The Princes who Learnt the Sciences

At a certain city there is a King, it is said. There are four Princes (sons) of the King, it is said. At the time when he told the four persons to learn the sciences that are [known] in that country, they were unable to learn the sciences.

After that, the King, bringing a sword, told them to [go elsewhere and] learn the sciences [or he would kill them].

So all the four Princes, tying up a bundle of cooked rice, went away, and having gone to yet a city and sat down at a halting-place (rūppayak), the eldest Prince said, “At the time when we are coming back we must assemble together at this very halting-place.”

After that, the eldest Prince arrived (baehunāya) at a city. At the time when he asked, “What is the science that is [known] in this city?” they said, “In this city there is sooth.”

“You must go and send me to the house where they say sooth,” he said. Then they went and sent him. The Prince learnt sooth.

The next (etanama) Prince arrived (baessā) at a city. He asked, “What is the science that is [known] in this city?” “In this city there is theft,” they said.

“Please go and conduct me to the house where theft is [known],” he said. That one learnt theft.

The next Prince went and arrived at a city. “What is the science that is [known] in this city?” he asked. “Archery is [known] in this city,” they said.

“Please go and send me to the house where there is archery,” he said. They went and sent him. That one learnt archery.

The next Prince went and arrived at a city. “What is the science that is [known] in this city?” he asked. “In this city there is carpenter’s work,” they said.

“Please go and send me to the house where there is carpenter’s work,” he said. That one learnt carpenter’s work.

After that, the soothsayer [Prince] looked into the sooth, [to ascertain] on what day the other three persons would come. When he looked, it appeared that on the very day when the eldest Prince comes back the other three persons also will come.

The eldest Prince having set off and come, returned to the halting-place (rūppē) at which they stayed that day. Having come, while he was there the other three also came and arrived at that halting-place.

“What is the science you learnt?” they asked from the eldest Prince. “I learnt sooth,” he said.

They asked the next Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I learnt theft,” he said.

They asked the next Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I learnt archery,” he said.

They asked the young Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I learnt carpenter’s work,” said the young Prince.

The three persons asked the eldest Prince, “What is there at our house?” Then he said, “On the Palmira-tree a female crow (kawaḍi), having laid three eggs, is sitting on them,” he said.

After that, the whole seven came to the city. The King having come rubbing (whetting) a sword, asked the eldest Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I learnt sooth,” he said.

He asked the next Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I learnt theft.” He asked the next Prince; “I learnt archery.” He asked the youngest Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I learnt carpenter’s work,” he said.

Having said, “It is good,” the King asked, “What is there at my house?” “On the Palmira-tree a female crow is sitting on three eggs,” [the eldest Prince] said.

“What is lost from my house?” he asked, to look [if he knew]. “The Rākshasa having gone away, and put the King’s Queen in the middle house (room) in the midst of seven, has placed the seven keys in his mouth,” he said.

“Doer of theft, without the female crow’s flying away, while it is [sitting there] in that manner, take an egg, and come back,” he said. Without the crow’s flying away, while it was [sitting] in that manner he took an egg, and came back.

Having caused the egg to be buried under the rice winnowing tray, he said, “Archer, without swerving to that side or this side, shoot [for the arrow] to go cutting it quite across.” He shot so as to go quite across.

“Doer of carpenter’s work, fasten this [egg] in the very manner in which it was [at first],” he said. He fastened it in the very way in which it was.

“Robber, without the crow’s flying (padinnē), go and place [the egg in the nest], and come back,” he said. He went and placed it [in the nest], and came back.

“Can you bring back this Queen?” he asked. “We can,” they said.

The whole four persons having gone, the thief went into the [Rākshasa’s] house, and brought out the Queen successfully. When he was bringing her the Rākshasa was asleep. Taking the Queen, they came away.

When they were coming, they told [the soothsaying Prince] to look by [means of] sooth [what the Rākshasa was doing]. Still he slept. Having come very far in that way, they told him to look [again]. “He is now coming on the path,” he said.

When they were returning thus, [the Rākshasa], having come quite near, sprang at them. At that very time the archer shot [at him; the arrow] having gone cutting his neck, he fell.

The ship in which they had gone was damaged (tuwāla wunā). The carpenter made [the damage good]. Then, [after crossing the sea] they brought the Rākshasa’s head and the Queen, and gave them to the King. Thereupon the King gave them the sovereignty.

Then the soothsayer says, “[The sovereignty ought to belong to me]. Through my looking at the sooth, indeed, ye will get the country, [if ye receive it],” he said.

Then the thief says, “[The sovereignty ought to belong to me]. It was necessary that I should go and take [the Queen] successfully from the Rākshasa. [If ye get it], it is owing to me that ye will get the country,” he said.

Then the archer says, “[The sovereignty ought to belong to me]. When the Rākshasa came in order to go [after] eating you, through my having shot him and killed him ye will get the country [if ye receive it].”

Then the Carpenter says, “[The sovereignty ought to belong to me]. Your ship having broken, by my fastening it [together] at the time when it was becoming rotten, ye will get the country [if ye receive it].”

Afterwards they gave the sovereignty to the eldest Prince.

Bintaenna, Ūva Province.

In a city there are five sons of a nobleman. In yet [another] city there is a Princess without both parents. The Princess is a person possessing many articles. Having thought that when the eldest son of the nobleman went there she must make him stop [there], and having spoken with the Princess’s kinsfolk [regarding it], the eldest son having gone near the Princess she caused him to remain.

After he stayed there many days, this Princess asks this nobleman’s son, “What do you know of the sciences?” Then he says, “I don’t know a single one.” Having said, “If so, you cannot stay near me; go you away,” she drove him away.

This nobleman’s son came home. The nobleman asks his son, “What have you come for?”

“The Princess asked me, ‘What do you know of the sciences?’ I said, ‘I don’t know anything.’ ‘If so, you cannot stay near me,’ she said. Because of that I came,” he said.

Immediately, this nobleman says to all his five sons, “Unless you five learn five sciences, without [doing so] don’t come to my house.” Having said it he drove them away. Thereupon, these five persons went to five cities, and learning five sciences, after much time came home. [One was a soothsayer, the second was a marksman, the third a thief, the fourth made very rapid journeys, and the fifth could bring the dead to life.]

This nobleman, after that having summoned the eldest son, asked, “What is the science that thou knowest?”

“I know [how] to tell sooth,” he said.

To look at this one’s knowledge, the nobleman, having seen that a female crow had laid eggs in a tree, said, “Should you tell me the sooth that I ask, you are [really] an astrologer.” Having given his son betel he asked it [mentally].

After he asked it, this one says, “Father, you have asked me if a female crow has laid eggs in a tree. Is it not so?” he asked.

Thereupon, the nobleman said to the one who was able to shoot, “Come here. Without the female crow’s knowing it, and without breaking the egg, shoot thou so that it may become marked [only],—an egg out of the eggs that are in that nest,” he said. The nobleman’s son having said, “It is good,” shot in the manner he told him.

Then this nobleman, having summoned the thief, says, “Go thou, and without the crow’s knowing, bring thou only the egg which this one shot.” Having said, “It is good,” he brought that very egg.

Then the nobleman said, “Go again, and place thou it [back in the nest].” He said, “It is good,” and went and put it [back].

Thereupon, [having called the eldest son again], what sooth did the nobleman ask? Thinking it in his mind [only], he asked, “How are now the happiness and health of the Princess whom you at first summoned [in marriage]?”

After he asked, this one having looked at the sooth, says, “The Princess having now died, they have taken her to bury,” he said.

Thereupon, the nobleman said to the one who is able to go on rapid journeys, “Go, and do not allow them to bury her”; he went accordingly.

Thereupon the Prince who caused her life to be restored, says, “I shall take the Princess whose life I caused to be restored.”

Then the person who went on rapid journeys says, “Unless I had gone quickly, and had not allowed them to bury her, and if they had buried her, how would you take her? Because it is so, I shall take her.”

Then the soothsayer says, “If I had not looked at the sooth, and told [you about her death], how would you two take her? Because it is so, I shall take her.”

Now then, out of these four persons, to whom does she belong? According to our thinking, indeed, she belongs to the nobleman.

North-western Province.

The Seven Princes. (Variant b.)

At a certain city there are a King and a Queen. There are seven Princes of the King. The King every day [goes] to fish (lit., to lower bait).

The youngest Prince said, “Elder brother, let us put these into the water to look if they go down (sink).”

A long time the two persons in the gang of thieves remained breaking and breaking into houses. Having been thus and thus, the two persons spoke together: “Seeking articles [to take back with us] let us go to look at our elder brothers.” Having said [this, after] getting the articles they came near the Prince who stayed near the man who is striking balls. When they looked he was learning to play at balls better than the ball-playing man.

That Prince said, “Let us go to see the other [next] elder brother of ours.” Having said [this], the three Princes came near the Prince who remained near the plough-carpenter; when they looked the Prince also was learning to bore (widinḍa) ploughs better than the plough-carpenter.

That Prince said, “Let us go to the place where elder brother is.” They came to look at the Prince who remained near the shooter. Having come there, when they looked he, also, was learning to shoot better than the shooter.

After that, the Prince said, “Let us go to look at that other elder brother of ours.” They came near the Prince who remained near the man who knows the crows’ language. Having come there, when they looked he, also, was learning the crows’ language better than the man who knows the crows’ language.

After that, the Prince said, “Let us go near that other elder brother of ours, near the Prince who remained near the soothsayer.” The whole of the six Princes having come, when they looked he, also, was learning to say sooth better than the soothsayer.

After that, the whole of the seven Princes having [thus] met together, came to the Princes’ city. Thereupon, the King and the seven Princes went to the river to bathe. When they were bathing a crow cawed; then the King said, “Who can explain the language of that crow?”

Then the Prince who knows the crows’ language said, “I can. That cawed, having been at the place where it is roosting on the eggs.”

Then the King said, “Who can take the eggs by stealth [without disturbing the crow]?” The two who stayed in the gang of thieves having said, “We can,” the two Princes taking the crow-eggs gave them to the King.

After that the King and the seven Princes having come to the city, the King asked, “Who can say sooth?” The eldest Prince said, “I can,” he said.

The King said, “Look and find by sooth seven Princesses for you seven persons,” he said.

Afterwards the Prince having looked by sooth, said, “At such and such a city there is a Princess; at such and such a city there is a Princess.” Saying and saying [this], he mentioned separately seven Princesses who are at seven cities.

Then the King said, “Who can, [after] stealing them, come with those seven Princesses?” The two who remained in the gang of thieves having said, “We can,” that day night having gone and having stolen two and come back, he gave the two Princesses to the eldest elder brother and the next elder brother.

On the following day night having gone and having come back [after] stealing a Princess, he gave the Princess to the next elder brother.

On the following day they went, and [after] stealing two Princesses for the [next] two persons, thereafter they went back to the very gang of thieves.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

This story is probably defective in parts, and some incidents in the last portion appear to have been omitted,—regarding the ball player, the shooter, and the plough maker.

The Attempt of Four Brāhmaṇa Princes to Marry. (Variant c.)

A certain Brāhmaṇa had a daughter named Candrāpatī. She was a person endowed with beauty. Four Brāhmaṇa Princes having heard of the excellence of her figure, came to try to marry her. The Brāhmaṇa her father having inquired what sciences they knew, each one said that he did not know [any]. He said that he could not marry and give the Princess-daughter to them.

Thereupon, they four having arrived at shame, came near a travellers’ rest-house, and conversing [said], “We four persons having gone separately to districts for learning sciences, [after] three months in succession again let us arrive at this very place.” Promising [this], and having looked in the four directions, they departed. In this manner the four of them having arrived each in a different district, and having [become] conversant with the sciences,—looking at omens, going in the sky, abating poison, giving life [anew,—after] three months in succession arrived at the aforesaid travellers’ rest-house.

Thereafter, they four again departed for taking in marriage the Princess. At that time a Hūnā (House Lizard) cried. Then the person who was clever at omens told the remaining three persons that a cobra having bitten the Princess, they are taking her to the grave at that time.

Thereupon the person who possessed the power of flight through the air, having gone by the power of flight through the air, together with the other three, halted at the grave of the dead body. Then the poison discharger reduced the poison; the other gave her life.

Afterwards, while the four of them are one by one boasting of the gain due to themselves, they quarrelled over it. For that reason, not obtaining the Princess, they again went away.

North-western Province.

In the Kathā Sarit Sāgara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 349, four Brāhmaṇa brothers decided to “search through the earth and acquire some magic power.” So they separated and went east, west, north, and south, after fixing upon a meeting-place. The rest of the story differs from the Sinhalese one; they met together, found a piece of bone, gave it flesh, hide, limbs, and life, so that it became a lion which killed them.

In the same work, vol. i, p. 499, four men wanted to marry a Princess; one was a clever weaver, one a Vaiśya who knew the language of beasts and birds, the third a Kshatriya who was an expert swordsman, the fourth a Brāhmaṇa who could raise the dead to life. She refused all four, and died after three months, and the Brāhmaṇa was unable to restore life to her corpse as she was only human owing to a curse which had come to an end. See also vol. ii, p. 276.

In the same work, vol. ii, pp. 242, 258, there are variants in the series of Trivikramasēna and the Vētāla, the second one being like the Sinhalese tales in several respects. The father promised a girl to a man who had magic power, the mother promised her to one who had knowledge, her brother promised her to a hero. When they all came on the appointed day, she had disappeared. The learned man ascertained that she had been abducted by a Rākshasa, the magician prepared a magic chariot in which all three went to rescue her, and the hero killed the Rākshasa. Each one claimed her in a similar form of words to that employed by the learned man, who said, “If I had not known where this maiden was, how would she have been discovered when concealed?” The King decided that the hero ought to marry her.

In the Totā Kahānī (Small), p. 51, a carpenter, goldsmith, tailor, and hermit, halting in a forest one night and each working in turn, carved the figure of a beautiful woman, robed it, adorned it, and caused it to be endowed with life. In the morning they quarrelled regarding the ownership of the woman, and all those to whom the matter was referred also claimed her. When the decision was left to a large old tree, “the tree of decision,” it burst open, and the woman entering it became wood once more.

In the same work, p. 139, three young men saved a merchant’s daughter from a fairy who had abducted her. One discovered where she was, the second made a flying wooden horse, on which the third rode and brought her back after killing the fairy. They then quarrelled regarding their claims to marry her. The parrot which related the story considered that she belonged to the last one because he risked his life for her.

At p. 157 also, a girl’s husband who had vowed to offer his own head to a deity in case he married her, decapitated himself at the temple. A Brāhmaṇa who entered feared he would be charged with murdering him, and cut off his head also. The girl came, and was about to follow their example when a voice from the shrine informed her that if she joined the heads to the trunks the two persons would be restored to life. In doing this she misplaced the heads, and both persons then claimed her. The parrot was of opinion that she belonged to the man with her husband’s head. There is a variant in the Kathā Sarit Sāgara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 261, the second man being the girl’s brother.

In Sagas from the Far East, p. 109, five companions went in search of the sixth, whose life-index tree had withered. One found him buried under a rock; the second, a smith’s son, broke it and took out the body; the third, a doctor’s son, made a potion which caused it to revive. The five then helped the man to recover his wife, who had been abducted by a Khan, and each one claimed her as his reward. In their struggle for her she was torn in pieces.

In the same work, p. 299, four youths, working in turn, made a girl out of wood and gave her a soul; each one claimed her. The decision was that she belonged to the fourth, who gave the figure life.

In this work, p. 277, it is stated that Prince Vikramāditya learnt from robber bands the art of robbery, and from fraudulent dealers to lie.

In A. von Schiefner’s Tibetan Tales (Ralston), p. 93, Prince Abhaya, son of Bimbisara, King of Magadha, is stated to have learnt coach-making; another son, Jīvaka, became a celebrated doctor. A full account of him is given in Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 331ff. Sir R. Burton stated that, according to ancient Mohammedan practice, all rulers should learn a handicraft. (Arabian Nights, Lady Burton’s ed., vol. i, p. 339, note).

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 110, a Prince who had been trained by an expert robber stole the egg from under a hawk while it sat on its nest, without disturbing the bird.

There are West African variants of the Sinhalese tale. One from the coast provinces on the north side of the Congo is given in Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort (Dennett), p. 33. A hunter who had three wives was killed while hunting. The first wife dreamt of this, the second guided the others to the spot, the third collected simples and revived him. When they quarrelled regarding the one to whom his life was due, and it was settled that the one whose food he ate first should be considered his preserver, he ate the food of the third wife, and the majority of the people approved of his decision.

In the same work, p. 74, the beautiful daughter of Nzambi, the Earth Goddess, could only be won by an earthly being who could bring down the heavenly fire. The spider went to fetch it, assisted by the tortoise, rat, woodpecker, and sandfly. Each of the animals afterwards claimed the girl, and in the end, Nzambi, as she could not give her to all, paid each one her value, and the girl remained unwed.

A variant of the Sierra Leone district is given in Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider, and the Other Beef (Cronise and Ward), p. 200. A man who had four young sons was killed while hunting. The sons heard the story from their mother when they were full grown, and went in search of him. The eldest found his gun and bones, the second collected and joined them, the third re-made the body with mud, the youngest blew up the nose through a charmed horn, and he became alive. The narrator stated that it has been impossible to decide to whom of the three his restoration to life was due.