The Demon is at last conquered by the King's Son - Part II

He rode on and on through a very large jungle, and he rode a long,
long way: at last in a jungle he saw a fakir, who was living in it. He
made him salaams, and the fakir was delighted to see him, "because,"
he said, "for many years I have been in this country, and all that
time have never seen any man." The prince sat down by the fakir, and
the fakir was very much pleased. He asked the boy who had sent him to
the jungle, and why he had come to it. "My mother has sore eyes," he
answered, "and wants some night-growing rice. She has given me a
letter to the man who owns it."

The fakir took and read the letter, and was very sorry. He tore it up
and threw it away. Then he wrote another, in which he said, "Your
sister is very ill, and her son has come for some night-growing rice
for her." This he gave to the boy, and told him to continue his
journey. He also told him that the man who had the rice was a huge
demon, and that he lived in the country by the great sea. Then he told
him the way.

The boy rode on and on, and after a week's journeying he came to the
demon's country. There he saw the huge demon sitting on the ground,
with his great, big mouth, that was just like a cavern. As soon as the
demon saw him he stood up and said, "It is many days since a man came
here. Now I will eat this one." He went towards the prince to seize
him, and a great rushing wind came blowing from the demon, as it
always did when he was angry. But the boy, who had begun to walk
towards him when he stood up, threw the letter to him with all his
might, so that it fell on him; at the same time he made many salaams.
The demon read the letter, and found his sister was very ill, and this
was her son; so he stopped the wind, and came up to the boy, who he
thought was his sister's son. "You have come for the rice for my
sister who is ill," he said to him; "you shall have it."

The demon had a splendid house full of beautiful things, and a great
many servants. He took the little prince home with him, and told his
servants to get water ready and gave the child a bath. They were also
to cook a good dinner for him. Then the demon showed the boy all his
gardens, and all his beautiful things, and took him through all the
rooms of his house. One room he did not show to the prince. He told
him he was never to go into it, though he might go everywhere else
that he liked. In this room lived the demon's daughter, who was very
beautiful, just like a fairy. She was ten years old. Every day before
her father went out, he used to make the girl lie on her bed, and
cover her with a sheet, and he placed a thick stick at her head, and
another at her feet; then she died till he came home in the evening
and changed the sticks, putting the one at her head at her feet, and
the one at her feet at her head. This brought her to life again.

The next day, when the demon had gone out, the boy went to this room,
and opened the door, for he wanted to see what was in it. He went in,
and saw the beautiful girl lying on the bed. "How lovely she is!" he
said; "but she is dead." Then he saw the sticks, and, to amuse
himself, he put the one at her head at her feet, and the one at her
feet at her head, just as the demon did every evening. The girl at
once came to life, and opened her eyes and got up. "Who is this?" she
said to herself, when she saw the king's son. "This is not my father."
She asked him, "Who are you? Why do you come here? If my father sees
you he will eat you." "No, he won't," said the prince, "for I am your
aunt's son, and your father himself brought me to his house. But why
is it that you are dead all day, and alive all night?" The girl had
told him that her father brought her to life every evening, and made
her dead every morning. "Such is my father's pleasure," she answered.

So they talked together all day, and he said to her, "Suppose one day
your father made you dead as usual, and that he was killed before he
had brought you to life, what would you do? You would always be dead
then." "Listen," she said; "no one can kill my father." "Why not?"
said the boy. "Listen," she answered; "on the other side of the sea
there is a great tree, in that tree is a nest, in the nest is a
_maina_. If any one kills that _maina_, then only will my father die.
And if, when the _maina_ is killed, its blood falls to the ground, a
hundred demons would be born from the blood. This is why my father
cannot be killed."

At evening, before the demon came home, the prince made the girl dead.
Then he went softly into another room.

The fakir had said to the boy, when they were in the jungle together,
"If ever you are in trouble, come to me and I will help you. It will
take you now one week to ride to the demon's country; but if ever you
need me, you shall be able to come to me here in this jungle, and to
return to the demon's house in one day." The fakir was such a holy man
that everything he said should happen did happen. So now the prince
determined he would go to the fakir and ask him what he should do to
kill this _maina_. In the morning, therefore, as soon as the demon had
gone out, he set off for the fakir's jungle, and, thanks to the holy
man's power, he got there very quickly. He told him everything, and
the fakir made a paper boat which he gave him. "This boat will take
you over the sea," he said to the prince. "This paper boat!" said the
boy. "How can a paper boat go over the sea? It will get soaked and
sink." "No, it will not," said the fakir. "Launch it on the sea, and
get into it. The boat will of itself carry you to the tree where the
_maina's_ nest is."

The prince took the boat, and went back to the demon's house. He got
there before the demon came home, so that he did not know the boy had
been to the fakir. When the demon returned that evening, the king's
son said, "To-morrow I will go home, as my mother is very ill. Will
you give me the rice?" "Good," said the demon, "you shall have it
to-morrow." Next morning he gave the rice, and went off to the jungle.

Then the boy took his paper boat down to the sea, launched it, and got
into it; and of itself the boat went straight over the sea to the
opposite shore. The eaglet flew above his head; but he left his horse
on land. When he got to the other side, he saw the great tree, with
the nest and the _maina_. He climbed the tree, and took down the nest,
and the demon, who was far away, knew it at once, and said to himself,
"Some one has come to catch and kill me." He set out at once for the
tree. The prince saw him coming, so he wrapped the _maina_ up in his
handkerchief, that no blood should fall to the ground. Then he broke
off one of its legs, and one of the demon's legs fell off. Still the
demon came on. Then he broke off the other leg, but the demon walked
on his hands. The boy saw him coming nearer and nearer, so he wrung
the bird's head off, and the demon fell dead.

The prince jumped into his paper boat, and of itself the boat went
straight back to the other shore, to the demon's country. Then he went
up to the demon's house, and made his daughter alive.

She was frightened, and said to him, "Oh, take care. If my father
comes back, and finds us together, he will eat us both." "He will not
come back," said the prince. "I have killed him."

Then he dressed her in boy's clothes, that no one might know she was a
girl, and he found a horse, and had it made ready for her. Her father
had collected a quantity of rupees. Some of these the prince gave to
the servants as a present, and said to them, "Stay here and be happy;
do not be afraid, for there is no demon now to come and eat you."

Then he took the rice and mounted his horse, and made the girl mount
also, and went off to the fakir. The paper boat he left, as he did not
want it any more. He and the demon's daughter made the fakir many
salaams, and they stayed with him for a day before they rode to the
prince's country. Here they went to his seven mothers, who were very,
very glad to see them, and thanked God that their son had come back
safe.

He took a little of the rice, and went and sat by the well till the
king's two servants came. Then he gave them the rice for their king,
and the king gave it to the demon. She said nothing while the king was
with her; but when she was alone she cried, for she knew the boy must
have killed her brother, as he had brought her the rice.

She waited a week, and then she began to cry again, and would not eat.
The king was very sorry, and thought, "What can I do to make her well
and happy?" Then he said, "What will cure your eyes?" "See, king," she
answered, "if I could only bathe my eyes with water from the
Glittering Well, they would not pain me any more." This well was in
the fairies' country, and was guarded by the demon's sister, whose
name was Jangkatar. She lived in the well; and when any one came to
draw water from it, she used to drag him down and eat him.

The king called his servants, gave them eight thousand rupees, and
said, "Go and fetch me water from the Glittering Well." The servants
went at once to the dry well in the jungle. There they found the
prince, who asked them what they wanted. "Here are eight thousand
rupees," they said; "and the king has ordered us to bring him water
from the Glittering Well." "Come in three weeks, and I will give it
to you," said the king's son. He took to his mothers the eight
thousand rupees which the servants had given him, and said to them,
"Take care of these rupees, for I am going away for a little while."
Then he got his horse ready and mounted it, and made many salaams to
his mothers. The tiger-cub said to him, "Take me with you this time.
Last time you only took the eagle. Now we will both go with you."

So he rode off; and the eaglet flew above his head and the young tiger
ran by his side. It took him a week to get to the fairies' country,
and then he came to a beautiful smooth plain, in which was a garden,
but no house. In the middle of this garden was the Glittering Well. It
was a deep well, and the water sprang up out of it like a fountain,
and then fell back into the well, and the water shone and sparkled as
if it were gold, and silver, and diamonds. This is why it was called
the Glittering Well.

The prince dipped his jar in the well, and Jangkatar put up her hand
and caught him. She dragged him into the water and swallowed him
whole. Then the young eagle flew down into the well, seized Jangkatar
in his talons, and took her out and threw her on the ground. The
tiger-cub rushed at her instantly, tore her open, and pulled the
king's son out of her. But he was half dead. The cub and the eaglet
lay down on him to warm him, and when they had warmed him, he was
better.

"We have saved you," they said to him. "But for us you would have
died." The young prince thanked them and caressed them. "It is quite
true," he said; "without you I should have died." Then he filled his
jar with water, and mounted his horse and rode home. He made salaams
to his seven mothers, with whom all this time the demon's daughter had
stayed. He bathed his mothers' eyes with the water from the Glittering
Well, and then they saw perfectly once more.

He took a little of the water, and went to wait for the king's
servants by the dry jungle well, and he was very happy thinking that
now his mothers could see. He gave the water to the king's servants,
who took it to the king, and the king gave it to his demon-wife, and
she was very sad and angry, for she knew the boy must have killed her
sister, the guardian of the Glittering Well.

When a whole month had passed, and he had not been sent on any more
errands, the king's son said to himself, "Good; now nothing more is
going to happen to me. I am not to be sent anywhere else." So he
bought a fine horse and grand clothes, and rode to the king's
court-house. He went in, and seated himself at the king's right hand;
but he made no salaam to the king, and spoke to no one. This he did
every day for three days. Everybody was wondering who this boy was,
and why he never made any salaam to the king.

On the fourth day, as he sat at the king's right hand, the king asked
him, "Whose child are you? Where do you come from? Where are you
going?" The young prince answered, "See, king, I am a merchant's son;
my ship has been wrecked, and I want to find service with some one."
"What can you do?" asked the king. "I don't know any trade," said his
son; "but I can tell you a story." "What wages do you want?" said the
king. "One thousand rupees a day," answered the boy. "I shall only
stay a short time in your country." "Good," said the king; "I will
give you one thousand rupees a day, and a servant to wait on you
besides. So come every day to my court-house, and tell me your story."

The prince told the king his own story. He began from where the king
found the beautiful demon-girl crying in the jungle, and ended it
where his demon-wife cried and cried for her sister Jangkatar. It took
him three weeks to tell the story; and when he had finished it, the
king knew that he himself was the king in the story, and that this boy
was his own son. "How can I find my seven queens again?" he said. "If
you will kill this wicked demon-woman they will come back to you,"
said his son. The king was very sad, and thought, "My seven wives and
my boy must have suffered very much." Then he loved his son, and was
very happy that he had found him. He ordered his servants to dig a
deep pit in the jungle, so deep that should his demon-wife take her
demon form when put into it, only her head would be above it. He
thought that if her body were buried in the ground she would not be
able to do them much harm while they were shooting her. Then he, and
his son, and his servants took their guns and bows and arrows, and
took the demon with them to the deep pit. She went quite quietly,
though she knew they were going to kill her. Since Jangkatar's death
she had been very quiet and sad. And now she thought, "That boy will
most certainly kill me as he has killed my sister and brother. He is
stronger than I am. I have no one else to send him to; and if I had,
he could not be killed. What is the use of my trying to save myself?"
So she went along quite quietly, looking like a beautiful girl. She
let them put her into the pit, and shoot her to death with their guns
and bows and arrows. Then they filled the pit up with earth.

The king went to his seven wives, and begged them to forgive him. He
brought them, his son, and the demon's daughter home to his palace.
Later the king married his son to the demon's daughter, and every one
was glad.

But the king grieved that his six other sons were dead.