Story 146 - The Na, Mi, And Blue-lotus Flowers’ Princesses

IN a certain country there is a King, and the King has three children, males. On the second poya day (the full-moon day), at the time when the moon has risen, having caused these three Princes to be brought, he asked,

“Son, what is this moon good for ?”

The big son said,

“This moon is good for [enabling] poor people to go on journeys; it is good for trampling stacks (threshing by means of buffaloes).”

The King accepted this word.

He asked at the hand of the next (ekkama) son; that son replied in that very manner.

He asked at the hand of the next son. That son said,

“It is good for [enabling] the Mi-flower^[1] Princess, and the Na-flower^[2] Princess, and the Blue-Lotus-flower Princess to perambulate on the carriage which they keep.”

Thereupon anger went to the King. Having caused the executioner to be brought, he started off the youngest Prince and the two elder Princes and the executioner, these four persons. He told him to behead the Prince.

At the time when these four were going in the midst of the jungle, there was a Banyan-tree; the four persons sat down in the shade under the Banyan-tree. The youngest Prince having collected a heap of sand and having been [hidden]^[3] in it, both the elder Princes and the executioner, these three persons, [not seeing him], set out to come away.

Having come a considerable distance [the executioner], killing a lizard (katussa) and smearing the blood on the sword, came and told the King,

“I beheaded him.”

The King took it for the fact.

The Prince having arisen, when he looked about, his two elder brothers were not [there], and the executioner was not [there]. Because there was not a place to go to he went to sleep again under that very Banyan-tree.

Having arisen in the morning, when he looked there was no water, no food. Having climbed up the tree, he saw that water was pouring down at the margin of a rocky hill. He descended from the Banyan-tree, and went along looking constantly at the hill. Taking a little water [at it], and washing his face, at the time when he was going up the hill a bee came, and turned (flew) round his head; then he struck at the bee. A second time having come it turned round his head; a second time he struck at it.

Having come even the third time, when it was turning round his head he thought,

“I must look for [the hive of] this.”

On the hill there were rocks. Having come [and found the hive], sitting down at them he drew out the comb. Having drawn it out, when he looked in the hive (mlya) there was an ash-pumpkin [flower]. He took out the ash-pumpkin [flower], and when he looked in it there was a Princess.^[4] Having gone away, taking the Princess also, after sitting down under a Na-tree and looking and looking around, eating and eating the honey he gave to the Princess also. This Princess in a day or two became big.

Beneath that very Na-tree they stayed for three days. While one day sitting below the same Na-tree, when he looked upward in the Na-tree there was a large flower, a kind of ash-pumpkin [flower], in the Na-tree. He went up the tree for that flower also, and plucking the flower descended. After having thrown away the petals, when he looked [inside] there was a Princess. He gave honey to the Princess, and they remained under the same Na-tree.

After four days they set out from beneath the Na-tree. In a day or two these two Princesses were [as big as though their age was] twelve years. Having gone along in the jungle, they came out at a certain country, and went to the house of a widow-Mahage (an old woman of good connections), and stayed there. The widow-Mahage eats by pounding paddy at the King’s house and being given the rice-dust. She gave [some] to these three persons also; the two Princesses and the Prince were unable to eat it, they said.

At that time the widow-Mahage having gone .near the King says,

“O King, Your Majesty, at the place where I live, two Princesses and a Prince having come thus, are staying.”

Thereupon the King says,

“Widow-Mahage, wilt thou tell the Prince to come to my palace ?”

he said. The Mahage having come, told him.

At the time when she is telling him, the Princesses say,

“Should he tell you any work, don’t say,

‘Ha’ (yes),

and don’t say,

‘I cannot,’^[5]

and don’t say,

‘I can.’

Having said,

‘After having considered I will tell you,’

come back,”

the Princesses say.

To the Mi-flower Princess the chariot of the Gods is visible beyond a kalpa; to the Na-flower Princess the chariot of the Gods is visible beyond two kalpas.

[When he went to the palace],

“Prince,”

the King says to the Prince,

“in the morning and in the evening I want seven handkerchiefs of Blue-lotus flowers.”

He did not say “Ha”; he did not say “I cannot.” After having said,

“I will consider and tell you,”

he came back to the place where he is living at the widow’s house.

This Prince having come, says to the two Princesses,

“The King says to me,

‘In the morning and in the evening I want seven and seven handkerchiefs of [Blue-lotus] flowers. Can you [bring them] ?’

Thereupon I said,

‘After having considered I will tell you.’”

The Princesses say,

“Prince, when you have gone to pluck the flowers you would die while in the pool, [but we will save you]. In the pool there is a great Crocodile. Because the King is not clever [enough] to kill you and write (that is, contract) a marriage to us two, it is good to do thus,”

they said.

Thereupon, the Prince having gone the second time near the King, this Prince says,

“I can.”

After he came home taking seven handkerchiefs, both the Princesses, having called the Prince and having combed and tied up his hair (lit., head), uttered spells on his right over a handful of sand, and after giving it, say,

“Having gone near the pool, throw down the handful of sand on the right. At that time the human-flesh-eating Crocodile having come will go ashore.”

Having given [the spells over] a handful on the left also, they said,

“Plucking seven handkerchiefs of flowers, come out, and quickly on the left throw down this handful of sand, [or] the Crocodile will come.”

[He acted accordingly.]

At the time when he was coming [after] plucking the flowers, a large Blue-lotus flower having been there he plucked that flower, and having come back, gave it [to the Princesses] at the house. Then having gone to the royal palace, taking also the seven handkerchiefs of flowers, [he gave them to the King].

Quickly having come back, taking the [Blue-lotus] flower at the house into his hand, and having cast away the petals, when he looked there was a Princess.

At that time the widow-Mahage having gone to the royal house, says,

“I don’t know if this Prince is a magician;^[6] I don’t know if he is a person possessed of supernatural powers;^[7] I cannot find out what he is. Now he is there, and three Princesses are there.”

Then the King thinks,

“How [am I] to take these very three beautiful Princesses ?”

he thinks. Again he thinks,

“Should I send this Prince to the Naga world I can take them; without it, indeed, I cannot.”

At that time the King says to the widow-Mahage,

“Say thou to the Prince that I say he is to come.”

She accepted that word; having come she told the Prince.

At the time when she is saying it, the Blue-lotus-flower Princess says to the Prince,

“Prince, should he tell you any work, don’t say,

‘Ha ’;

don’t say,

‘I cannot’;

don’t say,

‘I can.’

Having gone to the royal palace, when he has said it come back, saying,

‘After I have considered I will tell you.’”

Having gone and returned, he says to these three Princesses,

“The King says thus to me,

‘How is it ? Canst thou go to the Naga world ?’

he says. Thereupon I said,

‘Having considered I will tell you.’

Having said [this] I came back.”

Then these three Princesses say,

“Prince, when [he thinks] you have died the King will come summoning us three to go [to become his wives].”

These Princesses say to the Prince,

“You go [to the King], Having gone, say,

‘I can.’”

He having gone, and having returned after saying it, they thereupon summoned the Prince. Sitting near him, the Mi-flower Princess, taking a palmful of oil, after having uttered spells over it rubbed it on his head. The Na-flower Princess also having uttered spells over oil rubbed [it on his head]. The Blue-lotus-flower Princess also having uttered spells over oil rubbed [it on his head].

The Mi-flower Princess next having uttered spells over a handful of sand, gave it into his hand. The Na-flower Princess also haying uttered spells [over sand] gave it into his hand, and told him to tie it himself at his waist.

The Blue-lotus-flower Princess also having uttered spells over a handful of sand, said,

“Having gone near the tunnel [leading to the Naga world], when just going into the hole throw down the sand of the Mi-flower Princess. At the time when you are descending and going down the hole, when going to the middle of the hole throw down the sand of the Na-flower Princess. When going to the foot of the tunnel, throw down the sand of the Blue-lotus-flower Princess.”

Having stayed at the house of the widow-Mahage, they cut a tunnel [which met the tunnel opened by the King, so that the Prince might escape by it]. The Prince does not go; the widow-Mahage does not know [about it]. Anyone you like^[8] [sees it] not; they do not know [about it].

[On the appointed day] having gone into the tunnel at the King’s midula (the open space in front of the palace), at the time when he is coming to this tunnel, the King, having blocked up the King’s tunnel and having employed elephants and trampled [the earth down], and having come, says to the three Princesses,

“Princesses, go ye to the royal palace.”

At that time these three say,

“When our Prince has gone three months, and three poyas (at the quarters of the moon), and three days, and three half days, should he not return we will come. You, Sir, be good enough to go.”

Thereupon the King went back to the palace.

[While he was there, the Prince, who had escaped by the secret tunnel, proceeded to the palace to see him.] Having [stated that he had] gone to the Naga world and come back, the Prince says to the King,

“O King, Your Majesty’s father, the [late] King, has arrived at old age; he says to you that you also are to go.”

At that time, [as he believed this], having removed the stones and earth [that he had placed] in the tunnel down which the Prince went, the King also began to go. Having handed over the sovereignty to the Crown and the Sword [of State], and gone near the tunnel, and summoned everybody (serotoma), he says,

“Having handed over the sovereignty to the Crown and the Sword, I am going. When I have gone for the space (taena) of three months and three poyas, I shall come back. Until the time when I come be careful.”

At the very time when he is descending into the tunnel, they brought elephants, and having put stones and earth in it, when they trampled them down the King died.

Three poyas and three days and three months went by. He came not ever.

As the sovereignty was going to be lost, loading on the tusk elephant’s back the robes and the Crown and the Sword, and having made notification by tom-toms, at the time when it is walking in the street the Mi-flower Princess, and Na-flower Princess, and Blue-lotus-flower Princess say to the Prince,

“To-day you, Sir, will obtain the sovereignty. Do not go anywhere.”

Thereupon the Prince says,

“How do you know ?”

These three say,

“Now, now, you will obtain it.”

The tusk elephant having come, when it was making obeisance by kneeling he mounted on the tusk elephant, and putting on the Crown and taking the Sword in his hand, he went to the palace.

For the dead King there were five hundred Princesses. Having separated them in a different house, he allowed the five hundred to be [there]. Thereafter, after building separate houses for the Mi-flower Princess, and for the Na-flower Princess, and for the Blue-lotus-flower Princess, he sent them to them.

At the time when he was exercising the sovereignty in that manner, the country of his parents who told [the executioner] to behead this one, became abandoned. When this King was on the floor of the upper story, while this one’s elder elder brother, taking a bundle of firewood [for sale], was going through the midst of the city, the King saw him.

Having called him, and after he had thrown down the bundle of firewood having summoned him to come here, this King says,

“There is not permission for yourself to come again to this city,”

and he sent away this one.

At the next occasion, on the second day, at the time when the younger elder brother was coming, taking a pingo (carrying-stick) load of Jak [fruit], the King tells this one also.

Calling him near he says,

“Why hast thou brought Jak ? Has thy city become waste, or what ? Why is it P”

he asks at the hand of this man who brought Jak.

At that time this one says,

“Our country having become waste, there is much scarcity of food to eat, for our King and people.”

Thereupon this King says,

“Canst thou come here with the three persons (his parents and other brother) ?”

This one says,

“Ane ! O Lord; send us two, for us to come with those two.”

Thereupon the King, having been troubled [at the news], sent the two persons.

These two having gone, say to this one’s two parents,

“Ane ! Father-King, that King says that we four persons —between that city and this city there is a river—having came to the river he says we are to remain [there].”

Thereupon, because there was no food for the four persons, and because they could not endure the hunger, on the second poya day, at the time when the moon had risen they came to the river, and stayed there.

Thereupon the King, and the Mi-flower Princess, and the Na-flower Princess, and the Blue-lotus-flower Princess, sitting on the chariot, went near the river. Having seen these four persons, and descended from the chariot, he told that party of four persons to ascend the chariot.

Then the four persons say,

“Ane ! We cannot mount on this. Whether you, Sir, [are going] to behead^[9] us, or chop us [in pieces],^[10] or kill us [in some other way], we do not know. We cannot mount on it.”

Making them mount by harassing them and combating [their objections],^[11] they came to the palace. Having come to the palace, after having given them a separate house to live in, and given them expenses for food, he said,

“Don’t you be afraid; you remain [here],”

this King says to these four persons.

At the time when a long period had gone by in this manner, the King thought that with the four persons he must eat food at one table. Having thought so, after three or four months he sent four men to the four persons, and having caused them to bathe, and [then] caused them to bathe in coconut milk scented with sandal-wood,^[12] and given to all the four persons four pairs of vestments that day,^[13] he told [the servants] to send food [for all] to eat at one table.

They having sent the food [and] table, and the four persons sitting down together with the Mi-flower, the Na-flower, the Blue-lotus-flower Princesses, at the time when he tells them to eat the cooked rice the four say,

“Ane! We cannot eat at one table with you, Sir. How can you, Sir, a King, and we, eat [together] ?”

these four persons say.

The King says,

“Nothing will happen through your eating at one table with me.”

At the time when, through [his] harassing them and combating [their objections],^[14] they are eating [after] having sat down at one table, the King asks,

“Can you, or cannot you recognise me ?”

the King asks.

Thereupon the four persons say,

“Ane ! We cannot recognise you.”

At the time when they have said and said [this], three drops of milk having come from the breast of his mother fell on the King’s face.^[15] When they fell she began to weep.

Thereupon the King says,

“Don’t cry. The thing I said became correct.”

At that time the King [his father] becoming afraid and terrified, he said,

“Father-King, here, behold ! the Mi-flower Princess. Here, behold ! the Na-flower Princess. Here, behold ! the Blue-lotus-flower Princess,”

and showed them.

Then the King says,

“Are you willing to take the sovereignty of the city ?”

he asked at the hand of the King’s father. “I can,” he said.

To his father he gave the sovereignty. To the elder brother he gave the Ministership (aemaetkoma); he appointed the [second] Ministership for the younger elder brother. “Now then,” he said,

“when we have gone you will not give us a little betel!”

In this story is [related] the manner in which a foolish King, taking the sovereignty, without considering exercised

the sovereignty.

North-western Province.

 

Note:

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xviii, p. 120, in a South Indian (Tamil) story by Pandit S. M. Natesha Sastri, a Brahmana who had seven sons asked them one night what they would like to do. The elders expressed good wishes, but the youngest stated that he would like to spend the fine moonlight in a beautiful house with lovely girls. The father turned him out for saying this, and he had various adventures unlike those of this Sinhalese story.

In the same work, vol. xxvi, p. 109, in a Telugu story by G. R. Subramiah Pantulu, Divijakirtti, King of Cholamandala, had three sons, of each one of whom he inquired what he most desired. The first wished to be surrounded by learned men and to study the great Indian Epics and sacred books, the second wished to obtain wealth and visit sacred shrines, the third wanted to acquire a kingdom and gain a good reputation by making it prosperous. The King made over the sovereignty to the third one, giving the first one villages and the second one money to go on a pilgrimage.

In The Jataha, No. 96 (vol. i, p. 234), the Bodhisatta received a charmed thread and some charmed sand from Pacceka Buddhas as safe-guards on a journey. These preserved him, the sand placed on his head and the thread twisted round his brow, from an Ogress (Rakshasi) who, with others, devoured all in the palace.

In The Jataka, No. 380 (vol. iii, p. 161) a “being of perfect merit” fell from Shakra’s heaven, and was re-born as a girl inside a lotus flower. “When the other lotuses grew old and fell, that one grew great and stood.” An ascetic opened it, found the girl inside, and reared her. Sakra created a crystal palace for her, provided her with divine clothing and food, and in the end the King of Benares married her.

In The Story of Madana Kama Raja (Natesha Sastri), p. 81, when a King of Udayagiri one moonlight night asked his seven sons what they would like to be doing, the first suggested leading an army into an enemy’s country, the second wished to be irrigating some land, the third wished to be ploughing, the fourth to be walking from one vnlage to another, the fifth to be hunting, the sixth to be a cooly. The seventh son wished to be the sole Emperor of the world, reclining on a couch, attended by four wives, the daughters of Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Adishesha (the serpent-king). His mother, hearing that he was to be executed for this wish, sent him away secretly with a bag of money. Next morning the executioners showed the blood of an animal as that of the Prince. The Prince acquired the wished-for wives, induced a King who tried to kill him, to jump into a fire from which he himself had come successfully by Agni’s aid, and became King of a magic city. In the meantime his father had been driven out of Udayagiri, and with his wife and other sons got a living by selling firewood. The young King recognised them, gave the sovereignty to his father, and himself took the post of Minister. He had further adventures afterwards.

There are several Indian accounts of girls who made their appearance out of fruits or flowers, and one of a Prince, in addition to the deity in the tale numbered 153, and the sons of King Sagara, mentioned in the note after it. In one old legend the Goddess Pattini in one incarnation was produced from a Mango fruit, and in another from a Blue-lotus flower.

In Old Deccan Days (M. Frere), p. 96, a girl was found inside a Mango fruit.

In Indian Fairy Tales (M. Stokes), p. 11, a Prince and Princess who had been killed came to life afresh inside two fruits produced on a tree which grew at the spot where their livers had been thrown. At p. 81 a Princess reappeared full-grown inside a fruit in a King’s garden. At p. 138, there is an account of a Princess who issued full-grown from a Bel fruit (Mgle marmelos). After being drowned she became a Pink-lotus flower, and when this was destroyed she reappeared as an infant inside a Bel fruit.

In the Kolhan tales (Bompas) appended to Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 461, there is a story of this type regarding a Princess who was in a Bel fruit.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 142, a tear of joy fell from the eye of a Vidyadhara maiden on a Jambu flower, and a fruit was produced; when it fell and broke open a heavenly maiden came out of it, and was reared by a hermit.

In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 327, a Buddhist nun, Amrapali, related an account of her previous births during ninety-one kalpas, from mango flowers. The details of her last birth are given; she became the mother of the celebrated physician Jivaka, the son of King Bimbisara, and afterwards took the religious vows. Professor Chavannes states that the work in which this story occurs was translated into Chinese between A.D. 148 and 170.

In the same volume, p. 337, there is a story of the birth of two other girls from flowers, one from a Sumana flower and the other from a Blue lotus.

In Korean Tales (Dr. H. N. Allen), p. 164, a girl who had drowned herself to appease an evil spirit who refused to allow the passage of some boats, was sent back to life in a large flower on a plant floating on the sea. A King who preserved the flower saw her when she emerged at night, and married her.

In the Maha Bharata (Vana Parva, cxlvi fE.) Bhimasena, one of the Pandava Princes, went in search of golden lotus flowers, and found them in a lake at the Gandhamadana mountain, belonging to Kuvera, the God of Wealth.

In Reynard the Fox in Southern Africa (Dr. Bleek), p. 55, a girl appeared out of a calabash in which a woman had placed her daughter’s heart after it had been recovered from the body of a lion that had eaten her. The woman put with it the first milk of the cows which calved.

 

The Story of the She-Goat. (Variant a.)

IN a certain country there axe a King and a Queen, it is said. There is an only Prince of the Queen's.

The King was stricken by a very great scarcity (sayak). Well then, the Queen and the King and the Prince devoured (plundered) all the things and pansalas (monks’ residences) that were in the city. Having devoured them, on the day when they were finished the King said at the hand of the Queen,

“To-morrow I must behead our Prince.”

So the Queen, having tied a little cooked rice in a packet and given it into the hand of the Prince, said,

“Go thou away to any place thou wantest.”

After that, the Prince taking the packet of cooked rice and having gone on and on, and eaten the packet of cooked rice sitting upon a rock, looked about, saying,

“Where is a smoke rising ?”

When he looked a smoke was visible.

After that, having descended from the rock, as he was going away he met with some goats; in the party of goats there was a large she-goat. When the Prince was going near the she-goat, the she-goat expectorated.

The Prince, taking the piece of spittle and wrapping it in his handkerchief, went to the house of a widow woman. Having gone there and given the handkerchief into the hand of the widow-mother, he said,

“Mother, having placed this handkerchief in the very bottommost pot,^[16] put it away.”

After that, the woman having placed the handkerchief in the very bottommost pot, put it away.

After seven days went by, having taken out the handkerchief, at the time when he looked [in the pot] three Princesses and four young rats were there, and filled the pot. Afterwards he took the three Princesses out of the pot. Having taken them out, placing the three Princesses in that very house, the Prince, marrying them, remained there.

While he was living in that very way, news reached the King, the Prince’s father, that this Prince is living with (lit., near) the widow-mother. Afterwards the King came there on horse-back, together with the army. Having come, he said to the Prince,

“Can you pluck and give me the Blue-lotus flower which is in the Great Sea ?”

Then the Prince said,

“I can.”

Owing to it, the widow woman was weeping at the Prince’s saying he can.

The three Princesses asked,

“What, mother, are you weeping for ?”

Then the widow-mother says,

“Ane ! Now then, my son will die when he has gone into the Great Sea.”

Then the three Princesses say,

“Ane ! What do you weep at that for ? Bring a little sand from an untrodden place.”

The widow woman brought a little sand from an untrodden place.

Afterwards, the youngest Princess, having uttered spells over the sand, and given it into the Prince’s hand, said,

“Having gone into the Sea, when you put down this little sand, firm sand will become clear (i.e., will appear above the water). Having gone a little distance again, when you again put down a little sand, firm sand will become clear. Having come quite close [to the flower], when you have held the hands in a cup shape the Blue-lotus flower will come into the hands.”

Afterwards, the Prince, in that very manner having gone upon the hard sand, held his hands in a cup shape; then it came into his hands. Having taken it, when he comes back the King is still at the widow woman’s house. Afterwards the Prince gave the Blue-lotus flower into the King’s hand.

Thereupon the King thought to himself,

“Ah, Bola! by this also I was unable to kill this one.”^[17]

There is a Bee-hive in a forest; no one can draw out [the honey combs]. The bees come further than two gawwas^[18] (each of four miles) [to attack would-be plunderers of the hive]. To draw out that Bee-hive the King told this Prince.

The Prince said,

“I can.”

Afterwards that widow-mother is weeping.

Then the three Princesses asked,

“What is it, mother, you are weeping for ?”

Then the widow-mother said,

“When my son has gone to draw out [the honey-combs at] the Bee-hive, the bees having stung (lit., eaten) him he will die.”

Then the Princesses said,

“What are you crying for on that account ? Come back [after] breaking a branch without disease or former disease.”^[19]

Afterwards the woman, breaking a branch without disease or former disease, came back and gave it.

After that, the youngest Princess, having uttered spells for the branch, and given it into the Prince’s hand, said,

“Strike at the Bee-hive with this branch; then the bees will go. Well then, you will be able to draw the Bee-hive.”

The Prince, having taken the branch, and gone to the place where the Bee-hive is, struck the Bee-hive with the branch. The bees went away. The Prince, drawing out [the honey-comb of] the Bee-hive,^[20] came back and gave it to the King.

The King thought to himself,

“Ah, Bola! after I was unable to kill this one by this also, what shall I do ?”

Thinking [thus], he cut a well. Having cut it, and at the very bottom^[21] having left a little earth, he said to the Prince,

“Having descended down this, you must take out this earth to-morrow.”

Afterwards the Prince told it at the hand of the widow-mother; then the widow-mother wept.

The young rats asked,

“What is it, mother, that you are weeping for ?”

The widow-mother said,

“When our son has gone into that well he will die.”

Then the four young rats said,

“What are you weeping for at that ?”

From the house to the well they cut a tunnel. Having cut it, they said at the Prince's hand,

“We have cut the tunnel from this house until the time when it goes to the well. When you have gone into the well, should the King close it with earth^[22] come along this tunnel.”

Having said [this], they showed the tunnel to the Prince.

On the following day, the King having told the Prince to descend into the well, the King remained on the surface. The Prince having descended into the well, when he is about (lit., making) to try to take a little earth the King closed it with earth.

Then this Prince having come along that tunnel to the house of the widow-mother, remained [there].

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

 

Note:

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 549, it is stated that in a country in which the deficiency of rain had caused a famine,

“the King began to play the bandit, leaving the right path, and taking wealth from his subjects unlawfully.”

In the same work, vol. ii, p. 569, a great sandbank is described as suddenly rising up in the midst of the sea, near Ceylon.

 

The Story of a Nobleman’s Son.^[23] (Variant b.)

In a certain country there were three Princes, [the sons] of a nobleman. Having called the eldest Prince of the same three Princes he asks from the same Prince,

“Son, what is the work thou canst do ?”

he asked.

Thereupon the big Prince says,

“Father, having gone to a threshing-floor on the [full moon] poyaday.on the fifteenth of the light half [of the lunar month], it would be good to spread [and thresh] the stacks, if the moon be shining and shining,”

he said. Thereupon he told the same Prince to go aside.

Having called the next Prince he asked,

“Son, on the second poya day, on the fifteenth of this bright half [of the lunar month], what is the best work to do ? What the best journey to go on ?”

The Prince says,

“Father, according to me, on the second poya day, on the fifteenth of the bright half, when they have put packs on seven or eight pairs of bulls, if they drive them [on a trading journey] when the moon is shining and shining, it would be good,”

he said. Thereupon the father told the Prince to go aside.

Having called the young Prince he asked,

“Son, on this second poya day, on the fifteenth of the bright half [of the lunar month], what is the best work to do ? What are the best journeys to go on ?”

Thereupon the young Prince says,

“Father, according to me, if I should have placed the head on the Goat Queen’s waist pocket, my shoulder on the Blue-Lotus Queen’s waist pocket, my two feet on the Mi-flower Queen’s waist pocket, it would be good,”

he said.

Thereupon the father says to the above-mentioned two Princes,

“Cut down this wicked Prince with the sword,”

he said.

At that time, because they could not kill the young Prince, the above-mentioned two Princes did not speak. Then their mother, having called the above-mentioned two Princes, says,

“Having fulfilled the hopes of seven kalpas,^[24] [after] being hidden in the womb of one mother you [three] were born. Because of it, do not cut down your younger brother at your father's word,”

she said.

Having said [to their father],

“We are going away to cut him down,”

they abandoned him in the midst of a very great forest; and having killed a lizard (katussa) and said they killed the Prince, smearing the blood on the sword they came back, and said,

“Father, we killed the Prince,”

and gave him the sword. Thereupon he became [filled] with happiness or great satisfaction.

At the time when the Prince who was left in the midst of the forest was going along in the forest wilderness for seven days, as he was going along eating and eating sugar-canes, pine-apples, sweet oranges, various ripe fruits, he saw a great mountain. Having seen an aerial root of a Banyan which swung there, seizing the aerial root he went [climbing up it] to the rock, and when he looked about he saw a rock cave, and not a country furnished with villages (gama ratak).

Thereupon, holding the aerial root of the Banyan he descended to the ground at the rock, and went away in the direction of the rock cave. Having seen a house near the rock the Prince went to the house.

A woman, called the Mal-kara Amma (garland-making mother), who takes messages to the King of that country, saw that the Prince was going. At the time when she asked,

“Where are you going ?”

a flock of goats which were there saw him, and a large female goat coughed. Thereupon a piece of mucus fell down. Taking the piece of mucus, he tied it up in his waist-pocket.

Thereafter, to the garland-making mother he says,

“I am going to a place where they give food and clothing.”

Then the garland-making mother says,

“I have no child; come, for me to rear you,”

she said. The Prince said,

“It is good,”

[and went to live with her].

Thereupon, having put [for him] outside [her room] cooked rice and curry, the flower mother went to inform the King. She having thus gone, the things that were in the waist-pocket of the above-mentioned Prince who came to the house, came to their time.^[25]

After three days, the Prince having arisen, on seeing the garland-making mother says,

“Mother, I will take these flowers and give them to the King,”

he said.

Thereupon the garland-making mother said,

“Don’t go.”

Thereafter, the garland-making mother went to the city [to present the flower-garlands], and came back.

On the following day, when the above-mentioned Prince said that he must go to another place, the garland-making mother says,

“Son, beginning from your young age, I reared you until the time when you are becoming as big as this. Now, to what place are you to go ?”

she said.

“It is so, indeed. Give me the thing that I gave you that day to put away,” he said.

Thereupon, the garland-making mother, having gone to take the thing which she had put in the lowest earthen pot that was at the bottom of three or four earthen pots, when she looked saw that a Princess was in it, and being pleased took her out. Then the garland-making mother says,

“This Princess is good for my son,”

and she gave her in marriage to him.

Not much time afterwards, at the time when he was sleeping in that manner [which he mentioned to his father], placing his head on the waist-pocket of the above-mentioned Princess, the Ministers of the King of that country having seen it, told the tale to the King.

On the following day, on seeing the garland-making mother he said,

“Your son is a very great clever person. In the midst of the Great Sea there will be a great Blue-Lotus flower. Because of [his cleverness] tell him to bring and give me it,”

he said.

The garland-making mother having come away weeping and weeping, came home. Thereupon, the Goat Queen asks,

“What, mother, (maeniyan wahansa), are you crying for ?”

she asked.

The mother says,

“He said that he is to bring the Blue-Lotus flower that is in the midst of the Great Sea.”

“Without fear on that account, eat cooked rice,” she said. Having waited a little time, she asked,

“Can you bring and give [me] three handfuls of sand from a place they are not trampling on ?”

Having said “I can,” she brought and gave them.

The daughter-in-law, taking the three handfuls of sand, and having given them into the hand of her husband, says,

“Having gone, taking those three handfuls of sand, throw down a handful; white sand will open out. Having gone upon that white sand, throw down the next handful; [the sand will then be extended]. Having thrown down the other handful of sand [the sand-bank will extend to the flower]; then taking the Queen of the Blue-Lotus flower, and plucking the flower, come back,”

she said.

Having gone in the manner stated by his Queen, taking the Queen and the Blue-Lotus flower he came back. Marrying the Queen, he gave the Blue-Lotus flower into the mother’s hand. The garland-making mother having gone to the royal house, and given the Blue-Lotus flower to the King, came back.

Thereupon, the Ministers having come, for the above-mentioned Prince there was one Queen before; at the time when they looked now there are two. “Now then, indeed, the King will not succeed in exercising the sovereignty,” they said.

On the following day, the garland-making mother having waited [at the palace] until the time for going, [the King] says,

“Your son is a great clever person. Because of it, tell him to break [into] the Royal Bee-hive^[26] (Raja-miya) that is in the jungle, and come back [with the honeycombs],”

he said.

The garland-making mother having come back, when she was weeping and weeping, the above-mentioned Blue-Lotus-flower Queen asked,

“What, mother, are you weeping and weeping for ?”

Thereupon the garland-making mother says,

“Having brought [the honey-combs of] the Royal Bee-hive that is in the jungle, [the Prince] is to give him them, the King said. Because of it, indeed, I am weeping,”

she said.

“Without fear on that account, come and eat cooked rice,” she said. Then when the garland-making mother is eating cooked rice, the Blue-Lotus Queen says,

“Can you bring and give me three handfuls of stones from a place they are not trampling on ?”

she said.

Having said “I can,” she brought and gave them.

Thereupon the Blue-Lotus Queen, having given the three handfuls of stones into the hand of her husband, says,

“From these three handfuls of stones taking one handful, go and throw it into the jungle. The bees will stop while you go three gawuwas (twelve miles). Having gone there, throw down the other handful; [they will then not attack you until you go to the bee-hive]. Having gone to the beehive they will assemble [to attack you]. Throw the other handful at the bee-hive, the head part of the bee-hive; the bees will go to the head part (the upper part). Then, breaking [into] the bee-hive, come back [with the honeycombs], calling the Queen who is in the bee-hive,”

she said.

Thereupon, the Prince went, and breaking [into] the beehive and calling the Queen, came back, and gave [the honey-combs] into the hand of the garland-making mother. Then the garland-making mother, taking the honey and ,having gone to the city, gave it to the King.

At that time the King says,

“Because your son is a very great clever person he does the things I am saying and saying. Because of it, tell your son to come to the city to-morrow,”

he said.

Thereupon, the garland-making mother having come weeping and weeping says,

“To-morrow, indeed, he is really to kill my son. He says he is to go to the city.”

Then the Queen who was in the Royal Bee-hive says,

“Without fear on that account, come and eat cooked rice.”

Thereafter she says [to the Prince],

“The King’s message indeed I know. Having told them to cut a well, and caused you to descend into the well, it is indeed to kill you he told you to go. For it, I will inform you of a stratagem,”

she said. When he asked “What is the stratagem ?” she said,

“Having gone near the well, without crookedness drawing a line from it, go a considerable distance. From there having gone cutting a tunnel, do thou cut it to the well, and come back,”

she said.

He did in the manner his wife said. Having done the work, and gone to the city, he saw the King, and remained there.

Then the King says,

“The well has been [partly] filled up. Because of it, let us go to draw out the small quantity of earth.”

Having said this, that man and yet more people went.

Having gone there, and put [a ladder of] bamboos into the well, he caused that man to descend. Having waited until the time when he descended to the foot of the well, he [drew up the ladder, and] began to throw down earth. Thereupon the man, ascertaining that he is throwing down earth, breaking down that little that remained at the tunnel that had been cut [by him], went into the tunnel, and having come along it, came to his house.

Well then, the King, having filled the well, and said,

“This one will be killed,”

with pleasure came to the city.

This above-mentioned man having thought,

“This King I must kill,”

made a stratagem. What was that stratagem, indeed ? Cooking a box of cakes, and having gone to the city and given them to the King, he says,

“Your Majesty (Devayan wahanse), having remained there at the time when you were putting me into the well, when you were closing it with earth I went to that [other] world. Having been there, I brought a box as a present (penum pettiyak) for Your Majesty.”

Thereupon the King says,

“We also must go to that world. Because of it, put me down a well,”

he said. Then having put the King into the well they closed it with earth.

In not many days, perceiving that the King was lost, and ascertaining that there was no one for the sovereignty, they decorated the tusk elephant, and went seeking a person for the sovereignty. The tusk elephant went and kneeled to the man whom they put in the well. Thereupon, they having come [to the palace] with that man and with those three Queens, he exercised the sovereignty.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

 

Note:

In the tale numbered 243, in vol. iii, a Prince was induced to go for a lotus flower which grew in a pool guarded by a great crocodile.

In The Story of Madana Kama Raja (Natesha Sastri), p. 73, when a Prince was going to fetch a Golden Lotus flower that was on the far side of the Seven Seas, his wife, who understood magical arts, gave him seven pebbles, and told him that when he threw one into each ocean in turn, and said,

“May the sea dry before and swell behind,”

a dry path would appear, along which he could proceed in safety. When he had crossed the Seven Seas in this manner, a Rakshasa in charge of a sacred pool beyond them sent on a note which the Prince had brought, to the Crocodile King, who forwarded the lotus to the Prince and ordered a crocodile to carry him back to his own country.

In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 227, a King of Shravasti, who wished to get possession of the beautiful wife of an upasaka, sent him, by the advice of his Ministers, to bring lotus flowers of five colours from a distant pool. All who were sent on this errand were killed by venomous snakes or demons or savage animals, but a demon whom he encountered saved the upasaka on learning of his piety, and fetched the flowers for him. When the King heard of this he begged his forgiveness.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Bee-hive flower.

[2]:

Ironwood, Mesua ferrea.

[3]:

The story is difficult to understand in several places; I have tried to express the apparent meaning.

[4]:

It is clear that she got her name from a flower found in the hive, which might thus be termed a Mi-mala (Mi-flower), and not from the flower of the M i -tree (Bassia longifolia).

[5]:

Mata bae, which often is used with the meaning, “I will not.”

[6]:

Wijja-karayek.
 

[7]:

Bhutiyan-karayek.

[8]:

Kaemaeti kenek, a common expression meaning anyone whatever.

[9]:

Kapantada.    

[10]:

Kotantada.

[11]:

Waden poren.

[12]:

Handun kiri-paen.

[13]:

Eda dawasa.
 

[14]:

Waden poren.

[15]:

This incident is given in Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Cha-vannes), vol. i, p. 83. The hundred sons of a Queen attacked their father’s capital. The Queen mounted on a tower, pointed out their wickedness, and pressing her breasts milk was projected into their mouths, and they recognised her. In vol. iii, p. 12, she was on a white elephant, and had five hundred sons.

[16]:

Yatama yata taliyata.

[17]:

The narrator has omitted to state the reason why the King was so anxious to kill the Prince—that is, in order to marry the Princesses.

[18]:

De gawwak tiya mi-maesso ewidinawa.

[19]:

Poroga, perhaps for pura-roga.

[20]:

This is the Raja-miya, or Royal Bee-hive, of the Wanniyas; it has this name in the next variant.

[21]:

Pallem pallem. Pattern may be palla, bottom + im, pl. of ima, boundary, limit.

[22]:

Pas waehaewwotin.

[23]:

The Sinhalese title is, The Story of a Nobleman (Sitana kene-kunge kathawa).

[24]:

A kalpa is a day and night of Brahma, or 1,000 Yugas, and therefore 432 million years (see vol. i, p. 49).

[25]:

Warata awaya, that is, become mature.

[26]:

For an account of the Royal Bee-hive, see Ancient Ceylon, p. 170.