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
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