Week 11 Storytelling: The Human King's Daughter

There was once a great king named Parikshit who ruled over the entirety of Lake Ayodhya.  He was outside for his afternoon hop when he saw the largest and most juicy fly that he had ever seen.  The chase begun.  For nearly three days, the great king chased his prey.  The fly landed, the king was in reach, and he was just about to snap up the fly.  Suddenly, another tongue grabbed the fly, and it was gone.  Parikshit's heart filled with rage.  Who dared interfere with his hunt?  He turned to face his enemy so that he might banish him from the kingdom.  But when he saw who had taken his fly, his heart stopped.  It was the most beautiful frog he had ever seen.  She had the most beautiful yellow eyes, her spots were perfectly round, and the way she caught flies with her tongue was exquisitely graceful.  He knew instantly that this frog must become his queen.  He approached her to ask for her tongue in marriage.

"Lovely lady, you are the most beautiful frog I have ever seen.  Marry me and be my queen."

"I will become your wife, but you must make me a promise."

"Anything you ask my dear."

"Never let me gaze upon pavement."

King Parikshit thought this was a strange request, but he readily agreed.  The next day they were married on a lilypad in Lake Ayodhya.  The couple lived very happily.  Every morning, they went on a hop around the lake. One morning, they stumbled upon a sidewalk.  Although the king had heard about concrete, he had never seen any for himself.

"Darling, come here and see this marvelous sidewalk."

His wife joined him on the sidewalk.  The king began to examine the pavement with great interest.  But when he turned around, his queen was gone.  Walking towards him was a human.  King Parikshit dashed off with a heavy heart.  He later realized that the human must have killed his bride.  He resolved to strike back.  Before any frog could have an audience with the king they were required to bring him possession of a human.  The King knew how much humans liked their possessions, and soon King Parikshit's castle was surrounded by watches, baby toys, and dollar bills.

After about a month the human king Ayusha decided that he had enough.  He disguised himself as a frog and sought an audience with the king.

"Oh great king, I am Ayusha, king of men.  My people have suffered enough.  Stop taking our goods, and let us have peace."

"A human killed my queen, and I must have retribution for her life."

"Your queen is still alive.  She is my daughter Sushavana.  She disguised herself as a frog when you met her.  She has deceived many frogs this way, and does not deserve to be queen."

King Parikshit was saddened that queen had left him, but he decided to forgive her if she came back.  Sushavana then reassumed her form as a frog and returned to Parikshit.  The couple lived the rest of their lives in peace and happiness by Lake Ayodhya.

The Frog Queen

Image from Wikipedia

Author's note: I really enjoyed the story about the Frog King's Daughter.  In the story, King Parikshit sees a beautiful woman and decides to marry her.  When the two go swimming, the Queen turns back into a frog.  Thinking that the frog's are responsible for his queen's death, he requires his citizens to slaughter all the frogs that they could find.  Eventually, the king finds out that his wife was a frog in the form of a woman.  He takes her back and they have three children together.  I decided to retell this story from the opposite perspective by making the main characters frogs instead of humans.

Bibliography: Kincaid.  Tales from the Epics.  Frog King's Daughter.