The Three Who Revived the Bride

A beautiful princess died suddenly of illness the very night before her wedding, and her grieving family had her body cremated according to custom. Three men who each loved her in their own way — a magician, an astrologer, and a devoted ascetic — resolved separately to bring her back.

The astrologer, using his knowledge of the stars, determined the exact place and time her ashes had been scattered. The magician, using his powers, gathered her scattered ashes back into the shape of her body. The ascetic, giving up years of his own accumulated spiritual merit as a sacrifice, breathed life back into her fully restored form, and she opened her eyes once more, alive and whole.

All three men, having each played an essential role, now claimed her hand in marriage, each insisting his contribution mattered most — without the astrologer's knowledge, she could never have been found; without the magician's power, her body could not have been restored; without the ascetic's sacrifice, she would never have breathed again. The dispute reached the king's court, where it was ruled that the ascetic, having given up something of his own that could never be regained — years of hard-earned merit — deserved her hand above the other two, who had merely used skills that cost them nothing to keep.