The ancestors of the population of India came to this land from different parts of the earth. Therefore, today Indian tales are told by hundreds of nationalities inhabiting the country.

How to distinguish an Indian fairy tale?

Despite all the diversity of cultures, religions and even languages, the best Indian fairy tales for children have some peculiarities. The main focus of most stories are:

desire for knowledge;

religiosity;

preference for a righteous lifestyle;

putting family values ​​at the forefront;

the inclusion of poetic forms.

Religious quotations and teachings are directly put into the mouths of some heroes.

Brief history of creation

Old Indian legends date back to before our era. Then they were created as teachings for the sons of the ruler of the country. But they already had a fabulous form, were written on behalf of animals. The oldest collection directly with fairy tales is Kathasaritsagaru, based on ancient beliefs in traditional Indian gods.

Gradually, all folklore plots took shape. There were magical, everyday, love, heroic tales. In the folk art of the country, many stories were composed about ordinary people who defeated all the hardships of fate. Fabulous notions about animals with all human qualities spread. They interacted with each other, denounced vices, praised virtuous behavior. Often the narrative included short advice given by the wisest hero. These are the stories to this day.

What attracts the amazing legends of India?

The fabulous fantasies of India attract with their amazingly colorful oriental color, storytelling style and, of course, the abundance of magical stories. At the same time, the child unobtrusively receives wise advice, forms the correct vision of the world around people and animals.

We get acquainted with the world folklore in the series "Tales of the peoples of the world". Translation specifically for the site site.

Tales of the peoples of the world. Indian fairy tale.

"Son of Raja and Princess Labam"

The Raja had one only son who was very fond of hunting. One day, Rani, his mother, told him, "You can hunt anywhere on three sides of the palace, but you must never go to the fourth side." She said this because she knew that if he went to the fourth side, he would hear about the beautiful princess Labam, and then he would leave his father and mother in search of the princess.

The young prince listened to his mother, and obey her for a while. But one fine day, when he was hunting where he was allowed, he remembered what his mother had said about the fourth side. And the prince decided to go and see why she forbade him to hunt there. He walked and walked and found that he was in the jungle, but there was no one there, except for a large number of parrots. The young Raja fired at one of them, and immediately they all flew into the sky. All but one was the parrot prince, whose name was Hiraman.

When Hiraman realized that he was alone, he began to call the other parrots, "Do not fly away, do not leave me alone. If you leave me, as you did now, I will tell him about Princess Labam."

Then all the parrots flew back. The prince was very surprised: "How can these birds talk!?" Then he asked the parrots, "Who is Princess Labam? Where does she live?" But the parrots didn't tell him where she lived. "You can never get into Princess Labam's country." That's all they can say.

The prince was very upset when he could not find out anything from the parrots, he threw down his gun and went home. When the young Raja returned home, he could neither speak nor eat, but only lay in bed and seemed very ill. This went on for 5 days.

Finally, he told his father and mother that he wanted to see Princess Labam. "I must go," he said, "I must find out what she looks like, tell me where her country is."

"We don't know where she is," the parents replied.

"Then I must find her myself," decided the prince.

"No, no," they protested, "you must not leave us. You are our only son and heir. Stay with us, you will never find Princess Labam."

"But I must try to find her," answered the prince. "Perhaps God will show me the way. If I survive and find her, I will return to you. But perhaps I will die, and then I will never see you again. Nevertheless, I must go."

Thus, the parents were forced to let their son go, although they cried a lot when they said goodbye to him. The father gave the prince nice clothes, money and a good horse. The prince took a gun, a bow and arrows, and many other weapons: "Perhaps all this will be of use to me."

When everything was ready for the journey, and he said goodbye to his father and mother, the mother took a handkerchief, wrapped some sweets in it, and gave it to her son. "My child," she said, "when you are hungry, eat some."

Finally, the prince set off. He drove on and on until he reached the jungle, which had a lake under shady trees. He bathed himself and washed his horse, and then sat down under a tree. "Now," he said to himself, "I'll eat some of the sweets my mother gave me, drink some water, and then I'll keep walking." He opened his handkerchief and took out a lollipop, but found ants on it. He took out another - there were also ants. The prince put two sweets on the ground, and took another, and another, and another, but in each he found ants. “Nothing,” he said, “I will not eat sweets, let the ants eat them.” Then the ant prince came and stood in front of him: “You have been kind to us. If you are in trouble, think of me and we will come to the rescue."

The Raja's son thanked him, mounted his horse and continued on his way. He drove on and on until he reached the next jungle. There he saw a tiger with a thorn in its paw. He roared loudly in pain.

"Why are you crying so much?" asked the young Raja. "What happened to you?"

"I've had a thorn in my foot for twelve years," answered the Tiger, "and it hurts a lot, so I'm crying."

"Well," said the Raj's son, "I can pull it out. But since you're a tiger, won't you eat me when I do that?"

"Oh no," said the tiger, "of course not."

Then the prince drew a knife from his pocket and cut a thorn out of the tiger's leg, but as he did so, the tiger roared louder than ever, so loud that his tiger wife heard and came to see what had happened. The tiger saw her approach and hid the prince in the jungle.

"Why did you roar so loudly?" asked the wife.

"No one could help me," replied the husband, "but the Raja's son came and pulled the thorn out of my paw."

"Where is he? Show him to me," ordered the tigress.

"If you promise not to kill him, I'll show you," said the tiger.

"Why should I kill him, just take a look," his wife replied.

Then the tiger called the Raja's son, and when he approached the tiger and his wife bowed low to him. Then they cooked him a good supper, and he stayed with them for three days. Every day the prince examined the paw of the tiger, and on the third day it was completely healthy. Then he said goodbye to the tigers, and the tiger said to him: "If you get into trouble, think of me, and we will come to your aid."

The Raja's son rode on and on until he reached the third jungle. The prince saw four fakirs. Their teacher died and left four things - a bed that takes the one who sits on it wherever he would like to go; a bag that gave its owner everything he wanted, from jewelry to food, or clothes; a stone bowl that gave its owner as much water as he wanted; and a stick with a rope, if someone threatens their owner, then one has only to say: "Stick, beat these people!", And the stick beats, and the rope binds them.

Four fakirs quarreled over these things, they could not separate. One of them said, "I want it," the other said, "You can't have it because I want it," and so on.

The Raja's son told them: "Don't quarrel, I can help you. I will shoot four arrows in four different directions. Whoever gets to my first arrow will get a bed. Whoever finds the second arrow will have a bag. Whoever finds the third arrow will receive the cup. The fourth arrow will bring sticks and ropes." On this they agreed, and the prince fired his first arrow. The fakirs rushed to look for her. When they brought the arrow back, he shot the second, when they found it and brought it to him, he shot the third, and when they brought him the third arrow, the prince shot the fourth far, far away.

While they ran to look for the fourth arrow, the Raja's son let the horse go free into the jungle, and sat on the bed, taking a bowl, a stick with a rope, and grabbed a bag. He ordered: "Bed, I want to go to the country of Princess Labam." The small bed instantly rose into the air and flew, it flew and flew until it arrived in the country of Princess Labam, where it sank to the ground. The Raja's son asked the people he met, "Whose country is this?"

"This is Princess Labam's country," they replied. Then the prince continued on his way until he came to the house, where he saw an old woman.

"Who are you?" she asked. "Where did you come from?"

"I come from a far country," replied the young Raja, "let me sleep."

"No," she replied, "I can't let you stay with me. Our king has issued an order that people from other countries cannot stay overnight in our country."

"Please, auntie," the prince asked, "let me stay with you tonight, because it's already evening, and if I go into the jungle, then wild animals will eat me."

"All right, you can stay here for the night, and tomorrow morning you must leave, because if the king hears that you spent the night in my house, he will order me to be seized and imprisoned."

And she took him to her house, and the Raja's son was very happy. The old woman started to prepare dinner, but he stopped her: "Aunt", he said: "I will give you food." He put his hand into the bag and said, "Bag, I want to have dinner," and the bag instantly delivered a delicious dinner served on two golden trays. The old woman and the prince dined together.

When they had finished eating, the old woman said, "Now I will bring some water."

"Don't go," said the prince, "we'll have water right here." He took the bowl and said, "Bowl, I want some water," and the bowl began to fill with water. When it was full, the prince exclaimed, "Stop, the cup," and the water stopped flowing. "Look, auntie," he said, "with this cup, I can always get as much water as I want."

By this time it was night. "Aunt," said the Raja's son, "why don't you light the lamp?"

"Our king has forbidden the people of his country to have lamps, for as soon as darkness falls, his daughter, Princess Labam, comes out and sits on the roof of the palace and shines so that she illuminates the whole country and our house, so that we can see as if it's been a day and the people go on with their work."

When late evening came, the princess woke up. She wore rich clothes and jewelry, braided her hair and adorned it with diamonds and pearls. The princess shone like the moon, and her dazzling beauty made the night day. She left her room and sat on the roof of her palace. During the day, she did not leave her house, but only at night. All the people in her father's country went back to their work and were able to finish it.

The Raja's son watched the princess with bated breath and was very happy. He said to himself: "How good she is!"

At midnight, when everyone had already gone to bed, the princess left the roof and went to her room. When she was already lying in bed and sleeping, the Raja's son got up quietly and sat down on his magic bed. "Bed," he told her, "I want to be transported to Princess Labam's bedroom." And the bed took him to the room where the princess was resting.

The young Raja took his bag and said: "I want a lot of betel leaves (In India and Southeast Asia, betel leaves are traditionally used as a tonic. They are chewed like chewing gum.)", and the bag gave him the leaves. The prince placed them near the bed of the princess, and then returned to the old woman's house.

The next morning, the princess's servants found betel leaves and began to chew them. "Where did you get so many betel leaves?" asked the princess.

"We found them next to your bed," the servants replied.

In the morning the old woman came to the Raja's son. "It is morning now," she said, "and you must go, for if the king finds out what I have done, I will be arrested."

"I am sick today, dear aunt," said the prince, "let me stay until tomorrow morning."

"Good," said the old woman. So he stayed and they had lunch from the magic bag, and the bowl gave them water.

The next night came, the princess got up and sat on the roof, and at twelve o'clock, when all the inhabitants had settled down, she returned to the bedroom and fell asleep soundly. Then the Raja's son sat down on the bed, which immediately brought him to the princess. He took out his bag and said, "Bag, I want the finest handkerchief." And a magnificent shawl flew out of the bag, the prince covered the sleeping princess with it. Then he returned to the old woman's house and slept until morning.

In the morning, when the princess saw the shawl, she was delighted. "Look, mother," she said, "Huda (God) must have given me this shawl, it's so beautiful." Her mother was also very happy.

"Yes, my child," she said, "Huda must have given you that splendid shawl."

When morning came, the old woman said to the Raja's son, "Now you really must go."

"Auntie, I'm not well enough yet. Let me stay a few more days. I'll hide in your house so no one can see me." So the old woman let him stay.

When night fell, the princess put on beautiful clothes and jewels and sat on the roof. At midnight she went to her room and went to bed. Then the Raja's son sat on the bed and found himself in her bedroom. There he ordered his bag: "Bag, I want a very, very beautiful ring." The bag gave him a nice ring. Then he took Princess Labam's hand and gently placed the ring in it, but the princess woke up and was very frightened.

"Who are you?" she turned to the prince. "Where did you come from? How did you get into my room?"

"Don't be afraid, princess," he said, "I am not a thief. I am the son of the great Raja. Hiraman, the parrot that lives in the jungle where I hunted, told me your name, and then I left my father and mother and came to you ".

"Well," said the princess, "since you are the son of such a great Raja, I will not let you be killed, and I will tell my father and mother that I want to marry you."

The happy prince returned to the old woman's house, and when morning came, the princess said to her mother: "The son of the great Raja has come to this country, and I want to marry him." Her mother told the king about it.

“All right,” said the king, “but if this son of the Raja wants to marry my daughter, he must first pass the test, I will give him eighty pounds (about 35 kg) of mustard seed, and he must squeeze oil out of it in one day. If he can't do it, he must die."

In the morning, the Raja's son told the old woman that he intended to marry the princess. "Oh," said the old woman, "go away from this country, and don't think of marrying her. Many great Rajas and the sons of the Rajas came here to marry the princess, and her father killed them all. He says: Who wants to marry his daughter must first pass the tests, if the suitor succeeds, then he can marry the princess. If he cannot do this, then the king will kill him. But no one has yet been able to do what he orders. So, all the Rajas and the sons of the Raja who tried were put to death. You too will be killed." But the prince did not listen to what she said.

The next day, the king sent servants to the old woman's house and they brought the Raja's son to the king. He gave the prince eighty pounds of mustard seeds and demanded that the oil be squeezed out of them in one day and brought to the king the next morning. "Whoever wants to marry my daughter," he said to the prince, "should first do whatever I say. If he cannot, then I kill him. Thus, if you cannot squeeze all the oil out of these mustard seeds, you will die".

The prince was upset when he heard this. "How can I squeeze the oil out of all that mustard seed in one day?" He took the mustard seeds to the old woman's house, but did not know what he would do. Finally he remembered Prince Ant, and as soon as he did so, the ants came to him. "Why are you sad?" asked Prince Ant.

Young Razhda showed him the mustard seeds and said: "How can I squeeze the oil out of all this mustard seed in one day? And if I don't do it by tomorrow morning, the king will kill me."

"Be calm," said Prince Ant, "and go to bed, we will crush the oil day and night, and tomorrow morning you will take it to the king." The Raja's son went to bed, and the ants squeezed the oil for him. The prince was very glad in the morning when he saw the oil.

He took the oil and went to the king. But the king said: "You cannot marry my daughter yet. You must pass the second test - fight my two demons and kill them." The king caught two demons a long time ago, but did not know what to do with them and locked them in a cage. Rajas and princes who wanted to marry Princess Labam had to fight these demons, so the king planned to get rid of either one or the other.

When the Raja's son heard about the demons, he became sad. "What can I do?" he said to himself. "How can I fight these demons?" Then he thought of his tiger, and immediately the tiger and his wife came to him and asked, "Why are you so sad?" The Raja's son replied, "The king ordered me to fight two demons and kill them. How can I do that?" "Don't be scared," the tiger reassured him. "Me and my wife will fight them for you."

Then the Raja's son took out two magnificent cloaks from his bag. They were embroidered with gold and silver, pearls and diamonds. The prince threw them on the tigers to make them beautiful and took them with him to the king: "Let my tigers fight your demons for me?" "Okay," said the king, who didn't care who killed the demons, as long as they were killed. "Then call them," said the Raja's son. The king did just that. The tigers and demons fought for a long time, until, finally, the tigers won.

"Excellent!" said the king. "But there's one more thing you must do before I give you my daughter. High in the sky I have timpani. You must strike them. If you fail, I will kill you."

The Raja's son thought of his little magic bed, he went to the old woman's house and sat on the bed. "Bed," he said, "to the sky, to the royal timpani. I want to get there." The bed flew up with him and the son of the Raja beat the drums so that the king would hear. However, when he came down, the king was unwilling to give his daughter for him. "You've passed the three tests I came up with, but you have one more thing to do." "If I can, I will," replied the prince.

Then the king showed him the trunk of a tree that lay next to his palace. It was a very, very thick trunk. He gave the prince a wax axe, and said: "Tomorrow morning you must cut this trunk in half with a wax axe."

The Raja's son returned to the old woman's house. He was very sad, and thought that now the king would certainly kill him. "The ants squeezed out the oil for me," he said to himself. "The tigers killed the demons. And the magic bed helped me with the timpani. But now what can I do? How can I beat this thick tree trunk with a wax axe?"

At night he went on his bed to see the princess. "Until tomorrow," he said to her, "but tomorrow your father will kill me." "Why?" asked the princess.

"He told me to cut a thick tree trunk in two with a wax axe. I can't do that." said the son of the Raja. "Don't be afraid," said the princess, "do as I command, and you will do it quite easily."

Then she pulled out a hair from her braid and gave it to the prince. "Tomorrow," she said, "when no one is around, you must say to the trunk of the tree: 'Princess Labam commands you to be cut with this hair. Then, stretch the hair along the edge of the blade of the wax axe.'

The next day, the prince did exactly as the princess told him to, and at the moment when a hair stretched along the edge of the ax blade touched the tree trunk, the trunk split into two parts.

The king finally gave in: "Now you can marry my daughter." The wedding was very magnificent. All Rajas and kings from neighboring countries were invited to it, the festivities lasted for several days. After the wedding, the young Raja said to his wife, "Let's go to my father's country." Princess Labam's father gave them a large number of camels and horses, rupees and servants, and they returned to the prince's home country where they lived happily ever after.

The prince became Raja and always kept his bag, bowl, bed and stick with him, fortunately no one ever came to them with a war, so the stick and rope were never needed.

Two friends lived in the world - a shepherd and a prince. Once the prince swore: when he becomes a raja, he will make his shepherd friend a minister. “Very well,” replied the shepherd.

Their days flowed in peace and harmony. The shepherd came to the meadow to graze the cows, and the friends, embracing each other, sat down under the tree. The shepherd played the flute, the prince listened. So they passed their days serenely.

The time has come - and the prince became a raja. He took Rani as his wife (Rani is a queen.)

Kanchonmalu is a true gem of the country. The prince was not up to the shepherd now. He completely forgot his friend.

Once a shepherd came to the palace and stopped at the entrance to the royal chambers - he had not yet seen his friend wounded!

- Get out, get out of here! the porter shouted at him.

The shepherd was offended and left, and no one knew where he had gone.

The Raja woke up the next morning, but he could not open his eyes. The rani looks at him, the courtiers look at him, and the rajah has his whole face, right down to the hair on his head, his whole body is covered with needles. What kind of obsession? Weeping broke out in the palace.

Raja stopped eating, sleeping, talking. In his heart, he realized that he had violated the vow given to the shepherd friend, and now he is paying for his bad deed. But he did not dare to tell anyone about this.

The affairs of the poor rajah were completely upset, his head drooped from grief. The saddened rani Kanchonmala began to rule the kingdom.

One day the Rani went to the river for a swim. Suddenly an unknown beauty comes up to her and says:
“If the Rani wants to buy a maid, that maid could be me.
“If you could rid my husband of needles, I would buy you into service,” the Rani replied.

The beauty undertook to fulfill this condition, and rani bought her for the bracelet.

Then the maid said:
“Rani-ma (Ma is an affectionate term for a woman), you have become very weak. Who knows how many days you haven't eaten properly, haven't bathed?! Jewelry dangles from your emaciated body, the hair on your head is tangled. Take off your jewelry and wash yourself well with potash.
- No, ma, why wash - let everything remain as it is. Yes," the Rani replied.

And the maid seemed not to have heard anything: she removed the jewelry from the wound and, rubbing it with potash, said:
“Now, Ma, try a dip.”

The Rani obeyed, went up to her neck into the water and dipped herself in. And the maid instantly threw on the sari of the rani, put on her jewelry and, standing on the shore, began to say:

Hey servant Panko (Panko is the name of a waterfowl)

Hear, you became a maid,

Waiting for you on the banks of the Kankonmala River,

A beautiful woman is waiting for you, why did you disappear there?

Enough to wash, the lady ordered to go out!

The rani looked back and saw that it was not a maid standing in front of her, but a mistress.

At the Kankonmala Palace, she raised everyone to their feet. She reprimanded the minister: “Why didn’t you prepare elephants and horses, since I am returning from swimming?” She interrogated the butler: “Why is there no retinue and palanquin when I return home from bathing?”

Both of them were executed.

Everyone was confused, no one could understand anything, no one dared to utter a word for fear.

In this way Kankonmala became a rani and Kanchonmala became a maid. But the Raja had no idea.

And here Kanchonmala sits in a dirty yard, cleans the fish and laments:

I hired a maid for my hand bracelet,

But I became a maid, and the maid became a rani,

For what sins did Kanchonmala suffer?

Oh, rajah, why, why did fate punish us so?

Rani is filled with bitter tears. But there is no limit to the suffering of the raja: flies dig into his skin, his face and body burn with fire from needles. There is no one to fan the raja, there is no one to give him medicine.

One day Kanchonmala went ashore to wash clothes. He sees - a man is sitting under a tree, and next to him are skeins of yarn. This man says:

If I got a thousand needles -

Then I could buy a watermelon for myself;

If I got five thousand needles -

I could then go to the fair;

If I had a hundred thousand needles,

I would be able to build a royal throne!

Hearing these words, Kanchonmala cautiously approached the man and said:
“If you want needles, I can give them to you. Can you just pull them out?

In response, the man silently picked up the skeins of yarn and went to fetch the rani.

On the way, Kanchonmala told a stranger about her misfortune. He listened to her and said: “Great!”

When they arrived at the palace, the stranger said to Kanchonmala:
- Rani-ma, rani-ma, today is the day of the milk fast, and therefore everyone in the kingdom should be handing out pies. I'll go dye the yarn red and blue, and you go draw an alpon in the courtyard (Alpon is a pattern applied with rice paste on the floor or wall on the occasion of the holiday.) and prepare everything for the feast. Let Kankonmala help you.
“Well, let Kankonmala make pies too,” Kanchonmala agreed.

And the two of them went to cook.

Oh ma! The cakes that Kanchonmala baked looked more like flat, hard cakes. But Kankonmala's pies were made very skillfully: one was in the shape of a crescent, others were in the form of a flute, the third were tubes, the fourth were sandalwood leaves.

And it became clear to the stranger who was the maid and who was the real Rani.

Having finished with the pies, the women set to work on the alpon. Grinding a whole man (Man is a measure of weight; Bengali man is equal to 37.3 kg of rice). Kanchonmala poured seven jugs of water into it at once and, dipping a hemp shaving brush into this liquid, soiled the whole yard with it.

Kankonmala first chose a corner in the yard, swept it clean, then took a little rice, ground it, poured water into it and, dipping a piece of cloth, carefully began to draw lotuses and creepers, seven golden jugs, and under the jugs a crown with garlands of rice stalks on both sides. She also painted a peacock, gods and a trace of the golden foot of mother Lakshmi (Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth and beauty)

Then the stranger called Kankonmala and said to her:
- Don't deny it - you're a maid! And how dare you pass yourself off as Rani with that face?! Worthless maid, bought with a hand bracelet, you became a rani, and the rani became a maid. Answer me, am I wrong?

Kankonmala flared up - an imaginary wound and screamed in a wild voice:
- What kind of rascal is this?! Go away!

She called the executioner and ordered:
“Chop off the head of the maid and this unknown person!” I will not be Kankonmal if I do not bathe in their blood.

The executioner grabbed Kanchonmala and the stranger. But the stranger took out a skein of thread and said:

Thread, thread with a knot,

The Raja has the whole house upside down.

Thread, thread, you tie

Executioner around.

And in an instant the executioner was entangled from head to toe in threads. And the stranger asked:
- Thread, whose are you?
“To whom the skein belongs is to me,” answered the thread.
“Thread, thread, if you serve me, go to the bow of Kankonmala,” said the stranger.

Two skeins of thread climbed onto Kankonmala's nose. Frightened, Kankonmala ran into the house, shouting:
— Doors! Close the doors! He's crazy! The maid brought a madman!

Meanwhile, the stranger was saying:

Thread, thin thread, where is your home, tell me?

You put yourself in the needles of the poor Raja!

Before the stranger had time to turn around, a hundred thousand threads were threaded into a hundred thousand needles on the body of the raja. And the needles spoke:
“Threads have crept into us. What should we sew? The stranger replied:
“The eyes and mouth of a worthless maid.”

One hundred thousand needles from the Raja's body immediately rushed to Kankonmala's eyes and mouth. Kankonmala ran, rushed about!

In the meantime, the rajah received his sight and saw that in front of him was his shepherd friend. Old friends embraced and shed a sea of ​​joyful tears.

“Friend, do not blame me,” said the raja, “be sure that even in my hundred births I will not find a friend like you. From today on, you will be my minister. So many misfortunes have happened to me since I left you! We won't part again.
“Very well,” replied the shepherd, “but I have lost your flute. You'll have to give me a new one.

The Raja immediately ordered a golden flute to be made for his friend.

And Kankonmalu was pricked with needles day and night, and she soon died. Kanchonmala's misery is over.

The shepherd performed the duties of a minister during the day, and at night, when the moonlight flooded the sky, he went with the rajah to the banks of the river and there, seated under a tree, played the golden flute. Embracing his friend, the minister, the raja listened to his wonderful songs.

Since then, the life of the Raja, Kanchonmala and the shepherd has flowed happily.

“I beg you, give me a boat,” Ramananda began to beg, “I promised my beloved that I would find this city. Otherwise we won't be together.

The old man took pity on the warrior and gave him his boat.

For several days and nights, the brave Ramananda sailed to the island of Ushtalla. And when the huts already began to appear on the horizon, a huge fish emerged right in front of his boat, struck with its tail, and turned the young man’s boat over. He had to swim across. The tired warrior barely made it to the island. And there he was already met by fishermen with dry clothes. The fishermen took the stranger to their king.

- Who will you be? the king asked.

- I am Ramananda. I'm looking for Happy City. I wanted you to show me the way.

“I don’t want to upset you, but I don’t know where this city is located. But to help you, I will provide a ship with a crew. Swim to the island called Gakonda. There, at the temple of Vishnu, pilgrims from all over India will gather. Someone will show you the way.

On the same day Ramananda went to this island. Many days and nights have passed since their departure. And then the team began to worry. The owner of the ship ran up to the warrior and said:

“Do you see a huge fig tree in front of you?” There is a whirlpool right below it. Whatever ship gets into it will not get out of there. And it is to him that the current carries us. Save yourself with us!

- Not! I'm not leaving this ship. I'd rather die than turn back, Ramananda replied.

The whole team sailed away, and he was left alone on the ship. He looks, and he is carried closer and closer to the whirlpool. Then he jumped from the ship and managed to cling to a branch of a fig tree. He sat down on it, and began to think what to do next.

Suddenly he heard how the eagles flew up to the tree and began to talk like a human:

Where is our king? Why is he delayed?

And then the king himself arrived. And it was of such size that Ramananda had never seen such birds before.

- I flew to the Happy City, - said the king of eagles, - tomorrow at dawn I will fly there again.

The warrior heard this, and tied himself at night to the back of an eagle. And in the morning the king of eagles took off, and did not even notice that a man was lying on his back.

As soon as they descended into the Happy City, Ramananda heard happy laughter and cheerful songs. He walked through the city and did not see anything sad or sad.

He approached one local resident and asked him to tell where their king lives.

“Let’s go, I’ll take you to the dwelling of our ruler,” the resident answered kindly.

“Tell me, why haven’t I seen your slaves anywhere?” Who cultivates your lands?

Why should we have slaves? Everyone has as much land as he can cultivate himself.

“Why haven’t I met people who are dying of hunger anywhere?” the warrior asked.

You are asking too stupid questions. There are a lot of cattle and pastures in our city. Nobody here knows what hunger is.

By this time they had already reached the ruler's hut.

“Go, but do not be surprised that she is sad. Fifteen years ago, an evil spirit stole her daughter from her. After that, the ruler became quite sad.

Ramananda went into the hut, said hello, and looked at the ruler: her forehead was covered with a veil to the very eyes.

- Why did you come to us? she asked the warrior.

And the warrior told her everything that had happened to him.

“But is the one you’re talking about really so beautiful?”

- Of course, it's wonderful! The moon pales in comparison to her beauty, the tigers bow their heads in front of her mole above her left eyebrow.

- What you said? What mole?

- A mole in the shape of a rose petal on the beautiful Lilavati above the eyebrow.

Then, without saying a word, the ruler took off the veil, and under it hid exactly the same mole!

- Oh my God! Yes, you have the exact same mole! the young man exclaimed.

The ruler was silent for a while, and then said:

“Lilavati is my daughter. 15 years ago, on behalf of the Raja, she was stolen by an evil spirit. Then the rajah told me that he would return my daughter to me if I gave him all my inhabitants as a prisoner. How could I do this? Give her back to me! And I will be your slave until the end of my days.

“Then order the ship to be assembled. And let a thousand of your brave warriors hide there!

Everything was done that way. The ship sailed for thirteen days until it reached Ramananda's hometown. He left the ship and met Lilavati. She lost weight, turned pale:

“I thought you were no longer alive!” I was so worried! Have you found Happy City?

I found it, my love. It is named so because there are no slaves, prisons, and executions.

"Come on, let's go to my father." Let's set the wedding day!

But the Raja did not want his daughter to marry a simple warrior. Therefore, he became angry and ordered Ramananda to be thrown from the cliff. The whole city went to the execution. And from behind the maids led the exhausted Lilavati.

At the moment when the rajah wanted to push the warrior, he let out an eagle call, and the soldiers ran out of the ship. No one even had time to understand how they all killed. And Ramananda himself pushed the raja.

He picked up Lilavati in his arms and put her on the ship.

"Where are we going, honey?" she asked.

- Happy City. I'm taking you to your mother, who has been missing you for 15 years.

- You're lying! My father told me that she died in childbirth!

“He is not your father. On his orders, an evil spirit stole you from your mother!

"But suddenly you're lying to me?"

“I have never lied in my life. Yes, you will understand everything when you arrive!

When they arrived, all the inhabitants of the Happy City came out to greet them with joyful exclamations. And the ruler ran up to Lilavati, hugged her, and repeated:

- My daughter! My daughter is adorable!

And Lilavati saw a mole. And I realized that Ramananda was right!

For ten whole days, the inhabitants of the city celebrated the wedding of Ramananda and Lilavati. And they lived happily ever after!

golden antelope

Long ago, there lived a powerful and wealthy Rajah in India. He was so rich that he himself could not count his treasures: endless lands, magnificent palaces, chests full of precious stones and gold coins. Everything that one could wish for, the Raja had, but at the same time he remained very greedy and cruel. On one side of his throne stood a one-eyed executioner with a sword. When the ruler was angry, the executioner immediately executed the subject, without understanding whether he was right or wrong. And on the other side of the throne of the raja stood a small and pitiful-looking little man - a barber. But he was much more dangerous than the executioner, since day and night he whispered to the master everything that happened in his domain. And it seemed that no one could hide from the keen eyes of the insidious scammer. And then one day, on a market day, a court barber saw a simple village orphan boy who was passing by the stalls on a buffalo. This buffalo is the only thing left to the orphan as a legacy. Every morning the boy harnessed his breadwinner and rode him into the fields to work for the raja. His path always lay through the market square. So this morning, as usual, the orphan sat astride his buffalo and sang.