_SODEWA BAI._
Once upon a time there lived a Rajah and Ranee, who had only one
daughter, and she was the most beautiful Princess in the world. Her
face was as fair and delicate as the clear moonlight, and they called
her Sodewa Bai.[91] At her birth her father and mother had sent for
all the wise men in the kingdom to tell her fortune, and they
predicted that she would grow up richer and more fortunate than any
other lady; and so it was, for from her earliest youth she was good
and lovely, and whenever she opened her lips to speak pearls and
precious stones fell upon the ground, and as she walked along they
would scatter on either side of her path, insomuch that her father
soon became the richest Rajah in all that country, for his daughter
could not go across the room without shaking down jewels worth a
dowry. Moreover, Sodewa Bai was born with a golden necklace about her
neck, concerning which also her parents consulted astrologers, who
said, "This is no common child; the necklace of gold about her neck
contains your daughter's soul: let it therefore be guarded with the
utmost care, for if it were taken off and worn by another person she
would die." So the Ranee, her mother, caused it to be firmly fastened
round the child's neck, and as soon as she was old enough to
understand, instructed her concerning its value, and bade her on no
account ever to allow it to be taken off.
[91] The Lady Good Fortune.
At the time my story begins this Princess was fourteen years old, but
she was not married, for her father and mother had promised that she
should not do so until it pleased herself; and although many great
rajahs and nobles sought her hand, she constantly refused them all.
Now Sodewa Bai's father, on one of her birth-days, gave her a lovely
pair of slippers made of gold and jewels. Each slipper was worth a
hundred thousand gold mohurs. There were none like them in all the
earth. Sodewa Bai prized these slippers very much, and always wore
them when she went out walking, to protect her tender feet from the
stones; but one day, as she was wandering with her ladies upon the
side of the mountain on which the palace was built, playing and
picking the wild flowers, her foot slipped and one of the golden
slippers fell down, down, down the steep hill-slope, over rocks and
stones, into the jungle below. Sodewa Bai sent attendants to search
for it, and the Rajah caused criers to go throughout the town and
proclaim that whoever discovered the Princess' slipper should receive
a great reward; but though it was hunted for far and near, high and
low, it could not be found.
It chanced, however, that not very long after this a young Prince, the
eldest son of a Rajah who lived in the plains, was out hunting, and in
the jungle he picked up the very little golden slipper which Sodewa
Bai had lost, and which had tumbled all the way from the
mountain-side into the depths of the forest. He took it home with him,
and showed it to his mother, saying, "What a fairy foot must have worn
this tiny slipper!" "Ah, my boy," she said, "this must have belonged
to a lovely Princess, in truth (if she is but as beautiful as her
slipper); would that you could find such a one to be your wife!" Then
they sent into all the towns of the kingdom to inquire for the owner
of the lost slipper, but she could not be found. At last, when many
months had gone by, it happened that news was brought by travelers to
the Rajah's capital, of how, in a far distant land, very high among
the mountains, there lived a beautiful Princess who had lost her
slipper, and whose father had offered a great reward to whoever should
restore it; and from the description they gave all were assured it was
the one that the Prince had found.
Then his mother said to him, "My son, it is certain that the slipper
you found belongs to none other than the great Mountain Rajah's
daughter; therefore take it to his palace, and when he offers you the
promised reward, say that you wish for neither silver nor gold, but
ask him to give you his daughter in marriage. Thus you may gain her
for your wife."
The Prince did as his mother advised; and when, after a long, long
journey, he reached the court of Sodewa Bai's father, he presented the
slipper to him, saying, "I have found your daughter's slipper, and for
restoring it I claim a great reward." "What will you have?" said the
Rajah. "Shall I pay you in horses? or in silver? or in gold?" "No,"
answered the Prince, "I will have none of these things. I am the son
of a Rajah who lives in the plains, and I found this slipper in the
jungle where I was hunting, and have traveled for many weary days to
bring it you; but the only payment I care for is the hand of your
beautiful daughter; if it pleases you, let me become your son-in-law."
The Rajah replied, "This only I cannot promise you; for I have vowed I
will not oblige my daughter to marry against her will. This matter
depends upon her alone. If she is willing to be your wife, I also am
willing; but it rests with her free choice." Now it happened that
Sodewa Bai had from her window seen the Prince coming up to the palace
gate, and when she heard his errand, she said to her father, "I saw
that Prince, and I am willing to marry him." So they were married with
great pomp and splendor. When all the other Rajah's, Sodewa Bai's
suitors, heard of this, they were, however much astonished as well as
vexed, and said, "What can have made Sodewa Bai take a fancy to that
young Prince? He is not so wonderfully handsome, and he is very poor.
This is a most foolish marriage." But they all came to it, and were
entertained at the palace, where the wedding festivities lasted many
days. After Sodewa Bai and her husband had lived there for some little
time, he one day said to his father-in-law, "I have a great desire to
see my own people again and to return to my own country. Let me take
my wife home with me."
The Rajah said, "Very well. I am willing that you should go. Take care
of your wife; guard her as the apple of your eye; and be sure you
never permit the golden necklace to be taken from her neck and given
to any one else, for in that case she would die." The Prince promised,
and he returned with Sodewa Bai to his father's kingdom. At their
departure the Rajah of the Mountain gave them many elephants, horses,
camels and attendants, besides jewels innumerable and much money, and
many rich hangings, robes and carpets. The old Rajah and Ranee of the
Plain were delighted to welcome home their son and his beautiful
bride; and there they might all have lived their lives long in
uninterrupted peace and happiness, had it not been for one unfortunate
circumstance. Rowjee (for that was the Prince's name) had another
wife, to whom he had been married when a child, long before he had
found Sodewa Bai's golden slipper; she therefore was the first Ranee,
though Sodewa Bai was the one he loved the best (for the first Ranee
was of a sullen, morose and jealous disposition.) His father also, and
his mother, preferred Sodewa Bai to their other daughter-in-law. The
first Ranee could not bear to think of any one being Ranee beside
herself; and more especially of another not only in the same position,
but better loved by all around than she; and therefore in her wicked
heart she hated Sodewa Bai and longed for her destruction, though
outwardly she pretended to be very fond of her. The old Rajah and
Ranee, knowing of the first Ranee's jealous and envious disposition,
never liked Sodewa Bai to be much with her; but as they had only a
vague fear, and no certain ground for alarm, they could do no more
than watch both carefully; and Sodewa Bai, who was guileless and
unsuspicious, would remonstrate with them when they warned her not to
be so intimate with Rowjee Rajah's other wife, saying, "I have no
fear. I think she loves me as I love her. Why should we disagree? Are
we not sisters?" One day, Rowjee Rajah was obliged to go on a journey
to a distant part of his father's kingdom, and, being unable to take
Sodewa Bai with him, he left her in his parents' charge, promising to
return soon, and begging them to watch over her, and to go every
morning and see that she was well; which they agreed to do.
A little while after their husband had gone, the first Ranee went to
Sodewa Bai's room and said to her, "It is lonely for us both, now
Rowjee is away; but you must come often to see me, and I will come
often to see you and talk to you, and so we will amuse ourselves as
well as we can." To this Sodewa Bai agreed, and to amuse the first
Ranee she took out all her jewels and pretty things to show her. As
they were looking over them, the first Ranee said, "I notice you
always wear that row of golden beads round your neck. Why do you? Have
you any reason for always wearing the same ones?" "Oh, yes," answered
Sodewa Bai, thoughtlessly. "I was born with these beads round my neck,
and the wise men told my father and mother that they contain my soul,
and that if any one else wore them I should die. Therefore I always
wear them. I have never once taken them off." When the first Ranee
heard this news she was very much pleased; yet she feared to steal the
beads herself, both because she was afraid she might be found out, and
because she did not like with her own hands to commit the crime. So,
returning to her house, she called her most confidential servant, a
negress, whom she knew to be trustworthy, and said to her, "Go this
evening to Sodewa Bai's room when she is asleep, and take from her
neck the string of golden beads, and fasten them round your own neck,
and return to me. Those beads contain her soul, and as soon as you put
them on she will cease to live." The negress agreed to do as she was
told; for she had long known that her mistress hated Sodewa Bai and
desired nothing so much as her death. So that night, going softly into
the sleeping Ranee's room, she stole the golden necklace, and
fastening it round her own neck, crept away without any one knowing
what was done; and when the negress put on the necklace, Sodewa Bai's
spirit fled.
Next morning the old Rajah and Ranee went as usual to see their
daughter-in-law, and knocked at the door of her room. No one answered.
They knocked again and again; still no reply. They then went in, and
found her lying there, cold as marble and quite dead, though she
seemed very well when they had seen her before. They asked her
attendants, who slept just outside her door, whether she had been ill
that night, or if any one had gone into her room? But they declared
they had heard no sound, and were sure no one had been near the place.
In vain the Rajah and Ranee sent for the most learned doctors in the
kingdom, to see if there was still any spark of life remaining; all
said that the young Ranee was dead, beyond reach of hope or help.
Then the Rajah and Ranee were very much grieved, and mourned bitterly;
and because they desired that, if possible, Rowjee Rajah should see
his wife once again, instead of burying her underground, they placed
her beneath a canopy in a beautiful tomb near a little tank, and would
go daily to visit the place and look at her. Then did a wonder take
place, such as had never been known throughout the land before! Sodewa
Bai's body did not decay nor the color of her face change; and a month
afterward, when her husband returned home, she looked as fair and
lovely as on the night on which she died. There was a fresh color in
her cheeks and on her lips; she seemed to be only asleep. When poor
Rowjee Rajah heard of her death he was so broken-hearted they thought
he also would die. He cursed the evil fate that had obliged him to go
away and deprive him of hearing her last words, or bidding her
farewell, if he could not save her life; and from morning to evening
he would go to her tomb, and rend the air with his passionate
lamentations, and looking through the grating to where she lay calm
and still under the canopy, say, before he went away, "I will take one
last look at that fair face. To-morrow Death may have set his seal
upon it. Oh, loveliness, too bright for earth! Oh, lost, lost wife!"
The Rajah and Ranee feared that he would die or go mad, and they tried
to prevent his going to the tomb; but all was of no avail; it seemed
to be the only thing he cared for in life.
Now the negress who had stolen Sodewa Bai's necklace used to wear it
all day long, but late each night, on going to bed, she would take it
off and put it by till next morning, and whenever she took it off
Sodewa Bai's spirit returned to her again, and she lived till day
dawned and the negress put on the necklace, when she again died. But
as the tomb was far from any houses, and the old Rajah and Ranee and
Rowjee Rajah only went there by day, nobody found this out. When
Sodewa Bai first came to life in this way, she felt very much
frightened to find herself there all alone in the dark, and thought
she was in prison; but afterward she got more accustomed to it, and
determined when morning came to look about the place and find her way
back to the palace, and recover the necklace she found she had lost
(for it would have been dangerous to go at night through the jungles
that surrounded the tomb, where she could hear the wild beasts roaring
all night long); but morning never came, for whenever the negress
awoke and put on the golden beads Sodewa Bai died. However, each
night, when the Ranee came to life, she would walk to the little tank
by the tomb and drink some of the cool water, and return; but food she
had none. Now, no pearls or precious stones fell from her lips,
because she had no one to talk to; but each time she walked down to
the tank she scattered jewels on either side of her path; and one day,
when Rowjee Rajah went to the tomb, he noticed all these jewels, and
thinking it very strange (though he never dreamed that his wife could
come to life), determined to watch and see whence they came. But
although he watched and waited long, he could not find out the cause,
because all day long Sodewa Bai lay still and dead, and only came to
life at night. It was just at this time, two whole months after she
had been buried, and the night after the very day that Rowjee Rajah
had spent in watching by the tomb, that Sodewa Bai had a little son;
but directly after he was born day dawned, and the mother died. The
little lonely baby began to cry, but no one was there to hear him;
and, as it chanced, the Rajah did not go the tomb that day, for he
thought, "All yesterday I watched by the tomb and saw nothing;
instead, therefore, of going to-day, I will wait till the evening, and
then see again if I cannot find out how the jewels came there."
So at night he went to the place. When he got there he heard a faint
cry from inside the tomb, but what it was he knew not; perhaps it
might be a Peri or an evil spirit. As he was wondering the door opened
and Sodewa Bai crossed the courtyard to the tank with a child in her
arms, and as she walked showers of jewels fell on both sides of her
path. Rowjee Rajah thought he must be in a dream; but when he saw the
Ranee drink some water from the tank and return toward the tomb, he
sprang up and hurried after her. Sodewa Bai, hearing footsteps follow
her, was frightened, and running into the tomb, fastened the door.
Then the Rajah knocked at it, saying, "Let me in; let me in." She
answered, "Who are you? Are you a Rakshas or a spirit?" (For she
thought, "Perhaps this is some cruel creature who will kill me and the
child.") "No, no," cried the Rajah, "I am no Rakshas, but your
husband. Let me in, Sodewa Bai, if you are indeed alive." No sooner
did he name her name than Sodewa Bai knew his voice, and unbolted the
door and let him in. Then, when he saw her sitting on the tomb with
the baby on her lap, he fell down on his knees before her, saying,
"Tell me, little wife, that this is not a dream." "No," she answered,
"I am indeed alive, and this our child was born last night; but every
day I die, for while you were away some one stole my golden necklace."
Then for the first time Rowjee Rajah noticed that the beads were no
longer round her neck. So he bade her fear nothing, for that he would
assuredly recover them and return; and going back to the palace, which
he reached in the early morning, he summoned before him the whole
household.
Then, upon the neck of the negress, servant to the first Ranee, he saw
Sodewa Bai's missing necklace, and seizing it, ordered the guards to
take the woman to prison. The negress, frightened, confessed all she
had done by order of the first Ranee, and how, at her command, she had
stolen the necklace. And when the Rajah learnt this he ordered that
the first Ranee also should be imprisoned for life, and he and his
father and mother all went together to the tomb, and placing the lost
beads round Sodewa Bai's neck, brought her and the child back in
triumph with them to the palace. Then, at news of how the young Ranee
had been restored to life, there was great joy throughout all that
country, and many days were spent in rejoicings in honor of that happy
event; and for the rest of their lives the old Rajah and Ranee, and
Rowjee Rajah and Sodewa Bai, and all the family, lived in health and
happiness.
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