Chapter 16

The king left his hunting and went himself to the girl, and asked her why she cried. "My husband married me," she said, "and was taking me to his home. He went to get some water to drink, and left me here. He has never come back, and I don't know where he is; perhaps some tiger has killed him, and now I am all alone, and do not know where to go. This is why I cry." The king was so delighted with her beauty, that he asked her to go with him. He sent his servants for a fine palanquin, and when it came he put the girl into it, and took her to his palace, and there she stayed.

At midnight she turned into a demon, and went to the place where the king's sheep and goats were kept. She tore open all their stomachs, and ate all their hearts. Then she dipped seven knives in their blood, and laid the knives on the beds of the seven queens.

Next morning the king heard that all his sheep and goats were lying dead; and when his seven wives woke, they saw that their clothes were all bloody, and that bloody knives lay on their beds. They wondered who had done this wicked thing to them.

The next night at twelve o'clock the beautiful girl turned into a demon again, and went to the cow-house. There she tore open the cows and ate their hearts. Then she smeared the queens' clothes, and laid knives dipped in blood on their beds; but she washed her own hands and clothes, so that no blood should show on them. For a long time the same thing happened every night, till she had eaten all the elephants, horses, camels,--every animal, indeed, belonging to the king. The king wondered very much at his animals all being killed in this way, and he could not understand either why every morning his wives' clothes were bloody, and bloody knives found on their beds.

When she had eaten all the animals, the demon said to the king, "I am afraid your wives are very wicked women. They must have killed all your cows and sheep, goats, horses, elephants, and camels. I am afraid one day they will eat me up." "I have been married to them for many years," answered the king, "and anything like this has never happened before." "I am very much afraid of them," said the demon, who all this time looked a most beautiful girl. "I am very much afraid; but if you cut out their eyes, then they cannot kill me."

The king called his servants and said to them, "Get ready seven palanquins, and carry my seven wives into the jungle. There you must leave them; only first take out their eyes, which you must bring to me." The servants took the queens to a jungle a long way from the king's country. There they took out their eyes, and left them, and brought the eyes to the king, who gave them into the demon's hands. She pounded them to bits with a stone, and threw the bits away.

The seven queens in the jungle did not know which way to go; so they walked straight on, and fell into a dry well which lay just before them. In this well they stayed; and the day when they thought they must die of hunger and thirst was drawing near. But before it came the eldest queen had a little son. She and the five next wives were so hungry, that they agreed to kill the child, and divide it into seven pieces. They each ate a piece, and gave one to the seventh and youngest wife. She said nothing, and hid the piece. These five wives each had a son one after the other, and they killed and divided their children as the eldest wife had done with hers. But the youngest wife hid all the six pieces that were given her, and would eat none. Her son was born last of all. Then the six eldest wives said, "Let us kill and divide your child." "No," she said, "I will never kill or divide my boy; I would rather die of hunger. Here are the six pieces you gave me. I would not eat them. Take them and eat them, but you must not touch my son." God was so pleased with her for not killing her child, that he made the boy grow bigger and bigger every day; and the little queen was very happy.

They all lived in the dry well without any food till the little prince was five years old. By that time he was very quick and clever. One day he said to his mother, "Why have we lived all this while in the well?" His mother and all the other wives told him about the wicked demon who lived in his father's palace, and how the king believed her to be a beautiful girl and had married her, and of all the evil things that she had done to them, and how she had made the king send them to the jungle and have their eyes cut out and given to her, and how from not being able to see they had fallen into this well, and how they had eaten all his brothers, because they were so very hungry they thought they should die--all but his mother at least, for she would not eat the other wives' children and would not kill her own little son. "Let me climb out of this well," said the boy, who determined in his heart that he would kill this wicked demon one day. His mother said, "No, stay here; you are too young to leave the well."

The boy did not listen to her, but scrambled out. Then he saw they were in a wide plain in the jungle. He ran after a few birds, caught and killed them. Then he roasted the birds and brought them with some water to his seven mothers in the well. When they had eaten them and drunk the water, they were happy and worshipped God. The six mothers who had eaten their children were full of sorrow, and said, "If our six sons were now living, how good it would be for us: how happy we should be." The young prince went out hunting for little birds every day, and in the evening he cooked those he caught and brought them, with water, to his mothers.

Now the demon, because she was a demon and was therefore wiser than men and women, knew that the seven queens lived in the well, and that the son of the youngest queen was still alive. She determined to kill him; so she pretended her eyes hurt her, and began crying, and making a great to-do. The king asked her, "What is the matter?" "See, king, see my eyes," she said. "They ache and hurt me so much." "What medicine will make them well again?" said the king. "If I could only bathe them with a tigress's milk, they would be well," she answered.

The king called two of his servants and said to them, "Can either of you get me a tigress's milk? Here are two thousand rupees for whichever of you brings me the milk." Then he gave them the rupees, and told them to get it at once.

The servants took the rupees, and said nothing to the king, but they said to each other, "How can we get a tigress's milk?" And they were very sad. They left the king's country, and wandered on till they came to the jungle-plain, where lived the young prince and his mothers. There they saw him sitting by a dry well and roasting birds. "Do you live in this jungle?" they said to him. "Yes," answered the boy. Then the servants talked together. "See," they said, "this boy lives in the jungle, so he will surely be able to get us the milk. Let us tell him to get it, and give him the two thousand rupees."

So they came back to the boy, who asked them where they were going. "Our queen is very ill with pain in her eyes, and our king has sent us for some tigress's milk for her to bathe them with, that they may get well. He has given us two thousand rupees, for whichever of us to keep who gets the milk. But we do not know where or how to get it."

"Good," said the boy; "give me the two thousand rupees and I will get it for you. Come here for it in a week's time."

The king's servants were very much pleased at not having to try and get it themselves, so they gave him the rupees and went home. The demon knew quite well when she asked for the milk that none of the king's servants would dare to go for it, but that his son would be brave enough to go. This is why she asked for it, for she meant the tigers to kill him.

The little prince now took his seven mothers out of the well, and they all went together to his father's country. There he got a small house for them, and good clothes and food. He got a servant, too, for them, to cook their dinner and take care of them. "Be very tender to them," he said to the servant, "for they cannot see." For himself he bought a little horse, and good clothes, and a gun, and a sword. Then he made his mothers many salaams, and told them he was going to get a tigress's milk. They all cried and begged him not to go.

But he set off and rode for three or four days through the jungles. Then he came to a large jungle which was in a great blaze, and two tiger-cubs were running about in the jungle trying to get out of the fire. He jumped off his horse, and took them in his hands; then he mounted his horse again and rode out of the jungle. He rode on till he came to another which was not on fire. He let the cubs loose in it that they might run away; but they placed themselves in front of his horse, and said, "We will not let you go till you have seen our father and mother."

Meanwhile the tiger and tigress saw the boy coming with their cubs, and they came running to meet them. Till then they had thought their cubs were burned in the jungle-fire. Now they knew at once this boy had saved them. The cubs said to their father and mother, "We should have died had it not been for this boy. Give him food; and when he has eaten some food, we will drink milk." The tigers were very happy at having their children safe. They went to a garden and got food and good water for the boy, who ate and drank. Then the little cubs drank their mother's milk.

The tiger said to the prince, "You are such a little child, how is it your mother let you come alone to this jungle?"

"My mother's eyes are sore and pain her; and the doctor says that if she bathes them in a tigress's milk they will get well. So I came to see if I could get a little for her."

"I will give you some," said the tigress, and she gave him a little jar full of her milk. The cubs said, "One of us will go with you, and the other will stay with our father and mother." "No," said the little prince, "do you both stay with your father and mother. I will not take either of you away. What should I do with you?" "No," said one of the cubs; "I will go with you. I will do all you tell me. Wherever you bid me stay, there I will stay; and I will eat any food you give me." "Take him with you," said the old tiger; "one day you will find him of use." So the boy took the cub and the milk, and made his salaam to the old tigers and went home. His mothers were delighted at his return, though, as they had no eyes, they could not see him.

He tied up the tiger's cub and fed him. Then he took a little of the milk, and went to the dry well in the jungle and sat down by it. The king's servants came when the week had passed, and the boy gave them the milk. The servants took it to the king, who gave it to the demon. She was very angry when she found the tigers had not eaten the boy; but she bathed her eyes with the milk, and said nothing.

At the end of another week she would not eat or drink, and did nothing but cry. "What is the matter?" said the king. "See how my eyes pain me," she answered. "If I could only get an eagle's feather to lay on them they would be well. Oh, how they hurt me!"

The king called his servants and gave them four thousand rupees. "Go and get me an eagle's feather," he said, "and he who gets it is to take the four thousand rupees." "Let us go to the jungle well," they said, "and find the boy who got us the tigress's milk. We could never get an eagle's feather, but this child certainly can get one for us."

So they went to the well where they found the boy. The little prince was very wise, though he was such a little child; and he knew the demon would try to send him on some other errand that she might get rid of him. He was quite willing to go on her errands, for he thought he might thus learn how to kill her. He was not a bit afraid of being killed himself, for he knew that God loved him, and that no one but God could kill him.

He at once asked the king's servants, "What do you want now?" "Our king has sent us for an eagle's feather to lay on the queen's eyes, which pain her again. Here are four thousand rupees for you if you will get it for us." "Give me the rupees," said the king's son. "Come here in two weeks, and I will give you the feather."

He took the rupees to his mothers, and told them he was going to fetch an eagle's feather. "Where will you find one?" they said. "I don't know," he answered, "but I am going to look for one." He hired some more servants, and told them to take care of his mothers and the tiger-cub.

He rode straight on for two or three days, and at last came to a very dense jungle, through which he rode for another three or four days. When he got out of it he found himself on a beautiful smooth plain in which was a tank. There, too, was a large fig-tree, and under the tree cool shade, and cool, thick grass. He was very much pleased when he saw the tank and the tree. He got off his horse, bathed in the tank, and sat down under the fig-tree, thinking, "Here I will sleep a little while before I go further."

While he lay asleep in the grass, a great snake crawled up the tree, at the top of which were two young eagles. They began screaming very loud. Their cries awakened the little prince. He looked about and saw the great snake in the tree. Then he took his gun and fired at it, and the snake fell dead to the ground. He cut it into five pieces, and hid them in the long grass. Then he lay down again and went to sleep.

The baby eagles were alone in the tree, as their father and mother had gone to another country. But now the old birds came home, and found the king's son sleeping in the grass. "See," they said, "here is the thief who every year robs us of our children! But now he cannot get away. We will kill him." However, they thought it better to go and look first at their children, to see if they were safe or not. They flew up to the top of the tree, and when they found their children safe, they wished to give them food. All the time they kept saying, "Eat; then we will kill the thief who steals away our children every year." The young eagles thought, "Oh, if God would only give us the power to speak, then we would tell our father and mother that this boy is no thief." Then God gave them the power to speak, and they said to the old eagles, "Listen; if that boy had not been here, we should have died, for he killed a huge snake that was going to swallow us: only go and look, and you will see it dead and cut into pieces." And the eaglets refused to eat till the boy had been fed.

The big eagles flew down and found the bits of the snake: so they flew away to a beautiful garden, where they got delicious fruits and water. These they brought to the boy, and awoke him and fed him. Then they said to him, "It is indeed good to find our children alive. Hitherto our children have always been eaten by that snake. How are your father and mother? Why did they let you come to this jungle? What have you come here for?" The little prince said, "My mother's eyes are very sore; but they would be cured if she could have an eagle's feather to lay on them. So I came to look for one." Then the mother gave him one of her feathers.

When the boy was going home, the eaglets said they would go with him. "No," he said, "I will not take you with me." But the old birds said, "Take one of them, it will help you one day." The little prince made his salaam to the big eagles, and took one of their young ones, mounted his horse, and rode off. The eaglet flew over his head to shade him from the sun.

When he got home to his seven mothers, he took the feather and went and sat by the dry well. The king's servants came there to him, and he gave them the feather, and said, "Take it to your king." This they did, and the king gave it to the demon, who flew into a great rage. She said to herself, "The tigers did not kill him, and now the eagles have not killed him."

At the end of two weeks she began to cry and would not eat. The king asked her, "What is the matter with you? what has happened to you?" "My eyes pain me so much," she said. "What will cure them?" said the king. "If I had only some night-growing rice," she said, "I would boil it, and make rice-water, which I would drink. Then I should get well." Now this night-growing rice was a wonderful rice that no men, and only one demon, possessed. This was the demon-queen's brother. He used to put a grain of this rice into his huge cavern of a mouth at night when he went to sleep, and when he woke in the morning this grain would have become a tree. Then the demon used to take the rice-tree out of his mouth.

The demon, who seemed such a lovely girl, now wrote a letter to her brother, in which she said, "The bearer of this letter goes to you for some night-growing rice. You must kill him at once; you must not let him live." The king gave this letter to his servants, with six thousand rupees. "Take this letter," he said, "and fetch some of the night-growing rice. Here are six thousand rupees for whichever of you finds it." The king had no idea that it was not these men who had gone for the tigress's milk and the eagle's feather.

The servants said, "Let us go to the well, to the boy who has helped us before. We don't know where to get this night-growing rice, but that boy is sure to know."

The boy was sitting by the well, and asked what they wanted. They answered, "See, the king has given us six thousand rupees and a letter, and told us to fetch him some night-growing rice." "Very good," said the king's son. "Come here in three weeks' time, and I will give you some." The servants gave him the rupees and returned home.

He took the rupees to his mothers, and told them he was going on a fresh errand, and they were to keep the money. Then he made them salaams, took his letter, and rode off. The eaglet went too, and flew above his head. The tiger's cub he left at home.

He rode on and on through a very large jungle, and he rode a long, long way: at last in a jungle he saw a fakír, who was living in it. He made him salaams, and the fakír was delighted to see him, "because," he said, "for many years I have been in this country, and all that time have never seen any man." The prince sat down by the fakír, and the fakír was very much pleased. He asked the boy who had sent him to the jungle, and why he had come to it. "My mother has sore eyes," he answered, "and wants some night-growing rice. She has given me a letter to the man who owns it."

The fakír took and read the letter, and was very sorry. He tore it up and threw it away. Then he wrote another, in which he said, "Your sister is very ill, and her son has come for some night-growing rice for her." This he gave to the boy, and told him to continue his journey. He also told him that the man who had the rice was a huge demon, and that he lived in the country by the great sea. Then he told him the way.

The boy rode on and on, and after a week's journeying he came to the demon's country. There he saw the huge demon sitting on the ground, with his great, big mouth, that was just like a cavern. As soon as the demon saw him he stood up and said, "It is many days since a man came here. Now I will eat this one." He went towards the prince to seize him, and a great rushing wind came blowing from the demon, as it always did when he was angry. But the boy, who had begun to walk towards him when he stood up, threw the letter to him with all his might, so that it fell on him; at the same time he made many salaams. The demon read the letter, and found his sister was very ill, and this was her son; so he stopped the wind, and came up to the boy, who he thought was his sister's son. "You have come for the rice for my sister who is ill," he said to him; "you shall have it."

The demon had a splendid house full of beautiful things, and a great many servants. He took the little prince home with him, and told his servants to get water ready and gave the child a bath. They were also to cook a good dinner for him. Then the demon showed the boy all his gardens, and all his beautiful things, and took him through all the rooms of his house. One room he did not show to the prince. He told him he was never to go into it, though he might go everywhere else that he liked. In this room lived the demon's daughter, who was very beautiful, just like a fairy. She was ten years old. Every day before her father went out, he used to make the girl lie on her bed, and cover her with a sheet, and he placed a thick stick at her head, and another at her feet; then she died till he came home in the evening and changed the sticks, putting the one at her head at her feet, and the one at her feet at her head. This brought her to life again.

The next day, when the demon had gone out, the boy went to this room, and opened the door, for he wanted to see what was in it. He went in, and saw the beautiful girl lying on the bed. "How lovely she is!" he said; "but she is dead." Then he saw the sticks, and, to amuse himself, he put the one at her head at her feet, and the one at her feet at her head, just as the demon did every evening. The girl at once came to life, and opened her eyes and got up. "Who is this?" she said to herself, when she saw the king's son. "This is not my father." She asked him, "Who are you? Why do you come here? If my father sees you he will eat you." "No, he won't," said the prince, "for I am your aunt's son, and your father himself brought me to his house. But why is it that you are dead all day, and alive all night?" The girl had told him that her father brought her to life every evening, and made her dead every morning. "Such is my father's pleasure," she answered.

So they talked together all day, and he said to her, "Suppose one day your father made you dead as usual, and that he was killed before he had brought you to life, what would you do? You would always be dead then." "Listen," she said; "no one can kill my father." "Why not?" said the boy. "Listen," she answered; "on the other side of the sea there is a great tree, in that tree is a nest, in the nest is a _mainá_. If any one kills that _mainá_, then only will my father die. And if, when the _mainá_ is killed, its blood falls to the ground, a hundred demons would be born from the blood. This is why my father cannot be killed."

At evening, before the demon came home, the prince made the girl dead. Then he went softly into another room.

The fakír had said to the boy, when they were in the jungle together, "If ever you are in trouble, come to me and I will help you. It will take you now one week to ride to the demon's country; but if ever you need me, you shall be able to come to me here in this jungle, and to return to the demon's house in one day." The fakír was such a holy man that everything he said should happen did happen. So now the prince determined he would go to the fakír and ask him what he should do to kill this _mainá_. In the morning, therefore, as soon as the demon had gone out, he set off for the fakír's jungle, and, thanks to the holy man's power, he got there very quickly. He told him everything, and the fakír made a paper boat which he gave him. "This boat will take you over the sea," he said to the prince. "This paper boat!" said the boy. "How can a paper boat go over the sea? It will get soaked and sink." "No, it will not," said the fakír. "Launch it on the sea, and get into it. The boat will of itself carry you to the tree where the _mainá's_ nest is."

The prince took the boat, and went back to the demon's house. He got there before the demon came home, so that he did not know the boy had been to the fakír. When the demon returned that evening, the king's son said, "To-morrow I will go home, as my mother is very ill. Will you give me the rice?" "Good," said the demon, "you shall have it to-morrow." Next morning he gave the rice, and went off to the jungle.