The Island Palace

: Deccan Nursery Tales

Once upon a time there was a town called Atpat. In it there lived a

Brahman. He had a disciple who used every day to go to the village pond

and bathe and worship the god Shiva. On the way he had to walk through

the sandy island in the dry bed of the river. And, as he went home

across the island, he used to hear a voice cry, "Shall I come? Shall I

come? Shall I come?"; but when he looked round he could see no one. The

B
ahman's disciple at last got so frightened that he withered up until

he became as dry and as thin as a bone. At last the Brahman said,

"You have no wish to eat or drink; yet you are so thin. What is the

reason?" The boy replied, "I neither wish to eat, nor want to eat,

nor crave to eat. But I am frightened out of my wits. For whenever

I come back from my bath I hear a voice behind me call out, 'Shall I

come? Shall I come? Shall I come?'; but when I look round there is no

one there." The Brahman said, "Do not be afraid, and when you next hear

the voice, do not look behind you, but call out as boldly as you can,

'Come along, come along, come along.'" Next day the disciple went as

usual to his bath in the village pond. He worshipped the god Shiva,

and as he came home he heard the cry behind him, "Shall I come? Shall

I come? Shall I come?" The boy was very frightened, but he did not

look behind him. In a short time he mastered his fears, and then in

a voice like a bull roaring he cried out, "Come along, come along,

come along." At last he reached home, calling all the time and without

once looking behind him.



The Brahman looked up as the disciple came in, and he saw that just

behind was walking a young girl. He at once married the girl to his

disciple and gave them a house to live in close by his own. Now, on

the first Monday in the month of Shravan, or August, the disciple

got up and said to his wife, "I am going out to worship the god

Shiva. But do not wait for me. Just eat your breakfast directly you

feel hungry." He went out, and in a little time his wife began

to feel hungry. Nevertheless, she knew that, in spite of what

her husband had said, she ought not to eat anything while he was

worshipping Shiva. So she waited for a little time, but at last she

got so terribly hungry that she could not wait any more. So she sat

down and cooked her breakfast, and had just put one mouthful into

her mouth when her husband came to the outer door. "Wife, wife," he

called, "open the door!" Then the little wife got very frightened. She

pushed the uneaten breakfast under the bed, got up, washed her hands,

and opened the door. She then told her husband that she had waited

for him, and she cooked a fresh breakfast, which both ate one after

the other. Next Monday exactly the same thing happened. The little

wife cooked her breakfast and was just beginning it when her husband

came. She then hid her uneaten breakfast under her bed and pretended

that she had waited for his return. And on the two following Mondays

the naughty little wife deceived her husband in just the same way.



Now on the last Sunday in Shravan, when husband and wife went to lie

down, the former noticed a light shining under the bed. He looked to

see what it was, and saw several platefuls of jewels. He asked his wife

whence they had come. Now they were really the uneaten breakfasts,

which the god Shiva had turned into gold and jewels. But the naughty

little wife got very frightened and told her husband a bigger story

than ever. "They are presents," she said, "from my mother and father

and their family." "But where is your father's house?" asked the

husband. "It is in the sandy island," said the little wife, "which

lies in the dry bed of the river." "You must take me there," said her

husband. Next morning they started off together. And the naughty little

wife could hardly walk, she was so frightened. For she knew quite well

that her father had no house in the sandy island. But on the way she

prayed to Shiva, "Please, please, god Shiva, create a house for my

father in the sandy island which lies in the dry bed of the river,

even if it be only for half an hour."



At last the husband and wife came to the sandy island. And there, lo

and behold! they saw a great big palace, and a splendidly dressed young

man came forward and greeted the disciple as his brother-in-law. And

a handsome old knight came forward and greeted the disciple as his

son-in-law. And a beautiful young woman greeted the naughty little

wife as the sister of her husband. And a lovely little girl ran up and

embraced her and called her "sister." And slave girls and maid-servants

ran forward to offer her their service. A guard of soldiers kept

watch by the palace, and at the door there were sentries, who made

way for them as they passed. Inside the house the little wife and

her husband were given platforms to sit upon, and a splendid feast

was all ready prepared for them to eat. After they had feasted, they

got up and said good-bye to the little wife's father and mother, and

garlands of flowers were placed round their necks, and they started

for their home. When they had gone half-way, the naughty little wife

remembered that she had hung her garland on a peg and had forgotten

to bring it with her. So she and her husband went back to the sandy

island. But when they got there, there was no palace, there were no

soldiers to guard it, there were no sentries at the door, there were

no maid-servants nor slave girls. There was nothing there but just

a sandy island in the middle of a dry river-bed. And on the sand lay

the garland which the naughty little wife had forgotten. She took it

up and put it round her neck.



But her husband asked her, "What has happened to your father's

house?" The naughty little wife replied, all in tears, "As it came,

so it went. But if you promise to forgive me, I shall tell you." The

husband promised. So she told him how every Monday she had felt so

hungry and how she had cooked her breakfast, and then, on hearing her

husband's voice, had pushed it under their bed. She also told him that

the god Shiva had turned the food into gold and jewels. "Then when you

asked me," she went on, "I felt so frightened that I said they were

presents from my father and mother and the rest of my family. And

when you made me take you to my father's house, I prayed the god

Shiva to create, if only for half an hour, a house for my father on

the sandy island in the dry river-bed. And he graciously granted my

request." Then the husband forgave the naughty little wife. And she

became quite good and never told him any more stories. And they both

went home and lived happily ever afterwards.



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