Once there was a king who loved to go hunting. He always went hunting
in disguise. One day, after a long day’s hunting, the king lost his
way. He moved into that part of the jungle which was part of another
kingdom.
Wandering here and there, he soon felt very thirsty. So be searched
for a well or a pond to quench his thirst. After a long search, he came
upon a spring. As he was taking a sip of water, he heard some loud
laughter. He looked around for the source of the voices and
saw some girls bathing in the river. Among them was a very beautiful girl.
A few questions revealed that she was a princess of another kingdom.
The king, however, did not reveal his identity to the princess and her
friends. When they came out of the water, he expressed his desire to
marry the princess. She shyly replied, “You must speak to my father.
Only he can decide what’s good for me.”
So the king reached her kingdom and approached her father. “I would
like to marry your daughter,” he told the old king. The father did not
enquire about this suitor to his daughter’s hand. He only wanted to
know how he could earn his livelihood. “I can do good drawing and
needlework,” said the king. The old.king was satisfied. Soon the
princess and the king in disguise. were married. They returned to the
king’s palace.
Another day when the king went hunting, he stopped by at a village,
which was being looted by a gang of dacoits. The dacoits did not
recognize the king, who was in disguise. They took him hostage and made
away with him to their den in the forest.
The king protested that he had no wealth to give them, but the
dacoits were not convinced. A week passed. The dacoits fed and took care
of the king, although he insisted that he had no wealth to give away.
At last the king suggested to the dacoits, ”Get me some plain
handkerchiefs and I’ll embroider them. You may sell them in the palace.
The queen is very fond of embroidered handkerchiefs and will surely buy
them. You can keep the money that you make out of the sale.”
The dacoits agreed. They looted all the cloth stores in the kingdom
and brought many handkerchiefs for the king. He patiently embroidered
them with floral designs and also included some words in the patterns.
The illiterate dacoits could not make out the words and they thought
they, too, were part of the patterns. They took the kerchiefs for sale
to the queen.
As soon as she saw them, she recognized her husband’s handiwork. She also understood that her husband was trying to convey a message. She bought all the kerchiefs and by piecing the messages all together, she understood what had happened to him. She instructed her soldiers and at night, they found their way to the dacoits’ den and freed their king. The dacoits were caught.
