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The Magic Moonlight Flower and Other Enchanting Stories
Four magical stories which will transport you to a world of monsters and princesses, ogres and enchanted flowers Sujan can imitate the calls of all kinds of birds and animals. When he finds himself in the king's court and learns of a fearsome bird-eating monster, he decides to use his skill to defeat the cruel creature and win the princess's heart. In another story, Ratan is cursed by a sage and is turned into an ogre, but his sweet song saves him from a terrible fate. In 'Gangaram's Lucky Stone' a beautiful rainbow-coloured stone rescues Gangaram from all kinds of disasters and even brings him a treasure, but what happens when he gives it away? And, in 'The Magic Moonlight Flower', a young boy goes in search of the flower that will save his father's life, but on the way he will need to fight a cruel king, rescue a prince and slay a nasty serpent. Funny, exciting and full of strange and wonderful humans and supernatural creatures, The Magic Moonlight Flower and Other Enchanting Stories is a delightful collection of stories by a master of children's writing in India.
- GenresShort StoriesIndia
108 pages, Paperback
First published February 12, 2014
19 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Satyajit Ray
672 books1,515 followersSatyajit Ray (Bengali: সত্যজিৎ রায়) was an Indian filmmaker and author of Bengali fiction and regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of world cinema. Ray was born in the city of Calcutta into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into independent filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and watching Vittorio De Sica's Italian neorealist 1948 film, Bicycle Thieves.
Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, calligrapher, graphic designer and film critic. He authored several short stories and novels, primarily aimed at children and adolescents.
Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. This film, Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a number of awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Award in 1992. The Government of India honoured him with the Bharat Ratna in 1992.
Early Life and Background:
Ray's grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was a writer, illustrator, philosopher, publisher, amateur astronomer and a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a religious and social movement in nineteenth century Bengal. Sukumar Ray, Upendrakishore's son and father of Satyajit, was a pioneering Bengali author and poet of nonsense rhyme and children's literature, an illustrator and a critic. Ray was born to Sukumar and Suprabha Ray in Calcutta.
Ray completed his B.A. (Hons.) in Economics at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta, though his interest was always in Fine Arts. In 1940, he went to study in Santiniketan where Ray came to appreciate Oriental Art. In 1949, Ray married Bijoya Das and the couple had a son, Sandip ray, who is now a famous film director.
Literary Works:
Ray created two of the most famous fictional characters ever in Bengali children's literature—Feluda, a sleuth in Holmesian tradition, and Professor Shonku, a genius scientist. Ray also wrote many short stories mostly centered on Macabre, Thriller and Paranormal which were published as collections of 12 stories. Ray wrote an autobiography about his childhood years, Jakhan Choto Chilam (1982). He also wrote essays on film, published as the collections: Our Films, Their Films (1976), Bishoy Chalachchitra (1976), and Ekei Bole Shooting (1979).
Awards, Honors and Recognitions:
Ray received many awards, including 32 National Film Awards by the Government of India. At the Moscow Film Festival in 1979, he was awarded for the contribution to cinema. At the Berlin Film Festival, he was one of only three to win the Silver Bear for Best Director more than once and holds the record for the most Golden Bear nominations, with seven. At the Venice Film Festival, he won a Golden Lion for Aparajito(1956), and awarded the Golden Lion Honorary Award in 1982. In 1992 he was posthumously awarded the Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, calligrapher, graphic designer and film critic. He authored several short stories and novels, primarily aimed at children and adolescents.
Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. This film, Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a number of awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Award in 1992. The Government of India honoured him with the Bharat Ratna in 1992.
Early Life and Background:
Ray's grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was a writer, illustrator, philosopher, publisher, amateur astronomer and a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a religious and social movement in nineteenth century Bengal. Sukumar Ray, Upendrakishore's son and father of Satyajit, was a pioneering Bengali author and poet of nonsense rhyme and children's literature, an illustrator and a critic. Ray was born to Sukumar and Suprabha Ray in Calcutta.
Ray completed his B.A. (Hons.) in Economics at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta, though his interest was always in Fine Arts. In 1940, he went to study in Santiniketan where Ray came to appreciate Oriental Art. In 1949, Ray married Bijoya Das and the couple had a son, Sandip ray, who is now a famous film director.
Literary Works:
Ray created two of the most famous fictional characters ever in Bengali children's literature—Feluda, a sleuth in Holmesian tradition, and Professor Shonku, a genius scientist. Ray also wrote many short stories mostly centered on Macabre, Thriller and Paranormal which were published as collections of 12 stories. Ray wrote an autobiography about his childhood years, Jakhan Choto Chilam (1982). He also wrote essays on film, published as the collections: Our Films, Their Films (1976), Bishoy Chalachchitra (1976), and Ekei Bole Shooting (1979).
Awards, Honors and Recognitions:
Ray received many awards, including 32 National Film Awards by the Government of India. At the Moscow Film Festival in 1979, he was awarded for the contribution to cinema. At the Berlin Film Festival, he was one of only three to win the Silver Bear for Best Director more than once and holds the record for the most Golden Bear nominations, with seven. At the Venice Film Festival, he won a Golden Lion for Aparajito(1956), and awarded the Golden Lion Honorary Award in 1982. In 1992 he was posthumously awarded the Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 20, 2023
I have read a few Satyajit Ray books and they have been really good.
I had high expectations from this short story collection as I was well aware about the writing style and the kind of stories the author comes up with.
However, I feel this collection of four short stories disappointed me. I do not know if it’s the translation or the narration that made the reading experience a rather dull one. The writing seems choppy and the characters are portrayed as not to be paid attention to.
Hopefully other readers find this book more interesting and entertaining.
I had high expectations from this short story collection as I was well aware about the writing style and the kind of stories the author comes up with.
However, I feel this collection of four short stories disappointed me. I do not know if it’s the translation or the narration that made the reading experience a rather dull one. The writing seems choppy and the characters are portrayed as not to be paid attention to.
Hopefully other readers find this book more interesting and entertaining.
September 1, 2025
The princess remembered the announcement made by the king of Ujalpur, which had been made in different kingdoms over the past few days. ‘Whosoever slays this monster will get half the kingdom and the princess too.’
The first stories I ever read were collections of myths and fables from around the world, a cheap paperback series named Undying Tales [Povesti Nemuritoare] that quickly came unravelled at the seams in my clumsy little hands.
Reading now Satyanjit Ray charming stories I realize I will never grow too old for fairy tales. They are more than children stories, they are the fundamental building blocks of our imagination and our first role models. They teach us, as Neil Gaiman so aptly remarks, that dragons can be beaten ...
... and that there may be a pretty princess waiting for us at the end of the quest.
The four tales included in this much too short selection are a blend of the familiar and the exotic. Familiar in structure and narrative style and incredibly rich in local colour, firmly anchored in the oral traditions and village lifestyle of the author’s Bengali heritage.
Satyajit Ray makes it look extremely simple and natural to tell us about impoverished peasant boys getting mixed up in classic hero quests to slay the dragon [usually an ogre] and win the reward mentioned above. But there is subtext here, for the careful reader who notices how the princess resents being locked up, spending her life unseen or being forced to be meek and follow her father the king orders on whom to marry.
And there is also the fact that the hero rejects fame, fortune, greed and prefers to sing like the birds, help others and fight for justice.
Sujan Harbola, the Boy Who Spoke to Birds
Sujan is a poor village boy who has trouble learning the multiplication tables in school. But he has a kind heart and a passion for imitating the thrills of the birds in the forest. Sujan is summoned to the court of a neighbouring king whose realm suffers from a complete lack of birds, all of them eaten by a terrible ogre hiding in his cave in the mountains. Sujan is singing for the king’s daughter Srimati, who listens enchanted from behind a closed window.
Her heart was as hidden away as her life. But it is true that no one had seen her smile in the past one month.
OK, this is a fairy tale, so you can probably guess the outcome.
It still held me spellbound in the beautiful flow of the story.
Gangaram’s Lucky Stone
Another poor village young man discovers a rainbow colored stone by the river. Unaware of its magical properties, Gangaram goes about his chores, helping his father in the field, helping the elderly, being kind to everyone he meets. Good things start to happen to him, drawing the attention of his jealous older brother and of some bandits.
Everyone in the village loved him, because Gangaram was happiest when he could be useful to others.
also, ‘I’ve grown up lacking for things,’ responded Gangaram, ‘so I don’t even know what the lack of lacking for things is.’
His honesty and his sincerity are rewarded when Gangaram offers to give up his lucky rainbow stone to the princess who lost it on a journey.
The Ogre and the Princess
A third young man is asked by a passing beggar to wash his feet and give him alms. Irritated by the tone and the arrogance of the sadhu, Ratan declines, with unexpected consequences.
‘Your future is in my hands. I am the tantric Bipulananda. I know the past, the present and the future. My ire can reduce the earth to ashes. How dare you insult me?’
Ratan remained silent. He looked steadfastly at the seer. His heart quaked a little. What could the sage do to him? What could one human being do to another?
Warned by an astrologer that he is under a wicked spell, Ratan retreats into the jungle, where he is transformed into a huge, ugly ogre. The local king offers a reward to the person who slays the monster, but Lakshmi, the princess, contemplates a different solution.
The Magic Moonlight Flower
Ray saved the best story for last, although the plot is similar to the previous three. There is a definite pattern here, as Kanai, a devoted son, sets out to find a very rare plant for the cure of his father’s sudden illness.
Kanai finds the only place in the jungle where the moonlight flower grows, but the bush has been already uprooted and stolen by a king whose whole city is struggling with the same wasting illness.
Kanai goes to the city, and finds out the king is a tyrant who has locked up the cure in his dungeon, together with his son and heir, and refuses to help his subjects unless they give exclusive exports rights to the silk manufactured there.
Kanai is maybe not the superhero in cape and spandex we have become used to, but he is the right man in the right place. In the most traditional manner possible, Kanai is also gifted by a forest wizard with three magic fruits to help him in his quest.
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I may have seen a couple of Satyajit Ray’s movies in childhood, but it was a very long time ago and I am glad I had this chance to get reacquainted. He is a true renaissance man, able to express himself in motion pictures, written word, music and graphic art [the illustrations in the book are also by him]
I plan to continue to explore his world, either his police novels featuring Kolkata private detective Feluda, or some of his classic films.
March 19, 2022
Children stories
Stories which independent India had in its early days.
Mythical stories of the times.
Children specials. Satyajit ray was a wonderful story teller.
Stories which independent India had in its early days.
Mythical stories of the times.
Children specials. Satyajit ray was a wonderful story teller.
October 20, 2018
3.5 stars
August 22, 2023
Okay, I can envision enjoying reading this book as a 9 or 10-year-old; however, for an adult reader, the tales didn't possess much magic, and perhaps a significant portion of the original charm was lost in translation. Perhaps. "The Magic Moonlight Flower and Enchanting Stories" is a compilation of four short stories by Satyajit Ray, translated into English by Arunava Sinha.
The first story, titled "Sujan Harbola, the Boy Who Spoke to Birds," is an engaging tale about a young, impoverished boy who has no interest in studying and drops out of school to pursue a career as a professional artist, capable of flawlessly mimicking any bird or animal. How his talents earn him a fortune is the rest of the tale.
While I grew up reading such captivating tales set in the lush Indian jungles, replete with magical fruits, formidable monsters, and an underdog battling against all odds to emerge as the hero, I still wouldn’t consider getting this book as a gift to a child. Why? Because three out of the four short stories essentially convey a single overarching message – that possessing adequate talent can lead to marrying a princess. In these stories, marrying a beautiful princess stands out as the ultimate reward for a hero. Although these narratives might have held greater relevance in the 1970s and 80s, their significance has waned over time.
Satyajit Ray has crafted more intricate stories, characterized by profound themes and multi-faceted characters; however, "The Magic Moonlight Flower and Enchanting Stories" does not include any of his more enduring works.
The first story, titled "Sujan Harbola, the Boy Who Spoke to Birds," is an engaging tale about a young, impoverished boy who has no interest in studying and drops out of school to pursue a career as a professional artist, capable of flawlessly mimicking any bird or animal. How his talents earn him a fortune is the rest of the tale.
While I grew up reading such captivating tales set in the lush Indian jungles, replete with magical fruits, formidable monsters, and an underdog battling against all odds to emerge as the hero, I still wouldn’t consider getting this book as a gift to a child. Why? Because three out of the four short stories essentially convey a single overarching message – that possessing adequate talent can lead to marrying a princess. In these stories, marrying a beautiful princess stands out as the ultimate reward for a hero. Although these narratives might have held greater relevance in the 1970s and 80s, their significance has waned over time.
Satyajit Ray has crafted more intricate stories, characterized by profound themes and multi-faceted characters; however, "The Magic Moonlight Flower and Enchanting Stories" does not include any of his more enduring works.
February 23, 2014
These are the stories that I should have listened to in my childhood. Instead, I am reading them - in a very good translation - as an adult. They have the innocence of pre-technologically advanced India. Kings, princes, princesses, sadhus and magic populate the book. The four stories are vastly different in character to each other but equally enjoyable. Arunava Sinha's translation is smooth enough to make me forget that it is a translation. A typical summer afternoon read when the weather is too hot to do anything.
July 25, 2019
Quick and fun read. Magical stories like you grew up reading in Chandamama etc. What amazes you is the imagination. Finished in just over an hour.
January 31, 2021
Fun. Magic. Wonder. And oodles of Ray's genius.
November 24, 2022
This book is a compilation of 4 stories, featuring kings, princes, princesses, ogres and monsters and of course smart, handsome and talented individuals who are poor but would become rich by the end of the story. The most interesting character is that of a harbola (in Bengali it means the one who can imitate many sounds)
The stories are simply fantastic and of course enchanting (as the title says). Some would say suitable for children but I think adults could enjoy as well!
Arunava Sinha has done a great job in translating these stories in English.
The stories are simply fantastic and of course enchanting (as the title says). Some would say suitable for children but I think adults could enjoy as well!
Arunava Sinha has done a great job in translating these stories in English.
November 4, 2024
Fairy tales by satyajit ray
Satyajit ray barely known as a children or fairy tale writer but he was.He continuously write for children ..
And create some fascinating characters like feluda prof. Shonku others.
This contains four story....
Sujan harbola
Gangaram's lucky stone
The ogre and the princess and last book title
The magic moonlight flower
Every story have magical things and creatures
This satisfy the children and young adult hunger for tales
Satyajit ray barely known as a children or fairy tale writer but he was.He continuously write for children ..
And create some fascinating characters like feluda prof. Shonku others.
This contains four story....
Sujan harbola
Gangaram's lucky stone
The ogre and the princess and last book title
The magic moonlight flower
Every story have magical things and creatures
This satisfy the children and young adult hunger for tales
February 13, 2020
A light hearted train journey companion for me. Even though the tales are for kids once in a while we can let go and enjoy it. The four tales were rich in details and yet simple for kids who move run around your home's and the ones locked inside your hearts
March 6, 2021
We will give it around 7.5 stars out of 10.
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[Detailed #BookReview available at: https://thinkerviews.com/books/englis...
You can listen to this #BookReview at:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1kUK...
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z64Z...
]
March 13, 2021
Very good
The story of the book is interesting and fun to read aloud to friends. I love the idea and description too
The story of the book is interesting and fun to read aloud to friends. I love the idea and description too
March 30, 2016
A stupid book :(
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews