The Mystery of a Dream

A Terrifying Awakening

Once upon a time, there was a good king who always enjoyed sound sleep and never recalled any dreams, if he ever had them. But one night, he gave out a terrific shriek and woke up, still shivering with fear. His prime minister, urgently summoned, appeared before him long before dawn.

The Minister’s Inquiry

“What is the matter, my lord?” asked the anxious minister.

“No matter, unless you call a dream a matter,” replied the king.

“What has happened, Your Very Exalted Highness?” The intrigued minister was as polite as possible.

A Bad Omen

“Nothing, unless a dream is a happening. Nevertheless, something bad, I’m afraid, is going to happen to me,” said the king with a sigh.

“My lord! I am rather puzzled!” confessed the minister.

“I am no less,” said the king, and narrated his dream: “I suddenly found myself in a jungle. It was getting dark, and I could not remember how I came there or where my bodyguards were. I climbed a tree to see if anyone was nearby. The next moment, a number of ferocious, laughing hyenas gathered under the tree, circling it and looking up at me with hungry eyes, making menacing attempts to climb.”

A Narrow Escape

I was scared stiff. Any moment I could fall down. Just then, I saw three merry young men galloping toward me from a nearby highland. All of them saw my plight. But one just yawned and trotted away, and the second one laughed and cheered the hyenas. Only the third one rushed to my rescue. But I was not sure if I could hold on to the tree until he reached me. The impatient hyenas were violently clawing and scratching at the tree. I shouted at the young man, asking him to hurry up. Well, that woke me up!”

An Unusual Dream

“It is a very unusual dream, my lord,” said the minister.

“And that is why I don’t want our usual soothsayers to explain its meaning. I don’t trust them. Nevertheless, I want an explanation. There must be some wise man somewhere in my kingdom who can tell us its meaning. But I am afraid—although a king should not be afraid—that if I send my courtiers to consult the wise ones, they will never report the truth to me. If the wise ones say that the dream signifies my death, the courtiers, out of their strange kindness for me, would report that it means I will soon marry again. What should I do? Whom can I trust with the task of finding out the right explanation?” The king lamented as he got down from his bed.

The Circumstance Revealed

The minister, keeping pace with the restless king, spoke gravely, “My lord! I have a feeling that the three young men you saw in the dream have something to do with your three sons.”

The king came to a halt and nodded thoughtfully, saying, “I’m afraid you are speaking a lot of sense, minister!”

“Thank you, my lord,” the minister bowed and continued, “I suggest the three princes be asked to find out the meaning of your dream.”

“That is an excellent idea. And the one who explains the dream to my satisfaction shall succeed me on the throne,” declared the king.

A Quest for Answers

The three princes were immediately summoned. The king narrated his dream to them and ordered, “Now, boys, I give you twenty-four hours. Go wherever you like and consult whomever you like. But tell me tomorrow morning what the dream means.”

The eldest prince, roused from sleep, hurried back to his bed and ordered his servants to cover him with an extra thick blanket. He did not get up before midday, by which time he had forgotten all about the king’s dream.

However, the other two princes galloped forth in opposite directions.

The youngest prince met several soothsayers, scholars, pundits, and priests and collected many possible interpretations of the dream. Yet, he was not quite satisfied with them.

At the far end of the kingdom lay a hill. Many had told the prince that at the top of the hill, in a cave, lived a mysterious old woman who had the power to read the future and might be able to explain the true meaning of the king’s dream.

A Mysterious Encounter

By evening, the youngest prince and his horse were exhausted. He left the horse at the foot of the hill and climbed with great difficulty. Soon, he found the old, haggardly woman sitting in front of her cave, warming her shrunken fingers by a small fire.

The prince greeted her, saying, “O wise old woman of the mountain, would you kindly explain the meaning of a dream my father had last night?”

He began narrating the dream, but the woman interrupted: “I know all about it. I can tell you what it means. But will you, in return, marry my daughter?”

A Difficult Choice

The prince hesitated. “Er, should I not see your daughter before making such a promise?”

The old woman immediately called for her daughter. From inside the cave appeared a girl as ugly as a scarecrow, greeting the prince in a voice that sounded like a cracker petering out.

The prince sighed, saying, “To speak the truth, your daughter does not resemble the bride I had in mind. But I promise to marry her if my father feels satisfied with the meaning you provide for his dream. It is essential that I find the right meaning, as my father thinks it carries some hint about his death!”

A Dire Prediction

“Your father is right,” said the woman, “He is likely to die tonight.”

“Tonight?” cried out the prince.

“Yes, but I did not say he shall die tonight; someone will try to kill him tonight.”

“O wise woman! Allow me to hurry back and stand guard over my father,” said the prince.

“That is like a dutiful son,” the woman encouraged him, “But do not speak to anyone. Hide yourself in the king’s bedchamber and await the assassin. For the full meaning of the dream, meet me tomorrow.”

The Night of Reckoning

The prince traveled as fast as his tired horse could take him. He reached the palace in time and hid himself inside the king’s bedchamber, behind a screen. The king retired to bed as usual, and musicians played a lullaby tune until they left, knowing he was asleep.

Slowly, the whole palace grew quiet. Then, to his horror, the hidden prince saw a man emerging from beneath the king’s cot, dagger in hand. The stranger was about to stab the king when the prince sprang out, brandishing his sword and challenging him.

The king woke up, and his servants rushed in to capture the stranger. News spread rapidly, and the king’s kinsmen, ministers, and army commander gathered, but nobody could recognize the man. He remained silent.

The Truth Unveiled

The prince recounted what had happened, then said, “Father! We still need to know the full significance of your dream. I must return to the old woman and discover the rest.”

“I should accompany you to show my gratitude to the old woman, for without her, I would have been devoid of blood by now! And let us take this prisoner with us; she may know who he is.”

It was dawn when the royal party reached the mountaintop. They greeted the old woman, and the king thanked her profusely, requesting her to explain the dream fully.

The Revelation

“It is clear, O king, as clear as the sky. Your bodyguards deserting you in the forest means that there is laziness in the atmosphere. People have neglected their duty. The hyenas who were about to kill you represent the forces of violence trying to destroy you. The tree you climbed symbolizes your trust in your own goodness, which sustains you.

The three young men who approached you in the dream were your three sons. The first son was too lazy to help. The second lacked individuality and was merely a plaything of the forces around him. Before your youngest son met me last evening, your second son had also visited me. I warned him that the night would be dangerous for you, but if you survived, you would live long. He was not pleased to hear about the possibility of your long life and cruelly decided to kill you so that he could occupy the throne. He disguised himself and hid under your cot.”

A Shocking Twist

“What! My son?” the king shrieked, pulling the false beard off the prisoner’s chin. It was indeed the second prince!

The old woman continued, “The young man who came to your rescue in the dream was the youngest prince, who has already proven the truth of your dream. He alone could maintain his heart and head above the atmosphere. He was never influenced by the forces reigning there.”

“I feel so satisfied to get my dream explained so well!” exclaimed the king.

A Royal Conclusion

“You are satisfied, are you, father? In that case, please allow me to marry this kind lady’s daughter. I had promised to do so if her explanation of the dream satisfied you!”

“Certainly, my son, marry her daughter by all means! But should I not see and bless my would-be daughter-in-law?”

“Don’t, father, please don’t!” cried the prince, hiding his face in his palms.

Just then, at the old woman’s beckoning, her daughter appeared, as beautiful as dawn and with a voice as sweet as a nightingale’s.

A New Beginning

“How lucky you are!” the king shook the prince. The sad prince opened his eyes and looked bewildered.

The old woman explained, “My daughter was under a curse, which made her appear as an apparition. It was prophesied that the day a truthful young man promised to marry her, she would be freed from the curse. That day has at last come.”

The king arranged the marriage with great pomp. He decreed that the two elder princes be banished and then crowned the youngest prince as the king before retiring to solitude.

However, the first thing the young king did was to lift the ban against his brothers. “They are not especially bad. They have merely been victims of the dominating forces of laziness and violence in the atmosphere. When the time is right, they too will surely act better,” he stated.