A long time ago, there was a happy kingdom named Jampur. The king there always stood by his subjects in their joys and sorrows. Under his rule, every family in the kingdom was happy, and the men treated their wives with kindness. But there was one incompleteness in the lives of the king and queen—they had no children.
One day, in the middle of an important cabinet meeting, bad news arrived—the queen had fainted. After receiving care and regaining consciousness, the queen spoke of a terrifying dream. In her dream, a fearsome Brahmodaittya (a type of ghost) had warned her. The demon revealed that near the palace, deep within a pond filled with poisonous snakes, there was a secret chamber. If she did not sacrifice her son in that chamber, he would kill everyone in the royal lineage. Trembling with fear, she told the demon that she had no son. The demon laughed and replied, “In ten months, a son will be born to you. If you do not sacrifice him, disaster is inevitable!”
Time passed, and ten months later, a beautiful baby boy was born in the royal palace. Overjoyed, the king named him Khoybor Jong. But the happy days did not last long. The demon appeared in the queen’s dream again, demanding his due. Since she had given her word, in the dark of night, the queen, breaking down in tears, left the baby in that dreadful place with her own hands. On her way back, her tears would not stop. When she woke up in the morning, she saw that the demon, pleased with her sacrifice, had returned her son to her side.
Slowly, Khoybor Jong began to grow up. The king and queen grew older. The king wanted to hand over the responsibility of ruling the kingdom to his son. This twelve-year-old prince was unparalleled—in beauty, virtue, and intelligence. But deep within his heart lived a profound hatred—for all womankind.
“All women are unchaste,” he would say. “They wait impatiently for men.”
The king and queen tried to talk to him about marriage many times, but Khoybor Jong always refused. Days, months, and years went by. One day in the royal court, the prince announced,
“I will marry. But I have a condition. The bride must be six months old.”
Everyone in the kingdom was stunned. Would any mother agree to give her child under such a condition? But no one in the kingdom agreed to the marriage of such a young, milk-fed baby to the prince. After much searching, finally, a poor Nazir (a court official) agreed to marry his beautiful six-month-old daughter to the king’s son. The king and queen were overjoyed. The king invited people from all over the kingdom to the wedding. He arranged for food for everyone and even had the Nazir’s house decorated. After a grand wedding ceremony, everyone returned to the royal palace with the bride.
Khoybor Jong carried a heavy burden of doubt deep in his heart. As soon as the night of the kingdom’s celebration was over, Khoybor Jong ordered a temple to be built. Inside the temple, a wooden chest was made. His six-month-old wife was imprisoned in that chest. No one except a single female attendant was allowed to enter the temple. The attendant would feed the queen and play with her. In this way, the days passed.
A few years later, the king fell ill and passed away. A few days after that, the queen also died. As a result, the prince became very dejected. But the kingdom had to be ruled. Slowly forgetting his grief, Khoybor Jong focused on governing the kingdom. Twelve years passed in the blink of an eye.
One day, three goons entered the kingdom. They learned that the king had kept his queen in a wooden box. They secretly plotted that they must meet this queen. They then built a large box themselves. One of the goons hid inside that box. The other two goons went to meet the king. They asked for the king’s permission to do business in the kingdom. When the king gave his permission, they requested him to hide their wooden box in a safe place. They wanted to explore the kingdom. The king, with a simple heart, believed their words. He placed the wooden box inside the temple where the queen was kept. When everyone left, the goon peeked out of the box and looked at the queen. Her breathtaking beauty captivated the goon. He cautiously came out in front of the queen. The goon would tell her stories of the world outside the box. He would describe the beauty of nature. Slowly, a deep friendship developed between the two of them.
Meanwhile, the king went on a journey one day. After traveling a long distance, he was resting. At that time, the king met the other two goons. They had left saying they would see the kingdom but had not returned. They introduced themselves to the king as soothsayers. They told the king that he was without parents. He had a queen whom he had kept locked in a box in a temple. Then they said that if they could tell what was on the king’s mind, would the king grant them half of his kingdom? When the king agreed, they took him to their house. At the house, they said that the king believes all women are bad. They are only interested in uniting with men. The king was utterly surprised that they had correctly stated what was on his mind. Then the goons sent a beautiful girl to serve the king food. The girl’s sweet smile, her sidelong glances, and her enchanting words stirred the king’s heart. The king thought that no one had ever spoken to him like this before. Then the goons told the king that if he thought women were bad for their desire to be with men, then everyone in the world is bad. The king became very thoughtful. He couldn’t sleep at night. The king quietly slipped out and peeked into the goons’ room and saw that the girl took out a small container from her hair bun. Then, by magic, a man emerged from it. The two of them then started an intimate affair. Seeing all this, the king had an awakening. The next day, he prepared to return to his kingdom, along with the two goons and the girl.
Upon returning to the kingdom, he told the girl to cook rice for seven people. Then he told the queen to come out of the box in the temple. When the queen came out, the king then told the goon to come out of the other box as well. He then ordered his ministers to imprison these four in jail forever.
The king said that when he had married the queen, she was only a six-month-old child. Therefore, he remarried this same queen. From then on, the queen loved only the king. She assisted the king in his royal duties. In this way, the king lived happily ever after with his wife.