Story: Orphan Girl
A girl named Champa lived in one village. Her parents had died when she was small. Her old aunt had brought her up. Then her aunt also died after some years. Champa was left alone in the world.
One shepherd took pity on her. He gave her the job of taking goats to the forest for grazing. She used to go to the forest in the morning and come back in the evening.
Once she went far into the forest. The sun was strong. She stopped for rest under a tree. After some time, she fell asleep. She woke up by someone’s crying. She saw that one tiger was standing in front of her and tears were flowing from its eyes. She had woken up by its crying. At first, she was very scared. They she saw that the tiger was not trying to hurt her.
She got emboldened and went near the tiger. One arrow had hit it. She slowly removed the arrow. A lot of blood was flowing. She tied the wound with a cloth. The tiger felt better. It roared and went away.
By this time, it was evening. She could not find the goats. She got worried and started crying. She thought that the shepherd would be very angry and she would lose her job.
She started looking in the forest. She called the goats. Nobody answered her call. Night fell. She climbed a tree and sat there.
Then she saw one young man arrive. He was wearing expensive clothes. Champa held her breath. There was one cave. There was one boulder outside the cave. He removed the boulder and went inside. She felt better that there was someone to keep her company in the forest.
In the morning, she climbed down from the tree.
At the same time, she saw one tiger coming from the cave. She recognized the tiger. She had cleaned its wound.
She wondered how to go back. She decided to go into the cave and meet the young man. She went into the cave. There were many rooms in the cave. There was a lot of food. There were fruits, juices, drinks. There were clothes too. She was very happy. She ate and cleaned the rooms.
Again in the evening, she climbed the tree. She saw the young man go into the cave. She spent three days like this. During the day, she went into the cave and at night she climbed the tree.
The young man was a prince. She decided to talk to him. She waited in the cave for him to return.
He returned in a short while. He recognized Champa. He said, “I recognize you. You saved my life on that day.”
“Are you…..?”
“Yes, I am the same tiger. One monster has made me a slave. He is a magician too. He turns me into a tiger during the day, and at night turns me back into a prince.
He is very cruel. He has eaten your goats”
“What a surprise!” Champa said..
“Yes, if he sees you here, he will turn you into an animal.”
“How can we escape from him? Is there any way?” She asked.
“The monster is very bad. We can get our way only by pleasing him” said the prince.
“Please tell me how to please him. I will do it. I feel very sad when I see you like this.”
“Princess Rupmati of Ramnagar has golden hair.
We have to bring a bunch of her golden hair, make a necklace out of that and present it to him. That is the only thing that will please him.”
Champa said, “I will do this job. I will do everything in my power to get you away from this monster.”
The prince was very happy when he saw her determination. He took her to the princess’s State and came back.
Champa started living with the Princess as her maid. She plaited the Princess’s hair every day and collected the hair which fell down.
After some time enough hair were collected. She went to the monster’s cave. She made a necklace out of the hair and stood in front of the monster. When the monster saw the necklace, he was very pleased. She put the necklace around his neck. He asked what her wish was.
The monster set the prince free. The prince went back to his state and married Champa. In this way Champa became a queen.
