddess. “Goddess of Mercy, please send your blessings to my father because he does not consent to my union with Hakuga who is a fisher man of the village. My father says that he will agree to my marriage only when there are no more terrible dragons in the marshland. I pray to you to soften my father's heart and also so that your son Ebiso may bestow his favour upon Hakugo.”

Adapted from Japanese Folktales

The Story of Bacha and Baki - Part Nine

 

Once, the king smashed the cowrie shell into pieces, each of the pieces changed into an armed man. Prince Baki also appeared among the armed men.

The courtiers in the king's court all ran all over the court.

The armed men were actually demons who were under Prince Baki’s power.

The armed men wanted someone to kill.

Prince Baki pointed at the king. The armed men attacked and killed the king.

After that the armed men disappeared.

The courtiers saw all this and were stunned. They realized that Prince Baki was a powerful magician and fell at Prince Baki’s feet and made Baki their king.

After that Baki married the young woman and lived with her for many years.

Baki’s mother returned to King Bacha and they both decided never to have any trivial disputes and together reigned over the kingdom for a long time.

Adapted from Tibetan Folktales

The Story of Bacha and Baki - Part Eight

Baki was determined to foil the king’s plans. But before that, he came back to his rented place and told the young woman everything that the king had done.

The young woman nodded on hearing Baki. “When I was with the ogre I learnt some magic spells. I think I can help you with it. I have a plan and using that, we can undo the king’s plan.”

Armed with the spell, Baki walked very near the palace where the king lived.

There, using the magic that the young woman had taught him, Baki turned himself into a cowrie shell and lay on a mountain rock.

One of the servants of the palace saw the large cowrie shell and picked it up. “This is a beautiful cowrie shell.”

The servant was shocked out of his wits when the cowrie shell spoke to him. “Yes, I am a very handsome cowrie shell.”

The servant was terrified. “What kind of a shell are you? How can you talk?”

“Not only can I talk,” the cowrie shell replied. “I even know a lot about Prince Baki that the king would not like to hear.”

The servant was shocked and ran to the Prime Minister with the cowrie shell.

The Prime Minister then went to the king and told him all that had happened.

The king brought the cowrie shell and placed it on the table before him. “What are you? And how do you know about Prince Baki?”

The cowrie shell replied immediately. “The only thing I can tell you is that if you try to marry Prince Baki’s mother, things will not turn out right for you.”

The king was furious when he heard this. He had one of his servants bring a huge hammer and using it he smashed the cowrie shell into many pieces.

Adapted from Tibetan Folktales

The Story of Bacha and Baki - Part Seven

The woman continued. “Behind the rock which you came in, there is another rock. Kick on the rock three times and then say ‘Great Raven open the door’. The rock will open into a large cave and in the centre of the cave you will find a red stone. On the red stone you will find a green parrot. If you destroy the parrot then the ogre will be destroyed too.”

Baki followed the instructions of the woman and destroyed the green parrot.

After that he came out of the other cave and he was shocked to find the ogre lying dead in front of the palace where he had seen the beautiful young woman.

The young woman was however overjoyed.

Baki led the young woman out of the kingdom and then the Baki and the young woman went to the king’s kingdom.

However, Baki did not take the young woman directly to the king.

Baki rented a house in the outskirts of the kingdom and asked the young woman to stay there. Baki wanted to change into something rich and then introduce the woman to the king.

After renting the house and placing the woman there, Baki went to the streets and there he learnt something that shocked him.

In Baki’s absence, the king had announced that he was going to marry Baki’s mother.

Baki’s mother had protested telling the king that she was the wife of another man, but the king did not hear it and he decided to marry Baki’s mother.

Adapted from Tibetan Folktales

The Story of Bacha and Baki - Part Six

Even as Baki had hid himself in the pillar, a huge ogre came into the place. The ogre asked the beautiful young woman to bring him food.

After his meals, the ogre played the guitar. 

Strangely, the pillars in the place started dancing to the music played by the ogre.

All except the pillar where Baki had been hidden.

No matter how much guitar the ogre played, that single pillar did not move.

The ogre was furious. He picked up a hammer to destroy that particular pillar.

However the beautiful young woman begged the ogre not to do anything. “The pillar is right in the centre and largest of all of them. Probably, this pillar does not want to dance because it wants to set itself different from the others. I am sure that tomorrow things will go back to normal.”

The ogre grudgingly let the woman convince himself not to harm the pillar.

Soon after the ogre left the palace.

After that Baki came out of the pillar.

“How can one destroy that ogre?” Baki asked the woman immediately.

“There is no use in hurting his body. If you wish to harm him you have to destroy the thing to which the ogre’s spirit is bound to.”

“To what is the ogre’s spirit tied to?” Baki was confused.

“To a special green parrot which the ogre keeps hidden from humans.” The woman told Baki.

Adapted from Tibetan Folktales