The widow and the frog : Lukhrabi amadi Hangoi
Fungawari Singbul by B. Jayantakumar Sharma

Translation by Nganthoi Lourembam *

An illustration of Folk tale 'Lukhrabi amadi Hangoi' by Nganthoi Lourembam

Once upon a time there lived a widow who has no one to look after her. She was very hard working. Her hard work was reflected on her garden which was completely green and neatly preserved.

At the edge of the widow's garden there was a frog which possesses God's power and speaks human language. Whenever the widow comes to fetch water from the pond she used to talk to the frog. Once the frog said, "Mother, you have no children and I also got no family. So let's live together in the house; please adopt me as your child." The widow accepted the frog as her child and they lived together in her house.

After living together for a while, the frog once told her, "Mother, from the story you read to me I believe that the king's daughter must be really pretty. So please go to the king and ask for his daughter's hand for me." The widow refused to his proposal and said, "You are not a human. How will I go and ask for the princess's hand for you!" But the frog begged so much that the widow decided to go and take the proposal to the king.

After listening to the widow the king replied, "Woman, you can take wealth/goods as much as you want from my place. But don't ask my daughter's hand for your son, the frog. Ok you must go now. You should never come back to this place again if it's regarding the proposal." The widow returned home feeling embarrassed.

When the widow reached home she told everything the king had told her to the frog. But the frog insisted her to go to the king once again. So the widow came back to the palace. This time the king became terribly angry and said, "Hey, woman, don't you have shame? Isn't it yesterday that I told you to not come back if it's regarding the proposal? Hey, is there anyone, come and beat up this shameless woman on her back with stick and drag her away from here."

As instructed by the king, the servants harshly beat up the widow and dragged her holding her neck. She fell on the ground and her face was covered with blood. When she returned home the frog saw her from a bit farther distance and seeing her mother's face in red color he thought, "Eh! My mother is in happy mood. Her lips are red eating she might have eaten pana (beetle leaf and nuts)."

With joy the frog said loudly, "Mother, how did it go? Was it successful? Did the king agree to give his daughter to me? Did he fix a date for the marriage?" The widowed mother replied, "My son, I am done because of you. There is no point in living. They beat me up awfully on my back with sticks. When they pushed me grabbing my neck my face is wounded. Did you think I came back happily?" And she cried and told the whole story to the frog. The frog thought, "What a disappointment! How could they torture such a simple and honest woman! You'll see."

Few days later, the frog once again asked his mother, "As there is a saying to get a thing done in three times taking mother's, father's and grandfather's name, please go to the palace once again and ask for the princess's hand. Please tell the king that 'I would like to marry his daughter and whatever he wants or demands I'll fulfill them. And if I fail to do so I am ready for any kind of punishment."

The widow refused and said, "My son, this time I might end up losing my life. I wish to live a little longer with you my son." But the frog told her that this will be the last time. Hence the widow came to the king's place for the third time.

This time the king did not get angry. He thought there might be something about the frog and he talked calmly. The king said, "Woman, this is the third time you have come here. For your knucklehead behavior I have already beaten you. Alright, since you are insisting so much I will give my only daughter to your son which is not a human being but a frog. Let's fix a date for the marriage. Before we fix the date, a palace same like mine should be built at your place by tomorrow itself, because a princess cannot live in a simple house.

The palace must be covered by a garden filled with flowers and fruits. Starting from the road to the door a wall must be spread which is vertically covered with gold and horizontally with silver. There must be hundreds of servants to look after the palace. If you could meet the demands I'll happily give my daughter and let her get married to your son. And if failed to do so both son and mother will be given death penalty." The widow was scared her lips were wide opened. She bowed to the king and came back home.

When she reached home she told her son, "What did I tell you earlier! We'll both lose our lives for telling deceitful words to the king. Oh no, I'll have to lose my life in fulfilling demands of a bad child." She told everything to the frog what the king had demanded. The frog laughed and said, "Mother, you shouldn't be worried for a small matter like that. Please have food and take some rest. Please leave all the worries to me. And see what your son can do." The widow had her food and went off to sleep.

Later at midnight when the widowed mother slept off, the frog took out a magical diamond from its stomach. The frog closed his eyes and prayed that every demand the king had asked should come true. And everything came up without a single mistake. It was early morning and the people started talking about the same. The king was very happy. The frog married the only daughter of the king.

On the night of their marriage, the princess dreamt that she was roaming at the garden with a prince. When she woke up the frog disappeared except for the skin. The princess burnt the frog's skin. The frog turned into a prince who looks exactly the same as the princess had dreamt. The frog and the princess got children and grandchildren and then they lived happily ever after.


** From Manipur folk tale Book called "Fungawari Singbul" by B. Jayantakumar Sharma