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Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Fool Who Became King
The Fool Who Became KingLithuanian Folktales: The father loved his two elder sons dearly but could not bear his youngest who was ill treated and called a fool by the whole family...
In olden times, in the thick of a dark forest, there lived a man who had three sons. The father loved his two elder sons dearly but could not bear his youngest who was ill treated and called a fool by the whole family. No matter what he said or did, the others only laughed at him and insisted that they had never heard of anything so silly. If the elder brothers took a dislike to a piece of clothing he was made to wear it; if a dish was not to their liking he was forced to eat it. Whatever they asked for they got, but no so he who was never given anything he wanted. And if ever there was a household chore they doing they passed it on to him.
Thus it came about, since the two elder brothers found such work beneath them, that he was the one who had to pasture the pigs. He pastured them day in and day out, and as he had much time for thought began to wonder whether or not there were people living beyond the forest.
One morning he left the pigs to pasture by themselves and set out on his way. He walked for a whole day but there seemed to be no end to the forest. So he ate his breakfast, climbed a tree, and, tying himself to it, spent the night in it.
On the following day he went on again. He walked and he walked, ate his dinner, and toward evening, fearing the wild beasts, climbed a tree and spent the night in it just as he had before.
On the third day on he went again. He followed a path that led through the thickest part of the forest and he had his supper, but the edge of the forest was still not in sight.
Only on the fourth day, as he was sitting in a tree, did he suddenly hear the cocks crowing. He went in the direction from which the crowing came, and, reaching the forest edge at last, saw a city before him.
He came into the city and marveled at the sight of so many people.
Seeing that many were weeping openly and that the walls of the houses were hung with lengths of black cloth, he asked a passer-by why this was so.
Said the man:
"Where do you come from that you don't know that the wicked dragon is to get the king's daughter to morrow? Of all the maidens in the city the lot has fallen upon her to be given to him this time. The dragon threatens to level the whole city with the ground if this is not done."
"Why does no one kill the dragon?" the fool asked.
"Everyone fears him he is so fierce," the man replied. "The king has promised to give his daughter in marriage and his throne, too, to however saves her from the dragon, but even so no one dares to attempt it."
"Well, then, I will!" cried the fool. "Take me to the king."
When news of this began to get about, everyone thought the young stranger an empty braggart and only the king was pleased that at least one brave man had come forward. He ordered all sorts of weapons to be brought to him, swords, spears, lances, guns and poleaxes, and a choice of helmets and coats of armour, too, but the fool took nothing but a large axe.
"I've never handled any of these fancy weapons before in my life," said he, "but I know how to use an axe well enough."
On the following day the king took his daughter to the forest, chained her to a tree with iron chains, and, weeping bitterly, returned to the palace. The princess sighed as she waited for death, and the fool stayed with her and watched for the dragon's coming. It was a cold morning, and, thinking to warm himself, he chopped some firewood and made up a fire nearby.
As he was fanning out the flames, the dragon came flying up. He snorted and opened wide his jaws, wanting to swallow the fool, but as soon as he had crawled up to him the fool snatched up one of the larger of the burning logs and thrust it down his throat. The pain of it made the dragon open his jaws even wider, and the fool availed himself of this and pushed all of the logs down his throat. The dragon roared out in agony and began rolling over the ground. And the fool hurried up with his axe and went at him as if he were a block of wood. He chopped off his head, cut up his tail to bits and would not stop till he was quite worn out himself. The princess saw it all and at first she trembled with fear, but her fear soon changed to joy. And when the fool had cut her chains and freed her, the poor thing who had not thought to remain alive, threw her arms round his neck and kissed him.
Toward evening the king came to the forest and what did he see but the dragon hacked to pieces and the brave young stranger lying asleep, his head resting on the princess's knees. The king embraced him and wept in joy, and from then on no one was there in the whole kingdom who was held in such esteem and regard. So fond did the king grow of the fool that he married him to his daughter and gave up his own throne to him.
After a time the fool bethought him of paying his parents a visit. He took his young wife with him, and off they set in a golden coach. Their way lay through a forest, but they had not quite reached the forest edge when the fool stopped the coach, put on his old clothes and went off to pasture the pigs as he had once done. As for his wife, he told her to ask his parents to let her in for the night, to pretend that she did not know him and not to be surprised at anything that might happen.
The princess did as he had told her, and the fool seeing that the pigs were out by themselves, pastured them till evening and then drove them home, cracking his whip and shouting loudly: "Come on, you porkers! Get a move on, dearies!"
His father ran out to meet him and begged him to be silent, but he only shouted the louder.
"Do be quiet, the princess is staying in our house," the father said.
But the son, pretending to be the fool they all thought him, replied:
"What do I care about the princess, I have to drive the pigs home. They've turned wild, what with no one to look after them, and won't listen to me, so I've got to shout at them from time to time."
He came into the hut just as if he had been there only yesterday, and, sitting down at the table, began to eat his supper.
"Where have you been all this time?" his father asked.
Said the fool in reply:
"I went beyond the forest to see if there were people there and found that there were, indeed, and many more than here. Unlike you, they treated me with kindness and respect, and, to crown all, made me their king."
The father heard him out and only shook his head. He asked him nothing more, for he had had enough.
In the meantime the mother cooked some supper for the princess but was fearful of serving so high a personage. She asked first one, then the other of her sons to do it, but they, too, dared not.
Said the fool:
"Since no one wants to serve the princess, I will. She won't eat me up. I love her dearly and hope to make her my wife one of these days."
The mother looked at him and shook her head, for was he not the fool he always had been, but she gave him the food to take to the princess.
The fool carried in the bowl of meat and set it down on the table in front of the princess with such force that-crash!-it broke and the meat fell out.
"Here, lap it up!" said he and ran out again without another word.
The mother had been watching through a crack in the door and seen it all, and when he came back to the kitchen began scolding him for his rudeness.
"Where can a man learn good manners if he is out with the pigs all day!" said the fool.
"Whether you're out with them or not, nothing will change you," said the mother with a shrug.
After that he carried in a bowl of soup, and, saying "Here's some soup for you!" set it down on the table with such force that the soup splashed over and wet the princess's figured skirt. The princess only laughed and the fool ran out again.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, you pig you!" cried his mother. "You've spoiled the princess's skirt."
"I don't doubt but she has another," said the fool.
Then he carried in a pot of turnips and this he overturned into the princess's lap.
"Here, have some turnips!" said he.
And the princess laughed so that she nearby died.
It was time to go to bed, and the mother said to the fool:
"You'd better find yourself a place to sleep in. your brother have taken your bed, so you must go to the cow-house and lie down on the floor there, there's no room for you in the hut."
Said the fool in reply:
"That I won't, for the cow-house is not a fitting place for a king to sleep in. but since there is no room for me, I'll lie down beside the princess."
"You were always a fool," said the mother, "but you never spoke such nonsense before. The things you think up! As if the princess would let you packing then and there!"
"Just you watch and see how the princess will treat me," the fool said. "She's my wife and is sure to be waiting for me."
At this the fool's mother, father and brother burst out laughing.
"Ha-ha-ha!" roared they.
They settled down for the night and the fool went to the princess's room. She welcomed her husband lovingly, as was to be expected, but could not keep from laughing all the same.
The mother and father and the two elder brothers only gasped when the fool came out to them in the morning richly dressed and with his wife at his side.
They all went off to pay his father-in-law a visit soon after and they never stopped marveling that the fool had become king.
I once paid him a visit and stayed in his palace and I came back home on a gingerbread horse he gave me for a gift.
And for all I know, he must still be alive and ruling the land.
Hamir Dev's Steadfastness
Hamir Dev's SteadfastnessSeventeen kilometers from Sawaimadhopur stands a fort, encompassing in its stately walls, a glorious history of the Rajputs. Ranathambhor's venerable structure, rapturous beauty and sublime expressiveness seem to be continuously vocalizing the great legends of Hamir Dev, the Rajput king...
Seventeen kilometers from Sawaimadhopur stands a fort, encompassing in its stately walls, a glorious history of the Rajputs. Ranathambhor's venerable structure, rapturous beauty and sublime expressiveness seem to be continuously vocalizing the great legends of Hamir Dev, the Rajput king, who ruled in the 13th century.
Hamir Dev belonged to the Chauhan dynasty and drew his lineage from Prithviraj Chauhan who enjoys a respectable place in the Indian history. During his 12 years' reign, Hamir Dev fought 17 battles and won 13 of them. He annexed Malwa, Abu and Mandalgarh and thus extended his kingdom to the chagrin of Delhi Sultan, Jalaluddin, who had misgivings about Hamir's intentions. Jalaluddin attacked Ranathambhor and had it under siege for several years. However, he had to return to Delhi unsuccessful.
Jalaluddin was assassinated by his nephew Allaluddin Khilji who then crowned himself as the new Sultan of Delhi. Muhammad Shah was instrumental in making this coup successful which earned him a basketful of privileges. Muhammad Shah was even allowed access to the harem as a result of which he soon built up a good rapport with its inmates.
Chimna was one of Allaudin's begums, but Allaudin never gave her as much attention as other begums of the harem received from him. He had inadvertently managed to antagonize her. To make things worse Chimna Begum saw a valiant soldier in Muhammad Shah and was extremely impressed by his courage and boldness. Soon the vindictive begum and the ambitious Muhammad Shah started a conspiracy to slay Allaudin. Their objective was to see Muhammad Shah as Sultan and the begum as queen. The conspiratorial plans somehow leaked out. Allaudin was enraged as he came to know of Muhammad Shah's intentions. To escape the fury of Allaudin, Muhammad Shah had to flee from Delhi along with his brother. He sought asylum in many nearby kingdom but no one was ready to stand up to the wrath of Allaudin.
Muhammad Shah approached Hamir Dev. The brave Rajput was moved by his humble pleading and misery and agreed to him shelter. Allaudin's ire was roused when he came to know of it. He immediately attacked the fort of Ranathambhor. The armies of Allaudin and Hamir Dev met in a battle on the banks of river Banas. The Rajputs had the initial victory. However, because of the personal feud between the Prime Minister and the Senapati (General-in-charge of the army) Hamir Dev's army got disorganized. The Prime Minister succeeded in getting the Senapati killed. Meanwhile, Allaudin reorganized his forces and made a renewed attack on the fort. Some unscrupulous officers of Hamir Dev, with Bhoj Dev as their leader, colluded with Allaudin and started giving him secret information about the fort. The war continued. The strong walls of the fort were strategically so situated that it was not possible to blow them down with gunpower, for the debris so created had already killed numerous soldiers of the Sultan in their futile attempt to break in to the fort. At last Allaudin sent a message to Hamir Dev saying that in case he was ready to hand over Muhammad Shah to him, he would go back to Delhi. Hamir Dev was too self respecting to make such an ignominious compromise. He sent back the messenger with the reply that when the Rajputs promised to protect someone, they even gave their lives for his safety. Muhammad Shah saw the hopelessness of the situation and conselled Hamir Dev to hand him over to Allaudin rather than fight such a long drawn-out war and suffer such an enormous loss of lives and resources. Allaudin's army was immense. He put a complete siege on the Ranathambhor fort. Bhoj Dev and his informers kept on supplying him information on the food of water situation inside the fort. The ill-fated war bended with the Sultan's legions emerging victorious. The female members of the Rajput kingdom committed jauhar and gave up lives on the pyres. Hamir Dev, himself, severed his head and put it in front of Lord Shiva's idol as an offering.After the victory, Allaudin entered the fort. Wounded Muhammad Shah was brought to him.
"What is your last desire?" asked Allaudin. "To kill you and place Hamir's son on the throne of Ranathambhor", replied Muhammad Shah. Then he took out his dagger and committed suicide.
Allaudin, now, turned to Bhoj Dev and his other informers. There faces were keen with eagerness to receive the long awaited reward from the Sultan. On the countrary, Allaudin roared, "Shave of the heads of these traitors. They have not been loyal to their own king".
Within minutes, the heads of all his accomplices rolled on the ground. Allaudin's laughter reverberated against the walls of the fort. Even today people sing a folk song as follows:
Singh Suwan supurush bachan kadahi falai ek bar,
Tiriya tel Hamir nath chadie na duji bar.
Only once the banana bears the fruit, wise man promises once, once only does a lioness whelp. And once if a You take a vow, never withdraw from it.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
'FROM MY HOUSE TO YOURS'
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