Kishore had just stepped out of his hut when something fell from a flying bird’s beak. Kishore looked at the bird. It did not look familiar. Then he looked at the thing thrown by the creature. It was a tiny fruit, looking more like a seed, also quite unfamiliar to Kishore.
“The bird must be flying from one unknown land to another. This tiny fruit must be unknown in this land,” he thought. He buried it in front of his hut and sprinkled a little water on it. Then he went away to the village landlord’s field for work. He was only twelve, but work, he must for a living. There was nobody else to support him after the untimely death of his parents.
Three days later, as he would step out of his hut one morning, he saw two tender leaves sprouting out of the earth before his hut. He knew, that the sprout must be from the seed he had sowed, He made a fence around it and watered it.
In one month the plant grew tall enough for its top to touch his waist and in another month it equalled his height. But there was something very wonderful about it. It gave out such a delightful fragrance that any passer-by would be charmed by it.
The plant began to grow rapidly and became a handsome wonderful tree. The bigger it grew, the more fragrant it became. People came to see it. Many of them spent hours near it. And they said, “Because Kishore is so sweet a boy, the unknown bird brought him such a wonderful gift!”
The landlord, of course, was the last man in the village to hear about the wonderful tree. It was because he spent much of his time sleeping or gambling. He had no time or interest in other things.
But when he heard about it, he came to see it. “Hm! I like the fragrance,” he told Kishore and the crowd. “Uproot it and plant it outside the window of my bedroom,” he told his attendants.
Kishore looked pale. He knelt down before the landlord and said, “Sir, we know nothing about this plant. Who can say if it will not die when uprooted? Let it be here!”
“Shut up, you fool! How dare you advise me?” shouted the landlord and he asked his men to begin digging around the tree.
But just then the sound of drums and bugles could be heard from the turn of the road. The sound was well-known. It announced the king’s approach.
All the people, including the landlord, stood alert, ready to bow down to the king when his chariot would pass by them. Soon the royal chariot was there; the king sat in it along with his beautiful little daughter.
“What is happening here?” asked the king.
“Wherefrom comes this wonderful fragrance?” asked the sweet little princess.
Both of them got down. The landlord fumbled. But the village teacher told the king all about the tree. Kishore was produced before him.
The princess smiled and took hold of Kishore’s hand and said, “You must be a very nice boy to be bestowed with such a gift by God!”
“He is a very nice boy, O noble princess,” said the teacher.
“What a pity that such a handsome tree does not sport any flower! The flower must be much more fragrant!” said the little princess. And before anybody could stop her, she climbed the tree and went up to its top branch.
“You look like a flower!” said Kishore.
“Why don’t you come along too?” asked the princess.
Kishore climbed the tree in the twinkling of an eye and was beside the princess in the very next moment.
“Oh, both of you look like two beautiful flowers!” said all the people in a chorus.
And something strange began to happen. The princess and Kishore turned into two flowers!
All stood stunned! After a long time, the king asked tearfully, “How can I go away without my daughter?”
There was no answer to this question. The king camped under the tree. Hundreds of men gathered around him. Then night fell. The king kept awake till the early hour of the next day. Then he fell asleep for a moment.
“Father, get up!” A sweet voice awakened him. He was delighted to find his daughter standing near him, with his daughter Kishore.
It was dawn. The king looked and saw hundreds of flowers abloom in the tree. Obviously, the princess and Kishore had inspired the hidden flowers to bloom.
The king took Kishore with him. In the course of time he married the princess and, as the king had no son, succeeded him to the throne.
Every day Kishore and the princess would visit the tree. Both of them would spend some time in Kishore’s old hut.
Many years later, ripe of age, Kishore died. The tree began to wither. And when the princess died, the tree too died.
