Story 145 - The Gem Yaksani

THERE were a King and a Queen of a single city. The two one day went for sport in the gardens. Then, sitting on a branch there was a little bird.

At that time the Queen asked the King,

“Is that little bird which is there the male or the female ?”

The King said,

“The male.”

Then the Queen, having said,

“It is not male; it is female,”

made a wager. What was the wager, indeed ? “Let us catch it and look. Should it be the cock I will not stay with you; I will go away somewhere or other. Should it be the hen you must give me the sovereignty,” she said. Thereupon the King said,

“It is good.”

Having caught the bird they looked; when they looked the animal was the male.

Then the Queen said,

“I am going now,”

and she set off. The King said,

“We said it for fun, didn’t we ? Are you going in that way for that little matter ?”

The Queen would not [stay],

“I must really go,”

she said. Thereupon the King having said,

“Are you going for that ? We made monkey fun.^[1] Owing to it where are you to go ?”

said much in the way of advice. Without hearkening to it the Queen went. What was [the real reason of] it ? [It was] because the royal talk was Large.

When the Queen was going, the [completion of the] ten months of her pregnancy was near; as she was going in a forest she bore a child. Carrying the infant, as she was going along a path there was a river in which the water had dried up. While she was going along the river the Prince began to cry.

For the sake of stopping the crying she picked up a stone which was on the ground in the river; and having said,

“Look here, son,”

she stopped the crying, and taking that little stone [with her] came to another city.

Having come [there] and walked to all places, and looked about, and come to a house in which was a widow woman, she asked,

“Mother, keeping this Prince for me, will you give me a little space to stay in, until the time when the Prince becomes big ?”

Thereupon the old woman said,

“It is good, daughter. I also am alone; because of it remain here.”

The Queen, having said, " It is good,” lived there, pounding paddy [at houses] throughout the streets; and up to the time when the Prince became big stayed there getting a living. By that time, seven years of the Prince’s age had passed.

While remaining [there] in this manner, one day the Prince said,

“Mother, I am hungry,”

and cried. When he was crying, the stone which his mother had brought that day from the river in order to stop the Prince’s [crying], had. been thrown away into the open ground in front of the house (midula).

This woman, having shown him the stone, said falsely,

“Look there. Take that stone which is there, and having given it at the bazaar, and eaten rice cakes, come back.”

Then the Prince, having gone running, taking that stone, begged throughout the whole of the bazaar,

“Ane ! Take this stone and give me rice cakes.”

The men said to that Prince,

“Who gives rice cakes for quartz stones, Bola ?”

and scolded him at each place to which he went.

After that, the Prince, having asked at every place without [obtaining any cakes], went to the King’s palace also, at the time when the King was walking at the Audience Hall, and said,

“Ane! Take this stone, and give me rice cakes; I am hungry.”

Thereupon the King, having heard the sweet speech of this young Prince, becoming pleased, said,

“Where, Bola, is the stone ? Bring it here for me to look at it.”

The Prince took the stone, and gave it into the King’s hand. The King taking the stone in his hand, when he looked at it, it was a gem-stone. Then the King asked,

“Bola, whence [came] this stone to thee ?”

“This stone was in the open ground at the front of the house. Mother said to me, ‘ Take it, and having eaten rice cakes, come back.’”

Then the King said,

“I will give thee rice cakes. Go and tell thy mother to come.”

The Prince having gone running home, said,

“Mother, a man said that you are to come, [so that he may] give rice cakes to me. The man, taking the stone, too, put it away.”

The Queen, walking with the Prince, said,

“Which is the house ?”

Having said,

“There, that house,”

the Prince stretched out his hand towards the royal palace.

With the thoughts,

“I shall be worn away with fear, I shall be worn away. Ane ! The thing that this foolish boy has done ! Having said that he gave him a quartz stone, the King, in order to appoint [the punishment for] his fault, told me to come here,”

she reached the royal palace.

Thereupon the King having seen her, becoming much pleased, asked,

“Whence didst thou obtain this stone ?”

Then the Queen began to tell him everything,—the way in which she made the bet with that King, the way in which she came away, the way in which she bore [a child], the way in which while coming, she stopped the [crying of the] Prince by picking up this stone from the river.

Then the King said,

“This is a gem-stone. Putting me [out of consideration], having appointed any person you like, he cannot state the value of this. I have not got even wealth [sufficient] to give for this. Because of it, having given to thee the wealth, too, thou hast not a place to put it in. Therefore stay ye in my palace itself until the Prince, having become big, marries a Princess.”

Having made ready and given them a good room, and given them the royal victuals, he made the two remain there.

While they are staying there, having prepared two bracelets for the King’s Queen, because there was not a stone more to [match] that stone for fixing in the two bracelets, he asked the Queen who gave the stone,

“Canst thou find and bring a stone more, like this stone ?”

The Queen said,

“I cannot go. If there be still [any] in the river, or what, I do not know.”

Then the Queen’s Prince said to the King,

“I can.”

The King asked,

“Do you know the path to go on ?”

The Prince said,

“I will ask mother, and go.”

Then the King said,

“What is necessary for you ?”

The Prince [said],

“From those that are in your stable be good enough to give me a horse which goes on hard journeys.”

Then the King gave the Prince the horse with the best qualities of all, a sword, and a bundle of cooked rice. The Prince would be about fifteen years of age.

The Prince, having mounted on the horse, asked his mother,

“Mother, on which hand is the river in which you picked up the stone ?”

The Queen said,

“It is this hand,”

and stretched out her hand. Then driving the horse to that hand he began to go.

Having gone away, and stopped at a river near that [gem] river, when he looked about, at a great rough tree [what was] like a large fire was visible. Then this Prince, in order to look at the conflagration, went near the tree. Having gone [there], when he looked a Devata-daughter endowed with much beauty^[2] was there.

Then this Prince asked the Devata-daughter,

“Who art thou ?”

The woman said,

“I am a Yaksani.”

Then the Yaksani asked the Prince,

“Who art thou ?”

The Prince said,

“I am a royal Prince.”

Then this Prince became mentally inclined towards the very beautiful Yaksani; the Yaksani also became mentally inclined towards the Prince.

The Yaksani asked the Prince,

“ Where are you going. Sir ?"

The Prince said,

“I came to seek a gem-stone.”

Then the Yaksani said,

“We indeed remain in charge of this gem river. Should the Devatawa Unnaehae come he will kill you. It is I indeed they call the Gem Goddess. I can give gems. [After] marrying me and placing me on the horse, if you should not go twelve yojanas^[3] before half a paeya (of twenty-four minutes) has gone, the Gem Devata Unnaehae^[4] will come and behead both of us, and burn us.”

The Prince being pleased at it (that is, her proposal), said,

“It is good”,

and placing the Princess on the back of the horse, asked,

“Where are the gems ?”

The Devata-daughter said,

“I will give them; I have them.”

Then he drove away the horse twelve yojanas before half a paeya [had passed]. Having driven it, when he went to the city the King asked the Prince,

“Have you brought the gems ?”

That Yaksani had previously^[5] said at the hand of the Prince that when the King asks,

“Have you brought the gems ?”

he is to say,

“I have brought [them].”

Because of it, the Prince said,

“I have brought the gems.”

Then the King said,

“Where ? Let me look at them.”

At that time the Devata-daughter said,

“They will be outside,”

and threw down in the open space in front of the palace a gobbet^[6] of saliva. When the King looked it was as though a rain of gems had rained.

After that, the King, picking up the gems, went to the palace, and remained lying down without eating and drinking. The Minister having come, asked,

“O Lord, what is the matter ?”

Then the King said,

“The Prince who gave the gem has brought the Gem Princess. If I haven’t the Princess what are these Gods for ? What is this sovereignty for ?”

The Minister said,

“Don’t you, Sir, be troubled about it; I will tell you a stratagem for it.”

The King asked,

“What is the stratagem ?”

The Minister said,

“The stratagem indeed is in this manner:—You, Sir, be good enough to say to the Prince,

‘Dear Prince, our mother and father died. Those persons are staying in the God-world. Canst thou [go there and after] looking [at their condition] come back ?’

Then the Prince through not understanding will say,

‘I can.’

Then, having summoned all them of the city and having cut an under ground tunnel about a mile (haetaekma) deep (that is, in length), when you have told him to go by that way to the God-world, he will go. Then having put a stone on [the entrance to] it, and brought tusk elephants, and made them trample on it, you can take the Gem Princess.”

The King having become pleased at the word, caused the Prince to be brought, and asked,

“Dear Prince, canst thou go to the God-world in three weeks’ [time, to inquire after our father and mother], and come back ?”

The Prince said,

“I can.”

Then the King having collected together the men of the city, and said falsely that he is cutting a path to go to the God-world, began to cause a tunnel to be cut, in order to kill the Prince.

Thereupon the Prince said to the Gem Princess,

“In this manner the King asked me:

‘Can you go to the God-world and come back ?’

I said,

‘I can.’”

Then, owing to the wisdom of the Gem Princess she perceived that he is making the plan (suttare) to kill this Prince, and said,

“Why, through foolishness did you, Sir, say you can ? Since you said you can, [you must do as follows]:— Under the gem river an elder sister of ours is rearing rats.

Having gone, and given her this ring of mine, be good enough to say,

‘In such and such a city your younger sister is living. She said [you are] to send there two or three thousand rats.’

Then she will send the rats. You [then] be good enough to come back, Sir.”

The Prince went, and having given her the ring, and told her in that very manner, the elder sister of the Gem Princess then said,

“It is good; I will send them. You, Sir, be good enough to go.”

Then he came back.

That day night, having started them off, she sent three thousand rats. The rats having come before the light fell, went to the room in which was the Gem Princess. At the time when they went, she gave food and drink to the rats, and said,

“Before a week has gone they will cut the tunnel which the King is cutting, a mile deep. Because of it, you must cut [a path from here leading] into that tunnel at a mile from this room in which we are staying.”

So they cut and finished both tunnels on one day. Regarding the tunnel which the rats cut, the King was unable to learn even a little bit. Without making the tunnel which the rats cut break into and become part of^[7] the King’s tunnel, they turned it a little across [towards it at the end].

After that, having cut the [other] tunnel and finished it, and given the Prince a horse, and given him a sword, the King said,

“Look here. We have cleared the path to go to the God-world. Having gone, come back.”

Then the Prince said,

“It is good.”

Having said it, and gone near the Gem Princess, at the time when he was saying,

“I will go, and come,”^[8]

the Princess said,

“Say to the King that you will come in a week; and go,”

she said.

Then the Prince having told the King,

“I shall come in a week,”

went. Having driven the horse into that tunnel which the King cut, and gone along the tunnel, and come to the other tunnel [excavated by the rats], during the daytime he stays in the tunnel. At night, having come near the Gem Princess, and eaten rice, and been sleeping, again as the light falls he goes to the tunnel and remains [there].

At the time when the Prince sprang into that tunnel, men threw stones into the tunnel, and heaped them up. They do not know the fact that that Prince is staying in the tunnel which the rats cut.

After that, the King came, and spoke to the Princess,

“Now then, let us two be married.”

Then the Princess said,

“I will not. My husband has said that he will come in a week. Because of it, until he comes I will not marry any one whatever. If he come not I will marry,”

she said.

The King having heard that word [said],

“It is good. After a week has gone I will marry [you].”

Thinking,

“The Prince having been put into the tunnel, and stones trampled down [over it], when will he come again ? That Princess, the Prince not [being here], in perplexity at his death is talking nonsense,”

he went away.

What does the Princess do ? Having taken gem-stones to the extent of many millions (in value), she caused to be sewn a diadem-wreath (otunu malawak), and a dress. Having sewn them, at early dawn (rae pandara) of the day following the week, having dressed this Prince, she said,

“As the light is falling, having waited behind the King’s palace be good enough to come as though returning,”

and sent him [there]. Thereupon, the Prince in that manner at the time when the King arises in the morning, presented himself for the King’s cognizance (indiviyata). Then the King,—after becoming afraid concerning the return of the Prince whom he had put in the tunnel in which he had placed stones, and having employed tusk elephants had trampled them down,—asked,

“Prince, whence earnest thou ?”

Thereupon the Prince said,

“O Lord, Your Majesty, your father the King and mother the Queen, also, are staying in happiness in the God-world. I went there. Having said my dress was bad (nakayi) they gave me, for wearing, a dress which, those persons having worn it, had become old,”

he said.

When the King looked in the direction of his dress [he thought that] except that in the God-world [there might be] such a dress, it is of the kind which is not in this world. Because of it, it seemed to the King to be true.

The Prince said,

“The party said that you also, Sir, are to go. They tried not to permit me, also, to come back. Having said, ‘ I will come back,’ for the purpose of what I am saying to you I returned.

“When I went in the tunnel and looked about yet [another] path [leading] there had been cleared. Having gone on that path, when I looked the God-world was quite near.”

After that, the King, having collected the citizens, began to remove the earth at that tunnel which he cut to kill the Prince.

Having heard of it, that Prince in order that the tunnel which the rats had cut should be closed, told the rats, and again made them push back the earth.

Having pushed it back, while he is staying [there], on the following day the King alone went, and having said,

“[After] looking [at the God-world] I shall return,”

went off.

When he is descending into the hole to go, what does this Prince do ? Having thrown down those stones that had been taken out, and blocked up the tunnel so as not to allow the King to return, the King died in the tunnel.

After that, this Prince, having seized and beheaded the Minister who had told [the King] the stratagem for the purpose of killing him, summoned the whole of the citizens, and said to the people,

“For the offence which the King committed against me I put the King into the tunnel, and killed him. From to-day the King of this city is I myself.”

[Thereafter] exercising the sovereignty, marrying the Gem Princess, and establishing that King’s Queen as a female servant, he remained there.

Siwurala (ex-monk). North-central Province.

 

Note:

In Sagas from the Far East, p. 97, in a Kalmuk story a painter who was jealous of a wood-carver presented to the Khan a pretended note from his dead father, requesting that the carver might be sent to the kingdom of the Gods, and stating that the painter would show the way. The painter explained that the carver must be burnt in a pyre, with much drum beating, and rise to heaven on a horse through the clouds of smoke. The carver escaped by a tunnel which his wife excavated to the centre of the pyre, getting into it while the timber by which he was surrounded was burning. After a month he gave the Khan a letter from his father in heaven, ordering him to reward the carver richly, and to send the painter to decorate the temple which had been built. The painter was thus killed in the way he designed for the carver’s death.

There is a variant in the Sierra Leone country, given in Cunnie Rabbit, etc. (Cronise and Ward), p. 254. As advised by a messenger, a King who wished to kill his son told him that he should be King, and that in order to be crowned he must be tied in a mat, thrown into a deep pool, and left there three days. When the party halted on the way and left the bundle on the path for a time, the youth got a child to unfasten the package, and inserted a large stone which was afterwards duly thrown into the water. After three days the youth made his appearance wearing a crown and riding a horse. He^was acclaimed as King, and he stated that he had been ordered to send his father’s messenger to be crowned in the same way. He was seized, tied up, and drowned.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Kapi kawatakan, silly jokes.

[2]:

The light that he saw was caused by her brilliance. See the end of No. 204, vol. iii. In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 16, a beautiful girl is described as having “a face like a full moon, and eyes like a blue lotus; she had arms graceful as the stalk of a lotus, and a lovely full bosom; she had a neck marked with three lines like a shell, and magnificent coral lips; in short she was a second Lakshmi” (the Goddess of Prosperity).

[3]:

In these stories the yojana may usually be taken to represent four gawu of four miles—that is, it would be sixteen miles.

[4]:

Unnaehae is nearly equivalent to Mr., and is used in names in the same way.

[5]:

Literally, betimes (kalin).

[6]:

Katak, a mouth.

[7]:

Kada watta-wanne naetuwa. Watta appears to be derived from the Sanskrit and Sinhalese vant, part, share.

[8]:

The common form of adieu among Sinhalese and Tamils.