It was a long, long time ago. The king of Ujani Nagar was Manik Pal. At home, he had a beautiful princess named Rajol. With long hair and a radiant beauty like the princesses of fairy tales, Rajol was spending her days happily with her handmaidens. One day, the king thought it was time to get the princess married. No sooner had the king spoken than the viziers and ministers all appeared! The king ordered, “Beat the drums and tell everyone—I will marry off the princess, write this message down.” The entire kingdom was enchanted by the princess’s beauty, so upon hearing the news, no one delayed. The very next morning, the palace courtyard filled with various young men, all ready to present themselves, each with a hope in their heart—to become the king’s son-in-law. Princess Rajol peeked from the second-floor palace, but alas, she didn’t like anyone. Not a single prince was worthy of her beauty. Disliking every single one, the princess sat in the middle of the garden, holding her favorite handmaiden’s neck, and began to cry. Calling her magic myna bird, she said,
“O bird, fly once and see for me
Oh, away flies the myna bird.
I raised you, bird, in my small hands
Fed you milk and rice
In which land is my husband
Go and bring me the news.”
The myna bird knew all the news well. It gave a straight answer to the princess: if she wanted a groom to her liking, she would have to search in the southern lands; he would not be found in this kingdom. In the southern lands lies the city of Nichani Nagar, and there lives the worthy husband for Princess Rajol. Hearing this, the princess immediately sent the myna bird to that city, tying a picture of herself to the bird’s neck. After eating its fill of milk and rice, the myna flew off to Nichani Nagar. Day and night, the myna flew over fields, ghats, and jungles. After flying like this for three days, it reached a giant, tall mountain. The myna thought to itself that it didn’t know the face of the princess’s future groom. How would it know who that handsome youth was among so many people? Thinking this, the myna began to cry profusely. It called upon Allah-Khoda for help. Khoda was merciful. He sent the angel Jibraeel in the form of a fly to the magic myna. The myna learned the news of that unknown prince. Then, it started flying again. Day and night, the myna flew once more over fields, ghats, jungles, mountains, and rivers. After who knows how many days, it reached Nichani Nagar.
The king of Nichani Nagar was an orphan. He had no one in his family and was raised by a wet nurse. Now the king was twenty, and his wet nurse had grown old. Sitting alone in sorrow, the king called his vizier and said,
“I must get married, Vizier
Find a bride for me.
You will bring a beautiful maiden
I tell you this before you go
Oh, if I don’t marry, this kingdom of mine
Will be of no use.”
Saying this, the king went to the garden and as soon as he sat down to weep inconsolably, he saw a magic myna bird sitting on a tree, smiling faintly. The myna called to the king and said, “Oh king, stop your crying! I have brought news of a beautiful maiden for you. There is a king named Manik Pal in that distant land—in Ujani Nagar, and his princess is named Rajol. You shall see her picture, and that is why I have flown here.” Seeing Rajol’s picture, the king was speechless. He wanted to leave his kingdom and become an ascetic for Rajol. He told the bird to fly back to Rajol with his picture. The myna again ate milk and rice, rested well, and flew off with the king’s picture. Day and night, the myna flew. Meanwhile, the king, grabbing his vizier’s feet, said, “Let’s go to Ujani Nagar at once. My soul’s maiden lives there!” Handing over all responsibilities of the kingdom to the Dewan, the king set off for Ujani Nagar the very next day with his vizier. As he left, he told his subjects to consider the Dewan as their king from now on. And if he received news of the maiden, everyone’s taxes for five years would be waived! He told the Dewan to ensure the subjects faced no sorrow or hardship. The king placed his own crown of jewels and gems on the Dewan’s head. And for himself, he only took a horse with a golden bridle, a silver saddle, and copper-striped armor.
After traveling for quite a few days, the king, the vizier, and the horse all grew tired and ended up in a jungle. In their haste, they had brought no money or food. At this point, surviving the hunger in their bellies was difficult. Stopping their journey, the king and vizier sat down under a tree. Just then, they saw a flower-seller woman nearby, weaving garlands, and the trees around her house were laden with fruit. The king thought they could rest and eat at the flower-seller’s house and then set off again. But she was no ordinary flower-seller. Seeing two unknown men approaching her house, she ran out with a large knife in her hand. The king then calmed the flower-seller with a few words and asked,
“O flower-seller friend—
Oh, the flower garland maker.
What work are you doing, sitting in this dense forest?”
The flower-seller then told the king a wondrous thing. This jungle was supposedly a garden of fairies, and a fairy named Gulbahar came here to visit at the end of every week. This flower-seller was that very fairy’s handmaiden.
“Oh, in the land of fairies lives the fairy
Gulbahar is her name
Oh, every seven days the fairy comes
To take the air in this garden.”
At the same time, the flower-seller warned the king and vizier that if they valued their lives, they should flee this jungle immediately. If anyone roamed needlessly in the magical fairy’s garden, she did not hesitate to harm them. But the king was young. His blood was hot. Hearing about the fairy from the land of fairies, his eyes widened in astonishment. What was this flower-seller saying? How could he leave without seeing the fairy? No, the king had to see the fairy Gulbahar, no matter what. He then cleverly began to speak sweet words to the flower-seller. The flower-seller then lovingly took the king into her lap, and the king, in turn, began to call the flower-seller “mother.” The old woman had no children of her own, and she completely melted at such words. The old woman then said, “From today, you, king, are my son, let’s see who dares to harm you! If Allah is kind, I will have you married to this very fairy, you just sit quietly, my child.” Hearing these words, the king forgot about Princess Rajol in an instant. Six days passed one by one in the fairies’ garden. On the seventh day, the fairy was due to arrive. The flower-seller then hid the king among the flowers.
When the fairy arrived, the first thing she did was take the flower garland from the flower-seller’s hand, smell it, and throw it on the ground. “Oh Malini, what kind of garland have you woven? This garland cannot be held, it has a foul smell all over it. Weave a new one.” The flower-seller then wove a new garland. Later, in the evening, seeing an opportunity, the flower-seller told Gulbahar about the king of Nichani Nagar, about a handsome human. Hearing this, the fairy laughed loudly—“Where is he? Bring your handsome human to me!” As soon as the king was brought, he fainted upon seeing the fairy. The flower-seller then lamented, “For shame, for shame! You, a fairy, have killed a child of the Prophet’s lineage! Do you know how great your sin will be? Revive my godson at once.” The fairy was in a bit of trouble. She pulled and lifted the human, and seizing the opportunity, the king wrapped his arms around her neck, smiled mischievously, and said, “This is how a human gets married to you.” Being the victim of such deception, Gulbahar pulled out a sharp knife and as she went to strike the king, the flower-seller again said—“For shame, for shame! A wife going to kill her own husband! You are a great sinner, Gulbahar.” The old flower-seller was not short on cunning ideas. Seeing Gulbahar silent, she then twirled her nose ring and began to say, “Now that you are a fairy with the scent of a human on you, will you be able to stay in fairy society? You better make a home with this king, or else hang yourself and die.”
What could Gulbahar do then? She went to her companion fairies. Smelling the human scent on her, they all shooed her away to the fairy land. Now, besides the flower-seller and the king, she had no one in this jungle. Accepting her fate, the daughter of fairies started a family with a human. Slowly forgetting her sorrow, she spent her days in peace and happiness with the ascetic king. But do you remember Rajol—the princess of Ujani Nagar? The one for whom the king had left his home and set out? One night, that princess came into the king’s dream…
After having the dream, the human, weeping, told Gulbahar,
“Oh maiden, listen to my tale of sorrow
Oh, my heart breaks
Bid me farewell
I must go to Ujani Nagar.”
The human’s heart was breaking for the maiden of Ujani Nagar. The promise he had made to her in that jungle, he had completely forgotten after entering the fairy’s world. Now, seeing her in his dream, his delusion was broken. Remembering his duty now, he fell into great distress. He told the fairy, “In Ujani Nagar, there is a king named Manik Pal. His daughter is Princess Rajol, and it was after seeing her picture that I was on my way there. Seeing you, I forgot everything. Now that maiden comes in my dreams looking for me.”
Saying this, the human sat down and wept, spreading his arms and legs. His godmother, the flower-seller, came and said,
“Oh, I will drag Manik by his topknot
And bring him to your feet.”
Gulbahar also understood the human’s feelings. The fairy then took the human with her and flew into the sky, towards Ujani Nagar. At that very moment, the magic myna bird reached Princess Rajol. A great celebration began in the king’s house. The king informed everyone that a groom had been found for the princess. The drummers began to beat their drums. The news spread throughout the kingdom: the princess is getting married.
Princess Rajol and the human got married. After some time, Gulbahar remembered her own kingdom. She hadn’t been to the fairy land for so long. She became very sad. Hearing her words, the human also remembered his own kingdom. He set off for his kingdom with his wife. King Manik Pal and Queen Rajol sent rows of handmaidens with their daughter, along with elephants, horses, and soldiers. On the way, Queen Rajol’s eyes fell on a robust mango tree. Calling her husband, she said that she greatly desired to eat the mangoes from this tree. Couldn’t her husband pluck the mangoes for her? The human then said, “You can eat many mangoes when we get home. It cannot happen now.” The new wife then laid down a condition: if he didn’t pluck mangoes from this tree, she would not go. She would sit right here. Rajol would wait for twelve years if he did not bring her the mangoes right now!
“If you don’t give me the mango, with you
The journey cannot be.”
But for a king to pluck and eat mangoes from another’s tree would be a matter of great disrepute. But it was his new wife’s demand, what choice was there but to make her understand! So the king had to set up a tent in front of that mango grove. The viziers and ministers were all called and told they had to wait there. The king tried to persuade his wife all day, but she would not understand. The king then left the queen in anger and went to his own home.
Right at this time, another terrible accident occurred. A group of demons and monsters came and captured the king’s vizier and took him to their land. To save his own life, the vizier sat with the male and female demons and concocted a false plan to eat the king. Sitting in Kailash Nagar, they schemed to kill King Adam. Hearing about eating the king, the female demon was so happy that she took an eighty-yard sack of jute and started making a sari, brought huge elephant heads and wore them as nose rings. She made earrings from the heads of dead dogs. That monster also had a terrifying daughter named Sundori. Her age was only nine years. The female demon took her along too, for her desire to see a human. Covering a six-month journey in six moments, the female demon brought her daughter to the vizier. As soon as Sundori saw the vizier, her heart melted. She wanted to marry him. The vizier silently bit his tongue, was this in his fate—to be married to a demon’s daughter in the end? But to save his life, the vizier agreed. He told the female demon and her daughter, “I agree to all your conditions. Now come with me.”
After walking a long way, the female demon became terribly hungry. She then sent the vizier up a huge tree to look for food. That tree was no ordinary tree. The tree could talk just like a human and laugh loudly just like a human. Finding the vizier, the tree began to dance excitedly—dancing, the tree threw the vizier to the ground. Who could catch the vizier then? In a single sprint, he reached Ujani Nagar. Disguised as a fakir, the vizier wandered around Ujani Nagar, looking here and there, to see if he could find any of the king’s men! After walking a long way like this, the vizier, in the guise of a fakir, went to the royal palace and begged from the king, but the king did not recognize his own vizier at first. The vizier then sadly began to speak of the old days in song. The king then took the vizier’s hand, asked for forgiveness, and seated him on the throne next to his own. The two of them began to run the affairs of the state happily. The king had his vizier, but no queen by his side. The king who had two queens now lived in such a queenless empire. One queen in the land of fairies, another in a tent.
The king was furious with Princess Rajol. A year had passed, yet she did not listen to a single word from the king—stubbornly sitting in a dilapidated tent! Then she could be a handmaiden, not a queen. The king had a huge iron rice-husker made and sent it to the queen. She had to husk rice in that twenty-two-maund-heavy husker from morning till evening. Even after hearing of such a harsh punishment, Princess Rajol said nothing, silently husking rice in the husker and shedding tears morning and evening. Taking the name of Allah-Khoda, Rajol husked rice in the iron husker as if it were as light as pith. Seeing this, the king’s stubbornness grew even more; he brought a twenty-three-maund winnowing fan to separate the chaff. By Rajol’s prayers, its weight also became as light as pith. She cooked rice from that grain and served it to the king. But how could the king eat rice—the top of his head was burning with rage. He then brought a twenty-five-maund broom and told Rajol to sweep the house. This time too, Rajol prayed to Allah, but for asking for the same thing repeatedly, Allah became displeased with her. He then added fifty maunds of weight to the twenty-five-maund broom, and the queen could no longer sweep. She just sat and cried. Seeing the queen’s tears, the king’s anger grew even more, but still, the queen gave no answer. The king then ordered the executioner to bring him the queen’s head. Although he was an executioner, he had great pity in his heart. He said,
“Listen, O King Alam-panah (Your Majesty)
Pity grows in my heart
Such a beautiful queen
Who on earth could cut her?
Oh, if the queen asks for forgiveness
You should grant it.”
The king had no objection to forgiving, but Rajol said nothing at all. It was as if she had a thorn in her throat, a lock on her mouth. The king’s anger continued to grow, and so did the severity of the queen’s punishments. One day, after she lost all the goats while grazing them, the king told the queen to sleep in a dark pit on a cold winter’s night with the goat’s rope on her head.
“First, there was the pang of hunger
On top of that, it was the winter season
Oh, the maiden fell into the pit
And became distraught.
With the goat’s rope on her head, the maiden
Lay down and went to sleep.”
Seeing such mistreatment by the king, even Khoda’s throne seemed to tremble. Allah immediately informed Jibrail, “Go at once and build a golden palace for Princess Rajol.” That very winter night, a golden palace was built for Rajol. In it was a silver bed, and under Rajol’s head were scattered ruby pillows.
The next morning, the king went completely mad upon seeing this palace. He quickly grabbed Rajol’s feet and said, “Who gave you this palace? Who gave you this bed? Tell me at once or it will be a sin upon you.” Seeing the king’s state, Rajol laughed and said, “Such words do not suit a king.” Hearing this, the king seemed to come to his senses. He then called the handmaidens and gave Rajol good food to eat. He showered her with so much affection. Affectionately, the king asked again, “Why were you silent for so long, queen? What was my fault?” The queen then understood that this was the right time.
“You are the king of such a large kingdom. But it took you so long to understand a simple thing? Do you remember, on our wedding night, I wanted to eat the mangoes from this tree? So many days have passed, months-years-days. You never fed me that mango, O king!”
The king then put his head in his hands. All this drama for a single mango? Oh my goodness. How much he had misunderstood his queen. Forgetting all his anger, he immediately had the mangoes from that tree plucked and fed them to the queen.