A prince and a minister’s son, two friends, were traveling the world. As they journeyed, they reached a mountain range just as evening fell.
The minister’s son said, “Friend, these mountains are full of dangers. Let’s climb that tree and spend the night there somehow.” The prince replied, “That’s a good idea.”
The two friends tied up their horses and climbed to the top of a very tall tree by a lake to rest.
Late at night, the prince and the minister’s son were awakened by a terrifying sound. They saw the entire forest illuminated by a strange light. In that light—oh, the horror! Their bodies went numb, and their hair stood on end. They saw a colossal black python, its head touching the sky and its tail on the ground, swallowing their two horses whole. The horses struggled in the python’s mouth.
After devouring the horses, the python roamed as far as the light reached, eating every insect and creature in the forest.
The prince trembled with fear.
The minister’s son whispered, “Friend, don’t be afraid. That light is the jewel of a mythical serpent, a treasure worth seven kingdoms. We must get that jewel.” The prince exclaimed, “Are you mad! How will you do that?” “Don’t worry. Watch, I will get the jewel.”
Saying this, the minister’s son quietly climbed down the tree, scooped up a handful of mud, and threw it over the jewel. Then, he placed his sword upside down on the mud and quickly climbed back up the tree. Everything went dark. The two friends waited in silence.
The python’s jewel! The light of its jewel was extinguished. The python rushed back, hissing furiously. It saw that its jewel was gone. It struck the sword again and again.
The jewel was hidden under the mud. The sharp edge of the sword cut the python’s hood, and blood gushed out. With fire in its eyes and venom on its fangs, the python went mad.
The crazed python thrashed about, breaking trees in the forest and churning the water of the lake with its tail. Finally, in a fit of rage and sorrow, the python bit its own body and struck its head against the sword until it died.
The two friends spent the rest of the night trembling. The next morning, when the sun rose, they made sure that the python was truly dead. Then they climbed down, picked up the mud-covered jewel, and descended into the lake.
As they descended, the water parted, creating a dry path for them. At the bottom, illuminated by the jewel’s light, they saw a path leading to the underworld. The two friends started walking.
After a short distance, they came upon a magnificent palace. It was surrounded by a flower garden, with flowers of every color blooming on vines that intertwined with the leaves. The two friends entered the palace.
Inside the palace, they heard a constant hissing sound. The prince trembled with fear.
The minister’s son said, “Friend, don’t be afraid. As long as we have the jewel, there is nothing to fear.”
They walked over a floor teeming with millions of shimmering, slithering snakes of every color and entered a chamber. There, the walls, pillars, floor, and ceiling were all made of snakes. The chandeliers were made of snake jewels. On a bed made of a hundred thousand snakes, the princess Monimala was sleeping peacefully.
The prince said, “Friend, what is this?” The minister’s son replied, “Friend, look, this is the princess of the underworld.”
The prince stared in amazement.
Slowly, the minister’s son took the jewel and touched it to Monimala’s forehead. Monimala woke up and sat up. Seeing the prince and the minister’s son, she said in alarm, “Who are you? This is the palace of the black python; how did you get here?”
The minister’s son replied, “Princess, do not be afraid. We have killed the black python. This prince is your husband.”
The prince and Monimala both lowered their heads in acceptance.
Smiling, the minister’s son took the garland from Monimala’s neck and placed it on the prince’s neck, and took the garland from the prince’s neck and placed it on Monimala’s. The hoods of a hundred thousand snakes swayed in approval.
Their days passed happily in the snake palace. After some time, the minister’s son said, “Friend, we are happy here, but who knows what has happened back in our own country. I will go and bring back our retinue with palanquins and music to welcome you both back to our kingdom.”
The prince said, “Very well.”
Once again, the jewel lit the path through the lake, and the minister’s son returned to their own country. After bidding his friend farewell, the prince returned to the palace with the jewel.
The two were alone. The prince told Monimala many stories about the world above, and Monimala told the prince stories of the underworld. One day, Monimala said, “I have never seen the world above in my life; I long to see it.”
The prince said nothing.
In the afternoon, the prince was sleeping. Seeing him asleep, Monimala took some cleansing paste, a towel, and the jewel, and went up the path through the lake to the world above. “Oh, how beautiful!” Monimala was amazed by the sight of the world.
Monimala said, “Jewel, jewel! Shine brightly! I will bathe in this lake.”
At once, the jewel’s light shone brightly, and in the middle of the lake, a flock of royal swans appeared, and a beautiful bathing ghat with white marble steps materialized. Monimala placed the jewel on a step and began to scrub her arms and legs with the cleansing paste.
At that moment, the prince of that country was hunting in the forest. He saw everything. He rushed to the lake and jumped into the water.
Startled, Monimala saw the man. Taking her jewel, she dived into the water. In the blink of an eye, everything vanished. The prince, crying “Alas, alas,” returned to his palace.
An old woman, Pechor’s mother, who gathered firewood, saw all of this. She watched and remained silent.
The prince returned from his hunt as if possessed. Many remedies were tried, but his illness could not be cured. The king and queen were distraught, and the people of the kingdom were worried. Finally, the king issued a proclamation: “Whoever can cure the prince will receive half the kingdom and the princess’s hand in marriage.” No one dared to touch the proclamation. Finally, the old woman, Pechor’s mother, heard the news. She came running, stumbling, and tripping, and accepted the challenge.
Going to the king, the old woman said, “Your Majesty, I know the cure. But I am an old woman. If you agree to marry the princess to my son, Pecho, I will give the prince the medicine.”
The king agreed.
Then, Pechor’s mother took a pile of cotton and a spinning wheel, got into a boat powered by the wind, and said:
“Whir, spinning wheel, whir, The prince is mad! Haste, haste, boat of the wind, Go to Monimala’s land.”
The boat of the wind went to Monimala’s land. The old woman sat on the shore of the lake and began to spin thread on her wheel with a whirring sound.
Again, in the afternoon, the prince was sleeping. Monimala came up with the jewel.
“Old woman, old woman, where did you come from? Weave me a sari.”
The old woman wove a sari and asked for payment.
Monimala said, “Old woman, I have no money, but I have this jewel!” The old woman said, “That, that—give me that.”
As Monimala went to give her the jewel, the old woman snatched her, pulled her into the boat of the wind, and said:
“Whir, spinning wheel, whir, The prince is mad! Haste, haste, boat of the wind, Go to the prince’s side.”
And that was it. The old woman delivered Monimala to the palace, hid the jewel, and went home.
The prince was cured! He was to marry Monimala. But what about the marriage of Pecho and the princess? The old woman sent people to every country in search of her son, Pecho, who had been missing for seven years.
Monimala said, “I have a vow for one year. After a year, whatever is to be, will be.”
Everyone agreed.
The jewel was gone, Monimala was gone. The breath of the snakes was poison, their touch was cold. The prince in the underworld was drowsy with sleep. He rolled over on the bed of snakes.
The snake at his head raised its hood and hissed. The snakes beside him stirred and coiled tightly around the prince. Bound by the serpent-noose, the prince lay unconscious, in a venom-induced stupor, on the bed of snakes.
With palanquins and his retinue, the minister’s son arrived at the shore of the lake and called out, “Friend! Friend! Show me the way.”
There was no answer. Days and nights passed, but his friend did not respond. The minister’s son, worried, left his retinue in the forest and set out alone.
After a short distance, people on the road asked him, “Who are you, young man? Have you seen Pecho? He is to be the king’s son-in-law. His mother, the old woman, is wandering from place to place in search of him.”
The minister’s son said, “Yes, yes, I have seen Pecho. But why is he getting the kingdom and the princess?”
The people told him the whole story.
The minister’s son said, “Excellent, excellent! But what does Pecho look like?”
The people described Pecho’s appearance. Hearing this, the minister’s son went on his way.
The next day, the minister’s son changed his clothes, smeared his face with soot, dressed in rags, and went to the old woman’s house. Coughing and laughing, holding a branch in each hand, he danced until the courtyard shook.
The old woman rushed out, “Here is my son! Ah, the jewel of my heart, where have you been? Come, come, for you I have—
A kingdom and a bowl of milk, A beautiful princess, Golden grains and coins of gold, The jewel worth seven kingdoms— —all for you, I have kept!”
Overjoyed, the old woman secretly took out the jewel and gave it to Pecho.
Having the jewel, Pecho leaped away. “Mother, mother, I am well now! Look how handsome I am!”
The old woman said, “Ah, my child! Where have you been with all this beauty? The princess is mad with grief for you!”
The next day, the old woman tied up her messy hair, and, tapping her stick, went to the king. “Your Majesty, Your Majesty, bring out the princess—my Pecho has come. Oh, the beauty of my Pecho—it is not beauty, but a river of light in which light itself floats.”
What could the king do? He married the princess to Pecho.
In the bridal chamber, the minister’s son, disguised as Pecho, told the princess everything. The princess sighed in relief and said, “My brother has imprisoned Monimala.”
Then the minister’s son whispered, “Tell Monimala everything I am about to say, and give this to her.”
Saying this, the minister’s son gave the serpent’s jewel to the princess.
One, two, three days passed. On the fourth day, at dawn, Monimala said, “Prince, my vow is over. Today, I will dress as a bride and bathe in the river. Do not send musicians or a crowd with me; only Pecho and the princess will go.”
At once, a canopy was spread from the palace to the riverbank. Monimala, with Pecho and the princess, went to bathe in her bridal attire.
But what a bath! As soon as she entered the water, Monimala said:
“My jewel, where were you, having forgotten me?” “In the old woman’s bag.” “Where did you find me again?” “On Pecho’s neck.” Monimala said, “Then today, let us go, my jewel, into the deep water!”
In the blink of an eye, the river parted, and Monimala, with Pecho and the princess, disappeared into it.
The prince cried, “Alas! Alas!” The king and queen cried, “Alas! Alas!” The old woman beat her head on the ground and died. The kingdom was filled with weeping.
The snake at his head uncoiled, the snakes on his body released their grip. The prince in the underworld wiped his eyes and sat up. Then, with the light of the jewel, with a thousand drums and horns, the prince, the minister’s son, Monimala, and the princess set off for their own country.
All the snakes of the underworld kingdom turned into wind and flew away.