Hamsa Puthra or the son of a swan

Hamsa Puthra or the son of a swan

Karthik was a very good man. He had a daughter called Saral in his home. Once Karthik was returning from the nearest town by walk through the forest. While he was crossing a big lake he saw a pretty boy being looked after by a swan. Karthik went near the swan and told him that he will look after the child well. He brought that child home and called him Hamsa Puthra. After a few years his wife died because of some illness. Since his wife was no more, he engaged a cook called Thadaga in his house. Thadaga was a very bad lady who knew some magic. She liked Saral and taught her lot of what she knew about magic. One day when Karthik had gone to a far off city on business, Saral saw Thadaga bringing lot of water from a far off well. Naturally she became very curious and asked Thadaga, “Auntie, why are you bringing so much water?” Then Thadaga replied, “I do not like the boy Hamsa Puthra. So tomorrow morning, I will get up early morning and boil all this water. When he is sleeping, I will pour it on him, so he will die. Please do not tell this to him. Then afterwards we can have a very nice time.” Saral who was a very nice girl liked Hamsa Puthra very much. So she went and told him about Thadaga’s plan. Since both of them liked each other, they decided to run away that night,]. They acted as if they were asleep and ran away to the forest at night. Thadaga woke up in the morning and saw that both children had run away. She sent three servants on horseback to find the children and bring them back. Seeing the men on horse back from a distance, Saral told Hamsa Puthra, “I like you a lot and I would be always with you.” Hamsa Puthra replied, “Saral, I too like you a lot and I will never leave you.” Hearing this Saral changed Hamsa Puthra in to a rose plant and she became a rose flower on that plant. The servants who had seen them from a distance found that the children were not to be found but there was only a rose plant with a rose flower. They went and told Thadaga about this. Thadaga told them, “You fools, you should have picked the rose flower and brought it to me. It is actually Saral. You go again and search for them.” The three men again went on their horse and saw the children from a distance. Seeing them Saral told, Hamsa Puthra, “I like you a lot and I would be always with you.” Hamsa Puthra replied, “Saral, I too like you a lot and I will never leave you.” Then Saral changed Hamsa Puthra in to a temple and she became the Goddess in the temple. When the men who were chasing them came near, they were not able to see Saral and Hamsa Puthra but were able to see only a temple. So they went back and told Thadaga about it. This time Thadaga told them, “You fools, the temple was Hamsa Puthra and the Goddess was Saral. You should have brought the Goddess to me. This time I will also come along with you.” Then the three men and Thadaga went after Saral and Hamsa Puthra. Seeing them, Saral asked Hamsa Puthra, “I like you a lot and I would be always with you.” Hamsa Puthra replied, “Saral, I too like you a lot and I will never leave you.” Then Saral changed Hamsa Puthra in to a very big lake and she became a big swan in the lake. Thadaga could recognize that Saral was the swan. She got in to the water to catch the swan. But the swan hit her with her beak strongly and Thadaga was drowned. Seeing this the servants ran away and informed everything to Karthik, who had returned by that time. Karthik immediately came in search of the children and took very good care of them.