Page:Indian Fairy Tales (Stokes, 1879).djvu/13



I.

PHÚLMATTÍ RÁNÍ.

HERE were once a Rájá and a Rání who had an only daughter called the Phúlmattí Rání, or the Pink-rose Queen. She was so beautiful that if she went into a very dark room it was all lighted up by her beauty. On her head was the sun; on her hands, moons; and her face was covered with stars. She had hair that reached to the ground, and it was made of pure gold.

Every day after she had had her bath, her father and mother used to weigh her in a pair of scales. She only weighed one flower. She ate very, very little food. This made her father most unhappy, and he said, "I cannot let my daughter marry any one who weighs more than one flower." Now, God loved this girl dearly, so he went down under the ground to see if any of the fairy Rájás was fit to be the Phúlmattí Rání's husband, and he thought none of them good enough. So he went in the form of a Fakír to see the great Indrasan Rájá who ruled over all the other fairy Rájás. This Rájá was exceedingly beautiful. On his head was the sun; and on his hands, moons; and on his face, stars. God made him weigh very little. Then he said to the Rájás, "Come up with me, and we will go to the palace