Many years ago, in a village called Madhabora, there lived a poor married couple. They had four daughters. The daughters grew to their marriageable age. The poor parents found it challenging to provide any dowry to the prospective grooms. So, the husband and the wife decided to marry their four daughters off to a tiger, a bear, a snake, and a garuda respectively.
It had been many days that the old man had not met his four daughters. Rituals say, it is necessary to call one’s daughter and son-in-law to one’s house for lunch or dinner soon after their marriage. Unfortunately, the old man did not have enough money to do so. Thus, he decided to go to the sons-in-law’s houses instead.
First, he went to the eldest daughter’s place. She used to live in a den with her husband. The tiger saw his father-in-law from afar, and quickly cleaned his home. After a while, he said to his wife, “My dear! I will go hunting with my father-in-law. You boil some water and keep it ready.” The tiger and the old man went to search for a prey.
As they were searching, the tiger saw a goat in a shed. It said, “Father, I will kill the goat and throw it towards you. Then you throw it towards the nettle plant.” The tiger had just completed his words when he pounced upon the goat and threw it towards his father-in-law. The old man did what had been requested of him. The wife was delighted to see the two men, and she started preparing roast.
Ah, what a delicious food it was! The old man was satisfied with the hospitality bestowed by his first son-in-law. He returned home, and outlined every detail to his wife. The wife started complaining: “So our son-in-law provided you such a tasty meal! Who would do so for me?”
“Oh, my love! Why do you worry? I am there for you—I will feed you.” The husband comforted his wife.
That night, the husband went to a shed. Like he had seen his son-in-law do, he said to his wife, “My dear! I will kill the goat and throw it towards you. Then you throw it towards the nettle plant!” The husband went inside the shed. However, the goat was quite violent. Before the old man could attack the goat, the goat gored him by its horn. The wife mistook the old man for a goat and hurled him towards the plant. He got burning sensations.
“It’s me, my dear! It’s me, your husband!” The old man started moaning. The wife realized her mistake, and both of them returned, the husband in utter pain.
After a few days, the old man went to his second daughter’s home. Seeing his father-in-law home, the bear said, “You keep the cauldron heated,” and went outside. He went to an oil-crusher’s. Seeing the bear, everyone in the vicinity was afraid, and started running away. The bear soaked its bum in oil and quickly rushed towards its cave. He sat upon the burning cauldron. Oil dripped and amassed sufficiently enough to make sel roti—local donuts. He also brought flour, and the wife gladly prepared set roti.
The old man relished the food, and was all smiles thinking how his daughter had a good husband.
Seeing him so happy, the wife asked, “What did you eat today?”
“I had plenty of tasty sel roti.”
“Our son-in-law provided you such a tasty meal! Who would do so for me?”
“Oh! My love! Why do you worry? I am there for you—I will feed you. You keep on warming a cauldron.”
The husband, like his son-in-law, went to an oil-crusher’s and drenched his butt in oil. He, too, then, sat upon the boiling cauldron.
Ouch! That pain he suffered! His flesh was thoroughly burnt.
“Give me some coolant!” The man started crying.
After a few days of his recovery, the husband went to his third daughter’s. Instead of giving any especial food to his father-in-law, the snake thought of pleasing him by showing the underworld. The snake requested the old man to hold his tail. They entered into a hole and the snake gave a glimpse of the underworld.
The old man was so excited to tell everything to his wife. Upon recounting the entire scenario, the wife expressed, “I also would love to see the underworld.”
The old man complied. He asked his wife to hold his legs. The man entered a hole. Unfortunately, he got stuck. Before the wife had her husband out, the hole had badly bruised his back. He was, again, in pain.
Finally, he went to his youngest daughter’s home. The Garuda wanted to give the best welcome possible to his father-in-law. So, he carried the old man in his back and soared high in the air. The old man was enjoying the aerial view of the world. He was already thinking of how to give this privilege to his wife.
Upon reaching his home, the wife also expressed her desire to fly. The husband prepared some feathers from a few bamboo bands and glued it to his body. They went to a high mountain. The husband kept his wife on his back, and jumped from there.
Alas! Instead of flying, they fell down, down, and down. Later, even their bones were not found.
It is said that from that time, the spirits of the old couple roamed in the sky and guided the mortals to keep doing innovations. This wing is said to be the first invention—out of love—of the world.
[Presentation: Swarnim Lamsal]