Bengal" introduces the author's motivation for collecting these stories, starting with a nostalgic recollection of hearing tales from an old woman in his village. The author recounts his interactions with various storytellers, ultimately finding a Bengali Christian woman who shares some tales of her own. This portion sets the stage for the collection, indicating that the stories are rooted in genuine local tradition. The first story, "Life's Secret," begins with a king and his two queens, touching on themes of jealousy, loyalty, and life intertwined with magical elements, such as the prince Dalim Kumar's life being bound to a boal fish, which indicates an intertwining of fate and folklore that will permeate through the tales that follow. (This is an automatically generated summary.)