The Gift of Heaven

A short time ago, there was an old man. He worked cutting bamboo in the forest. He was very poor and also a bit sad, because he had no children. He thought, "Now I am old, I will probably have to keep working like this until it is time to die."Every morning he would go toward the bamboo forest. There, the bamboo was green and tall enough to touch the sky. He would select good bamboo, cut it, and bring it home to make minor items. Selling those items provided a living for him and his old wife.One day early in the morning, he had gone to work. Seeing a good patch of bamboo, he started cutting it. Suddenly, a bright and soft light spread there. It was as if the full moon had risen right there. When he looked in surprise, that light was coming from inside a bamboo stalk.The old grandfather threw his axe to the ground and went to the place where the light was. When he went close and looked, a sweet light was emerging from a hole in that green bamboo. What was even more surprising was that a tiny person was standing in the middle of that light. That little girl was only three inches tall and was extremely beautiful.The grandfather said, "You have surely come to become my child, because I found you in my workplace." He took that little girl into his hand, brought her home, and showed her to his wife. That girl was so tiny and beautiful that the grandmother placed her in a small basket so she would not get hurt.Now that old couple became very happy. They always used to feel sad about not having children, but now they began to give all their love to that little girl. Amazingly, after that, whenever the grandfather cut bamboo, he started finding pieces of gold inside the bamboo. Sometimes, precious stones were also found.Gradually they became rich. He built a large and beautiful house. Now no one called him a poor bamboo cutter; everyone started to recognize him as a rich man.In just three months, that girl found inside the bamboo grew big. The grandfather and grandmother arranged her hair and dressed her in beautiful clothes. She was so beautiful that they kept her just like a princess. They kept her behind a curtain inside the house so that no one would see her.The house where she stayed was bright at all times. Even in the dark night, the house looked as bright as day due to her light. When she was in the house, everyone felt at peace. When the grandfather was sad, the moment he looked at that daughter, all his sorrow would disappear and he would become happy just like a young man.Finally, the day to name her arrived. They called a great scholar, and he named the girl 'Chandrakala'. A sweet light like that of the moon emerged from Chandrakala's body, as if she were the princess of the moon itself.In the joy of naming her, there was dancing, singing, and feasting for three days. Chandrakala was so beautiful that the talk of her beauty spread everywhere. Many princes and warriors wanted to meet her and marry her.People who came from far and wide started staying outside her house. Some even made small holes in the fence trying to steal a glance at her. Forgetting hunger and sleep, they would wait outside all night, but they could not get to see her. Even if they tried to talk to the grandfather-grandmother or the servants, no one agreed.When they did not get to see Chandrakala even after waiting for many days, most of the people returned home disappointed. But five brave warriors, on the other hand, stayed right there without giving up. They even forgot to eat and drink. Whether it was sun or rain, they kept standing right outside the house.They wrote letters and poems to Chandrakala, but she gave no reply. Winter ended, spring came, and then summer started, yet those five kept waiting right there. Finally, they pleaded with the grandfather, "Please show mercy on us and let us meet the princess."The grandfather said, "I am not her real father, therefore I cannot force her to meet with you." Those warriors returned home disappointed but started thinking again about how to win Chandrakala's heart. They prayed to God and came to the grandfather's house again.Seeing their love, the grandfather felt pity. He went and said to Chandrakala, "Child, you seem like a deity to me, but I have raised you like a daughter. Will you obey one thing of mine? I am already old, I want to see you married before I die. Choose one among these five then."Chandrakala said, "Father, I do not want to marry right now. I feel afraid; what if their minds change later?" But the grandfather comforted her. After that, Chandrakala placed a condition. She said, "I will test their love. Whoever brings the thing I need for me from a distant land, I will marry that very person."She asked the first warrior to bring 'Buddha's bowl' from India. She asked the second to bring a 'gold and silver branch' from a distant mountain. She asked the third to bring 'the skin of a mouse that does not burn in fire'. She asked the fourth to find 'a dragon carrying a five-colored diamond'. And she asked the fifth to bring 'a special conch from inside a bird's stomach'.Hearing this, those warriors became disappointed because these tasks were almost impossible. But in the hope of getting Chandrakala, they set to work. As time passed, the first warrior stole an ordinary bowl from an old temple and brought it. But Chandrakala found out right away that it was fake.The second warrior employed jewelers to make a golden branch. He told many false stories, but when the workers did not get paid, they revealed everything. When the mouse skin brought by the third warrior was thrown into the fire, it burned up instantly. When the fourth warrior went to find the dragon, he got caught in a huge storm and returned sick. The fifth warrior could not find anything either.In this way, all those five warriors failed. The matter of Chandrakala's beauty reached the ears of the king of the country. The king sent a messenger to summon her to the palace, but Chandrakala refused to go. She said, "If I am forced, I will disappear from this earth itself."Upon hearing this, the king himself came to the grandfather's house to meet her. When the king saw Chandrakala, he was astonished. He had never seen such a beautiful girl. The king tried to take her to his palace, but Chandrakala began to vanish like a shadow. Only after the king promised not to take her away did she return to her former form.The king also, being unable to forget her, returned to his palace. Remembering Chandrakala, he would write poems, and Chandrakala would also reply to them in sweet poetry. After some time, Chandrakala began to feel sad. Every night she would sit on the balcony, looking at the moon and crying.When the grandfather asked the reason for her crying, she said, "Father, I am not a person of this world. I have come from the moon. A long time ago, because I made some mistake, I came here to serve a punishment. Now my time is over. On the night of the full moon of this month, my people will come to fetch me."Hearing this, the grandfather and grandmother cried a lot. After the king came to know about this matter, he sent two thousand brave soldiers to not let Chandrakala go. They stayed surrounding the roof and all sides of the house. The grandfather and grandmother hid Chandrakala inside a room.The night of the full moon arrived. Everything looked yellow with the light of the moon. Suddenly, a bright cloud began to descend from the sky. That cloud came over the grandfather's house. There was a flying chariot there, and bright people were in it.A main person spoke from the chariot, "Chandrakala, now it is time to return to the moon. We have already given a lot of gold and wealth to the grandfather for raising you." The grandfather tried to stop her, but comforting him, Chandrakala said, "Father, I must go. Thank you for loving me. If you need to remember me, look at the moon."Chandrakala left a letter and 'elixir' (a medicine that prevents death) for the king. She put on a bright dress, climbed into the chariot, and went toward the sky. Gradually, she and that chariot vanished into the clouds.The king refused to consume that elixir because he did not want to live without Chandrakala. He had that letter and elixir taken to the peak of the highest mountain in the country and burned. It is said that is why, even today, smoke is seen emerging from the peak of that mountain, which reaches straight up to the clouds.[event_17]