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THE GEM SET RING
Once there was a King and a Queen who had seven children. They grew up among the wealth and privileges of royalty. Six of the children were active and energetic and performed many services at the Court. The youngest prince however from the day he was born simply lay in his bed. He was lazy, did no work or perform any services for the King.
The King was angry with the prince. “This prince is useless. He is not worthy of royalty. I want to get rid of him,” he informed the Queen. The Queen concerned about her son said, “Please do not behead him, I will send him away to some other country, where he will be forced to work,” she said, and called the prince.
The Queen gave the prince a packet of food, thousand coins (masuran) and said, “Son take these and go far away to any place you like and find your livelihood, for the King your father wants to behead you if you stay here,” she said, and advised the son to leave.
The prince then taking the packet of food and the thousand coins mounted a horse and left the palace. Soon he arrived at a traveler’s shed. A man came in carrying a cobra. The prince liked the cobra and he asked, “For how much will you sell the cobra?”
The man said one thousand coins.
Giving the thousand coins he had the prince bought the cobra. Unfastening his packet of food the prince shared it with the cobra and came back to the palace.
The Queen then inquired, “What is this that you have brought?”
The prince replied, “Mother for the thousand coins you gave I have bought a cobra.”
The Queen got alarmed and told the prince to take it to the forest and put it away.
The prince then taking the cobra to the forest put it in a rock house and shut the door and went back to the palace
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The Queen then told the prince, “Do not stay here if your father sees you he will get you and behead you.” So she gave him a packet of food a thousand coins and sent the prince away.
Soon the prince arrived at the traveler’s shed. A man came in carrying a parrot.The Prince inquired, “For how much will you sell the parrot?”
The man said, “Give me one thousand coins for it.”
The prince then gave the thousand coins he had and bought the parrot. Then sharing his packet of food with the parrot he went back to the palace.
The Queen asked the prince, “Son what have you brought today?”
The prince replied, “Mother for the one thousand coins you gave me I have bought a parrot.”
“Who wants a parrot? What can you do with it? You silly boy take it back and put it away in the forest and come back,” said the Queen, displeased with the son.
The prince then taking the parrot put it in the rock house together with the cobra, shut the door and came back.
The Queen then said, should your father see you he will behead you, so go away,” she said, and gave him a packet of food and a thousand coins and sent him away.
Taking the packet of food and the thousand coins the prince again set out to go find a livelihood. Soon he came to the traveler’s shed. In came a man carrying a beautiful cat. The prince liked the cat and he asked the man ”Will you sell the cat?”
The man said, “Yes”
“For how much,” asked the prince.
“One thousand coins,” said the man.
The prince quickly gave the thousand coins and bought the cat. He shared the packet of food with the cat and went back to the palace, happy with the cat and hugging it lovingly.
The Queen then asked, “What have you bought this time?”
The prince said, “Mother for the thousand coins you gave me I have bought a cat,” said the prince very happy about his new purchase.
“Who wants a cat? What can you do with it? You foolish boy go away and don’t come back,” said the Queen and drove the son away.
The prince asked the mother for a packet of food and some money and left the palace with the cat. He came to the rock house, then sharing his food with the cobra the parrot and the cat, they all started to leave.
Soon the four travelers came to a big Na tree (ironwood). While they were there the cobra said, “You stay here while I go to seek the Naga King and come back.” The cobra after a while returned with the Naga King, and he said to the Naga King, “This prince has been very good to me, you must set me free by giving him a good ransom,” beseeched the cobra.
Then the Naga King gave the prince a gem-set ring and said, “With this ring’s magical powers you can create anything you want,” he said. Then taking the cobra he went away.
As the prince, the cat and the parrot were walking, the prince putting on the gem-set ring thought, “Let a palace and a princess be created for me.” Then instantly a palace and a princess was indeed created for him.
Later the prince and the princess went to the sea to bathe. Whilst bathing, a lock of hair from her head fell into the sea. Braving the mighty waves the strands of hair finally got entangled in a fisherman’s net. The fisherman taking it gave it to the King, as it looked extraordinary. It was around twenty yards long. Then the King unable to guess whether it was a lock of hair or a golden thread, made a proclamation asking if anyone could distinguish what it was.
One day an old woman stopped to listen to the notification and going into the palace she said, “This is not a golden thread. It is indeed a lock of hair belonging to a princess.
The king then asked, “Can you find the Princess who owns this hair?”
“Yes your Majesty, I can sure find the owner,” replied the woman and hurried over to look for the princess. By and by she came to the very city where the princess lived and found the house where the princess was living and asked for work. Finding no work she asked the princess, “How daughter do you find food to eat?”
“We eat by the power of the gem-set ring, replied the princess, quite unassumingly.
The woman on the sly, planned to get the ring. Requesting for lodging for the night she stayed with the princess. After the prince went to sleep she quietly took the ring and the princess by means of the power of the ring and went and handed them over to the King.
The prince when he woke up was startled to find that his beloved princess and the ring were missing. The parrot now had been watching everything and knew what had happened, but could not do anything.
He called the cat and said, “Lie down in the corn stack by the threshing floor as if sleeping. While you are there the rats will stick their paws into your mouth. Do not seize them. When the rat king puts his paws in, seize him and do not let him go.
The cat then went and lay down on the corn stack at the threshing floor as if sleeping. The rat king teased the cat saying, “Cooking pot mouth are you asleep?” and he put his paw in the cat’s mouth. The cat at once seized him and explained to the rat king that he wanted a rat to assist him as a condition for him to be released.
The rat King said, “Seize any rat you want.” Then clutching a rat chief he gave it to the cat. The cat then let go off the rat king.
The parrot then calling the rat, appointed it to assist him, and went to the palace of the princess. The parrot made the rat cut his way through seven boxes and found a ring. He gave it to the parrot, who looked at it and said, “This is not a magic ring. This is not our s”
The parrot and the cat now came over to the prince and said, “I made the rat cut into seven boses and then found a ring. When I gave it to the parrot he said, it is not the ring.”
The prince then asked, “Are there no more boxes?
The rat said there is one more.
The parrot and the rat then going back cut into the remaining box. The gem-set ring was there. The rat took it to the parrot, who handed it over to the prince. Then by means of its power the prince was able to recover the princess. Now taking the ring and the princess the prince came back to his palace and lived happily for a long time.
Text from (SPOOKY TALES FROM THE ORIENT)
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