A Little Indian Fairy Tale

 The prince of a vast kingdom was a widower and deeply loved his only son, who was three years old.


One night, before falling asleep, in his lavish bedroom adorned with the most pleasing objects to the eye and nose, a female devil, black as ebony, appeared. The she-devil told him she was jealous of the love he bore for his son and would transform the child into a snake. Desperate, the prince rushed to the child’s room and, in the small red bed, found a hideous snake. Terrified, he hurried out of the room, but a thought, even more dreadful than the sight, paralyzed him. What if his son needed him, his goodnight kiss, a caress, and felt abandoned by his father? What would the little one feel if he noticed the disgust on his face? An infinite compassion then arose in his fatherly heart, like the rising of a full moon in a deep night. He returned to the room and kissed the snake, summoning his strength and overcoming all horror. As days passed, the prince grew accustomed to the snake’s appearance, caring for it with great affection and feeding it the most suitable foods.


But one night, the she-devil returned and made it clear that her jealousy persisted. To divert all that love from the snake, she would transform the son into an old woman afflicted with leprosy. The prince entered the room and was overwhelmed by the foul odor and the unpleasant sensations caused by the leprosy-ravaged face. But then he thought of his child’s tender heart, how much he needed his embraces now more than ever, and with tears in his eyes, like a miraculous river descending into a barren land, he hugged and kissed the leper.


Many days passed. The she-devil produced a thousand other transformations, testing the prince’s heart, but each time, the prince continued to care for his transformed son without hesitation, steadfast as Mount Meru, unshaken like Kailash battered by the winds.


The day of a great religious festival arrived, where the people danced and recited prayers in honor of the Divine Mother. The Goddess was raised among the crowd, and the prince, looking out from his window, contemplated the spectacle of all those faces and animals gathered below. “Behold,” he reflected, “even if my son were transformed into any one of them, or even into a tree, or those moonlit stones, or a blade of grass, my love would remain unchanged. It has become steadfast, immutable.” With tears in his eyes, he felt filled with infinite love for all the members of that suffering, toiling crowd. “They are all my children,” he whispered to himself. And that love grew so intense that it erased every trace of his own suffering, forever. There was no longer room in his mind for pain, as every corner was filled with that feeling of unconditional love.


Suddenly, he felt a presence beside him: it was the she-devil. “Have you understood now?” she asked with a smile that was, strangely, marvelous, like the music of a celestial veena. The prince’s astonishment bloomed in his eyes: the she-devil’s black face was no different from that of the Divine Mother’s statue standing among the people.


The prince turned and, after a long gaze, said to her: “Yes, Mother, I have understood. Now I am like you.”


D.Corvi 8/10/25

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