The Three Princesses
(From A.R. Khatoon’s Kahaniyan)
Translated from the Urdu by Shahnaz Aijazuddin
AKS Publications
ISBN: 978-969731338-9
176pp.
The Three Princesses is a delightful book, as it should be, since both its writer and translator are major authors.
A.R. Khatoon may not be known to younger readers or to those who are unfamiliar with Urdu literature. However, she is a famous Urdu novelist with a writing career spanning decades, both before and after Partition.
A.R. Khatoon’s most famous novels are Shama, Tasveer and Afshan. She writes simple, romantic tales but weaves into them the culture and aura of a bygone age. Kahaniyan, from which the tales of The Three Princesses are taken, is A.R. Khatoon’s attempt at preserving the tradition of telling bedtime stories to children. These tales are fantasies, with fairies and giants and, of course, star-crossed lovers.
Shahnaz Aijazuddin’s prowess in the art of translation is well-established. Her magnum opus is the condensed, one-volume English translation of the seven volume Urdu fantasy, Tilism-i-Hoshruba. While retaining the spirit of the original, Aijazuddin’s English translation is far more approachable because of its brevity and lucidity. She has also been a columnist for leading newspapers for many years.
The English translations of three stories from A.R. Khatoon’s Kahaniyan, preserve the tradition of telling fantastical bedtime stories — with fairies and giants and, of course, star-crossed lovers — to children
Now Shahnaz Aijazuddin has translated three stories from A.R. Khatoon’s Kahaniyan. By doing so, she has saved these wonderful tales from oblivion and made them available to the English-reading public. These stories are not only a part of our heritage but also incontrovertible proof that Urdu fantasy is in no way inferior to the likes of Harry Potter.
In classic fairytale fashion, all the tales in The Three Princesses open with “Once upon a time.” The first story, ‘Princess Nur-Al-Ain and the Jinn Prince’, is a picaresque tale. The heroine, who is both beautiful and accomplished, reaches her goal after the most improbable twists and turns of fate.
The adventure begins when Nur-Al-Ain gets kidnapped by a jinn. Because of her own heedless action, she hurts the one she loves and is ejected from the palace. The princess then disguises herself and goes from kingdom to kingdom, helping all who are in trouble. In the process, she discovers a way to undo the harm she has caused and regain her position and her love.
In the second story, ‘Princess Mahrukh and the Magic Horse’, the title princess swears to seek revenge on the one who betrays her. She is allowed to set off on her journey alone, because she threatens to commit suicide if she is barred from departing. A woman this driven obviously attains her goal and returns victorious. She then marries the man she loves, but only after she is certain that he is sorry for his earlier misdeeds.
In both these stories, the female protagonists are fearless and goal-oriented. One princess actually saves the hero, and the other one beats him at his own game. Most amazingly, as the princesses roam unescorted, there is no attack on their person or their honour.
‘Seemeen, The Fish Princess’, the last story in the collection, revolves around the magical birth of a princess. Beautiful but gullible, she is duped by her best friend, who leaves her for dead and takes her place. And it is the hero, this time, who avenges the wrong done to her.
Spoiler alert: all the stories end happily, as such fantasies are wont to do. Knowing the conclusion before-hand ensures that the reader remains calm even in the face of dire events. That is why such books are popular among almost all age groups.
Hyperbole, another feature of fantasies, abounds in these anecdotes. The good characters are paragons of every virtue, while the villains are absolutely vile and ruthless. When the king is happy, he opens the state treasury and distributes largesse to multitudes and the whole kingdom is illuminated. When something sad occurs, the nation is clad in black and all the lights are doused. The same goes for the heroes and heroines. They are either blissfully happy or completely depressed and are ready to kill themselves, if their wishes are thwarted.
But, of course, melodrama is the lifeblood of these traditional tales. It is not out of place in a world where men can become horses and palanquins can fly, and where princesses are instantly converted into slave girls and the dead can come to life.
One constant in these tales of yore is that the vizier is both wise and canny, while the king is a little slow on the uptake. Why there are no coups in such kingdoms is a mystery. Also, heroes are susceptible to good looks to such an extent that a glimpse of a beautiful female is enough to engender everlasting love. The presence of holy men who can tell the future or do magic, and the belief in prophecies are regular themes of the stories as well.
But what comes as a surprise to the modern reader is the bland acceptance of unbecoming conduct in the narratives. Telling fibs, eavesdropping, spying, using fake identities to gain ends, and more, do not elicit a word of censure. The highly praised princesses, themselves, indulge in these shenanigans. What sort of role models are they for the children who are the target audience?
However, minor infractions in the content of the stories cannot dim the beauty of the translation. Congratulations are due to Shahnaz Aijazuddin for making the narrative flow like water. She has done an outstanding job of rendering the tales into English. There is never a misstep, or an awkward idiom. Her expertise makes the translation read like the original.
Kudos also to the publisher, Aks Publications, for editing the book perfectly. The book is totally free of typos and mistakes. Moreover, the slim volume is appealing in its appearance.
I recommend The Three Princesses whole-heartedly. Perusing this book is sheer pleasure in itself and it also brings back the best of childhood memories. It makes me think of those far-off evenings when we listened to fantastical yarns, both agog with wonder and also shivering with fear because of the lurking presence of powerful jinns and giants.
The reviewer is a freelance writer, author of the novel The Tea Trolley and the translator of Toofan Se Pehlay: Safar-i-Europe Ki Diary
This piece is republished on our site by kind permission of the Reviewer and the Editor of The Dawn newspaper
