Veranda Tales-What happened to the parrot prince?

Storytelling has been an integral part of my life since childhood. I grew up listening to stories during the hot summer evenings and nights with my cousins. Mothers and grandmothers would gather all of us children for story time. It was usually pitch dark except for a very faint light coming from the flickering candle. Power cuts were as frequent as the hot and humid summer days. We all spread out on a cool concrete floor or bamboo mats on the veranda intently listening to fascinating stories about kings, queens, princes, princesses, and peasants alike. Stories about love, life, families, and people entertained and taught us life skills. These stories transported us to distant worlds, strange yet familiar. Often the same story told by two people sounded different as storytellers added new twists and turns adding their personal style and flair to the stories.

Storytelling wasn’t limited to summer evenings and bedtime. I was surrounded by adults who didn’t pass up an opportunity to share their wisdom using the art of storytelling. These rich vibrant oral traditions include songs, poems, stories, and సామెతలు (Sametalu are proverbs in Telugu). Men and women sing songs as they work in the fields, grinding grains and spices and doing other daily chores at their homes. Stories are often used to teach important life lessons, interpersonal skills, and survival skills. These stories and the time spent listening to them made our lives richer leaving an impression on me. This series is all about reliving those memories as I share these stories.

చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) - the story continues

చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) continued to live among the parrots who adored and revered him. Meanwhile, his seven wives continued their search for him as they ruled in his stead. They continued to be under the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu is a dark wizard in Telugu)’s spell and asked him to locate their husband. The మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) used his magic powers to learn about the యువరాజ (yuvaraja)’s life as a parrot prince in the neighboring kingdom. The మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) and the seven wives devised a plan to capture and kill the యువరాజ (yuvaraja). The seven wives offered a reward of five gold coins to hunters for a live captured parrot. They could then get their hands on the యువరాజ (yuvaraja) and kill him. Hunters all across the kingdom kept capturing parrots and bringing them to the palace to be rewarded. Several years went by without finding the one parrot the seven wives were searching for. Hunters started looking for parrots in the neighboring kingdoms.

One day, a hunter noticed the బూరుగుదూది చెట్టు (buruga dudi chettu is silk cotton tree in Telugu) where the యువరాజ (yuvaraja) was hiding out as a parrot. The hunter, wanting to catch all the parrots at once to get a huge reward, made several small cuts in the tree while the parrots were away for the day. His plan was to capture them all at once when they got stuck on the tree branches in the sticky liquid oozing out of these cuts he made. His plan worked and the parrots and their leader got stuck in the tree branches as soon as they landed on them after coming back in the evening. The యువరాజ (yuvaraja) understood the danger they were all in. He devised a plan to save his subjects. He asked them to pretend to be dead when the hunter comes back in the morning to capture them. He told them all to fly away as soon as the last parrot was placed on the ground. All went according to his plan and the parrots flew away to safety as soon as the hunter released the last one of them from the tree and laid them on the ground thinking that they were dead. యువరాజ (yuvaraja) stayed behind and was captured as he made sure all others got away.

యువరాజ (yuvaraja) learned about the reward for captured parrots offered by the seven queens from the hunter. He immediately understood his seven wives' elaborate plan to get their hands on him to kill him. He quickly came up with a plan to keep himself safe. He convinced the hunter to take him to a fair held in the kingdom instead of taking him across the border for a smaller reward. He told the hunter that he would help him get 50,000 gold coins if he took him to the fair. He knew about the tradition that the king would buy the goods that weren’t sold at the end of the fair.

The hunter agreed to the plan and took him to the fair. When someone approached to buy, he told the prospective buyers to ask the parrot for the price. The చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) told the buyers that his prices was 50,000 gold coins. It was not a surprise that the చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) was still in the cage at the end of the fair. When the king sent his soldiers to buy the remaining goods from the vendors, they found the చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja). They were told the price was 50,000 gold coins. They went back to the king to report this strange and unusual pricing. The king bought the parrot to honor the tradition and was amazed by his wisdom.

The చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) gained the trust and respect of the king with his wisdom and wit. The king started consulting him on royal matters. The queen heard about the parrot that gained her husband’s trust. She sent word to request her husband to send the parrot to her. After caring for the parrot for a period of time, the queen gifted the parrot to her daughter, a beautiful and kind hearted princess. She loved the parrot and took good care of him. One day, the princess was bathing the parrot and found the magic key embedded in his forehead. She was able to remove it. As soon as the magic key was removed, the parrot turned into a handsome young prince. The princess was surprised by what happened. యువరాజ (yuvaraja) was very happy to find the woman who truly loved him. He asked her to insert the magic key back into his forehead and put him back in the cage. He asked her to keep his cage in her room at night, promising to tell his story when they were alone.

The princess took the cage to her room and removed the magic key from యువరాజ (yuvaraja)’s forehead. He told her the story of how he became a parrot and that his seven wives were still looking to harm him. The princess and the యువరాజ (yuvaraja) started to enjoy each other's company with him being a parrot in the cage during the day and a handsome prince at night.

The seven wives went back to the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) and asked him to locate their husband again. He found him living at the palace in the neighboring kingdom. They devised another plan to capture him. The మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) asked the seven queens to train to become skillful dancers. The మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) traveled to the neighboring kingdom with the seven wives to perform in the royal court. The king welcomed them and the dance performance was underway. The princess was in attendance with her parrot in the cage.

Upon seeing his seven wives and the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu), the చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) understood what was going on. He signalled to the princess to leave the performance to take him back to her palace. When they were back in her room, he explained to her that the seven dancers were his wives and their leader was the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu). He told her that they would try to get him as a reward from the king for their performance and then kill him. He told her to refuse to give him up and if she was unsuccessful she should fling the cage as hard as she could to the ground.

Once the performance was complete, the king asked the performers what they would like as a reward for their awesome performance. Sure enough, the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) and the seven wives asked the king to give them the famous parrot they heard so much about. The king sent his minister to fetch the parrot from the princess. The princess refused to part with the parrot. She was then summoned to the court with the parrot. When the king ordered her to give up the parrot, she flung the cage as hard as she could on the ground as instructed by the యువరాజ (yuvaraja). The cage door was now wide open and the చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) fell to the ground. As soon as the చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) landed on the ground, he transformed into a small rice grain as the king, the queen, the princess and everyone else in the court were watching in confusion and horror.

The మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) transformed himself into a parrot and pounced on the rice grain to eat it. As soon as the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu), who was now a parrot touched the rice grain, the rice grain transformed into a ferocious గ్రద్ద (gradda is a vulture in Telugu). గ్రద్ద (gradda) pounced on the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) who had taken the shape of a parrot and killed him. As soon as the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) parrot was shredded to pieces, గ్రద్ద (gradda) transformed back into the చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) and the seven wives fled the palace in terror. 

The princess immediately lurched forward to catch him and removed the magic key from his forehead. The parrot turned into యువరాజ (yuvaraja) as the king and others watched with their mouths wide open. The princess brought to her father up to speed on the story of the చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) and asked her father’s permission to marry the యువరాజ (yuvaraja). The king agreed and యువరాజ (yuvaraja) married the woman who truly loved him and rescued him. He went back to his kingdom and lived happily ever after.

The seven wives in this ancient tale symbolize the seven vices described in the vedas, “కామ (kama is  Desire/Lust), క్రోధ (krodha is Anger), లోభ (lobha is Greed), మద (mada is Ego), మోహ (moha is Attachment), and మాత్సర్య (matsarya is Jealousy), and ఆలస్య (alasya is laziness/tardiness). The story illustrates how the యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja) had overcome these seven human vices with his persistence, wit, and help from people who truly loved him.