Folktales from Bengal Read online

  To my loving parents, who bought me my first fairy tale book, and opened the pathway to never ending awe.

  Text copyright © 2013 by Soham Saha.

  Cover Art © 2013 by Soham Saha.

  Project: Bengal Moves West

  Foreword

  In a lazy summer afternoon, I heard my aunt telling her little girl a story to put her to sleep. I remembered my childhood days, when I took delight in these stories myself. With my interest rekindled, I decided to re-read the collections of Bengali folk tales, first in Bangla, my native tongue, and then in English, just for the sake of it. I was browsing through collections of folk tales in the library in the National University of Singapore, and was stunned when I realized that so far, there had not been any attempt at making a child friendly, yet exclusive collection of Bengali folk tales in English.

  I decided to carry out the task myself.

  “Folktales from Bengal” is a collection of stories originating in Bengal, which have entertained millions of Bengali children for generations. Some of these stories have appeared in collections of Indian folk tales, but this would be the first time an organized collection of Bengal's folk tales (in English) has been made.

  While retelling the stories, I tried to keep the original Bengali essence of the stories intact while keeping the stories fluid. I had in my mind not the critical reader, but the curious children whom these stories were originally told for. I remember the endless nights I spent reading these stories, and hope that my young readers would share at least a part of that joy.

  Soham Saha,

  Aug,2013.

  Acknowledgement

  While searching for the stories, I went through various collections of Bengali folk tales, the most notable of which are "Tuntunir Golpo"(Tales of Tuntuni) by Upendrakishore Ray, and “Thakumar Jhuli" (Tales from Grandmother) by Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar, both bestsellers in the Bangla language.

  I express my gratitude to all the writers who took the effort of telling and retelling the stories to the newer generations of Bengal, making this collection possible.

  Author Bio

  Soham Saha is a writer of literary and speculative fiction, whose works have appeared in science fiction anthologies published online.

  He is a founder of Project: Bengal Moves West, an endeavour to translate Bengal’s best works in literature to English. ‘Folktales from Bengal’ is the first in the series.

  Follow him at sohamsaha.com.

  If you have suggestions, critiques, or want a particular Bengali title translated to English, drop him an email at [email protected].

  Contents

  Foreword

  Acknowledgement

  Author Bio

  Tuntuni and the Greedy King

  Tuntuni and the King’s Healer

  Tuntuni and the Cat

  The Sparrow and the Crow

  The Sparrow, his Wife, and the Tiger

  The Little Goat, the Lion and the Fox

  The Fox and the Tiger’s Boat

  The Fox and the Foolish Farmer

  The Fox and the Crocodile

  The Fox and the Crocodile’s Children

  The Fox Witness

  The Fox in the Elephant

  The Fox Pups that ate Tigers

  The Foolish Tiger

  The Tiger and the Palanquin

  Buddhu and the Tiger

  The Tiger Groom

  The Tiger’s Wife

  The Adventures of Dhat-teri the Cat

  The Ant, the Elephant, and the Servant Boy

  The Farmer and the Horse

  The Old Woman in the Gourd

  The Old Woman, the Thief, and the Pantabhaat

  The Louse-lady

  The Brahmin, the Tiger and the Fox

  The Story that Never Ends

  Epilogue

  Tuntuni and the Greedy King

  Once upon a time, a fat greedy king used to live in a magnificent palace. At a corner of the palace was the royal garden, and in the garden grew a small eggplant bush. Tuntuni happened to live in that bush in her tiny nest.

  One day, the king had all his gold coins washed, and spread out in his garden to dry. Once the laundered money was dry, his people picked it up and stored it in the vault. But somehow, one little gold piece rolled under the bush. Tuntuni saw the little coin sparkling in the sun, picked it up, and stowed it in her nest. How happy she was! “I am rich,” she thought, “Rich indeed, because the same gold the king has got, I have it in here, have I not?”

  She was so happy, she sang aloud,

  “Nested in the eggplant vine,

  What was the king’s wealth is now mine.

  All the gold the king has got

  Tuntuni’s got, has she not?”

  The king heard the song from his throne, and asked his courtmen, “What is that crazy bird singing about? What is in her nest?”

  A court man said, “Your majesty, the bird is claiming that she possesses the same wealth that you do.”

  To this, the king roared out laughing, and said to the guards, “See what the bird has in her nest.”

  The guard went to the garden, peeked into the nest, and reported to the king, “She has a gold coin in there.”

  “What? That’s my coin. Bring it back this instant.”

  And so the guard broke down Tuntuni’s nest and seized the coin.

  Heartbroken, Tuntuni cried out,

  “Oh how poor is the king,

  To rob little Tuntuni of her thing.”

  The king heard her and said, “What a stubborn bird it is! Go give it back the coin.”

  Tuntuni was delighted having got her coin back. she sang aloud –

  “What is the king, man or chicken,

  One song I sang, and he got shaken.

  A king and a coward, how it is funny,

  A chirp from me, and he returned my money.”

  The king could not believe his ears, so he asked his courtmen, “What’s the bird saying now?”

  “She’s singing a four liner now. She thinks you got scared and so gave her back her money.”

  “The audacity!” The king shook in anger. ”Bring the bird to me this instant.”

  The guards went to the jungle and caught the bird. The king, clutching Tuni in his fist, went to the inner palace to meet his seven queens. He gave the bird to the oldest of them, and said, “Fry this bird up. I am going to eat it.”

  When the king left, the queens were intrigued by the little bird. “What a pretty little bird!” Everyone wanted to hold it. They flicked its nose, pulled its wings, and pinched its belly. As Tuntuni was passed from hand to hand, she slipped and flew away.

  “What’s going to happen now?” They shuddered. “The king is going to chop our heads off if he hears about this.”

  Thinking about what to do now, the queens paced about the inner palace. Suddenly, one of them spotted a small frog jumping by. She had an idea. “Let’s fry this up and serve to the king. But nobody must know.” A few minutes later, the frog was fried and served to the king.

  The king was very happy, having eaten the meal, and went back to his throne, while suddenly, Tuntuni flew in the window, and sang,

  “Oh King, you hog,

  Thought you ate me? You ate a frog.”

  The moment he heard this, the king belched and threw up. Then he spat and gurgled. Then he called the executioner, and told him to cut the seven queens’ noses off. And it was no sooner said than done.

  Tuntuni sang aloud,

  “Oh you evil, evil king,

  Hear me tweet and hear me sing,

  Cut the noses off your queens,

  Is there no end to your sins?”

  The king yelled in frustration, “Catch it. Catch the stupid bird
. I am going to swallow it whole.”

  The soldiers caught her again.

  “Bring me water.”

  Water was brought. The king took in a mouth full of water, put Tuntuni in his mouth, and swallowed her whole with a ‘gulp’.

  “At last, I shut her up,” said the king, but as soon as he finished the sentence, he hiccupped, and Tuntuni flew out his mouth.

  “She’s escaping. Get her.” The king shouted. And two hundred men ran in pursuit. Within hours, the bird was caught again.

  The king said to the executioner, “This time, you stand guard in front of me. If she escapes this time, cut her in two.” The executioner stood guard, and the king swallowed Tuntuni again, this time clasping his mouth shut, so she couldn’t escape.

  Inside the king’s belly, the poor bird struggled and squirmed. She writhed and turned and swirled and twirled, until the king could hold her in no longer. He hurled Tuntuni out, along with everything else he had eaten that day.

  The courtmen said, “Quick, slash her before she can escape.” Tuntuni flew, and the sword came down. But the executioner misses, cutting the king’s nose instead.

  There was a big rustle. “Call the doctor,” some shouted. “Hang the executioner!” shouted others. By the time the doctor came and dressed the king’s wound, Tuntuni was sitting on the window, out of anyone’s reach.

  Finally, she sang.

  ”Oh you cruel and greedy king,

  Losing your nose was a fitting thing.

  I’ll take my leave now; I think it’s time,

  I hope your punishment fit your crime.”

  With that, she flew far, far away from the kingdom, never to be seen again.

  When the soldiers went to the eggplant bush, all they could find was her broken nest, and the gold coin, glinting in the moonlight.

  Tuntuni and the King’s Healer

  Tuntuni was dancing about in an eggplant bush when she got pricked on her nose by a thorn. The prick soon grew into a huge boil, right under the nose, and this made her worried.

  What’s going to happen now? What am I going to do? Tuntuni went about asking people. And everyone she asked told her to go to the king’s healer.

  Tuntuni went to the king’s healer, and tweeted, “Healer, o Healer, please fix my boil.”

  The healer replied haughtily, his nose held high, “I treat the king and the queen. What makes you think I’ll treat you? Not in this life, and not in the next.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Tuntuni replied.

  She flew to the king. “King, o King. Why won’t your healer treat my boil? Off with his head.”

  Hearing this, the king clutched his huge belly, and rolled over his bed, shaking with laughter. But he did not scold the healer.

  Tuntuni was very angry now. She went to the mouse.

  “Mouse, o Mouse. Are you home?”

  “Who is it? Tuntuni, is that you? Come on, take a seat. I’ll cook you some rice, and make your bed. Won’t you have dinner with me?” said the mouse.

  “I’ll have dinner. But on one condition.” said Tuntuni.

  “And what is that?”

  “When the king is asleep, you must go and use your sharp teeth to jab his fat belly.”

  The mouse bit his tongue and held his ears. “Bite the king! O dear, I cannot do that.”

  Tuntuni was not one to give up. She went to the cat. “Mrs. Cat. Are you home?”

  Mrs. Cat was taking her beauty sleep. She squinted to see the little bird, and wondered if it was time for lunch. “Tuntuni, my dear friend, why don’t you come inside and take a sit in my dinner bowl?” she said.

  “I shall come inside, if you eat the mouse.”

  Mrs. Cat thought about it, but she was not hungry enough. “No thank you. I am a little busy here.” She yawned, stretched and went back to sleep.

  So Tuntuni went to the stick.

  “Stick, o Stick. Are you home?” she chirped.

  It was resting against a wall. “Tuntuni, my dear friend, come in. Take a seat, have some rice with me to eat.”

  “I will come in. I will sit. And I will eat,” she said, “only if you beat up the cat first.”

  “Now I have no row with the cat. Why would I do that?” the stick said.

  Tuntuni went to the fire.

  “Fire, o Fire, are you home?”

  “Tuntuni, my dear friend, why don’t you join me for a roast and a toast?”

  “I will, only if you burn the stick first.”

  “Nah, I burnt a lot of things today. Some other time maybe,” he crackled.

  Tuntuni went to the Sea now. “Sea, oh sea, are you home?”

  “I sure am, Tuntuni. Come in now. Craving for some sea-food I guess. I’m sorry, but everything’s in a mess.”

  “I will dine with you, but first, you must douse the fire.”

  “Fire? But that is so far away from here. Maybe if it was near… No, Tuntuni. Some other time, maybe.”

  Tuntuni went to the forest to meet the Elephant.

  “Elephant, o Elephant. You home?”

  “Oh it’s my little friend, Tuntuni. Care to split a banana?”

  “I do, but first, I have a small favour to ask of you. Will you please drink up the Sea?”

  The elephant laughed heartily at this, and said, “But Tuntuni, I’ll burst. No can do.”

  Since nobody would listen to her, Tuntuni flew up to a branch, and sat down, depressed.

  Mosquito was flying by, and seeing Tuntuni so depressed, she stopped.

  “Why the long face on such a small bird?” She said. “Come on, let’s have a drink together, and you tell me about your problem.”

  “I’ll have a drink with you, but first, you must bite the Elephant.”

  “Phooh. That fat old Elephant? Consider it done. Let’s see how thick skinned he really is.” The mosquito called up all the mosquitoes in the country. ”Come my sisters, let’s all bite the Elephant.”

  And they came in a huge swarm that blocked the sun. The wind from their wings rustled the leaves of the forest, and their buzz could be heard from miles.

  The elephant said, “I’ll drink the sea.”

  The sea said, “I’ll douse the fire.”

  The fire said, “I’ll burn the stick.”

  The stick said, “I’ll beat the cat.”

  The cat said, “I’ll eat the mouse.”

  The mouse said, “I’ll slit the king.”

  And the King said, “I’ll cut that healer’s head off.”

  The healer ran to Tuni, trembling all over, and said, “Save me Tuni. Let me treat your boil.”

  The boil was now healed in no time, and Tuntuni went back to the eggplant plant to dance and sing, “Tun, tun, tun.”

  Tuntuni and the Cat

  An eggplant shrub grew in the backyard of a tiny cottage. A small weaver bird, Tuntuni, sewed its leaves together to make its nest.

  Inside the nest hatched three little chicks. Tiny as they were, they could not yet fly. They were too young even to open their eyes. They just sat there all day, chirping and calling their mother for food.

  The house-owner had a pesky little cat. All she would think about was to eat the little chicks. One day, she walked to the bottom of the eggplant bush, and asked, “My dear friend Tuntuni, what are you up to?”

  Clever little Tuntuni bowed down her head and said, “Just tending the chicks, your Highness.” The cat was very happy to be so well respected, so she left.

  Every day, she visited the eggplant bush, and every day, Tuntuni bowed her head and greeted her like a queen, and she left, feeling haughtier and happier.

  Days passed, and the chicks grew up. They grew beautiful wings, and they could see now. So Tuntuni asked them one day, “My children, can you fly?”

  The chicks chirped, “Yes mother, we sure can.”

  “Then let me see you fly to that tree over there.” And so the chicks did.

  Now Tuntuni smiled and said, “Let the cat come.”

  After a littl
e while, the cat came to the bush as usual, and said, “What are you up to, little Tuntuni?”

  To this, Tuntuni pecked her on the head, and said, “Get lost! You greedy little cat,” and flew away.