The Story of the Enchanted Canary - Part Eight

Not far from the fountain lived a family of bricklayers. 

Fifteen years back the father in the family had found a baby abandoned near the fountain and he had taken pity and taken the baby home.

His wife had also taken pity on the baby and brought it up as her own.

This baby was a girl and it was given the name Titty.

Titty was brought up as one of the family of bricklayers. 

However Titty did not like working very hard like the others in her family. She very often shirked her responsibility. 

It was to make sure that Titty started working that her father made it a point to send her to the fountain everyday to fetch water for the household chores.

Today as Titty had come near the fountain she was shocked to see a beautiful face reflected in the waters of the fountain. As soon as she saw the face she grew careless and she let the mud pot in her hand break.

She went back home and told her father the reason that she could not bring the water - that the mud pot had broken. 

She did not tell her father or anyone else in her family about the beautiful face that she had seen in the waters.

Her father sent her to the fountain and this time he gave her a bucket to fill the water from the fountain.

Titty was not successful the second time because this time too she had seen the beautiful face reflected in the water.

It was the third time that when her father gave her copper can that Titty had properly filled the water in the can and was about to carry it back when she saw the girl hidden in the hollow tree.

“Who are you?” Titty was amazed as she studied the pretty face. 

“I am Zizi.” The Princess told the young girl.

“What are you doing here?” 

“I am waiting for Prince Desire to bring me a carriage to take me back to his castle.” Princess Zizi had not suspected anything wrong,  nor did she know that people could use this information again her and she had honestly answered this question.

When Titty heard this she realized that she had just found a beautiful reason to take up the place of Zizi and live a life of luxury for the rest of her life.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Red Fairy Tale Book

The Story of the Enchanted Canary - Part Seven

Princess Zizi had lived in the orange for ten years and she was still getting acclimated to the real world. She asked Desire plenty of questions about the things that were around them as they rode towards Desire’s castle.

Desire was delighted to answer her question and he felt very happy in the company of the princess.

As they neared the castle Desire looked at the attire that he and the Princess were wearing.

He stopped the horse and asked Zizi to dismount it and sat by the edge of a fountain. “Zizi we cannot present ourselves before my father like two common people. We must come into the castle looking a little more grand. So wait for me here. I will go to the castle and bring carriages and horse fit for a princess.”

“Don't be long.” Zizi told the prince. 

Desire left Zizi in the forest and then went towards his castle.

After Desire had left for the castle Zizi found that she was alone after a very long time and suddenly Zizi was afraid.

It was at that time that Zizi heard some sound from the trees around her.

Not knowing what to expect, Zizi decided to keep herself safe from whoever it was.

There was a willow tree near the fountain that Desire had left her at. Zizi hid herself in the hollow trunk of the willow tree. The trunk was big enough to hold her and she could peek out of the hole in the trunk. When Zizi peeked out, her beautiful face was reflected in the water of the fountain.

Zizi was hiding thus and was trying to ascertain who had walked into the forest at that time and she waited.

Adapted from Andrew Lang's Red Fairy book

The Story of the Enchanted Canary- Part Six

 

As Desire rode on he was filled with sudden doubts. Just as his thirst could be because of the witch’s curse, what if the third orange did not have any beautiful princess in it at all. Probably another canary would come out of it and ask for water and disappear.

After all, all that Desire had seen was two canaries coming out of the two oranges.

The more Desire thought about it the more worried he grew.

This time when he had some water collected from the dew of the night before, Desire finally found the courage to cut the third orange also.

This time too a small canary came out of the orange and asked Desire for some water.

When Desire gave the bird some water, he was shocked. 

The bird turned into a beautiful princess with bright golden-coloured skin. 

Once Desire saw her he could not remove his eyes from her. “Who are you?" He managed to stutter studying the beautiful princess.

“I am Princess Zizi,” the beautiful woman told Desire. “When I was sixteen, I was cursed to become a canary and for the past ten years I have lived inside this orange as a canary.”

Desire fell in love with the princess immediately and wanted to marry her.

After telling the princess what he was going to do, he placed Princess Zizi on the horse and rode with her to his father's castle.

Adapted from Andrew Lang's Red Fairy book

The Story of the Enchanted Canary - Part Five

“How I wish these were real fruits, like I ate at Flanders.” Desire looked sad as he studied the oranges.

The more the tired Desire thought about it, the more he realized that he could be right and there was a chance that the oranges were real.

Desire opened an orange and he was shocked to find a little canary come out of the orange.

“Please give me something to drink.” The bird cried at the prince.

The prince stared. He did not realize what the bird had asked. He was shocked and finally realized the reason that the old man had asked him to come near a water source before opening the orange.

But the prince had been hasty and he had nothing to offer to the canary. In desperation, Desire opened the second orange in the hope that it could have some water for the canary.

Another canary emerged from the second orange and the second canary also asked for water.

Desire realized his mistake and saw that the two canaries flew away from there when Desire could not provide any water.

In exhaustion, Desire fell unconscious.

When Desire woke up, he felt better. The prince felt better and he looked at the fresh dew around him which had come at night. 

Desire felt refreshed and he took the last remaining orange and mounted his horse and rode on towards some water source.

However, this time too Desire did not find any water source. He was sure that the witch had bewitched him to be very thirsty without any water source on the way.

But this time the Desire had collected some water from the dew around him and rode on towards a water source.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Red Fairy Book

The Story of the Enchanted Canary - Part Four

Desire heard a loud rumbling voice from around him. “Baker, take the stranger and throw him in the oven.”

The old woman leaning over the oven shook her head.

“This boy has given me a brush to clean this oven. You have never given me anything. I will not listen to you and hurt him.”

“Rope, strangle this stranger!” The voice cried again.

“No!” The rope that the boy had straightened spoke. “You left me to rot. This boy has stretched me. I will not do anything to him."

Similarly, the dog was happy with the prince because the prince had given him oat cake and refused to jump at the prince’s throat. Finally, the iron gate of the castle was happy with the prince for oiling its hinges and for this reason, the iron gate also did not hurt the prince.

Once the prince was out of the castle, he put the oranges in the bag hanging from his saddle and rode outside into the forest.

He rode on for hours and hours but he could not find a single water source - fountain or stream.

By mid-day the sun scorched through the skies. He was terribly thirsty and he still could not find anything to drink.

The prince soon could not ride anymore and he got off his horse and lay on the ground and his throat was burning with thirst.

That was when he saw the oranges from the bag.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Red Fairy Book

The Story of the Enchanted Canary - Part Three

 

The old man also gave the prince instructions on how to handle the troubles that came when he went to the castle and Desire paid rapt attention. Finally, the old man had some very important instructions for Desire. “When you get to the orange grove, take three oranges and get back to the iron gate and leave the forest by the opposite side.” The old man suddenly looked grave. “Whatever happens do not open the orange till you reach the bank of a river or a fountain.”

Soon armed with certain things that the old man had given the prince set off towards the castle.

Desire saw the iron gate and using the oil in the bottle that the old man had given him, the prince oiled the hinges of the iron gate. 

The prince was stunned when the gate opened by itself and there was an old castle inside.

A huge and fierce dog came rushing towards him and Desire then threw the oatcake that the old man had given to him, towards the dog.

The charging dog looked at the oatcake happily and did not charge at the prince anymore.

After that an old fierce looking woman leaned over an oven. Desire gave the woman a brush and once the woman took the brush, she looked happy and did nothing to Desire.

After that Desire went to a well in the courtyard of the castle and he drew up a nearly rotten cord and stretched the cord in the sun, following the instructions of the old man.

Finally, Desire found himself in the orange grove easily and plucked three of the most beautiful oranges that he could find.

Desire collected three oranges from the grove and suddenly the sun went dark and the very earth trembled.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Red Fairy Book

The Story of the Enchanted Canary - Part Two

Desire traveled many weeks and he passed many villages and mountains on his journey. As Desire rode further away from his father’s kingdom, it became warmer and hotter.

Soon Desire reached a very warm place and he was sure that this was the place where he would find the woman of his dreams.

Desire rode on till he came to a little hut. It almost seemed to Desire that his horse stopped there before the hut of its accord.

In front of the house was an old man with a pipe in his hands.

The prince went to the old man’s house and requested him to stay in the house for the night.

The old man agreed to this and asked the prince the reason for his visit.

Desire told the old man the reason for his visit. 

The old man was surprised when he heard about Desire’s dream. “You must follow your dream. If you do not find what you seek, you will at least have the happiness of seeking it.”

The prince was happy on hearing this.

The old man continued. “The woods that you are looking for are not far from you.” The old man pointed at a road outside his hut. “That is the road that will lead you to the beautiful princess. If you walk on this path you will come to a vast park which is surrounded by high walls. In the middle of the park is a castle. There lives a terrible witch in the castle and that witch does not allow anyone to enter the castle. Beside the castle is an orange grove. Walk around the high walls around the park and you will come to an iron gate and that is the way to find the woman of your dreams.”

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Red Fairy Book

The Story of the Enchanted Canary - Part One

Once, there was a lord of a king and the lord was a very fat man who ate and slept most of the time. The lord was called Lord Tubby. Lord Tubby governed the area called Flanders.

Lord Tubby had a very handsome son who was called Desire. Every woman and princesses in the neighbouring kingdom loved Desire because he was very good-looking.

However, Desire was not interested in any of the women that he found in his kingdom because he felt that they were not beautiful enough.

Desire spent most of his time in the woods instead of looking at the women in his kingdom and his father finally decided to talk to him about this.

Desire told his father that he was looking for a beautiful woman to marry and he could not find anyone in his kingdom and that was the reason that he spent most of the time in the woods.

Things went on like this and one day Lord Tubby and his son received a basketful of beautiful oranges. 

No one in Flanders had seen oranges before this day.

That night when Tubby and his son Desire ate the oranges they were stunned to find that the oranges were delicious.

The next day, Desire went and spoke with his father. “Father, I have come to tell you that I am leaving the palace.”

“Why?” Tubby was confused.

“Yesterday night, I had a dream that when I opened an orange, I saw a beautiful princess come out of the orange. It was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. That is the one that I want to marry. I am leaving to find her.”

Tubby was astonished and he did not know what to say. 

But before he could stop his son, Desire had sat on his horse and driven away from the palace in search of his future wife.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Red Fairy Book

Ratnadhipathi and his Elephant - Part Five

The king reached the island and it was at that time that he saw that his wife was intoxicated and talking to a strange man. 

He was depressed and angrily threw the man out of the island. 

The king did not even ask the queen what had happened and concluded that his wife had been unfaithful to him.

The king wanted to give up his kingdom. Sadly King Ratnadhipathi went to his elephant to take him back to his kingdom.

It was at that time that his elephant vanished and a heavenly being appeared in its place.

The king was stunned. “Who… who are you?”

“Do you not remember?” The heavenly being smiled at the king.

The king shook his head as the being continued. “We were brothers. We were gandharvas living in heaven from the Malaya mountain region. I was Somaprabha and my brother, that was you, was Devaprabha. You loved your wife Rajavathi dearly and took her everywhere. Once the three of us went to the temple of Krishna. Rajavathi sang in the temple in her melodious voice. A sage in the temple heard Rajavathi’s song and was struck by the beauty of her voice. The sage kept staring at Rajavathi. You were unable to take it and grew angry at the sage. You angrily scolded the sage for staring at your wife. The sage told you that he was captivated by your wife’s voice and nothing else. The sage was angry with you and cursed you that you would be born as a mortal and see your wife in the company of another man.”

The king suddenly remembered his past life and was shocked. He looked at the heavenly being who nodded. “I was there with you and at that time, I was very angry with the sage for cursing you. I hit the sage with a white elephant made of mud.” The heavenly being shrugged. “So the sage cursed me to be born as a white elephant.”

The king then remembered what happened after that. 

The gandharva Devaprabha had asked for forgiveness from the sage. 

That was the reason that the sage had modified his curse where Devaprabha would be born as a king and Somaprabha would be born as the elephant that would carry the king. Devaprabha, Somaprabha and Rajavathi would regain their heavenly form as soon as the king saw his wife in the company of another man.

Once the king remembered all that, the king and the queen also changed into heavenly beings.

Then they left the island and went to the heavens.

Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara

Ratnadhipathi and his Elephant - Part Four

Meanwhile in another kingdom of Madhura, there was a man called Pavanasena. 

After Pavanasena’s father’s death, Pavanasena’s kinsmen robbed him of all his wealth. Pavanasena left his home and did some small business and made a little money. But Pavanasena lost all the money. 

So after that, Pavanasena along with some people went to a place called Kanakaksetra to work in the mines there.

Some of the people who went with Pavanasena got some gold and precious stones. But Pavanasena got nothing despite working in the mines for nearly a year.

Pavanasena was depressed. But at that time, a merchant called Jivadatta came that way and offered to take Pavanasena to a place called Svarnadvipa.

But when Pavanasena and Jivadatta were sailing to Svaranadvipa, a storm hit their ship and broke the ship that Pavanasena was traveling in.

Pavanasena was able to get hold of a plank and he washed ashore a strange island where there was a grand palace right in the middle of the island.

This was the same island that Rajadatta was living on.

Not only had Pavanasena come to the island, he came there when Rajadatta was severely intoxicated after having the fruit wine.

Meanwhile back in the kingdom of Ratnakuta, Ratnadhipathi could not focus on his kingship duties and kept thinking about his wife. 

He could not carry out his kingly duties that day and decided to go back to the island as soon as possible.

Adapted  from the Katha Sarith Sagara

Ratnadhipathi and his Elephant - Part Three

Ratnadhipathi and his Elephant - Part Three

After this, Ratnadhipathi went to Silavati and asked her whether she had any

sisters. 

Silavati had a sister called Rajadatta who was very beautiful. As soon as Ratnadhipathi

saw Rajadatta he decided that he had to marry her.

He consulted his court astrologers for the right time to marry Rajadatta.

However, the astrologers advised the king to wait for three more months. 

But the impatient Ratnadhipathi wanted to get married to Rajadatta immediately

and he did so too.

After his marriage, Ratnadhipathi took Rajadatta back to Ratnakuta.

However, this time, after his experience with his previous wives, Ratnadhipathi

did not want his latest wife to see other men at all. So he took Rajadatta to a

solitary island in the middle of the ocean. He had a beautiful palace made there

and had many women attend his wife there.

So every evening and night, Ratnadhipathi went to the island and the other times

he was in his kingdom handling his kingship duties.

The elephant Svetarasmi was the only other creature which could meet

Rajadatta on the island.

Things remained this way for many years.

As things went on like this, the king was with his queen when he had a very

bad dream.

It was to ward off the effects of the dream that the king and the queen

performed some rites in the island and after that, the royal couple partook

some sweet flower wine after the ritual.

The queen was a little intoxicated and it was at this time that the king

had to leave the queen alone on the island and go back to his kingdom.

Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara