The Clever Princess

Hello, everyone.

      The story that I am going to tell you is about a very clever prince and a very clever princess. It is a story based in India. I had read this story in Gujarati a very long time ago. This story has always fascinated me so I thought why not put it in my blog for my dear readers.

    And so, here it is. Sit back and enjoy this story.

The Clever Princess

    Once upon a time there was a king. He had a most beautiful princess. She was so beautiful that princes and kings came from far and wide to ask for her hand in marriage. Now this princess was very clever. She said she would only marry someone who had a certain skill or talent of work. Many came and they were either not ready to learn or would learn halfway and then got tired and failed.

   The king tried to persuade her to agree to one of them as there were some very handsome men with large kingdoms. The princess was adamant if she would marry, she would marry someone who was an expert in some field. Less and less men came now. The king got worried lest his daughter would not be able to find a man suitable to her demands, but he could do nothing.

    One day a prince came from a very far off place. When he saw the princess he at once fell in love with her. When he heard that she wanted someone to know at least one skill, he decided he would learn a skill and marry this beautiful princess.

    He promised the king that he would do his best and learn a skill and come back within six months and marry the princess. The king was not all that hopeful as many such young men had come made promises and then failed. So he agreed half-heartedly.

    Now this prince was very determined and he went to learn carpet weaving. He went to an expert and put his entire mind into doing this job. When he had become an expert he went to king.

    The king was very happy to see him. The princess put to a test and he passed and so to the relief of her father she agreed to marry him.

    There were great celebrations in the kingdom as she was the only child. When the celebrations were over the princess went away with the prince to his kingdom.

    Now as it happened that one day the prince got abducted. The king was beside himself with anger and anxiety. He did not know what to do. The abductors demanded that the king step down the throne. Everybody was worried what would become of the kingdom if the king stepped down. He was a just king and all his subjects loved him and the prince and his wife the princess.

    Now let us see what had happened to the prince. He was kidnapped and taken to an underground place. There wasn’t much here except a table, a chair and a lamp. Now in one corner he saw something that brought a shine in his eyes. There was an heirloom! This gave him an idea.

    When next his kidnappers came to bring him food he was very polite and asked them if he could use the heirloom. He said he wanted to weave in order to forget his worries and boredom. His captors agreed after some counseling between themselves. Then the prince told them to bring him all the tools he needed which was done.

    Now the prince began to weave a rug. He weaved it so beautifully that even his captors were impressed. He told them to sell it to a certain merchant who would give them a lot money for it. Now they were greedy people and agreed.

    What they did not know was that this merchant was a close friend of the king and he knew the prince’s handiwork very well. The prince knew that if he saw the rug he would definitely go and show it to the king.

    And that is exactly what happened. They took the rug to the merchant and he recognized the prince’s handiwork and took it to the king. The king showed it to his daughter-in-law, the princess.

    The princess looked at it closely. She saw that her husband had written a message in another language. He had weaved it in such a way that the letters blended well with the design. She made out the message and told the king where the prince was held prisoner.

    The king immediately dispatched his men there and all the kidnappers were caught. The prince returned home safe and sound.

    Everybody was happy to see him come home.

    Now the prince understood why the princess wanted her husband to have a skill. That skill had certainly saved his life and the kingdom as well!