412: Indian folklore: Dicey
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This week on Myths and Legends, it's the epic tale of Nala and Damayanti from India. You'll see the dangers of gambling away everything you have except your underwear, and why if you see a snake on fire in the forest, you should help it. But only if you're possessed by a demon. The creature of the week is a creepy psychological horror monster, but is only really a danger to you if you're a sheep. This is Myths and Legends, episode 412, Dicey.

This is a podcast where we tell stories from mythology and folklore. Some are incredibly popular tales you might think you know, but with surprising origins. Others are stories that might be new to you, but are definitely worth a listen. Today's story comes to us from the Indian epic Mahabharata, and it is, apparently, one of the best-known stories from that work.

It's part of another story, a framing narrative, but we're just going to tell the actual tale today because it works on its own, and it's by far the more famous tale. The main text was compiled between 40 BC and 400 AD, but the story today is believed to be much older, and we'll jump in with a king who has a lot going for him. If only he could stop all that crying. Hey, guy, the swan said to Nala, the king.

And before we get into it, yes, I'm a swan. I can talk. That's not why I'm here, though. Nala nodded and broke down into tears. The swan's head bobbed. That was why he was here. Nala had been happy until a few months back. You see, he was good looking. The kingdom was prosperous. He was respected and self-assured.

Then, the Brahmin. He came with his words. Words of attractive women. Woman, really. Damayanti, the daughter of King Bhima. Arriving to tell the king of the most wonderful woman in all the world, he painted such a picture with his words that the king, Nala, fell in love with her.

Personally, I'm not going to say that I want to be like the Brahmin, capable of such good storytelling that I destroy an entire kingdom, but that's some pretty impressive work. Game recognized entirely overpowered and frankly irresponsible game. But in those times, and in that place, a man not only couldn't go and simply conquer a kingdom of the woman he loved, well he could, but Nala thankfully wasn't that type of king, but not only that, he couldn't even ask for it.

The man couldn't present his suit. It was customary for the father to reach out to the kings, and to have them all come. So, sadly, he couldn't marry the princess he hadn't seen, didn't know, and had no way of talking to. Truly a tragedy. And it was. Mainly for the kingdom he completely neglected, so he could languish in his heartbroken sadness in the gardens. Also for the swans who hung out in those gardens.

So, you want to help me? Because you're touched by the love in my heart? No, it's because you're jacking up the one good place to hang out where we won't be killed and consumed by predators, the swan said. But, uh, sure.

For love. A penelope paste. This could work. Of course, he had thought about sending humans, but he fell in love with Damayanti through just the description of her, and he didn't want a dumb and dumber situation where his envoy fell in love with her too. As swans, he assumed they wouldn't fall in love with a woman, so yeah.

"'Great. I'll leave tonight,' the swan said. "'And in recompense, Nala would feel better and maybe not cry in the garden "'so he and his family could swim around and do whatever swans did in peace "'without a sad guy souring their whole day?' "'Not a chance,' Nala said. "'You get word to the princess, I'll stop crying up your favorite hangout spot. "'That's the deal.' "'As the swan rolled his eyes and took off, Nala settled in for another good cry.'"

You are the luckiest man on earth, the swan flapped down a few weeks later, the Sinaloa weeping at his version of a picture of his beloved, the text paragraph description of her inscribed on a scrap of paper.

The swan said he couldn't believe it. Not only did he find her, not only was she still single, but she had heard of Nala and she was interested. "'She loves me too, without seeing me?' Nala beamed. His tears of sorrow and heartbreak metamorphosizing into tears of joy. "'No, she doesn't love you because she's not completely insane, but she likes what she's heard, and I sweetened the pot a bit.'

"'I didn't mention all the weeping, just enough to make you appear sensitive.' "'I am sensitive, though,' Nilla cried. "'No one has ever accused you of not being sensitive. "'They just need to arrange her swayambara,' the swan said. "'Swayambara?' the king trailed off. "'How was she going to do that?'

Didn't she need her dad to put that together? Oh, he could feel a cry coming on. Swayamvara was a tradition in ancient Indian societies where the king put out a call for suitors, and either the princess got to choose who would be her husband, or they would have to compete for her hand. This particular contest would be rigged, but for true love, so in the sweetest way possible. But if you notice my choice of words, I didn't say that the princess got to call the meeting. It was dad.

And if we know anything about mythological and fairy tale dads, it's that they really didn't want their daughters to get married. I won't say that the majority of conflicts in Greek myth come from angry dads. That mainly comes from the gods making the very best case for mortality and humans not having superpowers. But anxious dads have to account for roughly 20% of hero issues in the ancient world.

Still, like the sheep and goat had their way of handling Isengrim in the Renard stories, you didn't get to be an ancient or medieval princess and not know how to finesse your all-powerful dad in order to marry who you wanted. So, Damiante starved herself. She began looking lost and gloomy, which is easy to do if you're starving yourself. Her mom noticed and told her dad, who demanded the royal physicians check her out.

I do take my occasional cheap shot at medieval medicine on this podcast.

but they were doing the best they could. Same with the king's physicians, who couldn't find anything wrong because there wasn't anything wrong. It kind of speaks to the king's extreme anxiety about the concept of his daughter's marriage that he immediately made the leap from idiopathic malady to my daughter is old enough to wed and maybe die of a broken heart if she doesn't get married because that's a real thing that actually happens in the real world apparently.

So he called a swayamvara, and, confirming his suspicions that it was a broken heart, and not just a semi-elaborate ruse, his daughter got better. Nala was the first to get word, and all he had to do was show up, and it was happily ever after. He set out immediately with a group of servants. The End

"'Wait, why are we stopped?' Nalaah noticed when his horse lurched to a halt beneath him. "'What's going on?' He turned to his servant, but the man's gaze was locked on the road ahead, pleasantly enjoying the ride in the cool of the morning. Nalaah spurred his horse on, but the animal, also, was locked in place. Everyone in his party was frozen. "'Come on down here!' Four men stood in the road fifty meters up."

Nala thought that they might have something to do with this situation, and while it seemed vaguely supernatural, he did learn about this via talking swan, so he got off his horse and walked forward. They were just four guys, but they radiated confidence, power, danger. They introduced themselves. Indra, Agni, Varun, and Yama. Gods, Nala muttered. His unease grew.

"'You're going to do something for us, a favor,' one of them declared. Nala crossed his arms. He couldn't very well agree to something before knowing what it was. "'Look at this guy,' Indra circled Nala. "'Most of the time mortals fall at our feet and beg to do our bidding.' "'Well, maybe I'm not most mortals.' Nala grew more defiant. "'Well, maybe you disappear. Maybe your kingdom, your people, and your love grow old wondering what happened to you. How about that?'

Nala held his tongue. There was no bargaining with gods. Yeah, we know about the Swayambara. Word of it made it to heaven. Well, to us. She actually likes you. You're the favorite. Which is why you need her to hate you, one of the gods said. What? Why? Nala didn't understand. What? Why? The gods laughed at him. What was hard to understand?

She would pick one of them if Nala wasn't in the running, so Nala would remove himself from the running. Nala was about to open his mouth in protest, but his head drooped. "'You're smarter than I thought,' Indra said. "'How, though?' Nala said. "'What?' Indra replied. "'Um, it's just that the princess only gets to see us on the day of the ceremony.'

"'I don't know how I would communicate any of that to her in the moments before she chooses me,' the king paced. "'You will refuse,' the god demanded, and Nala nodded. "'Yes, of course he would refuse, but she's still made her choice, and it's not you, Indra.' "'Nodded, okay. Good point. Well, he was the leader of these gods. He could get the man in a single palace.'

A few minutes later, the procession started up again, nearly running over their king standing in the road. He really was able to walk right past them, past the guards, past the courtiers, past the handmaids, past everyone, right to her room, the princess, Damiani. She was more beautiful than a small block of text.

What? Hi? She turned with a start. Hi, I love you, Nala said. Oh, also, I'm Nala. She pulled him into the room and closed the door. How did he get in here unseen? He was unseen, right? He risked everything by coming here, and not in a good way. He had to wait literally one day in order for them to be married. Why was he here? He said he had to tell her something.

After explaining the meeting on the road with the demigods, Damayanti nodded. Okay, it would all be okay. She would figure this out. You followed the letter of our agreement, I'll give you that. But not the spirit, Indra said, when he found the man outside the palace, walking the street and looking for a place to sleep that night. No matter though, we have other ways.

The ceremony began in the throne room, moved to an amphitheater, and then just to a field with the sheer number of princes that showed up. Nala hung to the outside, skirting the crowd to avoid the four gods as they made their way through, looking for him. But it was no use. He blinked, and they were in front of him. "'Sit with us,' the four said. It was less a request and more a command as they pushed him to the ground by his shoulder."

just as the rest of the crowd sat at the princess's bidding. Damianti scanned the crowd. Where was he? She knew he wouldn't miss it, but gods were gods. They were powerful and unpredictable. She could feel that he was still alive, but relief washed over her when she saw his face. Okay, good. Then she saw his face, and his face, and his face, and his face. Oh.

So that was the trick. Okay. The four gods had taken the form of her beloved. Still, love would find a way. It had to. She went over to them, garland in hand, and studied them. They were alike in every way. Well, almost every way. She looked at each of them in the eyes, one by one, just as she thought.

She picked the second one in line and put the garland around his neck. In an instant, the four gods took their true forms and smiled, clapping for the princess. They said that was a good show. It was obvious their love was true and that all of this was fate. Blessing the union, they disappeared in a flash. "'How did you know it was me?' Nala whispered to his now betrothed as the music began."

Then he smiled. Was it the gaze of one who truly loved her? A look only he could give? Uh, yes, definitely that. Also, you were the only one who was blinking and sweating and with wrinkled clothes. Basically, they were very obviously gods trying to pretend like they were people. She took Nala into her arms and her father declared the wedding would take place later on that day. Music

Hey, did you hear? Damayanti's father called the Suvarambhara. The four gods heard on the path back home. Oh yeah, no, that happened. Dwapar and Kali, the demons, heard. What? Why? Kali hissed. Well, because we wanted as few supernatural beings as possible in the mix. Because we wanted to win, Indra said. Or one of us would win. The other three gods nodded. Okay, so which one of you got her?

Kali was eager to hear who had deceived his way into marriage with a princess. Probably the second worst way to get married. "Oh, actually none of us," Indra said. "It was kind of a funny story. They were outsmarted by a human." "You think you know a species, but they continue to surprise you. You were outsmarted by a human man, and you're okay with this?" Kali fumed.

Well, I didn't say man, but yeah, and yeah, it was kind of fun. Not in a weird, humiliating way, but it was kind of like how you can lose a game but still recognize your opponent's talent. Indra shrugged. Well, I am not okay with it, Kali said. It was one thing to lose out on your own, but quite another to lose out to a lowly human. You didn't lose out? You weren't even in the running? Indra declared.

But it didn't matter. They didn't hear. Because Dwapar and Kali were already whispering. We'll see why having two demons working against you for over a decade is a bad thing. But that will be right after this. We have too many cats.

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That's homechef.com slash legends for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. Homechef.com slash legends. Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Yes, your brother. He has so much but deserves so little. And now he has the smartest, most beautiful wife in the world. If only you could take it from him, Pushkar heard in his head.

He sighed. Hi, whoever is in there. No, these are your long-held but deeply repressed desires to usurp your brother and take his throne and wife for yourself, the voice said again. No, those are not repressed at all, actually. I'm the second son behind a questionably competent king. I think those thoughts every day. That's why it was so weird to hear them in your voice, Pushkar. Nala's brother rejoined.

"'So wait, I can stop with the creepy whispering?' Kali said. "'Please do, actually,' Pushkar replied. "'So whoever this was wanted his brother gone?' "'Sure. What was the play here?' Pushkar had thought through all the different angles, and the best he could land was going stabby-stabby, but that was of questionable legality, and frankly, assassinating the king was a bad precedent to start right before you become king. "'We were thinking dice, actually.'

The voice said, and Pushkar cocked his head. We? The dice next to the wine cup jiggled a bit. Dice, huh?

Who are you talking to? Nala said as he passed through the room. Talking to you, bro! Pushkar grinned even wider. How about a game of dice? Now, unbeknownst to him, but very beknownst to Kali, Nala was compromised. You see, it had been 12 years since he and Damayanti had married. They had two kids. That whole time, Kali had been after him.

But Nala had been too good. Prayers all the time, being virtuous. He was an unassailable wall.

until his feet. Quote, one day, the noble Nala befouled his feet when walking in the royal park and on returning knelt to his twilight prayers, neglecting in his fatigue to wash his feet. As he thus knelt on the floor of the god's shrine, Kali, ever on the watch, seized that fatal moment and entered into the body of the king, taking possession of his soul.

"'Yeah, I love gambling,' Nala said. "'He didn't. He was really bad at it, on account of spending most of his time ruling the kingdom. But for some reason he felt like today, you know, today could be his day. Let's do this. Let's go. How about a ring?' Pushkar removed the ring from his finger. Nala removed one of the many rings from his own finger. "'Seems safe enough?' "'Sure.'

Ten minutes later, Nala was naked or nearly naked.

You win some, you lose some. Rather, you win some, you lose most, in Nala's case. It started with the ring, then his pocket gold, then his savings account gold, then Damianti's gold. With that one, he was really hooked. He chased after that with contents of his stables, and then the stables themselves, and then the palace they were in, then the clothes off his back, and then the kingship. Little did he know, but his brother had the guards watching. No

Nobles, too. After a servant had rushed from the room while Nala was stripping down to a loincloth, Pushkar had called in nobles that he knew would be loyal to him. Others had come. With a growing audience and their king looking every bit the pauper he now was, Pushkar offered him one final deal. There wasn't even any gambling in this one. In fact, no matter how the dice came out, he won. Pushkar had everything,

Except Damayanti. If Nala gave him Damayanti, Nala would win. He could have everything back. Nala thought about it, but to his credit, didn't think very long. I know what happened, Damayanti said when her husband arrived. Nearly naked.

I think you're missing the silver lining here. It really reaffirms my love for you, Nala. Nala really squinted to find that silver lining. Yes, thank you for not gambling me away, Damayanti inhaled. So what did this mean for them? It means it's moving day, Pushkar called out. For him, for Nala at least.

Damiante could stick around if she wanted to. Wink. Sorry, he didn't know why he said that out loud. He had this voice in his head and what you doing there, bud? Pushkar's eyes turned to his brother, the now former king Nala. I'm packing, he replied. Yeah, but what are you doing packing up my stuff? Pushkar demanded this house and everything in it was his.

Then the brother looked distracted. ''No, no, I'm not doing that.'' He said apparently to himself. ''Stop being gross. She can keep the sari.'' He turned to his sister-in-law. ''You can keep the sari. I'll go get the kids.'' Nala said, but Pushkar pushed back. ''Oh, no, he wouldn't. Those kids were part of the deal.'' Nala was about to shout back that his brother couldn't do this.

But Damayanti said it didn't matter. It was too late. The children were gone already. Pushkar was a walking, scheming, sneering royal uncle trope, so she had a contingency in place, in the event that he tried to lead a palace coup. Then she looked at her husband, clothed only in a loincloth. A palace coup, or if her husband happened to gamble their entire kingdom away, for no reason whatsoever.

"'Why are you naked now?' Damayanti asked, when she returned from gathering berries and root vegetables. "'Uh,' sighed he, "'well, things weren't going so great. I've had low points in my life. I have, thankfully. Not lost my house gambling with my brother, who was backed by two demons, and been forced to live in the woods wearing only a loincloth, and then lost that loincloth when I tried to snare a small bird, but the bird flew away with it.'

I still love you, Damayati said. Less for his benefit than to remind herself, but now they would have to travel at night because he couldn't go from village to village like that. If there were people nearby, she would cover him with her sari. She looked at him with a smile. She did love him though. It was hard. You don't end up living in a lean-to with your husband who lost even the clothes on his back and still pretend that everything was okay, but as long as she had him...

She would be content. They had found each other and married each other when even the gods opposed them. That had been while they were separated. Together, they could overcome anything. Then she looked on the horizon. "'Oh, and no,' she said, turning back to him. "'No? No what?' "'No. I know where we are. We are within a few days of my father's capital.' "'I heard you and your mutterings,' she said.'

He had been plotting to take her to her father, but he wouldn't come himself, out of shame. So no, she was staying with him. With that, she began cooking the berries and roots over the fire with the scavenged pot. Is that where we are? Nala laughed. Wow, no, of course they wouldn't be going back to her father.

"'Because only you'll be going back to your father,' he whispered over the sleeping Damayanti, in what, to him, without a time jump, must have been an outrageous non sequitur, because they were still hours from sunset when they had the previous conversation. Having that talk many times over the past few weeks, she refused to leave him, even though it would be better for her. He was the cursed one. She would know her way home from here."

"'Goodbye, my love.' Nala kissed her on the forehead as she slept, then returned and sawed off some of her sari, just enough to cover his nakedness, like half. Not ten minutes out from leaving her, he saw a fire crackling in the night. Now that he wouldn't shock them with his nudity, just appearing out of the night when they rested at camp, Nala emerged from the trees to see not a camp, but a snake. A burning snake.'

At least, that's what it seemed to be. A snake tail curled out from the flames, and a voice cried from within for someone to please, please help him. Nala quickly did the calculations whether or not it was better to wear his new loincloth in and not be protected from the flame, or risk losing it again if it burned. He decided the scrap of cloth wouldn't protect him all that much and set it aside, rushing into the burning bush naked.

He was surprised by two things. First, the burning bush was bigger on the inside, and second, it didn't seem to burn him. Flaming leaves came to arrest inches from his skin, but they seemed to hit a gold, shimmering shield. He was safe. There, in the middle of the bush, was a naga.

"'We've been going for ten years now, and, unless I'm mistaken, we haven't talked about Nagas. They're essentially half-human, half-snake creatures from South and Southeast Asia. They can take many forms, but for today, think like a mermaid, but instead of a fish lower half, it's a snake. And it's also on fire.' "'Why aren't you moving out of the fire?' Nala asked. "'Why are you naked?' the snake-man hissed, each leading with their most pressing query.'

The Naga answered first. His name was Karkotaka. He was cursed to stay in this exact spot by the Rishi Narada, one of the children of Brahma. He didn't have time to go into it because he was literally burning to death. He could only be moved from the spot by the great king, Nala. His magic could only last for a few more moments, so the strange, naked beggar should probably get clear. "'I'm Nala!' Nala pressed his finger to his chest."

Really, Karkotaka said. He'd suppose he just thought Nala would be less dirty and nude. Still, okay, wow, Nala could carry him from the spot.

As Nala was about to say the Naga looked really heavy, and he didn't think he could get the creature out before his magic failed, the Naga shrank to be the size of an actual, like, garter snake. And I know those aren't native to India, it's just for a size comparison. Nala scooped up the Naga and ran from the flames. Breathing with relief, Nala said they were out. Where did the Naga want to be set down? Oh, like, just wherever you drop me in panic after I bite you is good, the creature said.

You sure? Nala said. Wait, what? Bite! The creature actually said in the original as he sank his teeth into Nala's hand. Ah! Nala screamed seriously. He just helped the snake monster. Guy? And I am helping you. Nala really had to question his definition of helping when his strong arms became smaller strong arms.

As Nala shrank, the Naga grew back to his original form, and Nala had to recalibrate how much he had changed. And when he finally did, he realized that the snake wasn't towering over him, but he had been transformed into a mythological dwarf.

What have you done to me? Nala yelled. He helped the Naga. Helped! The Naga said, look, he had been possessed by Kali. Even demons couldn't tolerate his, the Naga's, poison for too long. Even though it was virtually harmless to Nala. Nala gestured to his new form. Nala asked the Naga how he would feel if he was transformed into a different form. I'm half a snake. Do you really think labels bother me?

The naga said, look, Nala being close-minded aside, it was temporary until Kali was out of his system, and it did come with benefits. First, no one would recognize him. Second, no snakes would bite him, which was helpful when he was wandering naked through the forest. He would need to lie low while the evil left him, especially if he was going to get his kingdom back.

What? How could I ever get my kingdom back? The Naga leaned in and whispered. I mean, it's cool that the king, Rituparna, is really good at gambling and I can trade my horse knowledge for gambling knowledge and win back my kingdom and maybe my family. But why did you whisper that? It's just us out here, Alashika said.

"'It's a whole trope thing. Never mind, you just said it all out loud. But yeah, that's what you need to do.' The naga gave up trying to structure the story in an interesting way. "'Oh, one more thing,' the naga held out a cloth. "'When you wish to resume your original form, just wear the cloth, think of me, and you will be as you were.' "'What are you doing? Not yet!' He stopped Nala from putting on the cloth.'

You still need to purge Kali from your system. Were you not paying attention at all? Come on! Wait, Nala said, still looking at the cloth. But didn't Rituparna rule like really far away at the foothills of the Himalayas? How was Nala supposed to get there? He looked up and the Naga was gone, as was the dense forest. Now he was just in a sparse patch of trees just outside the city, and

And he would be willing to bet he knew which city that was. But he thought better about betting, because that was, in fact, how he had lost everyone and everything up to and including his clothes. Damianti, for her part...

was having a time of it. Waking up in the jungle alone, she immediately changed plans. She missed him, even though he abandoned her, and she knew her children were safe in her parents' kingdom. So, instead of continuing on down that road, she searched for any sign of Nala. So, Carissa and I have been married for over a decade now, and one of the secrets to our success is that I've never abandoned her forever in the woods.

It's a secret to a healthy marriage that you don't hear discussed much, but it really should be.

If you are going to abandon your spouse, though, make sure they aren't so in love that they won't immediately begin a quest to search for you the world over, completely rendering your, frankly, selfish actions moot. Because that quest could lead to them being harassed by, and subsequently killing, hunters, and joining up with some traveling merchants, their camp being trampled by elephants, being accused of sorcery, and needing to be secreted to a nearby city so they don't murder her.

Sidebar, if you love someone so much that you leave them in order to save them, and they love you so much that they'll search for you the world over despite you leaving them, you guys can work it out. It's just a communication issue at that point.

Neither of them, though, communicated their whereabouts or plans to her parents. You know, the people watching their two children? Worried about their daughter and son-in-law's safety, yes, but also annoyed that they agreed to babysitting that was turning into summer camp at grandma's, they sent out messengers far and wide.

which was how, months after the grandchildren arrived, a servant, a sage, laid eyes on the beautiful handmaid to a faraway princess. A woman who, despite her sallow cheeks and sunken eyes and simple attire and grime, couldn't hide the mark of royalty and radiated, quote, a celestial beauty. Hiding, searching, whatever dummy auntie was doing, she saw a single reminder of her father's home, burst into tears, and ran to the man.

it was like a spell was broken. Not that she didn't remember before, but she did need to be reminded. She had spent so long in her anguish and grief over Nala that her life before and after he abandoned her lost focus. Now, she was back. The sage informed the queen here that her servant was not only a princess, but the woman's own niece, which was convenient not just for plot reasons, but for Damayanti being able to leave her servitude.

The sage announced it in a way that was somehow both a compliment and a dig at the woman, that even though she didn't do her hair and wasn't caring for her body at the moment, she was quite beautiful and royalty. Damayanti lifted her veil and announced that she was going home. Life isn't like the movies, where the hero decides that they're going to feel better and everything is different and good from then on.

Even though Damianti had arrived home in a golden palanquin, and was now with her parents and children in safety, she dreamt every night of him, Nala, her husband, alone in the forest, stumbling, scraped, bruised, and bleeding in her scrap of clothing turned loincloth. "'Oh, honey, if it makes you feel any better, he's probably dead,' Damianti's mother said, as she stroked her daughter's tear-smattered hair in the morning."

How is that supposed to make me feel better? Damianti cried. Her mother stopped. Look.

Here are the facts. The man chased his losses until he lost everything, and you only survived because he abandoned you. Also, he abandoned you. There is not a clearer message that a relationship is over than abandoning your spouse in the jungle and then dying yourself. Once again, probably. Damayanti sat up. Her mother was exactly right. He was only probably dead. Probably dead.

You're taking the wrong lesson from this, her mother cried out. We'll see how poets and songs solve everything, but that will, once again, be read after this.

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I'd like you to sing a song far and wide to represent our kingdom. The once, and if this worked, future queen said a few hours later, to every singer-songwriter in the kingdom. They looked at each other. This was exciting. To travel far and wide getting to sing a song they themselves may...

Nope. It was a song Princess Damayanti wrote. Okay, so 10 years in, and we've worked on projects with scriptwriters. Not any current ones. Myths and Legends and Fictional are 100% us. But I remember reading some scripts and thinking that there were some things I would do differently. And these were professional writers who did weeks of research and writing. And I remember reading some scripts and thinking,

not a princess who hammered together a song in twenty minutes that morning. Quote, Beloved gambler, why didst thou go away after removing half of my garment? Why didst thou leave as she slept in the forest, thy dear wife so devoted to thee? Yet she stayeth as thou hast commanded, clothed in but half a robe, expecting thee and burning with grief. The singer looked at it,

"'Fun? Neat? Really? What do you think?' she asked the one in the front.'

He might have said it could use a rhyme scheme or meter, and also maybe don't switch narration between first and third person three lines in, but he got the impression that royalty wasn't really looking for notes, because royalty is never looking for notes. So he folded the paper with a smile and responded, Wait, you wrote this? Not a professional, like, god or something? Wow, it looks like royalty is naturally better than us at everything by virtue of their blood. He smiled.

choking down his pride was easier than losing his head oh there's more the singers accepted the second paper is not the wife to be cared for and sheltered why hast thou so honorable knowing thy duty neglected thy vows

Master of wisdom, of fame, why art thou cruel? Alas, that my own ill luck should cause all this. O tiger among men, have pity on me. Oft have I heard thee voice the rule that kindness the highest virtue is. Jumped right back into first-person narration, the singer muttered, as Damianti explained the task.

They were to sing that everywhere, in every kingdom. If anyone reacted to it, they were to talk to the man and ask why it was meaningful, then come straight back here and report. Yeah, breakups are hard, the king and queen said. This was a process. They would let this go because, you know, half-eaten corpses in the jungle don't react to songs. This was a phase. She would get over it.

"'What does your song mean, singer?' the king, Rituparna, demanded. "'Literally, I have no idea. Didn't write it, obviously. Well, hopefully that's obvious,' the singer said. He had traveled over an entire subcontinent to be here and sing this. "'Did it mean anything to the king? Is it supposed to? Why do you switch narration styles halfway through and then switch back? Tell me the meanings of your riddle, sage!' The king pounded his fist on the throne."

Am I banished? I'll be banished. I'm banished. I'll get out of your hair. Bye, the man said. For the same reason he didn't give the princess notes, he didn't stick around and try to reason with an embarrassed monarch. It wasn't even the monarch's fault. The meaning was obviously very personal to the princess, but not in a way that could be generalized and understood by a wider audience. Since most people hadn't been abandoned in a forest and left half-naked by a gambler, even...

even in a metaphorical sense. That song, a voice sobbed. The sage looked down to see a mythological dwarf weeping. Hey, bud, does this song actually mean anything to you? The dwarf wiped his nose and nodded. Yeah, it meant everything to him.

Okay, well, could you tell me? Because while I have my own interpretations, we're about a thousand years before Barth's Death of the Author article, in which he argues that readers should ignore notions of authorial intention and instead focus on their own interpretations when it came to meaning. These kings really wanted to know what was up, and he had no idea. The sage was excited to finally know what he had been singing all of these months. But he was met with more singing.

chaste women in distress themselves protect securing heaven thereby through lords elect though lords elect may leave thee they are not rirath debased for women chaste lead slender lives encased in shining virtue like resplendent male with one so unlucky whose only cloth was stolen by those birds of what avail

Can anger be? She must not cherish wrath against her husband in such piteous plight who lost all he had in a single night. The dwarf sighed and walked away. The sage thought about it. That song was nearly as inscrutable as the first, but it had an actual rhyme scheme. Its true meaning, though, was that he finally got a response to the song and that he could go home. ♪

I want to remarry, Damayanti told her father, Bhima, who fist pumped, yes, finally. It was tragic when a spouse died, for sure, but a spouse who drags you into the woods after gambling away his kingdom and leaving you with half a dress? Not gonna say he had it coming, but a middling meal for a tiger was probably all he could hope to be at this point. Cool, yes, Damayanti said. So he would call the Swayambra?

"'Call it? I'll yell it from the rooftops. Well, I'll hire guys to do that, but consider it done,' the king Bhima grinned. "'No need. We'll just invite the king Rituparna,' Damayanti said. "'He should ride by chariot. She would send the invitation herself and take care of everything.' "'That's not a swamvara,' the king said. "'That's just one guy.' But the king trailed off and shrugged. When did anyone in his family ever listen to him?'

"'So, the kingdom that Rutuparna rules,' the princess had the sage call before her. "'Yeah, super far away, at the Himalayas. Glad to be home. It's so dangerous to travel in this time,' the man exhaled. "'I need you to go back immediately,' Princess Damayanti said. "'Oh,' the sage replied, because he was only crying on the inside.'"

Damiante, but she married already. It was like 15 years ago. I was there when she picked some nobody king. The king, Rituparna, said he was playing dice with his chariot driver. Yeah, well, the man, Nala, failed. Hard. And he was eaten by tigers, I think, the sage said. But now she was remarrying.

It turned out that Damayanti knew exactly how far the Himalayas were from her father's kingdom, since, before the sage left, she sent him with a date. An exact date based on the travel time that only Nalak complete. This meant that the king would need to move quickly if he wanted to make it. That he would need his chariot driver. The chariot driver that was stunned by the news that Damayanti was remarrying.

though he knew it was a possibility when he abandoned her in the jungle. The sage watched as the king sped away, riding his chariot driven by the chariot driver after the man handpicked a team of horses. He asked for a ride, but the king was adamant that they wouldn't make it with the added weight. So the sage began the long walk home. ♪

Vakuna, aka Nala, was apparently so good a charioteer that they literally flew over mountains. Which, sure, but they did make it with time to spare. Hey, we're doing great on time, I gotta pull over, Vakuna, the charioteer said, and descended. Pull over, but there's no time to waste, the king replied, and then remarked that they could take five.

when his charioteer started spewing green and red vomit. It was time. The demon, Kali, came out of Nala, and, for a demon, looked weak and disheveled. He had been tormented by the Snake King's poison for months.

Nala had won. He was out. He was going to rest here in this tree just for a little bit. He entered the Vibhgataka tree to rest, and from that day forward, it lost its beauty and its fruit became inedible. Nala could, for the first time in years, see with clear sight. He had been craven and selfish to leave his wife in the jungle, alone and sleeping.

wallowing in self-pity and shame had cost him everything are you okay the king saw him vomit a lot like a lot more vomit than there was him and then he talked to the vomit and then that tree died i'm feeling better than ever let's get you to that princess the dwarf smiled and spurred the chariot back into the sky because apparently that's a thing it does

While the kings were conversing awkwardly, with Ratu Parna realizing as he entered the city that there wasn't a Swayambara that day, the king told Damayanti's father that he came to honor the man just to say hi. Damayanti's dad, Bhima, thought that that couldn't possibly be true, but as he got older it was harder and harder to make new friends, so sure, they could hang out. The princess, though, heard news about her tests.

She sent a handmaiden to sing the song the sage had sung, and she heard in reply from the charioteer the other song. She arrived at the stables with Damayanti and Nala's children, and the dwarf broke into tears, saying they reminded him of his own children, and not saying that it was because they were his own children. Now, it was Damayanti's turn. Bakuna. You're the king's charioteer, right? She asked.

The man, spellbound by the princess, nodded. "'Do you know my history? I was married once,' she looked outside wistfully. "'I thought he was a faithful man, and he swore before four gods I will be thine forever, but he abandoned me, his wife and the mother of his children.' She broke down crying. "'And so did he. It was plain that they both knew.'

He said he knew of a man once, like that. A man, shamed and shameful, who left the person he cared about most because he thought it would be best for them. But he could really see that it was just another selfish act. He was sorry. It was over. Also, he was possessed by Kali and threw up the demon on the way here, so that could explain at least part of the change since they got married.

But he said he understood, if she didn't want to see him again, understood why she was marrying this king. Nala had his chance, and he squandered it. She put her finger to his lips, and told him to never leave, never again. They kissed. Then he said, oh wait, he was still in that other form here. He wrapped the cloth the Naga king had given him around his waist, and grew into the form she had known as her husband.

Nala and Damayanti rode up to the city. For it not to be considered a sneak attack, they announced their arrival, and their army's arrival, days prior, and found, outside the city of Nala's birth, the one he had ruled for years, an army set to meet them. Nala dismounted, and said he would parlay with his brother directly. Pushkar had been...

A ruler, neither good nor bad, but looking upon Nala, he felt like he was in the presence of a true king. "'I have returned, brother,' Nala said, laying two prospects before Pushkar. He got directly to it. They would play dice, once, for everything. Kingdom, Damayanti, the children. He would stake it all. If Pushkar didn't want to play dice, they could fight to the death in single combat."

No reason for his people or Damayanti's people to die in a brotherly squabble. The king, Pushkar, grated his teeth. Yes, this. This was what he was lacking. Some excitement, sure. He would take everything from his brother. To be honest, he had always fancied Damayanti, and not in the he-admired-her-character sort of way, but in the intensely and weirdly attracted-to-her-and-wanting-her-for-his-wife sort of way. So he was excited to take her from his brother as well.

They would play for it. And he lost. I'm not sure what dice game they were playing, but it's apparently more than just a game of chance, because in the month he stayed at his father-in-law's palace, Rutuparna taught him all sorts of math to win at dice, while Nala traded his own knowledge on how to get horses to fly. Pushkar staggered back. What? How? The assembled armies and the nobles all saw it.

Nala was the king again. Nala loomed over Pushkar, once again the indisputable king of the land, and said Pushkar wasn't fit to be Damayanti's servant, whose beauty, quote, is like wine within a wondrous bowl. He also said that it wasn't his brother's fault. It was Kali's, and his own. His brother had been afflicted by greed. Nala forgave the man, and told him to return to his old estates, and hopefully, one day,

recognized that he had been wrong to deceive and banish his brother at the will of demons and be gross and weird when it came to Damayanti. And so that's how Nala and Damayanti became, according to the story, the most illustrious monarchs in all of India. Their city prospered and they were faithful to each other until they died.

To me, this story is a metaphor of sorts for marriage, or relationships in general. And I don't think that's a stretch. I mean, an actual demon entering into somebody and changing their behavior 15 years into marriage seems like a barely veiled, I don't know, midlife crisis or something. Anyway, one of the things that's been important for Chris and me is to grow together. Like, you're going to be a different person from the person who got married or, like, when you started the relationship.

I really should be different from when I was in my 20s. And the important thing is to be open and honest and trust the other person to do the same and grow together. Also, don't leave them in the dark forest alone after you've gambled away your kingdom. That's honestly never a great thing to do. Next time on the podcast, it's the bell of justice. It's a bell that helps out with justice. But that's in two weeks. In one week on Fictional, we're back in the stories of Edgar Allan Poe.

That master of gothic horror with a fun costume party and a painting enjoyer. Both of which, yes, turn into gruesome stories of death. It's fun. That's over on Fictional. And you can find the link to subscribe there in the show notes. The creature this week is the Drekavac from South Slavic folklore.

The Drekavac is different things to different cultures. And all of them are bad. Drekavac literally meaning the screecher is unpleasant. Hard to be named the screecher and also be a cool, fun, chill person that people want to hang out with. In Eastern Serbia, it's a humanoid canine who walks on its long kangaroo-like back legs...

In certain parts of Bosnia, it takes the form of ghostly soldiers wandering around in the night, scaring people. And in other parts, it's a vampire. In Kosovo, it's a one-legged human creature with glowing eyes, a long-necked, long-legged cat, or a dappled ghost fowl, dog, cat, or bird. And in Serbia, it's a person with a thin body and an overly large head. As far as psychological horror-themed creatures that stalk the darkness go, this one...

Not so bad. Do I want to see a grotesque cat or a dog with kangaroo legs leaping at me in the night? Of course not. But as far as I can tell, this is closer to a chupacabra than it is a werewolf or something, because it mainly just kills and mutilates sheep and cows and spreads livestock disease.

When it does interact with humans, it mainly predicts someone's death, which, for sure, is bad. But when it comes to, say, a vampire, the vampire does the exact same thing, and then instantly fulfills the prophecy by killing you. At least this is more of a The Ring situation here, though really neither are preferable.

The death predictions only come when the creature is in the form of a child, a form it can take because the creature has one of two origins. The first is objectively tragic, coming from the souls of unbaptized children who died. The second is the form quote sinful men take when they die. Not sure about the cutoff when it comes to sinful, but just try your best. The interesting thing to me is that there have been modern-ish sightings of the creature, and

and its work. In 1992, some villagers in Serbia found remains of an animal with the body of a dog, but with a long, snake-like head and kangaroo-like hind legs. Apparently it was, upon further inspection, the rotting carcass of a fox, who was apparently messing with people even beyond the grave. The second incident was in 2003, and this was the result of its work, not the creature itself, when several sheep were attacked in a village in Serbia.

This one, apparently, remains unsolved. That's it for this time. Myths and Legends is by Jason and Carissa Weiser. Our theme song is by Broke for Free, and the Creature of the Week music is by Steve Combs. There are links to even more of the music we used in the show notes. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll see you next time.

Hey there, it's Ryan Seacrest for Safeway. It's Oral Care Month, which means you can earn four times points on all your favorite oral care brands. Now through July 15th, shop in-store or online for items like Colgate toothpaste, Listerine mouthwash, Crest mouthwash or toothpaste, Sensodyne toothpaste, Hello toothpaste or GUM flossers and earn four times points. Points can be redeemed for future discounts on gas or groceries. Offer ends July 15th. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit Safeway.com for more details.