A Flowering Tree: A brief retelling…

In a certain town, the king had two daughters and a son.  The older daughter was married.

In the same town, there lived a poor old woman with her two daughters.  One day, the younger sister said, “Sister, I want to help mother.  I will turn myself into a flowering tree.  You can take the flowers and sell them.”  Amazed, the older sister nevertheless followed her younger sister’s directions. She brought two pitchers of water without touching them with her fingernails to a tall tree in front of the house.  

There, the younger sister sat down to meditate and pray.  The older one poured water as instructed, from the first pitcher, all over her sister.  At once, her sister turned into a beautiful tree.  The older sister carefully plucked the flowers and then poured water from the second pitcher over the tree.  The tree became a human being again and her younger sister stood in its place.  She shook the water from her hair and both sisters gathered the fragrant flowers into baskets.  They wove them into garlands.

The older sister took the basketful of garlands to sell before the king’s palace. She hawked her wares, crying, “Flowers, flowers, who wants flowers?”  

The princess looked out and said, “Mother, Mother, the flowers smell wonderful.  Buy me some.” 

The queen saw the lovely flowers, called to the older sister, and bought all the garlands. 

The sisters sold flowers like this for five days without telling their mother, and they had five handfuls of coins.  

One day, the king’s son saw the flowers.  He was intrigued by their wonderful fragrance and unique quality.  Determined to learn their origin, he followed the older sister home and, hiding in the tall tree, saw the younger sister transform into a tree and back again.

He came straight home, and lay down on his bed, face down. He didn’t speak a word to anyone, including the king and queen.  It was only the minister’s son who was able to learn the reason for his silence.  He told the king the whole story, and the king asked the minister to send for the old woman.  

She arrived shaking with fear. The king offered her betel leaf and betel nut (tambula) ceremonially on a silver platter as a symbolic offer of betrothal.  She was afraid to touch it.  But the king forced it on her and sent her home.

Back home, she picked up a broom and beat her daughters.  She insisted on knowing how the king had learned of them.  In the end, she forced the younger daughter to demonstrate her gift.  The sister then became a tree and returned to her normal human self, right before her mother’s eyes. 

The king’s men arrived and wedding arrangements began.  The family made ritual designs on the wedding floor and built a canopied ceremonial tent (pandal).

After the nuptial ceremony, the couple was alone together in a separate house.  For three nights they did not speak.  Finally, the girl confronted the aloof prince. He, in response, chided and pressured her to turn into a flowering tree.  She, despondent, and not wanting to anger him, assented.  

And so, she instructed him on how and when to pour the water, while she sat in the middle of the room, meditating in prayer.  After she turned into a tree and back again, they spread the flowers he had picked, covered themselves with them, and went to bed. 

One day, the king’s younger daughter (who had spied on her sister-in-law and learned of her gift) and her friends brought her sister-in-law to the orchard.  They tied swings to a big tree and played games.  Abruptly the king’s daughter asked “Sister, you can become a flowering tree, can’t you?”

The sister-law-denied this, but the king’s daughter and her friends taunted her and made her very sad.  Finally, she agreed to turn into a flowering tree.  The silly girls did not follow her instructions; they greedily pulled at the flowers and carelessly poured the water.  It was late, and beginning to rain. They hurried home, leaving the process incomplete, and the princess a stump of a human being without hands or feet.

She was crawling in a gutter when a cart driver saw her.  He took pity on her and stopping in a town, lowered her onto a pavilion.  She seemed to be more like a “thing” than a human being.

Meanwhile, the prince became worried and full of fear.  No news was received of the missing princess after five days, six days, and fifteen days.  They searched and searched and couldn’t find her.  In disgust and despair, the prince changed into an ascetic’s long robe and went out into the world.  He just walked and walked, not caring where he went.

During this time, the princess who was now a “thing” somehow reached the town, which her husband’s elder married sister lived.  The palace servants persuaded the queen to let them bring her to the palace and take care of her.  They bathed the “thing” in oils, dressed her well, and applied medicines to her wounds.  They made her better but could not make her whole.  She had only half a body.

Now the prince wandered through many lands and looked like a crazy man. He ended up outside the gate of his sister’s palace. His sister recognized him, and sent her maids to bring him in.  She ordered the palace servants to heat up vats of oil and great vessels of steaming water for his baths.  She nursed him, served him delicious varieties of foods and brought him new styles of clothing.  She even sent one or another of her beautiful maids into his bedroom every night.  But he didn’t say a word or do a thing. Nothing could revive him.  

Finally, the servant maids got together, dressed up the “thing” and left “It” on his bed.  He, once again, did nothing.  But “It” pressed and massaged his legs with its stump of an arm.  “It” moaned strangely.  He got up and looked at “It “for a few moments and realized it was his wife.  He asked her what had happened and she, who had not spoken for months, told him all, in tears.     

She instructed him to bring two pitchers of water.  He poured the first and saw that her branches were broken and her leaves torn. He carefully set each one right and bound them up and gently poured water from the second pitcher all over the tree.

Now she became a whole human being again. She joyfully shook the water from her tresses and went and told the astonished queen the whole story.  The couple was treated to all kinds of princely food and service and they were made to sit in the hall like bride and bridegroom for a ritual celebration.  They stayed in the palace for several weeks and then went home to the king’s palace with cartloads of gifts.

A Flowering Tree is a  2000 year old oral tale from South India adapted from the transliteration by A K Ramanujam.