Folktales from Bengal Read Online Free Page A

her out of the water, and to his utter shock, he
found her dead. He did not know what he did wrong, but he was so
sad, he sat there, crying and sobbing and moping. He did not move,
and he did not eat anything for three days. He just cried, and
cried and cried.
    A fox was the friend of
the boy. He felt truly sorry seeing his friend’s condition, and
tried to comfort him. “Life is short. It was not your fault. Her
time had come.” But the more the fox talked, the more the boy
cried.
    Finally, the fox told
him, “Crying won’t bring your mother back. But you know what
would’ve made her happy? If you married the princess, that’s
what.”
    The boy stopped crying
and asked him, “But how do I do that?”
    “ Wait and
see, my friend.”
    They spent the next few
days carrying out the old lady’s funeral. But every day, the farmer
asked the fox, “So, how do I marry the King’s daughter?”
    The fox replied, “All in
due time. Now why don’t you weave a few good clothes for me and for
you?”
    That is exactly what the
boy did. When the clothes were ready, the fox put on a coat and a
turban of the finest silk, and went to the king.
    With his turban and shawl
and shoes and cane, and with a pen neatly tucked in his ear, the
fox looked very learned indeed. When the king saw him, he was awed,
thinking what a great scholar the fox must be. “So, what brings you
here, Mr. Fox?”
    “ O great
king. I heard that you are looking for a groom for your daughter. I
have good news for you. I come from far, only to ask for your
daughter’s hand for marriage to our Maharaja.”
    The fox wasn’t lying,
because the farmer boy’s name indeed was Maharaja. But the king did
not know that, and thought that the fox was actually talking about
a king. He asked the fox to describe this Maharaja.
    The fox sand
aloud,
    “ Very
handsome is this king of mine,
    At night his house does
moonlight shine.
    Clever he is, as he is
learned,
    His kinsmen clothe and
dine from what he’s earned.
    And of his might what
should I say,
    Foes fall before him like
hay.”
    Now none of these
descriptions were false at all. The farmer might have been poor,
but he was very handsome. He was poor, and had a lot of holes in
his room, and so moonlight did shine into his house at night. But
the king thought that the Maharajah lived in a magnificent house,
just like himself.
    We already know how
‘clever’ the boy was, but he was illiterate as well. And that is
exactly what the fox had said. “Clever he is, as he is learned.”
Could you really blame him if the king actually interpreted this as
– the king is both very clever, and very learned?
    And we all know that Raja
was also good at weaving. And that’s what the fox meant when he
said, “His kinsmen clothe and dine from what he’s earned.” Of
course, the king only took these as descriptions of how rich this
“Maharaja” was.
    The last part was a
little exaggerated. What the fox meant was that being a farmer, the
closest thing to an enemy he had were weeds, and they did indeed
fall like hay when he slashed them. After all, honesty was never
the strongest character of the foxes. The king, obviously, thought
that this Maharajah was a mighty fellow.
    The king was both excited
and happy. He gave the fox a thousand gold pieces as a reward, and
told him to bring his king down to the palace for the wedding
ceremony. “The wedding is in eight days, fox. Hurry to your master
now.”
    The fox returned to the
village. Raja had already sowed hundreds of beautiful clothes. The
fox gave each of the villagers one of the clothes and a couple of
gold pieces, and told them,” After eight days, my friend is getting
married to the king’s daughter. All of you are invited.”
    Everyone was happy.
Although Raja was a simpleton, he had a good heart, and always
helped his fellow men in times of need. Everyone said that they
would come.
    Then the fox went to all
the other foxes in the forest, and told them, “Brothers,