Two Princesses

 

ONCE UPON A TIME there lived a Rajah (a king) who was left with two daughters, the two princesses, when his wife died. Not very long after his first wife died, he married again. His second wife did not care for her step-children and was often unkind to them.

The Rajah, their father, never troubled himself to look after them and allowed his wife to treat them as she liked. This made the poor girls very unhappy.  One day one of them said to the other, "Let's not stay here any more. Come away into the jungle, for nobody here cares whether we go or stay."

So they both walked off into the jungle and lived for many days on jungle fruits. After they had wandered on for a long while, they came to a fine palace.  

One of the princesses said to the other, "This fine palace in the middle of the jungle can belong to no one but the horrible Ogre that has hurt our people for so long. But no one is at home now.  Let's go in and see if we can find anything to eat. I am so tired of jungle fruit!"

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"Let's go in and see if we can find anything to eat."

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So they went into the Ogres' house and found some rice. One princess kept watch out of the window while the other boiled their dinner. They hadn't even finished their meal and put the dishes to the sink when the Ogre and his wife returned home. The two princesses were so frightened that they ran up to the top of the house and hid themselves on the flat roof.  There one princess could look down onto the inner courtyard of the house, and the other could see the open country.

When the Ogre came into the house he looked around and said to his wife, "Somebody has been moving the furniture, everything looks different. Wife, did you do this?"

"No," she said, "I do not know who could have done all this."

"Someone also has been cooking the rice," continued the Ogre. "Wife, did you cook the rice?"

"No," she answered. "I did not do it. I don't know who did."

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"No," she answered.  "I did not do it.  I don't know who did."

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Then the Ogre walked around and around several times with his nose up in the air. "Someone is here now! I smell human flesh and blood. Where can they be?"

"Stuff and nonsense," said the wife. "You smell flesh and blood, indeed! Why, with all the humans you killed only this morning, I should wonder if you didn't still smell flesh and blood!"

They went on quarreling this way until the Ogre said, "Well, never mind, I don't know how it is, but it's too hot.  Let's go up to the rooftop for the breeze."

The two princesses were frozen with fear.  Then the wife said, "Very well, but first let's get some water.  I'm dying of thirst in this heat."

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The two princesses were frozen with fear.

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So the Ogre and his wife went to the well close to the house and begin letting down jars into it, drawing up the water, and drinking it.  The princesses saw them and the younger of the two said to her sister, "I will do something now that will be good for us and good for everyone." Running down quickly from the top of the house, she crept close behind the Ogre and his wife as they stood on tip-toe over the side of the well. 

The girl grabbed hold of one of the Ogre's heels with one hand and one of his wife's heels with her other hand, gave each a mighty push, and knocked the Ogre and his wife down into the well. They both were drowned! 

The princess then returned to her sister and said, "I took care of the Ogres."

Now the two princesses could live happily in the Ogre's house. In it they found rich clothes and jewels, gold and silver, which the Ogres had stolen from people they had killed, and that the princesses took care to keep safe so that some day the valuables could be returned.

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Now the two princesses could live happily in the Ogre's house.

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Every morning the youngest princess would tend to the flocks of chickens and herds of cows, taking them off to pasture, while the older princess stayed at home, cooked the dinner, and tended to the house.

dThe younger princess would often say to her sister as she left each morning, "Take care that if you see any stranger come by the house, hide so that nobody knows we live here. If anyone should call out and ask for a drink of water, or even a poor beggar ask for food, before you give it to them be sure you put on ragged clothes and cover your face with charcoal and make yourself as ugly-looking as possible. Otherwise, seeing how attractive you are, they might steal you away and we would be separated forever."

"I will be careful," her older sister would promise.

A long time passed, and no one ever came by that way. At last one day, after the younger princess had gone out, an old Ranee (a Queen), the wife of a neighboring Rajah, who had been traveling for many days with her attendants, came near the place in search of water.  She and her people had been seeking all through the jungle for a stream, but could find none.

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A long time passed, and no one ever came by that way.

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When the Ranee saw the fine palace, standing all by itself in the middle of the jungle, she was very much astonished.  She said, "It is a strange thing that anyone should have built such a house as this in the depths of the forest. Let us go in - the owners will doubtless give us a drink of water."

"No, no, do not go!" cried her attendants. "This is most assuredly the house of an Ogre."

"I should scarcely think anything very terrible lives here.  There is not a sound stirring, nor a living creature to be seen."

So she began tapping at the door, which was bolted, and called, "Will whoever owns this house give me and my people some water to drink?"

But nobody answered, for the princess, who had heard her coming, was busy up in her room, blackening her face with charcoal and covering her dress with rags. The Ranee angrily shook the door, yelling, "Let me in, whoever you are! If you don't, I'll force the door open!"

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"Let me in, whoever you are!"

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At this the poor little princess got dreadfully frightened.  Having blackened her face to make herself look as ugly as possible and having wrapped rags around her waist, she ran downstairs with a pitcher of water. Unbolting the door, she gave the Ranee the pitcher to drink from, but the maiden did not speak, for she was afraid.

As the Ranee raised the pitcher to her mouth to drink, she thought, "This is a very strange-looking creature who has brought me this jug of water. She would be attractive, but that her face seems to need washing, and her dress is very untidy. What can that black stuff be on her face and hands? It looks very unnatural." And so instead of drinking the water, she threw it in the princess' face.

The princess started back with a little cry while the water, trickling down her face, washed off the charcoal and showed her delicate features and youthful complexion. The Ranee caught hold of her hand and said, "Now tell me true, who are you? Where do you come from? Who are your father and mother? And why are you here alone by yourself in the jungle? Answer me or I'll have your head cut off!" And she summoned one of her guards, who drew his sword.

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"Now tell me true, who are you?  Where do you come from?"

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The princess was so terrified she could hardly speak.  Her eyes wide in fear, she whispered how she was the daughter of a king, and had run away into the jungle because of her cruel stepmother, and had found the house.  Of her sister, she said nothing.  

Then the Ranee said in a gentler voice, "Pretty child, forgive me for my roughness.  Do not fear, for I will take you home with me. As the daughter of a Rajah you shall be a proper wife for my son." But the more she spoke to the princess the more frightened the princess became, and could do nothing but cry.

Unmoved by her tears, the Ranee ordered her servants to shove the princess into one of the palanquins and to set off for home. So that is what they did.

When the princess found herself shut up inside a palanquin and carried to she knew not where, she thought how terrible if would be for her sister when she returned home and found her gone.  What would she think?  The captured princess knew she must leave some sign to show her sister which way she had been taken.

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What would she think?

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Round her neck were many strings of pearls. She untied them, and tearing her sari (a robe) into little bits, tied one pearl in each piece of the sari, that it might be heavy enough to fall straight to the ground. And so she went on, dropping one pearl and then another and another, all the way she went along, until they reached the palace where the queen lived. She threw the last remaining pearl down just as they reached the palace gate.

The Ranee commanded her son to appear. When he did, she said, "My son, you have tarried long enough in choosing a bride. I told you that if you did not choose one for yourself I would find one for you.  And so I have - here she is." And the Ranee thrust the girl forward. She was still weeping and the prince could tell that she was hardly a willing bride.

When they were alone, the prince whispered, "Fear not, maiden. I will postpone the wedding for as long as I can. And if the wedding must take place, you will not be forced to say or do anything you do not want to do." But she barely heard him, thinking only of her sister, and too distraught and fearful to say or do anything else.

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But she barely heard him, thinking only of her sister.

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Meanwhile the younger princess, who had been out with her flocks when the Ranee took her sister away, returned home. When she found the door wide open and no one standing there, she thought it very odd for her sister always came every night to the door to meet her on her return. She looked everywhere but the whole house was empty and deserted. Evening was closing in and it would be impossible to go outside that night to find her. All night long the sister wailed, "Someone has stolen her away. What will become of my sister?"

The next morning very early, going outside to search, she found one of the pearls belonging to her sister's necklace tied up in a small piece of sari. A little further on lay another, and yet another, all along the road the Ranee had gone. Then the princess understood that her sister had left this clue to guide her on her way, and she at once set off to find her.

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Then the princess understood that he sister had left this clue to guide her on her way.

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Very, very far she went - a two month's journey through the jungle - for she could not travel fast, the many days' walking tired her so much. Sometimes it took her two or three days just to find the next piece of sari with the pearl. At last she came near a large town, to which it was evident her sister had been taken.

Now this young princess realized how much at risk she was as a young woman traveling alone. If someone stole her away, too, she would never find her sister. "I will disguise myself," she decided. Then she noticed by the side of the road the shriveled, dry fur on the skeleton of an old tiger.

The princess took the skin and washed it, and drew it on over her own lovely face and neck, as one draws a glove on one's hand. The skin was so old that nothing remained of the shape of the tiger, only a yellowish hue, and it hung on her the way an old woman's skin might hang. Then she took a long stick and began hobbling along, leaning on it, toward the town.

On she went, picking up the pearls - one here, one there - until she found the last pearl just in front of the palace gate. She longed to go into the palace and ask for her sister, but no guard would let such a wretched looking old woman enter.  She did not dare offer them any of the pearls she had with her, lest they should think she was a thief.  Night fell, and she was no closer to learning anything more about her sister than she was before.

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She was no closer to learning anything more about her sister than she was before.

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But wearing the tiger skin was itchy and uncomfortable.  As darkness fell, near the palace was a large pond on which grew large lotus plants on which bloomed rich crimson lotus flowers - the royal flower.  When darkness safely hid her, the princess took off the old tiger's skin that helped her to look like an old woman, washed it, hung it out to dry, washed her face and hands, bathed her feet in the cool water, and combed her hair.

She gathered a lotus-flower (such as she had been accustomed to wear in her hair as a child) and put it on, and so amused herself so that for a few minutes felt like herself again. As soon as the wind had dried the old skin, she put it on again, threw away the lotus-flower, and hobbled away from the pond before the sun was up.

However a servant of the Ranee had come upon this scene in the shadows and watched in amazement. "Ah!" thought he, "can this be a woman or a spirit? A devil or an angel in disguise? I must share what I discovered with my Queen."

The Ranee ordered the servant to lay in wait that very night by the pond, and if he witnessed again what he had described, to immediately capture the mysterious figure and bring her before the throne.

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The Ranee ordered the servant to lay in wait that very night by the pond.

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The next night, indeed, the younger princess, disguised all day as the old woman, on the shroud of darkness went back to the royal pond to wash out the tiger skin, cleanse herself, and when it was dry she put it back on and once again became the old woman. 

At once, the servant leapt out and captured her, and brought before the Ranee. 

"This creature dares to stalk around the palace at night!  She conducts secret rituals - the likes of which we can only imagine! Son, daughter-in-law, how shall this creature be punished?"  For the Ranee knew her son and daughter-in-law would some day rule. 

Said the son, "Mother, this is an old woman who is not a threat to us." 

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Said the son, "Mother, this is an old woman who is not a threat to us."

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"Perhaps she is hungry," said his wife, the older princess.  "Isn't there a place she can stay for a bit? How about the hut by the pond?" 

The older princess did not recognize her sister in disguise as the old woman, but the younger sister certainly recognized her long-lost older sister!  Her heart leapt but she could not express her joy for fear of what might happen.  Instead, she moaned her thanks as the old woman, and allowed herself to be led to the hut by the pond. 

In the hut, she had an idea.  She tied one of the pearls she had collected with a scrap of her own sari and left it in front of the door to the hut.  Further down the royal path, she dropped another tied pearl, and then farther from the palace, yet another pearl, then another. 

Indeed, as the younger princess knew the heart of her older sister's, the older princess resolved to bring a meal to the old woman in the hut and soon was at the door, knocking. 

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The older princess resolved to bring a meal to the old woman in the hut.

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Surprised indeed she was to find on the ground before the door the very same kind of pearl wrapped in sari that she had left when she had been carried off by the Ranee!  Could this be a sign from her real sister?  With hope in her heart, she looked all around to find another pearl, and found it!  Then another, and another yet.  This led her at long last along a path to an old woman resting on a large rock.  As she appeared, the old woman removed what had been her tiger skin and behold! her true younger sister stood up with her arms outstretched, and they ran joyously into each other's arms.

Reunited, the younger sister relayed how her new husband had turned out to be everything she could want, kind and caring.  Though her mother-in-law was unpredictable, overall her new life went well.  They decided to introduce the younger sister at the palace as the long-lost sister she really was.  And so the two princesses were able to live together again in peace and joy, and this time for their whole lives long.