The Bald Wife

A man had two wives, and he loved the younger one more than the elder. The younger wife had two tufts of hair on her head; the elder had only one. When the man went off to a faraway town to trade, the two wives were left at home together. They hated each other, and the younger one, being her husband’s favourite, treated the elder badly. She made her do all the dirty work, scolded her day and night, and never gave her enough to eat.

One day the younger wife said, “Come and pick the lice out of my hair.” While the elder wife was combing through it, one lock happened to come loose. The younger wife flew into a rage, ripped out the single tuft on the elder wife’s head, and threw her out of the house.

Now completely bald, the elder wife decided to go into the forest and let hunger or some wild animal put an end to her. On the way she came to a cotton plant. She stopped, made a broom out of some sticks lying nearby, and swept the ground clean all round the plant. The plant was very pleased and gave her its blessing. Further on she came to a plantain tree, and she swept round it too, and the tree blessed her. Next she reached the shed of a Brahmani bull, a bull left free and sacred to the gods. The shed was filthy, so she swept it clean, and the bull blessed her. Then she saw a tulasi plant, the holy basil. She bowed down before it and tidied the ground around it, and the plant blessed her as well.

Further along the path she saw a hut made of branches and leaves, and beside it a man sitting cross-legged, deep in meditation. She stood behind the holy man, a muni, for a moment.

“Whoever you are,” he said, “come round in front of me. Don’t stand behind me, or I will burn you to ashes.”

Shaking with fear, she stepped in front of him. “What do you want?” he asked.

“Father Muni,” she said, “you know everything, so you know how wretched I am. My husband does not love me, and his other wife has torn out the only tuft of hair I had and driven me from home. Please take pity on me!”

Without moving, the muni said, “Go to that pond over there. Dip under the water just once, and then come to me.”

She went to the pond, washed, and ducked under the water a single time, just as he had told her. When she climbed out, she was transformed. Her head was covered in glossy black hair so long that it reached her heels, and she looked young and lovely. Full of joy and thankfulness, she went to the muni and bowed to the ground.

“Get up, woman,” he said. “Go into the hut. You will find a number of wicker baskets there. Bring out whichever one you like.” She went in and chose a plain, modest basket. “Open it,” said the muni. Inside it was full of gold bars, pearls and every kind of jewel. “Take that basket with you,” he said. “It will never be empty. Whenever you take out what is in it, more will appear, and then more, for ever. Go in peace, daughter.” She bowed to the ground in deep, silent thanks and set off home.

On her way she passed the tulasi plant she had cared for. “Go in peace, child,” it said. “Your husband will love you dearly.” At the bull’s shed, the bull gave her the two shell bangles twisted round its horns. “Wear these on your wrists, daughter,” it said. “Whenever you shake one, you will get whatever jewellery you wish for.” The plantain tree gave her one of its wide leaves. “Wave this leaf, child, and you will have every kind of plantain and all sorts of good food.” Last of all, the cotton plant gave her one of its branches. “Shake this, daughter, and you will get every kind of cotton cloth, and silk and purple too. Shake it now, here in front of me.” She shook the branch, and a length of the finest shining silk dropped into her lap. She dressed herself in it and walked on, with the shell bangles on her wrists and the basket, the branch and the leaf in her hands.

The younger wife was standing at the door when she saw a beautiful woman coming towards the house. She could hardly believe it. The woman she had mistreated was now richly dressed and transformed!

The elder wife, now rich and lovely, was kind to the younger one. She gave her fine clothes, costly jewellery and the richest food. But it made no difference. The younger wife was jealous of her beauty and her hair, and when she heard that it all came from Father Muni in the forest, she made up her mind to go there herself.

She set off. She saw the cotton plant and did nothing for it, and she walked straight past the plantain tree, the bull’s shed and the tulasi plant without a glance. When she came to the muni, he told her to bathe in the pond and dip under the water only once. She dipped, and came up with a splendid head of hair and a changed appearance. But she thought a second dip would make her even more beautiful, so she ducked under a second time, and she came up bald and plain, exactly as she had gone in. Weeping, she went to the muni, but he sent her away. “Go away, you disobedient woman. You will get no gift from me.” She went home wild with grief.

When the husband came home from his travels, he was struck by his first wife’s long hair and beauty, and he loved her dearly. And when he discovered her secret, endless riches, he almost worshipped her. The two of them lived together happily for many years, and the younger woman, who had been his favourite, became their maidservant.

About this story

“The Bald Wife” is the last story in Lal Behari Day’s Folk-Tales of Bengal. The tulasi, or holy basil, is a sacred plant in Hindu homes, and a muni is a holy sage who lives apart from the world.

Day’s preface makes the broad claim that Bengali storytellers end a tale with a rhyme about the withering Natiya-thorn and admits he does not know what it means. He prints the whole rhyme in his preface, after his first story, and once more here at the close of the book: a chain of questions passing from the thorn to a cow, a cowherd, a daughter-in-law, a crying child and a biting ant, ending “Koot! koot! koot!”

Read the original: Lal Behari Day, Folk-Tales of Bengal (Gutenberg ebook 38488, Bald Wife)

Reading guidance: Older teen and adult readers; includes domestic abuse, starvation, a wish to die in the forest and judgments tied to appearance. Removed from child age categories.

A closer reading

The two journeys make a useful comparison because the elder wife helps the plants and bull before she knows they can reward her. The younger wife follows the same route only after hearing about the gifts. The outwardly similar visits therefore begin with different purposes. The second dip also treats a clear limit as an obstacle to greater gain.

The ending complicates a simple kindness lesson. The husband changes his affection when the elder wife becomes beautiful and wealthy; he does not first recognize her earlier suffering or care. The text therefore cannot honestly support a moral that his love is independent of appearances. Nor does baldness, age or skin colour tell us whether someone is good. This retelling omits the source’s praise of fair skin while preserving the magical change and the unequal household.

The younger wife’s abuse is serious, but making her a servant repeats a hierarchy rather than showing reconciliation. The elder wife’s initial wish to die should be understood as distress after mistreatment, not as a route anyone should take to earn help.

Try this with the story

Draw the two journeys side by side, marking each act of care, each instruction and each reward. Then write the husband’s reasons for changing his behaviour using only details the story supplies. Compare those reasons with the qualities the elder wife already had.

Talk about it

• What does the elder wife do before knowing there will be rewards?
• Why does the younger wife take the same journey?
• Does the husband’s behaviour support a moral about inner qualities?
• What would a resolution based on safety and respect need to address?

More stories like this

• The Indigent Brahman — a holy gift that keeps on giving, from Day’s collection
• The Story of a Hiraman — jealous wives in a king’s palace
• The Match-Making Jackal — a Day tale where a poor household suddenly grows rich