Reading Notes: Bengali Folktales, Part B

 The Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled

Image Source : newsamerica

  • A king had seven queens who were all barren, which made him sad
  • A holy mendicant told the king about a certain forest that contained a tree with seven mangoes
  • If the king plucked the mangoes himself and gave them to his queens, the would become mothers
  • The king retrieved the mangoes and his queens were with child
  • While the king was hunting, he saw a beautiful woman and fell in love, he didn't know she was a Rakshasi (ghost)
  • His new queen asked the king to make his queens blind and let them be killed
  • The queens lost their eyes but the chief minister couldn't kill them and hid them in a cave
  • The eldest queen gave birth first. Worrying about starving, she fed her infant to the other queens
  • The youngest queen did not eat but set her portion aside
  • Every queen gave birth and fed her infant to the others except for the youngest
  • The youngest queen did not want to give up her infant and the other queens agreed to suckle the child
  • The Rakshasi ate members of the royal guard, family, servants, animals and ate people in town
  • The suckled boy grew up and volunteered his services to the king
  • In order to get rid of the boy, the Rakshasi sent him to get fruit from her mother in hopes that she would devour him
  • The boy tricked the Rakshasi's mom into thinking he was her grandson
  • He observed a bird in a cage, the Rakshasi's mom informed him that the bird contains the life of the queen
  • He took the bird to the king and offered to kill it in the presence of him and the queen
  • As he tore the bird apart, the queen suffered the same injuries
  • The boy explained the story, the seven queens gained their eyesight and returned to the palace

Bibliography: Author, Rev. Lal Behari Day, The Boy whom Seven Women Suckled, mythfolklore

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction Post

Image
 Hello, my name is Daphne. My major is in Biology and my goal is to be a physician's assistant. The best class I took last semester was Introduction to Personality. It was fun to learn about personality theories and how each of the psychologists we studied differed from each other. I would say that an accomplishment for me and probably some others was pushing through such a stressful year.  I am a huge fan of horror movies and anime. I enjoy reading for fun when I have the time. Some of my favorite authors are Stephen King and Ernest Gaines. I can't say what the best book I have read is. There are many that I would say are my favorites from different genres.   I will listen to  just about any kind of music but if I had to choose a favorite, it would be classic soul and R&B. If you put my music player on shuffle, you might get a little bit of everything.  I don't have any hobbies but hopefully I will find some when I have the time. I have always wanted to try knitting an
Read more

Week 3 Story : Trickery in Asgard

Image
Portfolio : story Characters : Odin - King of the Norse Gods Frigga - Main Goddess Loki - Trickster of the Norse Gods Eir - Goddess of Healing Heimdall - Watchman of the Norse Gods Narvi - Son of Loki Abernathy - A woman from Midgard Hank - Abernathy’s father Mythological Realms of the Norse Gods: Asgard - Land of the Aesir Alfheim - Land of the light elves in Asgard Bifrost - The bridge between Asgard and Midgard Midgard - Realm of mankind Franang’s Falls- A waterfall in Midgard Jotunheim - Land of the giants Image Source: mythology   Loki, always envious of Odin’s power, fantasized about ruling the realms and people groveling at his feet. As he sat near Franang’s Falls making plans to take over, he saw Abernathy. She was a  beautiful woman, with hair the color of fire and eyes the color of emeralds. He knew that she was worthy of Odin himself. However, Odin promised Frigga, his goddess, that he would never take another lover. Loki knew this but figured out a way to set his plan into
Read more