A herd-boy, name Rare Angon once made a shadow puppet out of banana-leaf while he was herding cows in the rice fields. The puppet represented a very beautiful woman, but he made it from his imagination. A prince heard about it and sent for the boy and asked who the figure really was. But though he knew her name was Lobang Kori he did not know who she was. It just came like that, he said. The prince threatened him with death if he did not find the lady and bring her to him. So he set out on his journey to unknown destination in search of unknown lady.
Farther and farther he went, till he met a wizard who showed him the way to Lobang Kori. ‘But you must marry her and not the king,’ said the wizard. The boy was troubled by the thought of his mission, so Lobang Kori told him to make a bee hive and carry her to the palace. She made herself very small and crept inside, and he made all haste to bring her to the palace. When the prince heard the lady was inside, he said: ‘if that is so, she is no use to me; you may take her home.’ So he took her home and married her.
The prince heard that Rare Angon had an incomparable beautiful wife, and he goes to his house disguised as a bird catcher. When he saw her he was enraptured, and cried out to Rare Angon: ‘I must have your wife, she is so beautiful. Tomorrow I will come here and fetch her away.’ Rare Angon was very sad but she comforted him and said the king should never get her. On four successive days the prince came to fetch her; the first day he was bitten by a snake, the second by centipede, the third by snake, and on the fourth day he was attacked by bees and stung to death. And Rare Angon lived happily with his Lobang Kori.
Post a Comment