Folk Stories from Nepal - Karna Shakya

  “The Tale of the Goddess of Tales”

There was a king who loved listening to stories and used to call a storyteller every night, but always he would fall asleep before the story ended. At this, the goddess of tale became very angry and humiliated because the king didn’t pay respect to the stories.
One day, the goddess of the tale decided to punish the king . She appeared in the dream of a minister whom the king would trust a lot. She warned him that the king either should listen to the story completely or mustn’t listen to the story anymore and if he didn’t do so she would have to kill him. The minister conveyed this message to the king and the king promised the minister that he will try to be awake until the story finishes. But he fell asleep again. This incident made the goddess angrier and again the goddess of the tale came in the dream of the same minister and forecasted the death of king that she will kill the king by putting needle in his food. If he would be able to be alive then she would make fall of a branch from the tree when he took rest in it. By chance if he became successful to be alive, she would send a poisonous snake into his bedroom at night. Even she warned him not to disclose it in front of the king. If he did so he would turn into a stone immediately.

But at last when he saved the king from the poisonous snake, a drop of snake’s blood made a spot on the face of the queen. He tried to wipe it with his hand meanwhile king awakened and saw him touching the queen. He misunderstood the minister and ordered to give death penalty for him. Then the minister wanted to make the fact clear to the king; so, finally he disclosed the truth being worriless of goddess’s warning. He explained how he saved the king. As soon as he finished his explanation he turned into a stone. The king later on realized that he misjudged the loyal minister. Then he started to listen to the story full.
Message: The tale gives us the message that we must follow the rules of the God anyhow. We mustn’t try to break the rules and limitations of the God/Goddess. People are supposed to be the follower of rules that are made by the particular religion or God.

 “The Fox Who Saved the Priest”
There was a Brahmin who performed rituals by worshipping for inhabitants of different villages. Once, he was invited to perform a religious ceremony in a far village. Walking through the forest, he saw a tiger trapped in a cage. Tiger politely asked him to let him out of the cage and promised not to eat the man who saved his life. But the tiger could not resist the temptation and be ready to eat him. Brahmin requested the tiger not to eat before asking permission with three living things.
At first, they asked a tree and the tree replied to eat that man because all humans are so dishonest that ’’I give them shelter but they cut me in to pieces and burn.’’ Secondly, they asked a donkey, but he also replied the same. Then they asked the fox, the fox was clever and wanted to see the cage. After that, he said to the tiger to show how he was trapped in the cage. Finally, the tiger jumped into the cage and the fox locked the cage. The Brahmin was safe and the fox portrayed him as a wise man but unaware of principle of life.
Message: In this tale, we can find the conversation between human beings and animals. It shows the difference between human and animal behavior when they are in power. We can also think about the principles of human and animal life.

“The Tragic Love of the Uttis Tree”
Many years ago, in the Himalayas of Nepal, it was the custom for trees and flowers to marry in the same way that man and woman do. The story was about the marriage proposal of Laliguras and Uttis tree. The pipal tree was the matchmaker. Pipal was looking out a suitable husband for a beautiful Laliguras tree. Pipal tree saw a handsome, tall and full crowned evergreen Uttis tree and asked him to marry the Laliguras tree. Uttis tree met the Laliguras in the mid-winter; she had lost her beauty, exposing her crooked skeleton. Then, Uttis tree refused to marry the Laliguras tree.
Time passed and once again the beauty of Laliguras returned in the spring and summer season. All trees of the forest were dazzled by her beauty. The pipal tree again requested Uttis tree to look at the Laliguras. When he saw the Laliguras so beautiful, he fell in love with her. He agreed to marry her. But the Laliguras refused to accept him because he had insulted her in last winter.
The Uttis tree couldn’t tolerate her refusal and committed suicide by throwing himself over a mountain. The matchmaker promised never again involved in such thankless job. And from that day, the Bandevi (Goddess of the forest) outlawed the tradition of marriage between trees and forest.
Message: This tale is about the marriage practices of the trees in the same way men and women do. Romance and love is essential for all the living creatures, not only for human beings. Here in the story, the members of forest community Pipal, Uttis and Laliguras trees are acting as human beings.

“Chandra Mukhi in the Land of Impossible Tasks”
Long ago, there lived a brave king who had two wives, but he was childless. When a hermit refused to accept alms from the sterile women both queens became sad. They were advised that the king had to go on difficult and long penance to get children. The king thus meditated for 12 years. Finally God Vishnu was pleased and gave the king 2 custard apples for queens so that they could bear children. Both gave birth to babies, but the first wife told the mid wife to abandon the second wife’s son in a box by the river and told the king that the second wife had given birth to mussal (chopping block).
The box that contained the baby was found by a fisherman and adopted the baby. Very soon he turned into a handsome youth and was named Chandra Mukhi. The king was disappointed by the son of first queen who grew up to a very cruel prince. So he decided to find an able heir to rule the kingdom. He proclaimed that whoever could ride bayupankhi (a fleet-footed horse) could be his heir. Nobody could do so except Chandra Mukhi. The king was pleased to see such a man. The king also knew that he was his own son, after fisherman disclosed the truth. The prince was happy with his biological parents.
The prince’s marriage was fixed with Sunkeshari, who had golden hair, with gold dust had sprinkled at her every step. In order to marry her, the prince had to accomplish many impossible tasks given by the king who had been the father of the princess. In spite of his hard tasks, he did all these task with the help of his friends. Finally the king gave his daughter`s hand to Chandra Mukhi. Thus Chandra Mukhi and the princess got married and lived happily forever.
Message: We learn from the tale that how positive thinking have impact in our life. How positive thinking helps us to get success in our life. In the story, the prince Chandra Mukhi is one of the characters who inspires us to think positively.

“The Right Husband”There was a merchant’s family with two sons and a daughter. One day, the mother asked her husband and two sons to find a suitable boy for her daughter to marry. The three men set out to look for a boy; they came home and set the wedding date. But there arose a big problem. The three men had forgotten to decide to whom the girl was to marry. Therefore, all three grooms came prepared. And none wanted to give up.
The girl did not want to upset her father or brothers by choosing one of their choices. Rather she jumped into the ritual fire and died. Among the saddened grooms, the first man also jumped after her; another went to meditate on her name. The third one traveled from country to country to find another bride. He met a learned Brahman, who had power of returning the dead to life. He worked with him to acquire the knowledge, but the Brahman did not allow it.
One day, when the Brahman was out with his wife, he read a holy book and revived her, but then the young man too was reborn. Again there arose the same problem. The first man claimed that the girl should be his as he sacrificed his life for her. Another man said that she should be his because he gave her this new life. In the meantime, the third man arrived. He said that he meditated on her name so her heart was closer to his, thus she should be his. The argument did not seem to subside, so they went to Gorkha King.

The king made decision based upon the Hindu customs. The man, who died with the girl and was reborn with her now should be her twin brother. So he can’t marry her. The other man, who acquired the power of restoring life should be her father because he gave her this life. So he too can’t marry her. Therefore, the man, who had been meditating on her name, only can marry her. All three men are happy and convinced by the king’s fair judgment. The beautiful lady married the second young man.Message: “The Right Husband” has its source from Hindu religious background where a marital tie within a family or relatives is not allowed. The reference of the ancient practices of magical powers, which is one of the key features of folktales make the story more interesting. Descriptions of Gorkha King and his wisdom of judgment indicate the Nepali culture of the mid-eighteen century.

“Confrontation with a Kichikinny”
There was rowdy gang of the young men, who were very adventurous. The name of the gang leader was Hakcha. Once the gang heard a rumor about kitchkinny in another locality. Hakcha wanted to catch her. On the moonlight night, they saw a beautiful woman standing at the crossroad. Hakcha told his plan to his friends and went there. The woman welcomed him with her hands. He tried to catch her, but she jumped away. Hakcha followed her about half an hour and arrived at a cremation area on the river bank, the Kichkinny stopped and extended her hand and invited him. Hakcha and his loyal friends held her down all night and when the first rays of sun appeared, all they found was charred log. They consulted this unbelievable event with the old priest. The priest told that the incomplete cremation, the nymphomanic’s soul had entered a log. So the priest told them to burn every splinter of the log. After that, nobody ever heard of Kichkinny in that locality again.
Message: This tale shows the peculiar nature of women in our society and celebration of their beauty. It also ravels people’s blind faith in the existence of evil power. The tale shows the emergence of a Kichkinny due to an incomplete cremation of a supposed nymphomaniac.

“The Story of a Monkey Lady”
There was a brave king who had seven sons, who were experts in archery. The youngest son of the king happened to marry a monkey because of his karma whereas his six brothers married to girls from respected family backgrounds. All princes were given separate homes by the king and had to offer a grand feast in their marriage occasion. When it was the turn of youngest one, he became worried of his wife's beauty. But she turned into an elegant woman after casting herself from the wild monkey. She welcomed him in a beautifully ornamented home when he was returning after dropping a letter. Everyone except six brothers was happy during the marriage feast. Later six brothers were jealous toward the beauty of her and hatched a plot. They later suggested burning the skin of monkey. He blindly believed in their malicious act.
When the youngest prince secretly burnt the skin of monkey, she also started to burn and ran towards the forest. While following her, he met different hermits and got different magic objects from them. He disguised himself as a hermit. With the help of these tools he got popularity in that community and invited by the king of that area whose daughter was sick. He cured her with magic ointment. Delighted king offered him his daughter when he knew about him as a prince. Later they returned happily to their kingdom.
Message: The tale is based on Chinese folktale. The central issue of this tale is the phenomenon of changing from a monkey in to a beautiful lady. It offers bizarre incidents one after another., which makes the story most entertainingly.

“The Tale of Seven Sisters”
In a village, there lived a farmer with seven daughters. His wife had already passed away when the girls were so young and the farmer remarried after sometime. The step-mother was so jealous of them and treated them very badly. She wanted to keep distance between girls and their father. Finally, she succeeded on it. They planned to abandon the girls into the forest.
The farmer took them to the forest and left them showing his cruelty. The daughters grieved bitterly and decided to move ahead for their survival. On the way, they encountered a palace where their plight had been changed completely. They possessed whole property of that palace with their wisdom.On the other hand, their father was having measurable condition. He lost all his property and running his livelihood by selling turmeric. One day, he happened to reach the palace. All the sisters recognized him and welcomed him in their palace. The farmer became extremely ashamed for his wrong deeds. They also gave some gift to her father.
When the step-mother got the valuable gift offered by the girls she became more greedy. She came to the palace herself. The sisters gave her a present of marikashi. They instructed her to open it only when she was alone in her room. Immediately, she rushed to her room to see the gift but to her horror a venomous snake darted out and bit her to death. Later on, the sisters and their father started living in the palace happily.
Message: “The Tale of Seven Sisters” reflects the different culture of the people with their nature of affection, jealously, separation, reunion and revenge. The moral lesson of the tale is that culture of people that of brave and the good being awarded, of greed and wickedness punished and lost everything.

“Taming Husband”There lived a couple. The husband was a merchant, who spent money on women and drinks and came home late. The sad wife made many attempts to change his habits, but in vain.
One day, she planned to tame her husband. She dressed beautifully and sat on her window inviting four men to her home one after another. When the first man arrived, she lovingly offered him to eat beaten-rice and four blocks of rock salt. He ate up everything. Then, there came the second man. She quickly hid the first man upstairs. Second man too ate the same. Then there came another. This way, by the time her husband came home late at night, she had already hidden four men on top floor. Because it was dark there, nobody was aware of each other.
When her husband came, she told him that the house was haunted and now it had become unbearable for her. Right then, some creeping sounds came from upstairs, the husband was scared. In fact, the sounds were produced as the men, dehydrated after eating so much dry beaten-rice and salt, came out in search of water. The husband became more frightened by hearing all those sounds. Then again, one of the men found a coconut and cracked it on another’s baldhead thinking it to be a stone. The man yelled out in pain, which created a commotion there. All men jumped out of the windows. The husband hid himself under the bed. After some time, when things were clear and sound was gone, he came out from under the bed. Convinced by the incident, he promised that he would never leave her alone again and they lived happily ever after.
Message: “Taming Husband” could be called a romantic comedy. It beautifully portrays the psyche of a lovelorn wife whose only dream is to regain love and support of her straying husband.

“The Greedy Couple”There lived a greedy couple in a village. They constantly quarreled for a small thing. So, the neighbors were irritated by the old couple. One day the old man brought five ripe mangoes, later they disputed while dividing it. To solve the problem, they had an agreement that whomever breaks the silence would get only two mangoes.
They remained silent for a week, which made villagers to suspect that the couple might have died. So, they prepared the cremation ceremony and lit the pyre. But the villagers were shocked and scared when the couple began to argue with each other while rising from pyre. Both the couple rushed to their home for mangoes but it was already rotten. After that they decided to live doing nothing and without helping each other which ultimately led to their death.
Message: The tale depicts the stingy aspect of human nature, which we can be seen in our society. And such greedy nature of people disturb the harmony of the society. It also teaches us that greed takes people nowhere but to their own downfall.

“Chhattu, the Young Farmer”
The tale is a story about young lazy and clever boy named "Chattu". His name itself reflects his cleverness. Once he visited another village and became servant of rich Brahmin priest. Chattu had his eyes on the beautiful, young wife of Brahmin. One day he became successful in seducing a beautiful wife of a farmer. He demanded money from the priest to keep these things secret. While collecting money he went to other village and again cheated the shopkeeper and gained molasses and beaten rice free of cost. Chattu even gained a sheep from a shepherd and got money by selling it. Once he got job in the palace of a king, there he introduced himself by several names to different people like: he told his name as husband to princess, son-in law to queen and penis to king. These several names created comic and misunderstanding situations when he raped and kidnapped the princess. Finally the princess also accepted him as his wife, seeing his cleverness. Chattu also left his crafty ways and lived happily with the princess.
Message: "Chattu, the Young Farmer" is "a sample tale centered on sexual jokes". It is destiny that Chhatu from lower class gets princess as his wife.

“Looking for a Husband”
Many years ago there was a lady rat which meditated and rewarded from God Vishnu that she would marry the greatest being.
Lady rat firstly consulted with the sun but the sun said that the cloud should be more powerful than him so she went to the cloud with her marriage proposal. But the cloud also said that the wind would be more powerful than him. Lady rat visited the wind, but the wind said that the mountain would be more powerful than him because he can block the wind. And, the lady rat consulted the mountain and again the mountain said that its rat should be more powerful than him because the rat can make hole on the mountain. So, finally the lady rat is convinced that the rat which is from her own species is the most powerful and greater, so the lady rat married the rat happily.
Message: "Looking for Husband” is very old and famous tale about a lady rat who has ambition to marry the greatest being in the world but after consulting with several greater beings like sun, wind, cloud, and mountain, she is ready to marry a rat who belongs to her own species.
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The Story of Dhon Cholecha
(Newari Folk Tale)

Every Newar family in Kathmandu Valley knows this story. It is especially popular amongst children. It is one of the few Nepalese folktales with a rigid structure. It is told without any variation, and has definite title. This is one of the many folktales which present the step-mother as a wicked and jealous person. On the other hand, the step-daughter is presented as sweet and innocent. Surprisingly, a very close counterpart of this story called "Teja Teji" is found in the Assam region of India. The principal plot and narrative are almost identical. The source is evidently the same, but one cannot say if it originated in India or in Kathmandu. The narrator of this story, sixty-nine year old Herman Singh, claims that this is the single most important and earliest story which he heard from his grandparents when he was a child. His grandparents in turn remembered it as the oldest story they could recall. On the other hand, the step-daughter is presented as sweet and innocent. The sequence of events definitely has a touch of genuine Newar customs and manners.

Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Maincha whose mother had died when she was very young. Her father remarried and his wife gave birth to a daughter. Maincha's step-mother was wicked, jealous woman. She never gave the elder girl good food, but she prepared the best possible food for her own daughter. The elder daughter had to attend to all the household duties. She also had to graze the family's nanny-goat, Dhon Cholecha, to whom she was very attached. In spite of all the heavy work and poor food, Maincha was always healthy and happy. Her step-mother became curious as to why Maincha was healthier than her own daughter, whom she fed and pampered so well.

When Maincha finished her daily routine of household jobs, she would take Dhon Cholecha to the jungle for grazing. One day the step-mother told her daughter to follow her half-sister and find out what she did in the grazing land. Maincha used to be very careful with Dhon Cholecha. never letting her out of her sight. The nanny-goat also loved Maincha very much and as soon as they reached a secluded spot, the goat would spit out a good hot meal which she had saved for Maincha. On this day, Maincha was as usual enjoying the hot meal given by the goat when her suspicious half-sister saw her and asked her what she was eating. Maincha asked her half-sister not to tell their mother. and gave her some of her own meal.

When they came home, the jealous half-sister told her mother the whole story of how Dhon Cholecha fed Maincha with delicious food every day. This was, of course, why she was so healthy. The step-mother made a plan to kill the nanny-goat so that Maincha would no longer get any good food. Learning that her beloved goat was to be killed Maincha cried bitterly. Dhon Cholecha couldn't tolerate her friend's grief and bleated in her ear, "Whatever has to happen will happen. Don't worry. Bury my bones in the garden, and there will spring up a big tree which will yield you lots of 'yomari', (a sweet rice-dumpling). (This "yomari" bearing tree may be a kind of fig tree whose fruits are very similar in shape to "yomari").

The step-mother killed the goat and prepared a feast, but Maincha spent all the time crying in her room. Her step-mother kept asking her to come and partake of the feast, but she refused constantly. complaining that she had a headache, stomach ache and so on. When the feast was over, Maincha collected every single bone and buried them in the garden. As Dhon Cholecha- had predicted. a big tree grew which produced "Yomari" sweets.

One day, while Maincha was perched on the top branch enjoying the fruit of the tree, a couple of "lakhe" (demons) passed by and asked her to throw them down some sweets. Kind hearted Maincha did so, but they landed on the ground. The "lakhe" refused to pick up the "yomari" from the ground and asked her to come down from the tree and hand the sweets to them. When she did so, the couple tricked her into going with them. They arrived at the "lakhe's" house. They asked her to prepare "chatamari" ( a very thin round papery bread made of rice) while they bathed in the river. When the innocent Maincha was cooking, a mouse appeared and said, "If you give me a piece of bread, I'll give you a piece of advice." Generous Maincha threw it some bread, but again the mouse repeated the same request. Without any annoyance, she threw it some more bread. The third time Maincha threw it some bread the mouse finally gave her some important advice. It said, "Don't stay long in this house. The people who brought you here are demons. At this very moment they are sharpening their knives to kill you. Before they come, gather up all their treasures of precious stones, gold and silver, and run back home." 

The mouse further advised her to spit on each step of the staircase, as well as putting charcoal on each one. (The exact significance of putting charcoal on each step is not clear, but the process is most dramatic and strongly affected the teller when he heard the story at an early age).

The demons returned anticipating the delicious meal of a young and tender child. They knocked at the door and called out, "Maincha, Maincha!" but every time the spittle in each step called out,'Wait a minute, wait a minute!" When the door still wasn't opened. the impatient demons broke it down and were furious to discover both the girl and their fortune gone.

Maincha arrived home and knocked at the door, but nobody, neither her father or step-mother nor step-sister, was ready to open the door for her. When she called out, "Come and help me I have been carrying this heavy fortune a long distance !". The step-mother eagerly opened the door. Every member of the family was surprised to see more wealth and treasure than they had ever seen before. The step-mother was immediately very curious how Maincha had obtained such a fortune. When Maincha narrated the whole story from beginning to end, the greedy step-mother decided to send her own daughter to wait for the demons at the tree.

As expected, the same "lakhe" couple came by and asked for "yomari" sweets. As she was instructed, the girl let herself be carried away by them. She was also asked to prepare food while the "lakhe" went off to bathe. As she had planned, when the mouse came and asked for bread in return for advice, she gave it a piece of bread. When the mouse again asked a second time, she threw it some crumbs. But when the mouse asked a third time, the girl lost her temper and beat it to death with a red hot poker. Eventually the "lakhe" returned home, and after dining, they all retired to bed. The girl slept between the two demons, who had yet to feast on their true dinner. In the middle of the night the male demon took out his sharp knife and cut a big piece of flesh from the young girl. She cried out in pain and the female demon exclaimed. "How naughty he is, pinching you like that. Come over to my side." But she in turn cut another big piece of flesh from the young girl. Finally the demons ate all the girl's flesh. picked up the bones and brought them back to the "yomari" tree.

The next morning the step-mother was eagerly expecting her daughter to come home with a vast fortune and was happily combing her hair on the balcony. A big crow perched nearby and cawed, "The mother is combing her hair while her daughter is nothing but bones." As she heard this her heart stopped. When she looked out she saw the bones of her daughter beneath the "yomari" tree. Beating her chest she cried bitterly for a long time. Nobody came to console her. not even her husband. who had by now taken Maincha's side. The cruel step-mother no longer had any power and lived in the house like a maid until her death.