The Snow Bed

Long, long ago in Kashmir,
there lived a troll at the foot of
the snowy hills. In those days,
a lot of trolls lived there and
preyed upon man and his kind.
The poor folks could not fight
against these monstrous crea-
tures and had to submit to the
whims and fancies of the trolls.

Now this troll who lived in a
grand Palace was no different
from the members of his tribe.
He raided the nearby towns
periodically and looted the folks
of their wealth. Not content
with that he married many of
the pretty girls of the city forci-
bly. Oh! he was a vertitable
bluebeard and no one knew
what happened to the girls after
they were married to him.

That year he sallied forth from
his lair intent on marrying for



the twenty-fifth time. As he was
crossing the fields, his eyes fell
on the comely daughter of a
local farmer. ¦ He thought he
would marry her. So he strode
up to the trembling farmer and
said, "Look here, you mortal,
give your daughter in marriage
to me."

The poor farmer did not
know what to say to this brus-
que request.

Noticing his fear, the troll
bellowed, Tomorrow night I
shall come to your cottage. Let
the marriage take place then."
Then he left.

The farmer ran home and
told his family of the danger
that awaited them. But Mallika,
his daughter, was not in the
least dismayed. She thought of
a trick by which she could



frustrate the troll's designs.
Then she whispered some in-
structions in the ears of her
father who looked rather scepti-
cal. But she said, "Father, don't
worry. Do as I tell you. After
that, you'll see how fast the
troll runs from here."

Accordingly, the farmer
arranged a big feast in
honour of the troll. Huge
barrels full of wine were brought
into the house. Mountains of
meat were prepared to feed the
creature. Large drapes covered
the walls of their dwelling.

The troll arrived, dressed in
all his finery, and sat down to
eat. Then he said "Ah! you
have spent a lot of money in



my honour. Good. Even the
meat tastes fine."

Mallika replied, "Pooh! This
is nothing. We get a lot of rats
here and they make excellent
fare."

The troll exclaimed, "Is that
so? Well, I must say you look
well. All the women I've married
so far can't cook this well."

Then he looked around and
noticed the wall hangings. Mal-
lika quickly said, "I wove those
tapestries."

The troll now tilted one bar-
rel of wine into his cavernous
mouth and drank deeply. Then
he smacked his lips and said,
"Excellent wine. But who has
brewed it?"



Mallika replied, "1 did. I
brewed it from all the rotten
apples available here."

Rather surprised, the troll
said, "Wow! You must be a
strange, girl. First, you prepare
good rat meat. Then you weave
well and last, you prepare
fine wine from rotten apples.
If 1 married you, my expenses
would go down by half."

The farmer interrupted the
conversation and said, "Well,
if Mallika leaves my home, I'll
really suffer a great loss. That's
why I have decided not to give
dowry to any one who desires
to marry her. On the contrary,
her suitor must make a hand-



some settlement on me, before
I permit the wedding."

The troll grew angry at these
words and said "Hm! I'll take
her away by force. What will
you do then?"

The farmer laughed and rep-
lied, "Oh! you don't know my
daughter. If you try force with
her, it won't work. She won't
co-operate with you. Only
gentleness will have its way with
her."

Exasperated, the troll said,
"Very well. Take five thousand
gold coins and give her to me
in marriage."

"Give me ten thousand gold
coins. I'll not part with her




for any thing less than that."

The troll thought for a mo-
ment and said, "So be it."

The farmer said, "Come with
the money tomorrow and we'll
talk about the wedding."

Next day, the troll arrived
wjth the money and remarked
to Mallika, "Well, Girl, are
you satisfied? I've brought the
amount your father desired."

She replied, "Good, but there
are two conditions which have
to be fulfilled before the wedding
can take place. One is that you
must build me a new house.
Secondly, you must make me a
bed made from the feathers of
old goose. I love to sleep on
soft beds."



The troll did not think these
difficult tasks and went away.
So he built a grand house for
Mallika. It was now winter in
Kashmir. But the second task
proved more difficult, because
folks in those parts referred to
snow flakes as old goose's
feathers and that was what
Mallika meant when she said
she wanted a soft bed made of
old goose's feathers.

He exclaimed, "How can I
make a bed out of snow flakes?"

Mallika brushed aside his pro-
tests and insisted that he make
the bed or there would be no
wedding.

So the troll set to work. But
as many times as he gathered



the snow to stuff it into the
coverlet it melted away and all
that remained was the wet sheet.
However, he tried hard and at-
last packed the sheets with snow
and sewed them up securely.
Then he went to Mallika, and
said 'There, 1 have your bed
ready. Now, what about the
wedding?"

Mallika replied, "Good. But
tonight you must sleep on it
and tell me how soft it is. In
the morning, we'll start the wed-
ding preparations."

That night the troll slept on
the uncomfortable bed. The
sheets were all wet and the
packed ice where it did not melt
poked into the small of his
back.

When dawn came he was
sore all over and his body ached.
He could hardly drag himself
on the ground'. In the midst of



the pain, he thought of his
marriage to Mallika and how
he would have to sleep on this
bed every day of his life. So
quietly he slipped out and
headed for home.

When Mallika discovered his
absence, she sent her father to
the troll's palace to enquire
about the wedding. But the
troll sent word that he had
given up all ideas of marriage
to Mallika. Clearly, he had had
enough. But the farmer would
not take 'no' for an answer and
pointed out that a breach of
promise to marry was a serious
matter. At last the troll parted
with all his flocks of geesse to
escape from the farmer.

Thus Mallika came into a lot
of wealth and married a hand-
some lad from her village. As
for the troll, he never visited
them again and he never married
again.