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| Sunday, 27 February 2005 |
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Features |  |
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A tale of a whale and a boy Sunday parable by Sunanda Mahendra The rich man, Arong lived happily with his wife and children. His main source of income was fishing and he earned quite a lot of wealth from it. His eldest son was named Shan. He too enjoyed his father's profession and went to sea with him.
While the father and son set sail, his wife and the other children, who came to bid farewell waved until they faded from sight. Father and son sailed deep into the sea, and Arong taught his son the tricks of the trade and the secrets which lay hidden in his mind as a fisherman. They were so engrossed in their work they nearly forgot that there was a heavy storm coming their way. A violent gale had already started whirling the boat. But both of them were determined to bravely face the weather and whatever disaster. Arong told his son not to move but hold tightly onto the boat. Suddenly, a great wave struck the boat, nearly covering them with water. When the wave subsided, the son saw that his father was no longer on the boat. He looked all over to see where he was but could not see him. The boy was all alone in the boat and found no way of doing anything. But was determined as his father had taught him not to move about, but to keep a close watch. He shouted "Father, father, where are you? I am in the boat. Where are you?" But due to the sound of the roaring waves his voice was drowned. He could not see any trace of his father. He felt tired, hungry, thirsty and sleepy. Then he fell unconscious. When he gained conscious, he could feel his body jerking. He looked around and saw, that instead of being in a boat he was seated on the back of a great whale. "Where are you taking me?" he asked the whale "Nowhere". It replied. "But who are you?" asked he, in a terrifying tone. "I am the King of the Sea, I can save your life if you are willing to do what I say," said the whale. "Tell me," said the boy. "I have a beautiful daughter, would you like to marry her?" asked the whale. The boy thought about his lost father and about his mother, who must be waiting to see them. But in order to save his life from this disaster, he had to obey the King of the Sea, the whale. When he reluctantly agreed to the proposal, the whale kept him in between his fins and took him to his kingdom, deep in the sea. In the deep sea, there stood a bright crystal palace. There the boy met for the first time, the whale's daughter Gori. She was not kind hearted at all. She was arrogant and got angry over trivialities. Though they lived together for sometime, he was homesick and was yearning to see his family members. He found it extremely difficult, to escape from this crystal palace as it was transparent and guarded by dangerous sharks and whales called Tiger Whales. Once he was about to escape from the palace, when a Tiger Whale dragged him into the palace. But he was determined to plan a strategy to leave the palace by hoodwinking his wife. Then one fine day, he asked Gori. "Do you know how beautiful you are?" "No I don't." "Do you like to see your face and see for yourself, how beautiful you are?" "Yes why not." "You need a mirror," the boy said. "What is a mirror?" she asked. "What a pity, you have everything but no mirror. A mirror is a magic instrument, through which one can see the face or any part of ones own body." "Do you have one with you?" "I have one at home in my village, but how can I go there and get that mirror for you." "That's simple, we will go soon perhaps tomorrow." So the boy was taken to his island, where he had the opportunity of seeing his mother and the rest of his family. Gori was asked to hide behind the coral reef or else she could be caught by sea hunters. Meanwhile, all the people of the village were aware of the father and son being lost at sea. The boy, then came running to his mother and told her all that had happened. A witch doctor was summoned and it was made known that the she whale was a she devil of the sea and would devour humans. So a return trip would be dangerous. The next step to be taken was discussed. As the boy was getting late Gori was angry. Suddenly a gale began and was coming towards the land. The gale became stronger and more fierce. The sea became turbulent and giant waves began to roar up, rushing towards the coast washing away the whole village. Then the witch doctor said that if someone had promised to give something to the sea devil it must be done immediately, or else nobody will remain in the village. The boy remembered his promise to Gori - the mirror for her to look at herself. So, he rushed into the house and brought a mirror and threw it into the sea. Instantly Gori saw it and plunged to take it. She then disappeared. Gradually the sea calmed down. (I am indebted to Rabin Roychowdhury for his 'Folktales of Nicobar, 2002'. This is a well-known story from Car Nicobar, about a father and a son, who went to the sea and faced a disaster). Quite a number of tales and legends are found in the islands of Nicobar revolving round the lives of fisher folk and the sea with its tidal waves and other factors that sometimes bring disaster and sometimes good blessings. Nicobar constitutes of a group of twenty islands 80 miles south of the Andamans and 110 miles from Sumatra. |
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He loved to swim in the sea. One day, they decided to go deep sea
fishing. To have a safe journey, they performed all the religious rites
connected with the sea. The sea was calm and they never expected any
trouble from it. A gentle breeze cooled the air, blessing them. "This
is the best weather for our voyage", thought Arong.
