The Mean King
Long ago, there lived a couple who had an only daughter. The wife was called Sasani and the man was called Tanat. Sasani and Tanat had an only daughter whom they called Jinly. Tanat and Sasani loved Jinly very much, and their only delight was seeing the smile on her face. Jinly was the most beautiful girl in the entire kingdom, yet no one wanted to marry her because her parents were so poor. Tanat worked as a slave in the king’s court and earned very little. Sasani didn’t work at all. But Jinly, who was very kind hearted, didn’t mind being alone. She was always happy and cheerful. Whenever her parents felt sad because Jinly couldn’t get married, she would always cheer them up by singing sweet songs and smiling.
Although Jinly acted as if she was not sad, she was really sad because she didn’t have a husband. Tanat and Sasani knew this. They wept thinking of the lonely life their sweet daughter would have if no one married her. One day Jinly was picking berries in the forest when she saw the king. The king was hunting in the forest. He had chased after a beautiful deer but had gotton lost. Jinly invited him to stay in her father’s house. The king had to agree. Although he was not so comfortable in the poor little house, he had an easy time all because of Jinly.
Her cheerful face made him the happiest man in the whole kingdom. After spending the night in Jinly’s room, the king rode off to get back to his own kingdom. Over the next few weeks, the king saw that his servant Tanat was upset. When he asked why, Tanat said, “My beloved daughter Jinly is so sweet and kind and beautiful, yet no one will marry her because me and my wife are so poor.” “But instead of complaining, she only smiles and cheers us up.” “Hm,” the king began, “Let me see this daughter of yours.” “I am not yet married and it would be a pleasure to meet your lovely daughter you speak of.” “Perhaps I will fall in love with her.”
Tanat was so excited to go home and tell his daughter the good news, he could barely work. Late in the evening, Tanat came back and told Jinly and Sasani the good news. But Jinly was very upset at hearing the news. “Father,” she said, “I will not marry the king even if he likes me.” Sasani and Tanat were disappointed at hearing this, and they said, “But what girl would refuse to marry a great king?” “The king is very tall and handsome.” “Just wait until you see him.” Jinly still refused, for truly, this king was very old. He was also mean, for Tanat worked so hard in the palace yet he got nothing but a penny each day.
The next morning, Tanat and Sasani awoke early. They dressed Jinly in the best clothes they had, and then Sasani sent her to the palace with Tanat. At once, the king fell in love with Jinly. But Jinly hated him. The king asked Tanat if he could marry Jinly, and Tanat gladly accepted. But Jinly was very upset. “What is this, Father?” she asked. “Why are you getting me married to the man who is so ugly and old and has made you suffer so much?” “Jinly,” Tanat said. “The king is a very handsome looking man.” “See how old he is?” “Yet he doesn’t have a single wrinkle on his body.” “And I agree that the king has made me suffer, but now look how he is begging me to let you marry him.” “Even if you don’t want to marry him, you’ll have to for our sake!”
Now Jinly really hated the mean old king, but when she heard the words, “for our sake,” she thought of her parents and how joyful they were when the king agreed to marry her. So, thinking only of her parents’ happiness, Jinly agreed to marry the king. “See,” Tanat and Sasani cried out, “We told you that our sweet little daughter would agree to marry you.” The old and mean king called for his royal servants at once when he reached the palace. He ordered them to make the preparations for the wedding. During the next few days the king was unable to attend any cases. When a relative asked him to come to his son’s wedding, the king said he was getting married himself and had to make the preparations.
When two farmers came to seek justice, the king said that he was much too busy with his wedding preparations. Soon people from all around the kingdom knew that their old king was to be married. But no one could think about a girl who would want to marry such an old, mean king. When the day of the wedding arrived, the old king was very excited. People from all over the kingdom came to see their king be wedded. After a long time of waiting for the bride, the king grew impatient. He called one of his royal messengers named George. He said to George, “My guests have been waiting patiently for the bride to arrive.” “Go to Tanat’s house and ask for Jinly.” “And hurry up, for my guests will soon get angry.”
Quickly, George mounted a horse and rode off as fast as he could to Tanat’s house. George knocked on the door. Sasani answered. “Please,” George said, “I want to meet Tanat.” “Does he live here?” “Yes, please come in,” Sasani said. Tanat was inside playing chess. He had completely forgotton to send Jinly to the palace. George said, “Please, Mr. Tanat, I need to meet Jinly.” “The king is waiting for her with all his guests.” Tanat then remembered that the wedding was to take place on that day. Quickly he said to George, “Oh, I am so sorry!” “The king must be very angry.” “I have kept him waiting for too long.” “Hurry, run up to the garden where my daughter Jinly is picking berries.” “Dress her in wedding clothes and take her to the palace quickly.”
George hurried up to the garden where Jinly was. He immediately fell in love with her. His heart ached as he went up to her. “The king is waiting for you at the palace,” George said in a trembling voice. Jinly turned around and saw George’s handsome face. He was still very young. No man was as handsome as he was. Jinly asked him why he looked so upset. At first George said nothing, but at last he told Jinly how much he loved her. Jinly burst into tears at hearing these words. “I, too, have wanted to marry you,” Jinly said. “Marry me then, for you are much more handsome and kind than that old mean king.”
George agreed, but how were they to escape before the wedding started? George took Jinly and dressed her in wedding clothes. Jinly said, “But I want to marry you!” “Why are you dressing me when I am not to get married to the king?” George replied, “You are going to marry me.” “You’ll see.” “I have a plan.” George took Jinly to the palace and presented her before the king. The king was very happy to see her. Now it was the custom in that country that before a wedding took place the bride and the groom would each drink a glass of wine. A maid named Sula was preparing the two cups of wine when George came in. Sula asked why he came. George said that the king had to prepare a wedding cake in the hall. “Would you please help him prepare it?” asked George.
Sula jumped up at once. She hurried out of the kitchen and went to help prepare the cake. Meanwhile George took the king’s cup of wine and added poison into it. What he really didn’t know was that the cup he had poured the poison in was actually Jinly’s cup. When Sula came back, George was gone. Sula took the two cups to the king. The king happened to drink the wine without the poison. But Jinly drank the glass with the poison. As soon as the poison entered her body, Jinly became weak. Soon she was in bed. George soon realized what he had done.
He tried and tried to make Jinly feel better, but nothing worked. Finally Sula, who was blamed for this illness, wanted to cure Jinly before she died. Sula first went to a wise old man who knew how to cure every illness. She learned some spells from him and then returned to the dying Jinly. As soon as Sula uttered the magic spells before Jinly, she began to feel better. First she was able to sit up in bed. Next she was able to stand up. Pretty soon she was bathing and eating by herself. Finally Jinly was cured. Sula was given three huge bags of gold in return for her help. George hugged Jinly. But since Jinly and the king were not yet married, the wedding began to start.
As the priest was uttering the prayers, George quietly slipped into the flower garlands. He threw the flowers at Jinly. At once Jinly sneezed, and so her silk wedding veil came off. The wedding stopped and Jinly was led into another room so she could be dressed again. As soon as the maids went out to wash the veil which had been ruined, George hurried into the room where Jinly was sitting.
Jinly was taken into George’s arms and then George and Jinly slipped out of the open window. They ran all the way to Tanat’s house. There Jinly told her parents how much she loved George. Soon Sasani and Tanat agreed to get her and George married. They married each other the very next day. During the next few days, George and Jinly were forced to live inside Tanat’s house for safety. But soon George wanted to take Jinly out so they could seek their own fortune. So they left and traveled day and night in each other’s company.
One day, George told Jinly that he was going out to the forest to cut some wood so that they could build a fire to keep them warm. Jinly sat quietly all day long waiting for George to come back. Pretty soon Jinly felt bored. She soon heard the sound of royal trumpets. The king, who was going to be married to Jinly, was on a search to find her. Quickly Jinly hid behind some bushes so the king wouldn’t see her. As the king rode by, he accidently knocked over a few flowers. They went right into Jinly’s face and she sneezed. The king was surprised to hear the strange sound. His men went through the bushes where Jinly was hiding!
They found Jinly and wrapped her up in a scarf. They brought her to the king. The king hugged Jinly and asked, “Where is that rascal who stole you away?” Jinly began to cry. The angry king ordered his men to take Jinly back to the palace so that he could be married to her. Jinly cried as the royal maids dressed her in wedding clothes. Before the wedding took place, Jinly was allowed to take a walk in the royal gardens. As she walked by the stream, Jinly thought, “What’s the use of living when my beloved husband is not with me?” “I shall die.” With that she hopped into the fresh water and sank between the water plants.
But to her surprise, she could breathe easily. Soon Jinly heard the sound of colorful fish swimming. She petted the fish and swam with them, for she knew how to swim. As the fish swam leading Jinly deeper into the water, Jinly gazed at all the amazing stuff. Marble palaces glowed in the sunlight as if there were a hundred kings. Fish were swimming here and there, as if the were enjoying the comforts of the stream. Then Jinly came upon the most beautiful palace of all. Here Jinly saw fish serving dishes and carrying royal robes to rooms. Inside swam Jinly, and there she saw a huge throne made out of seashells. Gold and silver surrounded the beautiful seat. And inside was a huge shark dressed in robes of jewels.
The shark was surrounded by colorful fish serving him. He wore a golden crown on his head. Beside him, on another throne made out of seashells, there sat a gentle dolphin. The dolphin also wore a golden crown. Jinly bowed between the two thrones and said, “I am Jinly, daughter of Tanat and Sasani.” “My husband, a man named George, has been captured by the mean old king.” “I hopped into this stream and saw all of these fish.” “Are they your servants?”
The shark said, “Yes, I am King Shark of the Sea, and this is my wife, Queen Dolphin of the Sea.” “It is my servants who have led you to this palace.” “You are welcome to stay here with us.” Queen Dolphin said, “My sweet girl, stay here with us.” “Be assured that you are safe here, under our power.” “Please choose to stay.” Jinly gladly accepted. She had all the comforts she could possibly have, except for one, she never saw George.
One day Queen Dolphin decided that it was time to hold a party for the coming of a new guest. This was how kind they were. King Shark made invitations for all of his friends. When the time came, there was a big parade around the marble palace. Fish, sharks, starfish, whales, and many other sea animals swam to celebrate. Jinly greeted them all. By the time the party was over, every single living thing in the sea knew Jinly and her story.
Then one day, Queen Dolphin asked Jinly to swim up to the surface of the water and get some sea plants. Jinly agreed. She swam up to the clear surface and began to gather sea plants for the queen. At this time, George was picking sea plants as well. He saw Jinly and for the first time in many months felt happy. But Jinly didn’t see him, and she swam back into the water after a while. George sadly went home. The next day George met Jinly again, but Jinly still didn’t see him. At last, one day, Jinly and George met each other face to face!
George begged Jinly to come back, but Jinly said that she must first bade farwell to the sea animals. So she went back into the sea and thanked all of the sea animals and told them that she had to leave. After a long period of hugging, Jinly swam back up. Here George took Jinly out of the water and took her home to Tanat’s house. How happy Sasani and Tanat were! The mean old king died of his anger, and the people chose George and Jinly to be the new king and queen. So they all lived happily ever after. THE END
Although Jinly acted as if she was not sad, she was really sad because she didn’t have a husband. Tanat and Sasani knew this. They wept thinking of the lonely life their sweet daughter would have if no one married her. One day Jinly was picking berries in the forest when she saw the king. The king was hunting in the forest. He had chased after a beautiful deer but had gotton lost. Jinly invited him to stay in her father’s house. The king had to agree. Although he was not so comfortable in the poor little house, he had an easy time all because of Jinly.
Her cheerful face made him the happiest man in the whole kingdom. After spending the night in Jinly’s room, the king rode off to get back to his own kingdom. Over the next few weeks, the king saw that his servant Tanat was upset. When he asked why, Tanat said, “My beloved daughter Jinly is so sweet and kind and beautiful, yet no one will marry her because me and my wife are so poor.” “But instead of complaining, she only smiles and cheers us up.” “Hm,” the king began, “Let me see this daughter of yours.” “I am not yet married and it would be a pleasure to meet your lovely daughter you speak of.” “Perhaps I will fall in love with her.”
Tanat was so excited to go home and tell his daughter the good news, he could barely work. Late in the evening, Tanat came back and told Jinly and Sasani the good news. But Jinly was very upset at hearing the news. “Father,” she said, “I will not marry the king even if he likes me.” Sasani and Tanat were disappointed at hearing this, and they said, “But what girl would refuse to marry a great king?” “The king is very tall and handsome.” “Just wait until you see him.” Jinly still refused, for truly, this king was very old. He was also mean, for Tanat worked so hard in the palace yet he got nothing but a penny each day.
The next morning, Tanat and Sasani awoke early. They dressed Jinly in the best clothes they had, and then Sasani sent her to the palace with Tanat. At once, the king fell in love with Jinly. But Jinly hated him. The king asked Tanat if he could marry Jinly, and Tanat gladly accepted. But Jinly was very upset. “What is this, Father?” she asked. “Why are you getting me married to the man who is so ugly and old and has made you suffer so much?” “Jinly,” Tanat said. “The king is a very handsome looking man.” “See how old he is?” “Yet he doesn’t have a single wrinkle on his body.” “And I agree that the king has made me suffer, but now look how he is begging me to let you marry him.” “Even if you don’t want to marry him, you’ll have to for our sake!”
Now Jinly really hated the mean old king, but when she heard the words, “for our sake,” she thought of her parents and how joyful they were when the king agreed to marry her. So, thinking only of her parents’ happiness, Jinly agreed to marry the king. “See,” Tanat and Sasani cried out, “We told you that our sweet little daughter would agree to marry you.” The old and mean king called for his royal servants at once when he reached the palace. He ordered them to make the preparations for the wedding. During the next few days the king was unable to attend any cases. When a relative asked him to come to his son’s wedding, the king said he was getting married himself and had to make the preparations.
When two farmers came to seek justice, the king said that he was much too busy with his wedding preparations. Soon people from all around the kingdom knew that their old king was to be married. But no one could think about a girl who would want to marry such an old, mean king. When the day of the wedding arrived, the old king was very excited. People from all over the kingdom came to see their king be wedded. After a long time of waiting for the bride, the king grew impatient. He called one of his royal messengers named George. He said to George, “My guests have been waiting patiently for the bride to arrive.” “Go to Tanat’s house and ask for Jinly.” “And hurry up, for my guests will soon get angry.”
Quickly, George mounted a horse and rode off as fast as he could to Tanat’s house. George knocked on the door. Sasani answered. “Please,” George said, “I want to meet Tanat.” “Does he live here?” “Yes, please come in,” Sasani said. Tanat was inside playing chess. He had completely forgotton to send Jinly to the palace. George said, “Please, Mr. Tanat, I need to meet Jinly.” “The king is waiting for her with all his guests.” Tanat then remembered that the wedding was to take place on that day. Quickly he said to George, “Oh, I am so sorry!” “The king must be very angry.” “I have kept him waiting for too long.” “Hurry, run up to the garden where my daughter Jinly is picking berries.” “Dress her in wedding clothes and take her to the palace quickly.”
George hurried up to the garden where Jinly was. He immediately fell in love with her. His heart ached as he went up to her. “The king is waiting for you at the palace,” George said in a trembling voice. Jinly turned around and saw George’s handsome face. He was still very young. No man was as handsome as he was. Jinly asked him why he looked so upset. At first George said nothing, but at last he told Jinly how much he loved her. Jinly burst into tears at hearing these words. “I, too, have wanted to marry you,” Jinly said. “Marry me then, for you are much more handsome and kind than that old mean king.”
George agreed, but how were they to escape before the wedding started? George took Jinly and dressed her in wedding clothes. Jinly said, “But I want to marry you!” “Why are you dressing me when I am not to get married to the king?” George replied, “You are going to marry me.” “You’ll see.” “I have a plan.” George took Jinly to the palace and presented her before the king. The king was very happy to see her. Now it was the custom in that country that before a wedding took place the bride and the groom would each drink a glass of wine. A maid named Sula was preparing the two cups of wine when George came in. Sula asked why he came. George said that the king had to prepare a wedding cake in the hall. “Would you please help him prepare it?” asked George.
Sula jumped up at once. She hurried out of the kitchen and went to help prepare the cake. Meanwhile George took the king’s cup of wine and added poison into it. What he really didn’t know was that the cup he had poured the poison in was actually Jinly’s cup. When Sula came back, George was gone. Sula took the two cups to the king. The king happened to drink the wine without the poison. But Jinly drank the glass with the poison. As soon as the poison entered her body, Jinly became weak. Soon she was in bed. George soon realized what he had done.
He tried and tried to make Jinly feel better, but nothing worked. Finally Sula, who was blamed for this illness, wanted to cure Jinly before she died. Sula first went to a wise old man who knew how to cure every illness. She learned some spells from him and then returned to the dying Jinly. As soon as Sula uttered the magic spells before Jinly, she began to feel better. First she was able to sit up in bed. Next she was able to stand up. Pretty soon she was bathing and eating by herself. Finally Jinly was cured. Sula was given three huge bags of gold in return for her help. George hugged Jinly. But since Jinly and the king were not yet married, the wedding began to start.
As the priest was uttering the prayers, George quietly slipped into the flower garlands. He threw the flowers at Jinly. At once Jinly sneezed, and so her silk wedding veil came off. The wedding stopped and Jinly was led into another room so she could be dressed again. As soon as the maids went out to wash the veil which had been ruined, George hurried into the room where Jinly was sitting.
Jinly was taken into George’s arms and then George and Jinly slipped out of the open window. They ran all the way to Tanat’s house. There Jinly told her parents how much she loved George. Soon Sasani and Tanat agreed to get her and George married. They married each other the very next day. During the next few days, George and Jinly were forced to live inside Tanat’s house for safety. But soon George wanted to take Jinly out so they could seek their own fortune. So they left and traveled day and night in each other’s company.
One day, George told Jinly that he was going out to the forest to cut some wood so that they could build a fire to keep them warm. Jinly sat quietly all day long waiting for George to come back. Pretty soon Jinly felt bored. She soon heard the sound of royal trumpets. The king, who was going to be married to Jinly, was on a search to find her. Quickly Jinly hid behind some bushes so the king wouldn’t see her. As the king rode by, he accidently knocked over a few flowers. They went right into Jinly’s face and she sneezed. The king was surprised to hear the strange sound. His men went through the bushes where Jinly was hiding!
They found Jinly and wrapped her up in a scarf. They brought her to the king. The king hugged Jinly and asked, “Where is that rascal who stole you away?” Jinly began to cry. The angry king ordered his men to take Jinly back to the palace so that he could be married to her. Jinly cried as the royal maids dressed her in wedding clothes. Before the wedding took place, Jinly was allowed to take a walk in the royal gardens. As she walked by the stream, Jinly thought, “What’s the use of living when my beloved husband is not with me?” “I shall die.” With that she hopped into the fresh water and sank between the water plants.
But to her surprise, she could breathe easily. Soon Jinly heard the sound of colorful fish swimming. She petted the fish and swam with them, for she knew how to swim. As the fish swam leading Jinly deeper into the water, Jinly gazed at all the amazing stuff. Marble palaces glowed in the sunlight as if there were a hundred kings. Fish were swimming here and there, as if the were enjoying the comforts of the stream. Then Jinly came upon the most beautiful palace of all. Here Jinly saw fish serving dishes and carrying royal robes to rooms. Inside swam Jinly, and there she saw a huge throne made out of seashells. Gold and silver surrounded the beautiful seat. And inside was a huge shark dressed in robes of jewels.
The shark was surrounded by colorful fish serving him. He wore a golden crown on his head. Beside him, on another throne made out of seashells, there sat a gentle dolphin. The dolphin also wore a golden crown. Jinly bowed between the two thrones and said, “I am Jinly, daughter of Tanat and Sasani.” “My husband, a man named George, has been captured by the mean old king.” “I hopped into this stream and saw all of these fish.” “Are they your servants?”
The shark said, “Yes, I am King Shark of the Sea, and this is my wife, Queen Dolphin of the Sea.” “It is my servants who have led you to this palace.” “You are welcome to stay here with us.” Queen Dolphin said, “My sweet girl, stay here with us.” “Be assured that you are safe here, under our power.” “Please choose to stay.” Jinly gladly accepted. She had all the comforts she could possibly have, except for one, she never saw George.
One day Queen Dolphin decided that it was time to hold a party for the coming of a new guest. This was how kind they were. King Shark made invitations for all of his friends. When the time came, there was a big parade around the marble palace. Fish, sharks, starfish, whales, and many other sea animals swam to celebrate. Jinly greeted them all. By the time the party was over, every single living thing in the sea knew Jinly and her story.
Then one day, Queen Dolphin asked Jinly to swim up to the surface of the water and get some sea plants. Jinly agreed. She swam up to the clear surface and began to gather sea plants for the queen. At this time, George was picking sea plants as well. He saw Jinly and for the first time in many months felt happy. But Jinly didn’t see him, and she swam back into the water after a while. George sadly went home. The next day George met Jinly again, but Jinly still didn’t see him. At last, one day, Jinly and George met each other face to face!
George begged Jinly to come back, but Jinly said that she must first bade farwell to the sea animals. So she went back into the sea and thanked all of the sea animals and told them that she had to leave. After a long period of hugging, Jinly swam back up. Here George took Jinly out of the water and took her home to Tanat’s house. How happy Sasani and Tanat were! The mean old king died of his anger, and the people chose George and Jinly to be the new king and queen. So they all lived happily ever after. THE END