She nearly died of envy and spite, determining to destroy the lad without delay; therefore, sending a servant to bring him to her presence, she asked him if he would sell her the pigeon he had just shot.
"No," replied the st.u.r.dy lad, "the pigeon is for my seven blind mothers, who live in the noisome dungeon, and who would die if I did not bring them food."
"Poor souls!" cried the cunning white witch; "would you not like to bring them their eyes again? Give me the pigeon, my dear, and I faithfully promise to show you where to find them."
Hearing this, the lad was delighted beyond measure, and gave up the pigeon at once. Whereupon the white Queen told him to seek her mother without delay, and ask for the eyes which she wore as a necklace.
"She will not fail to give them," said the cruel Queen, "if you show her this token on which I have written what I want done."
So saying, she gave the lad a piece of broken potsherd, with these words inscribed on it--"Kill the bearer at once, and sprinkle his blood like water!"
Now, as the son of seven mothers could not read, he took the fatal message cheerfully, and set off to find the white Queen"s mother.
But while he was journeying he pa.s.sed through a town, where every one of the inhabitants looked so sad that he could not help asking what was the matter. They told him it was because the King"s only daughter refused to marry; so when her father died there would be no heir to the throne. They greatly feared she must be out of her mind, for though every good-looking young man in the kingdom had been shown to her, she declared she would only marry one who was the son of seven mothers, and of course no one had ever heard of such a thing. Still the King, in despair, had ordered every man who entered the city gates to be led before the Princess in case she might relent. So, much to the lad"s impatience, for he was in an immense hurry to find his mothers" eyes, he was dragged into the presence-chamber.
No sooner did the Princess catch sight of him than she blushed, and, turning to the King, said, "Dear father, this is my choice!"
Never were such rejoicings as these few words produced. The inhabitants nearly went wild with joy, but the son of seven mothers said he would not marry the Princess unless they first let him recover his mothers" eyes. Now when the beautiful bride heard his story, she asked to see the potsherd, for she was very learned and clever; so much so that on seeing the treacherous words, she said nothing, but taking another similarly-shaped bit of potsherd, wrote on it these words--"Take care of this lad, give him all he desires," and returned it to the son of seven mothers, who, none the wiser, set off on his quest.
Ere long, he arrived at the hovel in the ravine, where the white witch"s mother, a hideous old creature, grumbled dreadfully on reading the message, especially when the lad asked for the necklace of eyes.
Nevertheless she took it off, and gave it him, saying," There are only thirteen of "em now, for I ate one last week, when I was hungry."
The lad, however, was only too glad to get any at all, so he hurried home as fast as he could to his seven mothers, and gave two eyes apiece to the six elder Queens; but to the youngest he gave one, saying, "Dearest little mother!--I will be your other eye always!"
After this he set off to marry the Princess, as he had promised, but when pa.s.sing by the white Queen"s palace he again saw some pigeons on the roof. Drawing his bow, he shot one, and again it came fluttering past the window. Then the white hind looked out, and lo! there was the King"s son alive and well.
She cried with hatred and disgust, but sending for the lad, asked him how he had returned so soon, and when she heard how he had brought home the thirteen eyes, and given them to the seven blind Queens, she could hardly restrain her rage. Nevertheless she pretended to be charmed with his success, and told him that if he would give her this pigeon also, she would reward him with the Jogi"s wonderful cow, whose milk flows all day long, and makes a pond as big as a kingdom. The lad, nothing loath, gave her the pigeon; whereupon, as before, she bade him go ask her mother for the cow, and gave him a potsherd whereon was written--"Kill this lad without fail, and sprinkle his blood like water!"
But on the way, the son of seven mothers looked in on the Princess, just to tell her how he came to be delayed, and she, after reading the message on the potsherd, gave him another in its stead; so that when the lad reached the old hag"s hut and asked her for the Jogi"s cow, she could not refuse, but told the boy how to find it; and, bidding him of all things not to be afraid of the eighteen thousand demons who kept watch and ward over the treasure, told him to be off before she became too angry at her daughter"s foolishness in thus giving away so many good things.
Then the lad did as he had been told bravely. He journeyed on and on till he came to a milk-white pond, guarded by the eighteen thousand demons. They were really frightful to behold, but, plucking up courage, he whistled a tune as he walked through them, looking neither to the right nor the left. By and by he came upon the Jogi"s cow, tall, white, and beautiful, while the Jogi himself, who was king of all the demons, sat milking her day and night, and the milk streamed from her udder, filling the milk-white tank.
The Jogi, seeing the lad, called out fiercely, "What do you want here?"
Then the lad answered, according to the old hag"s bidding, "I want your skin, for King Indra is making a new kettledrum, and says your skin is nice and tough."
Upon this the Jogi began to shiver and shake (for no Jinn or Jogi dares disobey King Indra"s command), and, falling at the lad"s feet, cried, "If you will spare me I will give you anything I possess, even my beautiful white cow!"
To this, the son of seven mothers, after a little pretended hesitation, agreed, saying that after all it would not be difficult to find a nice tough skin like the Jogi"s elsewhere; so, driving the wonderful cow before him, he set off homewards. The seven Queens were delighted to possess so marvellous an animal, and though they toiled from morning till night making curds and whey, besides selling milk to the confectioners, they could not use half the cow gave, and became richer and richer day by day.
Seeing them so comfortably off, the son of seven mothers started with a light heart to marry the Princess; but when pa.s.sing the white hind"s palace he could not resist sending a bolt at some pigeons which were cooing on the parapet, and for the third time one fell dead just beneath the window where the white Queen was sitting. Looking out, she saw the lad hale and hearty standing before her, and grew whiter than ever with rage and spite.
[Ill.u.s.tration: The son demanding the Jogi"s cow]
She sent for him to ask how he had returned so soon, and when she heard how kindly her mother had received him, she very nearly had a fit; however, she dissembled her feelings as well as she could, and, smiling sweetly, said she was glad to have been able to fulfil her promise, and that if he would give her this third pigeon, she would do yet more for him than she had done before, by giving him the million-fold rice, which ripens in one night.
The lad was of course delighted at the very idea, and, giving up the pigeon, set off on his quest, armed as before with a potsherd, on which was written, "Do not fail this time. Kill the lad, and sprinkle his blood like water!"
But when he looked in on his Princess, just to prevent her becoming anxious about him, she asked to see the potsherd as usual, and subst.i.tuted another, on which was written, "Yet again give this lad all he requires, for his blood shall be as your blood!"
Now when the old hag saw this, and heard how the lad wanted the million-fold rice which ripens in a single night, she fell into the most furious rage, but being terribly afraid of her daughter, she controlled herself, and bade the boy go and find the field guarded by eighteen millions of demons, warning him on no account to look back after having plucked the tallest spike of rice, which grew in the centre.
So the son of seven mothers set off, and soon came to the field where, guarded by eighteen millions of demons, the million-fold rice grew.
He walked on bravely, looking neither to the right nor left, till he reached the centre and plucked the tallest ear; but as he turned homewards a thousand sweet voices rose behind him, crying in tenderest accents, "Pluck me too! oh, please pluck me too!" He looked back, and lo! there was nothing left of him but a little heap of ashes!
Now as time pa.s.sed by and the lad did not return, the old hag grew uneasy, remembering the message "his blood shall be as your blood"; so she set off to see what had happened.
Soon she came to the heap of ashes, and knowing by her arts what it was, she took a little water, and kneading the ashes into a paste, formed it into the likeness of a man; then, putting a drop of blood from her little finger into its mouth, she blew on it, and instantly the son of seven mothers started up as well as ever.
"Don"t you disobey orders again!" grumbled the old hag, "or next time I"ll leave you alone. Now be off, before I repent of my kindness!"
So the son of seven mothers returned joyfully to the seven Queens, who, by the aid of the million-fold rice, soon became the richest people in the kingdom. Then they celebrated their son"s marriage to the clever Princess with all imaginable pomp; but the bride was so clever, she would not rest until she had made known her husband to his father, and punished the wicked white witch. So she made her husband build a palace exactly like the one in which the seven Queens had lived, and in which the white witch now dwelt in splendour. Then, when all was prepared, she bade her husband give a grand feast to the King. Now the King had heard much of the mysterious son of seven mothers, and his marvellous wealth, so he gladly accepted the invitation; but what was his astonishment when on entering the palace he found it was a facsimile of his own in every particular! And when his host, richly attired, led him straight to the private hall, where on royal thrones sat the seven Queens, dressed as he had last seen them, he was speechless with surprise, until the Princess, coming forward, threw herself at his feet, and told him the whole story.
Then the King awoke from his enchantment, and his anger rose against the wicked white hind who had bewitched him so long, until he could not contain himself. So she was put to death, and her grave ploughed over, and after that the seven Queens returned to their own splendid palace, and everybody lived happily.
THE SPARROW AND THE CROW
A sparrow and a crow once agreed to have _khichri_ for dinner.
So the Sparrow brought rice, and the Crow brought lentils, and the Sparrow was cook, and when the _khichri_ was ready, the Crow stood by to claim his share.
"Who ever heard of any one sitting down to dinner so dirty as you are?" quoth the Sparrow scornfully. "Your body is quite black, and your head looks as if it were covered with ashes. For goodness gracious sake, go and wash in the Pond first."
The Crow, though a little huffy at being called dirty, deemed it best to comply, for he knew what a determined little person the Sparrow was; so he went to the Pond, and said--
"Your name, sir, is Pond, But my name is Crow.
Please give me some water, For if you do so I can wash beak and feet And the nice _khichri_ eat; Though I really don"t know What the Sparrow can mean, For I"m sure, as Crows go, I"m remarkably clean!"
[Ill.u.s.tration: The crow and those he meets]
But the Pond said, "Certainly I will give you water; but first you must go to the Deer, and beg him to lend you a horn. Then with it you can dig a nice little rill for the water to flow in clean and fresh."
So the Crow flew to the Deer, and said--
"Your name, sir, is Deer, But my name is Crow.
Oh, give me a horn, please, For if you do so I can dig a clean rill For the water to fill; Then I"ll wash beak and feet And the nice _khichri_ eat; Though I really don"t know What the Sparrow can mean, For I"m sure, as Crows go, I"m remarkably clean!"
But the Deer said, "Certainly I will give you a horn; but first you must go to the Cow, and ask her to give you some milk for me to drink. Then I shall grow fat, and not mind the pain of breaking my horn."
So the Crow flew off to the Cow, and said--
"Your name, ma"am, is Cow, But my name is Crow.
Oh, give me some milk, please, For if you do so The pain will be borne, Deer will give me his horn, And I"ll dig a clean rill For the water to fill; Then I"ll wash beak and feet And the nice _khichri_ eat; Though I really don"t know What the Sparrow can mean, For I"m sure, as Crows go, I"m remarkably clean!"
But the Cow said, "Certainly I will give you milk, only first you must bring me some Gra.s.s; for who ever heard of a cow giving milk without gra.s.s?"