Brave, Wise, or Clever

"This is a story about a young girl in a faraway land, in a time when there were still giants and monsters. It's called Brave, Wise, or Clever”

The Child nodded, and the Mother began to read.

“Once upon a time, there was a King named Merit. He was a great King who ruled a happy, prosperous kingdom beneath a tall, grey mountain. The King Merit had a Brahman whom he called upon frequently, by the name of Hariswami. Hariswami had a lovely wife, two sons, and a wonderful, gentle daughter named Moonlight.

“Moonlight was kind to animals and people, she wove beautiful cloth, and she had a sharp wit and a brilliant sense of humor. Hariswami and his wife loved her dearly, and wanted nothing more than for her to marry a person who was equally kind and who would treat their daughter with respect. When she reached the appropriate age, they searched far and wide for a good match. They found many potential suitors, but Moonlight was not satisfied. She wished for more. ‘Father dear, I know you want to find me someone respectful. But I also want a spouse who is brave, or wise, or clever, and I will not settle for less.’

“So Hariswami continued searching. He traveled far and wide, over fields of tall, yellow grass, and through glistening cities and humble villages. He spoke with hundreds of people, trying to find someone brave, wise, or clever whom his daughter could marry. However, he returned home once again empty-handed. He sighed as he walked up the stone steps to his front door, and tried to arrange his face into a smile to greet his family. When Hariswami opened the door, he was shocked by the scene inside. His wife and sons were all wailing with sorrow. When he asked what had happened, his wife explained to him, ‘Just this morning, our daughter Moonlight went out to gather sticks for the fire, and a giant grabbed her up and took her to the very top of the mountain! Oh, we’ll never see our lovely daughter again!’

“Hariswami was devastated. He did not know what to do. His wife suggested that they gather together a group of people to go and attack the giant in hopes of getting Moonlight back. So the couple and their two remaining children went and knocked on all the doors in the town and gathered a group of people to go to the mountain and search for her. Out of the group emerged three radiant young people - a man so clever that he had devised a flying chariot, a woman so brave and strong that she knew how to use all the weapons that existed, and a woman so wise that she knew the past and the future and the habits of creatures.

“These three gathered together in the clever one’s flying chariot and flew to the top of the mountain. There was a strong, cold wind, but they persisted in searching. Through her knowledge of the ways of creatures, the wise woman identified the cave in which the giant lived. Finally, the brave woman rushed into the cave and with a heroic leap, she cut off the giant’s head. Moonlight was saved, and the four returned to the village in the flying chariot.

“The family were thrilled to have Moonlight back, and she was delighted to be in their presence again. Additionally, the problem of finding an appropriate suitor for Moonlight was resolved: she now had three. Of course, this created an entirely new problem for poor Hariswami. Should his daughter marry the clever man, the brave woman, or the wise woman? He simply did not know. Luckily, Moonlight had an answer. ‘The clever man designed an excellent chariot and used it to carry the others up the mountain; I am grateful to him. And the wise woman used her wisdom to find the giant’s cave; I am grateful to her, too. But it is the brave woman I shall marry, as she is the one who put herself in harm’s way to save me, and I have fallen in love with her.

“So Moonlight married the brave woman. There was a grand wedding and sumptuous foods of all kinds to celebrate the union, and all the kingdom rejoiced in their happiness.”

The Child bounced in his bed. “Read me another!” he cried.

“Alright. But just one more,” said the Mother.

Author's Note: This story is based on The Brave Man, The Wise Man, or The Clever Man: To Which Should the Girl be Given? from Twenty-Two Goblins. In the original story, there is a king carrying a goblin who tells him riddles that he must solve. In one of the riddles, the king must determine who of the three men (Brave, Wise, and Clever) the young woman should marry. I chose to remove this framing device and tell Moonlight's story by itself. In order to do so, I allowed Moonlight to make her own decision about which suitor was most appropriate. The original version of this story was translated from Sanskrit by Arthur Ryder. I have not changed the names of the characters, nor did Arthur Ryder, which is why they do not sound like typical English names. In this way, I tried to maintain some consistency with the original.

I also modified the genders of her three suitors in accordance with the theme of this storybook. My intention was to keep the father's search for suitors gender-neutral and then present three suitors of different genders to avoid overemphasizing Moonlight's sexuality. Since the intention is to normalize LGBTQ+ relationships, I wanted to incorporate it casually rather than make it the highlight.

Image: A Curota by Noel F.