A prince, a minister’s son, a merchant’s son, and a police chief’s son—the four were the best of friends.
They did nothing all day but ride their horses around. The king, the minister, the merchant, and the police chief grew tired of their idleness and gave an order: “When the boys come to eat, give them ash instead of rice.”
What could the minister’s wife, the merchant’s wife, and the police chief’s wife do? With tears in their eyes, they served their sons ash. The boys were stunned and left without eating.
But a mother’s heart is a mother’s heart. How could the queen serve her own son ash? She couldn’t. The queen prepared a delicious meal of sweet rice pudding, but placed a tiny bit of ash in a corner of the plate.
The prince asked, “Mother, why is there ash on my plate?” The queen replied, “It’s nothing, my son, it just fell there.” The prince’s heart was not convinced. “No, Mother, I will not eat until you tell me the truth.”
What could the queen do? She told her son everything. Hearing the story, the prince bowed to his mother’s feet and stood up.
He went to the place where the four friends met every day and asked them, “Brothers, what did you all have to eat today?”
They all looked at each other.
Then the prince said, “Brothers, we will not stay in this country any longer. Let us leave.” “That is a good idea,” they all agreed. The four of them spurred their horses and rode off.
Riding on and on, the four friends reached the edge of a vast, desolate plain. Four paths branched out from the plain in four directions.
Which way should they go? They decided that the police chief’s son would take the south path, the merchant’s son the north, the minister’s son the west, and the prince the east. Then they tore strips of cloth from their turbans and tied them as banners at the crossroads. “Whoever returns first will wait here for the others.”
The four horses galloped down the four paths.
All day long, the four friends rode, but none of them saw a village, a city, a port, or a house. After sunset, they all found themselves back at the same place.
It was a vast forest.
The prince said, “Look, we have surely fallen into a demon’s illusion. We must stay awake and be careful tonight! But I am weak with hunger. Let’s see if we can find something to eat.”
They tied up their horses and went in search of food.
There was not a single fruit in the forest, not a single living creature to be seen—only stones, pebbles, and large banyan, pakur, palm, and shimul trees.
Suddenly, they saw the head of a deer lying a short distance away. They were overjoyed. The police chief’s son went to gather firewood, the merchant’s son went to fetch water, the minister’s son went in search of fire, and the prince lay down, resting his head on the root of a tree.
The prince was asleep. The police chief’s son returned with the wood and saw that his friends had not yet come back. He put down the wood and went to cut the deer’s head.
The moment he touched it with his sword, a hideous Rakshasi (demoness) emerged from the deer’s head and devoured the police chief’s son and his horse. Then, it turned back into a deer’s head and lay there as before. The merchant’s son returned with water and saw the wood, but his friend was gone. He went to cut the deer’s head. The merchant’s son and his horse also ended up in the demoness’s stomach.
The minister’s son arrived and saw that there was water and wood, but his friends were nowhere to be found. “Alright,” he thought, “I’ll cook the meat.”
“Help, help! Friends, where are you? I am gone forever!”
At the minister’s son’s cry, the prince sat up with a start. What a terrible sight—a Rakshasi! The demoness had eaten the minister’s son and his horse and was now grabbing the prince’s horse. The prince drew his sword and stood up.
His winged horse, a Pakkhiraj, cried out, “Prince, run, run, there is no escape!” The prince said, “I will not run! She has eaten my friends; I will kill this demoness!”
The prince raised his sword, but his eyes grew dark, and his arm felt weak. The demoness came to grab him. From all around, the trees and stones of the forest cried out, “Prince, run, run!” The prince, losing all sense of direction, ran wherever his eyes took him.
The prince ran from one kingdom to another, but the demoness would not give up the chase. In desperation, the prince saw a mango tree ahead and cried out, “Oh, mango tree! If you are a tree of the ancient times, save me from the hands of this demoness.” The mango tree split in two, and the prince went inside, breathing a sigh of relief.
The demoness pleaded with the tree, threatened it, but the tree would not listen. Then the demoness took the form of a beautiful woman and sat under the tree, weeping.
The king of that country was hunting in the forest. Hearing the sound of crying, he said, “See who is crying in the forest.” His men went and saw a supremely beautiful woman under the mango tree. The king took the woman to his palace.
The king married the woman from the forest. After becoming queen, the demoness began to think, “How can I eat that prince?” She devised a plan. She ate seven-day-old stale rice and a sour tamarind dish that was fourteen days old to make herself sick. Then, the demoness placed thin sticks under her bed, lay down on it, and, contorting her face, rolled her eyes up and tossed and turned.
The king came and saw the queen not eating or drinking, her hair unkempt, lying in a dark room.
He asked, “What is it, Queen? What has happened?” Her voice barely a whisper, she moaned and, with great difficulty, said, “I have the bone-cracking disease.”
As she tossed and turned, the sticks under the bed were breaking with a cracking sound. The king thought, “It’s true! The queen’s bones are cracking! Oh, what will happen!”
Many medicines and treatments were tried, but this was no ordinary illness. The queen did not get better.
Finally, she said, “Medicines will not work. If that mango tree from the forest is cut down and the smoke from its wood fills the room, only then will my illness be cured.”
It was the king’s order. A thousand carpenters went and struck the mango tree with their axes.
Inside the tree, the prince said, “Oh, tree, if you are a tree of the ancient times, turn me into a mango and drop me into that pond.”
At once, a mango fell from the tree into the pond with a splash. A large fish, thinking it was food, swallowed it in one gulp. The carpenters cut down the mango tree, made planks from it, and filled the queen’s room with smoke. But the demoness knew everything.
She said, “No, this is not working. There is a large fish in that pond with a mango in its belly. If I eat that mango, my illness will be cured.”
Fishermen cast all kinds of nets into the pond, and the large fish was caught. Inside the fish, inside the mango, the prince said, “Oh, fish, if you are a true fish, turn me into a snail and release me.” The fish turned the prince into a snail and released him. The fishermen cut open the fish but found nothing.
The king thought, “The queen’s illness will never be cured!”
A farmer’s wife went to bathe, and the snail, the prince, touched her foot. The farmer’s wife picked up the snail and was about to smash it when the prince emerged. The farmer’s wife was terrified.
The prince said, “Don’t be afraid. I am a human, hiding in this snail from a demoness. You have saved my life. From this day on, you are my dear friend, my Hason Sakhi.”
The prince stayed at Hason Sakhi’s house.
The queen knew everything.
She said to the king, “My illness will not be cured by anything here. In my father’s country, there are magical flowers, dancing sticks, fine-toothed combs, and a twelve-cubit-long cucumber with a thirteen-cubit-long seed. If those things are brought, my illness will be cured.” “Who will bring them, who will bring them?” “There is a prince in a certain farmer’s house; he will bring them.”
At once, a thousand guards were dispatched.
The king’s guards were everywhere. Hason Sakhi was terrified.
The prince said, “Hason Sakhi, you are in danger because of me. I will leave this country.”
The moment he stepped outside, the guards seized him and took him away. When he was brought before the king, the prince said, “Your Majesty! Your queen is a demoness. Save me from her hands.”
Hearing this, the king said, “Lies! That cannot be. You must go to the queen’s father’s country and bring back the magical flowers, the dancing sticks, the fine-toothed combs, and the twelve-cubit-long cucumber with the thirteen-cubit-long seed.”
The king gave the prince a letter and sent him on his way.
What could he do? The prince started walking. Where were these magical things, where was the queen’s father’s country? The prince thought, “Alas! How can I escape the clutches of this demoness?” The prince walked wherever his eyes took him.
After walking for many days and nights, the prince came to a place where he saw a large palace. “Ah!” he said, “At last, I have found shelter.”
He went inside the palace but saw no one. Searching from room to room, he found a chamber where a princess was sleeping on a golden bed, her feet on a silver cot. The prince called out to her, but she did not wake up. Then the prince saw two sticks on either side of the bed—the one at her head was silver, and the one at her feet was golden. The prince took the silver stick and placed it at her feet, and the golden stick at her head. The princess sat up.
“Who are you! A god or a demon, a monster or a human? How did you get here? Flee, flee—this is a demon’s palace.” The prince’s heart sank. “I have escaped from one demoness, and there are demons here too! Princess, where can I go?” The princess said, “First, tell me who you are.”
The prince told her everything.
Then he said, “I have still not escaped the clutches of that demoness queen. But why is a princess like you in this demon’s palace?” The princess replied, “This palace belonged to my father. The demons have devoured my parents and my kingdom, but they have kept me. So that I cannot escape, they touch me with these golden and silver sticks to kill me when they go out.”
Hearing this, the prince began to think about how they could both escape from the demons.
“I smell a human, I smell a human! I’ll catch them and eat them!”
At that moment, the demons began to approach, making a terrible noise.
The princess said, “Prince, prince—quickly, touch me with the sticks to kill me and hide under the flowers and leaves in that temple of Shiva.”
The demons arrived. The old demoness revived the princess and said:
“Granddaughter, granddaughter! It smells of humans. Where could a human be?” The princess replied, “Where would a human be? It is only I. Eat me.” The old woman said, “Oh no, granddaughter, I can’t do that! Here, granddaughter, I have brought you so much to eat.”
After feeding her granddaughter, the old woman and all the other demons poured oil into their noses and ears and fell asleep, snoring loudly. The princess spent the night picking the gray hairs from the old demoness’s head and cracking her lice between two stones.
The next day, after “killing” the princess again, the demons left. The prince came out, revived the princess, and they both bathed and ate.
The prince said, “Princess, how long can we live like this? When the old woman comes today, find a way to ask her what their weakness is.”
When the demons returned, the prince hid in the Shiva temple again. After feeding the princess, the old woman sat on the bed.
The princess said, “Grandmother, you have come back tired from wandering through so many kingdoms. Come, let me fan you and pick a few of your gray hairs.” “Oh, my dear!” The old woman smiled, her eyes rolling up to her forehead. “Yes, yes, granddaughter, my feet are aching. Will you press them a little?” “Of course, grandmother.”
The princess poured a pot of mustard oil on the cracks in the old woman’s feet and began to massage them. As she massaged her feet, the princess put oil in her own eyes and began to cry. A teardrop fell on the old woman’s foot. Startled, the old woman touched the teardrop with her finger and tasted it. It was salty.
She said, “Granddaughter, you are crying—why, why? What sorrow do you have?” The princess replied, “I am crying, grandmother, because one day you will die, and all the other demons will eat me.”
Wagging her ears, which were as large as winnowing fans, and baring her teeth, which were as large as radishes, the old woman laughed.
“Oh, my golden granddaughter, do we have a death that we should die? Nothing in this world can kill us! Only in that pond, there is a crystal pillar, and inside it is a seven-headed snake. If some prince can climb that golden palm tree in a single breath, cut down a palm-leaf sword, break the crystal pillar, take out the snake, and cut it on his chest, only then can we die. But if a single drop of its blood falls on the ground, seven thousand demons will be born from each drop!” Hearing this, the princess said, “Then what, grandmother! No one will be able to do that, so you will not die, and I have nothing to worry about. But grandmother, the queen of such-and-such a country is a demoness. What is her weakness? And where can I find the magical flowers, the dancing sticks, the fine-toothed combs, and the twelve-cubit-long cucumber with the thirteen-cubit-long seed?” The old woman replied, “They are here, granddaughter, they are here! They are in the room where your father used to live. And in that room, there is a parrot, and inside that parrot is the life of my daughter, that queen! Don’t tell anyone, granddaughter; I will give everything to you.”
The next day, the old woman went out with all the demons, saying, “Granddaughter, we will be staying close by today.” When the demons said they were going far, they stayed close, and when they said they were staying close, they went far away. After the demons had left, the prince came and revived the princess and heard everything. At once, after bathing and changing his clothes, he offered flowers and leaves in the Shiva temple, held his breath, climbed the palm tree, and cut down a palm-leaf sword. Then he went into the pond, broke the crystal pillar, and saw the seven-headed snake. The prince took the snake and came out. The heads of all the demons in the world began to ache. Wherever they were, the demons came rushing back. With her hair disheveled, her long legs striding, the old woman came running ahead of everyone.
“Oh my, oh my, granddaughter, granddaughter, This was in your mind! I will chew your head off!”
But there was no time for head-chewing.
The princess said, “Prince, quickly, cut the snake!”
Placing it on his chest, the prince cut the snake’s throat with the palm-leaf sword. He did not let a single drop of blood fall.
It was all over. As the demons reached the edge of the pond, their heads fell off.
The prince and princess breathed a sigh of relief and went inside. In one room were the magical flowers, the dancing sticks, and the fine-toothed combs. And a parrot was fluttering and screeching. Taking everything, the prince said, “Princess, let us go to my country.”
Leaving the princess in a safe place, the prince took the queen’s “medicine” and the parrot and went to the king.
“Your Majesty, hold a court once more. I will cure the queen’s illness.”
The king was overjoyed and held a court. The prince placed the sticks, the comb, the flower, and the cucumber in the court. Everyone was amazed.
The prince said, “Your Majesty, the queen must come herself to take these things.”
The queen, meanwhile, whose bone-cracking disease had turned into a heart-pounding one, thought, “So the boy has come back, having destroyed everything! Today I will eat him! I will eat the kingdom!!”
Eat the kingdom! The moment the queen set foot in the court, the prince said, “Oh, demoness, you will eat me? Look at this!” The prince took the parrot out of its cage and was about to wring its neck.
The demoness cried out, “I won’t eat you, I won’t eat you! Stop, stop!! I fall at your feet!”
Where was the queen’s form? It was a hideous, fanged demoness! The king and everyone in the court trembled.
The prince said, “Give me back my friend, the police chief’s son! Give me back his horse! Give me back my friend, the merchant’s son, and his horse! My friend, the minister’s son, and his horse! And my horse!”
The demoness retched and vomited them all up, one by one.
Then the prince said, “Your Majesty, do you see now that the queen is a demoness?” “Now, demoness—perish!!”
He wrung the parrot’s neck. The demoness fell down dead with a gurgle. Even in death, the demoness was a menace—she grabbed the king’s throne and almost pulled it down. The king barely escaped.
Everyone’s fever broke with a sweat of relief.
The king said, “Blessed are you, prince from another land! Take whatever wealth you want from my treasury.” The prince replied, “I want nothing. At last, everyone is safe from the demoness. Now we will go to our own country.”
The king would not listen. He opened his treasury and gave the prince all his wealth.
Taking the princess and his three friends, the prince returned to his own country. All the demons on earth were destroyed forever.
Returning to their country, the princes, showered with the love of their parents, lived their days in happiness.