The Dog Bride

There was once a rich official, a great favourite with the prince of his country.  He and his wife had everything they could wish for – a well-appointed house, gardens, servants – but no children, and for this they felt sad and ashamed.

One moonlit night, the wife was walking in the gardens with her maidens, drinking in the rich perfume of the flowers and sorrowing over her childless state.  As she walked, a beautiful woman dressed in red and gold appeared by a lotus pond.  The wife drew near and greeted the stranger courteously, for it seemed to her that this was a person of great quality.

“Greetings to you, child,” said the stranger.  “Tell me, why do you weep on such a beautiful night?”

“Because I have long been childless,” said the wife.  “It is a shame and a sorrow to me.”

“That is easily remedied,” said the stranger with a smile.  “Pluck a lotus from this pond and place it beneath the moonlight where it may catch the night dew.  In the first light of dawn, drink the dew from the lotus petals.  If you drink from the right side, you will give birth to a boy, and if you drink from the left side, you will give birth to a girl.  But under no circumstances must you drink from both sides, for then a great evil will befall.”

The wife thanked the stranger most sincerely, and did as she was bidden.  She plucked the lotus and left in beneath the moonlight to catch the night dew.  And at first light, as the sun began to tinge the horizon with colour, she stole from her husband’s bed and crept into the garden to drink from the flower’s petals.

But when she came to drink, she found herself in a quandary.

“Should I drink from the left or the right side?” she wondered.  “Dearly, dearly would my husband love a son and heir.  And I, too, would rejoice to see my beloved’s features repeated in the face of his son.  But I would dearly love a daughter to nurture and bring up in my footsteps.  And she would bring joy to her father in his old age.”

So she deliberated until the sun was about to rise fully, and she could delay no longer.  She seized the lotus and, in desperation, drank from each side in turn, forgetting the stranger’s warning words.

You can only imagine the husband’s joy when he found out his wife was with child.  But, when the time came for her to be delivered, instead of giving birth to one healthy child, she gave birth to two.  The first was a girl-child, but covered all over with coarse, brown hair, and with the head of a dog.  When the women who attended the official’s wife saw the dog-child, they would have drowned it, but the wife protested aloud.

“No!  She is a gift from heaven and must not be destroyed.  Besides, I feel in my womb that there is another to follow.”

The wife spoke truly, and in ten more minutes she was delivered of a second daughter, the most beautiful child that was ever seen in that land.  When the husband came in to see her, he wept with joy over the beautiful daughter, but shuddered at the mere sight of the dog-child.

“Alas, what has befallen us?” he said.

“Nothing but what fate has ordained,” said the wife.  “There is nothing for it but to accept our lot and make the best of it.”

So the two daughters were brought up together in the official’s household.  The beautiful daughter was named Maya, and was soon rumoured throughout the city as the most beautiful girl in the land.  The dog-child was never seen outside the official’s household, yet she and the beautiful Maya were inseparable from birth.  Whatever the dog-child did, Maya copied, and wherever she went, Maya dutifully followed.  The love between them was such that the servants of the house marvelled to see it.

Eventually, the time came for the official to seek a suitable man to wed his daughter, the beautiful Maya.

“For no man will wed a Dog Bride,” he said.

So he consulted priests, who searched the stars for a match suitable for Maya, and contacted families far and near.  But when the sisters discovered what he was doing, the dog daughter was outraged.

“All these years I have been a dutiful daughter to you and never caused you shame.  And yet you arrange my sister’s wedding ahead of mine, who is a full ten minutes my junior?”

In her turn, the beautiful Maya also took up the cry:

“Never will I go where my sister does not lead.”

And the beautiful Maya sobbed and wailed and refused to eat, her beauty seemed likely to fade away; while the dog daughter howled in a manner that sickened the very soul.  The wife, too, pointed out that, as the elder daughter, the Dog Bride deserved the first wedding.

At last the official conceded, and sought a match for the Dog Bride.  But when the time came to meet with the bridegroom’s family, he was ashamed, and brought with him a portrait of the beautiful Maya, telling the relatives that she was their son’s intended bride.

“For by the time the veils of the bride and groom are lifted,” he said to himself, “the Dog Bride will be wed.  Time enough then for the young man to get acquainted with his new wife.”

The Dog Bride knew her father well and suspected he planned to arrange her marriage by guile.

“And that will never do,” she said.  “Only a man who knows he weds a Dog Bride and goes willingly to the wedding will be the husband for me.”

So the Dog Bride set about making a pair of golden slippers, embroidered with sequins.  And into these slippers she wove the hair of her head, and the beads of her tears, and the blood of her lips.  When they were finished they had this property: that any man who wore them could not help but sing out the truth of what he believed in his heart.  She bade her father send the slippers as a gift to the bridegroom.  She then feasted with her mother and sister and all the maidens of the household, who prepared her for the wedding.

On the day of the wedding, the bridegroom rode through the streets of the city on a milk-white horse, accompanied by a joyful procession of his friends and relatives.  On his head was a jewelled head-dress, on his feet the golden slippers.  And as he rode, he sang out:

“Today I wed the beautiful Maya!  Today I wed the beautiful Maya!”

When the Dog Bride heard this, she put her head out at an upper window and called into the street:

“The beautiful Maya is over-young.

For the Dog Bride’s love you should have sung.”

The bridegroom looked up to the window, and when he saw the Dog Bride, he gave a cry of horror and spurred his horse in the opposite direction.  The wedding procession was scattered and the ceremony abandoned.

News of this disastrous wedding soon spread throughout the city, and the official and his wife became the subject of many cruel jokes and songs.  Despairing, the husband thought he could never again seek a match for his daughter, the beautiful Maya.  But the wife counselled him to persevere.

“In the countryside there are many who have not reports of that day,” she said.  “You should seek for a bridegroom among them.”

So the husband again sought a match for the beautiful Maya, consulting the stars and contacting families out in the open country.  But when Maya and the Dog Bride heard of it, they were outraged.

“Again you would try to wed my younger sister before me?” said the Dog Bride.  And the beautiful Maya wept and wailed, until she was likely to lose her beauty.

Once again the official conceded to finding a husband for the Dog Bride.  The families in the countryside were not so grand or so worthy as those in the city, but still when the time came to meet with the bridegroom’s family, the official felt ashamed and took along a portrait of the beautiful Maya, claiming she was their son’s intended bride.

“For he will not know the truth until the veils are lifted,” he thought.

Once again, the Dog Bride suspected her father’s intentions.  She made a second pair of golden slippers, with the hair of her head, the beads of her tears and the blood from her lips, so that the wearer could not help but sing out the truth of what he believed.  And she had her father send them as a gift to her intended bridegroom.

On the day of the wedding, the groom rode through the city on a mule, for his family were not as wealthy as that of the first bridegroom.  On his head was a clean, white head-dress, on his feet the golden slippers.  His family and friends processed about him, and as he rode, he sang out:

“Today I wed the beautiful Maya!  Today I wed the beautiful Maya!”

When the Dog Bride heard this, she put her head out at an upper window and called into the street:

“The beautiful Maya is over-young.

For the Dog Bride’s love you should have sung.”

The bridegroom looked up to the window and saw the Dog Bride.  Just like the first groom, he cried out in horror, and spurred his mule back to the hills with his relatives in tow.  The procession broke up and the ceremony abandoned.

This second disastrous wedding brought great shame on the official.  He withdrew from public life and moped at home, bewailing to his wife that his daughter, the most beautiful girl in the land, would never be wed, since he could not find a husband for her sister, the Dog Bride.

After this had gone on for some months, it happened that a poor flute player came to that city, seeking work.  So poor was he that he had nothing but the clothes he stood up in and the flute he carried at his belt.  Yet his music was such that, when he played in the marketplace, folk would abandon their buying and selling, and dance for joy or weep for sorrow, in accordance with the flute player’s melodies.

When the relatives of the official heard the music of the flute player, they decided that this was just the thing to bring him out of his melancholy.  So they sent the musician to the official’s house.  The flute player played his very finest melodies, and the whole household sighed with rapture over the music, but when he was finished, the official was still as melancholy as ever.

“What is it that ails you, sir?” said the flute player.  “I trust I have not offended.”

The official shook his head.

“The truth is, I shall never be happy again, for my daughter, the beautiful Maya, will never be wed until I find a husband for the Dog Bride.”

And he told the flute player all his troubles.

“I would give half the wealth of my house to the man who would marry my daughter, the Dog Bride,” said the official.  “Even to you, were you man enough to do it.”

The flute player considered this.  He could see with his own eyes that the wealth of the official’s house was great indeed, while he himself was desperately poor.  Perhaps, he thought, marriage to a Dog Bride might not be as terrible as the other men of the city seemed to think.  And yet he hesitated, for he was a comely man, and had gained the attention of many maidens on his travels.

“Ah,” said the official.  “I see that you are but a coward like the rest.”

At this, the flute player thrust out his chest.

“Sir, I am not,” he said.  “I will wed your daughter, the Dog Bride, this very month.”

Now the Dog Bride and Maya had been listening to all this conversation from a balcony.  When the Dog Bride heard the words that had passed between her father and the flute player, she grew more hopeful of a husband.  And the comely features and kindly eyes of the flute player attracted her still more.  Yet, for his hesitation, she wished to test him as she had done the others.  So she made another pair of slippers with the hair of her head, the beads of her tears and the blood from her lips, and had her father send them to the flute player.

On the day of the wedding, the flute player walked through the streets alone, save for young boys who chased after him and pelted him with stones.  He had no wedding clothes but the golden slippers, his old clothes, and the flute at his belt.  And as he walked, he sang out:

“Today I wed the Dog Bride!  Today I wed the Dog Bride!”

As he passed by the marketplace, he saw an old woman dressed in red and selling flowers.  When she heard the flute player sing out, she beckoned him over and whispered in his ear:

“If you wish to have joy of your bride, pay attention to what I say.”

The flute player was surprised by her words, but listened in earnest.

“When you come to the wedding ceremony,” she said, “instead of a garland of flowers, you must give your bride a garland of dried sticks.  Instead of a necklace, you must give her a rough rope.  And instead of feeding her sweetmeats, you must feed her a bitter gourd.  When she asks you why you do such things, you must answer that her beauty and her sweetness makes these things appear ugly and sour.  But you must endeavour to mean it with all your heart, or you will be unable to speak the words and all will go badly for you.”

“I will do as you say,” said the flute player.

“When you have done all this,” the old woman said, “you must take out your flute and play to your bride the sweetest love song that ever you knew.  Play it to her heart, so that tears spill from her eyes.  When all this is done, you will have joy of your bride.”

“Thank you a thousand times,” said the flute player, and went on his way.

When he reached the bridal house, the official’s wife and household were there to greet him, and the official himself was within with the priest at hand.  Then the Dog Bride was led in and the wedding ceremony began.  But when the time came to give his bride a flower garland, the flute player gave her a garland of dried sticks.

“Why do you give me dried sticks for a garland?” said the Dog Bride.  “Do you think I am unworthy?”

“Oh no,” said the flute player.  “This is a garland of the most beautiful flowers, but your beauty makes it look like dried sticks.”

And he endeavoured with all his heart to mean it, so that the slippers would not stop his speech.  And the face of the Dog Bride softened.

When it was time to give his bride a necklace, the flute player put a rough rope around her neck.

“Why do you give me a rough rope for a necklace?” said the Dog Bride.  “Do you think I am unworthy?”

“Oh no,” said the flute player.  “This is the most expensive necklace, but your beauty makes it look like a rough rope.”

Again, he endeavoured to mean it.  And the Dog Bride smiled.

When it was time to feed his bride with sweetmeats, the flute player fed her a bitter gourd.

“Why do you feed me a bitter gourd instead of sweetmeats?” said the Dog Bride.  “Do you think I am unworthy?”

Oh no,” said the flute player.  “These are the most delicious sweetmeats, but your sweetness makes them seem bitter.”

Again, he endeavoured to mean it.  And the face of the Dog Bride beamed.

Finally, when the ceremony was complete, the flute player took the flute from his belt and played the sweetest love song that ever he knew, looking into his bride’s eyes the whole time.  And, as he looked, he saw tears of joy spring from the Dog Bride’s eyes and flow down her cheeks.  Faster and faster flowed her tears, and a great steam rose from them.  And in the heat of that steam, the dog features burned away, and the course hair fell from her body, until standing before the flute player was the most beautiful bride ever seen in that land.  Her beauty surpassed even that of her sister, the beautiful Maya.

“Now I know,” said the Dog Bride, “that you are the husband for me, for you came willingly and gave freely that which my heart most desired.”

The flute player and his bride went into the wedding feast, and all the guests declared that a more handsome couple had never been seen.  The official and his wife rejoiced greatly, and all their relatives with them.  The rejoicing was so great that even the prince of that land came as a guest to the wedding, and blessed the bridal couple with many rich gifts.  You may be sure that the beautiful Maya was wed very soon after, and that between the two households there was much coming and going as long as the two sisters lived.  For never were there two such celebrated and devoted sisters in the land as the beautiful Maya and she who had once been the Dog Bride.