The Cat's Daughters
THE CAT'S DAUGHTERS
Once upon a time, there lived a family who had a much-loved cat.
The cat was expecting kittens. At about the same time, the lady of the house was also expecting a child.
One day, the cat developed a strong craving for fish.
“I really want to eat some fish,” she said to her mistress.
The mistress replied,
“My dear, if you can somehow bring me some fish, I can cook it for you. Otherwise, where am I supposed to get it?”
And so, from that day onward, the cat began going from house to house. Sometimes she stole fish; sometimes she snatched it away. Somehow or other, every day she managed to bring fish home.
But there was a problem.
The mistress cooked the fish and ate the good portions herself.
For the poor cat, she left only the bones.
Day after day, the cat brought home fish, yet she never got to enjoy the fish herself.
Eventually, the cat became deeply hurt.
In her sorrow and anger, she cursed her mistress:
“May whatever is in my womb go into hers, and whatever is in her womb come into mine!”
Some time later, something extraordinary happened.
The mistress gave birth to two kittens.
And the cat gave birth to two beautiful human girls.
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THE CAT RAISES HER DAUGHTERS
The mother cat loved the two girls dearly.
With great care and affection, she somehow managed to raise them.
Every day, she would leave her daughters safely at home and go searching for fish, milk and other food.
As the girls grew older, they began to worry about their mother.
One day they asked her,
“Mother, you go out to the village every day. What if someone kills you? How will we ever know what has happened to you?”
The mother cat thought for a while.
Then she planted a Tulsi plant and placed a bowl of milk beside it.
She told them,
“If anyone kills me, this Tulsi plant will wither and the milk in this bowl will turn dark. If that happens, you must come looking for me.”
The daughters remembered their mother's words.
Several days passed.
Then one day, the Tulsi plant suddenly began to wither.
The milk changed colour.
The sisters immediately understood.
Something terrible had happened to their mother.
Crying bitterly, the two girls left their home and set out to find her.
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THE RIVER
They travelled a long way.
Eventually, the younger sister became terribly thirsty.
The two sisters searched for water until they came upon a river.
The elder sister left the younger one on the bank and went down to fetch some water.
She drank a few handfuls herself.
But just as she tried to collect some for her sister, the water suddenly disappeared.
Then a voice came from the river.
It was the Prince of the Waters — the Jal-Kunwar.
He said,
“If you give me the ring on your finger, you may take the water.”
The elder sister thought,
“What value can a ring possibly have compared with my sister's thirst?”
So she gave him her ring.
The water returned.
She carried it to her younger sister, who drank eagerly.
But afterwards the younger sister said,
“Go back and get your ring.”
The elder sister returned to the river.
The moment she stepped into the water, the Jal-Kunwar seized her and carried her away beneath the river.
The younger sister saw her sister disappear.
She sat alone on the riverbank, beating her breast and crying helplessly.
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THE MERCHANT
After some time, a merchant travelling on business came along the river.
He saw the beautiful young girl sitting all alone on the bank.
The merchant took her aboard his boat and brought her home.
He already had two wives.
The young girl became his third and youngest wife.
Because she was young and gentle, the merchant soon became particularly fond of her.
His two older wives noticed this.
Jealousy entered their hearts.
They began thinking of ways to make their husband despise his new wife.
Eventually, the young wife became pregnant.
When the time came for her first child to be born, the two jealous wives covered her eyes with a cloth.
She gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
But they hid the truth from her.
“You have given birth to a wooden pestle,” they told her.
Then, secretly, they took the newborn child and floated him away in the river.
Some time later, the young wife became pregnant again.
Once again, she gave birth to a baby boy.
And once again, the jealous wives deceived her.
“This time you have given birth to a pumpkin,” they said.
The second baby was also placed in the river and allowed to float away.
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THE LOST SISTER
But fate had not abandoned the children.
Deep beneath the waters lived the young woman's elder sister—the sister whom the Jal-Kunwar had carried away years before.
She discovered the two babies floating down the river.
She somehow knew that they were her younger sister's sons.
She rescued them.
She raised them with love and care until they grew into fine young boys.
Back at the merchant's house, however, things had become very different.
The merchant believed what his older wives had told him.
He became convinced that his youngest wife was a woman of ill omen.
Finally, he drove her from his home.
He built a miserable little shelter for her beside the refuse heap, and there she lived alone in sorrow.
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THE MERCHANT'S BOAT
Years passed.
One day, the merchant set out on another trading journey.
While his boat was travelling along the river, it suddenly stopped.
Something beneath the water held it firmly.
No matter what the merchant or his men did, the boat would not move.
The merchant became desperate.
Then a mysterious voice rose from beneath the water:
“Promise that you will hold a great feast. Fix the day on which you will hold it. Leave your betel-nut pouch and your walking stick here as a pledge.
Only then will your boat be released.”
The merchant had no other choice.
He promised to organise a great community feast and fixed the day.
Then he threw his betel-nut pouch and walking stick into the water.
Immediately, the boat was released.
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THE TRUTH REVEALED
The boys' aunt—the elder sister who lived beneath the river—now knew that the time had come for the truth to be revealed.
She told the two boys their entire history.
She told them about their grandmother, the cat.
She told them how their mother had been born from the cat's womb.
She told them about the river.
She told them how their mother had married the merchant.
And finally, she told them how the merchant's jealous wives had taken them away at birth and cast them into the river.
Then she gave them their father's walking stick and betel-nut pouch.
“On the day of your father's great feast,” she told them, “go there and tell everyone your story.”
And so they did.
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THE TWO STRANGERS
On the day of the feast, the two brothers travelled towards their father's house.
Before reaching it, they stopped beside the refuse heap where their mother was living.
They approached her and called her,
“Mother!”
Then they asked her for a little water.
The poor woman thought the boys were mocking her.
“Why are you making fun of me?” she said sadly.
“People have gathered over there for the great feast. Go there. You will find plenty to eat and drink.”
The brothers could remain silent no longer.
They told her everything.
They told her who they were.
They told her how they had survived.
They told her about their aunt beneath the river.
The mother finally realised that the two young men standing before her were the sons she had believed she had lost forever.
After resting with her for a while, the brothers continued towards the feast.
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THE GREAT FEAST
People from all around had gathered.
Everyone sat together for the community feast.
Soon a rumour spread among the guests.
“Two strangers who had eaten and drunk at the house of the woman living beside the refuse heap are now sitting among us.”
The community elders decided that the two strangers should come forward and identify themselves.
Immediately, the brothers stood up.
“The woman whose house we entered,” they declared, “is our mother.”
Everyone was astonished.
The people turned to the merchant.
“What do you know about this?”
The merchant had no answer.
Then the elders asked the brothers to explain themselves.
The elder brother stood before the gathering.
“Please listen carefully,” he said.
And he began telling their story from the beginning.
He told them everything.
Then, before the assembled villagers, he produced the merchant's walking stick and betel-nut pouch.
There could no longer be any doubt.
The merchant recognised them immediately.
They were his.
The truth struck him like a thunderbolt.
He realised what had happened.
Everyone now understood the conspiracy of the two jealous wives.
The women were summoned before the gathering and questioned.
They had nothing to say in their defence.
Their silence revealed their guilt.
The feast eventually came to an end.
Afterwards, the merchant punished the two women and drove them away from his household.
Then he went to the little shelter beside the refuse heap.
He brought his youngest wife home.
And with her came their two sons.
At last, after years of separation, suffering and injustice, the mother and her children were reunited.
The two boys remained with their father and mother, bringing peace and happiness back into their home.
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CULTURAL NOTES
Tulsi: Holy basil, a plant traditionally regarded as sacred in many Assamese and Indian households.
Jal-Kunwar: Literally, the “Prince of the Waters”—a supernatural being associated with a river or underwater realm in Assamese folklore.
Betel-nut pouch: A traditional pouch used for carrying betel nut and associated items. Such objects were once common personal belongings and could serve as unmistakable signs of identity.
Community Feast: Collective feasts and religious/community gatherings have long occupied an important place in Assamese social life. In this story, the gathering becomes the place where truth is publicly established.
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THEMES OF THE STORY
- A mother's love and sacrifice
- Jealousy and betrayal
- Separation and reunion
- Supernatural intervention
- Justice within the community
- Truth ultimately overcoming deception
- The importance of family and identity
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THE ESSENCE OF THE TALE
“The Cat's Daughters” moves between the ordinary and the magical with the effortless simplicity characteristic of traditional Assamese storytelling.
A cat becomes the mother of human daughters.
A river hides a mysterious kingdom.
Children cast away to die are rescued and raised in secret.
And objects as ordinary as a walking stick and a betel-nut pouch eventually become instruments through which truth is revealed.
Behind these magical events lies a deeply human idea:
Injustice may conceal the truth for a time, but it cannot erase it forever.
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TAKE-HOME MESSAGE
Truth may travel through strange and difficult paths, but eventually it finds its way home.
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Heritage Note
Burhi Aair Xadhu is one of the treasured collections of Assamese folklore compiled and written by Lakshminath Bezbaroa, one of the towering figures of Assamese literature.
Through these English retellings, the intention is to introduce the stories, imagination and cultural heritage of Assam to readers beyond the Assamese-speaking world while preserving the spirit of the original tales.
Original Assamese: Lakshminath Bezbaroa
Collection: Burhi Aair Xadhu
English Retelling: Prepared for the “Regional Stories” series
Tales from the Grandmother's Bag
Original Assamese Collection: বুঢ়ী আইৰ সাধু
Original Author: Lakshminath Bezbaroa
Story No.: 1
Original Title: মেকুৰীৰ জীয়েকৰ সাধু
English Title: The Cat's Daughters
English Retelling: Translated and adapted from the original Assamese folktale