by Ruskin Bond
The minister had thought of a scheme and the princes agreeing to it, were taken to the highest tower of the fort, which overlooked the entire city as well as the surrounding countryside. Seven bows and seven arrows were placed before the princes, and they were told to shoot in any direction they liked. Each prince had agreed to marry the girl upon whose house the arrow fell—be she daughter of prince or peasant.
The princes took up the bows and shot their arrows in different directions, and all the arrows except that of the youngest prince fell on the houses of well-known and highly respected families. But the arrow shot by the youngest went beyond the city and out of sight.
Servants ran in all the directions looking for the arrow, and after a long search found it embedded in the branch of a great banyan tree, on which was sitting a monkey.
The king and his courtiers and the ministers held a hurried conference and decided that the youngest prince should be given another chance with his arrow. But the prince, to everyone's surprise, refused a second chance.
'No,' he said, 'my brothers have found good and beautiful wives, and that is their good fortune. But do not ask me to break the pledge I took before shooting the arrow. I know I cannot marry this monkey, but nor will I marry anyone else. I shall take the monkey home and look after her as a pet.'
And the youngest prince went out of the city and brought the monkey home.
The six lucky princes were married with great pomp, the city celebrated with lights and fireworks, and there was music and dancing in the streets. People decorated their houses with mango and banana leaves. There was rejoicing all over the city, except in the house of the youngest prince who, though alone and rather sad, had placed a diamond collar around the neck of his monkey and seated her on a chair cushioned with velvet.
'Poor monkey,' said the prince 'you are as lonely as I, on this day of rejoicing. But I shall make your stay here a happy one! Are you hungry?' And he placed a bowl of delicious mangoes before her and persuaded her to eat them. He began to talk to the monkey and spent much time with her. Some called him foolish, or stubborn; others thought he was a little mad.
The king discussed the situation with his ministers and sons, determined to find some way of bringing the prince to his sense and marrying him into a suitable family. But the young prince refused to listen to the advice and entreaties of his father, brothers and friends.
Months passed, and the prince had not changed his mind. Instead, he appeared to grow more attached to his monkey, and was often seen walking with her in the gardens of the palace.
At last the king called a meeting of all seven princes, and said, 'My sons, I have seen you all settled happily in life. Even you, my youngest, appear to be happy with your strange companion. The happiness of a father consists in the happiness of his sons and daughters. Therefore I wish to visit my daughters-in-law and give them presents.'
The eldest son immediately invited his father to dine at his house, and the other sons repeated the invitation. The king accepted them all, including that of the youngest prince. The receptions were very grand, and the king presented his daughters-in-law with precious jewels and costly dresses. Eventually it was the turn of the youngest son to entertain the king.
The youngest prince was very troubled. How could he invite his father to a house in which he lived with a monkey? He knew his monkey was more gentle and affectionate than some of the greatest ladies in the land, and he was determined not to hide her away as though she was something to be ashamed of.
Walking with her in the garden, he said, 'What shall I do now, my friend? I wish you had a tongue to comfort me. All my brothers have shown their houses and their wives to my father. They will ridicule me when I present you to him!'
The monkey had always been a silent and sympathetic listener when the prince spoke to her, but now he saw that she was gesturing to him with her hands. And, bending over her, he noticed that she was holding a piece of broken pottery in one hand. The prince took the broken shard from her. Written on it in a beautiful feminine hand were these words: 'Do not worry, prince. Go to the place where you found me, throw this shard of pottery into the hollow trunk of the banyan tree, and wait for a reply.'
The prince hesitated at first, but decided that his problems could get no worse if he followed his monkey's advice. So, taking the broken bit of pottery, he went out of the city to the banyan tree.
It was a very ancient tree, hundreds of years old, with its branches and roots spreading out in a wide circle, and its leaves forming many curious little bowers. The trunk, though hollow within, was very wide and thick. Going up to it, the prince threw the piece of pottery into the hollow, and stood back to see if anything would happen.
He did not have to wait long.
A very beautiful girl, dressed in green, stepped out of the hollow, and asked the prince to follow her.
She told him that the queen of the fairies wished to see him in person.
The prince climbed the tree, entered the hollow, and after groping about in the dark, was suddenly let into a dazzling and wonderful garden, at the end of which stood an imposing palace. An army of tall sunflowers bordered the garden. Between the flowers flowed a sweetly-scented stream, and on the bed of the stream, instead of pebbles, there were rubies and diamonds and sapphires. Even the light which lit up this new world was warmer and less harsh than the light of the prince's world. He was led past a fountain of silver water, up steps of gold, and in through the mother-of-pearl doors of the palace. But the splendour of the room into which he was taken seemed to fade before the incomparable beauty of the fairy princess who stood before him.
'Yes prince, I know your message,' she said. 'Do not be anxious, but go home and prepare to receive your father the king and your royal guests tomorrow evening. My servants will see to everything.'
Next morning, when the prince awoke in his palace, an amazing sight met his eyes. The palace grounds teemed with new life. His gardens were full of fruit trees—mango, papaya, pomegranate and peach. Under the shade of the trees there were stalls where fruit, sweets, scents and sherbets were available. Children were playing on the lawns, and men and women were listening to music.
The prince was bewildered at what he saw, and was even more amazed when he entered his palace and found it full of noise and activity. Tables groaned under the weight of delicious foods. Great chandeliers hung from the ceilings, and flowers filled the palace with their perfume.
At this moment a servant came running to announce that the king and his courtiers were arriving. The prince hurried out to meet them. He took them into the reception hall, which was now beautifully decorated. Here dinner was served. Then everyone insisted on seeing the partner the prince had chosen; they thought the monkey would be excellent entertainment after such a magnificent dinner.
The prince could not refuse their request, and went gloomily through his rooms in search of the monkey. He feared the ridicule that would follow. This, he knew, was the king's way of trying to cure him of his stubbornness in refusing to break his pledge.
The prince opened the door of his room and was nearly blinded by a blaze of light. There, on a throne in the middle of the room, sat the princess whom he had met in the banyan tree.
'Yes, prince,' said the princess. 'I have sent away the monkey and have come to offer you my hand.'
On hearing that his pet had gone, the prince burst into tears. 'What have you done?' he said. 'Your beauty will not compensate me for the loss of my friend.'
Then the princess, with a smile, said, 'If my beauty does not move you, let gratitude help you take my hand. See what pains I have taken in preparing this feast for your father and brothers. Be mine, sweet prince, and you shall have all the riches and the pleasures of the world at your command.'
The prince was indignant. 'I never asked these things of you, nor do I know what plot is afoot to deprive me of my monkey! Restore her to me, and I will be your slave.'
Then the princess left her throne, and taking the
prince by the hand, spoke to him with great love and respect. 'You see in me your friend and companion. I took the form of a monkey to test your faith and sincerity. See, my monkey's skin lies in the corner.'
The prince looked, and there in the corner of the room he saw the skin of the monkey.
Both he and the princess seated themselves on the throne, and when she said, 'Arise, arise, arise,' the throne rose in the air and floated into the hall where the guests had gathered. The prince presented his princess to his father, and you can imagine the astonishment of the king and the guests who had come expecting to see a monkey as their hostess. The king gave any number of presents to his new daughter-in-law, and the whole land was soon praising the prince and his beautiful princess.
But who am I to describe the happiness of such wonderful people?
The other princes soon became envious of their youngest brother's good fortune, and began to plan his downfall.
'Brother,' they said to him one day, 'your wife is a Peri, belonging to a race of people who are famous for their fickle and mischievous ways. We know that you still keep the skin which the princess wore before. Why do you keep it with you? You never know when she might change her mind and become a monkey again! We suggest that you destroy the skin as soon as possible.'
The prince thought over their suggestion, and seeing that they had a point, found the skin and threw it into a blazing fire.
Immediately there were loud cries from the fire, and the princess herself emerged from the smoke and rushed from the palace. And then the entire palace, the gardens, and everything the Peri had brought with her, vanished at the same time.
The prince was heart-broken.
'But how can love exist between a man and a daughter of the air?' asked the king. 'She came from the air, and she has vanished into it. Do not weep for her.'
The prince, however, was not to be consoled, and early one morning he slipped out of the city and went to the old banyan tree, hoping to find some trace of the princess there; but the tree, too, had disappeared. For days and nights he wandered about the countryside, eating wild fruits and drinking from forest pools and sleeping under the stars, and everyday he went further and further away from his city. One day he came upon a man who was standing on one leg (holding the other foot in his hand) and crying, 'Once did I see you, appear once more!'
The prince asked him what was wrong, and the man standing on one leg replied, 'I was hunting in these forests when I saw a very beautiful lady passing this way. She was running and would not stop, though I called to her. I was so struck by her beauty and her sadness that I was unable to move from this place.' And he repeated, 'Once did I see you, appear once more!'
'I am looking for her, too,' said the prince.
'Then find her soon. And when you do, please let me see her once more. Take this stick of mine as a token. You may find it useful on the way, and it has the virtue of obeying the commands of its owner.'
The prince now travelled for days through burning deserts, often calling the name of the Peri princess, but getting no response. After bearing many hardships, he found an oasis where he quenched his thirst at a little stream. While he was resting in the shade of a tree, he heard the strains of a guitar, and going in search of the source of this music, he found a handsome youth of twenty bent over his instrument, absorbed in what he was playing. So sweet was the music that even the birds had fallen silent. The young man finished playing, heaved a deep sigh, and said.
'Once did I see you, appear once more!'
He, too, had seen the Peri rushing away, and had been so struck by her beauty that he had been unable to leave the spot where he had been playing his guitar. The musician gave the prince his guitar, and told him that it was capable of charming every living thing within hearing. In exchange, he only wanted to see the Peri again when the prince found her.
The prince carried on with his journey, crossing mighty mountains and glaciers. One day, while he was trudging through heavy snow, he again heard a voice crying, 'Once did I see you, appear once more!'
This time it was a pale and haggard young man, who told the same story of having seen the Peri rushing over the mountains. And here he was, unable to leave the mountain peak until he saw the beautiful princess again.
'Take this cap,' he told the prince. 'It can make you invisible when you put it on, and might be useful in your search for the Peri. But when you find her let me see her again, or I shall surely perish here!'
Carrying the stick, the guitar and the cap, the prince went over the mountains and into a valley where he found a temple of snow—the pillars, the roof, the spires, all made of snow. Within the temple the prince found a yogi, naked except for a loin-cloth, sitting on air some three feet above the floor without any visible means of support. His whole body glowed in the light that filtered through the inner screen of the temple.
The yogi, opening his eyes and looking straight at the prince, said, 'I know your story. The princess you are looking for is the daughter of the king of the Peris, whose palace is on the top of Mount Caucasus. The lady is very ill, so take this pot of balsam, which has healing powers, and these wooden slippers which will transport you wherever you like.'
As soon as the prince put on the wooden slippers, he rose high in the air and was carried at great speed over the mountains to the land of the Peris. He alighted outside a great city where, putting on the cap which made him invisible, he passed unchallenged through the gates.
Once in the city's main square, the prince began playing his guitar and so sweet was the music that all the Peris thronged into the square to hear him play. The king, hearing that a wonderful magician was charming his subjects, came out to meet him. He was so bewitched by the music that he fell on his knees before the prince and said, 'My daughter has been lying ill with a strange fever for many months. Cure her, I beg of you, for she is the light of my eyes and the hope of my old age.'
The prince accompanied the king into the palace, on a golden chair carried by the Peris. He was taken to the princess's apartments, and there he found his Peri princess, sound asleep. He took the balsam the yogi had given him, and told the waiting women to apply it to their mistress's body. As soon as this was done the princess sat up in bed, feeling much better. Recognising the prince, she was about to call him by his name when he put his finger to his lips and with his eyes begged her to be silent.
When the king found that his daughter had been cured, he said, 'Great saint, ask any boon from me.'
'Your daughter's hand in marriage, great king,' replied the prince without any hesitation.
The king was enraged at the yogi's audacity and ordered his soldiers to seize the mendicant and throw him into prison. But the prince put on his cap and became invisible, and ordered his stick to keep off the soldiers. The king, finding that the prince had vanished except for the stick which was employed on the backs of the soldiers, begged for mercy.
'Forgive us!' he called. 'Show yourself again, and I promise that you will have whatever you desire.'
The prince made himself visible again. 'I am sorry I had to use my powers against you,' he said. 'Now give me one of the flying chairs which only the Peris know how to make, and let it take both me and your daughter to my father's kingdom.'
The king of the Peris at once brought out his daughter, attended by three beautiful Peris. They joined the prince in a handsome palanquin, which rose into the air and carried them back to the prince's country.
He did not forget those who had helped him on his outward journey. The prince took his three friends back with him to his kingdom, where they married the three Peris who had attended on the princess. And they all lived happily ever after.
As for the prince's brothers, when the king, their father, came to know of the mischief they had caused, he was so enraged that he disinherited them all and would have thrown them into prison had not the youngest prince persuaded the king to pardon them. And so they were forgiven, and suitable pensions were settled on them.
THE TULIP PIXIES
Down in the West, somewhere by the borders of the Tavy, there once lived a kind old woman. Her cottage was near a pixie field, where green rings stood in the grass. Now some folk say those fairy rings are caused by the elves catching colts. They catch them and ride them round and round by night, such folk do say. But this old woman had other ideas about her fairy rings.
Around her tidy cottage was a pretty garden, full of sweet-smelling flowers. Lavender and holly hocks grew there, lilies and rosemary and the sweet briar tree, blue-buttons and gillyflowers, forget-me-nots and rue. But best of all was a big bed of tulips which she tended with special care. Everyone stopped to peep over her gate when the time of tulips came.
How the pixies loved this spot. They liked the kind old woman, and they liked her garden too.
One starry night, as she lay asleep, with the lilac flowers showing white under her window, she was awakened by a strange sound. At first she thought an owl in the elm tree had wakened her, but gradually she realised that it was a sweeter sound than the crack of the churn owl.
'It do sound for all the world like a lullaby,' she thought and lay listening for a while.
Then she got out of bed and peered from the window. There below her in the moonlight all the tulips in their shining colours were waving their heads in tune with the sweet music. It seemed as though they themselves were singing too.
Now when this happened the next night, and the next, the old woman began to understand what had happened. The pixie folk had brought their babies to the tulip bed, and laid each one within a separate flower.
'They be lullin' their babies to sleep, I do declare,' said the old woman, delighted. 'Ssh! I see them now. The pixie babies are fast asleep, and there go the pixie folk themselves to dance in the meadow grass.'
