(Narrated by Grandpa and edited by Arundhati Khanwalkar)

Long long ago, in India, when kings went out in public everyone was expected to respectfully bow and join his or her palms as in prayer.

King Rudra had seen nothing but a sea of heads as he took his early morning ride on his horse everyday.

One day something strange happened. As he was passing a river bank, a washerman, who was scrubbing his clothes on a board, suddenly stopped working, stood up on his board, looked at the king straight in the eye, and spit on the ground.

The king was startled, but being good-natured, he decided not to say anything and rode on. The next day, the same thing happened. When it continued for a whole week, the king could not bear it any longer. He stopped his horse and addressed the washer man.

"Look here," he began, "for seven days you have been insulting me. This is ridiculous. What is the reason for this?"

"Forgive me, your Majesty," the washer man said, "You are an unlucky man. You are unlucky because you have no heir to succeed you. So when I see you in the early morning, I spit, hoping that my luck will not be as bad as yours."

King Rudra was shocked at the washer man’s words. Although he was, indeed childless, he was quite young and he had not given the matter much thought. As he rode on, he could think of nothing else. Did the whole kingdom think of him as the unlucky king? Would they all begin to spit whenever he appeared in public? The thought worried him.

By the time he reached the palace, he was so depressed that he went straight to his bedroom to lay down. His wife, queen Rukmani, came to his chamber and asked. "Why is your majesty so sad? What can be troubling you?"

"Oh, nothing at all," answered the king, not wanting to burden his wife with the washerman’s words. But the queen pressed on and finally the king told her of his meeting with the washerman.

Queen Rukmani was quite understanding. She had five sisters. Chandini, Rohini, Kamini, Padmini and Damini.

She said, "King, there is a solution to the problem. Why don’t you marry my younger sister. Chandini. Perhaps you will be luckier with her."

So the king married Chandini. But the new marriage failed to produce an heir. The king was more depressed than ever. "This is ridiculous, I have two queens now and still no heir. The public will soon start spitting at me." The two sisters were sorry and suggested that the king marry all the sisters, hoping that one of the six wives would surely bear a child. The king liked the idea and married all the sisters.

Time passed, still no heir was born. The king was furious. He called his chief minister and said, "This is ridiculous. I have six wives and still I don’t have a child. I am thoroughly disgusted with my six queens. Imprison them all."

So the queens were thrown into prison where they had to live under miserable conditions. One day the youngest sister, Damini came up with an idea. She said, "Sister Rukmani, why don’t you tell the king that I am expecting a baby?"

"But you are not," said Rukmani. "We would be telling a lie."

"I know, I know," said Damini. "But it would give us time to work something out. Meanwhile, we can be set free."

Queen Rukmani agreed and wrote a letter to the king, "My dearest Lord, it is with great pleasure that I wish to inform you that your youngest wife, Damini, is pregnant. Her condition is quite delicate. It would be best if she is removed from the prison."

The king was overjoyed when he received the note. All the queens were immediately set free. The king then sent a message saying that he wished to see Damini immediately.

Instead of Damini, queen Rukmani came to see the king and said, "My dearest Lord, your youngest queen Damini is in a delicate state. It is better not to get her excited. It is best if you wait until the baby is safely born."

"Oh, yes, of course," agreed the king. "Does she need a midwife?"

"Don’t worry, my Lord. We will take care of our sister and her child." Queen Rukmani immediately replied.

Ten months passed by in relative peace. The only care the sisters took is prohibit visitors into the queens quarters, and for safety, they tied small pillows and bandages on to Damini’s stomach to make it appear that she is pregnant.

Finally the king was informed that Damini had a son. The king was ecstatic. He ordered sweets to be distributed to all, and restless to see the child.

"When can I see the prince?" asked the king.

"Not yet Oh Lord," said Rukmani, "His health is delicate."

The king allowed some time to pass until it was time for Durga Puja. The king called queen Rukmani and told, "I would like to take the prince to visit goddess Durga on the final day of worship."

The queens were scared. Now that all the lies would be known to the king, they would surely be killed. The queens planned to visit the goddess Durga, themselves, and pray to the goddess to rescue them. If goddess Durga did not help them, they decided to kill themselves inside the temple.

So the eldest queen Rukmani came to the king and requested, "Oh king! All the queens would like to go to the temple, along with the prince, in a curtained palanquin to make their first offerings. Then we will call you to hold the child in your arm in front of the goddess. This will be most appropriate, considering our wish for a long life for the prince."

The king agreed. In fact, he was ready to do anything to see the prince.

 On the final day of Durga Puja. The royal procession reached the temple. The king was taken aside and the queens entered the chamber of the goddess all by themselves. There the queens threw themselves at the feet of goddess Durga, saying., "Help us get out of the mess we are in. We know we should not have lied. But if we do not produce a child, we will die of shame in front of you."

Durga was touched. She took a lump of halva, a soft sweet preparation, and made it into a baby. Then she sprinkled holy Ganges water on it to bring to life. Soon the baby was breathing and crying.

The king heard the cry and rushed in with excitement and saw the youngest queen Damini holding the sweet little boy. The king began to dance, "My heir, I have an heir. No one will spit on me. Let us all thank the goddess."

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