Once there lived a king who had only one son. He married his son to a beautiful girl. She was of very good conduct, but had an irritable mother-in-law who quarreled with her daily. The mother-in-law continually slandered her daughter-in-law before her son, but he would not believe her. He loved his wife very much. The mother-in-law continued to trouble her daughter in-law and even said to herself: “If only my daughter-in-law would die, I should gladly give a feast of fish and boiled rice to my caste-fellows.” Many times she brought poison, but was unable to give it to the young woman on account of her son.
One day her son went away to a village. The queen thought to herself: “I shall surely kill her this day.”” She then thought out a plan and waited for an opportunity to kill her. She went to a pit full of water. There was an old poisonous snake in the pit. The woman took the water out of the pit and caught the cobra. She cut the head of the snake and threw it away. Then she brought the remainder of its body, as though it were a fish, and putting it before her daughter-in-law, said: “Dear daughter-in law, I have brought this fish. Please cook it.”” The daughter-in law had already prepared the rice. She cut the supposed fish into pieces and said to her mother-in-law: “I do not know how to cook fish. Kindly tell me how to cook it.”’ Her mother-in-law showed her how and said: “‘ Prepare it with onion and tumeric.”
When the daughter-in-law had cooked the meat, she said to her mother-in-law: “Dear mother, come and take your food.” But the mother-in-law replied: “I have not yet taken my bath. Don’t wait for me. You go ahead, take your food. Take out a lot of rice and fish and enjoy yourself.” So her daughter-in-law did as she was told and took her food. As she ate the cobra, its poison began to affect her body. She then realized what her wicked mother-in-law had done and began to weep bitterly. She felt her husband’s absence very keenly and said: “If he only had been here, this would never have happened.”
She became very much affected by the poison and kept thinking of her husband. She then asked for her bedding from her mother-in-law and went up to the seventh story of the palace and laid down on her bed. In the meantime she kept on crying: “O, dear husband, if I could only see your face once more during these last moments of my life!’’ And then she died.
When her husband came back from the village, his mother gave him water. He asked: “O mother, where is your daughter in-law?” She replied: ‘Perhaps she has gone out somewhere.” Many hours passed, but his wife did not come back. Then he again asked his mother, but she only said: “Your better-half is a fashionable lady. She may have gone to the spinner’s shop.”
He went to the shop, but could not find her. His mother then suggested that she might be in the weaver’s shop; but there, too, he did not find her. After this his mother sought to avoid him. Finally he decided to look for his wife in the seventh story of the palace and there he found her sleeping. He tried to wake her, but could not. She had gone to sleep forever. He wept very much and beat his chest. His mother rushed to him and asked: “Dear son, what is the matter?’’ He would say nothing, but kept on weeping. His mother said: “Don’t cry, my son, the daughter-in-law probably came here to sleep and some snake bit her.”” He continued to weep very much and called many people to cure her, but no one could bring her back to life.
Thereupon he buried her. But he would neither eat nor drink and continued weeping in memory of his wife. Many people tried to console him, but in vain. Almost a year passed in this way. His mother said: ‘‘ Dear son, what has happened has happened forever. Let me arrange for your second marriage.”” At this suggestion he became very angry and said: ‘“‘Such a wife I shall never find again in the whole world. Even if you try your best you will not find a woman like her.”? Saying this, he burst out crying in a loud voice. Many tried to keep him quiet, but he continued to weep. In the meantime some pipers happened to reach the village and began to play. The king’s servants said to them: ‘Don’t play your flutes, our master is in mourning.”’ Then they related the whole story to them. The pipers asked them: “If we were to bring his dead wife back to life, what would the king give us?”’ The servants told the king what the pipers had asked and he immediately called them and said: “If you will bring my wife back to life, I shall reward you with ten kathas (pecks) of rupees. However, if you fail to do so, I shall bury you alive. The pipers agreed to the condition. They dug up the grave and took out the woman. She looked as though she had died only recently. The pipers asked the king to have her body wrapped in cloth.
The king at once had her body wrapped seven-fold. Then the pipers piped loudly near the corpse and uttered incantations over her body. When, lo and behold! some pieces of flesh came out of the mouth of the dead one.
And what was even more strange, many more pieces of flesh came together from other directions. Finally the head of the serpent, which had been thrown away by the mother, also came. The head and pieces of flesh then joined together and formed a cobra—the same cobra which had been eaten by the king’s wife. Next the serpent began to suck out of the body all the poison there was in it, and the queen was restored to life and embraced her husband.
A large number of people had gathered together and witnessed the miracle. The princess then revealed to them the wicked deed of her mother-in-law, who stood by trembling with fear. In his great anger the young king took his mother, and buried her in the very grave where his wife had been. Upon this be brought his beloved to his palace and gave the pipers the ten kathas of rupees. And the king and the queen lived happily ever after.
A folktale sourced from Folk Tales of Chhattisgarh India by Theophil H. Twente.
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