الفصل الفصل 12 · The Charmed Ring

. The Charmed Ring

A merchant started his son in life with three hundred rupees, and bade

him go to another country and try his luck in trade. The son took the

money and departed. He had not gone far before he came across some

herdsmen quarrelling over a dog, that some of them wished to kill.

"Please do not kill the dog," pleaded the young and tender-hearted

fellow; "I will give you one hundred rupees for it." Then and there,

of course, the bargain was concluded, and the foolish fellow took the

dog, and continued his journey. He next met with some people fighting

about a cat. Some of them wanted to kill it, but others not. "Oh!

please do not kill it," said he; "I will give you one hundred rupees

for it." Of course they at once gave him the cat and took the money.

He went on till he reached a village, where some folk were quarrelling

over a snake that had just been caught. Some of them wished to kill

it, but others did not. "Please do not kill the snake," said he; "I

will give you one hundred rupees." Of course the people agreed, and

were highly delighted.

What a fool the fellow was! What would he do now that all his money

was gone? What could he do except return to his father? Accordingly he

went home.

"You fool! You scamp!" exclaimed his father when he had heard how his

son had wasted all the money that had been given to him. "Go and live

in the stables and repent of your folly. You shall never again enter

my house."

So the young man went and lived in the stables. His bed was the grass

spread for the cattle, and his companions were the dog, the cat, and

the snake, which he had purchased so dearly. These creatures got very

fond of him, and would follow him about during the day, and sleep by

him at night; the cat used to sleep at his feet, the dog at his head,

and the snake over his body, with its head hanging on one side and its

tail on the other.

One day the snake in course of conversation said to its master, "I am

the son of Raja Indrasha. One day, when I had come out of the ground

to drink the air, some people seized me, and would have slain me had

you not most opportunely arrived to my rescue. I do not know how I

shall ever be able to repay you for your great kindness to me. Would

that you knew my father! How glad he would be to see his son's

preserver!"

"Where does he live? I should like to see him, if possible," said the

young man.

"Well said!" continued the snake. "Do you see yonder mountain? At the

bottom of that mountain there is a sacred spring. If you will come

with me and dive into that spring, we shall both reach my father's

country. Oh! how glad he will be to see you! He will wish to reward

you, too. But how can he do that? However, you may be pleased to

accept something at his hand. If he asks you what you would like, you

would, perhaps, do well to reply, 'The ring on your right hand, and

the famous pot and spoon which you possess.' With these in your

possession, you would never need anything, for the ring is such that a

man has only to speak to it, and immediately a beautiful furnished

mansion will be provided for him, while the pot and the spoon will

supply him with all manner of the rarest and most delicious foods."

Attended by his three companions the man walked to the well and

prepared to jump in, according to the snake's directions. "O master!"

exclaimed the cat and dog, when they saw what he was going to do.

"What shall we do? Where shall we go?"

"Wait for me here," he replied. "I am not going far. I shall not be

long away." On saying this, he dived into the water and was lost to

sight.

"Now what shall we do?" said the dog to the cat.

"We must remain here," replied the cat, "as our master ordered. Do not

be anxious about food. I will go to the people's houses and get plenty

of food for both of us." And so the cat did, and they both lived very

comfortably till their master came again and joined them.

The young man and the snake reached their destination in safety; and

information of their arrival was sent to the Raja. His highness

commanded his son and the stranger to appear before him. But the snake

refused, saying that it could not go to its father till it was

released from this stranger, who had saved it from a most terrible

death, and whose slave it therefore was. Then the Raja went and

embraced his son, and saluting the stranger welcomed him to his

dominions. The young man stayed there a few days, during which he

received the Raja's right-hand ring, and the pot and spoon, in

recognition of His Highness's gratitude to him for having delivered

his son. He then returned. On reaching the top of the spring he found

his friends, the dog and the cat, waiting for him. They told one

another all they had experienced since they had last seen each other,

and were all very glad. Afterwards they walked together to the river

side, where it was decided to try the powers of the charmed ring and

pot and spoon.

The merchant's son spoke to the ring, and immediately a beautiful

house and a lovely princess with golden hair appeared. He spoke to the

pot and spoon, also, and the most delicious dishes of food were

provided for them. So he married the princess, and they lived very

happily for several years, until one morning the princess, while

arranging her toilet, put the loose hairs into a hollow bit of reed

and threw them into the river that flowed along under the window. The

reed floated on the water for many miles, and was at last picked up by

the prince of that country, who curiously opened it and saw the golden

hair. On finding it the prince rushed off to the palace, locked

himself up in his room, and would not leave it. He had fallen

desperately in love with the woman whose hair he had picked up, and

refused to eat, or drink, or sleep, or move, till she was brought to

him. The king, his father, was in great distress about the matter, and

did not know what to do. He feared lest his son should die and leave

him without an heir. At last he determined to seek the counsel of his

aunt, who was an ogress. The old woman consented to help him, and

bade him not to be anxious, as she felt certain that she would succeed

in getting the beautiful woman for his son's wife.

She assumed the shape of a bee and went along buzzing, and buzzing,

and buzzing. Her keen sense of smell soon brought her to the beautiful

princess, to whom she appeared as an old hag, holding in one hand a

stick by way of support. She introduced herself to the beautiful

princess and said, "I am your aunt, whom you have never seen before,

because I left the country just after your birth." She also embraced

and kissed the princess by way of adding force to her words. The

beautiful princess was thoroughly deceived. She returned the ogress's

embrace, and invited her to come and stay in the house as long as she

could, and treated her with such honour and attention, that the ogress

thought to herself, "I shall soon accomplish my errand." When she had

been in the house three days, she began to talk of the charmed ring,

and advised her to keep it instead of her husband, because the latter

was constantly out shooting and on other such-like expeditions, and

might lose it. Accordingly the beautiful princess asked her husband

for the ring, and he readily gave it to her.

The ogress waited another day before she asked to see the precious

thing. Doubting nothing, the beautiful princess complied, when the

ogress seized the ring, and reassuming the form of a bee flew away

with it to the palace, where the prince was lying nearly on the point

of death. "Rise up. Be glad. Mourn no more," she said to him. "The

woman for whom you yearn will appear at your summons. See, here is the

charm, whereby you may bring her before you." The prince was almost

mad with joy when he heard these words, and was so desirous of seeing

the beautiful princess, that he immediately spoke to the ring, and the

house with its fair occupant descended in the midst of the palace

garden. He at once entered the building, and telling the beautiful

princess of his intense love, entreated her to be his wife. Seeing no

escape from the difficulty, she consented on the condition that he

would wait one month for her.

Meanwhile the merchant's son had returned from hunting and was

terribly distressed not to find his house and wife. There was the

place only, just as he knew it before he had tried the charmed ring

which Raja Indrasha had given him. He sat down and determined to put

an end to himself. Presently the cat and dog came up. They had gone

away and hidden themselves, when they saw the house and everything

disappear. "O master!" they said, "stay your hand. Your trial is

great, but it can be remedied. Give us one month, and we will go and

try to recover your wife and house."

"Go," said he, "and may the great God aid your efforts. Bring back my

wife, and I shall live."

So the cat and dog started off at a run, and did not stop till they

reached the place whither their mistress and the house had been taken.

"We may have some difficulty here," said the cat. "Look, the king has

taken our master's wife and house for himself. You stay here. I will

go to the house and try to see her." So the dog sat down, and the cat

climbed up to the window of the room, wherein the beautiful princess

was sitting, and entered. The princess recognised the cat, and

informed it of all that had happened to her since she had left them.

"But is there no way of escape from the hands of these people?" she

asked.

"Yes," replied the cat, "if you can tell me where the charmed ring

is."

"The ring is in the stomach of the ogress," she said.

"All right," said the cat, "I will recover it. If we once get it,

everything is ours." Then the cat descended the wall of the house, and

went and laid down by a rat's hole and pretended she was dead. Now at

that time a great wedding chanced to be going on among the rat

community of that place, and all the rats of the neighbourhood were

assembled in that one particular mine by which the cat had lain down.

The eldest son of the king of the rats was about to be married. The

cat got to know of this, and at once conceived the idea of seizing the

bridegroom and making him render the necessary help. Consequently,

when the procession poured forth from the hole squealing and jumping

in honour of the occasion, it immediately spotted the bridegroom and

pounced down on him. "Oh! let me go, let me go," cried the terrified

rat. "Oh! let him go," squealed all the company. "It is his wedding

day."

"No, no," replied the cat. "Not unless you do something for me.

Listen. The ogress, who lives in that house with the prince and his

wife, has swallowed a ring, which I very much want. If you will

procure it for me, I will allow the rat to depart unharmed. If you do

not, then your prince dies under my feet."

"Very well, we agree," said they all. "Nay, if we do not get the ring

for you, devour us all."

[Illustration: THE CHARMED RING]

This was rather a bold offer. However, they accomplished the

thing. At midnight, when the ogress was sound asleep, one of the rats

went to her bedside, climbed up on her face, and inserted its tail

into her throat; whereupon the ogress coughed violently, and the ring

came out and rolled on to the floor. The rat immediately seized the

precious thing and ran off with it to its king, who was very glad, and

went at once to the cat and released its son.

As soon as the cat received the ring, she started back with the dog to

go and tell their master the good tidings. All seemed safe now. They

had only to give the ring to him, and he would speak to it, and the

house and beautiful princess would again be with them, and everything

would go on as happily as before. "How glad master will be!" they

thought, and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Now, on the

way they had to cross a stream. The dog swam, and the cat sat on its

back. Now the dog was jealous of the cat, so he asked for the ring,

and threatened to throw the cat into the water if it did not give it

up; whereupon the cat gave up the ring. Sorry moment, for the dog at

once dropped it, and a fish swallowed it.

"Oh! what shall I do? what shall I do?" said the dog.

"What is done is done," replied the cat. "We must try to recover it,

and if we do not succeed we had better drown ourselves in this stream.

I have a plan. You go and kill a small lamb, and bring it here to me."

"All right," said the dog, and at once ran off. He soon came back with

a dead lamb, and gave it to the cat. The cat got inside the lamb and

lay down, telling the dog to go away a little distance and keep quiet.

Not long after this a nadhar, a bird whose look can break the bones

of a fish, came and hovered over the lamb, and eventually pounced down

on it to carry it away. On this the cat came out and jumped on to the

bird, and threatened to kill it if it did not recover the lost ring.

This was most readily promised by the nadhar, who immediately flew off

to the king of the fishes, and ordered it to make inquiries and to

restore the ring. The king of the fishes did so, and the ring was

found and carried back to the cat.

"Come along now; I have got the ring," said the cat to the dog.

"No, I will not," said the dog, "unless you let me have the ring. I

can carry it as well as you. Let me have it or I will kill you." So

the cat was obliged to give up the ring. The careless dog very soon

dropped it again. This time it was picked up and carried off by a

kite.

"See, see, there it goes--away to that big tree," the cat exclaimed.

"Oh! oh! what have I done?" cried the dog.

"You foolish thing, I knew it would be so," said the cat. "But stop

your barking, or you will frighten away the bird to some place where

we shall not be able to trace it."

The cat waited till it was quite dark, and then climbed the tree,

killed the kite, and recovered the ring. "Come along," it said to the

dog when it reached the ground. "We must make haste now. We have been

delayed. Our master will die from grief and suspense. Come on."

The dog, now thoroughly ashamed of itself, begged the cat's pardon for

all the trouble it had given. It was afraid to ask for the ring the

third time, so they both reached their sorrowing master in safety and

gave him the precious charm. In a moment his sorrow was turned into

joy. He spoke to the ring, and his beautiful wife and house

reappeared, and he and everybody were as happy as ever they could be.