Long, long ago, after a king’s death, the queen had to take care of their four sons. The queen showered the youngest prince with the best food, clothes, and horses. Unhappy with the way their mother treated them, the other three princes usurped the kingdom. The queen and the youngest prince were ordered to live alone.
Pampered from his childhood, the young prince no longer even listened to his mother. One day, when the two went to take a bath in the river, they spotted a large boat anchored to the shore. The prince walked up to the boat, but couldn’t find anyone inside. He asked his mother to get on the boat. The queen refused to do so and asked the prince to get down instead.
The prince turned a deaf ear to her order and steered the boat ahead. The queen had to board the boat in a hurry so she wouldn’t lose sight of the prince. Strong river currents carried the boat out into the open sea, where it began approaching a whirlpool. The prince could see countless rubies floating in the ocean. He had never seen such big rubies! He picked half a dozen of them and carried them overboard.
Once again, the queen asked him not to take those rubies. After her repeated pleas, the prince threw away all rubies except one. The boat drifted across the sea and reached the port, which was the capital of a kingdom.
The queen and the prince decided to live there. One day, the prince went out to play with the royal children on the palace lawn. While the other kids played with marbles, the prince began playing with the ruby. The ruby broke at every throw, looking increasingly bright. The princess, who had been watching him play with the ruby, wanted the king to get it for her.
The king’s servants presented the prince in the court. The prince told the king where he had gotten the ruby from. The king bought the ruby from him for a thousand rupees and gave it to the princess. The princess, however, wasn’t happy with just one ruby on her hair. The prince promised the king to sail into the whirlpool and get the princess more rubies. He did so and came back with many more rubies for the princess.
The curious prince wanted to see where the rubies were coming from. He decided to explore the whirlpool and dive to the bottom of the ocean. He swam to a palace in the deep sea and saw Lord Shiva meditating. The prince could see that Lord Shiva had a platform on top of His head, with a lady with her head separated from her body on it. A stream of blood trickled down from her head, and the blood fell on the head of Lord Shiva. The blood then transformed into the rubies that the prince had collected.
At this point, the prince spotted two rods, one golden and one silver. When he tried to grab those rods, the golden rod slipped from his hand and fell on the lady’s head. Miraculously, the decapitated head got attached to the body. She asked the prince who he was and pleaded with him to take her along. The prince and the beautiful damsel boarded the boat stationed near the whirlpool and safely made it to the shore. The prince sent a basin full of rubies to the princess. He also married the girl he had rescued and the two lived happily ever after.
Kalai is passionate about reading and reinterpreting folk tales from all over the country. Write to her at kalai.muse@gmail.com to know more about her.
Folk tale adopted and abridged from The Project Gutenberg.