The Snake's Poison-
Hariswami was married to a wonderful wife by the name of Beautiful. As the two were sleeping on the balcony one night a fairy prince named Love-Speed flew by with Beautiful catching his eye. Still asleep, he carried her out of bed with him and flew away. Hariswami then awoke panicked wondering where his wife had gone off to. He searched all over the rest of the night but couldn't find her. The next day Hariswami could not could not control his emotions and sobbed throughout the day reminiscing on all the places his wife had been. After much urging by his family he pulled himself together and decided he would give all he had to the Brahmans and walk off his sins in order to find his love. He began to wander all throughout the summer and ended up at a Brahman's house hungry and thirsty. He was given food by the mans wife and told to go down to their pond and eat it there. He set down the food to wash himself and at this moment a hawk flew over with a dead snake it its talons. The snake was dripping poison and a small amount landed right in Hariswami's dish. He went back to the woman who gave him the food and told her that he was poisoned by her dish, requesting she get the poison doctor. Hariswami died before she could reach the doctor and she in turn was wrongly accused for his death and sent on a pilgrimage. The goblin then asked the king who was at fault for the death of the Brahman, the woman, her husband, the hawk or the snake. The king answered that of the four options it was not the fault of any. The king stats that it is the fault of the dead man himself because he had the audacity to blame the others. Once again he goblin escaped the king and returned to the tree.
The Snake's Poison
The Girl and the Thief-
Pearl, the daughter of the a great merchant of Ayodhya, had grown to be beautiful, modest and charming. Now of age to be married she had the proposals of both great merchants and kings alike. However, the girl wanted nothing to do with men and wanted to die at the mere discussion of marriage. At this same time the city was being ransacked nightly by thieves and its citizens requested the king to do something to stop this problem. The king placed night watchmen throughout the city in hopes of catching the thieves but nothing came of their presence. Finally, the king decided that he himself would wander the streets in hopes of finding who was stealing from his people. As he patrolled the city he found a man creeping through the streets and the king approached him. The king told the man that he too was a thief and the man took the king to his home. The thief left the king alone at which point his maid came in and told the king of the thief's plan and that he needed to leave the house right away. The king returned to the house with his army, the thief realizing that he had been betrayed decided he would go out fighting and took on the entire army by himself. He fought with more power than any man and had slain the entire army other than the king. The king now charged the man himself and with a flick of the wrist disarmed the thief and wrestled him to the ground, taking him alive. The following morning the thief was brought out to be executed and at that moment Pearl fell in love with the man and wanted only him to be her husband. She begged that her father stop the execution and finally he went to the king, offering everything he had for the thief's release. The king refused to do so and Pearl then decided that she too would die next to her love. As she mounted her funeral pyre Shiva came to her and offered her a wish because of her commitment. Pearl wished that her father would have 100 sons so that when she died her family would not end with her. Shiva then offered her another wish in which she asked for the life of her desired husband and that he be a good man. This wish was also granted to her and her husband came back to life and they were married. The king heard of these happenings and made the thief one of his generals because of his courage. Pearl and the man were married and lived happily with one another. The goblin then asked the king if when the thief saw Pearl approaching at his death if he wept or laughed. The king answered that the man both wept because he would never marry this girl but also laughed due to his bewilderment of why a girl would reject kings and chose a thief for a husband, thinking to himself that women were crazy. Once again the goblin escaped and returned to the tree.
The Girl and the Thief
The General's Wife-
On the bank of the Ganges lay Golden City, ruled by King Glorious, who had earned every bit of his name. Within the city lived a merchant who had a daughter named Passion, every man who saw her fell madly in love and went crazy with passion. When the girl was of age the merchant went to the king to ask his permission to marry her off while also purposing that the king himself marry her. The king sent his Brahman's to examine Passion, each realized that if the king was to marry her he would be consumed and his kingdom would fall apart. They told the king that she possessed bad qualities so he would not marry her. He turned down the merchants offer but gave the girl to general Force. As spring time rolled around the king rode his elephant throughout the city to the spring festival. The women were all to stay indoors in order to not fall for the beauty of the king, however, Passion wanted to see the king and went out to her balcony. The king saw Passion and was overtaken with love, feeling her soaking throughout his body. He began trying to find out everything he could about this women and finally was told that this was Passion, the girl he denied for marriage. He banished the Brahmans who had fed him the bad information about her and longed to be with her. General Force heard of the love the king had for his wife and visited him in his palace. He told King Glorious that he was a slave to him and therefore he could have his wife if he desired her. This offer angered the king for he was a virtuous man and would not commit such an action against one of his own people. Even when the entire city urged the king to take the generals offer he refused. His glorious and proud nature ultimately lead to his death, the love he held secret for Passion ate away at him till nothing was left. General Force felt to blame for the King's demise and burned himself alive. There goblin then turned to the king and asked which of the two men was more deserving. The king pondered on the question and stated that the king was the better of the two. The goblin questioned as to why the king was the better if the two when he had offered to give up his own wife in loyalty to the king. The king responded that King Glorious had only to be loyal to himself unlike his servants and by denying his heart had shown true sacrifice. Once again the goblin escaped his grasp and returned to the tree.
The General's Wife
The Four Brothers-
Four brothers not amounting to much wander the country in hopes to find themselves in this world. One of the brothers while trudging through the forest came upon a dead man and thought to himself that this man had found true happiness, no longer having to deal with the woes of life. At this point he decided to hang himself, as he attempted to do so he was stopped by a man passing by. The man explained to him that his unhappiness was caused by his unrighteousness and that if he was to become a righteous man he would in turn find happiness. After speaking with his brothers the four decided that each should wander in a different direction and along their travels each should learn one particular science. After some time the four brothers were reunited and began to discuss what each of them had learned. The first brother told the others that he could now take the skeleton of any animal and put the correct flesh upon its bones. The second brother told that he could put the proper hair and skin on the now flesh covered skeleton. The third could put in the eyes and other organs of sense once the skin, flesh and hair were put into place. The fourth could give the animal the breath of life after the other three brothers had done their parts. The brothers decided to test out their skills together and went to find a skeleton, stumbling upon that of a lion. The brothers are worked their magic and the beast rose back to life, instantly killing its creators and returning back into the forest. The goblin then asked the king which of the four brothers was most to blame for the creation of the lion. The king answered that it was the brother who gave the beast life. The others were not aware that the animal was a lion but the fourth brother could now see its form and still brought the creature back to life just to prove his skill. The goblin once again escaped and returned to the tree.
The Four Brothers
The Old Hermit
In the city of Beautiful there was a well-known Brahman named Sacrifice who had a son named Devasoma. The boy was to excel at whatever he put his hand to, but during his 16th year he feel ill and died. His parents were distraught and refused to burn the boys body. After much persuading by the boys relatives, his parents decided that he must be sent to the cemetery and cremated. As the family followed the boy to the cemetery, their wailing was noticed by a hermit living nearby. The hermit went to find the source of the commotion and saw the young boy still ripe with youth lying on the pyre. In this moment he decided that he would use his magic to exchange his body for the boy. The hermit went aside and wept aloud and then began to dance all around. The hermit then left his old decrepit body and entered the body of the boy still lying on the pyre, he arose and a cry of joy erupted. He told his family that he had been to the other side and was sent back by Shiva to perform a mission. He sent his family home and told them that after its completion he would return to them. The family followed his instructions and returned home while he disposed of his previous body and walked off into the distance. The goblin then asked the king why it was that before the magician entered the boys body he both wept and danced. The king answered that the hermit first wept from grief, knowing that he would forever be leaving his body, the one his parents had made and that he had lived life in. He then danced at the thought of returning to his youth while still possessing the knowledge he had gained throughout a lifetime. The goblin once again escaped the king's grasp and returned to the tree.
The Old Hermit
Father and Son, Daughter and Mother-
King Virtue of the Southern country was married to Beautiful of Malwa, the two had one daughter, Moonlight. Once their daughter was grown there was a plot to ruin the kings reign and he and his family were driven from the city. They fled to the land of his father-in-law to seek protection and housing. On there travels the three came upon a a terrible village, filled with robbers who saw the king and his family approaching. They came out armed intending to rob the king. The king instructed his wife and daughter to run into the woods in order to protect them from the men. After much fighting the robbers over took the king and killed him, taking with them all of his possessions. The queen, having seen her husband killed ran further into the forest finally stopping near a lotus pond. A father and son lived in this area of the woods and saw the footprints of the two women leading throughout the forest. They began to track the pair and the father promised his son, Strong-lion, that if they found the two women he could marry one of his choosing. The son requested the one with the smaller footprints to be his wife because he assumed she was the younger of the two. He then begged that his father marry the second woman for he had lost his wife and a home without a wife isn't truly a home at all. As the men found the two women they brought them back to their city after the queen had explained why it was they were in the forest to begin with. The queen was the one with the smaller feet so she was married to Strong-lion, whereas Fierce-lion married Moonlight for she was the one with the larger feet. Therefore Moonlight became mother-in-law to her own mother and Beautiful became daughter-in-law to her daughter. After some time had passed sons and daughters were born to both couples. At this time the goblin asked the king how it was that the children of both couples were then related to one another. The king twisted the situation this way and that but was unable to come up with an answer to the question. This pleased the goblin greatly but he was truly amused with the willingness of the king to continually return to the tree and fulfill his promise. The goblin then began telling the king the truth of the nights endeavors. He told the king that he would now leave the body so it could be returned to the monk but that the monk is truly a rouge who will try to sacrifice the king to gain access to the goblin. The goblin tells the king that the monk will instruct the king to lie on the ground with an attitude of reverence, when told to do so the king is to ask the monk to show him what he means and when the monk goes to do so the king is to cut off his head. In doing so he will gain kingship over the fairies which is what the monk plans to accomplish himself. At this point the goblin left the body and the king made his way to the monk at the fig tree.
Father and Son, Daughter and Mother
Conclusion
As the goblin had told the king, the monk asked the king to lay down with an attitude of reverence upon his arrival. The king stated that he did not know such attitude and if the monk could display it for him it would be quite helpful. As the monk did so the king cut off his head and cut out his heart, giving both to the goblin who had followed in the shadows. The goblin is pleased with the kings actions and offers him the rule of the fairies only after he has ruled the world. The king however declines this offer, only asking that the goblin make sure his stories are known throughout the world. The goblin says that it shall be done and that wherever these stories are told the creatures of darkness shall have no power there. Then Shiva appears to the king and is delighted with his actions. Shiva gives the king a sword called Invincible that will grant any wish the king may have. THE END.
Conclusion
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