A Syrup of the Bees

In Short

Framed as a story told by the god Maheshwara to his consort Parwati, this Indian fantasy follows King Arunodaya, a young monarch obsessed with finding the reincarnated wife of his previous life. When a radiant fairy named Makarandika falls in love with him and pretends to be that forgotten bride, their passion soon curdles into doubt and resentment. Tricked by a jealous rival into taking a dream-inducing magic fruit, Arunodaya searches his sleep for his true lost love, unaware that the woman he is rejecting is the very soul he seeks.

The Story

The narrative opens on a divine framed scene: the deity Maheshwara puts a terrified night-watchman to sleep in a temple, using a magic dream so the man can overhear a divine tale. Parwati, Maheshwara’s consort, listens as the god reveals the tragic fate of King Arunodaya and his queen, who were found dead in their palace in the early morning.

The story begins generations earlier with Arunodaya’s father, a treacherous king who grew tired of his wife. When the queen suddenly remembered her previous life—a realization that triggers instant death under divine law—she told her husband and perished. The king feigned grief and died shortly after, but his hypocrisy earned him a rebirth as a humble worm. His son, Arunodaya, ascends the throne, urged by his practical prime minister Gangadhara to marry one of the many princesses eager for his hand. Arunodaya refuses, harboring a deep, superstitious longing to marry only the woman who was his wife in a former birth.

Meanwhile, in a far-off aerial realm, the fairy king Mahidhara holds a marriage assembly for his hundred daughters. The youngest, Makarandika, is a wayward, defiant beauty who spurns all suitors and flees into the sky. Flying westward, she sees Arunodaya standing on his palace roof at dawn and falls instantly, helplessly in love with him. Desperate to win him, she tricks him by delivering a fake message from the god Ganesha, claiming she is the bride of his former birth. Overjoyed, Arunodaya marries her, leaving his prime minister utterly bewildered by the mysterious, spellbinding queen.

Happiness, however, proves fleeting. As time passes, Arunodaya’s initial passion cools into suspicion. He senses no mystic spark of recognition and suspects Makarandika is an impostor who tricked him into marriage. Meanwhile, Smaradasa, a rejected fairy suitor, tracks Makarandika down out of bitter jealousy. He gives the prime minister a strange, intoxicating fruit, instructing him to ensure Arunodaya eats it while Makarandika watches.

The fruit induces vivid, nostalgic dreams of former lives. As Arunodaya sleeps on the palace roof, he dreams of a radiant princess named Sarojini and calls out her name in delight. Watching beside his bed, Makarandika realizes her husband is wandering in dreams of another woman. When Arunodaya wakes and looks at her with cold disgust before drifting back to sleep, Makarandika’s devotion turns to icy despair. Heartbroken and enraged at losing her aerial powers for a man who despises her, she unbraids her hair, draws a hidden crystal dagger, and stabs Arunodaya through the heart before ending her own life.

Maheshwara concludes the tale with a tragic revelation: Makarandika actually was the reincarnated bride Arunodaya sought. Her lie was unknowingly the truth, but their past sins erected an invisible barrier between them, leaving both to perish in pursuit of a dream they already possessed.

How It Unfolds

A divine revelation Maheshwara puts a sleeping temple guard into a magic dream so he can overhear the god tell Parwati the tragic mystery behind the deaths of a king and queen.

The heritage of deceit Arunodaya’s father deceives his kingdom with a false reputation for marital devotion, earning a lowly rebirth while his son ascends the throne determined to marry only his past-life soulmate.

The flight of the fairy Makarandika, a rebellious fairy beauty, flees her father's court, catches sight of King Arunodaya at sunrise, and instantly falls in love with the mortal monarch.

The false claim Desperate to win the king's heart, Makarandika invents a divine prophecy from Ganesha, convincing Arunodaya that she is the wife he loved in his previous incarnation.

Doubt in paradise As the initial intoxication of their marriage fades, Arunodaya becomes tormented by suspicion, sensing that Makarandika lacks the true spiritual recognition of his lost bride.

The venomous gift A jealous fairy suitor delivers a magical fruit that causes realistic dreams of past lives, setting a psychological trap that poisons the king's sleeping mind.

The fatal waking Arunodaya calls out another woman's name in his sleep, and when he opens his eyes to look at Makarandika with hatred, she draws a dagger from her hair and ends both their lives.

The People

• Arunodaya: A young king whose name means "rising dawn." Idealistic, naive, and stubborn, he refuses ordinary royal marriages to search for a soulmate from a past life. His inability to appreciate the living woman before him drives his tragic downfall.
• Makarandika: A rebellious, extraordinarily beautiful Widyadhari (air-wandering fairy). Wayward and fiercely independent, she trades her magical powers and immortal heritage for mortal love, only to be crushed when her utter devotion is met with cold rejection.
• Gangadhara: The pragmatic prime minister who manages the kingdom. He views romance with cynical realism, mistrusts the sudden appearance of the foreign queen, and unwittingly becomes the instrument of the tragic plot.
• Smaradasa: A vengeful fairy suitor whose name implies being a "slave of love." Spurned by Makarandika, his love turns to scorching jealousy, prompting him to craft the subtle mental poison that destroys the royal couple.
• Maheshwara & Parwati: The supreme deity and his mountain-born consort, who frame the tale. Maheshwara serves as the omniscient narrator, while Parwati's compassionate curiosity mirrors the reader's emotional investment.

In Its Own Voice

"The fairies of Europe are children, little people: and it is to children that fairy stories are addressed... In India it is otherwise: the fairy stories are addressed to the grown-up, and the fairies resemble their audience: they are grown up too." — The Preface introduces the unique nature of Indian folklore.

"So it is with dreams. For their danger lies in this very beauty, and like pictures upon quiet water, which contains absolutely nothing at all, below, they show men, sleeping, visions of unrealisable beauty..." — Maheshwara explains to Parwati how romantic illusions destroy mortal lives.

"Ah! lover of Sarojini, dost thou leave me, as it were, spurned from thee with aversion, alone on the roof of thy palace, to spend thy time with her?" — Makarandika addresses her sleeping husband before drawing her dagger.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book is a meditation on the destructive power of idealization and the subtle mechanics of self-sabotage. Bain uses the traditional Indian framework of karma and rebirth to argue that human beings are frequently ruined not by external enemies, but by their own relentless pursuit of unachievable perfection. Arunodaya destroys his actual happiness because he measures his present reality against an imagined phantom of the past. The narrative suggests that romantic obsession often acts as a blindfold, preventing people from recognizing the value of the love right in front of them until it is permanently destroyed.

Why Read It Today

This short fantasy novel offers a captivating blend of Eastern mythic sensibility and modern psychological tragedy. Readers who enjoy rich, atmospheric storytelling will appreciate Bain's lush world-building—filled with airy mountain heights, quiet ocean temples, and moonlit palace terraces. The book feels like reading a classical fable wrapped in a dark, atmospheric romance.

It does present certain difficulties for modern readers. The prose style is intentionally elevated, dense, and archaic, incorporating frequent Sanskrit terms and elaborate footnotes detailing Hindu mythology. Additionally, the narrative reflects traditional gender roles and fatalistic worldviews characteristic of early 20th-century orientalist literature.

Despite these stylistic hurdles, the book's central emotional premise remains startlingly relevant. The tragic irony of the ending—where two lovers die divided by a thin wall of misunderstanding—delivers a lingering, quiet impact that stays with the reader long after the final page.