# The Son of Seven Queens explained — Indian Fairy Tales

> Chapter companion for Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs.

## What happens

A king with seven queens but no children is promised a son by a fakir. He becomes bewitched by a white hind who demands the eyes of his seven queens as a condition to marry him. The king complies, blinding and imprisoning the queens. The white hind becomes queen. The son of the seven queens grows up, learns of his mothers' plight, and sets out to recover their eyes. With the help of a clever princess, he retrieves the eyes, acquires a magical cow and million-fold rice, and ultimately marries the princess. The clever bride helps him reunite with his father and punish the white witch.

## Themes in this chapter

### Justice and Karma

The son of seven queens restores his mothers' eyes and the white witch is ultimately punished, illustrating karmic retribution.

### Cunning and Wisdom

The clever princess repeatedly outwits the white witch by substituting potsherd messages, and the son uses trickery to obtain the magical cow.

### Greed and Its Consequences

The king's greed for the white hind's beauty leads him to blind his queens, and the white witch's greed for power ultimately leads to her downfall.

## Character check-ins

### The Cruel Ranee

The white hind who bewitches the king, demands the eyes of the seven queens, and becomes the new queen.

### Raja Sarkap

The king who has seven queens, is bewitched by the white hind, and blinds his queens.

### Princess Labam

The clever princess who helps the son of seven queens by substituting potsherd messages and later orchestrates the reunion and punishment.

### The Jogi

The Jogi who owns the magical cow and is tricked into giving it up by the son of seven queens.

### Granny

The old hag mother of the white hind who reluctantly helps the son of seven queens and later revives him from ashes.

## Key lines

> The King was so carried away by the glamour of the white hind’s magical beauty, that he went home at once, had the eyes of his seven Queens taken out, and, after throwing the poor blind creatures into a noisome dungeon whence they could not escape, set off once more for the hovel in the ravine, bearing with him his horrible offering.

Bewitched by the white hind's beauty, the king immediately returned home, gouged out the eyes of his seven queens, imprisoned them in a foul dungeon, and then went back to the hovel with the eyes as a gift.

_Highlights the king's blind obsession and cruelty._

> The lad, however, was only too glad to get any at all, so he hurried home as fast as he could to his seven mothers, and gave two eyes apiece to the six elder Queens; but to the youngest he gave one, saying, “Dearest little mother!—I will be your other eye always!”

The boy was happy to receive any eyes, rushed home, gave two eyes to each of the six older queens, and gave one eye to the youngest, promising to be her other eye forever.

_Shows the son's devotion and the partial restoration of sight._

> He looked back, and lo! there was nothing left of him but a little heap of ashes!

When he turned around, he was instantly reduced to a pile of ashes.

_Illustrates the consequence of disobeying the warning not to look back._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se/chapters/the-son-of-seven-queens
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se/chapters