# The Story of Hira and Lal

The Story of Hira and Lal is an Indian folktale published in The Modern Review, in 1907. The tale is a local form of the international cycle of the Animal as Bridegroom or The Search for the Lost Husband, in that a woman marries a man of supernatural origin (a snake or serpent), loses him and must regain him. The tale also contains tale type AaTh 977, "The Eloping Couple and the Robbers", wherein a protagonist couple flee from their families, find shelter with robbers that kill the male half of the couple, but deities' mercy restores the man to life - a type that the indexes only report in India and South Asia.

## Sources

The tale was first published in the journal The Modern Review, in 1907, by one Shaikh Chilli, and sourced from Hindustan. Stith Thompson and Jonas Balys [lt] sourced it from the Ganges Valley.

## Publication

Author Ruskin Bond republished the tale as The Friendship of Heera and Lal. Journalist Murkot Kunhappa reprinted the tale as Hira and Lal.

## Summary

A poor grass-cutter ventures in the jungle to cut grass to sell. One day, he goes to fetch grass and finds the carcass of a dead snake which he intends to use to tie the bundle, but, suddenly, the carcass transforms into a shining ruby, or Lal, which he hides in his pagri or turban. The man decides to present the Raja with the ruby. The Raja gives the ruby to his wife, the Rani, for safekeeping, but the ruby turns into a baby. The royal couple decide to raise the baby and name him Lal ('ruby'). He goes to school and meets a princess named Hira ('diamond'), whom he falls in love with. After some time, Hira is set to be married to another Raja, and Lal's father wants him to cease all contact with her. Lal disobeys his orders and rides to Hira's wedding, and they elope on two horses to regions unknown.
Some time later, Hira and Lal take shelter with an old woman, who is the wife and mother of a pair of robbers. The old woman's maidservant, in tears, tells the couple about the robbers and bids them escape. The couple mount on their horses, as the robber lady tries to stop them, to no avail. As soon as they flee the house, the woman shouts that "two fat birds are escaping", alerting the approaching father-son robbers of their escaping victims. The robbers chase after the prince and the princess, but Lal shoots an arrow behind him and kills the younger robber. Lal and Hira then reach a serai where they spend the night. The next morning, an old man seeks employment with the pair. They hire him. Unbeknownst to them, the old man is the older robber. He beheads Lal and threatens to kill Hira, but she distracts him by making him look at a kite and kills him. Hira cries over the corpse of her beloved Lal, earning the pity of passersby. Fortunately for her, deities Shiva and Parvati are walking nearby when they hear the lamentations. Parvati wishes to investigate, but Shiva tells her that they are just a mortal person's weeping. Still, the goddess convinces Shiva to heed Hira's cries, and the god reconnects Lal's head to is body, then uses his divine blood (which the story says is amrita) to revive him. Lal is restored to life and Hira worships Shiva and Parvati in gratitude.
Next, the human couple depart to a large and populous city, and lodge themselves in a nearby inn. Lal goes to the city to buy some provisions, and enters the shop of a betel-seller, a sorceress, who falls in love with him. Offering some betels, the sorceress tricks Lal with some leaves and turns him into a goat. Noticing her lover's delay, Hira, still in male clothes, makes the same course as Lal did and passes by the same shops. The shopkeepers mistake her for Lal, and Hira, seizing the opportunity, replies she will take the provisions on her return. She finally reaches the same betel-seller, who tries to trick Hira, but the princess avoids anything she offers.
Hira enters another street and meets an old woman preparing sweetmeats, which she explains is for her son who was chosen as sacrifice to the local princess. Hira offers to replace the woman's son as sacrifice, and goes to meet the princess. Still in the male disguise, she marries the princess, and, on the wedding night, the princess begins to foam at the mouth, and a black snake comes out of her thigh. Hira kills the serpent, releasing the princess from her curse. In return, the city's king offers Hira a reward, and Hira asks to be given authority over the city for a single hour and orders every citizen to bring their cattle, birds and beasts to the palace at once. It happens thus, and every citizen joins the gathering, save for the betel-seller. Hira correctly deduces the betel-seller is missing, and some soldiers bring the sorceress and her goat with her. The goat rushes to Hira's side, and the sorceress spins a story the animal was to be a sacrifice to goddess Kali. Hira, still in her authority, orders the sorceress to be burnt, and restores Lal to human form by reciting some mantras.
Lal marries both Hira and the city's princess. Marital life is a blissful one, until one day, the princess suggests Hira to ask Lal about his origins. At first, Hira declines wanting to know, but changes her mind and begins to ask Lal about it. The prince warns her about asking such a question, for she will regret it. Despite the warning, Hira insists to know about his past and caste, and he goes to a stream. The more Hira questions him, the deeper Lal enters the stream. After he is completely submerged, Lal becomes a giant black snake and slithers under the waves, leaving a bereft Hira crying at the river margin. The tale ends.

## Analysis
### Tale type

In Stith Thompson and Warren Roberts's Types of Indic Oral Tales, the tale is classified under its own Indic type, 425D Ind, "Search for Serpent Husband".
The middle part of the story, where the pair meets the thieves, Lal is killed, but the deities revive him, is classified as another tale type found in India, which was incorporated in Thompson's 1961 revision of the international Aarne-Thompson Index. In this type, AaTh 977, "The Eloping Couple and the Robbers", a prince and princess elope and eventually take shelter with a band of robbers, which chase after them and kill the prince; the princess mourns for her lover, when gods heed her cries and restore him; later, the prince is turned into an animal by a witch. However, German folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther, in his 2004 revision of the international index, discontinued the typing.

### Motifs

The protagonist's name, Lal, means "ruby".
According to Stith Thompson and Jonas Balys [lt] study of motifs of Indian literature and oral folklore, the tale contains the motif B604.1 "Marriage to snake".

#### The husband's transformation

According to Stith Thompson and Jonas Balys [lt] study of motifs of Indian literature and oral folklore, the tale contains the motif D432.3.1 "Transformation: ruby to person".

#### The husband's vanishing

In his work about Cupid and Psyche and other Animal as Bridegroom tales, Swedish scholar Jan-Öjvind Swahn [sv] identified that, in certain tales, the heroine causes her supernatural husband's disappearance by inquiring his name. Swahn named this motif The Name Taboo and surmised that it occurred "primarily in India". In Thompson and Roberts's Types of Indic Oral Tales, this motif appears in Indic type 425D Ind, "Search for Serpent Husband": the heroine insists to know her husband's caste or name, and he, in return, gives her an answer, but vanishes in the water like a snake.

## Variants
### Manikkam and Moothiam

Author M. N. Venkataswami collected an Indian tale from informant Sandhā (Puli) Abboy, from "Nagpur country". In this tale, titled Manikkam and Moothiam, a poor woodcutter laments his poor station in life: no parents, no child and a wife to care for. One day, he goes to the forest to gather wood and finds a dried tree. He uproots it and finds a diamond. The story then explains that Nagendra, the king of serpents, exiled his son to Naraloka for 20 years and cast a diamond off his head, his own son - the same diamond found by the woodcutter. The woodcutter brings the diamond home with him and sees that his luck changes for the better: he sells more firewood for better prices. After some time, the woodcutter, now rich, goes to check on the diamond and finds a baby. He and his wife decide to raise the baby as their own son. Ten years later, princess Moothiam ("pearl") goes to the patashala to learn the Kalas ("arts"), and so does the woodcutter's son, named Manikkam. After some years, the king thinks to himself that the princess has learned enough and decides to take her out of school so she can spend her days inside. Moothiam convinces Manikkam to elope. They make arrangements (some dresses and jewels), meet at the temple of Mahakal and depart on their horses.
Some time later, they rest by the house of an old woman, mother of seven robbers. A Komti passes by the robbers' house and alerts the pair about the robbers. The pair then makes their escape, but are pursued by the robbers. Moothiam shoots arrows at the robbers and kills all of them save one, whom they decide to spare and take as a groom. This leads to a fatal mistake: as soon as Manikkam says he wants to rest, he gives his scimitar to the last robber, who kills the youth. The robber, in return, is killed by the princess, who mourns for her fallen friend. Deities Parwati and Parmeshwara heed her cries and descend to Earth as an old couple. Shiva senses that the youth is the son of the king of serpents and gives the princess a vibhudikaya to apply on his body to revive him. The princess does that and Manikkam comes back to life. The princess and the youth reach another city where they live together.
In this city, the king convinces Manikkam to marry Moothiam, so they set up a date for their wedding. However, a flower-woman, a witch, falls in love with Manikkam and turns him into a goat with an enchanted garland. Moothiam finds the sorceress, punishes her and marries Manikkam. The youth also marries the second king's daughter. Since his time in Naraloka is running out, and to expedite the process, Manikkam's mother goes to the human realm under human guise and sells some Gangaraingu pandlu fruit to them. Manikkam notices the fruit is from the serpent realm. The next day, the fruit seller tries to convince the women to eat some of his plate, knowing that her son's nails contain poison - a stratagem that also fails. The third time, the fruit seller induces both women to ask about their husband's origins. Manikkam tells her to go to the sea shore. Moothiam and people assemble near the sea-shore; Mannikam reveals he is the son of Nagaraja, turns into a large snake and dives into the sea, back to Nagaloka.
Moothiam swims after him, despite the force of the waves, and Manikkam, in snake form, catches his human wife and takes her to his father's garden. Manikkam gives her garments to wear and milk from the cosmic cow to eat, and recommends her to clean the way to a hillock of pebbles and thorns and prepare food and milk for his father when he comes. The father, noticing the kind action, shall grant her a boon. The first time, Moothiam trembles with fear before the king of snakes and forgets to ask for the boon. Some time later, Manikkam's snake wife learns that his human wife is in the serpent realm, and gives her a dirty rag smeared with oil to be washed clean as a conch-shell. Manikkam summons some cranes flying overhead and orders them to clean the piece of cloth. The snake-wife also gives her a pot full of holes and orders her to empty a well. Manikkam orders the little frogs to fill up the holes. The next time his father comes to the hillock, on the full moon, Moothiam still shakes with fear. The third time, she takes heart and asks Nagaraja for the diamond on his head. Nagendra gives her the diamond. Manikkam then takes Moothiam back to the human realm.

### Prince Ruby and Princess Diamond

Professor Sadhana Naithani published a tale originally collected by William Crooke from a student in Jwalapur. In this tale, titled by Crooke as Prince Ruby and Princess Diamond, a Jat and a Gujar are friends. One day, the Jat buys an earthen pot and places a snake inside it. He gives the pot to his wife and she puts it on the oven. She opens it and finds a garland of rubies. The Jat decides to sell the garland to the Rajá. The Rajá takes it and places it in a cot, and, the next morning, a baby appears in the place of the garland. The Rajá and his wife, the Rani, deduce that the rubies have turned into a boy. Twelve years later, they decide to marry the boy, named Prince Lal, to a girl "born of a diamond", but evil viziers kill the Rajá to usurp his kingdom. The Rani escapes with the boy to another kingdom. Prince Lal becomes friends with a girl named Hira Princess at school. The boy and the princess elope and ride two horses to regions unknown, and stop to rest at the house of a family of "free booters". Prince Lal kills the 14 booters. Their father, in revenge, wears a disguise and offers to be the duo's syce. The false syce cuts off the prince's head and Hira Princess, in retaliation, kills him. She cries for her fallen friend. Her pleas are heard by Párbati and Mahadeva. Mahadeva tells the princess to use her blood to revive him. Prince Lal comes back to life, goes to his father's kingdom and fights the usurpers to regain the kingdom.

### Lal and Heera (Magahi)

In an Indian tale in the Magahi language collected by Ramprasad Singh [hi] with the title "लाल आउ हीरा" ("Lal and Heera"), a merchant loses his fortune when disaster strikes his country and he has to forage for wood in the forest to sell and earn his living. One day, he brings some roasted grains to eat in the forest, and finds a snake next to a bundle. He takes a stick to shoo away the snake, and discovers a red stone next to it. He takes the stone and the wood to sell, and the buyer offers a huge amount of money for the stone. The stone, a ruby, changes hands until a king buys it and gives it to the queen for safekeeping. Later, the monarch sends an emissary to request the queen brings the gem, but the queen discovers a baby boy inside the chest instead of the ruby. They decide to raise the boy and name him Lal, placing him at the same classes as princess Heera, their daughter.
As time passes, Lal and Heera fall in love, but their teacher reports them to the king, who decides to place them in separate schools. Thus, the couple decide to elope, take some horses and flee the kingdom. They reach a well next to a house, which they learn belongs to a band of seven thieves. They spend some time in the house before the thieves arrive, and reach an inn, where they spend the night. The thieves, plus their sister, reach the inn and lie to the innkeeper that they are looking for their fleeing brother-in-law (Lal). The thieves, posing as Lal's relatives, take him with them, but Lal and Heera flee on two quick horses, the thieves after the pair. Lal and Heera kill the bandits, but spare one of them to be their servant. Heera loses an anklet on the road and asks Lal and the thief-servant to fetch it for her. When Lal reaches down to grab it, the thief beheads the youth. Heera cries for Lal's death in a temple, and the tree leaves join in her mourning. Suddenly, deities Parvati and Mahade pass by Heera and learn of her ordeal. Parvati asks Mahade to revive the youth, and he bids Heera to bring some water from the lake. Heera fetches water, which Mahade sprinkles over Lal's body, prickles his own finger and brings it to the youth's mouth, restoring him to life.
Lal and Heera then ride to another kingdom, where they set up a tent and Lal goes to buy some provisions. However, when he enters the store, the shopkeeper falls in love with him, douses a betel leaf with some magic and gives it to Lal, turning him into a sheep which she ties to a pole. Noticing Lal's delay, Heera dons a male disguise and enters the city. The local princess falls in love with Heera's male disguise and marries "him", but on the wedding night, Heera avoids sleeping with her. Heera, in male disguise, says it is a tradition from their land being gifted a sword. Later, Heera, as the local king's son-in-law, asks him to order a curfew before a certain hour of the night, and to allow people to graze their sheep at night. By doing this, Heera locates the shopkeeper and threatens her to restore Lal to human form. After she does so, Heera kills the shopkeeper and brings Lal with her back to the princess.
Heera, Lal and the princess live together. One day, however, the princess finds Lal sprawled in his bed and tries to wake him up. Lal jumps out of bed and tries to avoid both of his wives. Heera and the princess notice that they do not know Lal's caste, and decide to ask him. He eventually jumps into a pond, turns into a snake, and slithers away in the water. Both girls mourn for Lal's disappearance, and the king announces with a tabla (drum) he will give half of his kingdom to whoever has news of Lal. An old man takes up the challenge and goes to the same pond where Lal vanished, hiding in a tree hollow: soon, he watches as a fairy and Indra Maharaj come out of the pond, Lal with them as their tabla player, as they dance to music, and return to the lake. The old man goes to report to the princesses about the discovery and takes them to the pond. That same night, Heera and the princess witness the event, as Indra Maharaj and some fairies dance with Lal and enter the pond; the girls try to grab their co-husband before he vanishes with the dawn. Lal says that their try is futile, but concocts a plan: they shall wait for the next night, give him too much ganja ("गाँजा", in the original) so he performs badly at the tabla, forcing Indra to ask for another music player, which is to be provided by one of the princesses; after they perform, the girls are to ask Indra to return Lal to them. It happens thus: Lal is intoxicated by the ganja, the princesses perform for Indra and ask him to return Lal to them. Indra allows the girls to have him. The trio return home to the palace.

### The Story of Halahal Kumar or The Snake-Prince

In an Orissan tale collected by author Upendra Narayan Dutta Gupta with the title The Story of Halahal Kumar or The Snake-Prince, a beggar that belongs to the Chakulia-Pandas order is childless. His wife also sighs over not having a child. Meanwhile, Halahal Kumar, the prince of the Nether-world where Vasuki lives, goes to the human world as a little snake, wanting to learn the ways of mankind. He slithers in a river next to the place where the beggar was drawing water in a pot, and is brought home with him. When the beggar goes to fetch the water, he finds a newborn human baby, who is the transformed snake-prince. Years pass, the baby, named Abhimanyu, grows up and goes to school with Sasisena, the king's daughter. They begin to develop an interest in each other, and Abhimanyu suggests they elope to another country. The pair take some horses and depart from her father's kingdom until the reach the cottage of an Asuruni with many sons. The Asurani, a man-eating giantess, welcomes the couple into her abode, and Sasisena, suspecting something, overhears her conspiring with her children to devour her and Abhimanyu. Sasisena and Abhimanyu gather some tools and objects from the jungle and trick the giantess's sons by pretending to be her Swasura (father-in-law). Fooling the monsters, the pair take their horses and flee from the Asurani. The Asurani orders her children to pursue the escaping pair, by following a trail of mustard seeds she tied to their horses. On the road, Sasisena and Abhimanyu realize they are being chased, and the youth throws behind some rattan seeds (which become a forest of thick vines), some coals (which create a conflagration) and finally he lets out some breaths behind him to create a mist. The magical obstacles do not deter their pursuers, so Abhimanyu brandishes his sword and kills six of the seven Asurani's sons, save for the youngest, named Tima, whom they spare and make their servant.
After a while, they stop to rest: Sasisena prepares their food, while Abhimanyu goes for a swim in a pond. Tima, pretending to help him, kills him with a sword, then puts on his clothes and goes to eat Sasisena's food. The princess notices that the voracity of her companion was strange, and orders Tima to lead her to Abhimanyu. Tima guides her to his corpse, and is promptly beheaded for his treason. Sasisena cries over the body of her fallen lover, which Durga and Siva hear and come to her aid: Siva sprinkles his body with flower and water, and revives Abhimanyu. Later, the duo go to another city, where Abhimanyu is transformed into a ram by the works of a Maluni girl, and Sasisena, pretending to be a man, kills a rampaging Gayal (Gandagayal) and wins the hand of the local king's daughter. Still in male disguise, Sasisena says she made a vow not to consummate the marriage until after twelve months, while she tries to buy time to search for Abhimanyu: she tells the king a story that Siva decided that people from nearby regions should come to his shrine on Baruni-day for purification, a lie that the Raja believes. This eventually leads to Sasisena rescuing Abhimanyu and the killing of the Maluni witch-girl.
Abhimanyu then marries the two princesses and the live together. However, after some time, one of his serpent-wives, from the Nether-world, missing her husband, changes shape to that of a Savari woman who has come to sell Amama fruits to the princess's household. The false Savari says the fruits can grant immortality, but their husband is already immortal - a thing they should ask Abhimanyu themselves. The princesses ask Abhimanyu to tell them the truth, and he takes them to the riverbank. He warns them not to question the truth of his name, but they insist and press on the matter. Thus, he goes near the water, says his name is Halahal Kumar from Patala, and vanishes into the water as a snake. The princesses cry for him and, noticing they ate the Amara fruits, swim after him and reach the Nether-world, the domain of king Vasuki. Down below, they realize they must earn Vasuki's favour, and do so by ingraining into their court with their dancing prowess. They do a dance number before Vasuki and his court, which greatly impresses the monarch he proposes to reward both women. Sasisena then asks for the prince as reward. Vasuki agrees, but sets a condition: Halahal Kumar shall alternate between his human wives and serpent spouses six months each. His terms are agreed upon, and the human princesses depart Patala with Abhimanyu. The princesses' kingdoms are united as one, and the girls look forward to spending six months with their co-husband.

### Heer Princess and Lal Kunwar

In an Indian tale from Haryana titled "हीर शहजादी और लाल कुंवर" ("Heer Princess and Lal Kunwar"), a queen prays to the Serpent God for a son, and is given one she names Lal Kunwar. One day, she is bathing her son, whose body is shining with a red aura. The king, his father, takes a look at him and dies, leaving the boy fatherless and having to be tutored by the Prime Minister. When he is thirteen years old, the prince beats the Prime Minister's son, and the Prime Minister's wife wants the prince dead. Thus, the widowed queen and the prince are taken to the forest to be killed by some soldiers, who decide to spare them provided they flee to another kingdom. The queen agrees and escapes to the land of Shahjahan Nagar to raise her son. In time, the local Princess Heer has been promised to Lal Kunwar (Prince Lal) or Lal Shahzada ("लाल शहजादा", in the original; "Ruby Prince"), whom she calls Veerlal, since before their births, and suspects he is of the serpent clan, but knows she cannot ask him about his lineage. Lal Kunwar keeps silent about his origins, but introduces himself as a prince. Heer then tries to convince her father to allow their marriage, but the monarch refuses. Thus, Lal and Heer mount their horses and flee to the forest. Lal goes to forage for roots and herbs while Heer takes a bath in a pond, when a Bhil youth finds them and fatally shoots the prince with an arrow. The Bhil kidnaps the princess on his horse, but Heer drops a shoe for him to catch. While he is distracted, she kills him with an arrow. Heer returns to tend to Lal's body, prepares a pyre for him, and mourns. A passing divine couple, Shiva and Parvati, listen to the mortal's cries and Parvati bids Shiva to help them, and Shiva revives Lal, to Heer's happiness. Lal advises Heer to don a male disguise and they ride to the city of king Ksatrabha for rations. Heer also requests some betel leaf for paan. Lal buys provisions and goes to buy some betel leaves from a female seller, who falls in love with him and tricks the prince, turning him into a calf by tying a thread around his neck. The betel seller keeps Lal as her lover.
Meanwhile, Heer notices Lal's delay and goes to investigate, discovering he disappeared after talking to the betel seller. Late at night, Heer hears a scream and finds a man kidnapping a woman. Heer kills the man and releases the woman, who reveals she is the local princess, daughter of king Ksatrabha. Heer, still in male disguise, introduces herself as "Lal Kunwar" and marries the princess with the king's gratitude. Heer, in male garments, wanders the streets in the morning in search of Lal, and devises a plan: she invents a ritual occasion which everyone is to attend and bring their animals to be fed. The betel seller comes with the calf, which has a black thread around its neck. Heer suspects there is something with the animal and unties the black thread, restoring Lal to normal. The betel seller is punished by being stomped by an elephant, Heer explains everything to king Ksatrabha, and Lal Kunwar marries both princesses and brings his mother to live with them. The tale then explains Lal Kunwar is the prince of Naglok ("नागलोक का कुमार", in the original), the world of snakes, and cannot reveal his origins, as his mother prayed to the serpent deity ("सर्प देवता", in the original), lest he turns back into a snake. One day, however, Ksatrabha's daughter asks Lal Kunwar about his lineage, and the prince warns her not to press further, but she insists to know. On revealing his origins, he becomes a snake and slithers away. Heer and the other princess mourn for him.
Heer then organizes a festival to praise the gods in hopes of finding Lal Kunwar again and sends invitations to all. During the festival, a Brahmin appears late and goes to eat. Heer then asks the reason for his tardiness, and he recalls a story: he climbed a peepal tree distant from his village and saw a snake court nearby, a large snake on a throne sided by a younger one, as the snakes danced for them; the younger one stayed behind, hit its head on the tree three times and cried out for Heer. Heer Princess asks to be taken to the peepal tree. Heer and the Brahmin witness as a cadre of snakes prepare everything for their dance and dance to king Nagraj, and sight a coiled snake. After the dance finishes, the coiled snake goes to hit its head on the tree and cry for Heer, when the princess herself appears to him. Heer and Lal admit they suffer for their parting, and Heer asks what she can do to rescue him. Lal Kunwar advises her to clear her mind for ten days, offer milk for the snake court, worship the Snake King and ask for human Lal Kunwar. With this, Lal Kunwar slithers back to the snake hole, as Heer prepares herself: she places milk bowls, burns incenses and worships Nagraj. The Snake King is satisfied with Heer's devotion and offers her whatever boon she may request. Heer Princess then asks for Lal Kunwar back. Nagraj delivers him to the princess and they reunite, then return to Kshatrabha's palace. Lal Kunwar's other wife apologizes for her mistake. King Kshatrabha makes Lal Kunwar his successor, and he retakes his father's kingdom by defeating the prime minister.