"Please do not eat me, young leopard," cried the Matchmaker, "I was just making my way home from arranging a marriage over yonder. I do not mean you any harm."
Hearing that this man was a matchmaker the leopard's ears perked up.
"A matchmaker you say?" asked the leopard with a wry smile forming on his lips.
The leopard had been lonely for the better part of his life. The only thing he wanted in the world was to find a mate to be with. A plan began to form in his mind.
"What do you say we make a deal? If you can find me a leopardess then your life will be spared and you can go on your merry way," reasoned the leopard.
This was an absurd bargain thought the matchmaker. Arranging marriages for humans was one thing but leopards? Just when he thought it was surely the end of his rope, he remembered the sack he was carrying and plotted his own plans.
"Yes of course I can do that. You just have to be willing to do whatever I say. First, jump in this sack," explained the matchmaker.
With quickness, the leopard jumped in the sack and allowed the matchmaker to cinch it tightly. As soon as this happened the matchmaker dragged the sack containing the leopard to the river, gave it a few hearty kicks for good measure, and tossed it into the river. Thinking he had rid himself of a great danger he walked towards home thinking no more of the leopard.
A short ways down river, the leopards sack became entangled in a some weeds near the shoreline. This caught the sight of a leopardess and she carefully ripped open the sack to find what it contained. Out popped the leopard and explained what had happened between he and the matchmaker. They both were convinced that they were indeed soul mates and proceeded to live happily from that day forth.
Years later, the matchmaker was walking through the same jungle when he happened across the leopard and his leopardess. Once again stricken with fright, the matchmaker thought he surely could not get away twice and this was karma's way of repaying him.
"Um, how may I help this beautiful leopard couple?" asked the matchmaker as the lump in his throat grew and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.
"Do you not remember me, dear matchmaker?" exclaimed the leopard, "It is because of you that we are a couple at all! We have told everyone we know how great of a matchmaker you are and just want to thank you for all you've done for us!"
All the matchmaker could do was stammer out a welcome and wish them more happy days. After this encounter with the leopard, again, he swore he would never walk through the jungle again.
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| The two leopards living happily ever after (Pixabay). |
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Author's Note: This story was adapted from the story The Raibar and the Leopard found in The Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909). In the original story a Raibar, meaning someone arranges marriages, comes across a leopard who wants nothing more then a mate to live his life with. The raibar tricks the leopard into a sack where he throws the leopard in a river thinking it would surely kill him. A leopardess sees the sack floating along the river and opens it to find the leopard. The two think its destiny and become a couple. The matchmaker comes across the two again about a year later and is thanked heavily by the leopard for setting the two up.
I didn't change any major characters or the plot line to the story. I added a tad more detail at points and more dialouge between the leopard and Raibar. I decdided to use the word matchmaker throughout the story instead of Raibar as I thought readers would be more comfortable with it.
I really enjoyed reading your story. I think your decisions with changes in the details and use of the word match maker were good ones that allowed to remain very true to the original story and still make it your own. I definitely think your decision to use the term matchmaker instead of raibar made the story more relatable to your audience.
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