Story: The Proposal

Image: Wikimedia Commons

There was a young girl named Satyavati and she lived with a fisherman who had adopted her. As she grew up, she became the prettiest girl in small fishing town they lived in. Her father was poor, and hoped for a marriage proposal to come from a rich king from out of town. Soon, a king named Shantanu came from the mainland to see her. As his boat approached the shore where she stood, he saw her and immediately fell in love with her beauty. However, the closer he came, the stronger the fish smell became.

“why is the smell of fish becoming stronger as we leave the ocean?” Shantanu questioned his servant. The servant, perplexed, guessed that it was the fish that the fisherman was keeping by the shore. Shantanu became more and more infatuated with Satyavati as the boat grew nearer to the shore. However, the smell also became worryingly stronger. As he stepped out of the boat and kissed Satyavati’s hand, he realized that the strong smell emanated from her. At once, he shouted to Satyavati’s fisherman dad,

“Where are the fish kept?!”

Like a madmad, the king ran to the area outside the home where fish were kept in large containers of chilled water. The smell became weaker.

“Is this all the fish?” he demanded of the fisherman.

“That is all we have,” the fisherman answered.

As he walked nearer to where Satyavati stood smiling, he realized that she was the source, not the fish. He looked longingly at her beautiful face, but he could not overlook her odor.

“I cannot go through with this.” The king said solemnly. He and his advisors and servants packed up their belongings and returned to the mainland. As they left, Satyavati stood by the shore, her eyes following the boat as it disappeared into the sunset.

“Why not me?” she sobbed over and over. “Why can’t he love me?”

She knew that her smell was difficult to accept. Her own father, who sold fish for a living, could sometimes not bear to be near her because her smell was stronger by far than the actual fish.

She sat in a shallow part of the water, continuing to cry to the ocean. But then it answered.

“Why are you crying?”

“He doesn’t want to marry me!” She was now crying so hard she could barely breathe.

The ocean answered again.

“I have heard you crying for many hours here. I am aware of your plight. I was meaning to ask why you are crying when many are waiting to make you their wife.”

She looked out into the ocean and then looked behind her at the home where her family was eating dinner, looking for the body that belonged to the voice.

“You are looking in the wrong direction.”

She looked down at the water and saw a beautiful fish right below the surface of the shallow water.

“There are many below the sea who wish to marry you. They have seen your beauty and have been captivated by your fragrance. All you have to do is come with me and I will lead you to our kingdom in the water.

Satyavati looked back at the fisherman’s house. She didn’t want to leave her family, but she didn’t want to cause them more pain. She dived into the water and followed the brilliantly colored fish to the kingdom. 

A/N

Background: Satyavati actually was the daughter of a fish, but was adopted by a fisherman. She had a fish smell until she promised a I wanted to write a story about Satyavati because her smell seemed like a curse (like from a princess movie). I wanted to make a story where her smell wasn't taken away because she saved herself for the sati, but rather it was celebrated by fish. 

Bibliography: Mahabharata Public Domain Edition