Meera,
I found a story on rapunzel on google search. I found sunkesari character on another sotry. Are these the stories that u were talking about.
When she was twelve years old, the enchantress shut her into a tower, which lay in a forest, and had neither stairs nor door, but
quite at the top was a little window. When the enchantress wanted to go in, she placed herself beneath it and cried: ?Rapunzel,
Rapunzel, let down your hair to me?. Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and when she heard the voice of the
enchantress she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then the hair
fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress climbed up by it.
After a year or two, it came to pass that the king's son rode through the forest and passed by the tower.
Then he heard a song, which was so charming that he stood still and listened. This was Rapunzel, who in her solitude passed her
time in letting her sweet voice resound. The king's son wanted to climb up to her, and looked for the door of the tower, but none
was to be found.
He rode home, but the singing had so deeply touched his heart, that every day he went out into the forest and listened to it. Once when
he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw that an enchantress came there, and he heard how she cried: ?Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
let down your hair?.
Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the enchantress climbed up to her. If that is the ladder by which one mounts,
I too will try my fortune, said he, and the next day when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower and cried: ?Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
let down your hair?.
Immediately the hair fell down and the king's son climbed up. At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man, such as
her eyes had never yet beheld, came to her. But the king's son began to talk to her quite like a friend, and told her that his
heart had been so stirred that it had let him have no rest, and he had been forced to see her. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when
he asked her if she would take him for her husband, and she saw that he was young and handsome, she thought, he will love me more than old dame gothel does. And she said yes, and laid her hand in his. She said, I will willingly go away with you, but I do not know
how to get down. Bring with you a skein of silk every time that you come, and I will weave a ladder with it, and when that is ready
I will descend, and you will take me on your horse. They agreed that until that time he should come to her every evening, for the
old woman came by day. The enchantress remarked nothing of this, until once Rapunzel said to her, tell me, dame gothel, how
it happens that you are so much heavier for me to draw up than the young king's son - he is with me in a moment. Ah. You
wicked child, cried the enchantress. What do I hear you say. I thought I had separated you from all the world, and yet you have
deceived me. In her anger she clutched Rapunzel's beautiful tresses, wrapped them twice round her left hand, seized a pair of scissors with the right, and snip, snap, they were cut off, and the lovely braids lay on the ground. And she was so pitiless that she
took poor Rapunzel into a desert where she had to live in great grief and misery.
On the same day that she cast out Rapunzel, however, the enchantress fastened the braids of hair, which she had cut off, to
the hook of the window, and when the king's son came and cried: ?Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair?, she let the hair down.
The king's son ascended, but instead of finding his dearest Rapunzel, he found the enchantress, who gazed at him with wicked and venomous looks. Aha, she cried mockingly, you would fetch your dearest, but the beautiful bird sits no longer singing in the nest. The cat has got it, and will scratch out your eyes as well. Rapunzel is lost to you. You will never see her again. The king's son was beside himself with pain, and in his despair he leapt down from the tower. He escaped with his life, but the thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes. Then he wandered quite blind about the forest, ate nothing but roots and berries, and did naught but lament and weep over the loss of his dearest wife. Thus he roamed about in misery for some years, and at length came to the desert where Rapunzel, with the twins to which she had given birth, a boy and a girl, lived in wretchedness. He heard a voice, and it seemed so familiar to him that he went towards it, and when he approached, Rapunzel knew him and fell on his neck and wept.
Two of her tears wetted his eyes and they grew clear again, and he could see with them as before. He led her to his kingdom where he was joyfully received, and they lived for a long time afterwards, happy and contented.
Collected by Maya Thakuri
Once upon a time there lived a king named Bhuaneshwor. His wisdom and
the firm conviction he had for fair justice had won for him the hearts of
his countrymen. Everyone in his kingdom was happy and contented.
After a long wait of many years the queen of Bhuaneswor gave birth to a
son. But on the very day of the baby's birth the astrologer of the palace
made a strange forecast, "Let not the king see this baby's face till he
is twenty one years of age or it will bring upon the death of the king."
There was no way they could deny the forecast and, therefore, with tears in
their eyes and with sorrowful hearts, the queen and the king had to send their
baby son to another country. The country where the baby was sent to
belonged to the king's sister Maheshwori. Maheshwori reared the child as
her own. She loved him, took good care of him and taught him all the
skills and manners of a prince. The baby was named Jayasal. And Jayasal
grew up to be a very smart young man. His favorite pass time was hunting.
And later, the queen also had given birth to a daughter and a son. The
king had named his beautiful daughter Sunkesari (golden haired). She had
the most beautiful hair in the world that glittered like gold when the
sun's rays fell on them. Jaya Pratap was the king's second and the last
son who was four years younger than Sunkesari.
Sunkesari grew up to be a charming young girl. She loved to play with
her friends who loved her very much. One fine day, Sunkesari, along with her
friends was out in the garden. A river flew by the side of garden where
Sunkesari and her friends stopped to bathe. As Sunkesari was bathing and
swimming in the river a strand of her golden hair broke and fell in the
water.
Incidentally, the eldest prince Jayasal too was out in the nearby wood
hunting that day. After a tiring chase of a deer, he had stopped by a
river to quench his thirst. It happened to be the same river that flowed
by the king's garden. As Jayasal had cupped his hands and had bent down
to take the water, his eyes fell on the golden strand of hair that was
entangled in between two rocks.
"Oh, what a beautiful hair! I wonder who it belongs to. And what a
beauty must the girl be to have her hair so beautiful and so glittering!"
exclaimed Jayasal. He was so charmed and fascinated by the glitter of the
hair that he could not help proclaiming, "I must marry no other girl but
this."
And from that day on Jayasal thought and thought about the hair. He
completely lost his peace of mind. He became very desperate in trying to
figure out whom the hair possibly belonged to. He spent days and nights
thinking and fantasizing about the beauty of his dreams.
This sudden change in Jayasal's behavior got the queen Maheshwori very
worried. And, one day, she asked Jayasal, " What, my dear son, is
troubling you? Is there anything that I can do in order to help relieve
you of your worries?"
Jayasal, at last, agreed to tell her the cause of her sorrow on condition
that she fulfills his desire.
Queen Maheshwori smiled at Jayasal and promised to help him in all
possible way she could.
"Then, pray, find the girl with this golden hair for me to marry" replied
Jayasal, showing the golden strand of hair that he had so lovingly
preserved with himself for so many days, to queen Maheshwori.
The queen was shocked with grief in having to hear what Jayasal had to
say.
She at once had recognized the hair. But she composed herself and said,
"It is not possible my dear son."
"But why on earth is it not? In what way am I unworthy to marry this
girl?" asked Jayasal.
Queen Maheshwori then told Jayasal everything about his birth and about
the strange forecast the astrologer had made and also disclosed the fact that
Sunkesari was no other than his own sister. She further informed him,
"There is now only three weeks' time left for you to turn twenty-one when
your father will be here to take you home. There you will meet your
sister to whom this hair belongs. And you very well know, my dear, that
marriage between the children from the same parents is not accepted in our
society."
But no matter how hard the queen tried to explain and reason the gravity
of the matter with Prince Jayasal he would not change his mind. He even
threatened to commit suicide if he failed to turn his dream into reality.
On seeing the matter getting worse day by day, queen Maheshwori went to
her brother, king Bhuwoneshwor, and related the whole story. When the royal
couple had heard Maheswori they were overwhelmed with grief at the fear
of losing their eldest son.
And it did not take long for the news to reach Sunkesari's ears. When
Sunkesari heard the news, she became very sad and ran out of the palace
and went into the forest. There she climbed a big Pipal tree and did not
wish to get down from there. It was but natural that the news was too much of
a shock for her and a pang of bitterness gripped her heart.
The king, when heard this, went to the forest in order to fetch
Sunkesari. He stood under the Pipal tree and lamented:
We are cheated by the fate And I cannot alter it at any rate.
I beg of you, please get down the tree And let me arrange for you to marry.
When Sunkesari heard what her father had to say, tears rolled down her
cheeks and she said:
How dare you, oh father!
How dare you!
Marrying my brother and committing a flaw?
Calling my own father my father-in-law?
I curse you, now, not one but two---
(For accepting this disgusting proposal)
" Death be unto you. Death be unto you."
And the curse was strong enough to strike King Bhuwoneshwor dead then and
there.
Sunkesari's mother came second and standing under the tree she lamented:
We are cheated by the fate
And I cannot alter it at any rate.
I beg of you, please get down the tree
And let me arrange for you to marry.
When Sunkesari heard what her mother had to say, tears rolled down her
cheeks as she said:
How cruel of you, oh mother!
How cruel of you!
Marrying my brother and committing a flaw?
Calling my own mother my mother-in-law?
I curse you, now, not one but two---
(For accepting this disgusting proposal)
-" Death be unto you. Death be unto you."
And the curse was strong enough to strike the queen dead then and there
At last came prince Jayasal. He begged Sunkesari to get down from the
tree saying:
We are blessed by the fate
And none can alter it at any rate.
I beg of you, please get down the tree
Pray, wed me now and make me merry.
When Sunkesari heard what her eldest brother had to say, tears rolled
down her cheeks as she said:
How shameless of you, oh brother,
How shameless of you!
Marrying my own brother and offending the heavens?
With royal blood in you, have you the mind of the demons?
And I curse, now, you not one but two---
(For bringing this disgusting proposal)
-" Death be unto you. Death be unto you."
And the curse was strong enough to strike Jaysal dead then and there.
And, after many years came Prince Jaya Pratap, Sunkesari's younger
brother who had by then had lost all the members of his family and had also lost
his palace left by his father came and stood under the tree and lamented:
We are cheated by the fate
And I cannot alter it at any rate.
I beg of you, sister, please get down the tree
To meet again and make our future trouble free.
When Sunkesari heard him she ordered Jay Pratap,
"Go, get some grains and we shall talk
Future's plan together we shall chalk."
Pleased with himself Jaya Pratap ran to get some grains. He went to the
market and brought back some grains in a pot. There were rice, wheat,
millet and barley in the pot.
"So you have got the grains," said Sunkesari from the tree. Now put all
the grains in a piece of cloth, tie it up in a stick and then reach it out to
me.
Jaya Pratap obediently did as he was told.
Sunkesari then took some grains in her hand and scattered them in four
directions-North, South, East and West.
A colossal but beautiful palace stood in the east. An ocean was formed
in the west. On the south and north came up huge mountains and dense forest
with many birds and animals.
And Jaya Pratap was amazed to see everything. He was beside himself with
joy. And again he began to sing-
We are blessed by the fate
And none can alter it at any rate.
I beg of you, please get down the tree
Let's meet now and make our world trouble free.
When Sukesari heard what her younger had to say, tears rolled down her
eyes and she spoke:
I wish I could brother,
Oh, I wish I could!
It is not that I am not in mood
But it is time and move I should.
And the beautiful Sunkesari just vanished from the tree where she was a
few seconds before.
For many years to come, people believed that Sunkesari still remained in
the Pipal tree, when the sun's rays fell on its leaves that glittered
like gold thus reminding everyone of the sad story of the girl with the golden
hair.
May the narrator of the tale be blessed with a golden garland,
And the listener, with a flower garland;
May this tale remain in heaven,
To be here again
At the time of the next narration.
