KING NALAN
Entered the kitchen
Nalan untied the horses And took them for rests. He entered the royal kitchen To cook food for his king then.
(Perhaps a custom for a king to have food from his own cook wherever he went for self-protection)
Without filling filled
When he went inside the kitchen, With no effort of his own, Everything got itself cooked. By Devas’ boon, he once received.
Know and come
Wise Dhamayanthi sent Her clever maid at night To find out from the cook Some items, how to cook?
Sent her son and daughter
Her daughter and son She sent them to Nalan To find out how he felt And to know the result.
Whose children?
Nalan hugged them Tight in his bosom Like his own he felt. He tried to find out.
“How nice you’re! Whose children you’re? With all his affection He put this question.
They said, we’re the children Of Nalan, who went out alone. Our land is ruled by another man, And not by our father, Nalan.”
Stood almost lifeless
When the cook Nalan heard What the children said He stood almost lifeless, And shed his tears.
Disgraceful act
“Oh prince, your kingdom Is ruled by another king. You left your own city, And live in this city.”
“Don’t you feel it A disgraceful act To live like that? I feel so, in fact.”
Truth is strength
The prince replied, “Oh cook, you said Those words impertinent As an inferior servant.”
“To keep up his words My father went to woods. Truth is strength, he knows. That’s how his life goes.”
Scars on the feet
“The scars on his feet Many you can count. In his fight with kings He had these things.”
Bowed his head
Nalan bowed his head And to the prince said, “Cooks does not know What the kings know.”
Dhamayanthi got the truth
Dhamayanthi’s maid revealed What all between them happened. When she knew he was Nalan She cried and fell down.
Cried out in despair
In despair, she cried out, And she had this doubt How ugly he became As a cook when he came.
“Did the smoke cause it? Did the heat change it? What a royal face he had? How it turned now bad?”
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