The Wedding of The Mouse

Once upon a time, three sages, who were also brothers, chose a riverbank to do penance. Their names were Ekata, Dwita and Trita. The clothes they washed every day used to dry in the sky without a clothesline lest they should drop and become soiled. One day a kite was carrying a female frog like I (the kite) carried a female mouse.

Ekata saw this and shouted at the kite, “Leave it, Leave it.”

At once his clothes drying in the sky dropped down to the ground. When Dwita saw this, he shouted at the kite, “Don’t leave it, Don’t leave it” and soon his clothes also came
down hurtling. When Trita saw that the clothes of his elder brothers fell down, he thought it would be better not to say anything and remained silent. That is why it is better not to notice the happenings around and concentrate on self.

The sage Salankayana replied, “O foolish kite, your story has happened in the Age of Truth when even if you spoke to a wicked person you became a sinner. The clothes came down because the first two sages addressed the wicked kite. We are now living in the Age of Kali, an age in which everyone is a born sinner. In this age only those who commit a sin become sinners and not those who speak to sinners. Now, don’t waste my time.

Disperse or face my curse.”

The kite flew away disappointed. The female mouse then prayed Salankayana, “O sage, please give me shelter in your hermitage. Otherwise, some wicked bird will kill me. I will spend the rest of my life with whatever leftovers you choose to feed me with.”

The female mouse’s prayer moved the sage but he thought that if he took her home, people would laugh at him. So, he turned the mouse into a beautiful girl and took her home.

“What is this you have brought,” asked the sage’s wife. Where did you bring this girl from?”

“She is a female mouse. She needed protection from wicked birds. That’s why I turned her into a girl and brought her home. You will need to shower all care on her. I will make her a mouse again,” said the sage.

“Please don’t do that,” pleaded his wife, “You have saved her life and therefore you have become her father.

I don’t have a child. Since you are her father, she becomes my daughter.” The sage accepted her plea.

The girl grew into a beautiful woman and became an eligible bride. Salankayana told his wife, “The girl has come of age. It is not proper for her to remain in our house. The learned have said, He who keeps an eligible bride in his house Forfeits a place in heaven. So do his ancestors.

“It’s all right. Look for a boy,” said his wife.

Salankayana immediately summoned the Sun and told him, “This is my daughter. If she is willing to marry you, get ready to marry her.”

He then showed the Sun to his daughter and asked her if she would marry him. She said that the Sun was very hot and she would prefer someone else. The sage then summoned the God of Clouds, the God of Wind and the God of Mountains. The girl rejected every one of them on one ground or the other.

Then the God of Mountains told the sage, “The most suitable candidate for your daughter is a mouse. He is more powerful than I am.”

The sage then turned her into a mouse and gave her away to a king of mice in marriage.