Kotharian Lightning

From the folklore of Kashmir

A faqir had a very clever, talkative parrot, of which he was very fond, and which he very much valued.

One day, when not feeling very well, he said to the bird, “You do not tell me any news. You never tell me anything.”

The parrot replied, “Very well, I will do so. Hitherto I have feared to do so, lest you should sometimes hear things that you might not care to hear.”

The faqir said, “Never mind. Tell me everything.”

The following morning, previous to setting out for a certain village that he had to visit, the faqir ordered his wife to cook a fowl, and to eat half of it herself and keep the other half warm for him. But the woman ate the whole fowl. She was so hungry, and the meat tasted so savoury that she could not resist. And when the faqir returned in the evening and asked for his fowl, she told him that the cat had eaten it.

“Well, well, it cannot be helped,” he said. “Get me something else, for I am very hungry. I have had nothing to eat since I left the house this morning.”

While the woman was preparing the food the faqir turned towards the parrot and asked, “Well, my pretty bird, what news to-day?”

“Your wife has told you a lie,” replied the bird. “She ate the fowl. I saw her eat the whole of it.”

Of course the woman altogether denied the truth of the bird’s statement; and the faqir, in order to keep the peace, pretended to believe her. However, after this little episode the woman never felt happy with such a bird about the house. Not that she was a flirt, or an adulteress, or a thief, but she could not do any little thing out of the ordinary way without its being noticed by the bird and duly reported to the faqir; and so at last she went to her husband and said, “We had better be separated. The parrot seems everything to you now. You believe its word in preference to mine. You like to talk with it more than you do with me. I cannot bear this any longer. Either send my or the parrot away; for we three cannot stay peaceably under one roof.”

Now the faqir loved his wife very much, and when he heard these words he felt exceedingly grieved, and promised to sell the parrot.

As he rode along the road on the following morning, carrying with him the parrot, the bird said, “Hear me, O my master. Do not sell me to any person who will not pay you the sum which I will mention.”

“All right; I understand,” replied the faqir.

He rode as far as the sea-shore, which was a long way from his house, and there determined to spend the night.

“I am very tired,” he said to the parrot about midnight, “but I cannot sleep. I am afraid that you and the mare will take advantage of me and escape.”

“Never,” said the parrot. “Do you think us so disloyal? Trust us. Let the mare roam about at her pleasure, and open the cage and set me free. I will not leave you, but will fly to yonder tree and keep watch over the mare and yourself during the night.”

Believing that the bird was sincere, the faqir consented to its request, and lay down to sleep. The parrot kept careful watch. During the night it saw a zalgur (a river-horse) come out of the water and jump on to the mare, and then return to the water.

The faqir rose very early, and calling the bird, put it back again in the cage. The parrot did not inform him of the strange thing that it had witnessed during the night. The faqir rode along by the sea-shore till he arrived at a great and prosperous city, where he met the kotwal.

“Salam,” said the kotwal; “do you wish to sell your bird?”

“Yes,” replied the faqir.

“But you could not buy me,” said the parrot.

“What a wonderful bird!” exclaimed the kotwal. “I must go and inform the wazir of your arrival, because he has been wishing for a long time to get such a bird. Come along quickly with me, before the wazir goes to darbar.”

So they walked together, and soon reached the wazir’s house.

“Thank you very much,” said the wazir when he had heard of the trouble that the kotwal had taken; “but I cannot think of buying the bird for myself till I know whether His Majesty the king wants it or not. I heard the other day that he was inquiring after such a bird.”

Accordingly they all three went to the palace.

“What is the price of the bird?” inquired the king, when he was informed of their errand.

“Ten thousand rupees,” answered the parrot.

The king was so pleased with the bird’s clear and ready reply, that he instantly paid the money. On receiving so large a sum of money the faqir was very glad. Before he left, the parrot, thinking it a good opportunity, made the faqir promise in the presence of the king that he would give His Majesty the next issue of his mare.

Henceforth the parrot lived in grand style. It was placed in a beautiful silver cage, and had silver vessels for its food and water. The cage, too, was hung up in the king’s zanana. The bird became a general favourite, and was talked to, and played with, and petted by the king’s wives constantly. In this way time passed very pleasantly, and nothing was left to be desired, till one day the king’s wives came up to the cage and asked the parrot to give them its opinion of their looks. Nothing suspecting, thinking that it was done in fun, the bird replied that they were all very pretty except one, mentioning the name of the woman who was especially beloved by the king. Her face, he said, was like the face of the sow. On hearing this the woman fell down in a swoon.

“Send for the king,” she cried as soon as she recovered possession of her senses.

Accordingly His Majesty was called.

“I am very ill,” the woman said to him. “Give me the flesh of this parrot, or I shall die.”

The king was very sorry when he heard these words; but he loved ; but he loved the queen, and therefore ordered the parrot to be killed.

“O king,” cried the poor bird, “spare me, I pray you, for six days. For six days let me wander whither I will. Afterwards I promise you most faithfully that I will return and submit to whatever Your Majesty may think right to do with me.”

“It is granted,” replied the king. “Mind you return after six days.”

So the parrot was set free, and at once flew away. It had not flown very far before it met with twelve thousand parrots, that were all flying together in a certain direction.

“Stay, stay!” shrieked the king’s parrot. “Whither are you going?”

“O friend,” said they, “we are flying to an island where a princess feeds us with pearls and candy. Come with us and share our joy.”

The parrot consented, and joined the company. They soon reached the island, and were treated as the birds had said. When the feast was over and the other birds were going away the king’s parrot feigned sickness and lay stretched out on the ground.

“What is the matter with you, pretty parrot?” asked the princess coming up to the bird. “What is the matter? Are you ill? Come along with me. I will look after you. You shall soon be all right again.” Whereupon the princess took it to the palace, and made a little nest for it, and attended to it herself. She gave the bird many pearls and much candy; but the parrot pretended to care for none of these things.

“O princess,” it said, “you are king and good. You give us pearls and candy. But my master, the great king, whose dominions extend on all sides from north to south and east to west, and whose is this island also, although you know it not, – he scatters pearls and candy before fowls. Oh that you knew him! Would that you were married to such a king, for he is worthy of you and you are worthy of him, O princess!”

Excited by the words of the parrot, the princess went to the king her father, and entreated him to allow her to go on a visit to this king, and to marry him if it could be so arranged.

“I cannot allow you to venture on this errand,” replied the king; “but I will write a letter to this kind and send it by the parrot. I will ask the great king to come himself on a certain day for the marriage. If all that the bird says is true, the king will not fail to come. Fear not; I will arrange for your marriage.”

The princess agreed, and the bird was immediately dispatched to his master with the letter of asking.

Just before the close of the fifth day the parrot flew in before the king and dropped the letter.

“You have arrived in good time,” said His Majesty.

“O king,” cried the bird, “I beseech you not to slay me. I have not wronged you or any of your royal household. The women of your zanana asked me to say what I thought of them, and I answered them. I spoke no untruth, O king. You surely will not kill me to satisfy a mere whim of one of Your Majesty’s wives. She will not die even though I live. Her life does not depend on my death. But even if it were so, O king, I could procure for you another and far more beautiful wife in her stead. Behold, here is a letter which I have brought from the father of one of the most lovely princesses in the world, asking for you acceptance of the hand of his daughter in marriage.”

Then said the king, “You speak fairly, and you have always acted honestly. I will not slay you. I will agree to your petition and marry this princess. But how can I reach the island where these people live?”

“Be not anxious, O king,” answered the parrot. “I have not advised you thoughtlessly. If Your Majesty will order the faqir to send you the foal that he promised you, the journey can easily be accomplished.”

“Very well,” said the king, and immediately gave orders for the foal to be brought.

Not knowing the valuable character of the animal, the faqir sent it without the slightest hesitation. He was rich, what did he want of it? And it was but a small return, he thought, to make to one who had treated him so generously.

Accordingly the king mounted the foal, and attended by the parrot, started for the island. When His Majesty arrived at the sea-shore and looked upon the mighty waters his heart failed him, and he was about to turn back.

“How can we cross the great water?” he inquired.

“Without any difficulty,” replied the parrot. “The foal that Your Majesty is riding is no ordinary beast. Thus mounted Your Majesty can cross to any place. Fear not; but direct the foal into the water. It can go as easily in the water as it can on land.”

Reassured by the parrot’s reply, the king did so, and quickly reached the island.

The king of the island gave him a most enthusiastic reception, and the princess was glad beyond description.

On seeing her the king loved her, and asked that the wedding might be arranged as quickly as possible. All being of one mind, the ceremony was soon performed. Everything was concluded most successfully; and the great king and his lovely bride departed.

They both rode on the goal, and the parrot flew before to guide them. He did not return the same way as he came, but by another way, in the midst of which there was a certain uninhabited island.

“I wish to rest here,” said His Majesty. “I am feeling very tired.”

“Please do not,” said the bird, “for there is great danger here.”

“Never mind,” said the king; “I cannot go any farther without a rest. After a little sleep we will resume the journey.”

So the king and his wife landed on the island and went to sleep; and the parrot perched on a branch of a tree close by and watched. Within an hour a ship sailed up to the island, and the captain, who was a great merchant, noticing two people sleeping there, got out to see who they were. Struck by the beauty of the queen, he took her into his ship. He took the foal also; but the king he left to sleep on. All this the parrot saw; but it was afraid to give any alarm, lest the merchant should shoot at it and kill it. So the ship, with the queen and the foal, sailed away, and the parrot roused the king.

“Oh my parrot,” exclaimed the king, “would that I had listened to your advice and not halted here! What shall I do? There is no food to be had here. There is no animal here to carry me through the waters. What shall I do? Advise me, help me, if you can.”

The bird replied, “O king, there is only one thing left to you. Cut down this tree and throw it into the sea, and then throw yourself into the sea, and let the tree bear you whithersoever God will. Besides this I know not what you can do.”

So the king cut down the tree and did as the bird had advised. By the mercy of God a great eagle, that was flying over the water at the time, noticed the tree, and swooped down and carried it off and the king with it. The eagle carried the tree to a certain jungle, and there let it fall. Thus was the king saved.

“Stay here now,” said the faithful parrot, who had seen all that had transpired. “Do not stir from this place. I will go and search for the queen and the foal, and will come again to you.”

The king promised.

After much wandering the parrot discovered the beautiful queen. She had been taken by the merchant to his own house, and was there living with him as his sais. When she saw the parrot she cried for joy.

“Where have you been? Where is my husband? Is he alive? Tell me quickly,” she said.

The parrot told her everything.

“God back at once,” she said, “and inform him of my circumstances. Take these jewels and give them to him. He may require them to buy food. Tell him to come here quickly, and to get himself employed as sais to this merchant, and then we shall be able to arrange to escape together on the foal. Once on that foal nobody will be able to overtake us by land or sea.”

The parrot flew off as soon as possible, and informed the king of his wife’s state, and advised him to start at once and release her. The king agreed, and in a few days reached the merchant’s house.

How joyful was the meeting between him and his wife! They had despair of ever meeting one another again, but God had mercy on them and brought them together again.

On the evening of the day that he arrived the king and his beautiful bride rode out of that city on the wonderful foal, and the parrot flew before to show them the way. They soon reached the King’s country, and were welcomed by the people with much music and singing.

Afterwards the king lived in happiness to the end of his days. The parrot was appointed chief wazir, and helped not a little to preserve the kingdom in that state of prosperity and honour for which it had so long been famous.

Source:

Folk-Tales of Kashmir, J Hinton Knowles, 1893