The Son of Seven Queens
Adapted from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs (1892)
In a grand kingdom long ago, there lived a King with seven Queens. Despite his wealth and power, a deep sadness weighed on his heart—he had no children to inherit his throne. This troubled him greatly, especially when he thought about the future of his kingdom.
One day, a humble old fakir with tattered clothes but wise eyes approached the King. “Your prayers have been heard,” the fakir announced. “Your deepest wish will be granted—one of your seven Queens shall bear a son.”
The King’s joy knew no bounds. He immediately ordered celebrations throughout his realm, with music, dancing, and feasting in every village and town.
Meanwhile, the seven Queens lived in luxury in their magnificent palace. They were attended by hundreds of servants and enjoyed the finest delicacies the kingdom could offer.
The King was passionate about hunting, and one morning as he prepared for a day’s sport, the seven Queens sent him an urgent message: “Please, our beloved lord, do not hunt toward the north today. We have all had troubling dreams and fear some misfortune might befall you.”
To ease their concerns, the King promised to avoid the northern forests and headed south instead. But despite his best efforts, he found no game in that direction. He tried east and west with similar disappointment. Being a dedicated hunter unwilling to return empty-handed, he eventually forgot his promise and turned northward.
At first, his luck seemed no better there. Just as he was about to give up, a magnificent white hind with golden horns and silver hooves darted past him into a thicket. The creature moved so swiftly he barely caught a glimpse, but an overwhelming desire to capture this extraordinary animal filled his heart.
He ordered his attendants to form a circle around the thicket to trap the hind. As they closed in, he could see the beautiful creature panting in the center. Just when he thought he would capture it, the hind made an incredible leap right over the King’s head and fled toward the mountains.
Forgetting everything else, the King spurred his horse and followed at full speed. He left his retinue far behind, keeping his eyes fixed on the white hind. He rode without stopping until he found himself in a narrow ravine with no way forward. There, he finally reined in his exhausted horse.
Before him stood a simple, weathered hut. Tired after his long chase, he entered to ask for water. An old woman sat inside at a spinning wheel. When the King requested a drink, she called to her daughter.
From an inner room emerged a maiden of such extraordinary beauty—with skin like snow and hair like spun gold—that the King was stunned to find such loveliness in this humble dwelling.
As she offered him water and he drank, he looked into her eyes and suddenly realized this enchanting girl was none other than the white hind with golden horns and silver hooves he had pursued so far.
Her beauty bewitched him completely. He fell to his knees, begging her to return with him as his bride. She merely laughed, saying seven Queens were surely enough for any King to manage. When he persisted, promising her anything her heart desired, she replied, “Give me the eyes of your seven Queens, and perhaps then I’ll believe your promises.”
The King, completely under the spell of the white hind’s magical beauty, returned to his palace. In a terrible act of cruelty, he had the eyes of his seven Queens removed. He cast the poor blind women into a dark dungeon from which they could not escape, then hurried back to the ravine with his horrific offering.
The white hind laughed coldly when she saw the fourteen eyes. She strung them like a necklace and placed it around her mother’s neck, saying, “Wear this, mother, as a keepsake while I’m away in the King’s palace.”
Then she returned with the enchanted King as his new bride. He gave her all that had belonged to the seven Queens—their luxurious palace, their beautiful clothes and jewels, and their many servants. She had everything a witch could possibly desire.
Not long after the seven unfortunate Queens were blinded and imprisoned, the youngest Queen gave birth to a son—a handsome baby boy. At first, the other Queens were jealous that the youngest should have such good fortune. But the child soon proved so helpful to them all that before long, they considered him their own son too.
Almost as soon as he could walk, the boy began scraping at the mud wall of their dungeon. In an incredibly short time, he had made a hole large enough to crawl through. He would disappear through this opening and return an hour later with sweetmeats, which he divided equally among the seven blind Queens.
As he grew older, he enlarged the hole and ventured out two or three times each day to play with the noble children in the town. No one knew who this small boy was, but everyone liked him. He was full of clever tricks and so cheerful that people often rewarded him with cakes, parched grain, or sweets. All these treasures he brought home to his “seven mothers,” as he called the blind Queens, who survived in their dungeon long after everyone believed they had perished.
When he had grown into a strong young man, he took his bow and arrow one day and went hunting. By chance, he passed the palace where the white hind—now Queen—lived in wicked splendor. He spotted some pigeons fluttering around the white marble towers and, taking careful aim, shot one. The bird fell past the very window where the white Queen sat.
She rose to see what had happened and caught sight of the handsome young man standing below with his bow. Through her witchcraft, she instantly knew this was the King’s son. Nearly overcome with envy and hatred, she resolved to destroy him immediately.
She sent a servant to bring him to her presence and asked if he would sell her the pigeon he had just shot.
“No,” replied the young man firmly. “This pigeon is for my seven blind mothers who live in the dungeon. They would starve if I didn’t bring them food.”
“Poor souls!” exclaimed the cunning white witch, feigning sympathy. “Wouldn’t you like to restore their sight? Give me the pigeon, and I promise to show you where to find their eyes.”
Hearing this, the young man was overjoyed and immediately handed over the pigeon. The white Queen told him to visit her mother and ask for the necklace of eyes she wore. “She will certainly give them to you,” said the cruel Queen, “if you show her this token with my instructions.”
She gave him a piece of broken pottery with these words inscribed: “Kill the bearer at once, and sprinkle his blood like water!”
Since the son of seven Queens could not read, he accepted the message cheerfully and set off to find the white Queen’s mother.
During his journey, he passed through a town where everyone looked deeply sad. When he asked what troubled them, they explained that the King’s only daughter refused to marry. They feared she must be out of her mind, for although every eligible young man in the kingdom had been presented to her, she insisted she would only marry “a son of seven mothers”—something no one had ever heard of.
In desperation, the King had ordered that every man entering the city gates be brought before the Princess. Much to the young man’s impatience—for he was eager to find his mothers’ eyes—he was escorted to the royal palace.
The moment the Princess saw him, she blushed and turned to her father, saying, “Dear father, this is my choice!”
These few words caused unprecedented rejoicing throughout the kingdom. However, the son of seven Queens declared he would not marry the Princess until he had recovered his mothers’ eyes.
When the beautiful Princess heard his story, she asked to see the pottery fragment. Being highly educated and intelligent, she recognized the treacherous message. Without saying anything, she took another similar piece of pottery and wrote on it: “Take care of this young man and give him whatever he desires.” She returned this to him, and none the wiser, he continued his quest.
Soon he arrived at the hovel in the ravine where the white witch’s mother—a hideous old crone—lived. She grumbled terribly upon reading the message, especially when the young man asked for the necklace of eyes. Nevertheless, she removed it and handed it to him, saying, “There are only thirteen now—I lost one last week.”
The young man was simply grateful to get any at all. He hurried back to his seven mothers and gave two eyes to each of the six elder Queens. To the youngest, his birth mother, he gave one eye, saying tenderly, “Dearest little mother, I will be your other eye always!”
Afterward, he set off to marry the Princess as promised. But passing by the white Queen’s palace, he again saw pigeons on the roof. Drawing his bow, he shot one, which fluttered past her window.
The white Queen looked out and was shocked to see the King’s son alive and well. She could barely contain her rage and disgust, but invited him in and asked how he had returned so quickly. When she heard how he had restored the thirteen eyes to the seven blind Queens, she was furious but hid her anger.
Pretending to be impressed by his success, she told him that if he would give her this pigeon too, she would reward him with the Jogi’s wonderful cow—an animal whose milk flows endlessly, creating a pond as vast as a kingdom. The young man readily agreed and gave her the pigeon.
As before, she instructed him to ask her mother for the cow and gave him another pottery fragment. On it was written: “Kill this young man without fail, and sprinkle his blood like water!”
On his way, the son of seven Queens visited the Princess to explain his delay. After reading the message, she substituted another fragment. When he reached the old hag’s hut and requested the Jogi’s cow, she couldn’t refuse. She told him how to find it, warning him not to fear the eighteen thousand demons guarding the treasure, and sent him away before her anger at her daughter’s foolishness grew too great.
The young man followed her instructions bravely. He journeyed until he came to a milk-white pond guarded by eighteen thousand terrifying demons. Gathering his courage, he whistled a tune as he walked through them, looking neither right nor left.
Eventually, he found the Jogi’s cow—tall, white, and beautiful. The Jogi himself, king of all demons, sat milking her day and night, with the milk streaming from her udder into the milk-white pond.
Seeing the young man, the Jogi demanded fiercely, “What do you want here?”
Following the old hag’s instructions, the young man replied, “I want your skin, for King Indra is making a new drum and says your skin is perfectly tough.”
At this, the Jogi began to tremble (for no spirit dares disobey King Indra’s command). Falling at the young man’s feet, he pleaded, “If you spare me, I’ll give you anything I possess, even my beautiful white cow!”
After pretending to consider this offer, the son of seven Queens agreed, saying he could probably find another tough skin elsewhere. Driving the wonderful cow before him, he returned home.
The seven Queens were delighted with this marvelous animal. Though they worked from dawn until dusk making curds and cheese and selling milk to confectioners, they couldn’t use even half of what the cow produced. They grew richer with each passing day.
Seeing his mothers so well provided for, the son of seven Queens set off with a light heart to marry the Princess. But passing the white Queen’s palace, he couldn’t resist shooting at some pigeons cooing on the parapet. One fell dead just beneath her window.
Looking out, she saw the young man standing there, healthy and unharmed. Her face grew even whiter with rage and spite. She summoned him to ask how he had returned so soon, and when she heard of her mother’s cooperation, she nearly collapsed with fury. However, she disguised her feelings and smiled sweetly.
She claimed to be pleased that she could fulfill her promise and said that if he would give her this third pigeon, she would do even more for him than before—she would give him the million-fold rice, which ripens in a single night.
The young man was thrilled at the prospect and handed over the pigeon. He set off on his third quest, carrying another pottery fragment inscribed with: “Do not fail this time. Kill the young man, and sprinkle his blood like water!”
But when he visited his Princess to prevent her from worrying, she examined the fragment as usual and substituted another. This one read: “Yet again give this young man all he requires, for his blood shall be as your blood!”
When the old hag saw this message and heard that the young man wanted the million-fold rice that ripens in a single night, she flew into a terrible rage. However, fearing her daughter’s reaction, she controlled herself and directed the boy to a field guarded by eighteen million demons. She warned him never to look back after plucking the tallest rice stalk in the center.
The son of seven Queens journeyed to the field where, guarded by eighteen million demons, the million-fold rice grew. He walked bravely forward, looking neither right nor left, until he reached the center and plucked the tallest stalk.
As he turned to leave, a thousand sweet voices called behind him, “Pluck me too! Oh, please pluck me too!” Unable to resist, he looked back—and instantly, nothing remained of him but a small heap of ashes.
When the young man didn’t return, the old hag grew uneasy, remembering the message “his blood shall be as your blood.” She went to investigate and soon found the heap of ashes. Recognizing what had happened, she took a little water and kneaded the ashes into a paste, forming it into the shape of a man. Placing a drop of blood from her finger into its mouth, she blew on it—and immediately, the son of seven Queens stood before her, completely restored.
“Don’t disobey orders again!” the old hag scolded. “Next time, I’ll leave you as ashes. Now go, before I regret my kindness!”
The son of seven Queens joyfully returned to his seven mothers, who, with the help of the million-fold rice, soon became the wealthiest people in the kingdom. They celebrated their son’s marriage to the clever Princess with magnificent festivities.
But the bride was so intelligent that she wouldn’t rest until she had reunited her husband with his father and punished the wicked white witch. She had her husband build a palace identical to the one where the seven Queens had lived, and in which the King had been so happy. When it was finished, she invited the King to a feast.
During the banquet, she told him the story of his seven Queens, their blinding, and their son’s adventures, as if it were just a fairy tale. The King was moved to tears and exclaimed that the son of seven Queens was the bravest man he had ever heard of, and that if he were alive, he would make him heir to the throne.
“He is alive!” said the clever Princess. “He is your own son, and these are your seven Queens with their eyes restored. The white hind with golden horns and silver hooves is a witch who has bewitched you all these years.”
The King was overwhelmed with joy at finding his Queens and son, and with rage at having been deceived. He immediately had the wicked white witch and her mother arrested. They were executed for their crimes, and the seven Queens, their son, and the clever Princess lived happily ever after.
This ancient tale reminds us that kindness and perseverance can overcome even the darkest magic. The son of seven Queens demonstrates that loyalty to family, courage in the face of danger, and a pure heart will ultimately triumph over wickedness and deception.
