The Carpenter and the Goldsmith

    (Q: Tell your name.)

    Ghana Majhi.

    In a place there a lived carpenter and a goldsmith together. They were friends to each other. They ate together and slept in a particular place together. None did anything alone.

    (Q: What do you call the carpenter and goldsmith in your language?)

    In our language it is same as you call the carpenter and goldsmith.

    (Q: Well – all right, very good.)

    The goldsmith and the carpenter were friends. One day the goldsmith said to the carpenter, "Ho friend carpenter, you just sit here, let me go out for defecating." The goldsmith said this. The carpenter thought about their castes. He sat thinking whether the goldsmith was superior or inferior to him. When the goldsmith went for defecating the carpenter sat considering this. Now the goldsmith returned. As he came the carpenter asked him, "Ho friend, tell me whether your tribe is superior or ours?"

    "What? Did you ask me about caste? Well, I shall show you." Now with the help of a hammer the goldsmith went hammering the carpenter. The carpenter, on the other hand, what did was that attacked him with a saw. The disturbance continued. Each one was trying to prove his superiority. One had made bumps on the other’s head; the other had caused wounds. Blood from both smeared the area.

    The quarrel continued. It became so complicated that the earth was vibrating – the battle continued between the carpenter and the goldsmith. Meanwhile, a Brahmin arrived there. "Ho babu, ho babu, why are you fighting with one another like this? Stop it, stop, that’s enough." And he put an end to their fighting. They cooled down.

    Then the Brahmin asked, "What happened? Why were you fighting?"

    The carpenter said, "It is very simple, sir. I simply asked him whether his caste was superior or ours. No sooner had I stopped, when, with the help of a hammer, the goldsmith bumped me on my head. Ultimately I also wounded his body by the help of my saw."

    "Well, don’t worry. Let the three of us decide on a possible solution. We’ll go to consult our senior who lives on that side for the solution. We can’t solve the issue among us. There is the Yuvraj [prince]; we ought to consult him."

    Then the three went to the Yuvraj. What the goldsmith did there – he collected gold from here and there begging from different people: a kilogram from one, half kilogram from other, or three kgs from another. Like this he gathered a huge amount of gold and made a flower tree of gold. He attached golden flowers to that tree and a golden bird sat on the tree. The setting of the golden bird and the golden fruit was appropriately done. Whenever there was a soft breeze the beak of the golden bird touched the fruit. Very skillfully the goldsmith had constructed the golden tree. "It will impress the yuvraj to select me as superior."

    The carpenter on the other hand said, "All right, I’ll also demonstrate my caliber; I shall too. He went out collecting wooden plank of different varieties like the Sal, Piasal etc. He sat under a tree. Meanwhile, he felt drowsy and slept under the tree holding a carpenters axe in hand. Unconsciously he fell asleep without any fear for anybody. In his sleep he dreamt of talking to Lord Viswakarma [the maker of the world] that "our caste will be inferior to the goldsmith. Yuvraj will declare our caste as inferior. People will treat us with less importance. They will underestimate us. Our prestige, our name will be lesser." "No," said Viswakarma. An idea came. There was a soft breeze that made the carpenter fall asleep. Meanwhile, God Viswakarma descended there himself and cut down the tree into two logs. As the carpenter got up he became bewildered to see the tree cut down to pieces. He couldn’t believe himself. "How did it happen? No, no, I won’t stay here any longer otherwise I will lose my life."

    (Q: What did happen?)

    Lord Viswakarma by his miracle cut down the tree into two pieces. As the carpenter got up he became surprised. "What happened – How is it possible? No it is a miracle place. It is not safe to stay here any longer. I must leave the place. I don’t want to be killed. I’ll go back home." He returned home. During the night itself Lord Viswakarma Himself came down there and built a wooden horse and kept it near his house. The carpenter had not made it. Lord Viswakarma has made it Himself. The carpenter was supposed to take it to the Yuvraj. The Goldsmith would go to the palace with his golden tree while the carpenter would carry his wooden horse.

    A table was placed. On that table the golden tree would be placed. That golden tree was a good tree. Later on the carpenter went there with his horse and put it there. That day news had been spread all over the country, specially these two friends to attend the judgment castes. Five men were supposed to sit there to select; otherwise it would not be right. A huge crowd gathered there.

    The yuvraj came in. The moment his eyes fell on the golden tree and the golden bird there, his desire urged him to keep that tree with the bird with him. "I will keep it with me," he expressed his longing. Later on, as he saw the horse his decision changed. "Why should I take this golden tree? Much have I of gold and silver with me. I can get them everywhere. But where can I get a horse like this? I shall find it nowhere. He was in confusion. There was the dilemma: "Whether I’ll take the golden tree or the wooden horse?" He thought deeply to decide. Besides he waited for the final decision. So he kept watching and watching. Now he came forward, picked up the horse – placed it on the ground. At that time the horse flew up. It carried the yuvraj on its back crossing three to four other kingdoms. That horse was the wooden horse, on which the yuvraj flew away.

    The wooden horse took him to a palace where a princess called Puspabati lived. Her father, the king, had kept her captive in a separate room, where four policemen were deputed to guard her. An old lady was also deputed to supply her garlands everyday. She was kept like that. The king had also deputed another one to help her in bathing.

    As the yuvraj reached there, the wooden horse led him towards the flower garden. There he tied up the horse. As the horse felt thirsty, he lifted up water from the nearby well; got water from the well and made the horse drink.

    Both took water, ate fruits and slept there is the garden.

    [Next morning it was the old lady who informed the princess about the disturbed condition of the well and the garden.] Puspabati, now came out to survey the condition of the garden and the well. "Who has plucked our fruits from the garden and lifted water from the well that has drenched the area. Someone must have entered into my garden." She went on searching here and there. Although she did so, she couldn’t find anyone.

    By that time the yuvraj had gone with that flower lady to her house.

    "Where are you from my son?" the old lady enquired.

    "I am here to visit this palace and see my grandmother."

    "Is that so? You came in to my house to put me in trouble. I am a lonely lady – I get my food prepared at one of my neighbour’s house. What shall I cook for you? You came in to my house."

    "Oh, grandmother, don’t say like that. Take - take this five rupees note and buy some cooking items."

    "Oh, my silly boy – (she takes the money) don’t misunderstand me. I’ll feed you - don’t worry." The lady put the money in an earthen pot to preserve it. "Today he gave me five rupees. Tomorrow he will give another five." She went on counting the coins. But she couldn’t understand from where the yuvraj stole the money.

    The lady had preserved money in an earthen pot, from where the yuvraj stole and gave it daily to the lady, without her knowledge. The old lady was happy to receive five rupees daily. She went on calculating – five, ten-fifteen, tomorrow it will be twenty. But she had only five rupees with her in reality.

    The yuvraj had kept his horse on the top of the house. That was the wooden one – who can recognize that to be a horse. That was a wooden one; who would notice that?

    "Well, grandmother where do you do daily carrying a garland? Tell me."

    "Don’t you know that?" said the lady. There is the princess Puspabati; for her I take a garland daily. In return she pays me three rupees and fifteen paise per month as salary."

    "Is that so? Then give me. I’ll help you in making the garland. I’ll do that for you."

    "Ho, you don’t say that. If you string the flower together it will be different from mine."

    "No, no, grandmother, don’t say no. Take another five rupees from me, and let me do the stringing."

    "Well, then do it."

    The lady permitted him to string the garlands. He arranged the flowers in accordance with matching colour – red followed by yellow or green or white etc. He also attached a letter to the princess along with the garland. He folded the garland and handed it over to the lady for the princess. The yuvraj packed it very carefully.

    The old lady took it. The yuvraj warned her not to leave aside the garland anywhere, nor to open the packet. "Hand it over to her whom you are taking it. The lady followed his instruction and handed it over to the princess. The moment the princess opened it the letter inside it fell down. She saw the letter. Read it and wrote back a letter in reply to him. With the letter she sent half of the flowers to the yuvraj and kept half with her. "Take this letter and flower. Give it to the man who has made the garland."

    "Don’t give this to any one else."

    The old lady carried it back and handed it over with the letter. Gradually their relationship developed. Ultimately Puspabati and the yuvraj met and became intimate.

    As their attachment grew, there came an old man whose job it was to weigh Puspabati on a measuring balance. He weighed her daily to see if she was given less food, or there is a fall in weight. He did it daily to keep a record. She was being weighed daily. The king had deputed this old man to take a daily measurement of her weight.

    Their intimacy developed to physical relation gradually. Frequent physical visit of the yuvraj strengthened their relationship. On the other hand, the old man was taking the weight daily. He put     five to six white tulips on side of the balance and the girl on the other side.

    Months after months passed. This time there was an increase in her weight. Even if a bag of white tulip flowers was placed on the balance it failed to equal the weight of the girl. The weight of the girl had increased. The girl couldn’t be lifted up. "What happened today? If I intimate the news to the king, things will problematic. Four policemen are on duty. Everyday I take the weight. No difference was marked. How did all this happen?" He thought a lot. At last he intimated the strange news to the king, "Sir, there is a change in her weight. Usually her weight was equal to five to six white tulip flowers. But presently there is a rise in her weight. Even a bag of tulip is beyond her weight. How is it possible? What to do then?" The king was disturbed.

    The minister was called in. The matter was thoroughly discussed. At last a solution was found: the king ordered the minister to collect gold dust, silver dust and bronze dust or any other metal dust. That dust would be sprinkled on the bed where Puspabati slept. "On a bed sheet sprinkle the dust. Take another cushion. Sprinkle the silver dust on that. Likewise, different powders were to be sprinkled. The minister did accordingly.

    The yuvraj arrived. From inside her room Puspabati warned him not to enter, otherwise that would be his last day. "If you come in today you will spoil your life," she said. I will not open door." But the yuvraj opened the doors forcibly and got in. He sat beside her. When he sat down the sprinkled powders got attached to his dress. When dawn broke, the yuvraj removed all his dresses and kept them concealed at the old lady’s house.

    Next day, the minister called for the washerman. He told him, "Oh brother washerman, come, come, I’ll tell you one thing. Today our king has served an order that I’ll wash up all the dresses that belongs to our town. Everyone is required to put out his or her clothes on the veranda. Oh washerman, if you mark any clothes with gold dust or silver powder – bring me that one."

    "Yes sir, I’ll do that." The washerman went. As the washerman went round the town everybody offered him their clothes to wash. But the washerman said, "No, no, you keep your clothes there at your veranda. I’ll take them. I’ll carry all your clothes. Don’t worry."

    They were planning tactfully to catch the culprit.

    The washerman went on collecting as planned. At last when he reached the yuvraj’s home, he asked, "Oh babu, oh babu, come out, come out."

    "What’s the matter sir?"

    The washerman told him.

    "Now, don’t talk; listen to me. I am giving you one hundred or one hundred fifty. You take it. But you have to do one thing for me. You take these dresses and get them washed secretly. Return them to me soon after you clean them up."

    "Well, well, it is all right. Give me that money." The yuvraj gave him the money.

    The washerman thought of himself as clever. He would get money both from the yuvraj and the king. He was planning to take those dresses to the palace to show them to the king.

    The king was surprised to see the dresses.

    "From whom did you get these dresses? Who is that fellow?"

    "Sir, there is a man in the old garland woman’s house. That is the man."

    The king’s men marched towards the old lady’s house. There they caught hold the yuvraj and took him away. They shaved his head. The king made him bald headed. On the head they printed different marks and made him walk around the town. The king ordered, "Let him be taken to the temple tomorrow. He will be sacrificed there."

    For the whole day the king’s men made him walk through the town. The nest day he was supposed to be sacrificed.

    "What to do?" the old lady said. "Oh my son, you do one thing. Where is your horse?"

    "That was here, in this house. It was obviously here in this house. But three to four days back I took it and have kept it under the banyan tree beside the temple."

    "Well, then don’t worry. The king is supposed to offer you in the sacrifice. Go there."

    Next day the king’s men tied him up all around his body and dragged him to the temple. Meanwhile he spoke out, "Oh gentleman – you are dressing me to offer me in sacrifice. You see. I am a lonely man. Very soon I will be dead. But before I die let me go to that banyan tree. There in the tree I have deposited all my money. Let me be allowed to fetch that money. Otherwise, that money will be of no use if I am dead. If not I, you should enjoy that money. One day you will remember me." At last the king’s men agreed, "Yes you can go. Fetch the money."

    He went there. But what money would he pick up? From that tree he vanished. On his horse he disappeared and came back to his native country.

    The king with his fellowmen remained waiting there. "Where is the culprit? Whom should we offer in sacrifice?" Even the king’s men those, who were leading the man stood stunned. He was nowhere. They looked upward. The man was not there in the tree. "Where did he go? What to do now? If we go to the palace, the king will cut off our heads. How shall we show our faces? We couldn’t obey the king. It is better – we should commit suicide than be killed by the king." They thought like this and went to the banyan tree with ropes. On that tree branches they hanged themselves. They all got themselves killed. "It is better to kill ourselves than to be killed by the king," they thought.

    "Ho, minister babu"

    "What sir?"

    "Yesterday the culprit was supposed to be sacrificed. Go and see what has happened," the king ordered.

    The minister deputed his assistant for the same. He returned to report the to minister about the hanging. "The men in charge are hanging from a tree."

    The minister himself went there. Soon after, the king was also intimated.

    "How did it happen?"

    The old lady said, "Yesterday they took the yuvraj to the temple to sacrifice him. Soon after they offered him in the puja [sacrifice] they hanged themselves and are swinging."

    "Is that true?"

    "Yes, that is the fact."

    The minister went. All were dead. "They worshipped yesterday at the temple. What did he do?"

    On this side the prince thought, "Yesterday they carried me to the temple for the puja [sacrifice]. But I’ll not abandon Puspabati. I’ll not leave her." Right in the evening he went to her and carried Puspabati away with him. Putting her on the horse he flew away.

    While flying away, Puspabati was in the advanced state of pregnancy. Delivery time was near. While they were crossing another palace, what had happened then was that on that particular day that king – the queen of the king – had given birth to a daughter.

    While he was flying and flying in the sky, flying her forward, the yuvraj landed Puspabati on a burial place for her delivery. The child of that king, who had just been born, died. Where were they burying it? In that particular place, where Puspabati was in labour.

    Leaving behind Puspabati, the yuvraj went away. Where? To fetch food for her. He went out.

    While he was in search of food, someone transformed him into a sheep magically. In a cottage, placing a heap of boughs before it, a demon kept him captive. Meanwhile Puspabati gave birth to a son. At the same time, a Dom-lady [Dom’s are a particular caste] was carrying the dead daughter of the king to that particular place for burial. There she heard the crying of a baby – that was the son of that yuvraj. Puspabati was lying senseless. She was on one side while the Dom lady was on the other side. But the baby was on crying. "Who is crying in this burial place? I am with a dead baby here now. Who is crying then?" She made a search. She saw Puspabati lying on that side. A little away from her the son was crying. She saw the child and said, "I’ve got, got a child." She placed the dead girl beside Puspabati, took the newborn son and carried it back to the palace.

    "Ho. You how did this happen?"

    "Your honour – a son is born. Yes a son is born."

    "This is not dead. It regained life – for your Karma." The queen was told like that.

    On the other hand, Puspabati regained sense now. She became conscious when she looked that she had a dead daughter. The daughter was dead. "What shall I do? Well my luck is like that; I am alone. None with me. Well I will not bury it. Let it be like this. Nothing shall I do. No matter whether it is a daughter or a son." She was alone – devoid of strength to walk. She tied up her saree around her waist and holding a stick she came to a dam to drink water from that pond. She went to drink water.

    (Q: Where did the yuvraj go?)

    He had gone out to fetch food. On the way a girl transformed him to a sheep by her magic. Transforming him to a sheep she had kept him inside a cottage, putting bushes in front of it. By that time his wife had given birth to a child.

    Now she went into the pond, as none was there to give her water to drink. None was there to help. As she went there was a Brahmin lady washing her head. She was washing her head by soap. Puspabati went for drinking water. The Brahmin lady saw her coming up swinging as if she had drunk wine. She asked, "Where are you going my girl?"

    "No, mother don’t ask me anything. Let me drink two to three palm cups of water first. Otherwise I can’t speak." She went and fell down in the water. She couldn’t even drink water, she was so weak. The old lady picked her up and placed her in her arms. "What a beautiful girl you are? What has happened to you? She poured water into her mouth. Puspabati got sense. She became active and started speaking. Conversation between them continued.

    "Where are you from?"

    She told the lady her story. That Brahmin lady said, "Well – come down to my house. I shall feed you and give you water to drink. Come to my house." She led her to her house. "I’ll treat you as my daughter. I’ll make you my daughter."

    The queen of that kingdom, on the other hand, was bringing up Puspabati’s son, while Puspabati got a home. She became a girl again. Her son was lost. She looked young.

    Gradually the son became young, while her mother remained same. One day she (Puspabati) was taking bath in water. Her son came there. The son came again; her son came again and again. He thought, "Ah, how beautiful she is. She must be of king’s blood. Neither the son nor his mother could recognize each other. The beauty of his mother bewitched the son. He desired to marry her. "I’ll not marry anybody other than this lady."

    As the son had been detached from his mother since birth, he couldn’t recognize his mother. Every day the son came there to meet the lady. He offered her scented oil, perfumed talc, cream and other varieties of cosmetics. Even she also didn’t know that he was her son; he was also ignorant. He used to give things to the old lady and she used to give them to Puspabati.

    One day while the boy was going, he was in good spirit and jumping about. One way a cow and her calf were kept tied. The cow was tied on one side and the calf on the other side. The boy went jumping over them. The calf said to its mother, "Look mother, how the boy is jumping over us because he is going to marry his mother."

    "Don’t say alike that, son. His sin is his. You hold your tongue."

    But the boy had head the calf while he was jumping over them. So the young boy did not so back home. He became conscious. "Well, all right, this is my mother – she would have come to our house or I would have gone to her house. This is not my house then." He went to the queen, who had reared him up and asked, "Oh mother, you are not my mother – and the king is not my original father."

    "I am not your mother. I had given birth to a daughter. The daughter had been born dead. This old lady took that to the burial ground. There she got you and carried you back home. Like that I got you and brought you up as your mother. Don’t say no to that again."

    Well, as she said this he sat down. "I don’t know if you are my mother or not. You may as well be. Well nothing it matters now. I have regained my mother – but how can I get my father? How can I recognize my father? Only mother. I now recognize my mother only. But I don’t know my father." He thought, "How can my father come back?" He sat thinking.

    Then he organized a Goddess yatra [festival]. In that yatra lakhs of people gather there. Even a man who never came would come to the yatra to watch drama or cinema or the processions that are held. He went there and wrote there that the prince of a certain king, the son of a yuvraj, of a certain kingdom was living there, as he was still alive. Wherever the yuvraj stayed, he was supposed to come down to the fort and stay standing there. That was what he wrote down. The fair was to continue for nine days.

    For nine days long that demon woman was transforming the yuvraj to human form at night and kept him as a sheep during the daytime.

    "Let’s go to watch the drama," the yuvraj said. "All are going."

    "No, no that can’t be done," said that demon woman. "When I dance it becomes a drama. What drama is there? My dance is a drama." Like this nine days passed. The woman did not take him to watch the play. On the last day, what she did was that she tied a rope around his waist and her waist. Both got tied to one another by a rope. Like that both went to the fair attached. They went and sat down in front. When the play started everybody crowded up around them and sat down. Where would they go? It was a shame to go in bound up condition. How could they get up? To avoid shame they untied the rope; both were separated from one another. He slipped away and watched out carefully. The name of that yuvraj was written everywhere. He saw it. "All right it is like this and that then?" He went to the fort.

    "Where are you?"

    "I am here my father."

    "That woman has made me magic."

    "What to do then?"

    "There is a sheep in her house. You say unless that sheep is brought here our Goddess will not rise up. You play the politics. I shall be brought in, you can also kill her." This is what the yuvraj said. He did like that.

    It became morning. They went again, that yuvraj and the woman. She had kept him like that by virtue of black magic. A sacred fire was to be offered to pick up the Goddess. Ninth day was over. "How shall we do this?"

    The son of that yuvraj said, "There is a sheep somewhere in an old lady’s house. If that sheep is brought in and offered to our Goddess, then only she will rise up, otherwise not." This was what he said. Consequently everybody went there and brought the sheep.

    "Whom else to fetch?"

    "That woman and that sheep and her mother, only after their arrival we will perform the puja." They brought them there.

    "How much will I pay for it?"

    How would she ask for money? That was a human being. The human being was transformed to a sheep by black art. How could she ask for money? "All right," he said and caught her head and then grabbed her hair. "This is our father, do you understand? You, by virtue of a tulip flower, played the magical spell to convert our father into a sheep. When I was born, my father went out in order to fetch food for my mother. On his way you captivated my father. And I - I spent my early days in another house. You have done like this. Well – not to worry – now transform my father to a human being immediately. Only then I’ll release you." So said the son. Immediately, the lady touched the tulip flower on the head of the sheep. Whether she fed him the tulip or what she did with that flower his father became human again. As he regained his former physique the demon woman was sacrificed to the goddess.

    (Q: The girl who had transformed the man to a sheep?)

    Yes – her. They worshipped the girl and offered her as a sacrifice to the Goddess. Well here ends the story.

    Now they went to that king who had reared him up. The king said, "Though I am not your real father, still I am your foster father."

    The boy said, "I got my life here. It is he who gave me live. However, I saw my original parents. Now you decide if I will stay here or go with you."

    "No son. You take me with you," the queen said. "Yes my son take me with you also. We are childless. You are the only child with us. If you go away leaving this house, with whom should we stay here, we both the king and queen will go with you.

    Now the king said, "Here are your original parents. We two are also here. When we all the four are here what’s the problem with you? You rule over the kingdom. You will be the king here. Your father will go back to his native kingdom to rule over there. What is the problem with you then?"

    "No, I will go."

    "All right you will go. But let your parents go first." So, Puspabati and the yuvraj departed first. You will follow them later. Now the yuvraj and Puspabati flew away on that wooden horse.

    They arrived in their native kingdom. The yuvraj didn’t prefer to get into the palace silently rather longed for a procession. They were greeted with drums, trumpets and ululation sounds made by women on joyous occasions. They were greeted with warm welcome. They entered into their palace.

    Meanwhile, the carpenter, whose wooden horse has been taken by the yuvraj arrived there. Their dispute was yet to be solved. Puspabati was sitting on the horse. The carpenter climbed it and took off with Puspabati. Where he took Puspabati was unknown. They flew away where the eye went. While flying across there came a demon country. One of the demons threw mantra on them. The demon captured Puspabati and kept her in a room and made the carpenter mute. The horse was on a varanda.

    The demons sat talking to get their king married to this beautiful Puspabati. "A human will be our queen." The demons sat around Puspabati to gossip. They tried to create intimacy with her. But Puspabati like a mad woman bit them back. She went on biting up and kicking off the demons. The demons thought how to control the lady. They thought, "Our Puspabati is now completely mad. We ought to call a doctor for medical treatment." They went for a doctor. Ultimately they met the same yuvraj in a vaidya’s [doctor’s] dress. On their way the demons came across the yuvraj doctor.

    "Where are you going?" the demons asked.

    "I am going out to treat anyone who is mad. By virtue of my almanac and medicine I can cure a mad person." Actually the yuvraj was going in search of his wife Puspabati.

    "Are you truly a doctor?"

    "Yes, a true one." Then they led the yuvraj to Puspabati. "Come with us; a girl called Puspabati in our village has turned lunatic." The yuvraj could know the facts immediately. "The demons have taken away my darling. I must save her from this danger." He thought of a plan.

    "None of you should remain inside this room. Leave me alone with the patient. Collect all the dry chillies that you have preserved in your houses. Bring them in here. Collect them all. Gather them up in a particular place and burn them. That chilli smoke only can cure her."

    "Is that true?"

    "Yes, that is the process of curing."

    The demon did accordingly.

    The demons kept them inside the room and locked up the doors from outside and got into their respective rooms. They left Puspabati with the vaidya. The yuvraj marked his horse – putting Puspabati on the horse he flew back to his kingdom. Both stopped on the way, outside his kingdom. From there they were greeted gorgeously. A procession followed them up to the palace. Again they celebrated the marriage ceremony.

    Now the yuvraj gave the wooden horse to the carpenter and the golden tree to that goldsmith. Now he ruled over the kingdom as before. Later on their son also returned to his parents’ kingdom.