Story source: Folk-Tales of Bengal by the Rev. Lal Behari Day, with illustrations by Warwick Goble (1912).
Who is Lal Behari Dey?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lal_Behari_Dey
- Became a Bengali Indian journalist who became christian, and later became a christian missionary
- Had a profound knowledge of english and wrote 2 books
Bengal Folktales/ Folklore of India
- includes India's folktales as well as Indian Subcontinent
- Can include the religious practices and local myths about the hinduism culture
- 3/4 of population identifies as Hindu
What exactly is a Rakshasi women?
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| Demigod from hindu mythology: Wikipedia |
- According to wikipedia, a Rakshasi is from Hindi mythology and has found its way into Buddhism as well
- Referred to as "man eaters"
- Male man eaters are known as rakshasa, while females are referred to as rakshasi
7 women?
- While I wasn't able to find a specific reason why the King was married to seven women, I believe he was because there was one woman that represented each day of the week
- 7 women= 7 days of the week
Cubit?
- The history of the cubit was that it was based off of the forearm
- In that from the base tip of the middle finger all the way to the elbow
Author's Note
In the story of the Bengal Boy whom Seven Women Suckled, the story started with a king who had 7 queens. However, he sees this one woman who he absolutely adores, and makes her his queen. He was impressed with her beauty and had to have her, but she was secretly a man eater. She slowly turned the King on his other wives and ate all of his company. The 7 women all gave birth and ate their children expect for the 7th woman who delivered her baby boy. She decided to keep him, and all 7 women nursed him. He grew strong and the queens were proud. In fact, the boy found a way to outsmart the man eater, and exposed her true self. He proved that she was the one responsible for all the kings people vanishing. With this occurring, the King brought back his 7 queens and they all lived happily.
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