A CERTAIN Rajah had two wives, of whom he preferred the second to the first; the first Ranee had a son, but, because he was not the child of the second Ranee, his father took a great dislike to him, and treated him so harshly that the poor boy was very unhappy.
One day, therefore, he said to his mother: “Mother, my father does not care for me, and my presence is only a vexation to him. I should be happier anywhere than here; let me therefore go and seek my fortune in other lands.”
So the Ranee asked her husband if he would allow their son to travel. He said, “The boy is free to go, but I don’t see how he is to live in any other part of the world, for he is too stupid to earn his living, and I will give him no money to squander on senseless pleasures.” Then the Ranee told her son that he had his father’s permission to travel, and said to him, “You are going out into the world now to try your luck; take with you the food and clothes I have provided for your journey.” And she gave him a bundle of clothes and several small loaves, and in each loaf she placed a gold mohur, that on opening it, he might find money as well as food inside; and he started on his journey.
When the young Rajah had traveled a long way, and left his father’s kingdom far behind, he one day came upon the outskirts of a great city, where (instead of taking the position due to his rank, and sending to inform the Rajah of his arrival) he went to a poor Carpenter’s house, and begged of him a lodging for the night. The Carpenter was busy making wooden clogs in the porch of his house, but he looked up and nodded, saying, “Young man, you are welcome to any assistance a stranger may need and we can give. If you are in want of food, you will find my wife and daughter in the house: they will be happy to cook for you.” The Rajah went inside and said to the Carpenter’s daughter, “I am a stranger, and have traveled a long way; I am both tired and hungry: cook me some dinner as fast as you can, and I will pay you for your trouble.” She answered, “I would willingly cook you some dinner at once, but I have no wood to light the fire, and the jungle is some way off.” “It matters not,” said the Rajah; “this will do to light the fire, and I’ll make the loss good to your father;” and taking a pair of new clogs which the Carpenter had just finished making, he broke them up and lighted the fire with them.
Next morning he went into the jungle, cut wood, and, having made a pair of new clogs—better than those with which he had lighted the fire the evening before—placed them with the rest of the goods for sale in the Carpenter’s shop. Shortly afterward, one of the servants of the Rajah of that country came to buy a pair of clogs for his master, and seeing these new ones, said to the Carpenter, “Why, man, these clogs are better than all the rest put together. I will take none other to the Rajah. I wish you would always make such clogs as these.” And throwing down ten gold mohurs on the floor of the hut, he took up the clogs and went away.
The Carpenter was much surprised at the whole business. In the first place, he usually received only two or three rupees for each pair of clogs; and in the second, he knew that these which the Rajah’s servant had judged worth ten gold mohurs had not been made by him; and how they had come there he could not think, for he felt certain they were not with the rest of the clogs the night before. He thought and thought, but the more he thought about the matter the more puzzled he got, and he went to talk about it to his wife and daughter. Then his daughter said, “Oh, those must have been the clogs the stranger made!” And she told her father how he had lighted the fire the night before with two of the clogs which were for sale, and had afterward fetched wood from the jungle and made another pair to replace them.
The Carpenter at this news was more astonished than ever, and he thought to himself, “Since this stranger seems a quiet, peaceable sort of man, and can make clogs so well, it is a great pity he should leave this place: he would make a good husband for my daughter;” and, catching hold of the young Rajah, he propounded his scheme to him. (But all this time he had no idea that his guest was a Rajah.)
Now the Carpenter’s daughter was a very pretty girl—as pretty as any Ranee you ever saw; she was also good-tempered, clever, and could cook extremely well. So when the Carpenter asked the Rajah to be his son-in-law, he looked at the father, the mother and the girl, and thinking to himself that many a better man had a worse fate, he said, “Yes, I will marry your daughter, and stay here and make clogs.” So the Rajah married the Carpenter’s daughter.
This Rajah was very clever at making all sorts of things in wood. When he had made all the clogs he wished to sell next day, he would amuse himself in making toys; and in this way he made a thousand wooden parrots. They were as like real parrots as possible. They had each two wings, two legs, two eyes and a sharp beak. And when the Rajah had finished them all, he painted and varnished them and put them one afternoon outside the house to dry.
Night came on, and with it came Parbuttee and Mahdeo,[67] flying round the world to see the different races of men. Amongst the many places they visited was the city where the Carpenter lived; and in the garden in front of the house they saw the thousand wooden parrots which the Rajah had made and painted and varnished, all placed out to dry. Then Parbuttee turned to Mahdeo, and said, “These parrots are very well made—they need nothing but life. Why should not we give them life?” Mahdeo answered, “What would be the use of that? It would be a strange freak, indeed!” “Oh,” said Parbuttee, “I only meant you to do it as an amusement. It would be so funny to see the wooden parrots flying about! But do not do it if you don’t like.” “You would like it then?” answered Mahdeo. “Very well, I will do it.” And he endowed the thousand parrots with life.