আনৌগ রানি

In a certain land, there lived a king.

His queen passed away, leaving behind a baby boy and a baby girl.

The king fell into a great dilemma and crisis with the two children.

While the king was in the royal court, the two children would leap and run around playing in the palace courtyard; the servants paid little attention to them.

In a corner of the palace, they would spend their time playing contentedly on their own.

At that time, an ordinary woman would affectionately feed and look after those children every day.

Feeding and nurturing them, she would coax them, saying, 'If your father somehow marries me and brings me home, I shall cook and feed you even more delicious food!'

I will bathe you with immense care and keep you tidy.

I will put you to sleep by telling fairy tales, and carry you around on my shoulders.

The innocent children went to their father and began to repeat all these words day after day.

The king heard this daily but initially made no response.

Hearing this continuously, looking at his children's long faces, thinking let happen what may, he married that woman and brought her to the palace as the new queen.

The king loved and pampered his children immensely.

Thinking that, the new queen grew jealous in her heart, thinking that as long as these two children lived, even if she gave birth to her own children, they could never sit on the throne.

Therefore, she devised a cunning plot to eliminate the two children forever.

Every day, the princess began to be scolded for various things.

Secretly, she began to poison the king's mind against the children by spreading various slanders.

Some days later, one day that cruel queen called the princess and gave her a vessel of water swarming with insects to drink.

Seeing the insects floating inside the water, the princess refused to drink it.

The new queen then took a vessel of clean water to the king and fabricated, 'Your Majesty look, your daughter refuses to drink this pure water claiming it has insects; she is actually implying I poisoned it, doing this only to make me look evil in your eyes!'

It is better you banish me from here; there is no need for me to remain in the royal palace.

You may live happily with these children of yours.

Water from the same vessel appears pure to one and full of insects to another—I will not tolerate such bizarre discrimination.

The king then angrily scolded the princess and said, 'If you know what is good for you, drink this water right now!'

Otherwise, there will be a severe consequence for you today.

If you do not swallow this, there will be no room left for you in this palace.

Then, completely helpless, the little girl wept and remembered her deceased mother, and despite seeing the insects squirming, she swallowed that water in one gulp.

Inside her stomach, those insects laid eggs and began to multiply.

Hundreds of new insects began to be born there.

With the biting and thrashing of those insects, the girl's stomach swelled up like a drum, and intense pain began.

The cruel queen would then secretly mix ashes and charcoal dust into her rice dish to feed her.

The new queen thus began to push the brother and sister bit by bit toward death through various tricks and ploys.

She had enchanted their father so completely with her charms and craftiness that whatever the wicked queen said appeared as absolute truth to the king.

If his own children tried to speak, the king would instead hold them guilty.

When those insects inside her belly prepared to crawl out of her mouth and nose, she would twist in agony and cry continuously.

The wicked queen then called the king and said, 'Your Majesty look, your daughter has arranged to bring total shame upon your head!'

Who knows with whom she has engaged in improper conduct to bring about her own ruin!

Look, how her stomach is swelling day by day!

She just keeps vomiting day and night.

The entire kingdom is uttering 'fie' upon us for this.

In shame, I am unable to walk with my head held high in society.

If your daughter brings dishonor upon us through ordinary folk of the forest, we will by no means be able to stop people's gossip.

The younger brother knows all this but doesn't say anything, so he needs to be punished severely and kept in check.

The queen convinced the king, saying, 'If she is not banished into the wild forest, she will end up destroying the entire royal lineage.'

Therefore, Your Majesty, do whatever must be done right now, make a proper arrangement to get rid of these two pests.

The king, upon hearing this, could find no way out or understand what to do.

He fell into a state of deep dilemma.

He was torn between whether killing his own children was greater, or protecting the honor of the royal family in society and the state was greater.

Ultimately, driven by society and the evil counsel of the queen, he decided to sacrifice his own children.

What is the use of keeping them alive! thinking this, he resolved his mind.

Deep in the night, he summoned his trusted executioner (guard) and commanded, 'Take these two children into the deep jungle of the distant mountains and execute them.'

With their blood, I shall cleanse the stain of dishonor from my lineage.

Bring their blood filled inside a bamboo cylinder to me as proof.

Saying 'As you command, Your Majesty,' the executioner set out toward the forest with the two innocent children.

As they left, a faithful palace dog secretly began to follow right behind them.

Walking along, they reached a cave at the foot of the mountains.

The two little children, exhausted from walking, grew limp and fell asleep right there.

The executioner then whispered to the other guards, 'Let these two children remain right here.'

It feels safe here, they will be protected from the tigers or wild animals in the forest.

And if it rains, here they will be protected from the rushing water of the mountains.

They left a sharp sword at the mouth of the cave for defense against wild beasts.

'If they survive, they can go to the village by the river flowing below the mountain and somehow subsist by begging.'

The other guard said, 'We must fulfill what we were commanded; but without killing them, how shall we bring back the blood?'

Then, while returning, they seized the faithful dog that had followed them.

They slaughtered that dog, filled its blood into the bamboo cylinder, and brought it to the king.

Meanwhile, the innocent brother and sister were sleeping peacefully inside the cave.

The night ended and the morning sun rose high, but there was no one to wake them up.

When the bright sunlight fell directly upon their faces, they opened their eyes and looked around.

They could not understand what unfamiliar place they had found themselves in.

In that dark mountain, there was no sound of birds or any human presence.

In fear and panic, they wept aloud and embraced each other, crying for a long time.

Staying in the mountains, the two children began to suffer from severe pangs of hunger.

The little brother then emerged from the cave to look for food and beg.

Walking along, he went to the distant village by the river below the mountain and began to beg from door to door.

Seeing his pale and pitiful face, the kind village folk thought, 'Ah, what a helpless orphan child!' and generously gave him alms.

Collecting rice and food from there, he returned to the cave in joy and reunited with his sister.

The brother and sister gathered dry forest leaves and firewood together.

By rubbing stones together, they managed to spark and light a fire somehow.

Then, filling a bamboo cylinder with rice and water, they half-boiled it and ate that food without any curry to satisfy their hunger.

Every morning, the brother would set out for the village to beg.

And the sister would stay inside the cave and cook rice for them.

Every day, the sister ate her portion, set aside a share of food for her brother, and sleeps.

When the brother returned hungry across the river and went to eat, he found not a single grain of rice left in the vessel.

The sister was surprised and said, 'I really did cover the rice here!'

Every day, the sister kept rice for her brother, but the brother looked around the pot and couldn't find any rice.

She was surprised, unable to understand who had stolen his food and eaten it.

The brother suspected in his heart that perhaps his sister had eaten it all out of hunger and was now making excuses.

He thought, 'Whenever I return, she makes up new stories to explain it away.'

Alright, I shall hide and watch myself to see what exactly is happening here.

Thinking this, the next day he did not go to beg but hid behind a mountain rock near the cave.

Watching from there, he saw his sister eat her food and neatly cover his portion inside the bamboo cylinder.

Then she lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep.

After a while, the brother saw a swarm of large insects crawling out of his sleeping sister's mouth and nose!

Those hundreds of insects scurried over and entered inside the cylinder of rice kept for the brother.

They ate up all the rice in that cylinder, filled their bellies, and lined up again trying to re-enter her stomach through her mouth and nose.

Witnessing this strange and horrific sight, the brother rushed in with a stick and began to beat and kill the insects one by one as they emerged.

He also caught the chief mother-insect and struck it dead.

With the death of the chief insect, all the toxic insects vanished from the princess's belly forever, and her stomach became normal again.

She then regained her full health and opened her eyes.

All sickness and impurity left her body, and she regained her divine form just like before.

Some time later, a prince from another country went out hunting deer inside the forest.

Along with him, a pack of soldiers, executioners, and hunting guards set out on horseback deep into the woods.

Chasing after a deer, the prince suddenly arrived at the foot of a dark and secluded mountain in the woods.

Upon reaching there, all the food and water provisions of the hunting party were completely exhausted.

On one side is thirst for water and on the other side is hunger.

The prince's eyes are dim with hunger.

The guard, searching, eventually arrived before the cave where the prince and princess had taken refuge.

He was surprised to see someone in this deep forest and asked, 'Who is here?'

Peering inside the cave, he saw a beautiful princess sitting there, illuminating the dark cavern with her presence.

He thought to himself, 'Is this an ordinary human, or some goddess or nymph of the forest!' and he grew somewhat afraid.

The princess then saw the guard and asked, 'Who are you? What do you seek deep within this wild forest?'

The guard said humbly, 'Goddess, I am searching for some place to cook food for my prince.'

The princess said, 'Very well, you may cook her.'

The guard set the cooking aside and stared at the princess's miraculous form and incredible beauty.

He was so absorbed in her beauty that the food on the hearth burnt to ashes, without him even noticing.

Embarrassed, he quickly ran back from there to the hunting prince.

The prince asked impatiently, 'Well, did you find food? Where is it?'

The guard replied tremblingly, 'Your Majesty, do not ask of the food; it was completely burnt to ashes!'

But I have seen a breathtakingly beautiful maiden inside the mountain cave.

Whether she is a human or a goddess of heaven, I know not.

The entire forest seems to gleam with the radiance of her beauty!

It was because I was staring bound by her grace that the food accidentally burnt through my distraction.

Hearing this strange account, the prince grew highly curious and set out toward the cave with all his attendants to see the forest maiden.

Upon arriving before the cave, the prince was struck spellbound by the princess's grace.

Sitting upon his horse, he humbly questioned, 'Oh peerless beauty, are you a goddess or an ordinary human?'

If you are a goddess, tell me how I may worship you to make you pleased.

And if you are a human, I give you my solemn word to marry you and make you the queen of my realm.

At that exact moment, the princess's brother returned to the cave holding some forest fruits in his hands.

The princess then explained the entire account of their stepmother's wicked conspiracy and how they were unjustly banished into the forest to the prince.

Hearing this tragic story, the prince's heart filled with deep compassion and anger.

He then affectionately mounted the princess and her little brother on horses, brought them to his royal palace, and married the princess with great pomp to make her his queen.

One day, the new queen (princess) told the prince, 'Your Majesty, no one in the land or the royalty knows that you have married me and made me your queen.'

I wish to cook and serve everyone with my own hands; please invite all your relatives, neighboring kings, sages, and saints to a royal feast.

I shall personally oversee all the cooking arrangements.

This will greatly elevate your honor and glory throughout the realm.

The prince replied with joy, 'That is an excellent proposal!'

Fixing an auspicious date, he sent out invitations to all the dignitaries across lands.

On the day of the feast, riding on elephants, horses, and palanquins, kings and holy men arrived at the palace from far and wide.

Among those invited guests, the princess's own father (the old king) had also arrived.

He could not recognize his own daughter in her royal attire.

But the princess recognized her father the moment she saw him.

She remained completely silent without saying a word.

From dawn, she busied herself with the cooking chores, paying no heed to the smoke or exhaustion.

With great care, she prepared various dishes of curries, rice, and rice pudding.

But before adding salt to each dish, he set each dish aside in a separate bowl.

She did not add even a single grain of salt to that separately kept dish.

Bathing and applying perfumes, the royal guests took their seats in rows in the banquet hall.

Her little brother, acting as a royal attendant, began to serve food into everyone's dishes with great respect.

The queen herself overseeing the entire serving process.

Those saltless dishes were specifically served into her own father's plate.

While all the other guests were praising the delicious food with great satisfaction, the old king stared at his plate in astonishment.

One guest remarked, 'Our new queen is truly Goddess Lakshmi incarnate! The balance of salt and spices is absolutely perfect, not a bit less or more.'

Everything has been cooked beautifully by her.

Another said, 'I have eaten at many royal feasts in my life, but I have never tasted such heavenly flavors; there is no flaw in the cooking!'

It seems as if some goddess herself cooked this meal; my belly is filled just by the aroma!

Meanwhile, the princess's father, unable to swallow that saltless, tasteless food, sat silently without spitting it out for fear of public embarrassment.

He stirred the food with his fingers one by one, but could not find the slightest taste of salt in any dish.

Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he spoke out aloud:

Brothers, I cannot comprehend how all of you are praising this food to be so delicious!

Not a single dish in my plate contains even a grain of salt!

The other guests said in surprise, 'The king must be making a massive mistake today!'

It is completely absurd to say there is a lack of salt in such wonderful food.

The princess then approached her father and smiled gently, 'Oh king, how is it possible for food cooked on the same hearth to have salt in one dish and none in another?'

The old king, somewhat annoyed and angry, said:

I tell no lie! Even if cooked in the same pot, my food truly has no salt added.

The princess then stated in a grave voice, 'Water from the same vessel cannot appear pure to one and full of toxic insects to another, Your Majesty.'

So how can it be that one pot of food has salt and the other does not?

Have you forgotten that one day, blinded by your queen's evil counsel, believing a stepmother who claimed water had insects, you unjustly banished your innocent daughter and son into the forest?

The old king started in surprise and said, 'How do you know that story of the insects in the water?'

Who are you? Tell me the truth!

The princess then cast aside her disguise, wept, and said, 'Father, I am that unfortunate daughter of yours whom you ordered to be killed!'

By God's grace I did not die, I am alive, and saying this, she explained the entire account of their survival.

The old king then recognized his little son as well.

Weeping in remorse, he embraced his two children tightly to his chest and kissed them affectionately.

He returned to his kingdom, dug a deep pit, and punished that wicked and cruel queen by burying her alive.

Thereafter, he brought his two children back to the palace, and they all spent their days in immense happiness and peace.