Shehzadi Mircha

King Karna is fried every morning to provide a fakir’s breakfast, but finds that there is a more generous ruler than he; Raja Rasalu becomes a jogi just for a glimpse of the fair Queen Sundaran; a rat thinks he drives a good bargain, but is astonished when his bargaining brings him a bride; and a bulbul pines for green chilies from the garden of a Jinn. These folktales and many others from all over North India were collected by Flora Annie Steel in the nineteenth century. Today, they are an invaluable snapshot of a bygone era; they evoke the timeless India of myth and legend, peopled with talking animals, powerful fakirs and heroic kings, where anything can happen and usually does.