Extra Credit Reading Notes: Folktales of Bengal, Part A

(Bird locked in a cage; source: Flickr)

Plot:

• Once upon a time, there lived a king with seven wives. The king was upset that all of his wives were barren, but based on the advice of a holy man he fed each of his wives a magical mango from a far away forest. To the king's great joy, all of his wives became pregnant.
• One day, the king saw a beautiful woman and was determined to marry her, not knowing that she was a Rakshasi. After she became a queen, the Rakshasi asked the king to prove his love for her by blinding and killing all of his other wives. The king complied and his wives were blinded and sent to the chief minister for their deaths. 
• The minister took pity on them and hid them in a cave. Eventually, all the queens gave birth and decided to kill the infants and eat them for lack of food. The seventh wife refused to eat any of the children and told the others that she was going to nurse her child. The other wives agreed and offered to help.
• Meanwhile, the Rakshasi-queen had been wreaking devastation on the kingdom. At night, she would secretly devour all of the king's servants and ministers. Due to this, everyone refused to work in the palace.
• The boy raised by the seven wives had grown up to be brave and hardy. He offered his services to the king but knowing the truth about the Rakshasi-queen, he always made sure to leave before nightfall. The Rakshasi queen, desperate to be rid of him, tasks him to go across the ocean and bring back some medicine from her mother. She tells him to give her mother a letter that instructs her to kill him immediately.
• The boy destroys the letter out of suspicion and pretends to be the Rakshasi's son when he goes to the land of the Rakshasis to meet her mother. His "grandmother" believes him and gives him the medicine. He finds out from her that there is a magical club and rope that can transport him across the ocean and a bird inside a cage which holds the life of the Rakshasi.
• He returns to the kingdom and gives the Rakshasi her medicine and hides the bird. Eventually, the people complain to the king that a bird has been killing civilians in the night. The boy announces that he knows which bird it is and requests the king to have the Rakshasi-queen be present when he reveals the truth.
• The boy tears the bird apart limb for limb and the Rakshasi's corresponding limbs fall off. The boy then reveals the truth about his heritage. His seven mothers' eyes are magically restored and they all live happily together.

Characters:

• King - blinded by love, distorted morals, didn't deserve a happy ending
• Seven wives - betrayed by their husband, did what they had to do in order to survive, motive for allowing the last wife to raise her child unclear, shouldn't have accepted the king's nonexistent apology
• Rakshasi - knew the king's weakness for her, manipulative, reckless about her eating habits
• Boy - brave, morally questionable because he allowed the bird to eat people before confronting the king with the truth

Bibliography. Folk-Tales of Bengal by the Rev. Lal Behari Day, with illustrations by Warwick Goble (1912).