The Rainbow Prince-Folktales From Bengal

Princess Rupanjali , a beautiful princess came of age and the king and queen was searching for a groom for her.So the king send out his bards to kingdoms near and far in search of a match for their princess.The bards returned with some portraits of the most handsome princes.The pictures were hung up in the palace art gallery and the King and Queen took Rupanjali there.Rupanjali walked around the gallery and said that she felt non was to her likings. She pointed to the sky and said that the prince she marries should be as handsome as the rainbow.

The next morning , a stranger appeared in the city.He went straight to the palace.The king greeted him and inquired why he was there. The stranger said that he had come from the land of rainbow seeking a bride for his prince.As he came to know that the king is seeking a groom as well , he has come with a marriage proposal. The king was too ready to agree.But then there is one problem. Some time ago a wicked witch came and cast a spell on the prince,which put him to sleep for a long timeShe breathed the consciousness of the prince into a blood-red parrot and let the bird fly away.The prince will not awake until the red parrot is found.Hearing this,the king was dismayed.

However,Rupanjali was adamant that the rainbow prince becomes her husband.She ordered the guards to trap all the birds.Soon, the happy chirping of the birds no longer filled the air.A special cage was erected for the birds.There were millions of them .The entire cage echoed and re echoed with their heartbroken frightened cried.Nilanjana ,rupanjalis maid ,heard the cries and felt pitied.She pleaded to the princess to let go the birds.Instead Rupanjali flew into a rage .Doesnt the maid know how badly she wanted to find the red parrot which has the consciousness of her rainbow prince. Nilanjana was shocked to see the change that had come over the princess.Yet,Nilanjana pleaded for the birds.

Rupanjali got so angered that she ordered her guards to threw Nilanjana into the bird cage .Nilanjana cried herself to sleep inside the cage. After some time a red parrot flew beside Nilanjana. It woked Nilanjana up. It ask her to set the bird free as the parrot said that its wings had badly been hurt due to the trapped set by the guards. Nilanjana felt pity and decided to set the parrot free not bothering what the princess would do her.As she opened the side cage , and let go the parrot, Rupanjali approached the cage. When she saw that it was a red parrot that Nilanjana had set free she was furious. Nilanjana was taken to the top of a hill .From there she was to be thrown into the stream far below.The guards pushed Nilanjana as ordered. But even as she fell,two strong arms protected her.The next moment Nilanjana found herself on the hill again.A handsome prince was standing beside her.He introduced himself as the Rainbow Prince.Nilanjana was happy and told that her mistress will be happy to see the prince.

At that moment the king,queen and Rupanjali came forward. She was glad to find her prince at last .But the prince was not.He was angry because Rupanjali had tortured innocent birds for her selfish needs.Then the prince took off his garland and stepped forward.Ignoring Rupanjali ,the Rainbow Prince garlanded Nilanjana.He said that Nilanjana was the one he had chosen to be his queen.He had taken the form of a red parrot to test the worthy of the girl whom he would marry and Nilanjana was the qualified one.Then the prince placed Nilanjana in his golden chariot and set off to the land of the rainbow.Rupanjali was left behind, a sadder and wiser girl.