The sun had risen. In the village the cocks were crowing loudly, answering each other's call. People were coming out of their houses, and going to the river to wash themselves. No body recognized Karta. Even his neighbours just stared at him.
And now his little hut had changed! Instead of the thin bamboo hut, there was a big wooden house, surrounded by a big garden full of fruit trees. Karta laso discovered chickens, and a horse in a stable. Inside the house everything was new and shining: the paint on the walls, the furniture, and the cupboards full of clothes. From the kitchen came the delicious smell of newly steamed rice and spicy curry. He found his wife and child in the bedroom. They were both beautifully dressed, but they did not seem to like this sudden change.
So Karta's dreams had come true. Now he was rich man. But strangely, he was not happier than he used to be. He was not at peace either. He was not satisfied. He was angry with his wife and child for being too friendly with their poor neighbours. They could not understand him. Hadn't they been friends with their neighbours for many years? But Karta didn't consider his neighbours friend any longer. He had other desired now. He grew tired of the simple people in the village. He grew tired of the peaceful, quiet surroundings : the paddy fields, the lonely beach, the dusty road which linked the village with the outside world. Now Karta wanted the excitement of town life. Who could help him find a place in town ?
Ten years went by. The ten years passed as a gust of wind. One dark night Karta was sitting again in the dark cave on the lonely beach. When the Queen of the Sea came, he had a suggestion to make to her.
The wind rose and the Queen of the Sea appeared among the rolling waves. Her dark eyes shone and her black hair blew behind her in the wind.
"Come, Karta, come with me to my palace, remember your promise," sang her voice over the waves.
Karta bowed low, touching the sand with his forehead.
"Your Highness, please listen to your servant," he said softly.
"What do you want ?" asked the Queen impatiently.
"Don't try to make excuses."
"No, Your Highness, I have only a suggestion to make to you. I'm a grown man, my body is stiff and hard. I'am not fit to become a pillow for your head. But ... at home, I have a baby that was born just one year ago. He's soft and fat. Would he not make a better pillow than I?" said Karta.
"How cruel you are, Karta," answered the Queen. "I shall take your baby. He'll be happier with me than with you. He'll live in my palace and the little fishes will be his friends. Is that all you want ?"
"Your Highness, I want to live in a big town. Please..."
"Go," said the Queen. "You will live in the town for five years. After five years, you'll have to come with me to become a pillar in the hall of my palace." With these words she disappeared into the waves.
For five years Karta lived in the big town like a rich man. He rode in a carriage pulled by two black horses. His house was made of bricks. A lot of servants waited on him. Yet he was not satisfied or at peace.
"If only I could become powerful and famous like the advisers of the Sultan," he thought. "People bow low when they pass. They are allowed to go to the Sultan's palace and talk to the royal family. Everybody talks about them. How sweet life would be, if only I could become a man like that ... "
So his thoughts run, on and on. He had given up his little baby, but didn't he still have one son, a good-looking boy of eighteen? And was not his son's body strong and straight like a pillar ?
Five years passed. Again Karta sat waiting on the beach. It was raining softly, as if Nature was crying to see such a greedy man. Karta did not need to wait long for the Queen. Soon she appeared in the middle of the strong waves. She shouted at him from far away, "Come, Karta, I need a pillar in my hall!"
"O Queen, forgive me, give me one moment," Karta whispered.
"You cruel man, are you trying to get away from your promise again ? Who is it now you want to exchange for your self?"
The angry voice of the Queen rang in Karta's ears, but he did not change his mind. He said "Take my son, Your Highness. I am bent and weak, my son is straight and strong, and please... make me a man of power."
"One more year I give to you, Karta. One more year you may lives as you please. I shall take your son and make him a guard to protect my palace; he'll be friends with the other guardiants of the sea : the sharks, the whales, the swordfish ... But you, enjoy yourself for one more year and the next time we meet again, I shall tell you what your fate will be!"
In an instant she was gone and Karta was alone with the wind and the rain.
How fast the days flew, how fast the weeks and months followed each other. For one whole year Karta lived as a man of power. People bowed low when he passed. He made friends with other powerful men and often ate the same meal as the Sultan. His name was known throughout the country and thousands of people worked under his orders. Was he happy now? Was content at last? His big house was empty and cold. His children were gone and his wife had died sorrow. Never had Karta been so lonely, so afraid of the passing time. One year had only twelve months and was, after all, but a few hundred days. What would happen to him afterwards? How wished he could be a poor peasant again!
On the last night of that year the Queen of the Sea was waiting for him at the beach. She was riding a huge wave which seemed to reach the clouds. There wa a storm blowing over the wate. The thunder roared and the lightning struck, but above the noise Karta could still hear the Queen laugh!
"Hey, Karta! Come! Your last minute on earth has passed! Now I shall take you to my palace and I shall change you into a stove! On cold nights I shall light a fire in you, so that you can warm my body!"
"Forgive me, forgive me, O Queen," cried Karta.But his voice was lost in the roaring of the wind. A huge wave rolled by and Karta was swept into the sea and disappeared forever.
Even now people say that on cold nights, one can hear a voice crying near that cave on the beach. They say that it is the voice of greedy Karta, who is being burnt to warm the Queen of the Sea.
THE END
