Week 9 Story: One Hundred Ill-begotten Sons

Some music to help set up the atmosphere

It was a dark, stormy night. Lightening flashed across the heavens. Thunder roared over the land. Wind howled through forests. Trees creaked and moaned. A blind noblewoman's screams from childbirth could be heard echoing among castle walls. Her nurse stayed by her side trying to soothe her and help her along in the process. Finally, something slid out with a loud glorp. No sounds of a crying child could be heard.

The nurse stared in horror, for her lady had given birth to a putrid mass of flesh. She fainted. "Nurse? Nurse?" cried the woman. "Why is my child silent, nurse? Please, tell me it is not stillborn. Where is it? Let me hold my child!" She reached towards the foot of the bed. Feeling around, her hand finally found the mass, and she recoiled in disgust and horror as it pulsed and writhed at her touch. The noblewoman broke down. She could not keep such a monstrosity. If anyone knew about this, shame would be brought upon her lordly husband and herself. Without thinking, she gathered up the lump as best as she could and blindly stumbled out into the rainy night.

The noblewoman did not know how far she had gone. In fact, she had no bearing on where she was, but she felt it was far enough away to where no one could find the blight from her womb. As she motioned to dump the thing, she heard the sound of hooves behind her shortly followed by a man's voice. "Dear lady," he rumbled, "what have you there? Why are you committing this sin of abandoning your child in the forest?"

She looked in his general direction, her face drenched with tears and rain. "This is no child. This a blight upon the world that must be left to rot!" she wailed.

The man peer at the mass. "Well, I will say you are right that it is not a child. It is many children. My lady, if you come with me, I can not only give this being shape and life but do so for one hundred children! What do you say?" The woman was not sure. After all of the torment she had been through this night, she could think of no better solution. She took the man's hand, and he led her to his castle.

When they arrived, he rushed her inside and into his laboratory. The sound of electricity crackled throughout the room. Smells of chemicals wafted through the air. "Igor!" the man called. A moment later a voice sounded behind them.

"Yes, master?"

The man beamed. "Take this mass here. Divide it into one hundred pieces as I prepare the mixtures to place them in." Igor accepted, then vanished. The man set to preparing his mad science. The foul smell of chemicals grew stronger. Igor shortly returned carrying one hundred pieces of putrid flesh. "Excellent! Now place one each into these beakers of mixture." With excitement, Igor did so.

The noblewoman stood in silent confusion. "What madness are you trying to achieve?"

The man laughed. "Fret not, dear lady, for this is science! The science of creating life! I am a doctor; you have no reason to worry."

"Creating life from that thing? What sort of witchcraft is this? Have I made some deal with the devil just to have a child and ease my suffering? Or is this the devil further torturing me in my misery?" The woman fell to the floor sobbing.

All the while, the masses were growing rapidly. In fact, one beaker had already broken, and a howling child lay in its place. The others soon followed suit. The man picked up the first child and brought it to its mother. "Here, my lady, experience for yourself the first of your destined children." He put the child in her arms. The woman stopped crying and began to smile.

"Oh, what a precious little thing. How could I ever doubt such a miracle? You all will bring such joy to our family..." She was pleased that she had now had one hundred possible heirs for her lordly husband. Unfortunately, she could not see the evil emanating from these children. They would be the ruin of their family.

Their howls echoed through the night.

Author's Note. This story is based on the part of the Mahabharata where Gandhari gave birth to Dhritarashtra's one hundred sons. Originally she was in pain and surrounded by terrible omens to the day she gave birth. Instead of a child, she gave birth to a putrid mass of flesh. She was horrified and wanted the shame gone. Vyasa stopped her, and with his power, he divided up the flesh into 100 pieces and set them in vats of oil. From each one, a child emerged. These children, however, appeared demonic, and all but the blind king and blindfolded queen could see this.

This part of the Mahabharata was not mentioned in the Narayan version that I originally read, so needless to say, I was shocked at how the one hundreds sons came to be. The process of creating them looked like mad science to me, so I decided to go a horror story route that involved a character similar to Dr. Frankenstein where life was given unnaturally to something of unfortunate origin. It felt fitting since this is the month of Halloween.

Bibliography. "One Hundred Sons" from Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified TV (India), link to video.

Video: "Dark Cathedral Music ~ Draycia Castle" by Robert Russell Composer on YouTube.
Image: Dark & Stormy Night 2 from Ken McMillan on Flickr.
Image: Haunted House from Talia Felix on PublicDomainPictures.net
Image: Young Frankenstein: The brain of Abby Normal from Insomnia Cured Here on Flickr.