A long time ago, kings had such a custom. At night they walked around the city in simple clothes and looked at how the people lived. They say that one day King Ravan, the ruler of Lanka, came out to see what his subjects were doing. The night was dark. The sky was clouded. People hid in their homes from the cold. It was quiet. Only the chilled dogs sometimes began to howl pitifully and somewhere in the forest jackals called to each other.
On this cold, dark night, Ravan walked alone through the streets of the silent city. Suddenly he heard a groan in the alley. Ravan froze in place. “Are people really in poverty in my kingdom and spend their nights in tears?” - he thought. He wanted to know what happened. He stopped at the house where the groan was coming from and began to listen. Suddenly he felt as if the shadow of a woman flashed near the door. The door did not open, but the shadow disappeared. The woman seemed to have disappeared into the house. Ravan was surprised and suspected something was wrong. He involuntarily remembered his saber, and his hand automatically reached for the sheath. Meanwhile, only groans and sighs were still heard from the house.
Ravan stood at the door for two hours. Finally the woman left the house. The king blocked her way and asked:
- Who are you?
The woman laughed and walked away. King Ravan became angry:
- Stop! Do you know who I am? The woman laughed again:
– Who in the world does not know King Ravan!
Ravan was surprised - why is she not afraid of him? He asked again angrily:
“So why don’t you stop and answer?”
- Maharaj! You shouldn't stop women on the street. In addition, it is known that the sun and the month, fire and wind are submissive to the gods. And I don’t submit to anyone.
At this point Ravan lost his temper.
- Worthless! - he shouted. -Tell me who you are! If you don't tell me, I'll cut off your head.
The woman laughed:
- Maharaj! If you want to meet me, listen. I am Destiny. To the girl who was born now in this house, I brought her share.
“Who are you to manage people’s shares?!” Ravan objected. - In my kingdom, I myself give people happiness and I take it away myself.
- Maharaj! You are mistaken. Do you want me to prove this to you?
The woman’s words touched Ravan’s heartstrings, and he agreed to test who was right. Then Fate told him:
“This girl will marry the son of such and such a merchant from such and such a city.
Ravan agreed with Destiny how they could meet again and let her go. Fate is gone.
The next day Ravan gathered his court and commanded:
“In such and such an alley there lives a merchant whose daughter was born last night.” Bring him to me.
The servants rushed after the merchant. The poor merchant was frightened - why was he suddenly called to the king? He came to the palace pale with fear. Ravan caressed him and said:
“Let the girl who was born to you this night be my daughter instead.” I want her to be raised in comfort and bliss. You will receive money for her upbringing from my treasury. And when the time comes to marry her off, let me know. I will arrange her wedding myself.
The merchant was very happy and returned home happy.
Days passed by. The time has come to give the girl in marriage. The merchant sent matchmakers to look for a groom for his daughter, and they betrothed her to the very young man about whom Fate had spoken. When there were only a few days left before the wedding, the merchant notified the king. Ravan found out who the groom was and was amazed. But even in such a case he had his own plan. He ordered the merchant to bring his daughter to the palace.
And so Ravan ordered to make a large chest. They put food and drink in it, then they put the girl there and took the chest to the seashore. There Ravan called a rakshasa submissive to him - and this rakshasa walked in the guise of a crocodile - and ordered:
– I give this chest to you for safekeeping. Keep it with you at the bottom of the sea. I'll come for him in a month.
“I listen and obey,” answered the rakshasa and took the chest to the bottom of the sea.
Ravan returned to the palace and called one poor man to him.
- I want to marry your daughter. What do you think about this?
What could the poor man think? Of course, he agreed and Ravan began preparations for the wedding.
Time passed. There is one night left before the wedding. They painted the poor man's daughter with rouge, put on makeup, anointed her hair with oil - in a word, they did everything that was supposed to be done. And the groom and his guests, dressed up and dressed up, were already on their way. Only their road ran through the sea. I had to board the ship.
Well, sailing on the sea is no joke. There are rocks, whirlpools, and huge fish in the sea. The path is dangerous. That's where the trouble happened. In the middle of the sea, a huge fish flew at the ship and broke it into pieces. People started screaming and calling for help. Some drowned themselves, some were devoured by crocodiles. Only the groom and the priest who was supposed to marry him managed to cling to some kind of board. So they swayed on the waves. Slowly, slowly the waves carried them and brought them to the shore of Lanka by sunrise. They thanked the gods, then the priest sat the young man down on the shore, and he himself went to look around.
Meanwhile, the rakshasa in the form of a crocodile was tired of sitting at the bottom of the sea - after all, he had not left the chest for many days. He decided to take a walk, and he climbed out onto the shore. “The place is deserted, no one comes here,” he thought. “I’ll put the chest here, and I’ll go wander around.” He left the chest on the shore and left.
And the priest walked along the shore and saw a chest. He really wanted to know what was in the chest. Curiosity overcame him so much that he broke the lock and threw back the lid. He sees a girl in the chest. The girl got scared and cried. The priest calmed her down, began asking who she was and where she was from, and suddenly found out that this was the same girl whose groom he had brought. The priest was very happy, helped the girl out of the chest, then closed it, and took the girl with him and immediately married her to the young man on the shore. And the rakshasa had his fill, came and didn’t notice anything. He took the empty chest and took it to the bottom of the sea.
Meanwhile, Ravan was still waiting for the groom and wedding guests. He couldn’t wait to marry the betrothed daughter of a merchant with the daughter of a poor man, and then ask Fate: “What is your destiny?” But the guests were not destined to come, and they did not come. When the appointed hour passed, Ravan decided to send servants to search. But then Fate appeared.
- Don't worry, Maharaj! - she said. - The deed is done - they got married.
Ravan did not want to believe - after all, he himself locked the merchant’s daughter in the chest.
Then Fate sang in mockery of him:
Where can you, Ravan, compete with Fate? Send someone else’s bride home.
She showed the newlyweds to Ravan and told him how it happened. Ravan, ashamed, returned to his palace and gave the merchant’s daughter a lot of goods as a dowry.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru