How the Raja’s Son Won the Princess Labam

An Indian Folk Tale, Retold by Navin

Long, long ago, in a country, there was a Raja and a Rani. Their only son wanted to go hunting in the nearby forest. The Rani showed him the map and said to him, “You can hunt wherever you like on these three sides, but you must never go to the fourth quadrant.”

She said this because she knew that he might hear about Princess Labam if he went towards the fourth side, and that he would leave his father and mother to seek for the princess. The young prince listened to his mother.

But one day, he went over to the fourth side wondering why his mother had forbidden him to go there. When he got there, he found himself in a jungle, and amidst a lot of parrots. The fellow shot at some of them, and at once they all flew away up to the sky. All but one, who was the king of the parrots, called Hiraman. Hiraman called out to the other parrots, “Don’t fly away and leave me alone. If you desert me like this, I will tell the Princess Labam.” Hearing this, the parrots flew back down.

The prince was greatly surprised by the talking birds. He asked them about Princess Labam and questioned them on the location of her house. The parrots refused to answer and just sung her praise. The prince returned home, sad, wondering who Princess Labam was.

When he got home, he would not speak or eat, but lay on his bed for days! He then told his parents that he must go and find more about the princess. He begged them to tell him where she lived. Because even his parents did not know where she lived, the prince decided to go look for her.

The Raja and Rani begged him to stay, as he was their only son. They promised to find him the right bride. The prince was not convinced.

He said, irritably, “I will go find her. God will show me the way. If I come back, I will come back with her. If not, perhaps I shall die.”

Raja and Rani gave him fine clothes, a horse, weapons, and money. Rani gave him some sweetmeats wrapped in her handkerchief and asked him to eat those when he got hungry.

He set off on his journey and reached the jungle. He sat down under a tree to eat some of the sweetmeats his mother had given him. He took one out from the kerchief and saw an ant. So, he kept it down.

Then he took another. It too had an ant on it. He opened each sweetmeat one by one, and each housed an ant. He laid them on the ground and sat watching the ants eat them.

The Ant-Raja came out and said, “You have been so kind to us. If ever you are in trouble, think of me and we will come help you.”

The prince thanked him, mounted his horse, and continued his journey. He rode on and on and reached another part of the jungle. He saw a tiger roaring in pain because of a thorn in his foot. 

The prince stopped and asked the tiger if he could help take the thorn out. He also wanted to make sure the tiger would not eat him once he removed the thorn. The tiger replied, “I have endured this thorn for 12 years now and it hurts me much. I promise to not eat you if you remove the thorn.”

The prince took a knife from his pocket and removed the thorn. The tiger was so happy. The tiger and his wife gave the prince some food and the prince stayed with them for a couple of days until the tiger healed.

The tigers thanked him and said, “If ever you are in trouble, think of us, and we will come to you.”

The prince rode again till he reached another part of the jungle.

He saw four fakirs, whose master had died leaving them four things: a bed, which carried one wherever he wished to go; a bag, that gave its owner jewels, food, or clothes; a stone bowl that gave its owner as much water as he wanted; and a stick and rope, to which it’s owner had only to say, “Stick, beat as many men and soldiers as are here,” and the stick would beat any around and the rope would tie them up.

The four fakirs were quarreling over these things, wanting to decide who gets what. After thinking for a long time, the prince told them not to fight.

He said, “I will shoot four arrows and you fakirs can go fetch the arrows. You can choose any gift in the order you came back with the arrows.” They agreed and the prince shot 4 arrows far, far off. The fakirs raced to get the arrow. In the meanwhile, the prince took all 4 things. He sat on the bed and told it to take him to the Princess Labam’s country. Off flew the bed, over fields and meadows, and finally it alighted by a town.

The prince got down and went to a house where he saw an old woman. He asked her to for lodging in her home for the night. The lady refused, saying that there were orders from the king that no one could allow strangers to stay. The prince begged her to allow him for just that night, so he did not have to sleep in the dark forest nearby. She finally agreed, exasperated, asking him to leave the next morning. When she then went to prepare a meal, the prince stopped her, saying he would prepare the dinner. He asked the bag to provide dinner for the two of them and produced some delicious food in golden plates. When they needed water, he asked the bowl to give them water.

Night fell. It got darker and darker inside the little house. Finally, completely bamboozled, the prince asked the old lady to light a lamp.

She replied that the king had forbidden the lighting of lamps. As soon as it got dark enough in the kingdom, the princess Labam would come and sits on her roof. Apparently, she shone so bright that the entire country would light up like daytime!

Just as the old lady said, Princess Labam then came and sat on her roof. She was dressed all beautifully and had a hat of diamonds on her head. All the people came out of their houses, went about their tasks, and finished them. The prince stood gaping at her- he was so taken aback by her beauty.

At midnight, the princess went to her room to sleep; the prince sat on his bed and said “Bed, I want to go to the Princess Labam’s bed-room.” So, the little bed carried him to the room where she lay fast asleep.

The prince then took the bag out and asked it to produce betel leaves. It gave him large quantities of the leaves which he left near her bed. He then went back to the old woman’s house. The princess’ servants who found the leaves started munching on those.

The next day, when the old lady asked the prince to leave, he insisted that he felt sick and requested for one more night of stay. After a long and protracted argument, she agreed, and they again had food from the bag and water from the bowl. At night, the princess came to the roof again, lighting up the town, and then went back and slept.

The prince asked his bag for the world’s most beautiful shawl.

He then took it to the princess room and laid it on her.

In the morning, the princess awoke to see the shawl and felt very happy. She thought that God must have given her the shawl.

The third night, again, he requested the old lady to let him stay.  After the princess went to bed, he again went to her room. He ordered the bag for a beautiful ring and slid it onto the princess’ finger. She awoke startled, and asked him, confused, who he was. He promised that he was no thief, but a Raja’s son, and that the parrot king had told him of the princess Labam. It truly was a match made in heaven, because, instead of shrieking in fright, the princess believed him. Touched by his devotion, the princess fell in love with him, and she asked parents about getting married the next morning.

The king was rightfully uncertain about agreeing to her marriage with the strange young man. He finally agreed to do so if the prince completed a few very difficult tasks.

He said, cruelly, “The prince must crush oil from eighty pounds of mustard seed in one day. If he cannot do this, he shall die.”

The prince blanched, but then agreed as he thought of the Ant-Raja. That night, the Ant-Raja arrived, and promised that he and his team would crush all the oil out for the prince during the day. As the prince ate his breakfast and read a book, the ants crushed out the oil for him. The prince took the oil to the king, who was at first alarmed. Then, he suddenly remembered the two demons that his Army Commander had trapped earlier that month.

He decreed that the prince now had to kill the two demons that were shut in a cage.

The prince agreed. He went to the cage and thought of the tigers. The tigers appeared and agreed to help the prince. After a ferocious fight, they killed the demons.

Finally, tired out, the king agreed to the wedding, and the wedding took place. The prince and Princess Labam traveled to the prince’s country, where they lived happily ever after with the Raja and Rani who were delighted to see their boy again. The people of Labam’s original kingdom were also happy that they could finally light their lamps like normal again.

The End