The clatter of hoofs echoed through the afternoon stillness, as Prince Ursingh of Chitor and his companions rode on in search of game. It had been a useless day. They had not been able to kill a single animal. Suddenly, one of the men gave a loud cry. He had spotted a wild boar. The hunters spurred their horses and set them at full gallop. Soon, they had left the forest behind. In front of them stretched fields of maize. The stalks of maize were nearly 10 to 12 feet in height. The boar plunged into these and was momentarily lost to the hunters. One of the men climbed a tree to trace the beast. Pointing his finger to his left, he urged the others to go that way. The hunters tethered their horses to the trees and set off on foot. They soon came to a clearing. Here, they found a village girl standing on a wooden platform. She was watching over the maize fields. As the hunters came near, she asked,

“What are you hunting in my fields? “You have stamped down nearly half of my maize stalks.”

The prince replied, “I am sorry. We were chasing a wild boar, and we really did not realise that we were destroying your crops.”

The girl asked in surprise, “Chasing a wild boar! Do you need all these men to kill a single boar ?’ This embarrassed the prince and startled him as well. He turned around and looked at his friends. One said, “Let’s go.”

The girl put up a restraining hand. “Wait!”  she said, “Wait for me, I will return in a little while.”

She picked out a long, tough-looking stalk and, holding it as one holds a spear, she stood on her toes and scanned the fields. Then she aimed and threw the stalk.

After this, she disappeared into the fields. The men looked at each other and asked, “Whatever is she doing ?”  

They didn’t have to wait long for the answer.

The girl soon appeared, dragging something behind her. They stared down stupidly as she placed the wild boar in front of them. A maize stalk had pierced it right through its body and killed it. They knew whose maize stalk it was.

“Here, take away your wild boar and leave my fields,” said the girl shortly and returned to her platform. 

Without a word,  the men hoisted the animal on their shoulders and walked off. They lit a fire under a shady tree and merrily cooked the boar. As they were eating, they saw a stone go swishing past and hit one of the horses on its knee. The horse pitched forward and fell to the ground, moaning. The stone had caused a broken knee. Anger flared up within the men, for, to a Rajput, a horse is one of his dearest possessions. They rose to a man, sword in hand, ready to kill the man who had dared to do such a deed. They saw the village maiden running towards them. She came to the prince and was full of apologies for having unknowingly wounded the horse.

“But why did you throw a stone at all ?” asked the prince.

“I was trying to drive away the birds from my field when the stone, which I had aimed at them, hit your horse”

The prince dismissed her. By the time they had eaten and rested, evening shadows had started to lengthen. The hunters got ready to depart. As they trotted through the forest, they met the same village lass. She was carrying a pot of milk on her head and was leading two buffaloes by either hand. The hunters quickly conferred amongst themselves and reached a unanimous decision. They decided to tease her. One of them charged forward. His job was to overturn the vessel of milk. His companions watched, laughing aloud. 

The girl, on the other hand, watched the oncoming horseman with eyes narrowed. Just as he was about to dash against her, she, as quick as lightning, pushed one of the young buffaloes forward. The buffalo gored the horse, and the rider was brought to the ground, whilst the horse, frightened and neighing aloud, shook himself free and stood up. The girl cast one scornful look at the fallen rider and then at his companions. Then, as though nothing had happened, she walked away, the vessel on her head as steady as before, and the buffaloes on either side of her. The men looked thoroughly embarrassed and ashamed as they helped their friend to his feet. But they were also mighty impressed by the girl’s uncanny strength. They rode back to Chitor in silence.

The next morning, Ursingh rode back to the same maize field. His friends went with him. The girl was nowhere to be seen. On inquiring, they found out her father’s name, and he was summoned. The old man came, and much to the merriment of the young Rajputs, he sat down next to the prince without so much as “with your leave, sir.” 

Ursingh asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The old man looked neither surprised nor flattered. He just said, “No” without giving any reason, and went away.

The young men were struck dumb by the refusal. The heir to the great Chitor throne, the son of the great Bheemsingh, had been flatly refused! This was something beyond their comprehension. As they wondered what earthly reason there could have been for the refusal, they saw the old man returning. 

This time, he folded his hand and begged to be forgiven. “Please accept my daughter. When I told my wife about your proposal and my refusal, she scolded me for being a fool and warned me that if I didn’t return and ask your forgiveness, she would turn me out of the house.” 

Thus, the brave girl became the wife of Ursingh. She later became the mother of the brave Hamir, who won back Chitor from the Toorki rulers.

A Folktale sourced from Folk Tales of Rajasthan by Bani Roy Chaudhury.

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