Prince and Water Demon
Once lived a king with his wife and two sons. The elder son was named Goodword and the younger son was named Moon. While both princes were still young their mother died of some illness. The king remarried so that his princes could be taken care of.
The new queen gave birth to another prince and he was named as Sun. The king was too pleased with his new queen for the way she brought up all those kids. So he wanted her to ask for some sort of boon. The queen said that she would demand one at an opportune time.
Time elapsed and the princes became adolescents. Now the queen was worried that her son could not become a king since he was the youngest one. One day at an opportune moment she reminded the king of his promise of boon and asked that she wished her son to be the next king. The king refused saying that Goodword was the eldest and intelligent as well so he deserved to be the next king.
The queen did not say a word but the king started worrying about safety of his elder children. One day he called Goodword and Moon and shared his worries with them. He asked them to leave the kingdom only to return after his death to claim the kingdom. Both of them agreed to follow what their father wished. When the youngest prince Sun heard this he also expressed hi desire to go along with his brothers. Finally all three went on their journey.
After traveling for many days they reached a huge lake near the Himalayas. They were tired and thirsty. The eldest prince, Goodword sent the youngest prince to fetch some water from the lake. The lake was an abode of a demon. The demon used to kill everyone who entered the lake. But if somebody was able to answer his riddle then he was not allowed to harm that person.
When the youngest princes entered the lake the demon caught him and asked his question, “What is the true preaching of the God?” The prince said that the sun and the moon were true preaching of the God. The demon was not convinced with the answer so he kept the prince as a captive. After some time elapsed, the second prince Moon went to the lake. He was also captured by the demon.
Finally Goodword went to the lake. Before entering the lake he observed the lake and found that two different kinds of footprints were going towards the lake but there was no footprint which could indicate that anybody came back from the pond. He took his sword and started to find ways to enter the lake.
The demon was watching all and was convinced about the intelligence of this new visitor. He changed his appearance to that of a humble village folk and appeared before the prince. He said to the prince that the prince could drink water and eat some lotus root.
The prince could recognize that this must be the demon of the lake. He asked, “Where are my brothers”. The demon was surprised that prince could identify him. The demon asked the prince the same question. The prince answered, “One should avoid bad deeds and do good deeds is what the God preaches”.
The demon was happy with the answer and offered to return either of the captive princes. Goodword asked Sun, the youngest prince to be returned. The demon was surprised that the prince was trying to save his step brother. The prince said that it was because of Sun that all of them had to leave the kingdom. Goodword appreciated the sacrifice and love of the youngest prince, because he also renounced the inevitable kingdom. Goodword also said that when they would return without the youngest prince then everybody would doubt that elder brothers must have killed the youngest prince.
Finally, the demon released both brothers and requested the eldest prince to allow him to be a disciple. Later all of them returned to the kingdom in due course of time. Goodword became the king, Moon became the chief minister and Sun became the chief of the army. The demon got a peaceful abode to spend rest of his life in devotion to the God.