Indian Antiquary Vol 01

SR No.: 032493
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 430
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 22 MB

Page 141

APRIL 5, 1872.]
thing else, so he began to cry. The woman asked him why he was crying, and he told her it was because he had done nothing to obtain the object for which he came, but had spent all his time with her. The woman enquired what his object in coming was, and he told her that his father had seen a silver tree in a dream and become blind, but that if anyone could show him a tree with silver stem, golden branches, pearly fruits, and peacocks playing in the branches, he would recover his sight, otherwise he would remain blind. The woman told him that he must not stay there any longer, and she packed provisions for ten or fifteen days, in the shell of a gourd, but she continued to go into the house and come out of the house and to make such delay that the prince grew very angry and said to himself, " I have suffered all these dangers for the sake of this woman and yet she does not attend to what I say, but continues to say she will come, and goes into the house and comes back again and makes great delay: I will kill her and cut her in pieces." Having determined on this, he took the large knife which he had brought from the tank and cut her asunder at one blow. No sooner had he done so, then her two legs became a silver stem, her two arms were golden branches, the palms of her hands were diamond leaves, all her ornaments were fruits of pearl, and her head was a peacock dancing in the branches and eating the fruits. When the prince saw it, he perceived that it was the very tree for which he was searching, and he thought it was a great pity that he had killed the woman in that place, for if he had taken her to his father he could have cured him, while the tree itself was too large for him to carry, so he was about to cut it in pieces when the knife slipped from his hand, and the moment it touched the ground, the tree was again changed into the woman, who said to him, "Prince, I did not attend to what you said, in order that you might see the tree; now if you kill me you will be able to show your father the silver tree, and if you drop the knife on the ground, I shall again become a woman: come now let us go to my father-in-law and restore him to sight." Then they both went to the well by which the prince had descended and began to shake the rope. The woman said to the prince: "You must go first because if I go first your brothers will see me and will never pull you up afterwards;" but he said, "If I go first and you do not follow me, my father
A BENGALI STORY.
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will not be cured;" so they agreed to go both together.
When they reached the top, the prince's brothers saw how beautiful the woman was, and determined that queen Duha's lame son should not have her but that they would keep her for themselves, and throw him into the sea when they were in the ship on their way home, and they would tell their father that, although they had searched long for a remedy for him, they could not find it, and had only brought a woman. So they all went into the ship, and when they were on the open sea, the prince's brothers bound him hand and foot and threw him overboard; but the woman, from inside the ship, saw what had happened, and threw him the shell of the gourd which she had brought with her, so the lame prince sat on the gourd and travelled on, and when he was hungry he ate the food which the woman had stored in it. In the meanwhile, when the prince's brothers attempted to touch the woman, she told them that she had made a vow that no one should touch her for twelve years, and that the lame prince had never touched her although he had married her, and that if they used violence to her they would be at once burnt to ashes; so they did not touch her, and after a few days they reached home and told their father that they had found no remedy for him but had brought a woman, and the king was pleased when he heard it.
All this time queen Duhâ's son was sitting on the gourd, without any means of escape, till at last he thought over all that had happened to him and remembered the snake; no sooner had he done so than the snake came, and giving him his tail to hold, dragged him through the water to the shore and told him that he must then think of his friend the tiger who would come and unfasten the ropes by which he was bound. Then the prince thought of the tiger, and the tiger came and cut the prince's bonds with his teeth, and he travelled slowly on till he reached home, and went to his mother and told her all about the woman he had found, and how his brothers had thrown him into the sea. She told him that his brothers had brought the woman and invented a long story to satisfy the king, so he determined to go and enquire about it. When he came into the king's presence he asked whether his brothers had brought the silver tree, and the king told him that they had only brought a woman. The prince said that