The Story of Room Bacha and Baki

The Story of Room Bacha and Baki

Long ago, in the country of Room, there lived a king named Bacha. He was intelligent, energetic, and able to govern a great kingdom, but he had one unfortunate habit: he hated admitting that he could be wrong.

His wife, the queen, had a strong character too. She said what she thought and never agreed merely to please someone. At first the king was even proud of her intelligence. But in time, their conversations turned into arguments more and more often.

One evening they sat by an open window. From the garden came a sharp bark.

“Do you hear?” said Bacha. “That is a tiger.”

The queen listened.

“No, it is a fox.”

“A tiger,” the king insisted.

“A fox,” the queen repeated calmly.

The argument lasted so long that Bacha grew angry.

“Let the council decide tomorrow!” he cried. “Whoever is mistaken must leave the palace for a time.”

In the morning, advisers gathered in the great hall. They questioned shepherds, gardeners, and people who lived near the palace. Everyone said the same thing: tigers almost never came there, but foxes were often heard at night.

The advisers understood perfectly well that the queen was right. But some were afraid to offend the king.

“Let us say that he is right,” whispered the eldest adviser. “It will be more peaceful.”

And the council announced the wrong decision.

The queen did not try to argue further. She only looked sadly at her husband.

“Truth does not change because many people are afraid to speak it,” she said.

By the terms of their quarrel, the queen had to leave the palace. She was placed on a broad wooden raft and sent down the great river. The raft was strong and the day was calm, so she was in no danger, but the journey was long and lonely.

The river carried her through fields, past cliffs and tall grass. At last the current brought the raft to shore in a faraway land.

The queen stepped onto dry ground and followed a narrow path. She made her way through the grasses for a long time until she saw a small clearing. Beside a fire sat an old man with a white beard.

“Good day,” said the queen. “Could you spare a little food? I have eaten nothing for a long time.”

“I can,” answered the old man. “Sit down and warm yourself.”

He shared everything he had. When the queen had rested, the old man said, “I have lived here a long time and know many secrets. You have travelled a hard road, but ahead of you lie more than hardships. Follow this path to the little hill. There a new part of your life will begin. You will have a son. Name him Baki. He will be an unusual child, and one day he will help restore justice.”

The queen thanked him and went on.

And so it happened. Before long, she had a son named Baki. In the tale, he was said to be a wondrous child. He learned to speak, walk, and understand things that others pondered for years with surprising speed.

Mother and son reached a neighbouring kingdom. There, three royal sons met them as they were returning from an outing. When the young men learned that the travellers had no home, they took them to their father.

The king of that land received the queen of Room with respect and allowed Baki to study alongside his own sons.

Years passed. Baki grew strong, observant, and brave. He rode well, shot a bow, knew the roads, and never left a companion in trouble.

One day, the four young men rode into the mountains. Suddenly, a snow-white doe appeared before them. She was so beautiful that they all rode after her without thinking.

The doe climbed higher and higher. The horses of the three princes became tired, and they turned back. Only Baki continued.

At last the doe ran to a sheer cliff, touched it with her muzzle, and the stone silently opened, revealing a passage.

Baki stopped his horse.

“What a door,” he whispered.

The doe entered. On the threshold, her white coat vanished, and before Baki stood a young woman.

“Do not be afraid,” she said. “I am human. Magic allows me to take the shape of a doe.”

Baki followed her inside. Within the cliff was a great hall. Transparent pillars stood there, shimmering like ice in sunlight.

The girl explained, “A powerful ogre lives here. He keeps me in this cave and does not allow me to leave. I can go outside in another form, but I cannot be free forever without help.”

“Then I will help you,” said Baki.

“First we must survive this night,” she replied. “The ogre will return soon.”

She opened a hollow inside one of the glass pillars, and Baki hid there.

Soon the stone doors opened. A giant entered the hall. After supper, he took a stringed instrument and began to play. A wonder happened. One by one, the transparent pillars began to sway slowly in time with the music.

All except the one where Baki was hiding.

The ogre frowned.

“Why does this pillar not dance?”

He was about to inspect it, but the girl quickly said, “Because it is the chief pillar. Perhaps it thinks it must stand with dignity.”

The giant believed her and left it alone.

At dawn, the ogre went away. The girl released Baki.

“His power is hidden outside himself,” she said. “Beyond this cliff is another one. Walk up to it, touch it three times with your foot, and say, ‘Great Raven, open the door.’ Inside you will see a green parrot on a red stone. Do not hurt the bird. Simply take the little golden ring from its foot. The ogre’s power over magic is held in that ring.”

Baki did exactly as she said.

After the third call, the cliff opened. On a red stone sat a green parrot. A thin golden ring shone on its foot.

“Do not be afraid,” Baki said softly.

He carefully removed the ring.

At once, a rumble rolled through the mountains. The ogre’s magic broke apart like old ice in spring. The stone doors of the cave opened, and the giant lost his magical power and fled far into the mountains, never to return.

The girl was free.

“You saved me,” she said.

“We saved ourselves together,” replied Baki. “Without you, I would never even have found the magic.”

They returned to the capital together.

But there Baki learned troubling news. The king who had once given his mother shelter had decided to make her his wife, even though she had clearly said that she did not wish it and that she already had a husband in the country of Room.

Baki grew angry, but the girl from the cave stopped him.

“Strength is not needed only for fighting,” she said. “Sometimes the stronger person is the one who makes a falsehood show itself before everyone.”

She taught Baki one of the ogre’s magic spells.

Baki went to the palace and changed himself into a large, shining cowrie shell. A servant found it in the courtyard.

“What a beautiful shell!” he cried.

“Indeed I am beautiful,” said the shell.

The servant jumped.

“You can speak?”

“And not only speak. I also know something about Baki and his mother.”

The news reached the king at once. He ordered that the strange shell be brought to the throne room.

“What do you know?” he asked.

“I know,” answered the shell, “that no one should call a thing good when another person has not agreed to it. And I know that Baki has returned.”

The king reddened.

“I will not allow a piece of shell to lecture me!”

He ordered it struck with a hammer.

The moment the hammer touched the shell, it scattered into countless shining fragments. Each fragment became a watchful guard, and Baki himself appeared among them.

The courtiers stepped back.

“We have not come to fight,” said Baki. “We have come to say aloud what everyone here already knows. My mother has the right to decide her own future.”

The king looked around at his advisers. This time, no one wished to lie from fear.

“It is true,” said one.

“True,” said another.

The king understood that he had lost the people’s trust. He gave up his plan and placed power in the hands of the senior council. Then he went to a distant residence so that he would no longer interfere with the life of the queen and her son.

Baki did not wish to rule by force. He agreed to help the country only so long as the people wished to see him as their ruler. Before long, they chose him as king.

The girl whom he had freed from the cave became his closest friend, and later they chose to marry. No one in the palace spoke of marriage as a prize or an order again. It was their shared decision.

And the queen returned to the country of Room.

King Bacha met her on the bank of the same river. During the years of separation, he had thought often about their old argument.

“It was a fox,” he said while he was still far away.

The queen smiled.

“I know.”

“I know now too,” Bacha replied. “And I know something else. Being a king does not mean always being right.”

After that, they argued less often. And when they did disagree, they did not summon a council to decide who had won. They sat beside one another and listened.

They say that from that time on, a saying appeared in the country of Room.

“One who is afraid to speak the truth makes a mistake stronger. One who knows how to listen makes themselves stronger.”

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨