Thakurmar Jhuli Story 01 - Buddhu Bhutum 01 - The Seven Queens and the Magical Root
Table of Contents
The Seven Queens and the Root
Note: I am not translating Thakurmar Jhuli. I am just sharing the stories. Please do not consider this series to be a translation.
So here is how the story starts - in a land far away. There was a king there, who ruled over a huge kingdom. What was the king’s name? No one knows, or maybe no one told us. He was a young king and his mother would coax him to get married and have an heir to his kingdom. He too wanted a child of his own, someone who would address him as father. So, he married. No child. He married again. No child again. And he married again. This carried on, till he had seven queens.
Thank God, he stopped. I wonder what would have happened if he had continued.
So, we start with our king whose name I do not know, and his seven queens. They all lived in a grand palace.
And what can I tell you about this palace? It was a huge palace made of stone, and its walls were coated with gold. The king was very rich and had plenty of gold. It is said he had rooms that were packed to the ceiling with gold. Like the rooms full of gold, it is said in the palace there were rooms that were packed with all kinds of precious stones. Name any precious stone and you were sure to find it there,
The palace had the softest of carpets laid on the floors, and the beds in the bedrooms had linen with intricate designs on them. The king and his queens had the best tailors for themselves and they wore the best silk garments.
He had great-looking elephants in his elephant stables and elegant-looking horses in his horse stables.
The King had a huge army commanded by very able captains. He had the best elephant-riders and horsemen.
He had many ministers and advisors and his court was always buzzing with activity. From the crack of dawn till sunset, the king was in court, listening to his subjects, attending to his kingdom, always with a smile on his face.
He seemed to be a very happy king. He had everything one could wish for. But he was sad. He was childless. The king and his seven queens did not have a single child between them. Their sadness made the subjects sad. And so, the king, the queens, the subjects spent their days in gloom. Who would rule the kingdom after the king was gone? All prayed. The king, his seven queens and the subjects, everyone. They all prayed for a child. One who would be their ruler. Unfortunately, their prayers went unanswered. Thus, they spent their days till this one day.
Let me now talk about this one day. It started off as any other day. The king was busy in his courtroom. The seven queens decided to go and have a bath in the river. Off they went, all seven of them. One by one, the queens changed their clothes, and wearing plain saris and stepped in and went and stood in knee-deep water. Looking up at the sky, they began offering prayers to Surya Deva. Then they took a dip in the water. The eldest queen went into the water, in the end, when all the others had finished their baths. As this eldest queen was about to take a dip after offering her prayers, she saw before her an ascetic. She was surprised. Here, in the water! Before she could think, the ascetic handed her the root of a plant. In a voice that only she could hear, the ascetic said, "Go home, and make a paste of this root. Share this paste amongst yourselves - the queens. In due course, your wish will be fulfilled. You will all become mothers." Saying this, the ascetic vanished. The queen looked and saw she was holding a root of a plant in her hand. It was not a dream then.
The queen hurriedly took a dip and quickly walked back to where the other queens were drying their hair. She quickly began brushing her hair, while attendants helped her get out of her wet clothes and wear some dry clothes. She then looked at the other queens and said, “Sisters, we need to go home now.” “What is the hurry?” one of the queens asked. "I think I have some good news, sisters. When I was about to have my dip, an ascetic appeared and gave this root to me. He asked us to share this amongst ourselves. If we do that, we shall become mothers."
Hearing this, all the queens began to hurry. They wanted to get back home as quickly as possible. The queens had to hurry, so the attendants had to work at the double the speed and get the queens ready. When all was done, they sat in their palanquins and were taken back to the palace.
It was nearly noon and lunch had to be prepared. The queens decided to do all kitchen duties themselves. They asked the servants and cooks to leave. Then, amongst themselves, duties were assigned. The eldest queen was responsible for preparing rice. She would wash and cook the rice. The second queen would cut all the vegetables that were to be cooked. The third queen would cook and make all the curries. The fourth queen was asked to go to the well with pitchers, fill them with water from the well, and get that water back, for cooking and drinking. The fifth queen would gather all ingredients - grains, spices and condiments and lay down the seats for eating. The sixth queen was responsible for grinding the spices needed for cooking. The youngest queen - the seventh one - was asked to cut the fish. So, off the seventh queen went with a basket full of fish and her knives. She found a place, outside the kitchen near the well, where she sat and began cutting the fish. Fish was slippery, so she had chosen a spot where the ash from the oven was thrown. This was the perfect place for her. She would coat the fish in the ash, which would allow her to grip the fish firmly. So, all got busy with their chores.
The eldest queen had to wait for water. So, she went to the queen who was responsible for grinding spices, the sixth queen. “Sister," the eldest queen said, "while you wait for the condiments to come to you, why don't you grind the root that the ascetic gave me? Place that in a bowl, so that all of us can have a share."
The sixth queen started doing that. While grinding the root she ate a bit. She then kept the ground root in a golden bowl.
Washing her hands, she took a silver plate and placed the golden bowl on that. She then got up and took the plate with the bowl on it, to the eldest queen. The eldest queen then had that, and distributed that amongst the queens present in the kitchen. The sixth queen had just finished when the fourth queen entered with pitchers full of water. "Where is my portion?” she asked, after putting down the pitchers. She took the bowl and saw some fragments sticking to the bowl, she scraped them out and had them. Nothing was now left for the seventh queen.
The seventh queen finished cutting the fish and walked back towards the kitchen with the fish. As she was about to enter the kitchen, she saw the fourth queen come out with her pitchers to fetch water. Seeing the seventh queen, the fourth queen said, “O unfortunate one, what will you have? All queens ground the root and ate it. I ate what was sticking to the mortar and pestle. Hurry and see if anything is left.” Saying this, she went towards the well.
The seventh queen rushed inside and saw there was nothing for her. She fell down on the floor and began crying. Seeing this, the five queens began blaming each other. The fish that the seventh queen had brought with her was lying on the ground getting wet from the tears of the seventh queen.
The fourth queen returned with the water and saw the youngest queen on the floor. She then said to the other queens, “How could you do this to her? How could you be so selfish?” She then sat down near the seventh queen and said to her, “Sister, there is no point in crying. I took what was sticking to the bowl. Come with me. Let us see if there is something sticking to mortar and pestle. If there is something sticking to the pestle or mortar, I will dissolve that in some water and give it to you. If the Devas are pleased, you shall have a wonderful son.” The other queens said, “Yes, that is a good idea.” Hearing this, the seventh queen got up and went with the fourth queen to where the mortar and pestle was kept. As soon as they left, the five queens began whispering among themselves, saying, “Wonderful son, my foot. I am sure the one who drinks the water used to wash the mortar and pestle shall give birth to a monkey.”
There was a tiny bit sticking to the pestle. The fourth queen sprinkled some water on the mortar to see if there was anything she could get from that. She washed the pestle. After collecting the water, she gave it to the seventh queen. The youngest queen happily drank that. Then she looked at the fish lying on the ground. The cat had started eating that. She let that be and off she went with the fourth queen to help her fill water from the well.
What will happen next? The story will continue in the next post in this series. Till then, if you are supposed to share something, just make sure you are doing that. Do not be selfish.
Note:
The story is called Kalavati Rajkanya or Princess Kalavati in the book. I am changing the title to Buddhu Bhutum. Buddhu and Bhutum are the heroes of this story.
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