Bengal Fairy Tales/Blue Lotus and Red Lotus

by Francis Bradley Bradley-Birt

V
BLUE LOTUS AND RED LOTUS

A CERTAIN king had two wives, one of whom was a Rakkhashi^[1] disguised. Each of them had a son, that of the Rakkhashi being named Ajit, or the Unconquerable, and the other Kushum, or the Flower-like. The two boys were very fond of each other: they ate, learnt their lessons, and slept together. The Rakkhashi, however, was ever on the alert to feed on her rival and her son; and one day she actually devoured the former. But she could not get the latter into her clutches, inasmuch as he was under the protection of his half-brother. At length she invited some of her fellow creatures into the kingdom, intending to do by force what she had not been able to do by stratagem. One night one of her Rakkhashis burst into the room where the king, with his sons, was asleep, seized Kushum, and ate him up. The king was paralyzed with fear, and stood helpless while Ajit gave the giant a blow, and compelled him to flee from the room. Before doing so, however, he threw out of his mouth a ball of gold.

The Rakkhashi was so frantic with rage that she herself attacked her son and ate him up. But as soon as she had done so, a ball of iron came out of her mouth and rolled on the ground. After this she went to the top of the palace, and calling a conclave of the Rakkhashis, dismissed them to their country. But the gold and iron balls gave her no peace. She smelt danger in them, and one night she buried them under a clump of bamboos a little way off from the palace.

One day a labourer came to the place and cut off two bamboos, and great was his surprise to find an egg in each of them, one red and the other blue. Fearing that they were the eggs of a snake, he hurriedly left the spot, and when he had gone, out of the blue egg came Kushum, and out of the red Ajit. The two brothers, leaving their father's kingdom behind, set out for the dominions of another king. His kingdom was infested by Khokkoshes,^[2] who devoured his subjects in hundreds. One night he dreamt that he was to be freed from the hands of the marauders by two princes, whom he should reward by giving to them his two daughters in marriage with the half of his kingdom. His dream was soon fulfilled. Kushum and Ajit, now named Neelkamal (blue lotus), and Lalkamal (red lotus), after the colours of the eggs out of which they had come, presented themselves before him, and on his telling them his dream, they at once volunteered to kill the Khokkoshes. Their plan was to await the giants in a room which they haunted at night, and accordingly they took their places there at nine o'clock. For a long time, however, there was no sign of them, and it was not until it struck twelve that they came to the door of the room, which was shut, and demanded to know who was inside. Neelkamal was awake at the moment, and Lalkamal asleep. The latter had, however, before retiring, told the former that if the Khokkoshes came during his vigil, he must not say that it was he alone that was watching, but that he had his brother awake with him. True to his promise Neelkamal, when challenged, said, "Force your way in, and you will find Lalkamal and Neelkamal with their swords ready to receive you." The name of Lalkamal produced terror in the Khokkoshes, because they knew that the blood of a Rakkhashi flowed in his veins, and they withdrew a few paces. But to verify what they had been told, the head Khokkosh said in a nasal, though loud voice, "If Lalkamal be inside, let him show me the tip of his nose through the chink in the door." Neelkamal at once thrust out the point of a sharp knife to represent Lalkamal's nose, and the giants were terrified. "One having such a nose," they said, "is too dangerous a being to approach." Then they wanted to see the spittle Lalkamal threw, and on this Neelkamal cast at them the ghee that was burning in the lamp before him, which produced blisters on their bodies. Though the pain was very great the Khokkoshes did not runaway. They asked to have a sight of Lalkamal's tongue, and through the chink a sharp sword was thrust out. They laid hold of it, and all in a body commenced pulling at it. The fingers of their leader, however, were so badly cut that he ran away. But coming back within a short time he went near the door of the room, and again asked who was inside. A drowsiness had come upon Neelkamal, and unconsciously he said that it was he alone that was watching. At the mention of his name, and the omission of his brother's, the monsters in a body rushed into the room, and were about to tear him to pieces, when Lalkamal awoke and despatched them with gigantic strokes of his sword.

The next morning the people of the city were surprised to find a large heap of dead Khokkoshes. The king, hearing this, sent for the princes and gave them the promised rewards.

The Rakkhashi queen, being informed of the massacre of the Khokkoshes, and having by magic ascertained the whereabouts of her son and stepson, sent emissaries to bring about their destruction. She sent two of her attendants, who also were Rakkhashis in disguise, with the false message that their father was dying of an incurable disease, and that his life could be saved only by rubbing his body with a Rakkhashi's brain. The brothers, anxious to prolong the life of their father, at once started for the land of the Rakkhashis. After a very long journey they one evening reached a banyan tree, and rested at its foot. Overhead they heard two birds, called Bangoma and Bangami, talking to each other in human language.

Bangami said, "The blindness of our young ones is a great calamity; but now is the time when their eyes should be opened. One of the men there, named Lalkamal, has the power of restoring sight to them by his mere touch. The men are on a very perilous journey, and we must help them as much as we can." At dawn Bangami flew down to the princes with her offspring, and Lalkamal touched them and they were healed. Then their mother said, "Oh, princes, we know you and your mission. Take these fried peas in your pockets, and mount on the backs of my young ones, who will carry you to your destination and back to your own country. The peas you will put into your mouth on the sly, when required by the giants whom you are going to visit to chew iron pellets as the proof of your being the sons of the Rakkhashi who passes as your father's queen."

The princes were then borne away to the country of the Rakkhashis, a number of whom quickly flocked around them, crying out:—

"Whoung, moung, khoung^[3]
Monisshee gondo paung.
Dhoreh, Dhoreh khaung."

This, of course, was said at the sight of Neelkamal, whom they recognized as a man. Lalkamal, knowing that his brother was in danger, stepped forth and said, "Grandmother, we are your grandsons come to visit you." At this the old Rakkhashi whom they addressed said, "If that is so let me test you. Cut these iron pellets with your teeth, and then I shall acknowledge your claims to kinship." So saying, she put the pellets into the hands of the brothers, who dexterously substituting for them the fried peas they had brought, chewed them up. Thus not only were they freed from danger, but were also made much of. Yet still the smell of human flesh bewildered the Rakkhashis. They passed it over, however, and the time went by in friendly entertainment. One day when their hosts had gone out in search of food, Lalkamal with his brother went to a well at the back of the house, dived under it, and brought up with him a casket containing two hornets, in one of which the lives of all the Rakkhashis were lodged. The other had in it the life of the Rakkhashi who was Lalkamal's mother. When each of the brothers took out a hornet, the giants, who had gone out, felt themselves uneasy and hastened home; and the Rakkhashis in the palace felt a very painful palpitation of their hearts. The legs of one of the hornets were torn off, and the Rakkhushes and Rakkhashis at the same time lost their limbs. Rolling on the ground, they approached the princes with mouths wide open to devour them; but on the head of the hornet being removed, they fell down lifeless. Lalkamal cut off the head of his grandmother, rolled it in a napkin, and called on the young Bangomas to carry him and his brother away. After three months they reached their father's kingdom, and wanted to deliver the head they brought to the messengers from their father's palace. But these were not to be found, for they too had died at the same time as their relations and friends. The head therefore was sent through a sepoy in the entourage of the brothers. On seeing it, Lalkamal's mother was so excited and enraged that she cast off her disguise, assumed her gigantic form, and cried out:—

"Thanda khang, gorom khang^[4]
Mor moria haddi khang
Dau, dau chitar agun
Taholei booker jala jaung."

Thereupon she hurried out to where Neelkamal and Lalkamal sat together, and the latter, being apprehensive of injury, took out the remaining hornet and killed it, and the Rakkhashi immediately fell down dead.

On being freed from this pest Neelkamal and Lalkamal's father regained his health and energies, and learning where his sons were, sent for them. They came, and their own kingdom and that of their father-in-law, who had recently died, was annexed to their father's, and once more in their paternal house, they lived happily with their wives and children, much to the delight of the old king.

 

1. In Hindu mythology the Rakkhush and Rakkhashi were demons, male and female, gigantic and terrible in shape. They were said to be possessed of supernatural powers.
2. A tribe of monsters akin to the Rakkhushes, but more ferocious than they.
3. These are the words that Rakkhashis are supposed to use when a human prey is near them, meaning, "Hurrah, we scent human flesh, and we will eat it."
4. The four lines mean:—"I will eat all things, warm or cold: I will eat bones which will make a cracking sound inside my mouth. There is something like the fire of a funeral pyre burning within my bosom; and if I can do what I wish, my heart-burn will cease."