Gulambara and Sulambara

There was and there was not at all, there was a blind monarch; all

the doctors in the kingdom had been applied to, but the king could

not be cured.

At last one doctor said: 'In a certain sea is a fish red as blood. If

this is caught, killed, and its blood sprinkled on your eyes, it may

do good--the light will come back into your eyes--if not, there can

be no other cure for you.'

Then the king assembled every fisherman in his realm, and commanded:

'Go wherever it may be or may not be, catch such a fish as this,

and I shall give you a rich reward.'

Some time passed by. An old fisherman caught just such a crimson fish,

and took it to the king. The king was asleep, and they did not dare

to wake him, so they put the fish into a basin full of water.

Just then his son returned from his lessons. He saw the blood-red

fish swimming in the basin. He took it up in his hands, caressed it,

and said: 'What do you want with the pretty fish in the basin?' They

said to him: 'This is good for your father, it must be killed, its

blood sprinkled on his eyes, and he will regain his sight.' 'But is

it not a sin to kill it?' asked the prince; and he took the fish out

to a stream in the meadow, and gave it freedom.

A little while after, the king awoke; his viziers said to him:

'An old fisherman brought to you a blood-red fish, but your son,

who had just returned from his lessons, let it away.'

The king was very angry, and sent his son from the house. 'Go hence,

I shall be well when thou art no longer remembered in the kingdom;

with my eyes I cannot look upon thee, but never let me hear thine

unpleasant voice again.' The boy was grieved, rose, and went away.

He went, he went, and he knew not whither he went. On the way he saw a

stream. He was weary and sat down to rest on the bank. Behold, a boy of

his own age came out of the water. He came to the prince, greeted him,

and said: 'Whence comest thou? and what troubles thee?' The prince went

to him and told him all that had happened to him. His new acquaintance

said: 'I also am discontented with my lot, so let us become brothers,

and live together.' The prince agreed, and they went on their way.

They travelled on some distance, when they came to a town, and they

dwelt there. When the next day dawned, his adopted brother said to

the prince: 'Stay thou at home, do not go out of doors, lest they eat

thee, for such is the custom here.' The prince promised, and from

morning until night he sat indoors. The other boy was away in the

town all day. At twilight, when he came home, he had a handkerchief

quite full of provisions.

Several days slipped by. The prince stayed in all day, and his brother

brought the food and drink. At last the prince said to himself:

'This is shameful! My adopted brother goes out and brings in food

and drink. Why do I not do something? What an idle fellow I am! I

will go and do something!'

And so it happened that one day the king's son went into the town;

he wandered here and there, and in one place saw his brother, who was

sitting cross-legged on the ground, at his feet was stretched a pocket

handkerchief, in his hand he held a chonguri (a stringed instrument),

which he played, and he chanted to it with a sweet voice. Whoever

passed by placed money in the handkerchief.

The king's son listened and listened, and said: 'No, this must not be;

this is not my business.' So he turned and went back.

Near there he saw a tower. Outside was a wall, and on the top were

arranged in rows men's heads: some were quite shrivelled up, some

had an unpleasant odour of decay, and some had just been placed there.

He looked and looked, and could not understand what it meant. He asked

a man: 'Whose tower is this, and why are men's heads arranged in rows

in this way?' He was told: 'In this tower dwells a maiden beautiful

as the sun. Any king's son may ask her in marriage. She asks him a

question: if he cannot answer it his head is cut off, but if he can

he may demand her in marriage. No one has yet been able to answer

her question.'

The prince thought and thought, and said to himself: 'I will go. I

will ask this maiden in marriage: I will know if this is my fate. What

is to be will be. What can she ask me that I shall not know?' So he

rose and went.

He came to the sunlike maiden and asked her in marriage. She answered:

'It is well, but first I have a question to ask thee; if thou canst

answer, then I am thine, if not, I shall cut off thy head.' 'So

let it be,' said the prince. 'I ask thee this, Who are Gulambara

and Sulambara?' enquired the beautiful maiden. The king's son said

to himself: 'I know indeed that Gulambara and Sulambara are names

of flowers, but I never heard in all my life of human beings thus

named.' He asked three days grace and went away.

He went home and told his brother what had happened, and said: 'If thou

canst not help me now, in three days I shall lose my head.' His brother

reproached him, saying: 'Did I not tell thee to stay indoors? This

is a wicked town.' But then he comforted him, saying: 'Go now, buy

a pennyworth of aromatic gum and a candle. I have a grandmother,

I shall take thee to her, and she will help thee. But at the moment

when my grandmother looks at us, give her the gum and the candle,

or she will eat thee.'

He bought the gum and the candle, and they set out. The grandmother

was standing in her doorway; the prince immediately gave her the gum

and the candle. 'What is it? what is the matter with thee?' enquired

the grandmother of the prince's adopted brother. He came forward, and

told everything in detail. Then he added: 'This is my good brother,

and certainly thou shouldst help him.' 'Very well,' said the old woman

to the prince; 'sit down on my back.' The prince seated himself on

her back. The old woman flew up high, and then, in the twinkling of

an eye, she flew down into the depths.

She took him into a town there, and went to the entrance of a

bazaar. She pointed out a shopkeeper and said: 'Go and engage thyself

as assistant to this shopkeeper; but in the evening, when he leaves

business and goes home, tell him that he must take thee with him,

and must not leave thee in the shop. Where thou goest with him thou

wilt learn the story of Gulambara and Sulambara. Then when thou hast

need of me, whistle and I shall be there.'

The prince did exactly as the old woman had instructed him; he went

to the butcher, as his assistant. At twilight, when the butcher spoke

of going home, the prince said to him: 'Do not leave me here; I am a

stranger in this land. I am afraid; take me with thee.' The butcher

objected strongly, but the prince entreated him until he agreed.

The butcher went home, and took the prince with him. They came

to a wall, opened a door, went in, and it closed. Inside that, was

another wall; they went through that, and it closed. They passed thus

through nine walls, and then they entered a house. The butcher opened

a cupboard door, took out a woman's head, and then an iron whip. He

put down the decaying head and struck it. He struck and struck until

the head was completely gone.

When the prince saw this he was astonished, and enquired: 'Tell me,

why do you strike this head that is so mutilated, and whose head

is this?' The butcher made answer: 'I tell this to no one, this is

my secret, but if I do tell any one he must then lose his head.' 'I

still wish to know,' said the prince. The butcher rose, took a sword,

prepared himself, and said to the prince. 'I had a wife who was so

lovely that she excelled the sun; her name was Gulambara. I kept

her under these nine locks, and I took care of her so that not even

the wind of heaven blew on her. Whatever she asked me I gave her

at once. I loved her to distraction, and trusted her, and she told

me that she loved no one in the world but me. At that time I had an

assistant who was called Sulambara, and my wife loved him and deceived

me. Once I found them together, and seized them. I locked one in one

cupboard and the other in another. Whenever I came home from business

I went to the cupboards, and took out first one and then the other,

and beat them as hard as I could. I struck so hard that Sulambara

crumbled away yesterday, and only Gulambara's head remained, and that

has just now crumbled away before thine eyes.'

The story ended, he took his sword and said to the prince: 'Now I

am going to fulfil my threat, so come here and I shall cut off thy

head.' The prince entreated him: 'Give me a little time. I will

go to the door and pray to my God, and then do to me even as thou

wishest.' The butcher thought: 'It can do no harm to let him go to the

door for a short time, for he certainly cannot open the nine doors;

let him pray to his God and have his wish.'

The prince went to the gate and whistled. Immediately the old woman

flew down, took him on her back, and flew off. The youth went to the

town where the beautiful maiden dwelt, and told the sunlike one the

story of Gulambara and Sulambara. The maiden was very much surprised;

when she had heard all, she agreed to marry him. They were married;

she collected all her worldly possessions, and set out with the prince

for his father's kingdom.

When he came to the brook, his adopted brother appeared before him,

and said: 'In thy trouble I befriended thee, and now, when thou art

happy, shall this friendship cease? Whatever thou hast obtained has

been by my counsel, therefore thou shouldst share it with me.' The

prince divided everything in halves, but still his adopted brother

was not pleased. 'It is all very well to share this with me, whilst

thou hast the beautiful maiden.' The prince arose and gave up his

own share of the goods.

His adopted brother would not take it, and spoke thus: 'If thou

holdest fast to our friendship thou shouldst share with me this

maiden, the most precious of thy possessions!' As he said this

he seized the maiden's hand, bound her to a tree, stretched forth

his sword, and, as he was about to strike, a green stream flowed

from the terror-stricken maiden's mouth. Again the youth raised his

sword. The same thing happened. A third time he prepared to strike,

with the same result. Then he came, unbound her from the tree, gave

her to the prince, and said: 'Although this maiden was beautiful, yet

she was venomous, and, sooner or later, would have killed thee. Now

whatever poison was in her is completely gone, so do not fear her

in the slightest degree. [1] Go! and God guide thee. As for these

possessions, they are thine; I do not want them. May God give thee

His peace.' From his pocket he took out a handkerchief, gave it to

the prince, and said: 'Take this handkerchief with thee; when thou

reachest home wipe thy father's eyes with it and he will see. I am

the fish that was in the basin, and thou didst set me free. Know,

then, that kindness of heart is never lost.' So saying, the prince's

adopted brother disappeared.

The prince remained astonished. Before he had time to express his

gratitude the young man had suddenly disappeared. At last, when he

had recovered himself, he took his wife and went to his father. He

laid the handkerchief on the king's eyes, and his sight came back to

him. When he saw his only son and his beautiful daughter-in-law his

joy was so great that his eyes filled with tears. His son sat down

and told him all that had happened since he left him.

[1] Cf. Paspati, Études sur les Tchinghianés (Constantinople, 1870),

p. 605, Conte 2me.