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+Project Gutenberg's etext, Vikram and the Vampire, by
+Sir Richard F. Burton
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+Vikram and the Vampire
+
+by Sir Richard F. Burton
+
+November, 2000  [Etext #2400]
+[Most recently updated: October 8, 2009]
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+Project Gutenberg etext, Vikram and the Vampire, by Sir Richard
+F. Burton
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+
+
+
+      Captain Sir Richard F. Burton's
+                      
+           Vikram and The Vampire
+                      
+           Classic Hindu Tales of
+       Adventure, Magic, and Romance
+                      
+             Edited by his Wife
+               Isabel Burton
+                      
+"Les fables, loin de grandir les hommes, la Nature et Dieu,
+             rapetssent tout."
+        Lamartine (Milton)                 
+                      
+"One who had eyes saw it; the blind will not understand it.
+A poet, who is a boy, he has perceived it; he who understands it
+                  will be
+  his sire's sire." - Rig-Veda (I.164.16).
+                      
+
+Contents
+
+Preface
+Preface to the First (1870) Edition
+Introduction
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S FIRST STORY.
+In which a Man deceives a Woman
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S SECOND STORY.
+Of the Relative Villany of Men and Woman
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S THIRD STORY.
+Of a High-minded Family
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S FOURTH STORY.
+Of a Woman who told the Truth
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S FIFTH STORY.
+Of the Thief who Laughed and Wept
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S SIXTH STORY.
+In which Three Men dispute about a Woman
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S SEVENTH STORY.
+Showng the exceeding Folly of many wise Fools
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S EIGHTH STORY.
+Of the Use and Misuse of Magic Pills
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S NINTH STORY.
+Showing that a Man's Wife belongs not to his body but to his
+Head
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S TENTH STORY.
+Of the Marvellous Delicacy of Three Queens
+
+THE VAMPIRE'S ELEVENTH STORY.
+Which puzzles Raja Vikram
+
+Conclusion
+
+PREFACE
+
+The Baital-Pachisi, or Twenty-five Tales of a Baital is the history
+of a huge Bat, Vampire, or Evil Spirit which inhabited and
+animated dead bodies. It is an old, and thoroughly Hindu, Legend
+composed in Sanskrit, and is the germ which culminated in the
+Arabian Nights, and which inspired the "Golden Ass" of Apuleius,
+Boccacio's "Decamerone," the "Pentamerone," and all that class of
+facetious fictitious literature.
+
+The story turns chiefly on a great king named Vikram, the King
+Arthur of the East, who in pursuance of his promise to a Jogi or
+Magician, brings to him the Baital (Vampire), who is hanging on a
+tree. The difficulties King Vikram and his son have in bringing the
+Vampire into the presence of the Jogi are truly laughable; and on
+this thread is strung a series of Hindu fairy stories, which contain
+much interesting information on Indian customs and manners. It
+also alludes to that state, which induces Hindu devotees to allow
+themselves to be buried alive, and to appear dead for weeks or
+months, and then to return to life again; a curious state of
+mesmeric catalepsy, into which they work themselves by
+concentrating the mind and abstaining from food   - a specimen of
+which I have given a practical illustration in the Life of Sir Richard
+Burton.
+
+The following translation is rendered peculiarly; valuable and
+interesting by Sir Richard Burton's intimate knowledge of the
+language. To all who understand the ways of the East, it is as
+witty, and as full of what is popularly called "chaff" as it is
+possible to be. There is not a dull page in it, and it will especially
+please those who delight in the weird and supernatural, the
+grotesque, and the wild life.
+
+My husband only gives eleven of the best tales, as it was thought
+the translation would prove more interesting in its abbreviated
+form.
+
+ISABEL BURTON.
+
+August 18th, 1893.
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE FIRST (1870) EDITION.
+
+"THE genius of Eastern nations," says an established and
+respectable authority, "was, from the earliest times, much turned
+towards invention and the love of fiction. The Indians, the
+Persians, and the Arabians, were all famous for their fables.
+Amongst the ancient Greeks we hear of the Ionian and Milesian
+tales, but they have now perished, and, from every account we hear
+of them, appear to have been loose and indelicate." Similarly, the
+classical dictionaries define "Milesiae fabulae" to be "licentious
+themes," "stories of an amatory or mirthful nature," or "ludicrous
+and indecent plays." M. Deriege seems indeed to confound them
+with the "Moeurs du Temps" illustrated with artistic gouaches,
+when he says, "une de ces fables milesiennes, rehaussees de
+peintures, que la corruption romaine recherchait alors avec une
+folle ardeur."
+
+My friend, Mr. Richard Charnock, F.A.S.L., more correctly
+defines Milesian fables to have been originally " certain tales or
+novels, composed by Aristides of Miletus "; gay in matter and
+graceful in manner. "They were translated into Latin by the
+historian Sisenna, the friend of Atticus, and they had a great
+success at Rome. Plutarch, in his life of Crassus, tells us that after
+the defeat of Carhes (Carrhae?) some Milesiacs were found in the
+baggage of the Roman prisoners. The Greek text; and the Latin
+translation have long been lost. The only surviving fable is the tale
+of Cupid and Psyche,[FN#1] which Apuleius calls 'Milesius
+sermo,' and it makes us deeply regret the disappearance of the
+others." Besides this there are the remains of Apollodorus and
+Conon, and a few traces to be found in Pausanias, Athenaeus, and
+the scholiasts.
+
+I do not, therefore, agree with Blair, with the dictionaries, or with
+M. Deriege. Miletus, the great maritime city of Asiatic Ionia, was
+of old the meeting-place of the East and the West. Here the
+Phoenician trader from the Baltic would meet the Hindu
+wandering to Intra, from Extra, Gangem; and the Hyperborean
+would step on shore side by side with the Nubian and the Aethiop.
+Here was produced and published for the use of the then civilized
+world, the genuine Oriental apologue, myth and tale combined,
+which, by amusing narrative and romantic adventure, insinuates a
+lesson in morals or in humanity, of which we often in our days
+must fail to perceive the drift. The book of Apuleius, before
+quoted, is subject to as many discoveries of recondite meaning as
+is Rabelais. As regards the licentiousness of the Milesian fables,
+this sign of semi-civilization is still inherent in most Eastern books
+of the description which we call "light literature," and the ancestral
+tale-teller never collects a larger purse of coppers than when he
+relates the worst of his "aurei." But this looseness, resulting from
+the separation of the sexes, is accidental, not necessary. The
+following collection will show that it can be dispensed with, and
+that there is such a thing as comparative purity in Hindu literature.
+The author, indeed, almost always takes the trouble to marry his
+hero and his heroine, and if he cannot find a priest, he generally
+adopts an exceedingly left-hand and Caledonian but legal rite
+called "gandharbavivaha.[FN#2]"
+
+The work of Apuleius, as ample internal evidence shows, is
+borrowed from the East. The groundwork of the tale is the
+metamorphosis of Lucius of Corinth into an ass, and the strange
+accidents which precede his recovering the human form.
+
+Another old Hindu story-book relates, in the popular fairy-book
+style, the wondrous adventures of the hero and demigod, the great
+Gandharba-Sena. That son of Indra, who was also the father of
+Vikramajit, the subject of this and another collection, offended the
+ruler of the firmament by his fondness for a certain nymph, and
+was doomed to wander over earth under the form of a donkey.
+Through the interposition of the gods, however, he was permitted
+to become a man during the hours of darkness, thus comparing
+with the English legend  -
+
+          Amundeville is lord by day,
+          But the monk is lord by night.
+
+Whilst labouring under this curse, Gandharba-Sena persuaded the
+King of Dhara to give him a daughter in marriage, but it
+unfortunately so happened that at the wedding hour he was unable
+to show himself in any but asinine shape. After bathing, however,
+he proceeded to the assembly, and, hearing songs and music, he
+resolved to give them a specimen of his voice.
+
+The guests were filled with sorrow that so beautiful a virgin should
+be married to a donkey. They were afraid to express their feelings
+to the king, but they could not refrain from smiling, covering their
+mouths with their garments. At length some one interrupted the
+general silence and said:
+
+"O king, is this the son of Indra? You have found a fine
+bridegroom; you are indeed happy; don't delay the marriage; delay
+is improper in doing good; we never saw so glorious a wedding! It
+is true that we once heard of a camel being married to a jenny-ass;
+when the ass, looking up to the camel, said, 'Bless me, what a
+bridegroom!' and the camel, hearing the voice of the ass,
+exclaimed, 'Bless me, what a musical voice!' In that wedding,
+however, the bride and the bridegroom were equal; but in this
+marriage, that such a bride should have such a bridegroom is truly
+wonderful."
+
+Other Brahmans then present said:
+
+"O king, at the marriage hour, in sign of joy the sacred shell is
+blown, but thou hast no need of that" (alluding to the donkey's
+braying).
+
+The women all cried out:
+
+"O my mother![FN#3] what is this? at the time of marriage to have
+an ass! What a miserable thing! What! will he give that angelic girl
+in wedlock to a donkey?"
+
+At length Gandharba-Sena, addressing the king in Sanskrit, urged
+him to perform his promise. He reminded his future father-in-law
+that there is no act more meritorious than speaking truth; that the
+mortal frame is a mere dress, and that wise men never estimate the
+value of a person by his clothes. He added that he was in that
+shape from the curse of his sire, and that during the night he had
+the body of a man. Of his being the son of Indra there could be no
+doubt.
+
+Hearing the donkey thus speak Sanskrit, for it was never known
+that an ass could discourse in that classical tongue, the minds of
+the people were changed, and they confessed that, although he had
+an asinine form he was unquestionably the son of Indra. The king,
+therefore, gave him his daughter in marriage.[FN#4] The
+metamorphosis brings with it many misfortunes and strange
+occurrences, and it lasts till Fate in the author's hand restores the
+hero to his former shape and honours.
+
+Gandharba-Sena is a quasi-historical personage, who lived in the
+century preceding the Christian era. The story had, therefore,
+ample time to reach the ears of the learned African Apuleius, who
+was born A.D. 130.
+
+The Baital-Pachisi, or Twenty-five (tales of a) Baital[FN#5]  - a
+Vampire or evil spirit which animates dead bodies  -  is an old and
+thoroughly Hindu repertory. It is the rude beginning of that
+fictitious history which ripened to the Arabian Nights'
+Entertainments, and which, fostered by the genius of Boccaccio,
+produced the romance of the chivalrous days, and its last
+development, the novel  -  that prose-epic of modern Europe.
+
+Composed in Sanskrit, "the language of the gods," alias the Latin
+of India, it has been translated into all the Prakrit or vernacular and
+modern dialects of the great peninsula. The reason why it has not
+found favour with the Moslems is doubtless the highly polytheistic
+spirit which pervades it; moreover, the Faithful had already a
+specimen of that style of composition. This was the Hitopadesa, or
+Advice of a Friend, which, as a line in its introduction informs us,
+was borrowed from an older book, the Panchatantra, or Five
+Chapters. It is a collection of apologues recited by a learned
+Brahman, Vishnu Sharma by name, for the edification of his
+pupils, the sons of an Indian Raja. They have been adapted to or
+translated into a number of languages, notably into Pehlvi and
+Persian, Syriac and Turkish, Greek and Latin, Hebrew and Arabic.
+And as the Fables of Pilpay,[FN#6] are generally known, by name
+at least, to European litterateurs. . Voltaire remarks,[FN#7]
+"Quand on fait reflexion que presque toute la terre a ete infatuee de
+pareils comes, et qu'ils ont fait l'education du genre humain, on
+trouve les fables de Pilpay, Lokman, d'Esope bien raisonnables."
+These tales, detached, but strung together by artificial means -
+pearls with a thread drawn through them - are manifest precursors
+of the Decamerone, or Ten Days. A modern Italian critic describes
+the now classical fiction as a collection of one hundred of those
+novels which Boccaccio is believed to have read out at the court of
+Queen Joanna of Naples, and which later in life were by him
+assorted together by a most simple and ingenious contrivance. But
+the great Florentine invented neither his stories nor his " plot," if
+we may so call it. He wrote in the middle of the fourteenth century
+(1344-8) when the West had borrowed many things from the East,
+rhymes[FN#8] and romance, lutes and drums, alchemy and
+knight-errantry. Many of the "Novelle" are, as Orientalists well
+know, to this day sung and recited almost textually by the
+wandering tale-tellers, bards, and rhapsodists of Persia and Central
+Asia.
+
+The great kshatriya,(soldier) king Vikramaditya,[FN#9] or
+Vikramarka, meaning the "Sun of Heroism," plays in India the part
+of King Arthur, and of Harun al-Rashid further West. He is a
+semi-historical personage. The son of Gandharba-Sena the donkey
+and the daughter of the King of Dhara, he was promised by his
+father the strength of a thousand male elephants. When his sire
+died, his grandfather, the deity Indra, resolved that the babe should
+not be born, upon which his mother stabbed herself. But the tragic
+event duly happening during the ninth month, Vikram came into
+the world by himself, and was carried to Indra, who pitied and
+adopted him, and gave him a good education.
+
+The circumstances of his accession to the throne, as will presently
+appear, are differently told. Once, however, made King of Malaya,
+the modern Malwa, a province of Western Upper India, he so
+distinguished himself that the Hindu fabulists, with their usual
+brave kind of speaking, have made him "bring the whole earth
+under the shadow of one umbrella,"
+
+The last ruler of the race of Mayura, which reigned 318 years, was
+Raja-pal. He reigned 25 years, but giving himself up to
+effeminacy, his country was invaded by Shakaditya, a king from
+the highlands of Kumaon. Vikramaditya, in the fourteenth year of
+his reign, pretended to espouse the cause of Raja-pal, attacked and
+destroyed Shakaditya, and ascended the throne of Delhi. His
+capital was Avanti, or Ujjayani, the modern Ujjain. It was 13 kos
+(26 miles) long by 18 miles wide, an area of 468 square miles, but
+a trifle in Indian History. He obtained the title of Shakari, "foe of
+the Shakas," the Sacae or Scythians, by his victories over that
+redoubtable race. In the Kali Yug, or Iron Age, he stands highest
+amongst the Hindu kings as the patron of learning. Nine persons
+under his patronage, popularly known as the "Nine Gems of
+Science," hold in India the honourable position of the Seven Wise
+Men of Greece.
+
+These learned persons wrote works in the eighteen original dialects
+from which, say the Hindus, all the languages of the earth have
+been derived.[FN#10] Dhanwantari enlightened the world upon the
+subjects of medicine and of incantations. Kshapanaka treated the
+primary elements. Amara-Singha compiled a Sanskrit dictionary
+and a philosophical treatise. Shankubetalabhatta composed
+comments, and Ghatakarpara a poetical work of no great merit.
+The books of Mihira are not mentioned. Varaha produced two
+works on astrology and one on arithmetic. And Bararuchi
+introduced certain improvements in grammar, commented upon
+the incantations, and wrote a poem in praise of King Madhava.
+
+But the most celebrated of all the patronized ones was Kalidasa.
+His two dramas, Sakuntala,[FN#11] and Vikram and
+Urvasi,[FN#12] have descended to our day; besides which he
+produced a poem on the seasons, a work on astronomy, a poetical
+history of the gods, and many other books.[FN#13]
+
+Vikramaditya established the Sambat era, dating from A.C. 56.
+After a long, happy, and glorious reign, he lost his life in a war
+with Shalivahana, King of Pratisthana. That monarch also left
+behind him an era called the " Shaka," beginning with A.D. 78. It
+is employed, even now, by the Hindus in recording their births,
+marriages, and similar occasions.
+
+King Vikramaditya was succeeded by his infant son
+Vikrama-Sena, and father and son reigned over a period of 93
+years. At last the latter was supplanted by a devotee named
+Samudra-pala, who entered into his body by miraculous means.
+The usurper reigned 24 years and 2 months, and the throne of
+Delhi continued in the hands of his sixteen successors, who
+reigned 641 years and 3 months. Vikrama-pala, the last, was slain
+in battle by Tilaka-chandra, King of Vaharannah[FN#14].
+
+It is not pretended that the words of these Hindu tales are
+preserved to the letter. The question about the metamorphosis of
+cats into tigers, for instance, proceeded from a Gem of Learning in
+a university much nearer home than Gaur. Similarly the learned
+and still living Mgr. Gaume (Traite du Saint-Esprit, p.. 81) joins
+Camerarius in the belief that serpents bite women rather than men.
+And he quotes (p.. 192) Cornelius a Lapide, who informs us that
+the leopard is the produce of a lioness with a hyena or a bard..
+
+The merit of the old stories lies in their suggestiveness and in their
+general applicability. I have ventured to remedy the conciseness of
+their language, and to clothe the skeleton with flesh and blood.
+
+                To My Uncle,
+                      
+       ROBERT BAGSHAW, OF DOVERCOURT,
+                      
+                These Tales,
+    That Will Remind Him Of A Land Which
+             He Knows So Well,
+       Are Affectionately Inscribed.
+                      
+
+          VIKRAM AND THE VAMPIRE.
+
+                INTRODUCTION
+
+The sage Bhavabhuti -- Eastern teller of these tales -- after making
+his initiatory and propitiatory conge to Ganesha, Lord of Incepts,
+informs the reader that this book is a string of fine pearls to be
+hung round the neck of human intelligence; a fragrant flower to be
+borne on the turband of mental wisdom; a jewel of pure gold,
+which becomes the brow of all supreme minds; and a handful of
+powdered rubies, whose tonic effects will appear palpably upon
+the mental digestion of every patient. Finally, that by aid of the
+lessons inculcated in the following pages, man will pass happily
+through this world into the state of absorption, where fables will be
+no longer required.
+
+He then teaches us how Vikramaditya the Brave became King of
+Ujjayani.
+
+Some nineteen centuries ago, the renowned city of Ujjayani
+witnessed the birth of a prince to whom was given the gigantic
+name Vikramaditya. Even the Sanskrit-speaking people, who are
+not usually pressed for time, shortened it to "Vikram", and a little
+further West it would infallibly have been docked down to "Vik".
+
+Vikram was the second son of an old king Gandharba-Sena,
+concerning whom little favourable has reached posterity, except
+that he became an ass, married four queens, and had by them six
+sons, each of whom was more learned and powerful than the other.
+It so happened that in course of time the father died. Thereupon his
+eldest heir, who was known as Shank, succeeded to the carpet of
+Rajaship, and was instantly murdered by Vikram, his "scorpion",
+the hero of the following pages.[FN#15]
+
+By this act of vigour and manly decision, which all younger-
+brother princes should devoutly imitate, Vikram having obtained
+the title of Bir, or the Brave, made himself Raja. He began to rule
+well, and the gods so favoured him that day by day his dominions
+increased. At length he became lord of all India, and having firmly
+established his government, he instituted an era--an uncommon
+feat for a mere monarch, especially when hereditary.
+
+The steps,[FN#16] says the historian, which he took to arrive at
+that pinnacle of grandeur, were these:
+
+The old King calling his two grandsons Bhartari-hari and
+Vikramaditya, gave them good counsel respecting their future
+learning. They were told to master everything, a certain way not to
+succeed in anything. They were diligently to learn grammar, the
+Scriptures, and all the religious sciences. They were to become
+familiar with military tactics, international law, and music, the
+riding of horses and elephants-- especially the latter--the driving of
+chariots, and the use of the broadsword, the bow, and the mogdars
+or Indian clubs. They were ordered to be skilful in all kinds of
+games, in leaping and running, in besieging forts, in forming and
+breaking bodies of troops; they were to endeavour to excel in
+every princely quality, to be cunning in ascertaining the power of
+an enemy, how to make war, to perform journeys, to sit in the
+presence of the nobles, to separate the different sides of a question,
+to form alliances, to distinguish between the innocent and the
+guilty, to assign proper punishments to the wicked, to exercise
+authority with perfect justice, and to be liberal. The boys were then
+sent to school, and were placed under the care of excellent
+teachers, where they became truly famous. Whilst under pupilage,
+the eldest was allowed all the power necessary to obtain a
+knowledge of royal affairs, and he was not invested with the regal
+office till in these preparatory steps he had given full satisfaction
+to his subjects, who expressed high approval of his conduct.
+
+The two brothers often conversed on the duties of kings, when the
+great Vikramaditya gave the great Bhartari-hari the following
+valuable advice[FN#17]:
+
+"As Indra, during the four rainy months, fills the earth with water,
+so a king should replenish his treasury with money. As Surya the
+sun, in warming the earth eight months, does not scorch it, so a
+king, in drawing revenues from his people, ought not to oppress
+them. As Vayu, the wind, surrounds and fills everything, so the
+king by his officers and spies should become acquainted with the
+affairs and circumstances of his whole people. As Yama judges
+men without partiality or prejudice, and punishes the guilty, so
+should a king chastise, without favour, all offenders. As Varuna,
+the regent of water, binds with his pasha or divine noose his
+enemies, so let a king bind every malefactor safely in prison. As
+Chandra,[FN#18] the moon, by his cheering light gives pleasure to
+all, thus should a king, by gifts and generosity, make his people
+happy. And as Prithwi, the earth, sustains all alike, so should a
+king feel an equal affection and forbearance towards every one."
+
+Become a monarch, Vikram meditated deeply upon what is said of
+monarchs:--"A king is fire and air; he is both sun and moon; he is
+the god of criminal justice; he is the genius of wealth; he is the
+regent of water; he is the lord of the firmament; he is a powerful
+divinity who appears in human shape." He reflected with some
+satisfaction that the scriptures had made him absolute, had left the
+lives and properties of all his subjects to his arbitrary will, had
+pronounced him to be an incarnate deity, and had threatened to
+punish with death even ideas derogatory to his honour.
+
+He punctually observed all the ordinances laid down by the author
+of the Niti, or institutes of government. His night and day were
+divided into sixteen pahars or portions, each one hour and a half,
+and they were disposed of as follows:-- 
+
+Before dawn Vikram was awakened by a servant appointed to this
+special duty. He swallowed-- a thing allowed only to a khshatriya
+or warrior-- Mithridatic every morning on the saliva[FN#19], and
+he made the cooks taste every dish before he ate of it. As soon as
+he had risen, the pages in waiting repeated his splendid qualities,
+and as he left his sleeping-room in full dress, several Brahmans
+rehearsed the praises of the gods. Presently he bathed, worshipped
+his guardian deity, again heard hymns, drank a little water, and
+saw alms distributed to the poor. He ended this watch by auditing
+his accounts.
+
+Next entering his court, he placed himself amidst the assembly. He
+was always armed when he received strangers, and he caused even
+women to be searched for concealed weapons. He was surrounded
+by so many spies and so artful, that of a thousand, no two ever told
+the same tale. At the levee, on his right sat his relations, the
+Brahmans, and men of distinguished birth. The other castes were
+on the left, and close to him stood the ministers and those whom he
+delighted to consult. Afar in front gathered the bards chanting the
+praises of the gods and of the king; also the charioteers,
+elephanteers, horsemen, and soldiers of valour. Amongst the
+learned men in those assemblies there were ever some who were
+well instructed in all the scriptures, and others who had studied in
+one particular school of philosophy, and were acquainted only with
+the works on divine wisdom, or with those on justice, civil and
+criminal, on the arts, mineralogy or the practice of physic; also
+persons cunning in all kinds of customs; riding-masters, dancing-
+masters, teachers of good behaviour, examiners, tasters, mimics,
+mountebanks, and others, who all attended the court and awaited
+the king's commands. He here pronounced judgment in suits of
+appeal. His poets wrote about him:
+
+               The lord of lone splendour an instant suspends
+               His course at mid~noon, ere he westward descends;
+               And brief are the moments our young monarch knows,
+               Devoted to pleasure or paid to repose!
+
+Before the second sandhya,[FN#20] or noon, about the beginning
+of the third watch, he recited the names of the gods, bathed, and
+broke his fast in his private room; then rising from food, he was
+amused by singers and dancing girls. The labours of the day now
+became lighter. After eating he retired, repeating the name of his
+guardian deity, visited the temples, saluted the gods conversed
+with the priests, and proceeded to receive and to distribute
+presents. Fifthly, he discussed political questions with his
+ministers and councillors.
+
+On the announcement of the herald that it was the sixth watch--
+about 2 or 3 P.M.--Vikram allowed himself to follow his own
+inclinations, to regulate his family, and to transact business of a
+private and personal nature.
+
+After gaining strength by rest, he proceeded to review his troops,
+examining the men, saluting the officers, and holding military
+councils. At sunset he bathed a third time and performed the five
+sacraments of listening to a prelection of the Veda; making
+oblations to the manes; sacrificing to Fire in honour of the deities;
+giving rice to dumb creatures; and receiving guests with due
+ceremonies. He spent the evening amidst a select company of wise,
+learned, and pious men, conversing on different subjects, and
+reviewing the business of the day.
+
+The night was distributed with equal care. During the first portion
+Vikram received the reports which his spies and envoys, dressed in
+every disguise, brought to him about his enemies. Against the
+latter he ceased not to use the five arts, namely--dividing the
+kingdom, bribes, mischief-making, negotiations, and brute-force--
+especially preferring the first two and the last. His forethought and
+prudence taught him to regard all his nearest neighbours and their
+allies as hostile. The powers beyond those natural enemies he
+considered friendly because they were the foes of his foes. And all
+the remoter nations he looked upon as neutrals, in a transitional or
+provisional state as it were, till they became either his neighbours'
+neighbours, or his own neighbours, that is to say, his friends or his
+foes.
+
+This important duty finished he supped, and at the end of the third
+watch he retired to sleep, which was not allowed to last beyond
+three hours. In the sixth watch he arose and purified himself. The
+seventh was devoted to holding private consultations with his
+ministers, and to furnishing the officers of government with
+requisite instructions. The eighth or last watch was spent with the
+Purohita or priest, and with Brahmans, hailing the dawn with its
+appropriate rites; he then bathed, made the customary offerings,
+and prayed in some unfrequented place near pure water.
+
+And throughout these occupations he bore in mind the duty of
+kings, namely--to pursue every object till it be accomplished; to
+succour all dependents, and hospitably to receive guests, however
+numerous. He was generous to his subjects respecting taxes, and
+kind of speech; yet he was inexorable as death in the punishment
+of offenses. He rarely hunted, and he visited his pleasure gardens
+only on stated days. He acted in his own dominions with justice;
+he chastised foreign foes with rigour; he behaved generously to
+Brahmans, and he avoided favouritism amongst his friends. In war
+he never slew a suppliant, a spectator, a person asleep or
+undressed, or anyone that showed fear. Whatever country he
+conquered, offerings were presented to its gods, and effects and
+money were given to the reverends. But what benefited him most
+was his attention to the creature comforts of the nine Gems of
+Science: those eminent men ate and drank themselves into fits of
+enthusiasm, and ended by immortalizing their patron's name.
+
+Become Vikram the Great he established his court at a delightful
+and beautiful location rich in the best of water. The country was
+difficult of access, and artificially made incapable of supporting a
+host of invaders, but four great roads met near the city. The capital
+was surrounded with durable ramparts, having gates of defence,
+and near it was a mountain fortress, under the especial charge of a
+great captain.
+
+The metropolis was well garrisoned and provisioned, and it
+surrounded the royal palace, a noble building without as well as
+within. Grandeur seemed embodied there, and Prosperity had made
+it her own. The nearer ground, viewed from the terraces and
+pleasure pavilions, was a lovely mingling of rock and mountain,
+plain and valley, field and fallow, crystal lake and glittering
+stream. The banks of the winding Lavana were fringed with meads
+whose herbage, pearly with morning dew, afforded choicest
+grazing for the sacred cow, and were dotted with perfumed clumps
+of Bo-trees, tamarinds, and holy figs: in one place Vikram planted
+100,000 in a single orchard and gave them to his spiritual advisers.
+The river valley separated the stream from a belt of forest growth
+which extended to a hill range, dark with impervious jungle, and
+cleared here and there for the cultivator's village. Behind it, rose
+another sub-range, wooded with a lower bush and already blue
+with air, whilst in the background towered range upon range, here
+rising abruptly into points and peaks, there ramp-shaped or wall-
+formed, with sheer descents, and all of light azure hue adorned
+with glories of silver and gold.
+
+After reigning for some years, Vikram the Brave found himself at
+the age of thirty, a staid and sober middle-aged man, He had
+several sons--daughters are naught in India--by his several wives,
+and he had some paternal affection for nearly all--except of course,
+for his eldest son, a youth who seemed to conduct himself as
+though he had a claim to the succession. In fact, the king seemed
+to have taken up his abode for life at Ujjayani, when suddenly he
+bethought himself, "I must visit those countries of whose names I
+am ever hearing." The fact is, he had determined to spy out in
+disguise the lands of all his foes, and to find the best means of
+bringing against them his formidable army.
+
+      *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+We now learn how Bhartari Raja becomes Regent of Ujjayani.
+
+Having thus resolved, Vikram the Brave gave the government into
+the charge of a younger brother, Bhartari Raja, and in the garb of a
+religious mendicant, accompanied by Dharma Dhwaj, his second
+son, a youth bordering on the age of puberty, he began to travel
+from city to city, and from forest to forest.
+
+The Regent was of a settled melancholic turn of mind, having lost
+in early youth a very peculiar wife. One day, whilst out hunting, he
+happened to pass a funeral pyre, upon which a Brahman's widow
+had just become Sati (a holy woman) with the greatest fortitude.
+On his return home he related the adventure to Sita Rani, his
+spouse, and she at once made reply that virtuous women die with
+their husbands, killed by the fire of grief, not by the flames of the
+pile. To prove her truth the prince, after an affectionate farewell,
+rode forth to the chase, and presently sent back the suite with his
+robes torn and stained, to report his accidental death. Sita perished
+upon the spot, and the widower remained inconsolable--for a time.
+
+He led the dullest of lives, and took to himself sundry spouses, all
+equally distinguished for birth, beauty, and modesty. Like his
+brother, he performed all the proper devoirs of a Raja, rising
+before the day to finish his ablutions, to worship the gods, and to
+do due obeisance to the Brahmans. He then ascended the throne, to
+judge his people according to the Shastra, carefully keeping in
+subjection lust, anger, avarice, folly, drunkenness, and pride;
+preserving himself from being seduced by the love of gaming and
+of the chase; restraining his desire for dancing, singing, and
+playing on musical instruments, and refraining from sleep during
+daytime, from wine, from molesting men of worth, from dice, from
+putting human beings to death by artful means, from useless
+travelling, and from holding any one guilty without the
+commission of a crime. His levees were in a hall decently
+splendid, and he was distinguished only by an umbrella of
+peacock's feathers; he received all complainants, petitioners, and
+presenters of offenses with kind looks and soft words. He united to
+himself the seven or eight wise councillors, and the sober and
+virtuous secretary that formed the high cabinet of his royal brother,
+and they met in some secret lonely spot, as a mountain, a terrace, a
+bower or a forest, whence women, parrots, and other talkative
+birds were carefully excluded.
+
+And at the end of this useful and somewhat laborious day, he
+retired to his private apartments, and, after listening to spiritual
+songs and to soft music, he fell asleep. Sometimes he would
+summon his brother's "Nine Gems of Science," and give ear to
+their learned discourses. But it was observed that the viceroy
+reserved this exercise for nights when he was troubled with
+insomnia--the words of wisdom being to him an infallible remedy
+for that disorder.
+
+Thus passed onwards his youth, doing nothing that it could desire,
+forbidden all pleasures because they were unprincely, and working
+in the palace harder than in the pauper's hut. Having, however,
+fortunately for himself, few predilections and no imagination, he
+began to pride himself upon being a philosopher. Much business
+from an early age had dulled his wits, which were never of the
+most brilliant; and in the steadily increasing torpidity of his spirit,
+he traced the germs of that quietude which forms the highest
+happiness of man in this storm of matter called the world. He
+therefore allowed himself but one friend of his soul. He retained, I
+have said, his brother's seven or eight ministers; he was constant in
+attendance upon the Brahman priests who officiated at the palace,
+and who kept the impious from touching sacred property; and he
+was courteous to the commander-in-chief who directed his
+warriors, to the officers of justice who inflicted punishment upon
+offenders, and to the lords of towns, varying in number from one
+to a thousand. But he placed an intimate of his own in the high
+position of confidential councillor, the ambassador to regulate war
+and peace.
+
+Mahi-pala was a person of noble birth, endowed with shining
+abilities, popular, dexterous in business, acquainted with foreign
+parts, famed for eloquence and intrepidity, and as Menu the
+Lawgiver advises, remarkably handsome.
+
+Bhartari Raja, as I have said, became a quietist and a philosopher.
+But Kama,[FN#21] the bright god who exerts his sway over the
+three worlds, heaven and earth and grewsome Hades,[FN#22] had
+marked out the prince once more as the victim of his blossom-
+tipped shafts and his flowery bow. How, indeed, could he hope to
+escape the doom which has fallen equally upon Brahma the
+Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and dreadful Shiva the Three-eyed
+Destroyer[FN#23]?
+
+By reason of her exceeding beauty, her face was a full moon
+shining in the clearest sky; her hair was the purple cloud of autumn
+when, gravid with rain, it hangs low over earth; and her
+complexion mocked the pale waxen hue of the large-flowered
+jasmine. Her eyes were those of the timid antelope; her lips were
+as red as those of the pomegranate's bud, and when they opened,
+from them distilled a fountain of ambrosia. Her neck was like a
+pigeon's; her hand the pink lining of the conch-shell; her waist a
+leopard's; her feet the softest lotuses. In a word, a model of grace
+and loveliness was Dangalah Rani, Raja Bhartari's last and
+youngest wife.
+
+The warrior laid down his arms before her; the politician spoke out
+every secret in her presence. The religious prince would have
+slaughtered a cow--that sole unforgivable sin--to save one of her
+eyelashes: the absolute king would not drink a cup of water
+without her permission; the staid philosopher, the sober quietist, to
+win from her the shadow of a smile, would have danced before her
+like a singing-girl. So desperately enamoured became Bhartari
+Raja.
+
+It is written, however, that love, alas! breeds not love; and so it
+happened to the Regent. The warmth of his affection, instead of
+animating his wife, annoyed her; his protestations wearied her; his
+vows gave her the headache; and his caresses were a colic that
+made her blood run cold. Of course, the prince perceived nothing,
+being lost in wonder and admiration of the beauty's coyness and
+coquetry. And as women must give away their hearts, whether
+asked or not, so the lovely Dangalah Rani lost no time in lavishing
+all the passion of her idle soul upon Mahi-pala, the handsome
+ambassador of peace and war. By this means the three were happy
+and were contented; their felicity, however, being built on a rotten
+foundation, could not long endure. It soon ended in the following
+extraordinary way.
+
+In the city of Ujjayani,[FN#24] within sight of the palace, dwelt a
+Brahman and his wife, who, being old and poor, and having
+nothing else to do, had applied themselves to the practice of
+austere devotion.[FN#25] They fasted and refrained from drink,
+they stood on their heads and held their arms for weeks in the air;
+they prayed till their knees were like pads; they disciplined
+themselves with scourges of wire; and they walked about unclad in
+the cold season, and in summer they sat within a circle of flaming
+wood, till they became the envy and admiration of all the plebeian
+gods that inhabit the lower heavens. In fine, as a reward for their
+exceeding piety, the venerable pair received at the hands of a
+celestial messenger an apple of the tree Kalpavriksha-- a fruit
+which has the virtue of conferring eternal life upon him that tastes
+it.
+
+Scarcely had the god disappeared, when the Brahman, opening his
+toothless mouth, prepared to eat the fruit of immortality. Then his
+wife addressed him in these words, shedding copious tears the
+while:
+
+"To die, O man, is a passing pain; to be poor is an interminable
+anguish. Surely our present lot is the penalty of some great crime
+committed by us in a past state of being.[FN#26] Callest thou this
+state life? Better we die at once, and so escape the woes of the
+world!"
+
+Hearing these words, the Brahman sat undecided, with open jaws
+and eyes fixed upon the apple. Presently he found tongue: "I have
+accepted the fruit, and have brought it here; but having heard thy
+speech, my intellect hath wasted away; now I will do whatever
+thou pointest out."
+
+The wife resumed her discourse, which had been interrupted by a
+more than usually copious flow of tears. "Moreover, O husband,
+we are old, and what are the enjoyments of the stricken in years?
+Truly quoth the poet-- 
+
+               Die loved in youth, not hated in age.
+
+If that fruit could have restored thy dimmed eyes, and deaf ears,
+and blunted taste, and warmth of love, I had not spoken to thee
+thus."
+
+After which the Brahman threw away the apple, to the great joy of
+his wife, who felt a natural indignation at the prospect of seeing
+her goodman become immortal, whilst she still remained subject to
+the laws of death; but she concealed this motive in the depths of
+her thought, enlarging, as women are apt to do, upon everything
+but the truth. And she spoke with such success, that the priest was
+about to toss in his rage the heavenly fruit into the fire,
+reproaching the gods as if by sending it they had done him an
+injury. Then the wife snatched it out of his hand, and telling him it
+was too precious to be wasted, bade him arise and gird his loins
+and wend him to the Regent's palace, and offer him the fruit--as
+King Vikram was absent--with a right reverend brahmanical
+benediction. She concluded with impressing upon her unworldly
+husband the necessity of requiring a large sum of money as a
+return for his inestimable gift. "By this means, "she said, "thou
+mayst promote thy present and future welfare.[FN#27]"
+
+Then the Brahman went forth, and standing in the presence of the
+Raja, told him all things touching the fruit, concluding with "O,
+mighty prince! vouchsafe to accept this tribute, and bestow wealth
+upon me. I shall be happy in your living long!"
+
+Bhartari Raja led the supplicant into an inner strongroom, where
+stood heaps of the finest gold-dust, and bade him carry away all
+that he could; this the priest did, not forgetting to fill even his
+eloquent and toothless mouth with the precious metal. Having
+dismissed the devotee groaning under the burden, the Regent
+entered the apartments of his wives, and having summoned the
+beautiful Queen Dangalah Rani, gave her the fruit, and said, "Eat
+this, light of my eyes! This fruit--joy of my heart!--will make thee
+everlastingly young and beautiful."
+
+The pretty queen, placing both hands upon her husband's bosom,
+kissed his eyes and lips, and sweetly smiling on his face--for great
+is the guile of women--whispered, "Eat it thyself, dear one, or at
+least share it with me; for what is life and what is youth without
+the presence of those we love?" But the Raja, whose heart was
+melted by these unusual words, put her away tenderly, and, having
+explained that the fruit would serve for only one person, departed.
+
+Whereupon the pretty queen, sweetly smiling as before, slipped the
+precious present into her pocket. When the Regent was transacting
+business in the hall of audience she sent for the ambassador who
+regulated war and peace, and presented him with the apple in a
+manner at least as tender as that with which it had been offered to
+her.
+
+Then the ambassador, after slipping the fruit into his pocket also,
+retired from the presence of the pretty queen, and meeting Lakha,
+one of the maids of honour, explained to her its wonderful power,
+and gave it to her as a token of his love. But the maid of honour,
+being an ambitious girl, determined that the fruit was a fit present
+to set before the Regent in the absence of the King. Bhartari Raja
+accepted it, bestowed on her great wealth, and dismissed her with
+many thanks.
+
+He then took up the apple and looked at it with eyes brimful of
+tears, for he knew the whole extent of his misfortune. His heart
+ached, he felt a loathing for the world, and he said with sighs and
+groans[FN#28]:
+
+"Of what value are these delusions of wealth and affection, whose
+sweetness endures for a moment and becomes eternal bitterness?
+Love is like the drunkard's cup: delicious is the first drink, palling
+are the draughts that succeed it, and most distasteful are the dregs.
+What is life but a restless vision of imaginary pleasures and of real
+pains, from which the only waking is the terrible day of death? The
+affection of this world is of no use, since, in consequence of it, we
+fall at last into hell. For which reason it is best to practice the
+austerities of religion, that the Deity may bestow upon us hereafter
+that happiness which he refuses to us here!"
+
+Thus did Bhartari Raja determine to abandon the world. But before
+setting out for the forest, he could not refrain from seeing the
+queen once more, so hot was the flame which Kama had kindled in
+his heart. He therefore went to the apartments of his women, and
+having caused Dangalah Rani to be summoned, he asked her what
+had become of the fruit which he had given to her. She answered
+that, according to his command, she had eaten it. Upon which the
+Regent showed her the apple, and she beholding it stood aghast,
+unable to make any reply. The Raja gave careful orders for her
+beheading; he then went out, and having had the fruit washed, ate
+it. He quitted the throne to be a jogi, or religious mendicant, and
+without communicating with any one departed into the jungle.
+There he became such a devotee that death had no power over him,
+and he is wandering still. But some say that he was duly absorbed
+into the essence of the Deity.
+
+      *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+We are next told how the valiant Vikram returned to his own
+country.
+
+Thus Vikram's throne remained empty. When the news reached
+King Indra, Regent of the Lower Firmament and Protector of
+Earthly Monarchs, he sent Prithwi Pala, a fierce giant,[FN#29] to
+defend the city of Ujjayani till such time as its lawful master might
+reappear, and the guardian used to keep watch and ward night and
+day over his trust.
+
+In less than a year the valorous Raja Vikram became thoroughly
+tired of wandering about the woods half dressed: now suffering
+from famine, then exposed to the attacks of wild beasts, and at all
+times very ill at ease. He reflected also that he was not doing his
+duty to his wives and children; that the heir-apparent would
+probably make the worst use of the parental absence; and finally,
+that his subjects, deprived of his fatherly care, had been left in the
+hands of a man who, for ought he could say, was not worthy of the
+high trust. He had also spied out all the weak points of friend and
+foe. Whilst these and other equally weighty considerations were
+hanging about the Raja's mind, he heard a rumour of the state of
+things spread abroad; that Bhartari, the regent, having abdicated
+his throne, had gone away into the forest. Then quoth Vikram to
+his son,"We have ended our wayfarings, now let us turn our steps
+homewards!"
+
+The gong was striking the mysterious hour of midnight as the king
+and the young prince approached the principal gate. And they were
+pushing through it when a monstrous figure rose up before them
+and called out with a fearful voice, "Who are ye, and where are ye
+going ? Stand and deliver your names!"
+
+"I am Raja Vikram," rejoined the king, half choked with rage, "and
+I am come to mine own city. Who art thou that darest to stop or
+stay me?"
+
+"That question is easily answered," cried Prithwi Pala the giant, in
+his roaring voice; "the gods have sent me to protect Ujjayani. If
+thou be really Raja Vikram, prove thyself a man: first fight with
+me, and then return to thine own."
+
+The warrior king cried "Sadhu!" wanting nothing better. He girt his
+girdle tight round his loins, summoned his opponent into the empty
+space beyond the gate, told him to stand on guard, and presently
+began to devise some means of closing with or running in upon
+him. The giant's fists were large as watermelons, and his knotted
+arms whistled through the air like falling trees, threatening fatal
+blows. Besides which the Raja's head scarcely reached the giant's
+stomach, and the latter, each time he struck out, whooped so
+abominably loud, that no human nerves could remain unshaken.
+
+At last Vikram's good luck prevailed. The giant's left foot slipped,
+and the hero, seizing his antagonist's other leg, began to trip him
+up. At the same moment the young prince, hastening to his parent's
+assistance, jumped viciously upon the enemy's naked toes. By their
+united exertions they brought him to the ground, when the son sat
+down upon his stomach, making himself as weighty as he well
+could, whilst the father, climbing up to the monster's throat, placed
+himself astride upon it, and pressing both thumbs upon his eyes,
+threatened to blind him if he would not yield.
+
+Then the giant, modifying the bellow of his voice, cried out-- 
+
+"O Raja, thou hast overthrown me, and I grant thee thy life."
+
+"Surely thou art mad, monster," replied the king, in jeering tone,
+half laughing, half angry. "To whom grantest thou life? If I desire
+it I can kill thee; how, then, cost thou talk about granting me my
+life?"
+
+"Vikram of Ujjayani," said the giant, "be not too proud! I will save
+thee from a nearly impending death. Only hearken to the tale
+which I have to tell thee, and use thy judgment, and act upon it. So
+shalt thou rule the world free from care, and live without danger,
+and die happily."
+
+"Proceed," quoth the Raja, after a moment's thought, dismounting
+from the giant's throat, and beginning to listen with all his ears.
+
+The giant raised himself from the ground, and when in a sitting
+posture, began in solemn tones to speak as follows:
+
+"In short, the history of the matter is, that three men were born in
+this same city of Ujjayani, in the same lunar mansion, in the same
+division of the great circle described upon the ecliptic, and in the
+same period of time. You, the first, were born in the house of a
+king. The second was an oilman's son, who was slain by the third,
+a jogi, or anchorite, who kills all he can, wafting the sweet scent of
+human sacrifice to the nostrils of Durga, goddess of destruction.
+Moreover, the holy man, after compassing the death of the
+oilman's son, has suspended him head downwards from a mimosa
+tree in a cemetery. He is now anxiously plotting thy destruction.
+He hath murdered his own child-- "
+
+"And how came an anchorite to have a child?" asked Raja Vikram,
+incredulously.
+
+"That is what I am about to tell thee," replied the giant. "In the
+good days of thy generous father, Gandharba-Sena, as the court
+was taking its pleasure in the forest, they saw a devotee, or rather a
+devotee's head, protruding from a hole in the ground. The white
+ants had surrounded his body with a case of earth, and had made
+their home upon his skin. All kinds of insects and small animals
+crawled up and down the face, yet not a muscle moved. Wasps had
+hung their nests to its temples, and scorpions wandered in and out
+of the matted and clotted hair; yet the hermit felt them not. He
+spoke to no one; he received no gifts; and had it not been for the
+opening of his nostrils, as he continually inhaled the pungent
+smoke of a thorn fire, man would have deemed him dead. Such
+were his religious austerities.
+
+"Thy father marvelled much at the sight, and rode home in
+profound thought. That evening, as he sat in the hall of audience,
+he could speak of nothing but the devotee; and his curiosity soon
+rose to such a pitch, that he proclaimed about the city a reward of
+one hundred gold pieces to any one that could bring to court this
+anchorite of his own free will.
+
+"Shortly afterwards, Vasantasena, a singing and dancing girl more
+celebrated for wit and beauty than for sagesse or discretion,
+appeared before thy sire, and offered for the petty inducement of a
+gold bangle to bring the anchorite into the palace, carrying a baby
+on his shoulder.
+
+"The king hearing her speak was astonished, gave her a betel leaf
+in token that he held her to her promise, and permitted her to
+depart, which she did with a laugh of triumph.
+
+"Vasantasena went directly to the jungle, where she found the
+pious man faint with thirst, shriveled with hunger, and half dead
+with heat and cold. She cautiously put out the fire. Then, having
+prepared a confection, she approached from behind and rubbed
+upon his lips a little of the sweetmeat, which he licked up with
+great relish. Thereupon she made more and gave it to him. After
+two days of this generous diet he gained some strength, and on the
+third, as he felt a finger upon his mouth, he opened his eyes and
+said, "Why hast thou come here?"
+
+"The girl, who had her story in readiness, replied: "I am the
+daughter of a deity, and have practiced religious observances in the
+heavenly regions. I have now come into this forest!" And the
+devotee, who began to think how much more pleasant is such
+society than solitude, asked her where her hut was, and requested
+to be led there.
+
+"Then Vasantasena, having unearthed the holy man and compelled
+him to purify himself, led him to the abode which she had caused
+to be built for herself in the wood. She explained its luxuries by the
+nature of her vow, which bound her to indulge in costly apparel, in
+food with six flavours, and in every kind of indulgence.[FN#30] In
+course of time the hermit learned to follow her example; he gave
+up inhaling smoke, and he began to eat and drink as a daily
+occupation.
+
+"At length Kama began to trouble him. Briefly the saint and
+saintess were made man and wife, by the simple form of
+matrimony called the Gandharba-vivaha,[FN#31] and about ten
+months afterwards a son was born to them. Thus the anchorite
+came to have a child.
+
+"Remained Vasantasena's last feat. Some months passed: then she
+said to the devotee her husband, 'Oh saint! let us now, having
+finished our devotions, perform a pilgrimage to some sacred place,
+that all the sins of our bodies may be washed away, after which we
+will die and depart into everlasting happiness.' Cajoled by these
+speeches, the hermit mounted his child upon his shoulder and
+followed her where she went--directly into Raja Gandharba-Sena's
+palace.
+
+"When the king and the ministers and the officers and the courtiers
+saw Vasantasena, and her spouse carrying the baby, they
+recognized her from afar. The Raja exclaimed, 'Lo! this is the very
+singing girl who went forth to bring back the devotee. 'And all
+replied: 'O great monarch! thou speakest truly; this is the very
+same woman. And be pleased to observe that whatever things she,
+having asked leave to undertake, went forth to do, all these she
+hath done!' Then gathering around her they asked her all manner of
+questions, as if the whole matter had been the lightest and the most
+laughable thing in the world.
+
+"But the anchorite, having heard the speeches of the king and his
+courtiers, thought to himself, 'They have done this for the purpose
+of taking away the fruits of my penance.' Cursing them all with
+terrible curses, and taking up his child, he left the hall. Thence he
+went to the forest, slaughtered the innocent, and began to practice
+austerities with a view to revenge that hour, and having slain his
+child, he will attempt thy life. His prayers have been heard. In the
+first place they deprived thee of thy father. Secondly, they cast
+enmity between thee and thy brother, thus dooming him to an
+untimely end. Thirdly, they are now working thy ruin. The
+anchorite's design is to offer up a king and a king's son to his
+patroness Durga, and by virtue of such devotional act he will
+obtain the sovereignty of the whole world!
+
+"But I have promised, O Vikram, to save thee, if such be the will
+of Fortune, from impending destruction. Therefore hearken well
+unto my words. Distrust them that dwell amongst the dead, and
+remember that it is lawful and right to strike off his head that
+would slay thee. So shalt thou rule the universal earth, and leave
+behind thee an immortal name!"
+
+Suddenly Prithwi Pala, the giant, ceased speaking, and
+disappeared. Vikram and his son then passed through the city
+gates, feeling their limbs to be certain that no bones were broken,
+and thinking over the scene that had occurred.
+
+      *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+We now are informed how the valiant King Vikram met with the
+Vampire.
+
+It was the spring season when the Raja returned, and the Holi
+festival[FN#32] caused dancing and singing in every house.
+Ujjayani was extraordinarily happy and joyful at the return of her
+ruler, who joined in her gladness with all his kingly heart. The
+faces and dresses of the public were red and yellow with gulal and
+abir,--perfumed powders,[FN#33]--which were sprinkled upon one
+another in token of merriment. Musicians deafened the citizens'
+ears, dancing girls performed till ready to faint with fatigue, the
+manufacturers of comfits made their fortunes, and the Nine Gems
+of Science celebrated the auspicious day with the most long-
+winded odes. The royal hero, decked in regal attire, and attended
+by many thousands of state palanquins glittering with their various
+ornaments, and escorted by a suite of a hundred kingly personages,
+with their martial array of the four hosts, of cavalry, elephants,
+chariots, and infantry, and accompanied by Amazon girls, lovely
+as the suite of the gods, himself a personification of majesty,
+bearing the white parasol of dominion, with a golden staff and
+tassels, began once more to reign.
+
+After the first pleasures of return, the king applied himself
+unremittingly to good government and to eradicating the abuses
+which had crept into the administration during the period of his
+wanderings.
+
+Mindful of the wise saying, "if the Rajadid not punish the guilty,
+the stronger would roast the weaker like a fish on the spit," he
+began the work of reform with an iron hand. He confiscated the
+property of a councillor who had the reputation of taking bribes; he
+branded the forehead of a sudra or servile man whose breath smelt
+of ardent spirits, and a goldsmith having been detected in fraud he
+ordered him to be cut in shreds with razors as the law in its mercy
+directs. In the case of a notorious evil-speaker he opened the back
+of his head and had his tongue drawn through the wound. A few
+murderers he burned alive on iron beds, praying the while that
+Vishnu might have mercy upon their souls. His spies were ordered,
+as the shastra called "The Prince" advises, to mix with robbers and
+thieves with a view of leading them into situations where they
+might most easily be entrapped, and once or twice when the
+fellows were too wary, he seized them and their relations and
+impaled them all, thereby conclusively proving, without any
+mistake, that he was king of earth.
+
+With the sex feminine he was equally severe. A woman convicted
+of having poisoned an elderly husband in order to marry a younger
+man was thrown to the dogs, which speedily devoured her. He
+punished simple infidelity by cutting off the offender's nose--an
+admirable practice, which is not only a severe penalty to the
+culprit, but also a standing warning to others, and an efficient
+preventative to any recurrence of the fault. Faithlessness combined
+with bad example or brazen-facedness was further treated by being
+led in solemn procession through the bazar mounted on a
+diminutive and crop-eared donkey, with the face turned towards
+the crupper. After a few such examples the women of Ujjayani
+became almost modest; it is the fault of man when they are not
+tolerably well behaved in one point at least.
+
+Every day as Vikram sat upon the judgment-seat, trying causes and
+punishing offenses, he narrowly observed the speech, the gestures,
+and the countenances of the various criminals and litigants and
+their witnesses. Ever suspecting women, as I have said, and
+holding them to be the root of all evil, he never failed when some
+sin or crime more horrible than usual came before him, to ask the
+accused, "Who is she?" and the suddenness of the question often
+elicited the truth by accident. For there can be nothing thoroughly
+and entirely bad unless a woman is at the bottom of it; and,
+knowing this, Raja Vikram made certain notable hits under the
+most improbable circumstances, which had almost given him a
+reputation for omniscience. But this is easily explained: a man
+intent upon squaring the circle will see squares in circles wherever
+he looks, and sometimes he will find them.
+
+In disputed cases of money claims, the king adhered strictly to
+established practice, and consulted persons learned in the law. He
+seldom decided a cause on his own judgment, and he showed great
+temper and patience in bearing with rough language from irritated
+plaintiffs and defendants, from the infirm, and from old men
+beyond eighty. That humble petitioners might not be baulked in
+having access to the "fountain of justice," he caused an iron box to
+be suspended by a chain from the windows of his sleeping
+apartment. Every morning he ordered the box to be opened before
+him, and listened to all the placets at full length. Even in this
+simple process he displayed abundant cautiousness. For, having
+forgotten what little of the humanities he had mastered in his
+youth, he would hand the paper to a secretary whose business it
+was to read it out before him; after which operation the man of
+letters was sent into an inner room, and the petition was placed in
+the hands of a second scribe. Once it so happened by the bungling
+of the deceitful kayasths(clerks) that an important difference was
+found to occur in the same sheet. So upon strict inquiry one
+secretary lost his ears and the other his right hand. After this
+petitions were rarely if ever falsified.
+
+The Raja Vikram also lost no time in attacking the cities and towns
+and villages of his enemies, but the people rose to a man against
+him, and hewing his army to pieces with their weapons,
+vanquished him. This took place so often that he despaired of
+bringing all the earth under the shadow of his umbrella.
+
+At length on one occasion when near a village he listened to a
+conversation of the inhabitants. A woman having baked some
+cakes was giving them to her child, who leaving the edges would
+eat only the middle. On his asking for another cake, she cried,
+"This boy's way is like Vikram's in his attempt to conquer the
+world!" On his inquiring "Mother, why, what am I doing; and what
+has Vikram done?" " Thou, my boy," she replied, "throwing away
+the outside of the cake eatest the middle only. Vikram also in his
+ambition, without subduing the frontiers before attacking the
+towns, invades the heart of the country and lays it waste. On that
+account, both the townspeople and others rising, close upon him
+from the frontiers to the centre, and destroy his army. That is his
+folly."
+
+Vikram took notice of the woman's words. He strengthened his
+army and resumed his attack on the provinces and cities, beginning
+with the frontiers, reducing the outer towns and stationing troops
+in the intervals. Thus he proceeded regularly with his invasions.
+After a respite, adopting the same system and marshalling huge
+armies, he reduced in regular course each kingdom and province
+till he became monarch of the whole world.
+
+It so happened that one day as Vikram the Brave sat upon the
+judgment-seat, a young merchant, by name Mal Deo, who had
+lately arrived at Ujjayani with loaded camels and elephants, and
+with the reputation of immense wealth, entered the palace court.
+Having been received with extreme condescension, he gave into
+the king's hand a fruit which he had brought in his own, and then
+spreading a prayer carpet on the floor he sat down. Presently, after
+a quarter of an hour, he arose and went away. When he had gone
+the king reflected in his mind: "Under this disguise, perhaps, is the
+very man of whom the giant spoke." Suspecting this, he did not eat
+the fruit, but calling the master of the household he gave the
+present to him, ordering him to keep it in a very careful manner.
+The young merchant, however, continued every day to court the
+honour of an interview, each time presenting a similar gift.
+
+By chance one morning Raja Vikram went, attended by his
+ministers, to see his stables. At this time the young merchant also
+arrived there, and in the usual manner placed a fruit in the royal
+hand. As the king was thoughtfully tossing it in the air, it
+accidentally fell from his fingers to the ground. Then the monkey,
+who was tethered amongst the horses to draw calamities from their
+heads,[FN#34] snatched it up and tore it to pieces. Whereupon a
+ruby of such size and water came forth that the king and his
+ministers, beholding its brilliancy, gave vent to expressions of
+wonder.
+
+Quoth Vikram to the young merchant severely--for his suspicions
+were now thoroughly roused--"Why hast thou given to us all this
+wealth?"
+
+"O great king," replied Mal Deo, demurely, "it is written in the
+scriptures (shastra) 'Of Ceremony' that 'we must not go empty-
+handed into the presence of the following persons, namely, Rajas,
+spiritual teachers, judges, young maidens, and old women whose
+daughters we would marry.' But why, O Vikram, cost thou speak
+of one ruby only, since in each of the fruits which I have laid at thy
+feet there is a similar jewel?" Having heard this speech, the king
+said to the master of his household, "Bring all the fruits which I
+have entrusted to thee." The treasurer, on receiving the royal
+command, immediately brought them, and having split them, there
+was found in each one a ruby, one and all equally perfect in size
+and water. Raja Vikram beholding such treasures was excessively
+pleased. Having sent for a lapidary, he ordered him to examine the
+rubies, saying, "We cannot take anything with us out of this world.
+Virtue is a noble quality to possess here below--so tell justly what
+is the value of each of these gems.[FN#35]"
+
+To so moral a speech the lapidary replied, " Maha-Raja[FN#36]!
+thou hast said truly; whoever possesses virtue, possesses
+everything; virtue indeed accompanies us always, and is of
+advantage in both worlds. Hear, O great king! each gem is perfect
+in colour, quality and beauty. If I were to say that the value of each
+was ten million millions of suvarnas (gold pieces), even then thou
+couldst not understand its real worth. In fact, each ruby would buy
+one of the seven regions into which the earth is divided."
+
+The king on hearing this was delighted, although his suspicions
+were not satisfied; and, having bestowed a robe of honour upon the
+lapidary, dismissed him. Thereon, taking the young merchant's
+hand, he led him into the palace, seated him upon his own carpet in
+presence of the court, and began to say, "My entire kingdom is not
+worth one of these rubies: tell me how it is that thou who buyest
+and sellest hast given me such and so many pearls?"
+
+Mal Deo replied: "O great king, the speaking of matters like the
+following in public is not right; these things--prayers, spells, drugs,
+good qualities, household affairs, the eating of forbidden food, and
+the evil we may have heard of our neighbour--should not be
+discussed in full assembly. Privately I will disclose to thee my
+wishes. This is the way of the world; when an affair comes to six
+ears, it does not remain secret; if a matter is confided to four ears it
+may escape further hearing; and if to two ears even Brahma the
+Creator does not know it; how then can any rumour of it come to
+man?"
+
+Having heard this speech, Raja Vikram took Mal Deo aside, and
+began to ask him, saying, "O generous man! you have given me so
+many rubies, and even for a single day you have not eaten food
+with me; I am exceedingly ashamed, tell me what you desire."
+
+"Raja," said the young merchant, "I am not Mal Deo, but Shanta-
+Shil,[FN#37] a devotee. I am about to perform spells, incantations
+and magical rites on the banks of the river Godavari, in a large
+smashana, a cemetery where bodies are burned. By this means the
+Eight Powers of Nature will all become mine. This thing I ask of
+you as alms, that you and the young prince Dharma Dhwaj will
+pass one night with me, doing my bidding. By you remaining near
+me my incantations will be successful."
+
+The valiant Vikram nearly started from his seat at the word
+cemetery, but, like a ruler of men, he restrained his face from
+expressing his feelings, and he presently replied, "Good, we will
+come, tell us on what day!"
+
+"You are to come to me," said the devotee, "armed, but without
+followers, on the Monday evening the 14th of the dark half of the
+month Bhadra.[FN#38]" The Raja said: "Do you go your ways, we
+will certainly come." In this manner, having received a promise
+from the king, and having taken leave, the devotee returned to his
+house: thence he repaired to the temple, and having made
+preparations, and taken all the necessary things, he went back into
+the cemetery and sat down to his ceremonies.
+
+The valiant Vikram, on the other hand, retired into an inner
+apartment, to consult his own judgment about an adventure with
+which, for fear of ridicule, he was unwilling to acquaint even the
+most trustworthy of his ministers.
+
+In due time came the evening moon's day, the 14th of the dark half
+of the month Bhadra. As the short twilight fell gloomily on earth,
+the warrior king accompanied by his son, with turband-ends tied
+under their chins, and with trusty blades tucked under their arms
+ready for foes, human, bestial, or devilish, slipped out unseen
+through the palace wicket, and took the road leading to the
+cemetery on the river bank.
+
+Dark and drear was the night. Urged by the furious blast of the
+lingering winter-rains, masses of bistre-coloured cloud, like the
+forms of unwieldy beasts, rolled heavily over the firmament plain.
+Whenever the crescent of the young moon, rising from an horizon
+sable as the sad Tamala's hue,[FN#39] glanced upon the wayfarers,
+it was no brighter than the fine tip of an elephant's tusk protruding
+from the muddy wave. A heavy storm was impending; big drops
+fell in showers from the forest trees as they groaned under the
+blast, and beneath the gloomy avenue the clayey ground gleamed
+ghastly white. As the Raja and his son advanced, a faint ray of
+light, like the line of pure gold streaking the dark surface of the
+touchstone, caught their eyes, and directed their footsteps towards
+the cemetery.
+
+When Vikram came upon the open space on the riverbank where
+corpses were burned, he hesitated for a moment to tread its impure
+ground. But seeing his son undismayed, he advanced boldly,
+trampling upon remnants of bones, and only covering his mouth
+with his turband-end.
+
+Presently, at the further extremity of the smashana, or burning
+ground, appeared a group. By the lurid flames that flared and
+flickered round the half-extinguished funeral pyres, with remnants
+of their dreadful loads, Raja Vikram and Dharma Dhwaj could
+note the several features of the ill-omened spot. There was an outer
+circle of hideous bestial forms; tigers were roaring, and elephants
+were trumpeting; wolves, whose foul hairy coats blazed with
+sparks of bluish phosphoric light, were devouring the remnants of
+human bodies; foxes, jackals, and hyenas were disputing over their
+prey; whilst bears were chewing the livers of children. The space
+within was peopled by a multitude of fiends. There were the subtle
+bodies of men that had escaped their grosser frames prowling
+about the charnel ground, where their corpses had been reduced to
+ashes, or hovering in the air, waiting till the new bodies which they
+were to animate were made ready for their reception. The spirits of
+those that had been foully slain wandered about with gashed limbs;
+and skeletons, whose mouldy bones were held together by bits of
+blackened sinew, followed them as the murderer does his victim.
+Malignant witches with shriveled skins, horrid eyes and distorted
+forms, crawled and crouched over the earth; whilst spectres and
+goblins now stood motionless, and tall as lofty palm trees; then, as
+if in fits, leaped, danced, and tumbled before their evocator. The
+air was filled with shrill and strident cries, with the fitful moaning
+of the storm-wind, with the hooting of the owl, with the jackal's
+long wild cry, and with the hoarse gurgling of the swollen river,
+from whose banks the earth-slip thundered in its fall.
+
+In the midst of all, close to the fire which lit up his evil
+countenance, sat Shanta-Shil, the jogi, with the banner that denoted
+his calling and his magic staff planted in the ground behind him.
+He was clad in the ochre-coloured loin-wrap of his class; from his
+head streamed long tangled locks of hair like horsehair; his black
+body was striped with lines of chalk, and a girdle of thighbones
+encircled his waist. His face was smeared with ashes from a
+funeral pyre, and his eyes, fixed as those of a statue, gleamed from
+this mask with an infernal light of hate. His cheeks were shaven,
+and he had not forgotten to draw the horizontal sectarian mark. But
+this was of blood; and Vikram, as he drew near saw that he was
+playing upon a human skull with two shank bones, making music
+for the horrid revelry.
+
+Now Raja Vikram, as has been shown by his encounter with
+Indra's watchman, was a bold prince, and he was cautious as he
+was brave. The sight of a human being in the midst of these terrors
+raised his mettle; he determined to prove himself a hero, and
+feeling that the critical moment was now come, he hoped to rid
+himself and his house forever of the family curse that hovered over
+them.
+
+For a moment he thought of the giant's words, "And remember that
+it is lawful and right to strike off his head that would slay thee." A
+stroke with his good sword might at once and effectually put an
+end to the danger. But then he remembered that he had passed his
+royal word to do the devotee's bidding that night. Besides, he felt
+assured that the hour for action had not yet sounded.
+
+These reflections having passed through his mind with the rapid
+course of a star that has lost its honours,[FN#40] Vikram
+courteously saluted Shanta-Shil. The jogi briefly replied, "Come
+sit down, both of ye." The father and son took their places, by no
+means surprised or frightened by the devil dances before and
+around them. Presently the valiant Raja reminded the devotee that
+he was come to perform his promise, and lastly asked, "What
+commands are there for us?"
+
+The jogi replied, "O king, since you have come, just perform one
+piece of business. About two kos[FN#41] hence, in a southerly
+direction, there is another place where dead bodies are burned; and
+in that place is a mimosa tree, on which a body is hanging. Bring it
+to me immediately."
+
+Raja Vikram took his son's hand, unwilling to leave him in such
+company; and, catching up a fire-brand, went rapidly away in the
+proper direction. He was now certain that Shanta-Shil was the
+anchorite who, enraged by his father, had resolved his destruction;
+and his uppermost thought was a firm resolve "to breakfast upon
+his enemy, ere his enemy could dine upon him." He muttered this
+old saying as he went, whilst the tom-toming of the anchorite upon
+the skull resounded in his ears, and the devil-crowd, which had
+held its peace during his meeting with Shanta-Shil, broke out again
+in an infernal din of whoops and screams, yells and laughter.
+
+The darkness of the night was frightful, the gloom deepened till it
+was hardly possible to walk. The clouds opened their fountains,
+raining so that you would say they could never rain again.
+Lightning blazed forth with more than the light of day, and the roar
+of the thunder caused the earth to shake. Baleful gleams tipped the
+black cones of the trees and fitfully scampered like fireflies over
+the waste. Unclean goblins dogged the travellers and threw
+themselves upon the ground in their path and obstructed them in a
+thousand different ways. Huge snakes, whose mouths distilled
+blood and black venom, kept clinging around their legs in the
+roughest part of the road, till they were persuaded to loose their
+hold either by the sword or by reciting a spell. In fact, there were
+so many horrors and such a tumult and noise that even a brave man
+would have faltered, yet the king kept on his way.
+
+At length having passed over, somehow or other, a very difficult
+road, the Raja arrived at the smashana, or burning place pointed
+out by the jogi. Suddenly he sighted the tree where from root to top
+every branch and leaf was in a blaze of crimson flame. And when
+he, still dauntless, advanced towards it, a clamour continued to be
+raised, and voices kept crying, "Kill them! kill them! seize them!
+seize them! take care that they do not get away! let them scorch
+themselves to cinders! let them suffer the pains of Patala.[FN#42]"
+
+Far from being terrified by this state of things the valiant Raja
+increased in boldness, seeing a prospect of an end to his adventure.
+Approaching the tree he felt that the fire did not burn him, and so
+he sat there for a while to observe the body, which hung, head
+downwards, from a branch a little above him.
+
+Its eyes, which were wide open, were of a greenish-brown, and
+never twinkled; its hair also was brown,[FN#43] and brown was its
+face--three several shades which, notwithstanding, approached one
+another in an unpleasant way, as in an over-dried cocoa-nut. Its
+body was thin and ribbed like a skeleton or a bamboo framework,
+and as it held on to a bough, like a flying fox,[FN#44] by the toe-
+tips, its drawn muscles stood out as if they were ropes of coin.
+Blood it appeared to have none, or there would have been a
+decided determination of that curious juice to the head; and as the
+Raja handled its skin it felt icy cold and clammy as might a snake.
+The only sign of life was the whisking of a ragged little tail much
+resembling a goat's.
+
+Judging from these signs the brave king at once determined the
+creature to be a Baital--a Vampire. For a short time he was puzzled
+to reconcile the appearance with the words of the giant, who
+informed him that the anchorite had hung the oilman's son to a
+tree. But soon he explained to himself the difficulty, remembering
+the exceeding cunning of jogis and other reverend men, and
+determining that his enemy, the better to deceive him, had
+doubtless altered the shape and form of the young oilman's body.
+
+With this idea, Vikram was pleased, saying, "My trouble has been
+productive of fruit." Remained the task of carrying the Vampire to
+Shanta-Shil the devotee. Having taken his sword, the Raja
+fearlessly climbed the tree, and ordering his son to stand away
+from below, clutched the Vampire's hair with one hand, and with
+the other struck such a blow of the sword, that the bough was cut
+and the thing fell heavily upon the ground. Immediately on falling
+it gnashed its teeth and began to utter a loud wailing cry like the
+screams of an infant in pain. Vikram having heard the sound of its
+lamentations, was pleased, and began to say to himself, "This devil
+must be alive." Then nimbly sliding down the trunk, he made a
+captive of the body, and asked " Who art thou?"
+
+Scarcely, however, had the words passed the royal lips, when the
+Vampire slipped through the fingers like a worm, and uttering a
+loud shout of laughter, rose in the air with its legs uppermost, and
+as before suspended itself by its toes to another bough. And there it
+swung to and fro, moved by the violence of its cachinnation.
+
+"Decidedly this is the young oilman!" exclaimed the Raja, after he
+had stood for a minute or two with mouth open, gazing upwards
+and wondering what he should do next. Presently he directed
+Dharma Dhwaj not to lose an instant in laying hands upon the
+thing when it next might touch the ground, and then he again
+swarmed up the tree. Having reached his former position, he once
+more seized the Baital's hair, and with all the force of his arms--for
+he was beginning to feel really angry--he tore it from its hold and
+dashed it to the ground, saying, "O wretch, tell me who thou art?"
+
+Then, as before, the Raja slid deftly down the trunk, and hurried to
+the aid of his son, who in obedience to orders, had fixed his grasp
+upon the Vampire's neck. Then, too, as before, the Vampire,
+laughing aloud, slipped through their fingers and returned to its
+dangling-place.
+
+To fail twice was too much for Raja Vikram's temper, which was
+right kingly and somewhat hot. This time he bade his son strike the
+Baital's head with his sword. Then, more like a wounded bear of
+Himalaya than a prince who had established an era, he hurried up
+the tree, and directed a furious blow with his sabre at the
+Vampire's lean and calfless legs. The violence of the stroke made
+its toes loose their hold of the bough, and when it touched the
+ground, Dharma Dhwaj's blade fell heavily upon its matted brown
+hair. But the blows appeared to have lighted on iron-wood--to
+judge at least from the behaviour of the Baital, who no sooner
+heard the question, "O wretch, who art thou?" than it returned in
+loud glee and merriment to its old position.
+
+Five mortal times did Raja Vikram repeat this profitless labour.
+But so far from losing heart, he quite entered into the spirit of the
+adventure. Indeed he would have continued climbing up that tree
+and taking that corpse under his arm--he found his sword useless--
+and bringing it down, and asking it who it was, and seeing it slip
+through his fingers, six times sixty times, or till the end of the
+fourth and present age,[FN#45] had such extreme resolution been
+required.
+
+However, it was not necessary. On the seventh time of falling, the
+Baital, instead of eluding its capturer's grasp, allowed itself to be
+seized, merely remarking that "even the gods cannot resist a
+thoroughly obstinate man."[FN#46] And seeing that the stranger,
+for the better protection of his prize, had stripped off his waistcloth
+and was making it into a bag, the Vampire thought proper to seek
+the most favourable conditions for himself, and asked his
+conqueror who he was, and what he was about to do?
+
+"Vile wretch," replied the breathless hero, "know me to be Vikram
+the Great, Raja of Ujjayani, and I bear thee to a man who is
+amusing himself by drumming to devils on a skull."
+
+"Remember the old saying, mighty Vikram!" said the Baital, with
+a sneer, "that many a tongue has cut many a throat. I have yielded
+to thy resolution and I am about to accompany thee, bound to thy
+back like a beggar's wallet. But hearken to my words, ere we set
+out upon the way. I am of a loquacious disposition, and it is well
+nigh an hour's walk between this tree and the place where thy
+friend sits, favouring his friends with the peculiar music which
+they love. Therefore, I shall try to distract my thoughts, which
+otherwise might not be of the most pleasing nature, by means of
+sprightly tales and profitable reflections. Sages and men of sense
+spend their days in the delights of light and heavy literature,
+whereas dolts and fools waste time in sleep and idleness. And I
+purpose to ask thee a number of questions, concerning which we
+will, if it seems fit to thee, make this covenant:
+
+"Whenever thou answerest me, either compelled by Fate or
+entrapped by my cunning into so doing, or thereby gratifying thy
+vanity and conceit, I leave thee and return to my favourite place
+and position in the siras-tree, but when thou shalt remain silent,
+confused, and at a loss to reply, either through humility or thereby
+confessing thine ignorance, and impotence, and want of
+comprehension, then will I allow thee, of mine own free will, to
+place me before thine employer. Perhaps I should not say so; it
+may sound like bribing thee, but--take my counsel, and mortify thy
+pride, and assumption, and arrogance, and haughtiness, as soon as
+possible. So shalt thou derive from me a benefit which none but
+myself can bestow."
+
+Raja Vikram hearing these rough words, so strange to his royal
+ear, winced; then he rejoiced that his heir apparent was not near;
+then he looked round at his son Dharma Dhwaj, to see if he was
+impertinent enough to be amused by the Baital. But the first glance
+showed him the young prince busily employed in pinching and
+screwing the monster's legs, so as to make it fit better into the
+cloth. Vikram then seized the ends of the waistcloth, twisted them
+into a convenient form for handling, stooped, raised the bundle
+with a jerk, tossed it over his shoulder, and bidding his son not to
+lag behind, set off at a round pace towards the western end of the
+cemetery.
+
+The shower had ceased, and, as they gained ground, the weather
+greatly improved.
+
+The Vampire asked a few indifferent questions about the wind and
+the rain and the mud. When he received no answer, he began to
+feel uncomfortable, and he broke out with these words: "O King
+Vikram, listen to the true story which I am about to tell thee."
+
+
+         THE VAMPIRE'S FIRST STORY.
+
+      In which a man deceives a woman.
+
+In Benares once reigned a mighty prince, by name Pratapamukut,
+to whose eighth son Vajramukut happened the strangest adventure.
+
+One morning, the young man, accompanied by the son of his
+father's pradhan or prime minister, rode out hunting, and went far
+into the jungle. At last the twain unexpectedly came upon a
+beautiful "tank [FN#47]" of a prodigious size. It was surrounded
+by short thick walls of fine baked brick; and flights and ramps of
+cut-stone steps, half the length of each face, and adorned with
+turrets, pendants, and finials, led down to the water. The
+substantial plaster work and the masonry had fallen into disrepair,
+and from the crevices sprang huge trees, under whose thick shade
+the breeze blew freshly, and on whose balmy branches the birds
+sang sweetly; the grey squirrels [FN#48] chirruped joyously as
+they coursed one another up the gnarled trunks, and from the
+pendent llianas the longtailed monkeys were swinging sportively.
+The bountiful hand of Sravana [FN#49] had spread the earthen
+rampart with a carpet of the softest grass and many-hued wild
+flowers, in which were buzzing swarms of bees and myriads of
+bright winged insects; and flocks of water fowl, wild geese,
+Brahmini ducks, bitterns, herons, and cranes, male and female,
+were feeding on the narrow strip of brilliant green that belted the
+long deep pool, amongst the broad-leaved lotuses with the lovely
+blossoms, splashing through the pellucid waves, and basking
+happily in the genial sun.
+
+The prince and his friend wondered when they saw the beautiful
+tank in the midst of a wild forest, and made many vain conjectures
+about it. They dismounted, tethered their horses, and threw their
+weapons upon the ground; then, having washed their hands and
+faces, they entered a shrine dedicated to Mahadeva, and there
+began to worship the presiding deity.
+
+Whilst they were making their offerings, a bevy of maidens,
+accompanied by a crowd of female slaves, descended the opposite
+flight of steps. They stood there for a time, talking and laughing
+and looking about them to see if any alligators infested the waters.
+When convinced that the tank was safe, they disrobed themselves
+in order to bathe. It was truly a splendid spectacle  
+
+"Concerning which the less said the better," interrupted
+Raja Vikram in an offended tone.[FN#50]
+
+--but did not last long. The Raja's daughter -- for the principal
+maiden was a princess -- soon left her companions, who were
+scooping up water with their palms and dashing it over one
+another's heads, and proceeded to perform the rites of purification,
+meditation, and worship. Then she began strolling with a friend
+under the shade of a small mango grove.
+
+The prince also left his companion sitting in prayer, and walked
+forth into the forest. Suddenly the eyes of the Raja's son and the
+Raja's daughter met. She started back with a little scream. He was
+fascinated by her beauty, and began to say to himself, " O thou vile
+Karma,[FN#51] why worriest thou me?"
+
+Hearing this, the maiden smiled encouragement, but the poor
+youth, between palpitation of the heart and hesitation about what
+to say, was so confused that his tongue crave to his teeth. She
+raised her eyebrows a little. There is nothing which women despise
+in a man more than modesty, [FN#52] for mo-des-ty -- 
+
+A violent shaking of the bag which hung behind Vikram's royal
+back broke off the end of this offensive sentence. And the warrior
+king did not cease that discipline till the Baital promised him to
+preserve more decorum in his observations.
+
+Still the prince stood before her with downcast eyes and suffused
+cheeks: even the spur of contempt failed to arouse his energies.
+Then the maiden called to her friend, who was picking jasmine
+flowers so as not to witness the scene, and angrily asked why that
+strange man was allowed to stand and stare at her? The friend, in
+hot wrath, threatened to call the slave, and throw Vajramukut into
+the pond unless he instantly went away with his impudence. But as
+the prince was rooted to the spot, and really had not heard a word
+of what had been said to him, the two women were obliged to
+make the first move.
+
+As they almost reached the tank, the beautiful maiden turned her
+head to see what the poor modest youth was doing.
+
+Vajramukut was formed in every way to catch a woman's eye. The
+Raja's daughter therefore half forgave him his offence of mod ----.
+Again she sweetly smiled, disclosing two rows of little opals. Then
+descending to the water's edge, she stooped down and plucked a
+lotus. This she worshipped; next she placed it in her hair, then she
+put it in her ear, then she bit it with her teeth, then she trod upon it
+with her foot, then she raised it up again, and lastly she stuck it in
+her bosom. After which she mounted her conveyance and went
+home to her friends; whilst the prince, having become thoroughly
+desponding and drowned in grief at separation from her, returned
+to the minister's son.
+
+"Females!" ejaculated the minister's son, speaking to himself in a
+careless tone, when, his prayer finished, he left the temple, and sat
+down upon the tank steps to enjoy the breeze. He presently drew a
+roll of paper from under his waist-belt, and in a short time was
+engrossed with his study. The women seeing this conduct, exerted
+themselves in every possible way of wile to attract his attention
+and to distract his soul. They succeeded only so far as to make him
+roll his head with a smile, and to remember that such is always the
+custom of man's bane; after which he turned over a fresh page of
+manuscript. And although he presently began to wonder what had
+become of the prince his master, he did not look up even once
+from his study.
+
+He was a philosopher, that young man. But after all, Raja Vikram,
+what is mortal philosophy? Nothing but another name for
+indifference! Who was ever philosophical about a thing truly loved
+or really hated? -- no one! Philosophy, says Shankharacharya, is
+either a gift of nature or the reward of study. But I, the Baital, the
+devil, ask you, what is a born philosopher, save a man of cold
+desires? And what is a bred philosopher but a man who has
+survived his desires? A young philosopher? - a cold-blooded
+youth! An elderly philosopher? --a leuco-phlegmatic old man!
+Much nonsense, of a verity, ye hear in praise of nothing from your
+Rajaship's Nine Gems of Science, and from sundry other such wise
+fools.
+
+Then the prince began to relate the state of his case, saying, " O
+friend, I have seen a damsel, but whether she be a musician from
+Indra's heaven, a maiden of the sea, a daughter of the serpent
+kings, or the child of an earthly Raja, I cannot say."
+
+"Describe her," said the statesman in embryo.
+
+"Her face," quoth the prince, "was that of the full moon, her hair
+like a swarm of bees hanging from the blossoms of the acacia, the
+corners of her eyes touched her ears, her lips were sweet with lunar
+ambrosia, her waist was that of a lion, and her walk the walk of a
+king goose. [FN#53] As a garment, she was white; as a season, the
+spring; as a flower, the jasmine; as a speaker, the kokila bird; as a
+perfume, musk; as a beauty, Kamadeva; and as a being, Love. And
+if she does not come into my possession I will not live; this I have
+certainly determined upon."
+
+The young minister, who had heard his prince say the same thing
+more than once before, did not attach great importance to these
+awful words. He merely remarked that, unless they mounted at
+once, night would surprise them in the forest. Then the two young
+men returned to their horses, untethered them, drew on their
+bridles, saddled them, and catching up their weapons, rode slowly
+towards the Raja's palace. During the three hours of return hardly a
+word passed between the pair. Vajramukut not only avoided
+speaking; he never once replied till addressed thrice in the loudest
+voice.
+
+The young minister put no more questions, "for," quoth he to
+himself, "when the prince wants my counsel, he will apply for it."
+In this point he had borrowed wisdom from his father, who held in
+peculiar horror the giving of unasked- for advice. So, when he saw
+that conversation was irksome to his master, he held his peace and
+meditated upon what he called his "day-thought." It was his
+practice to choose every morning some tough food for reflection,
+and to chew the cud of it in his mind at times when, without such
+employment, his wits would have gone wool-gathering. You may
+imagine, Raja Vikram, that with a few years of this head work, the
+minister's son became a very crafty young person.
+
+After the second day the Prince Vajramukut, being restless from
+grief at separation, fretted himself into a fever. Having given up
+writing, reading, drinking, sleeping, the affairs entrusted to him by
+his father, and everything else, he sat down, as he said, to die. He
+used constantly to paint the portrait of the beautiful lotus gatherer,
+and to lie gazing upon it with tearful eyes; then he would start up
+and tear it to pieces and beat his forehead, and begin another
+picture of a yet more beautiful face.
+
+At last, as the pradhan's son had foreseen, he was summoned by
+the young Raja, whom he found upon his bed, looking yellow and
+complaining bitterly of headache. Frequent discussions upon the
+subject of the tender passion had passed between the two youths,
+and one of them had ever spoken of it so very disrespectfully that
+the other felt ashamed to introduce it. But when his friend, with a
+view to provoke communicativeness, advised a course of boiled
+and bitter herbs and great attention to diet, quoting the hemistich
+attributed to the learned physician Charndatta  
+
+      A fever starve, but feed a cold,
+
+the unhappy Vajramukut's fortitude abandoned him; he burst into
+tears, and exclaimed," Whosoever enters upon the path of love
+cannot survive it; and if (by chance) he should live, what is life to
+him but a prolongation of his misery?"
+
+"Yea," replied the minister's son, "the sage hath said -- 
+
+The road of love is that which hath no beginning nor end;
+Take thou heed of thyself, man I ere thou place foot upon it.
+
+And the wise, knowing that there are three things whose effect
+upon himself no man can foretell --namely, desire of woman, the
+dice-box, and the drinking of ardent spirits - find total abstinence
+from them the best of rules. Yet, after all, if there is no cow, we
+must milk the bull."
+
+The advice was, of course, excellent, but the hapless lover could
+not help thinking that on this occasion it came a little too late.
+However, after a pause he returned to the subject and said, "I have
+ventured to tread that dangerous way, be its end pain or pleasure,
+happiness or destruction." He then hung down his head and sighed
+from the bottom of his heart.
+
+"She is the person who appeared to us at the tank?" asked the
+pradhan's son, moved to compassion by the state of his master.
+
+The prince assented.
+
+"O great king," resumed the minister's son, "at the time of going
+away had she said anything to you? or had you said anything to
+her?"
+
+"Nothing!" replied the other laconically, when he found his friend
+beginning to take an interest in the affair.
+
+"Then," said the minister's son, "it will be exceedingly difficult to
+get possession of her."
+
+"Then," repeated the Raja's son, "I am doomed to death; to an early
+and melancholy death!"
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated the young statesman rather impatiently, "did
+she make any sign, or give any hint? Let me know all that
+happened: half confidences are worse than none."
+
+Upon which the prince related everything that took place by the
+side of the tank, bewailing the false shame which had made him
+dumb, and concluding with her pantomime.
+
+The pradhan's son took thought for a while. He thereupon seized
+the opportunity of representing to his master all the evil effects of
+bashfulness when women are concerned, and advised him, as he
+would be a happy lover, to brazen his countenance for the next
+interview.
+
+Which the young Raja faithfully promised to do.
+
+"And, now," said the other, "be comforted, O my master! I know
+her name and her dwelling-place. When she suddenly plucked the
+lotus flower and worshipped it, she thanked the gods for having
+blessed her with a sight of your beauty."
+
+Vajramukut smiled, the first time for the last month.
+
+"When she applied it to her ear, it was as if she would have
+explained to thee, 'I am a daughter of the Carnatic: [FN#54] and
+when she bit it with her teeth, she meant to say that 'My father is
+Raja Dantawat, [FN#55]' who, by-the-bye, has been, is, and ever
+will be, a mortal foe to thy father."
+
+Vajramukut shuddered.
+
+"When she put it under her foot it meant, 'My name is Padmavati.
+[FN#56]'"
+
+Vajramukut uttered a cry of joy.
+
+"And when she placed it in her bosom, 'You are truly dwelling in
+my heart' was meant to be understood."
+
+At these words the young Raja started up full of new life, and after
+praising with enthusiasm the wondrous sagacity of his dear friend,
+begged him by some contrivance to obtain the permission of his
+parents, and to conduct him to her city. The minister's son easily
+got leave for Vajramukut to travel, under pretext that his body
+required change of water, and his mind change of scene. They both
+dressed and armed themselves for the journey, and having taken
+some jewels, mounted their horses and followed the road in that
+direction in which the princess had gone.
+
+Arrived after some days at the capital of the Carnatic, the
+minister's son having disguised his master and himself in the garb
+of travelling traders, alighted and pitched his little tent upon a clear
+bit of ground in one of the suburbs. He then proceeded to inquire
+for a wise woman, wanting, he said, to have his fortune told. When
+the prince asked him what this meant, he replied that elderly dames
+who professionally predict the future are never above ministering
+to the present, and therefore that, in such circumstances, they are
+the properest persons to be consulted.
+
+"Is this a treatise upon the subject of immorality, devil?"
+demanded the King Vikram ferociously. The Baital declared that it
+was not, but that he must tell his story.
+
+The person addressed pointed to an old woman who, seated before
+the door of her hut, was spinning at her wheel. Then the young
+men went up to her with polite salutations and said, "Mother, we
+are travelling traders, and our stock is coming after us; we have
+come on in advance for the purpose of finding a place to live in. If
+you will give us a house, we will remain there and pay you
+highly."
+
+The old woman, who was a physiognomist as well as a
+fortune-teller, looked at the faces of the young men and liked
+them, because their brows were wide, and their mouths denoted
+generosity. Having listened to their words, she took pity upon them
+and said kindly, "This hovel is yours, my masters, remain here as
+long as you please." Then she led them into an inner room, again
+welcomed them, lamented the poorness of her abode, and begged
+them to lie down and rest themselves.
+
+After some interval of time the old woman came to them once
+more, and sitting down began to gossip. The minister's son upon
+this asked her, "How is it with thy family, thy relatives, and
+connections; and what are thy means of subsistence?" She replied,
+``My son is a favourite servant in the household of our great king
+Dantawat, and your slave is the wet-nurse of the Princess
+Padmavati, his eldest child. From the coming on of old age," she
+added, "I dwell in this house, but the king provides for my eating
+and drinking. I go once a day to see the girl, who is a miracle of
+beauty and goodness, wit and accomplishments, and returning
+thence, I bear my own griefs at home. [FN#57]''
+
+In a few days the young Vajramukut had, by his liberality, soft
+speech, and good looks, made such progress in nurse Lakshmi's
+affections that, by the advice of his companion, he ventured to
+broach the subject ever nearest his heart. He begged his hostess,
+when she went on the morrow to visit the charming Padmavati,
+that she would be kind enough to slip a bit of paper into the
+princess's hand.
+
+"Son," she replied, delighted with the proposal -- and what old
+woman would not be? --"there is no need for putting off so urgent
+an affair till the morrow. Get your paper ready, and I will
+immediately give it."
+
+Trembling with pleasure, the prince ran to find his friend, who was
+seated in the garden reading, as usual, and told him what the old
+nurse had engaged to do. He then began to debate about how he
+should write his letter, to cull sentences and to weigh phrases;
+whether "light of my eyes" was not too trite, and "blood of my
+liver" rather too forcible. At this the minister's son smiled, and
+bade the prince not trouble his head with composition. He then
+drew his inkstand from his waist shawl, nibbed a reed pen, and
+choosing a piece of pink and flowered paper, he wrote upon it a
+few lines. He then folded it, gummed it, sketched a lotus flower
+upon the outside, and handing it to the young prince, told him to
+give it to their hostess, and that all would be well.
+
+The old woman took her staff in her hand and hobbled straight to
+the palace. Arrived there, she found the Raja's daughter sitting
+alone in her apartment. The maiden, seeing her nurse, immediately
+arose, and making a respectful bow, led her to a seat and began the
+most affectionate inquiries. After giving her blessing and sitting
+for some time and chatting about indifferent matters, the nurse
+said, " O daughter! in infancy I reared and nourished thee, now the
+Bhagwan (Deity) has rewarded me by giving thee stature, beauty,
+health, and goodness. My heart only longs to see the happiness of
+thy womanhood, [FN#58] after which I shall depart in peace. I
+implore thee read this paper, given to me by the handsomest and
+the properest young man that my eyes have ever seen."
+
+The princess, glancing at the lotus on the outside of the note,
+slowly unfolded it and perused its contents, which were as follows:
+
+                     1.
+
+                 She was to me the pearl that clings
+                      To sands all hid from mortal
+sight,
+                 Yet fit for diadems of kings,
+                      The pure and lovely light.
+
+                     2.
+
+                 She was to me the gleam of sun
+                      That breaks the gloom of wintry
+day;
+                 One moment shone my soul upon,
+                      Then passed --how soon! - away.
+
+                     3.
+
+                 She was to me the dreams of bliss
+                      That float the dying eyes before,
+                 For one short hour shed happiness,
+                      And fly to bless no more.
+
+                     4.
+
+                 O light, again upon me shine;
+                      O pearl, again delight my eyes;
+                 O dreams of bliss, again be mine! --
+                      No! earth may not be Paradise.
+
+I must not forget to remark, parenthetically, that the minister's son,
+in order to make these lines generally useful, had provided them
+with a last stanza in triplicate. "For lovers," he said sagely," are
+either in the optative mood, the desperative, or the exultative."
+This time he had used the optative. For the desperative he would
+substitute:
+
+                     4.
+
+                 The joys of life lie dead, lie dead,
+                      The light of day is quenched in
+gloom
+                 The spark of hope my heart hath fled
+--
+                      What now witholds me from the
+tomb?
+
+And this was the termination exultative, as he called it:
+
+                     4.
+
+                 O joy I the pearl is mine again,
+                      Once more the day is bright and
+clear,
+                 And now 'tis real, then 'twas vain,
+                      My dream of bliss - O heaven is
+here!
+
+The Princess Padmavati having perused this doggrel with a
+contemptuous look, tore off the first word of the last line, and said
+to the nurse, angrily, "Get thee gone, O mother of Yama, [FN#59]
+O unfortunate creature, and take back this answer" --giving her the
+scrap of paper -- "to the fool who writes such bad verses. I wonder
+where he studied the humanities. Begone, and never do such an
+action again!"
+
+The old nurse, distressed at being so treated, rose up and returned
+home. Vajramukut was too agitated to await her arrival, so he went
+to meet her on the way. Imagine his disappointment when she gave
+him the fatal word and repeated to him exactly what happened, not
+forgetting to describe a single look! He felt tempted to plunge his
+sword into his bosom; but Fortune interfered, and sent him to
+consult his confidant.
+
+"Be not so hasty and desperate, my prince," said the pradhan's son,
+seeing his wild grief; "you have not understood her meaning. Later
+in life you will be aware of the fact that, in nine cases out of ten, a
+woman's 'no' is a distinct 'yes.' This morning's work has been good;
+the maiden asked where you learnt the humanities, which being
+interpreted signifies 'Who are you?"'
+
+On the next day the prince disclosed his rank to old Lakshmi, who
+naturally declared that she had always known it. The trust they
+reposed in her made her ready to address Padmavati once more on
+the forbidden subject. So she again went to the palace, and having
+lovingly greeted her nursling, said to her, "The Raja's son, whose
+heart thou didst fascinate on the brim of the tank, on the fifth day
+of the moon, in the light half of the month Yeth, has come to my
+house, and sends this message to thee: "Perform what you
+promised; we have now come"; and I also tell thee that this prince
+is worthy of thee: just as thou art beautiful, so is he endowed with
+all good qualities of mind and body."
+
+When Padmavati heard this speech she showed great anger, and,
+rubbing sandal on her beautiful hands, she slapped the old
+woman's cheeks, and cried, "Wretch, Daina (witch)! get out of my
+house; did I not forbid thee to talk such folly in my presence?"
+
+The lover and the nurse were equally distressed at having taken the
+advice of the young minister, till he explained what the crafty
+damsel meant. "When she smeared the sandal on her ten fingers,"
+he explained, "and struck the old woman on the face, she signified
+that when the remaining ten moonlight nights shall have passed
+away she will meet you in the dark." At the same time he warned
+his master that to all appearances the lady Padmavati was far too
+clever to make a comfortable wife. The minister's son especially
+hated talented, intellectual, and strong-minded women; he had been
+heard to describe the torments of Naglok [FN#60] as the
+compulsory companionship of a polemical divine and a learned
+authoress, well stricken in years and of forbidding aspect, as such
+persons mostly are. Amongst womankind he admired --
+theoretically, as became a philosopher --the small, plump,
+laughing, chattering, unintellectual, and material-minded. And
+therefore --excuse the digression, Raja Vikram --he married an old
+maid, tall, thin, yellow, strictly proper, cold-mannered, a
+conversationist, and who prided herself upon spirituality. But more
+wonderful still, after he did marry her, he actually loved her --what
+an incomprehensible being is man in these matters!
+
+To return, however. The pradhan's son, who detected certain
+symptoms of strong-mindedness in the Princess Padmavati,
+advised his lord to be wise whilst wisdom availed him. This sage
+counsel was, as might be guessed, most ungraciously rejected by
+him for whose benefit it was intended. Then the sensible young
+statesman rated himself soundly for having broken his father's rule
+touching advice, and atoned for it by blindly forwarding the views
+of his master.
+
+After the ten nights of moonlight had passed, the old nurse was
+again sent to the palace with the usual message. This time
+Padmavati put saffron on three of her fingers, and again left their
+marks on the nurse's cheek. The minister's son explained that this
+was to crave delay for three days, and that on the fourth the lover
+would have access to her.
+
+When the time had passed the old woman again went and inquired
+after her health and well-being. The princess was as usual very
+wroth, and having personally taken her nurse to the western gate,
+she called her "Mother of the elephant's trunk, [FN#61]'' and drove
+her out with threats of the bastinado if she ever came back. This
+was reported to the young statesman, who, after a few minutes'
+consideration, said, "The explanation of this matter is, that she has
+invited you to-morrow, at nighttime, to meet her at this very gate.
+
+"When brown shadows fell upon the face of earth, and here and
+there a star spangled the pale heavens, the minister's son called
+Vajramukut, who had been engaged in adorning himself at least
+half that day. He had carefully shaved his cheeks and chin; his
+mustachio was trimmed and curled; he had arched his eyebrows by
+plucking out with tweezers the fine hairs around them; he had
+trained his curly musk-coloured love-locks to hang gracefully
+down his face; he had drawn broad lines of antimony along his
+eyelids, a most brilliant sectarian mark was affixed to his forehead,
+the colour of his lips had been heightened by chewing betel-nut --
+
+"One would imagine that you are talking of a silly girl, not of a
+prince, fiend!" interrupted Vikram, who did not wish his son to
+hear what he called these fopperies and frivolities.
+
+-- and whitened his neck by having it shaved (continued the Baital,
+speaking quickly, as if determined not to be interrupted), and
+reddened the tips of his ears by squeezing them, and made his teeth
+shine by rubbing copper powder into the roots, and set off the
+delicacy of his fingers by staining the tips with henna. He had not
+been less careful with his dress: he wore a well-arranged turband,
+which had taken him at least two hours to bind, and a rich suit of
+brown stuff chosen for the adventure he was about to attempt, and
+he hung about his person a number of various weapons, so as to
+appear a hero -- which young damsels admire.
+
+Vajramukut asked his friend how he looked, and smiled happily
+when the other replied "Admirable!" His happiness was so great
+that he feared it might not last, and he asked the minister's son how
+best to conduct himself?
+
+"As a conqueror, my prince!" answered that astute young man, "if
+it so be that you would be one. When you wish to win a woman,
+always impose upon her. Tell her that you are her master, and she
+will forthwith believe herself to be your servant. Inform her that
+she loves you, and forthwith she will adore you. Show her that you
+care nothing for her, and she will think of nothing but you. Prove
+to her by your demeanour that you consider her a slave, and she
+will become your pariah. But above all things --excuse me if I
+repeat myself too often  --beware of the fatal virtue which men call
+modesty and women sheepishness. Recollect the trouble it has
+given us, and the danger which we have incurred: all this might
+have been managed at a tank within fifteen miles of your royal
+father's palace. And allow me to say that you may still thank your
+stars: in love a lost opportunity is seldom if ever recovered. The
+time to woo a woman is the moment you meet her, before she has
+had time to think; allow her the use of reflection and she may
+escape the net. And after avoiding the rock of Modesty, fall not, I
+conjure you, into the gulf of Security. I fear the lady Padmavati,
+she is too clever and too prudent. When damsels of her age draw
+the sword of Love, they throw away the scabbard of Precaution.
+But you yawn  --I weary you --it is time for us to move."
+
+Two watches of the night had passed, and there was profound
+stillness on earth. The young men then walked quietly through the
+shadows, till they reached the western gate of the palace, and
+found the wicket ajar. The minister's son peeped in and saw the
+porter dozing, stately as a Brahman deep in the Vedas, and behind
+him stood a veiled woman seemingly waiting for somebody. He
+then returned on tiptoe to the place where he had left his master,
+and with a parting caution against modesty and security, bade him
+fearlessly glide through the wicket. Then having stayed a short
+time at the gate listening with anxious ear, he went back to the old
+woman's house.
+
+Vajramukut penetrating to the staircase, felt his hand grasped by
+the veiled figure, who motioning him to tread lightly, led him
+quickly forwards. They passed under several arches, through dim
+passages and dark doorways, till at last running up a flight of stone
+steps they reached the apartments of the princess.
+
+Vajramukut was nearly fainting as the flood of splendour broke
+upon him. Recovering himself he gazed around the rooms, and
+presently a tumult of delight invaded his soul, and his body bristled
+with joy. [FN#62] The scene was that of fairyland. Golden censers
+exhaled the most costly perfumes, and gemmed vases bore the
+most beautiful flowers; silver lamps containing fragrant oil
+illuminated doors whose panels were wonderfully decorated, and
+walls adorned with pictures in which such figures were formed that
+on seeing them the beholder was enchanted. On one side of the
+room stood a bed of flowers and a couch covered with brocade of
+gold, and strewed with freshly-culled jasmine flowers. On the
+other side, arranged in proper order, were attar holders,
+betel-boxes, rose-water bottles, trays, and silver cases with four
+partitions for essences compounded of rose leaves, sugar, and
+spices, prepared sandal wood, saffron, and pods of musk. Scattered
+about a stuccoed floor white as crystal, were coloured caddies of
+exquisite confections, and in others sweetmeats of various
+kinds.[FN#63] Female attendants clothed in dresses of various
+colours were standing each according to her rank, with hands
+respectfully joined. Some were reading plays and beautiful poems,
+others danced and others performed with glittering fingers and
+flashing arms on various instruments --the ivory lute, the ebony
+pipe and the silver kettledrum. In short, all the means and
+appliances of pleasure and enjoyment were there; and any
+description of the appearance of the apartments, which were the
+wonder of the age, is impossible.
+
+Then another veiled figure, the beautiful Princess Padmavati, came
+up and disclosed herself, and dazzled the eyes of her delighted
+Vajramukut. She led him into an alcove, made him sit down,
+rubbed sandal powder upon his body, hung a garland of jasmine
+flowers round his neck, sprinkled rose-water over his dress, and
+began to wave over his head a fan of peacock feathers with a
+golden handle.
+
+Said the prince, who despite all efforts could not entirely shake off
+his unhappy habit of being modest, "Those very delicate hands of
+yours are not fit to ply the pankha.[FN#64] Why do you take so
+much trouble? I am cool and refreshed by the sight of you. Do give
+the fan to me and sit down."
+
+"Nay, great king!" replied Padmavati, with the most fascinating of
+smiles, "you have taken so much trouble for my sake in coming
+here, it is right that I perform service for you."
+
+Upon which her favourite slave, taking the pankha from the hand
+of the princess, exclaimed, "This is my duty. I will perform the
+service; do you two enjoy yourselves!"
+
+The lovers then began to chew betel, which, by the bye, they
+disposed of in little agate boxes which they drew from their
+pockets, and they were soon engaged in the tenderest conversation.
+
+Here the Baital paused for a while, probably to take breath. Then
+he resumed his tale as follows:
+
+In the meantime, it became dawn; the princess concealed him; and
+when night returned they again engaged in the same innocent
+pleasures. Thus day after day sped rapidly by. Imagine, if you can,
+the youth's felicity; he was of an ardent temperament, deeply
+enamoured, barely a score of years old, and he had been strictly
+brought up by serious parents. He therefore resigned himself
+entirely to the siren for whom he willingly forgot the world, and he
+wondered at his good fortune, which had thrown in his way a
+conquest richer than all the mines of Meru.[FN#65] He could not
+sufficiently admire his Padmavati's grace, beauty, bright wit, and
+numberless accomplishments. Every morning, for vanity's sake, he
+learned from her a little useless knowledge in verse as well as
+prose, for instance, the saying of the poet -- 
+
+     Enjoy the present hour, 'tis thine; be this, O man, thy law;
+     Who e'er resew the yester? Who the morrow e'er foresaw?
+
+And this highly philosophical axiom -- 
+
+     Eat, drink, and love --the rest's not worth a fillip.
+
+"By means of which he hoped, Raja Vikram!" said the demon, not
+heeding his royal carrier's "ughs" and "poohs," "to become in
+course of time almost as clever as his mistress."
+
+Padmavati, being, as you have seen, a maiden of superior mind,
+was naturally more smitten by her lover's dulness than by any
+other of his qualities; she adored it, it was such a contrast to
+herself.[FN#66] At first she did what many clever women do --she
+invested him with the brightness of her own imagination. Still
+water, she pondered, runs deep; certainly under this disguise must
+lurk a brilliant fancy, a penetrating but a mature and ready
+judgment --are they not written by nature's hand on that broad high
+brow? With such lovely mustachios can he be aught but generous,
+noble-minded, magnanimous? Can such eyes belong to any but a
+hero? And she fed the delusion. She would smile upon him with
+intense fondness, when, after wasting hours over a few lines of
+poetry, he would misplace all the adjectives and barbarously
+entreat the metre. She laughed with gratification, when, excited by
+the bright sayings that fell from her lips, the youth put forth some
+platitude, dim as the lamp in the expiring fire-fly. When he slipped
+in grammar she saw malice under it, when he retailed a borrowed
+jest she called it a good one, and when he used --as princes
+sometimes will --bad language, she discovered in it a charming
+simplicity.
+
+At first she suspected that the stratagems which had won her heart
+were the results of a deep-laid plot proceeding from her lover. But
+clever women are apt to be rarely sharp-sighted in every matter
+which concerns themselves. She frequently determined that a third
+was in the secret. She therefore made no allusion to it. Before long
+the enamoured Vajramukut had told her everything, beginning
+with the diatribe against love pronounced by the minister's son,
+and ending with the solemn warning that she, the pretty princess,
+would some day or other play her husband a foul trick.
+
+"If I do not revenge myself upon him," thought the beautiful
+Padmavati, smiling like an angel as she listened to the youth's
+confidence, "may I become a gardener's ass in the next birth!"
+
+Having thus registered a vow, she broke silence, and praised to the
+skies the young pradhan's wisdom and sagacity; professed herself
+ready from gratitude to become his slave, and only hoped that one
+day or other she might meet that true friend by whose skill her soul
+had been gratified in its dearest desire. "Only," she concluded, "I
+am convinced that now my Vajramukut knows every corner of his
+little Padmavati's heart, he will never expect her to do anything but
+love, admire, adore and kiss him!'' Then suiting the action to the
+word, she convinced him that the young minister had for once been
+too crabbed and cynic in his philosophy.
+
+But after the lapse of a month Vajramukut, who had eaten and
+drunk and slept a great deal too much, and who had not once
+hunted, became bilious in body and in mind melancholic. His face
+turned yellow, and so did the whites of his eyes; he yawned, as
+liver patients generally do, complained occasionally of sick
+headaches, and lost his appetite: he became restless and anxious,
+and once when alone at night he thus thought aloud: "I have given
+up country, throne, home, and everything else, but the friend by
+means of whom this happiness was obtained I have not seen for the
+long length of thirty days. What will he say to himself, and how
+can I know what has happened to him?"
+
+In this state of things he was sitting, and in the meantime the
+beautiful princess arrived. She saw through the matter, and lost not
+a moment in entering upon it. She began by expressing her
+astonishment at her lover's fickleness and fondness for change, and
+when he was ready to wax wroth, and quoted the words of the
+sage, "A barren wife may be superseded by another in the eighth
+year; she whose children all die, in the tenth; she who brings forth
+only daughters, in the eleventh; she who scolds, without delay,"
+thinking that she alluded to his love, she smoothed his temper by
+explaining that she referred to his forgetting his friend. "How is it
+possible, O my soul," she asked with the softest of voices, that
+thou canst happiness here whilst thy heart is wandering there?
+Why didst thou conceal this from me, O astute one? Was it for fear
+of distressing me? Think better of thy wife than to suppose that she
+would ever separate thee from one to whom we both owe so much!
+
+"After this Padmavati advised, nay ordered, her lover to go forth
+that night, and not to return till his mind was quite at ease, and she
+begged him to take a few sweetmeats and other trifles as a little
+token of her admiration and regard for the clever young man of
+whom she had heard so much.
+
+Vajramukut embraced her with a transport of gratitude, which so
+inflamed her anger, that fearing lest the cloak of concealment
+might fall from her countenance, she went away hurriedly to find
+the greatest delicacies which her comfit boxes contained. Presently
+she returned, carrying a bag of sweetmeats of every kind for her
+lover, and as he rose up to depart, she put into his hand a little
+parcel of sugar-plums especially intended for the friend; they were
+made up with her own delicate fingers, and they would please, she
+flattered herself, even his discriminating palate.
+
+The young prince, after enduring a number of farewell embraces
+and hopings for a speedy return, and last words ever beginning
+again, passed safely through the palace gate, and with a relieved
+aspect walked briskly to the house of the old nurse. Although it
+was midnight his friend was still sitting on his mat.
+
+The two young men fell upon one another's bosoms and embraced
+affectionately. They then began to talk of matters nearest their
+hearts. The Raja's son wondered at seeing the jaded and haggard
+looks of his companion, who did not disguise that they were
+caused by his anxiety as to what might have happened to his friend
+at the hand of so talented and so superior a princess. Upon which
+Vajramukut, who now thought Padmavati an angel, and his late
+abode a heaven, remarked with formality -- and two blunders to
+one quotation --that abilities properly directed win for a man the
+happiness of both worlds.
+
+The pradhan's son rolled his head.
+
+"Again on your hobby-horse, nagging at talent whenever you find
+it in others! " cried the young prince with a pun, which would have
+delighted Padmavati. "Surely you are jealous of her!" he resumed,
+anything but pleased with the dead silence that had received his
+joke; "jealous of her cleverness, and of her love for me. She is the
+very best creature in the world. Even you, woman-hater as you are,
+would own it if you only knew all the kind messages she sent, and
+the little pleasant surprise that she has prepared for you. There!
+take and eat; they are made by her own dear hands!" cried the
+young Raja, producing the sweetmeats. "As she herself taught me
+to say -
+
+         Thank God I am a man,
+     Not a philosopher!"
+
+"The kind messages she sent me! The pleasant surprise she has
+prepared for me!" repeated the minister's son in a hard, dry tone.
+"My lord will be pleased to tell me how she heard of my name?"
+
+"I was sitting one night," replied the prince, "in anxious thought
+about you, when at that moment the princess coming in and seeing
+my condition, asked, 'Why are you thus sad? Explain the cause to
+me.' I then gave her an account of your cleverness, and when she
+heard it she gave me permission to go and see you, and sent these
+sweetmeats for you: eat them and I shall be pleased."
+
+"Great king!" rejoined the young statesman, "one thing vouchsafe
+to hear from me. You have not done well in that you have told my
+name. You should never let a woman think that your left hand
+knows the secret which she confided to your right, much less that
+you have shared it to a third person. Secondly, you did evil in
+allowing her to see the affection with which you honour your
+unworthy servant --a woman ever hates her lover's or husband's
+friend."
+
+"What could I do?" rejoined the young Raja, in a querulous tone of
+voice. "When I love a woman I like to tell her everything --to have
+no secrets from her --to consider her another self ----"
+
+"Which habit," interrupted the pradhan's son, "you will lose when
+you are a little older, when you recognize the fact that love is
+nothing but a bout, a game of skill between two individuals of
+opposite sexes: the one seeking to gain as much, and the other
+striving to lose as little as possible; and that the sharper of the
+twain thus met on the chessboard must, in the long run, win. And
+reticence is but a habit. Practise it for a year, and you will find it
+harder to betray than to conceal your thoughts. It hath its joy also.
+Is there no pleasure, think you, when suppressing an outbreak of
+tender but fatal confidence in saying to yourself, 'O, if she only
+knew this?' 'O, if she did but suspect that?' Returning, however, to
+the sugar-plums, my life to a pariah's that they are poisoned!"
+
+"Impossible!" exclaimed the prince, horror-struck at the thought;
+"what you say, surely no one ever could do. If a mortal fears not
+his fellow-mortal, at least he dreads the Deity."
+
+"I never yet knew," rejoined the other, "what a woman in love does
+fear. However, prince, the trial is easy. Come here, Muti!" cried he
+to the old woman's dog, "and off with thee to that three-headed
+kinsman of thine, that attends upon his amiable-looking
+master.[FN#67]"
+
+Having said this, he threw one of the sweetmeats to the dog; the
+animal ate it, and presently writhing and falling down, died.
+
+"The wretch! O the wretch!" cried Vajramukut, transported with
+wonder and anger. " And I loved her! But now it is all over. I dare
+not associate with such a calamity!"
+
+"What has happened, my lord, has happened!" quoth the minister's
+son calmly. "I was prepared for something of this kind from so
+talented a princess. None commit such mistakes, such blunders,
+such follies as your clever women; they cannot even turn out a
+crime decently executed. O give me dulness with one idea, one
+aim, one desire. O thrice blessed dulness that combines with
+happiness, power."
+
+This time Vajramukut did not defend talent.
+
+"And your slave did his best to warn you against perfidy. But now
+my heart is at rest. I have tried her strength. She has attempted and
+failed; the defeat will prevent her attempting again --just yet. But
+let me ask you to put to yourself one question. Can you be happy
+without her?"
+
+"Brother!" replied the prince, after a pause, "I cannot"; and he
+blushed as he made the avowal.
+
+"Well," replied the other, "better confess then conceal that fact; we
+must now meet her on the battle-field, and beat her at her own
+weapons --cunning. I do not willingly begin treachery with
+women, because, in the first place, I don't like it; and secondly, I
+know that they will certainly commence practicing it upon me,
+after which I hold myself justified in deceiving them. And
+probably this will be a good wife; remember that she intended to
+poison me, not you. During the last month my fear has been lest
+my prince had run into the tiger's brake. Tell me, my lord, when
+does the princess expect you to return to her?"
+
+"She bade me," said the young Raja, "not to return till my mind
+was quite at ease upon the subject of my talented friend."
+
+"This means that she expects you back to-morrow night, as you
+cannot enter the palace before. And now I will retire to my cot, as
+it is there that I am wont to ponder over my plans. Before dawn my
+thought shall mature one which must place the beautiful Padmavati
+in your power."
+
+"A word before parting," exclaimed the prince "you know my
+father has already chosen a spouse for me; what will he say if I
+bring home a second? "
+
+"In my humble opinion," said the minister's son rising to retire,
+"woman is a monogamous, man a polygamous, creature, a fact
+scarcely established in physio- logical theory, but very observable
+in every-day practice For what said the poet? -- 
+          Divorce, friend! Re-wed thee! The spring draweth
+near,[FN#68]
+          And a wife's but an almanac --good for the year.
+
+If your royal father say anything to you, refer him to what he
+himself does."
+
+Reassured by these words, Vajramukut bade his friend a cordial
+good-night and sought his cot, where he slept soundly, despite the
+emotions of the last few hours. The next day passed somewhat
+slowly. In the evening, when accompanying his master to the
+palace, the minister's son gave him the following directions.
+
+"Our object, dear my lord, is how to obtain possession of the
+princess. Take, then, this trident, and hide it carefully when you
+see her show the greatest love and affection. Conceal what has
+happened, and when she, wondering at your calmness, asks about
+me, tell her that last night I was weary and out of health, that
+illness prevented my eating her sweetmeats, but that I shall eat
+them for supper to-night. When she goes to sleep, then, taking off
+her jewels and striking her left leg with the trident, instantly come
+away to me. But should she lie awake, rub upon your thumb a little
+of this --do not fear, it is only a powder of grubs fed on verdigris --
+and apply it to her nostrils. It would make an elephant senseless, so
+be careful how you approach it to your own face."
+
+Vajramukut embraced his friend, and passed safely through the
+palace gate. He found Padmavati awaiting him; she fell upon his
+bosom and looked into his eyes, and deceived herself, as clever
+women will do. Overpowered by her joy and satisfaction, she now
+felt certain that her lover was hers eternally, and that her treachery
+had not been discovered; so the beautiful princess fell into a deep
+sleep.
+
+Then Vajramukut lost no time in doing as the minister's son had
+advised, and slipped out of the room, carrying off Padmavati's
+jewels and ornaments. His counsellor having inspected them, took
+up a sack and made signs to his master to follow him. Leaving the
+horses and baggage at the nurse's house, they walked to a
+burning-place outside the city. The minister's son there buried his
+dress, together with that of the prince, and drew from the sack the
+costume of a religious ascetic: he assumed this himself, and gave
+to his companion that of a disciple. Then quoth the guru (spiritual
+preceptor) to his chela (pupil), "Go, youth, to the bazar, and sell
+these jewels, remembering to let half the jewellers in the place see
+the things, and if any one lay hold of thee, bring him to me."
+
+Upon which, as day had dawned, Vajramukut carried the princess's
+ornaments to the market, and entering the nearest goldsmith's shop,
+offered to sell them, and asked what they were worth. As your
+majesty well knows, gardeners, tailors, and goldsmiths are
+proverbially dishonest, and this man was no exception to the rule.
+He looked at the pupil's face and wondered, because he had
+brought articles whose value he did not appear to know. A thought
+struck him that he might make a bargain which would fill his
+coffers, so he offered about a thousandth part of the price. This the
+pupil rejected, because he wished the affair to go further. Then the
+goldsmith, seeing him about to depart, sprang up and stood in the
+door way, threatening to call the officers of justice if the young
+man refused to give up the valuables which he said had lately been
+stolen from his shop. As the pupil only laughed at this, the
+goldsmith thought seriously of executing his threat, hesitating only
+because he knew that the officers of justice would gain more than
+he could by that proceeding. As he was still in doubt a shadow
+darkened his shop, and in entered the chief jeweller of the city. The
+moment the ornaments were shown to him he recognized them,
+and said, "These jewels belong to Raja Dantawat's daughter; I
+know them well, as I set them only a few months ago!" Then he
+turned to the disciple, who still held the valuables in his hand, and
+cried, "Tell me truly whence you received them?"
+
+While they were thus talking, a crowd of ten or twenty persons had
+collected, and at length the report reached the superintendent of the
+archers. He sent a soldier to bring before him the pupil, the
+goldsmith, and the chief jeweller, together with the ornaments.
+And when all were in the hall of justice, he looked at the jewels
+and said to the young man, "Tell me truly, whence have you
+obtained these?"
+
+"My spiritual preceptor," said Vajramukut, pretending great fear,
+"who is now worshipping in the cemetery outside the town, gave
+me these white stones, with an order to sell them. How know I
+whence he obtained them? Dismiss me, my lord, for I am an
+innocent man."
+
+"Let the ascetic be sent for," commanded the kotwal.[FN#69]
+Then, having taken both of them, along with the jewels, into the
+presence of King Dantawat, he related the whole circumstances.
+
+"Master," said the king on hearing the statement, "whence have
+you obtained these jewels?"
+
+The spiritual preceptor, before deigning an answer, pulled from
+under his arm the hide of a black antelope, which he spread out
+and smoothed deliberately before using it as an asan.[FN#70] He
+then began to finger a rosary of beads each as large as an egg, and
+after spending nearly an hour in mutterings and in rollings of the
+head, he looked fixedly at the Raja, and repined:
+
+"By Shiva! great king, they are mine own. On the fourteenth of the
+dark half of the moon at night, I had gone into a place where dead
+bodies are burned, for the purpose of accomplishing a witch's
+incantation. After long and toilsome labour she appeared, but her
+demeanour was so unruly that I was forced to chastise her. I struck
+her with this, my trident, on the left leg, if memory serves me. As
+she continued to be refractory, in order to punish her I took off all
+her jewels and clothes, and told her to go where she pleased. Even
+this had little effect upon her --never have I looked upon so
+perverse a witch. In this way the jewels came into my possession."
+
+Raja Dantawat was stunned by these words. He begged the ascetic
+not to leave the palace for a while, and forthwith walked into the
+private apartments of the women. Happening first to meet the
+queen dowager, he said to her, "Go, without losing a minute, O my
+mother, and look at Padmavati's left leg, and see if there is a mark
+or not, and what sort of a mark!" Presently she returned, and
+coming to the king said, "Son, I find thy daughter lying upon her
+bed, and complaining that she has met with an accident; and
+indeed Padmavati must be in great pain. I found that some sharp
+instrument with three points had wounded her. The girl says that a
+nail hurt her, but I never yet heard of a nail making three holes.
+However, we must all hasten, or there will be erysipelas,
+tumefaction, gangrene, mortification, amputation, and perhaps
+death in the house," concluded the old queen, hurrying away in the
+pleasing anticipation of these ghastly consequences.
+
+For a moment King Dantawat's heart was ready to break. But he
+was accustomed to master his feelings; he speedily applied the
+reins of reflection to the wild steed of passion. He thought to
+himself, "the affairs of one's household, the intentions of one's
+heart, and whatever one's losses may be, should not be disclosed to
+any one. Since Padmavati is a witch, she is no longer my daughter.
+I will verily go forth and consult the spiritual preceptor."
+
+With these words the king went outside, where the guru was still
+sitting upon his black hide, making marks with his trident on the
+floor. Having requested that the pupil might be sent away, and
+having cleared the room, he said to the jogi, "O holy man! what
+punishment for the heinous crime of witchcraft is awarded to a
+woman in the Dharma- Shastra [FN#71]?"
+
+"Great king!" replied the devotee, "in the Dharma Shastra it is thus
+written: 'If a Brahman, a cow, a woman, a child, or any other
+person whatsoever who may be dependent on us, should be guilty
+of a perfidious act, their punishment is that they be banished the
+country.' However much they may deserve death, we must not spill
+their blood, as Lakshmi[FN#72] flies in horror from the deed."
+
+Hearing these words the Raja dismissed the guru with many thanks
+and large presents. He waited till nightfall and then ordered a band
+of trusty men to seize Padmavati without alarming the household,
+and to carry her into a distant jungle full of fiends, tigers, and
+bears, and there to abandon her.
+
+In the meantime, the ascetic and his pupil hurrying to the cemetery
+resumed their proper dresses; they then went to the old nurse's
+house, rewarded her hospitality till she wept bitterly, girt on their
+weapons, and mounting their horses, followed the party which
+issued from the gate of King Dantawat's palace. And it may easily
+be believed that they found little difficulty in persuading the poor
+girl to exchange her chance in the wild jungle for the prospect of
+becoming Vajramukut's wife --lawfully wedded at Benares. She
+did not even ask if she was to have a rival in the house, --a
+question which women, you know, never neglect to put under
+usual circumstances. After some days the two pilgrims of one love
+arrived at the house of their fathers, and to all, both great and
+small, excess in joy came.
+
+"Now, Raja Vikram!" said the Baital, "you have not spoken much;
+doubtless you are engrossed by the interest of a story wherein a
+man beats a woman at her own weapon --deceit. But I warn you
+that you will assuredly fall into Narak (the infernal regions) if you
+do not make up your mind upon and explain this matter. Who was
+the most to blame amongst these four? the lover[FN#73] the
+lover's friend, the girl, or the father?"
+
+"For my part I think Padmavati was the worst, she being at the
+bottom of all their troubles," cried Dharma Dhwaj. The king said
+something about young people and the two senses of seeing and
+hearing, but his son's sentiment was so sympathetic that he at once
+pardoned the interruption. At length, determined to do justice
+despite himself, Vikram said, "Raja Dantawat is the person most at
+fault."
+
+"In what way was he at fault? " asked the Baital curiously.
+
+King Vikram gave him this reply: "The Prince Vajramukut being
+tempted of the love-god was insane, and therefore not responsible
+for his actions. The minister's son performed his master's business
+obediently, without considering causes or asking questions --a very
+excellent quality in a dependent who is merely required to do as he
+is bid. With respect to the young woman, I have only to say that
+she was a young woman, and thereby of necessity a possible
+murderess. But the Raja, a prince, a man of a certain age and
+experience, a father of eight! He ought never to have been
+deceived by so shallow a trick, nor should he, without reflection,
+have banished his daughter from the country."
+
+"Gramercy to you!" cried the Vampire, bursting into a discordant
+shout of laughter, "I now return to my tree. By my tail! I never yet
+heard a Raja so readily condemn a Raja." With these words he
+slipped out of the cloth, leaving it to hang empty over the great
+king's shoulder.
+
+Vikram stood for a moment, fixed to the spot with blank dismay.
+Presently, recovering himself, he retraced his steps, followed by
+his son, ascended the sires-tree, tore down the Baital, packed him
+up as before, and again set out upon his way.
+
+Soon afterwards a voice sounded behind the warrior king's back,
+and began to tell another true story.
+
+
+        THE VAMPIRE'S SECOND STORY.
+
+ Of the Relative Villany of Men and Women.
+
+In the great city of Bhogavati dwelt, once upon a time, a young
+prince, concerning whom I may say that he strikingly resembled
+this amiable son of your majesty.
+
+Raja Vikram was silent, nor did he acknowledge the Baital's
+indirect compliment. He hated flattery, but he liked, when
+flattered, to be flattered in his own person; a feature in their royal
+patron's character which the Nine Gems of Science had turned to
+their own account.
+
+Now the young prince Raja Ram (continued the tale teller) had an
+old father, concerning whom I may say that he was exceedingly
+unlike your Rajaship, both as a man and as a parent. He was fond
+of hunting, dicing, sleeping by day, drinking at night, and eating
+perpetual tonics, while he delighted in the idleness of watching
+nautch girls, and the vanity of falling in love. But he was adored
+by his children because he took the trouble to win their hearts. He
+did not lay it down as a law of heaven that his offspring would
+assuredly go to Patala if they neglected the duty of bestowing upon
+him without cause all their affections, as your moral, virtuous, and
+highly respectable fathers are only too apt ----. Aie! Aie!
+
+These sounds issued from the Vampire's lips as the warrior king,
+speechless with wrath, passed his hand behind his back, and
+viciously twisted up a piece of the speaker's skin. This caused the
+Vampire to cry aloud, more however, it would appear, in derision
+than in real suffering, for he presently proceeded with the same
+subject.
+
+Fathers, great king, may be divided into three kinds; and be it said
+aside, that mothers are the same. Firstly, we have the parent of
+many ideas, amusing, pleasant, of course poor, and the idol of his
+children. Secondly, there is the parent with one idea and a half.
+This sort of man would, in your place, say to himself, "That demon
+fellow speaks a manner of truth. I am not above learning from him,
+despite his position in life. I will carry out his theory, just to see
+how far it goes"; and so saying, he wends his way home, and treats
+his young ones with prodigious kindness for a time, but it is not
+lasting. Thirdly, there is the real one-idea'd type of parent-yourself,
+O warrior king Vikram, an admirable example. You learn in youth
+what you are taught: for instance, the blessed precept that the green
+stick is of the trees of Paradise; and in age you practice what you
+have learned. You cannot teach yourselves anything before your
+beards sprout, and when they grow stiff you cannot be taught by
+others. If any one attempt to change your opinions you cry,
+
+          What is new is not true,
+          What is true is not new.
+
+and you rudely pull his hand from the subject. Yet have you your
+uses like other things of earth. In life you are good working camels
+for the mill-track, and when you die your ashes are not worse
+compost than those of the wise.
+
+Your Rajaship will observe (continued the Vampire, as Vikram
+began to show symptoms of ungovernable anger) that I have been
+concise in treating this digression. Had I not been so, it would have
+led me far indeed from my tale. Now to return.
+
+When the old king became air mixed with air, the young king,
+though he found hardly ten pieces of silver in the paternal treasury
+and legacies for thousands of golden ounces, yet mourned his loss
+with the deepest grief. He easily explained to himself the reckless
+emptiness of the royal coffers as a proof of his dear kind parent's
+goodness, because he loved him.
+
+But the old man had left behind him, as he could not carry it off
+with him, a treasure more valuable than gold and silver: one
+Churaman, a parrot, who knew the world, and who besides
+discoursed in the most correct Sanscrit. By sage counsel and wise
+guidance this admirable bird soon repaired his young master's
+shattered fortunes.
+
+One day the prince said, "Parrot, thou knowest everything: tell me
+where there is a mate fit for me. The shastras inform us, respecting
+the choice of a wife, 'She who is not descended from his paternal
+or maternal ancestors within the sixth degree is eligible by a high
+caste man for nuptials. In taking a wife let him studiously avoid
+the following families, be they ever so great, or ever so rich in
+kine, goats, sheep, gold, or grain: the family which has omitted
+prescribed acts of devotion; that which has produced no male
+children; that in which the Veda (scripture) has not been read; that
+which has thick hair on the body; and that in which members have
+been subject to hereditary disease. Let a person choose for his wife
+a girl whose person has no defect; who has an agreeable name;
+who walks gracefully, like a young elephant; whose hair and teeth
+are moderate in quantity and in size; and whose body is of
+exquisite softness.'"
+
+"Great king," responded the parrot Churaman, "there is in the
+country of Magadh a Raja, Magadheshwar by name, and he has a
+daughter called Chandravati. You will marry her; she is very
+learned, and, what is better far, very fait. She is of yellow colour,
+with a nose like the flower of the sesamum; her legs are taper, like
+the plantain-tree; her eyes are large, like the principal leaf of the
+lotus; her eye-brows stretch towards her ears; her lips are red, like
+the young leaves of the mango-tree; her face is like the full moon;
+her voice is like the sound of the cuckoo; her arms reach to her
+knees; her throat is like the pigeon's; her flanks are thin, like those
+of the lion; her hair hangs in curls only down to her waist; her teeth
+are like the seeds of the pomegranate; and her gait is that of the
+drunken elephant or the goose."
+
+On hearing the parrot's speech, the king sent for an astrologer, and
+asked him, "Whom shall I marry?" The wise man, having
+consulted his art, replied, "Chandravati is the name of the maiden,
+and your marriage with her will certainly take place." Thereupon
+the young Raja, though he had never seen his future queen, became
+incontinently enamoured of her. He summoned a Brahman, and
+sent him to King Magadheshwar, saying, "If you arrange
+satisfactorily this affair of our marriage we will reward you
+amply"-a promise which lent wings to the priest.
+
+Now it so happened that this talented and beautiful princess had a
+jay,[FN#74] whose name was Madan-manjari or Love-garland.
+She also possessed encyclopaedic knowledge after her degree, and,
+like the parrot, she spoke excellent Sanscrit.
+
+Be it briefly said, O warrior king-for you think that I am talking
+fables--that in the days of old, men had the art of making birds
+discourse in human language. The invention is attributed to a great
+philosopher, who split their tongues, and after many generations
+produced a selected race born with those members split. He altered
+the shapes of their skulls by fixing ligatures behind the occiput,
+which caused the sinciput to protrude, their eyes to become
+prominent, and their brains to master the art of expressing thoughts
+in words.
+
+But this wonderful discovery, like those of great philosophers
+generally, had in it a terrible practical flaw The birds beginning to
+speak, spoke wisely and so well, they told the truth so persistently,
+they rebuked their brethren of the featherless skins so openly, they
+flattered them so little and they counselled them so much, that
+mankind presently grew tired of hearing them discourse. Thus the
+art gradually fell into desuetude, and now it is numbered with the
+things that were.
+
+One day the charming Princess Chandravati was sitting in
+confidential conversation with her jay. The dialogue was not
+remarkable, for maidens in all ages seldom consult their
+confidantes or speculate upon the secrets of futurity, or ask to have
+dreams interpreted, except upon one subject. At last the princess
+said, for perhaps the hundredth time that month, "Where, O jay, is
+there a husband worthy of me?"
+
+"Princess," replied Madan-manjari, "I am happy at length to be
+able as willing to satisfy your just curiosity. For just it is, though
+the delicacy of our sex --"
+
+"Now, no preaching!" said the maiden; "or thou shalt have salt
+instead of sugar for supper."
+
+Jays, your Rajaship, are fond of sugar. So the confidante retained a
+quantity of good advice which she was about to produce, and
+replied,
+
+"I now see clearly the ways of Fortune. Raja Ram, king of
+Bhogavati, is to be thy husband. He shall be happy in thee and thou
+in him, for he is young and handsome, rich and generous,
+good-tempered, not too clever, and without a chance of being an
+invalid."
+
+Thereupon the princess, although she had never seen her future
+husband, at once began to love him. In fact, though neither had set
+eyes upon the other, both were mutually in love.
+
+"How can that be, sire?" asked the young Dharma Dhwaj of his
+father. " I always thought that --"
+
+The great Vikram interrupted his son, and bade him not to ask silly
+questions. Thus he expected to neutralize the evil effects of the
+Baital's doctrine touching the amiability of parents unlike himself.
+
+Now, as both these young people (resumed the Baital) were of
+princely family and well to do in the world, the course of their love
+was unusually smooth. When the Brahman sent by Raja Ram had
+reached Magadh, and had delivered his King's homage to the Raja
+Magadheshwar, the latter received him with distinction, and agreed
+to his proposal. The beautiful princess's father sent for a Brahman
+of his own, and charging him with nuptial gifts and the customary
+presents, sent him back to Bhogavati in company with the other
+envoy, and gave him this order, "Greet Raja Ram, on my behalf,
+and after placing the tilak or mark upon his forehead, return here
+with all speed. When you come back I will get all things ready for
+the marriage."
+
+Raja Ram, on receiving the deputation, was greatly pleased, and
+after generously rewarding the Brahmans and making all the
+necessary preparations, he set out in state for the land of Magadha,
+to claim his betrothed.
+
+In due season the ceremony took place with feasting and bands of
+music, fireworks and illuminations, rehearsals of scripture, songs,
+entertainments, processions, and abundant noise. And hardly had
+the turmeric disappeared from the beautiful hands and feet of the
+bride, when the bridegroom took an affectionate leave of his new
+parents - he had not lived long in the house - and receiving the
+dowry and the bridal gifts, set out for his own country.
+
+Chandravati was dejected by leaving her mother, and therefore she
+was allowed to carry with her the jay, Madanmanian. She soon
+told her husband the wonderful way in which she had first heard
+his name, and he related to her the advantage which he had derived
+from confabulation with Churaman, his parrot.
+
+"Then why do we not put these precious creatures into one cage,
+after marrying them according to the rites of the angelic marriage
+(Gandharva-lagana)?" said the charming queen. Like most brides,
+she was highly pleased to find an opportunity of making a match.
+
+"Ay! why not, love ? Surely they cannot live happy in what the
+world calls single blessedness," replied the young king. As
+bridegrooms sometimes are for a short time, he was very warm
+upon the subject of matrimony.
+
+Thereupon, without consulting the parties chiefly concerned in
+their scheme, the master and mistress, after being comfortably
+settled at the end of their journey, caused a large cage to be
+brought, and put into it both their favourites.
+
+Upon which Churaman the parrot leaned his head on one side and
+directed a peculiar look at the jay. But Madan- manjari raised her
+beak high in the air, puffed through it once or twice, and turned
+away her face in extreme disdain.
+
+"Perhaps," quoth the parrot, at length breaking silence, "you will
+tell me that you have no desire to be married?"
+
+"Probably," replied the jay.
+
+"And why?" asked the male bird.
+
+"Because I don't choose," replied the female.
+
+"Truly a feminine form of resolution this," ejaculated the parrot. "I
+will borrow my master's words and call it a woman's reason, that is
+to say, no reason at all. Have you any objection to be more
+explicit?"
+
+"None whatever," retorted the jay, provoked by the rude innuendo
+into telling more plainly than politely exactly what she thought;
+"none whatever, sir parrot. You he-things are all of you sinful,
+treacherous, deceitful, selfish, devoid of conscience, and
+accustomed to sacrifice us, the weaker sex, to your smallest desire
+or convenience."
+
+"Of a truth, fair lady," quoth the young Raja Ram to his bride, "this
+pet of thine is sufficiently impudent."
+
+"Let her words be as wind in thine ear, master," interrupted the
+parrot. "And pray, Mistress Jay, what are you she-things but
+treacherous, false, ignorant, and avaricious beings, whose only
+wish in this world is to prevent life being as pleasant as it might
+be?"
+
+"Verily, my love," said the beautiful Chandravati to her
+bridegroom, "this thy bird has a habit of expressing his opinions in
+a very free and easy way."
+
+"I can prove what I assert," whispered the jay in the ear of the
+princess.
+
+"We can confound their feminine minds by an anecdote,"
+whispered the parrot in the ear of the prince.
+
+Briefly, King Vikram, it was settled between the twain that each
+should establish the truth of what it had advanced by an illustration
+in the form of a story.
+
+Chandravati claimed, and soon obtained, precedence for the jay.
+Then the wonderful bird, Madan-manjari, began to speak as
+follows:-
+
+I have often told thee, O queen, that before coming to thy feet, my
+mistress was Ratnawati, the daughter of a rich trader, the dearest,
+the sweetest, the --- 
+
+Here the jay burst into tears, and the mistress was sympathetically
+affected. Presently the speaker resumed--- 
+
+However, I anticipate. In the city of Ilapur there was a wealthy
+merchant, who was without offspring; on this account he was
+continually fasting and going on pilgrimage, and when at home he
+was ever engaged in reading the Puranas and in giving alms to the
+Brahmans.
+
+At length, by favour of the Deity, a son was born to this merchant,
+who celebrated his birth with great pomp and rejoicing, and gave
+large gifts to Brahmans and to bards, and distributed largely to the
+hungry, the thirsty, and the poor. When the boy was five years old
+he had him taught to read, and when older he was sent to a guru,
+who had formerly himself been a student, and who was celebrated
+as teacher and lecturer.
+
+In the course of time the merchant's son grew up. Praise be to
+Brahma! what a wonderful youth it was, with a face like a
+monkey's, legs like a stork's, and a back like a camel's. You know
+the old proverb:-- 
+
+          Expect thirty-two villanies from the limping, and eighty
+from the one-eyed man,
+          But when the hunchback comes, say "Lord defend us!"
+
+Instead of going to study, he went to gamble with other
+ne'er-do-weels, to whom he talked loosely, and whom he taught to
+be bad-hearted as himself. He made love to every woman, and
+despite his ugliness, he was not unsuccessful. For they are equally
+fortunate who are very handsome or very ugly, in so far as they are
+both remarkable and remarked. But the latter bear away the palm.
+Beautiful men begin well with women, who do all they can to
+attract them, love them as the apples of their eyes, discover them to
+be fools, hold them to be their equals, deceive them, and speedily
+despise them. It is otherwise with the ugly man, who, in
+consequence of his homeliness, must work his wits and take pains
+with himself, and become as pleasing as he is capable of being, till
+women forget his ape's face, bird's legs, and bunchy back.
+
+The hunchback, moreover, became a Tantri, so as to complete his
+villanies. He was duly initiated by an apostate Brahman, made a
+declaration that he renounced all the ceremonies of his old
+religion, and was delivered from their yoke, and proceeded to
+perform in token of joy an abominable rite. In company with eight
+men and eight women-a Brahman female, a dancing girl, a
+weaver's daughter, a woman of ill fame, a washerwoman, a
+barber's wife, a milkmaid, and the daughter of a land-owner-
+choosing the darkest time of night and the most secret part of the
+house, he drank with them, was sprinkled and anointed, and went
+through many ignoble ceremonies, such as sitting nude upon a
+dead body. The teacher informed him that he was not to indulge
+shame, or aversion to anything, nor to prefer one thing to another,
+nor to regard caste, ceremonial cleanness or uncleanness, but
+freely to enjoy all the pleasures of sense-that is, of course, wine
+and us, since we are the representatives of the wife of Cupid, and
+wine prevents the senses from going astray. And whereas holy
+men, holding that the subjugation or annihilation of the passions is
+essential to final beatitude, accomplish this object by bodily
+austerities, and by avoiding temptation, he proceeded to blunt the
+edge of the passions with excessive indulgence. And he jeered at
+the pious, reminding them that their ascetics are safe only in
+forests, and while keeping a perpetual fast; but that he could
+subdue his passions in the very presence of what they most
+desired.
+
+Presently this excellent youth's father died, leaving him immense
+wealth. He blunted his passions so piously and so vigorously, that
+in very few years his fortune was dissipated. Then he turned
+towards his neighbour's goods and prospered for a time, till being
+discovered robbing, he narrowly escaped the stake. At length he
+exclaimed, "Let the gods perish! the rascals send me nothing but ill
+luck!" and so saying he arose and fled from his own country.
+
+Chance led that villain hunchback to the city of Chandrapur,
+where, hearing the name of my master Hemgupt, he recollected
+that one of his father's wealthiest correspondents was so called.
+Thereupon, with his usual audacity, he presented himself at the
+house, walked in, and although he was clothed in tatters,
+introduced himself, told his father's name and circumstances, and
+wept bitterly.
+
+The good man was much astonished, and not less grieved, to see
+the son of his old friend in such woful plight. He rose up, however,
+embraced the youth, and asked the reason of his coming.
+
+"I freighted a vessel," said the false hunchback, "for the purpose of
+trading to a certain land. Having gone there, I disposed of my
+merchandise, and, taking another cargo, I was on my voyage
+home. Suddenly a great storm arose, and the vessel was wrecked,
+and I escaped on a plank, and after a time arrived here. But I am
+ashamed, since I have lost all my wealth, and I cannot show my
+face in this plight in my own city. My excellent father would have
+consoled me with his pity. But now that I have carried him and my
+mother to Ganges,[FN#75] every one will turn against me; they
+will rejoice in my misfortunes, they will accuse me of folly and
+recklessness -  alas! alas! I am truly miserable."
+
+My dear master was deceived by the cunning of the wretch. He
+offered him hospitality, which was readily enough accepted, and
+he entertained him for some time as a guest. Then, having reason
+to be satisfied with his conduct, Hemgupt admitted him to his
+secrets, and finally made him a partner in his business. Briefly, the
+villain played his cards so well, that at last the merchant said to
+himself:
+
+"I have had for years an anxiety and a calamity in my house. My
+neighbours whisper things to my disadvantage, and those who are
+bolder speak out with astonishment amongst themselves, saying,
+'At seven or eight, people marry their daughters, and this indeed is
+the appointment of the law: that period is long since gone; she is
+now thirteen or fourteen years old, and she is very tall and lusty,
+resembling a married woman of thirty. How can her father eat his
+rice with comfort and sleep with satisfaction, whilst such a
+disreputable thing exists in his house? At present he is exposed to
+shame, and his deceased friends are suffering through his retaining
+a girl from marriage beyond the period which nature has
+prescribed.' And now, while I am sitting quietly at home, the
+Bhagwan (Deity) removes all my uneasiness: by his favour such an
+opportunity occurs. It is not right to delay. It is best that I shall
+give my daughter in marriage to him. Whatever can be done to-day
+is best; who knows what may happen to-morrow?
+
+"Thus thinking, the old man went to his wife and said to her,
+"Birth, marriage, and death are all under the direction of the gods;
+can anyone say when they will be ours? We want for our daughter
+a young man who is of good birth, rich and handsome, clever and
+honourable. But we do not find him. If the bridegroom be faulty,
+thou sayest, all will go wrong. I cannot put a string round the neck
+of our daughter and throw her into the ditch. If, however, thou
+think well of the merchant's son, now my partner, we will celebrate
+Ratnawati's marriage with him."
+
+The wife, who had been won over by the hunchback's hypocrisy,
+was also pleased, and replied, "My lord! when the Deity so plainly
+indicates his wish, we should do it; since, though we have sat
+quietly at home, the desire of our hearts is accomplished. It is best
+that no delay be made: and, having quickly summoned the family
+priest, and having fixed upon a propitious planetary conjunction,
+that the marriage be celebrated."
+
+Then they called their daughter -- ah, me! what a beautiful being
+she was, and worthy the love of a Gandharva (demigod). Her long
+hair, purple with the light of youth, was glossy as the
+bramra's[FN#76] wing; her brow was pure and clear as the agate;
+the ocean-coral looked pale beside her lips, and her teeth were as
+two chaplets of pearls. Everything in her was formed to be loved.
+Who could look into her eyes without wishing to do it again? Who
+could hear her voice without hoping that such music would sound
+once more? And she was good as she was fair. Her father adored
+her; her mother, though a middle-aged woman, was not envious or
+jealous of her; her relatives doted on her, and her friends could
+find no fault with her. I should never end were I to tell her precious
+qualities. Alas, alas ! my poor Ratnawati!
+
+So saying, the jay wept abundant tears; then she resumed:
+
+When her parents informed my mistress of their resolution, she
+replied, "Sadhu-it is well!" She was not like most young women,
+who hate nothing so much as a man whom their seniors order them
+to love. She bowed her head and promised obedience, although, as
+she afterwards told her mother, she could hardly look at her
+intended, on account of his prodigious ugliness. But presently the
+hunchback's wit surmounted her disgust. She was grateful to him
+for his attention to her father and mother; she esteemed him for his
+moral and religious conduct; she pitied him for his misfortunes,
+and she finished with forgetting his face, legs, and back in her
+admiration of what she supposed to be his mind.
+
+She had vowed before marriage faithfully to perform all the duties
+of a wife, however distasteful to her they might be; but after the
+nuptials, which were not long deferred, she was not surprised to
+find that she loved her husband. Not only did she omit to think of
+his features and figure; I verily believe that she loved him the more
+for his repulsiveness. Ugly, very ugly men prevail over women for
+two reasons. Firstly, we begin with repugnance, which in the
+course of nature turns to affection; and we all like the most that
+which, when unaccustomed to it, we most disliked. Hence the poet
+says, with as much truth as is in the male:
+
+          Never despair, O man! when woman's spite
+          Detests thy name and sickens at thy sight:
+          Sometime her heart shall learn to love thee more
+          For the wild hatred which it felt before, &c.
+
+Secondly, the very ugly man appears, deceitfully enough, to think
+little of his appearance, and he will give himself the trouble to
+pursue a heart because he knows that the heart will not follow after
+him. Moreover, we women (said the jay) are by nature pitiful, and
+this our enemies term a "strange perversity." A widow is generally
+disconsolate if she loses a little, wizen-faced, shrunken shanked,
+ugly, spiteful, distempered thing that scolded her and quarrelled
+with her, and beat her and made her hours bitter; whereas she will
+follow her husband to Ganges with exemplary fortitude if he was
+brave, handsome, generous --- 
+
+"Either hold your tongue or go on with your story," cried the
+warrior king, in whose mind these remarks awakened disagreeable
+family reflections.
+
+"Hi! hi! hi!" laughed the demon; "I will obey your majesty, and
+make Madan-manjari, the misanthropical jay, proceed."
+
+Yes, she loved the hunchback; and how wonderful is our love!
+quoth the jay. A light from heaven which rains happiness on this
+dull, dark earth! A spell falling upon the spirit, which reminds us
+of a higher existence! A memory of bliss! A present delight! An
+earnest of future felicity! It makes hideousness beautiful and
+stupidity clever, old age young and wickedness good, moroseness
+amiable, and low-mindedness magnanimous, perversity pretty and
+vulgarity piquant. Truly it is sovereign alchemy and excellent flux
+for blending contradictions is our love, exclaimed the jay.
+
+And so saying, she cast a triumphant look at the parrot, who only
+remarked that he could have desired a little more originality in her
+remarks.
+
+For some months (resumed Madan-manjari), the bride and the
+bridegroom lived happily together in Hemgupt's house. But it is
+said:
+
+          Never yet did the tiger become a lamb;
+
+and the hunchback felt that the edge of his passions again wanted
+blunting. He reflected, "Wisdom is exemption from attachment,
+and affection for children, wife, and home." Then he thus
+addressed my poor young mistress:
+
+"I have been now in thy country some years, and I have heard no
+tidings of my own family, hence my mind is sad, I have told thee
+everything about myself; thou must now ask thy mother leave for
+me to go to my own city, and, if thou wishest, thou mayest go with
+me."
+
+Ratnawati lost no time in saying to her mother, "My husband
+wishes to visit his own country; will you so arrange that he may
+not be pained about this matter?"
+
+The mother went to her husband, and said, "Your son-in-law
+desires leave to go to his own country."
+
+Hemgupt replied, " Very well; we will grant him leave. One has no
+power over another man's son. We will do what he wishes."
+
+The parents then called their daughter, and asked her to tell them
+her real desire-whether she would go to her father-in-law's house,
+or would remain in her mother's home. She was abashed at this
+question, and could not answer; but she went back to her husband,
+and said, "As my father and mother have declared that you should
+do as you like, do not leave me behind."
+
+Presently the merchant summoned his son-in-law, and having
+bestowed great wealth upon him, allowed him to depart. He also
+bade his daughter farewell, after giving her a palanquin and a
+female slave. And the parents took leave of them with wailing and
+bitter tears; their hearts were like to break. And so was mine.
+
+For some days the hunchback travelled quietly along with his wife,
+in deep thought. He could not take her to his city, where she would
+find out his evil life, and the fraud which he had passed upon her
+father. Besides which, although he wanted her money, he by no
+means wanted her company for life. After turning on many
+projects in his evil-begotten mind, he hit upon the following:
+
+He dismissed the palanquin-bearers when halting at a little shed in
+the thick jungle through which they were travelling, and said to his
+wife, "This is a place of danger; give me thy jewels, and I will hide
+them in my waist-shawl. When thou reachest the city thou canst
+wear them again." She then gave up to him all her ornaments,
+which were of great value. Thereupon he inveigled the slave girl
+into the depths of the forest, where he murdered her, and left her
+body to be devoured by wild beasts. Lastly, returning to my poor
+mistress, he induced her to leave the hut with him, and pushed her
+by force into a dry well, after which exploit he set out alone with
+his ill-gotten wealth, walking towards his own city.
+
+In the meantime, a wayfaring man, who was passing through that
+jungle, hearing the sound of weeping, stood still, and began to say
+to himself, "How came to my ears the voice of a mortal's grief in
+this wild wood?" then followed the direction of the noise, which
+led him a pit, and peeping over the side, he saw a woman crying at
+the bottom. The traveller at once loosened his gird cloth, knotted it
+to his turband, and letting down the line pulled out the poor bride.
+He asked her who she was and how she came to fall into that well.
+She replied, "I am the daughter of Hemgupt, the wealthiest
+merchant in the city of Chandrapur; and I was journeying with my
+husband to his own country, when robbers set upon us and
+surrounded us. They slew my slave girl, the threw me into a well,
+and having bound my husband they took him away, together with
+my jewels. I have no tidings of him, nor he of me." And so saying,
+she burst into tears and lamentations.
+
+The wayfaring man believed her tale, and conducted her to her
+home, where she gave the same account of the accident which had
+befallen her, ending with, "beyond this, I know not if they have
+killed my husband, or have let him go." The father thus soothed
+her grief "Daughter! have no anxiety; thy husband is alive, and by
+the will of the Deity he will come to thee in a few days. Thieves
+take men's money, not their lives." Then the parents presented her
+with ornaments more precious than those which she had lost; and
+summoning their relations and friends, they comforted her to the
+best of their power.
+
+And so did I. The wicked hunchback had, meanwhile, returned to
+his own city, where he was excellently well received, because he
+brought much wealth with him. His old associates flocked around
+him rejoicing; and he fell into the same courses which had
+beggared him before. Gambling and debauchery soon blunted his
+passions, and emptied his purse. Again his boon companions,
+finding him without a broken cowrie, drove him from their doors,
+he stole and was flogged for theft; and lastly, half famished, he
+fled the city. Then he said to himself, "I must go to my
+father-in-law, and make the excuse that a grandson has been born
+to him, and that I have come to offer him congratulations on the
+event."
+
+Imagine, however, his fears and astonishment, when, as he entered
+the house, his wife stood before him. At first he thought it was a
+ghost, and turned to run away, but she went out to him and said,
+"Husband, be not troubled ! I have told my father that thieves came
+upon us, and killed the slave girl and robbed me and threw me into
+a well, and bound thee and carried thee off. Tell the same story,
+and put away all anxious feelings. Come up and change thy
+tattered garments-alas! some misfortune hath befallen thee. But
+console thyself; all is now well, since thou art returned to me, and
+fear not, for the house is thine, and I am thy slave."
+
+The wretch, with all his hardness of heart, could scarcely refrain
+from tears. He followed his wife to her room, where she washed
+his feet, caused him to bathe, dressed him in new clothes, and
+placed food before him. When her parents returned, she presented
+him to their embrace, saying in a glad way, "Rejoice with me, O
+my father and mother! the robbers have at length allowed him to
+come back to us." Of course the parents were deceived, they are
+mostly a purblind race; and Hemgupt, showing great favour to his
+worthless son-in-law, exclaimed, "Remain with us, my son, and be
+happy!"
+
+For two or three months the hunchback lived quietly with his wife,
+treating her kindly and even affectionately. But this did not last
+long. He made acquaintance with a band of thieves, and arranged
+his plans with them.
+
+After a time, his wife one night came to sleep by his side, having
+put on all her jewels. At midnight, when he saw that she was fast
+asleep, he struck her with a knife so that she died. Then he
+admitted his accomplices, who savagely murdered Hemgupt and
+his wife; and with their assistance he carried off any valuable
+article upon which he could lay his hands. The ferocious wretch!
+As he passed my cage he looked at it, and thought whether he had
+time to wring my neck. The barking of a dog saved my life; but my
+mistress, my poor Ratnawati-ah, me! ah, me!-- 
+
+"Queen," said the jay, in deepest grief, "all this have I seen with
+mine own eyes, and have heard with mine own ears. It affected me
+in early life, and gave me a dislike for the society of the other sex.
+With due respect to you, I have resolved to remain an old maid.
+Let your majesty reflect, what crime had my poor mistress
+committed? A male is of the same disposition as a highway robber;
+and she who forms friendship with such an one, cradles upon her
+bosom a black and venomous snake."
+
+"Sir Parrot," said the jay, turning to her wooer, "I have spoken. I
+have nothing more to say, but that you he-things are all a
+treacherous, selfish, wicked race, created for the express purpose
+of working our worldly woe, and--"
+
+"When a female, O my king, asserts that she has nothing more to
+say, but," broke in Churaman, the parrot with a loud dogmatical
+voice, "I know that what she has said merely whets her tongue for
+what she is about to say. This person has surely spoken long
+enough and drearily enough."
+
+"Tell me, then, O parrot," said the king, "what faults there may be
+in the other sex."
+
+"I will relate," quoth Churaman, "an occurrence which in my early
+youth determined me to live and to die an old bachelor."
+
+When quite a young bird, and before my schooling began, I was
+caught in the land of Malaya, and was sold to a very rich merchant
+called Sagardati, a widower with one daughter, the lady Jayashri.
+As her father spent all his days and half his nights in his
+counting-house, conning his ledgers and scolding his writers, that
+young woman had more liberty than is generally allowed to those
+of her age, and a mighty bad use she made of it.
+
+O king! men commit two capital mistakes in rearing the "domestic
+calamity," and these are over-vigilance and under-vigilance. Some
+parents never lose sight of their daughters, suspect them of all evil
+intentions, and are silly enough to show their suspicions, which is
+an incentive to evil-doing. For the weak-minded things do
+naturally say, "I will be wicked at once. What do I now but suffer
+all the pains and penalties of badness, without enjoying its
+pleasures?" And so they are guilty of many evil actions; for,
+however vigilant fathers and mothers may be, the daughter can
+always blind their eyes.
+
+On the other hand, many parents take no trouble whatever with
+their charges: they allow them to sit in idleness, the origin of
+badness; they permit them to communicate with the wicked, and
+they give them liberty which breeds opportunity. Thus they also,
+falling into the snares of the unrighteous, who are ever a more
+painstaking race than the righteous, are guilty of many evil actions.
+
+What, then, must wise parents do? The wise will study the
+characters of their children, and modify their treatment
+accordingly. If a daughter be naturally good, she will be treated
+with a prudent confidence. If she be vicious, an apparent trust will
+be reposed in her; but her father and mother will secretly ever be
+upon their guard. The one-idea'd -- 
+
+"All this parrot-prate, I suppose, is only intended to vex me," cried
+the warrior king, who always considered himself, and very
+naturally, a person of such consequence as ever to be uppermost in
+the thoughts and minds of others. "If thou must tell a tale, then tell
+one, Vampire! or else be silent, as I am sick to the death of thy
+psychics."
+
+"It is well, O warrior king," resumed the Baital.
+
+After that Churaman the parrot had given the young Raja Ram a
+golden mine full of good advice about the management of
+daughters, he proceeded to describe Jayashri.
+
+She was tall, stout, and well made, of lymphatic temperament, and
+yet strong passions. Her fine large eyes had heavy and rather full
+eyelids, which are to be avoided. Her hands were symmetrical
+without being small, and the palms were ever warm and damp.
+Though her lips were good, her mouth was somewhat underhung;
+and her voice was so deep, that at times it sounded like that of a
+man. Her hair was smooth as the kokila's plume, and her
+complexion was that of the young jasmine; and these were the
+points at which most persons looked. Altogether, she was neither
+handsome nor ugly, which is an excellent thing in woman. Sita the
+goddess[FN#77] was lovely to excess; therefore she was carried
+away by a demon. Raja Bali was exceedingly generous, and he
+emptied his treasury. In this way, exaggeration, even of good, is
+exceedingly bad.
+
+Yet must I confess, continued the parrot, that, as a rule, the
+beautiful woman is more virtuous than the ugly. The former is
+often tempted, but her vanity and conceit enable her to resist, by
+the self-promise that she shall be tempted again and again. On the
+other hand, the ugly woman must tempt instead of being tempted,
+and she must yield, because her vanity and conceit are gratified by
+yielding, not by resisting.
+
+"Ho, there!" broke in the jay contemptuously. "What woman
+cannot win the hearts of the silly things called men? Is it not said
+that a pig-faced female who dwells in Landanpur has a lover?"
+
+I was about to remark, my king! said the parrot, somewhat nettled,
+if the aged virgin had not interrupted me, that as ugly women are
+more vicious than handsome women, so they are most successful.
+"We love the pretty, we adore the plain," is a true saying amongst
+the worldly wise. And why do we adore the plain? Because they
+seem to think less of themselves than of us-a vital condition of
+adoration.
+
+Jayashri made some conquests by the portion of good looks which
+she possessed, more by her impudence, and most by her father's
+reputation for riches. She was truly shameless, and never allowed
+herself fewer than half a dozen admirers at the time. Her chief
+amusement was to appoint interviews with them successively, at
+intervals so short that she was obliged to hurry away one in order
+to make room for another. And when a lover happened to be
+jealous, or ventured in any way to criticize her arrangements, she
+replied at once by showing him the door. Answer unanswerable!
+
+When Jayashri had reached the ripe age of thirteen, the son of a
+merchant, who was her father's gossip and neighbour, returned
+home after a long sojourn in far lands, whither he had travelled in
+the search of wealth. The poor wretch, whose name, by-the-bye,
+was Shridat (Gift of Fortune), had loved her in her childhood; and
+he came back, as men are apt to do after absence from familiar
+scenes, painfully full of affection for house and home and all
+belonging to it. From his cross, stingy old uncle to the snarling
+superannuated beast of a watchdog, he viewed all with eyes of love
+and melting heart. He could not see that his idol was greatly
+changed, and nowise for the better; that her nose was broader and
+more club-like, her eyelids fatter and thicker, her under lip more
+prominent, her voice harsher, and her manner coarser. He did not
+notice that she was an adept in judging of men's dress, and that she
+looked with admiration upon all swordsmen, especially upon those
+who fought upon horses and elephants. The charm of memory, the
+curious faculty of making past time present caused all he viewed to
+be enchanting to him.
+
+Having obtained her father's permission, Shridat applied for
+betrothal to Jayashri, who with peculiar boldness, had resolved that
+no suitor should come to her through her parent. And she, after
+leading him on by all the coquetries of which she was a mistress,
+refused to marry him, saying that she liked him as a friend, but
+would hate him as a husband.
+
+You see, my king! there are three several states of feeling with
+which women regard their masters, and these are love, hate, and
+indifference. Of all, love is the weakest and the most transient,
+because the essentially unstable creatures naturally fall out of it as
+readily as they fall into it. Hate being a sister excitement will
+easily become, if a man has wit enough to effect the change, love;
+and hate-love may perhaps last a little longer than love-love. Also,
+man has the occupation, the excitement, and the pleasure of
+bringing about the change. As regards the neutral state, that poet
+was not happy in his ideas who sang --
+
+               Whene'er indifference appears, or scorn,
+               Then, man, despair! then, hapless lover, mourn!
+
+For a man versed in the Lila Shastra[FN#78] can soon turn a
+woman's indifference into hate, which I have shown is as easily
+permuted to love. In which predicament it is the old thing over
+again, and it ends in the pure Asat[FN#79] or nonentity.
+
+"Which of these two birds, the jay or the parrot, had dipped deeper
+into human nature, mighty King Vikram?" asked the demon in a
+wheedling tone of voice.
+
+The trap was this time set too openly, even for the royal personage,
+to fall into it. He hurried on, calling to his son, and not answering a
+word. The Vampire therefore resumed the thread of his story at the
+place where he had broken it off.
+
+Shridat was in despair when he heard the resolve of his idol. He
+thought of drowning himself, of throwing himself down from the
+summit of Mount Girnar,[FN#80] of becoming a religious beggar;
+in short, of a multitude of follies. But he refrained from all such
+heroic remedies for despair, having rightly judged, when he
+became somewhat calmer, that they would not be likely to further
+his suit. He discovered that patience is a virtue, and he resolved
+impatiently enough to practice it. And by perseverance he
+succeeded. The worse for him! How vain are men to wish! How
+wise is the Deity, who is deaf to their wishes!
+
+Jayashri, for potent reasons best known to herself, was married to
+Shridat six months after his return home. He was in raptures. He
+called himself the happiest man in existence. He thanked and
+sacrificed to the Bhagwan for listening to his prayers. He recalled
+to mind with thrilling heart the long years which he had spent in
+hopeless exile from all that was dear to him, his sadness and
+anxiety, his hopes and joys, his toils and troubles his loyal love and
+his vows to Heaven for the happiness of his idol, and for the
+furtherance of his fondest desires.
+
+For truly he loved her, continued the parrot, and there is something
+holy in such love. It becomes not only a faith, but the best of
+faiths-an abnegation of self which emancipates the spirit from its
+straightest and earthliest bondage, the "I"; the first step in the
+regions of heaven; a homage rendered through the creature to the
+Creator; a devotion solid, practical, ardent, not as worship mostly
+is, a cold and lifeless abstraction; a merging of human nature into
+one far nobler and higher the spiritual existence of the supernal
+world. For perfect love is perfect happiness, and the only
+perfection of man; and what is a demon but a being without love?
+And what makes man's love truly divine, is the fact that it is
+bestowed upon such a thing as woman.
+
+"And now, Raja Vikram," said the Vampire, speaking in his proper
+person, "I have given you Madanmanjari the jay's and Churaman
+the parrot's definitions of the tender passion, or rather their
+descriptions of its effects. Kindly observe that I am far from
+accepting either one or the other. Love is, according to me,
+somewhat akin to mania, a temporary condition of selfishness, a
+transient confusion of identity. It enables man to predicate of
+others who are his other selves, that which he is ashamed to say
+about his real self. I will suppose the beloved object to be ugly,
+stupid, vicious, perverse, selfish, low minded, or the reverse; man
+finds it charming by the same rule that makes his faults and foibles
+dearer to him than all the virtues and good qualities of his
+neighbours. Ye call love a spell, an alchemy, a deity. Why?
+Because it deifies self by gratifying all man's pride, man's vanity,
+and man's conceit, under the mask of complete unegotism. Who is
+not in heaven when he is talking of himself? and, prithee, of what
+else consists all the talk of lovers?"
+
+It is astonishing that the warrior king allowed this speech to last as
+long as it did. He hated nothing so fiercely, now that he was in
+middle-age, as any long mention of the "handsome god.[FN#81]"
+Having vainly endeavoured to stop by angry mutterings the course
+of the Baital's eloquence, he stepped out so vigorously and so
+rudely shook that inveterate talker, that the latter once or twice
+nearly bit off the tip of his tongue. Then the Vampire became
+silent, and Vikram relapsed into a walk which allowed the tale to
+be resumed.
+
+Jayashri immediately conceived a strong dislike for her husband,
+and simultaneously a fierce affection for a reprobate who before
+had been indifferent to her. The more lovingly Shridat behaved to
+her, the more vexed end annoyed she was. When her friends talked
+to her, she turned up her nose, raising her eyebrows (in token of
+displeasure), and remained silent. When her husband spoke words
+of affection to her, she found them disagreeable, and turning away
+her face, reclined on the bed. Then he brought dresses and
+ornaments of various kinds and presented them to her, saying,
+"Wear these." Whereupon she would become more angry, knit her
+brows, turn her face away, and in an audible whisper call him
+"fool." All day she stayed out of the house, saying to her
+companions, "Sisters, my youth is passing away, and I have not, up
+to the present time, tasted any of this world's pleasures." Then she
+would ascend to the balcony, peep through the lattice, and seeing
+the reprobate going along, she would cry to her friend, "Bring that
+person to me." All night she tossed and turned from side to side,
+reflecting in her heart, "I am puzzled in my mind what I shall say,
+and whither I shall go. I have forgotten sleep, hunger, and thirst;
+neither heat nor cold is refreshing to me."
+
+At last, unable any longer to support the separation from her
+reprobate paramour, whom she adored, she resolved to fly with
+him. On one occasion, when she thought that her husband was fast
+asleep, she rose up quietly, and leaving him, made her way
+fearlessly in the dark night to her lover's abode. A footpad, who
+saw her on the way, thought to himself, "Where can this woman,
+clothed in jewels, be going alone at midnight?" And thus he
+followed her unseen, and watched her.
+
+When Jayashri reached the intended place, she went into the house,
+and found her lover lying at the door. He was dead, having been
+stabbed by the footpad; but she, thinking that he had, according to
+custom, drunk intoxicating hemp, sat upon the floor, and raising
+his head, placed it tenderly in her lap. Then, burning with the fire
+of separation from him, she began to kiss his cheeks, and to fondle
+and caress him with the utmost freedom and affection.
+
+By chance a Pisach (evil spirit) was seated in a large
+fig-tree[FN#82] opposite the house, and it occurred to him, when
+beholding this scene, that he might amuse himself in a
+characteristic way. He therefore hopped down from his branch,
+vivified the body, and began to return the woman's caresses. But as
+Jayashri bent down to kiss his lips, he caught the end of her nose in
+his teeth, and bit it clean off. He then issued from the corpse, and
+returned to the branch where he had been sitting.
+
+Jayashri was in despair. She did not, however, lose her presence of
+mind, but sat down and proceeded to take thought; and when she
+had matured her plan she arose, dripping with blood, and walked
+straight home to her husband's house. On entering his room she
+clapped her hand to her nose, and began to gnash her teeth, and to
+shriek so violently, that all the members of the family were
+alarmed. The neighbours also collected in numbers at the door,
+and, as it was bolted inside, they broke it open and rushed in,
+carrying lights. There they saw the wife sitting upon the ground
+with her face mutilated, and the husband standing over her,
+apparently trying to appease her.
+
+"O ignorant, criminal, shameless, pitiless wretch!" cried the
+people, especially the women; "why hast thou cut off her nose, she
+not having offended in any way?"
+
+Poor Shridat, seeing at once the trick which had been played upon
+him, thought to himself: "One should put no confidence in a
+changeful mind, a black serpent, or an armed enemy, and one
+should dread a woman's doings. What cannot a poet describe?
+What is there that a saint (jogi) does not know? What nonsense
+will not a drunken man talk? What limit is there to a woman's
+guile? True it is that the gods know nothing of the defects of a
+horse, of the thundering of clouds, of a woman's deeds, or of a
+man's future fortunes. How then can we know?" He could do
+nothing but weep, and swear by the herb basil, by his cattle, by his
+grain, by a piece of gold, and by all that is holy, that he had not
+committed the crime.
+
+In the meanwhile, the old merchant, Jayashri's father, ran off, and
+laid a complaint before the kotwal, and the footmen of the police
+magistrate were immediately sent to apprehend the husband, and to
+carry him bound before the judge. The latter, after due
+examination, laid the affair before the king. An example happening
+to be necessary at the time, the king resolved to punish the offence
+with severity, and he summoned the husband and wife to the court.
+
+When the merchant's daughter was asked to give an account of
+what had happened, she pointed out the state of her nose, and said,
+"Maharaj! why inquire of me concerning what is so manifest?"
+The king then turned to the husband, and bade him state his
+defence. He said, "I know nothing of it," and in the face of the
+strongest evidence he persisted in denying his guilt.
+
+Thereupon the king, who had vainly threatened to cut off Shridat's
+right hand, infuriated by his refusing to confess and to beg for
+mercy, exclaimed, "How must I punish such a wretch as thou art?"
+The unfortunate man answered, "Whatever your majesty may
+consider just, that be pleased to do." Thereupon the king cried,
+"Away with him, and impale him"; and the people, hearing the
+command, prepared to obey it.
+
+Before Shridat had left the court, the footpad, who had been
+looking on, and who saw that an innocent man was about to be
+unjustly punished, raised a cry for justice and, pushing through the
+crowd, resolved to make himself heard. He thus addressed the
+throne: "Great king, the cherishing of the good, and the
+punishment of the bad, is the invariable duty of kings." The ruler
+having caused him to approach, asked him who he was, and he
+replied boldly, " Maharaj! I am a thief, and this man is innocent
+and his blood is about to be shed unjustly. Your majesty has not
+done what is right in this affair." Thereupon the king charged him
+to tell the truth according to his religion; and the thief related
+explicitly the whole circumstances, omitting of course, the murder.
+
+"Go ye," said the king to his messengers, "and look in the mouth of
+the woman's lover who has fallen dead. If the nose be there found,
+then has this thief-witness told the truth, and the husband is a
+guiltless man."
+
+The nose was presently produced in court, and Shridat escaped the
+stake. The king caused the wicked Jayashri's face to be smeared
+with oily soot, and her head and eyebrows to be shaved; thus
+blackened and disfigured, she was mounted upon a little
+ragged-limbed ass and was led around the market and the streets,
+after which she was banished for ever from the city. The husband
+and the thief were then dismissed with betel and other gifts,
+together with much sage advice which neither of them wanted.
+
+"My king," resumed the misogyne parrot, "of such excellencies as
+these are women composed. It is said that 'wet cloth will
+extinguish fire and bad food will destroy strength; a degenerate son
+ruins a family, and when a friend is in wrath he takes away life.
+But a woman is an inflicter of grief in love and in hate, whatever
+she does turns out to be for our ill. Truly the Deity has created
+woman a strange being in this world.' And again, 'The beauty of
+the nightingale is its song, science is the beauty of an ugly man,
+forgiveness is the beauty of a devotee, and the beauty of a woman
+is virtue-but where shall we find it?' And again, 'Among the sages,
+Narudu; among the beasts, the jackal; among the birds, the crow;
+among men, the barber; and in this world woman-is the most
+crafty.'
+
+"What I have told thee, my king, I have seen with mine own eyes,
+and I have heard with mine own ears. At the time I was young, but
+the event so affected me that I have ever since held female kind to
+be a walking pest, a two-legged plague, whose mission on earth,
+like flies and other vermin, is only to prevent our being too happy.
+O, why do not children and young parrots sprout in crops from the
+ground-from budding trees or vinestocks?"
+
+"I was thinking, sire," said the young Dharma Dhwaj to the warrior
+king his father, "what women would say of us if they could
+compose Sanskrit verses!"
+
+"Then keep your thoughts to yourself," replied the Raja, nettled at
+his son daring to say a word in favour of the sex. "You always take
+the part of wickedness and depravity--- "
+
+"Permit me, your majesty," interrupted the Baital, "to conclude my
+tale."
+
+When Madan-manjari, the jay, and Churaman, the parrot, had
+given these illustrations of their belief, they began to wrangle, and
+words ran high. The former insisted that females are the salt of the
+earth, speaking, I presume, figuratively. The latter went so far as to
+assert that the opposite sex have no souls, and that their brains are
+in a rudimental and inchoate state of development. Thereupon he
+was tartly taken to task by his master's bride, the beautiful
+Chandravati, who told him that those only have a bad opinion of
+women who have associated with none but the vicious and the low,
+and that he should be ashamed to abuse feminine parrots, because
+his mother had been one.
+
+This was truly logical.
+
+On the other hand, the jay was sternly reproved for her mutinous
+and treasonable assertions by the husband of her mistress, Raja
+Ram, who, although still a bridegroom, had not forgotten the
+gallant rule of his syntax-- 
+
+               The masculine is more worthy than the feminine;
+
+till Madan-manjari burst into tears and declared that her life was
+not worth having. And Raja Ram looked at her as if he could have
+wrung her neck.
+
+In short, Raja Vikram, all the four lost their tempers, and with
+them what little wits they had. Two of them were but birds, and the
+others seem not to have been much better, being young, ignorant,
+inexperienced, and lately married. How then could they decide so
+difficult a question as that of the relative wickedness and villany of
+men and women? Had your majesty been there, the knot of
+uncertainty would soon have been undone by the trenchant edge of
+your wit and wisdom, your knowledge and experience. You have,
+of course, long since made up your mind upon the subject?
+
+Dharma Dhwaj would have prevented his father's reply. But the
+youth had been twice reprehended in the course of this tale, and he
+thought it wisest to let things take their own way.
+
+"Women," quoth the Raja, oracularly, "are worse than we are; a
+man, however depraved he may be, ever retains some notion of
+right and wrong, but a woman does not. She has no such regard
+whatever."
+
+"The beautiful Bangalah Rani for instance?" said the Baital, with a
+demonaic sneer.
+
+At the mention of a word, the uttering of which was punishable by
+extirpation of the tongue, Raja Vikram's brain whirled with rage.
+He staggered in the violence of his passion, and putting forth both
+hands to break his fall, he dropped the bundle from his back. Then
+the Baital, disentangling himself and laughing lustily, ran off
+towards the tree as fast as his thin brown legs would carry him. But
+his activity availed him little.
+
+The king, puffing with fury, followed him at the top of his speed,
+and caught him by his tail before he reached the siras-tree, hurled
+him backwards with force, put foot upon his chest, and after
+shaking out the cloth, rolled him up in it with extreme violence,
+bumped his back half a dozen times against the stony ground, and
+finally, with a jerk, threw him on his shoulder, as he had done
+before.
+
+The young prince, afraid to accompany his father whilst he was
+pursuing the fiend, followed slowly in the rear, and did not join
+him for some minutes.
+
+But when matters were in their normal state, the Vampire, who had
+endured with exemplary patience the penalty of his impudence,
+began in honeyed accents,
+
+"Listen, O warrior king, whilst thy servant recounts unto thee
+another true tale."
+
+
+         THE VAMPIRE'S THIRD STORY.
+
+          Of a High-minded Family.
+
+In the venerable city of Bardwan, O warrior king! (quoth the
+Vampire) during the reign of the mighty Rupsen, flourished one
+Rajeshwar, a Rajput warrior of distinguished fame. By his valour
+and conduct he had risen from the lowest ranks of the army to
+command it as its captain. And arrived at that dignity, he did not
+put a stop to all improvements, like other chiefs, who rejoice to
+rest and return thanks. On the contrary, he became such a reformer
+that, to some extent, he remodelled the art of war.
+
+Instead of attending to rules and regulations, drawn up in their
+studies by pandits and Brahmans, he consulted chiefly his own
+experience and judgment. He threw aside the systematic plans of
+campaigns laid down in the Shastras or books of the ancients, and
+he acted upon the spur of the moment. He displayed a skill in the
+choice of ground, in the use of light troops, and in securing his
+own supplies whilst he cut off those of the enemy, which
+Kartikaya himself, God of War, might have envied. Finding that
+the bows of his troops were clumsy and slow to use, he had them
+all changed before compelled so to do by defeat; he also gave his
+attention to the sword handles, which cramped the men's grasp but
+which having been used for eighteen hundred years were
+considered perfect weapons. And having organized a special corps
+of warriors using fire arrows, he soon brought it to such perfection
+that, by using it against the elephants of his enemies, he gained
+many a campaign.
+
+One instance of his superior judgment I am about to quote to thee,
+O Vikram, after which I return to my tale; for thou art truly a
+warrior king, very likely to imitate the innovations of the great
+general Rajeshwar.
+
+(A grunt from the monarch was the result of the Vampire's sneer.)
+
+He found his master's armies recruited from Northern Hindustan,
+and officered by Kshatriya warriors, who grew great only because
+they grew old and - fat. Thus the energy and talent of the younger
+men were wasted in troubles and disorders; whilst the seniors were
+often so ancient that they could not mount their chargers unaided,
+nor, when they were mounted, could they see anything a dozen
+yards before them. But they had served in a certain obsolete
+campaign, and until Rajeshwar gave them pensions and dismissals,
+they claimed a right to take first part in all campaigns present and
+future. The commander-in-chief refused to use any captain who
+could not stand steady on his legs, or endure the sun for a whole
+day. When a soldier distinguished himself in action, he raised him
+to the powers and privileges of the warrior caste. And whereas it
+had been the habit to lavish circles and bars of silver and other
+metals upon all those who had joined in the war, whether they had
+sat behind a heap of sand or had been foremost to attack the foe, he
+broke through the pernicious custom, and he rendered the honour
+valuable by conferring it only upon the deserving. I need hardly
+say that, in an inordinately short space of time, his army beat every
+king and general that opposed it.
+
+One day the great commander-in-chief was seated in a certain
+room near the threshold of his gate, when the voices of a number
+of people outside were heard. Rajeshwar asked, "Who is at the
+door, and what is the meaning of the noise I hear?" The porter
+replied, "It is a fine thing your honour has asked. Many persons
+come sitting at the door of the rich for the purpose of obtaining a
+livelihood and wealth. When they meet together they talk of
+various things: it is these very people who are now making this
+noise."
+
+Rajeshwar, on hearing this, remained silent.
+
+In the meantime a traveller, a Rajput, Birbal by name, hoping to
+obtain employment, came from the southern quarter to the palace
+of the chief. The porter having listened to his story, made the
+circumstance known to his master, saying, "O chief! an armed man
+has arrived here, hoping to obtain employment, and is standing at
+the door. If I receive a command he shall be brought into your
+honour's presence."
+
+"Bring him in," cried the commander-in-chief.
+
+The porter brought him in, and Rajeshwar inquired, "O Rajput,
+who and what art thou?"
+
+Birbal submitted that he was a person of distinguished fame for the
+use of weapons, and that his name for fidelity and valour had gone
+forth to the utmost ends of Bharat-Kandha.[FN#83]
+
+The chief was well accustomed to this style of self introduction,
+and its only effect upon his mind was a wish to shame the man by
+showing him that he had not the least knowledge of weapons. He
+therefore bade him bare his blade and perform some feat.
+
+Birbal at once drew his good sword. Guessing the thoughts which
+were hovering about the chief's mind, he put forth his left hand,
+extending the forefinger upwards, waved his blade like the arm of
+a demon round his head, and, with a dexterous stroke, so shaved
+off a bit of nail that it fell to the ground, and not a drop of blood
+appeared upon the finger-tip.
+
+"Live for ever!" exclaimed Rajeshwar in admiration. He then
+addressed to the recruit a few questions concerning the art of war,
+or rather concerning his peculiar views of it. To all of which Birbal
+answered with a spirit and a judgment which convinced the hearer
+that he was no common sworder.
+
+Whereupon Rajeshwar bore off the new man at arms to the palace
+of the king Rupsen, and recommended that he should be engaged
+without delay.
+
+The king, being a man of few words and many ideas, after hearing
+his commander-in-chief, asked, "O Rajput, what shall I give thee
+for thy daily expenditure?"
+
+"Give me a thousand ounces of gold daily," said Birbal, "and then I
+shall have wherewithal to live on."
+
+"Hast thou an army with thee?" exclaimed the king in the greatest
+astonishment.
+
+"I have not," responded the Rajput somewhat stiffly. "I have first, a
+wife; second, a son; third, a daughter; fourth, myself; there is no
+fifth person with me."
+
+All the people of the court on hearing this turned aside their heads
+to laugh, and even the women, who were peeping at the scene,
+covered their mouths with their veils. The Rajput was then
+dismissed the presence.
+
+It is, however, noticeable amongst you humans, that the world
+often takes you at your own valuation. Set a high price upon
+yourselves, and each man shall say to his neighbour, "In this man
+there must be something." Tell everyone that you are brave, clever,
+generous, or even handsome, and after a time they will begin to
+believe you. And when thus you have attained success, it will be
+harder to unconvince them than it was to convince them. Thus - -
+
+"Listen not to him, sirrah," cried Raja Vikram to Dharma Dhwaj,
+the young prince, who had fallen a little way behind, and was
+giving ear attentively to the Vampire's ethics. "Listen to him not.
+And tell me, villain, with these ignoble principles of thine, what
+will become of modesty, humility, self-sacrifice, and a host of
+other Guna or good qualities which - which are good qualities?"
+
+"I know not," rejoined the Baital, "neither do I care. But my
+habitually inspiriting a succession of human bodies has taught me
+one fact. The wise man knows himself, and is, therefore, neither
+unduly humble nor elated, because he had no more to do with
+making himself than with the cut of his cloak, or with the fitness of
+his loin-cloth. But the fool either loses his head by comparing
+himself with still greater fools, or is prostrated when he finds
+himself inferior to other and lesser fools. This shyness he calls
+modesty, humility, and so forth. Now, whenever entering a corpse,
+whether it be of man, woman, or child, I feel peculiarly modest; I
+know that my tenement lately belonged to some conceited ass.
+And --"
+
+"Wouldst thou have me bump thy back against the ground?" asked
+Raja Vikram angrily.
+
+(The Baital muttered some reply scarcely intelligible about his
+having this time stumbled upon a metaphysical thread of ideas, and
+then continued his story.)
+
+Now Rupsen, the king, began by inquiring of himself why the
+Rajput had rated his services so highly. Then he reflected that if
+this recruit had asked so much money, it must have been for some
+reason which would afterwards become apparent. Next, he hoped
+that if he gave him so much, his generosity might some day turn
+out to his own advantage. Finally, with this idea in his mind, he
+summoned Birbal and the steward of his household, and said to the
+latter, "Give this Rajput a thousand ounces of gold daily from our
+treasury."
+
+It is related that Birbal made the best possible use of his wealth. He
+used every morning to divide it into two portions, one of which
+was distributed to Brahmans and Parohitas.[FN#84] Of the
+remaining moiety, having made two parts, he gave one as alms to
+pilgrims, to Bairagis or Vishnu's mendicants, and to Sanyasis or
+worshippers of Shiva, whose bodies, smeared with ashes, were
+hardly covered with a narrow cotton cloth and a rope about their
+loins, and whose heads of artificial hair, clotted like a rope,
+besieged his gate. With the remaining fourth, having caused food
+to be prepared, he regaled the poor, while he himself and his
+family ate what was left. Every evening, arming himself with
+sword and buckler, he took up his position as guard at the royal
+bedside, and walked round it all night sword in hand. If the king
+chanced to wake and asked who was present, Birbal immediately
+gave reply that "Birbal is here; whatever command you give, that
+he will obey." And oftentimes Rupsen gave him unusual
+commands, for it is said, "To try thy servant, bid him do things in
+season and out of season: if he obey thee willingly, know him to be
+useful; if he reply, dismiss him at once. Thus is a servant tried,
+even as a wife by the poverty of her husband, and brethren and
+friends by asking their aid."
+
+In such manner, through desire of money, Birbal remained on
+guard all night; and whether eating, drinking, sleeping, sitting,
+going or wandering about, during the twenty-four hours, he held
+his master in watchful remembrance. This, indeed, is the custom; if
+a man sell another the latter is sold, but a servant by doing service
+sells himself, and when a man has become dependent, how can he
+be happy? Certain it is that however intelligent, clever, or learned a
+man may be, yet, while he is in his master's presence, he remains
+silent as a dumb man, and struck with dread. Only while he is
+away from his lord can he be at ease. Hence, learned men say that
+to do service aright is harder than any religious study.
+
+On one occasion it is related that there happened to be heard at
+night-time the wailing of a woman in a neighbouring cemetery.
+The king on hearing it called out, "Who is in waiting?"
+
+"I am here," replied Birbal; "what command is there?"
+
+"Go," spoke the king, "to the place whence proceeds this sound of
+woman's wail, and having inquired the cause of her grief, return
+quickly."
+
+On receiving this order the Rajput went to obey it; and the king,
+unseen by him, and attired in a black dress, followed for the
+purpose of observing his courage.
+
+Presently Birbal arrived at the cemetery. And what sees he there?
+A beautiful woman of a light yellow colour, loaded with jewels
+from head to foot, holding a horn in her right and a necklace in her
+left hand. Sometimes she danced, sometimes she jumped, and
+sometimes she ran about. There was not a tear in her eye, but
+beating her head and making lamentable cries, she kept dashing
+herself on the ground.
+
+Seeing her condition, and not recognizing the goddess born of sea
+foam, and whom all the host of heaven loved,[FN#85] Birbal
+inquired, "Why art thou thus beating thyself and crying out? Who
+art thou? And what grief is upon thee?"
+
+"I am the Royal-Luck," she replied.
+
+"For what reason," asked Birbal, "art thou weeping?"
+
+The goddess then began to relate her position to the Rajput. She
+said, with tears, "In the king's palace Shudra (or low caste acts) are
+done, and hence misfortune will certainly fall upon it, and I shall
+forsake it. After a month has passed, the king, having endured
+excessive affliction, will die. In grief for this, I weep. I have
+brought much happiness to the king's house, and hence I am full of
+regret that this my prediction cannot in any way prove untrue."
+
+"Is there," asked Birbal, "any remedy for this trouble, so that the
+king may be preserved and live a hundred years?"
+
+"Yes," said the goddess, "there is. About eight miles to the east
+thou wilt find a temple dedicated to my terrible sister Devi. Offer
+to her thy son's head, cut off with thine own hand, and the reign of
+thy king shall endure for an age." So saying Raj-Lakshmi
+disappeared.
+
+Birbal answered not a word, but with hurried steps he turned
+towards his home. The king, still in black so as not to be seen,
+followed him closely, and observed and listened to everything he
+did.
+
+The Rajput went straight to his wife, awakened her, and related to
+her everything that had happened. The wise have said, "she alone
+deserves the name of wife who always receives her husband with
+affectionate and submissive words." When she heard the
+circumstances, she at once aroused her son, and her daughter also
+awoke. Then Birbal told them all that they must follow him to the
+temple of Devi in the wood.
+
+On the way the Rajput said to his wife, "If thou wilt give up thy
+son willingly, I will sacrifice him for our master's sake to Devi the
+Destroyer."
+
+She replied, "Father and mother, son and daughter, brother and
+relative, have I now none. You are everything to me. It is written
+in the scripture that a wife is not made pure by gifts to priests, nor
+by performing religious rites; her virtue consists in waiting upon
+her husband, in obeying him and in loving him - yea! though he be
+lame, maimed in the hands, dumb, deaf, blind, one eyed, leprous,
+or humpbacked. It is a true saying that 'a son under one's authority,
+a body free from sickness, a desire to acquire knowledge, an
+intelligent friend, and an obedient wife; whoever holds these five
+will find them bestowers of happiness and dispellers of affliction.
+An unwilling servant, a parsimonious king, an insincere friend, and
+a wife not under control; such things are disturbers of ease and
+givers of trouble.'"
+
+Then the good wife turned to her son and said "Child by the gift of
+thy head, the king's life may be spared, and the kingdom remain
+unshaken."
+
+"Mother," replied that excellent youth, "in my opinion we should
+hasten this matter. Firstly, I must obey your command; secondly, I
+must promote the interests of my master; thirdly, if this body be of
+any use to a goddess, nothing better can be done with it in this
+world."
+
+("Excuse me, Raja Vikram," said the Baital, interrupting himself,
+"if I repeat these fair discourses at full length; it is interesting to
+hear a young person, whose throat is about to be cut, talk so like a
+doctor of laws.")
+
+Then the youth thus addressed his sire: "Father, whoever can be of
+use to his master, the life of that man in this world has been lived
+to good purpose, and by reason of his usefulness he will be
+rewarded in other worlds."
+
+His sister, however, exclaimed, "If a mother should give poison to
+her daughter, and a father sell his son, and a king seize the entire
+property of his subjects, where then could one look for
+protection?" But they heeded her not, and continued talking as they
+journeyed towards the temple of Devi - the king all the while
+secretly following them.
+
+Presently they reached the temple, a single room, surrounded by a
+spacious paved area; in front was an immense building capable of
+seating hundreds of people. Before the image there were pools of
+blood, where victims had lately been slaughtered. In the sanctum
+was Devi, a large black figure with ten arms. With a spear in one
+of her right hands she pierced the giant Mahisha; and with one of
+her left hands she held the tail of a serpent, and the hair of the
+giant, whose breast the serpent was biting. Her other arms were all
+raised above her head, and were filled with different instruments of
+war; against her right leg leaned a lion.
+
+Then Birbal joined his hands in prayer, and with Hindu mildness
+thus addressed the awful goddess: "O mother, let the king's life be
+prolonged for a thousand years by the sacrifice of my son. O Devi,
+mother! destroy, destroy his enemies! Kill! kill! Reduce them to
+ashes! Drive them away! Devour them! devour them! Cut them in
+two! Drink! drink their blood! Destroy them root and branch! With
+thy thunderbolt, spear, scymitar, discus, or rope, annihilate them!
+Spheng! Spheng!"
+
+The Rajput, having caused his son to kneel before the goddess,
+struck him so violent a blow that his head rolled upon the ground.
+He then threw the sword down, when his daughter, frantic with
+grief, snatched it up and struck her neck with such force that her
+head, separated from her body, fell. In her turn the mother, unable
+to survive the loss of her children, seized the weapon and
+succeeded in decapitating herself. Birbal, beholding all this
+slaughter, thus reflected: "My children are dead why, now, should
+I remain in servitude, and upon whom shall I bestow the gold I
+receive from the king?" He then gave himself so deep a wound in
+the neck, that his head also separated from his body.
+
+Rupsen, the king, seeing these four heads on the ground, said in his
+heart, "For my sake has the family of Birbal been destroyed.
+Kingly power, for the purpose of upholding which the destruction
+of a whole household is necessary, is a mere curse, and to carry on
+government in this manner is not just." He then took up the sword
+and was about to slay himself, when the Destroying Goddess,
+probably satisfied with bloodshed, stayed his hand, bidding him at
+the same time ask any boon he pleased.
+
+The generous monarch begged, thereupon, that his faithful servant
+might be restored to life, together with all his high-minded family;
+and the goddess Devi in the twinkling of an eye fetched from
+Patala, the regions below the earth, a vase full of Amrita, the water
+of immortality, sprinkled it upon the dead, and raised them all as
+before. After which the whole party walked leisurely home, and in
+due time the king divided his throne with his friend Birbal.
+
+Having stopped for a moment, the Baital proceeded to remark, in a
+sententious tone, "Happy the servant who grudges not his own life
+to save that of his master! And happy, thrice happy the master who
+can annihilate all greedy longing for existence and worldly
+prosperity. Raja, I have to ask thee one searching question - Of
+these five, who was the greatest fool?"
+
+"Demon!" exclaimed the great Vikram, all whose cherished
+feelings about fidelity and family affection, obedience, and
+high-mindedness, were outraged by this Vampire view of the
+question; "if thou meanest by the greatest fool the noblest mind, I
+reply without hesitating Rupsen, the king."
+
+"Why, prithee?" asked the Baital.
+
+"Because, dull demon," said the king, "Birbal was bound to offer
+up his life for a master who treated him so generously; the son
+could not disobey his father, and the women naturally and
+instinctively killed themselves, because the example was set to
+them. But Rupsen the king gave up his throne for the sake of his
+retainer, and valued not a straw his life and his high inducements
+to live. For this reason I think him the most meritorious."
+
+"Surely, mighty Vikram," laughed the Vampire, "you will be tired
+of ever clambering up yon tall tree, even had you the legs and arms
+of Hanuman[FN#86] himself."
+
+And so saying he disappeared from the cloth, although it had been
+placed upon the ground.
+
+But the poor Baital had little reason to congratulate himself on the
+success of his escape. In a short time he was again bundled into the
+cloth with the usual want of ceremony, and he revenged himself by
+telling another true story.
+
+
+        THE VAMPIRE'S FOURTH STORY.
+                      
+       Of A Woman Who Told The Truth.
+
+"Listen, great king!" again began the Baital.
+
+An unimportant Baniya[FN#87] (trader), Hiranyadatt, had a
+daughter, whose name was Madansena Sundari, the beautiful army
+of Cupid. Her face was like the moon; her hair like the clouds; her
+eyes like those of a muskrat; her eyebrows like a bent bow; her
+nose like a parrot's bill; her neck like that of a dove; her teeth like
+pomegranate grains; the red colour of her lips like that of a gourd;
+her waist lithe and bending like the pards: her hands and feet like
+softest blossoms; her complexion like the jasmine-in fact, day by
+day the splendour of her youth increased.
+
+When she had arrived at maturity, her father and mother began
+often to resolve in their minds the subject of her marriage. And the
+people of all that country side ruled by Birbar king of Madanpur
+bruited it abroad that in the house of Hiranyadatt had been born a
+daughter by whose beauty gods, men, and munis (sages) were
+fascinated.
+
+Thereupon many, causing their portraits to be painted, sent them
+by messengers to Hiranyadatt the Baniya, who showed them all to
+his daughter. But she was capricious, as beauties sometimes are,
+and when her father said, "Make choice of a husband thyself," she
+told him that none pleased her, and moreover she begged of him to
+find her a husband who possessed good looks, good qualities, and
+good sense.
+
+At length, when some days had passed, four suitors came from
+four different countries. The father told them that he must have
+from each some indication that he possessed the required qualities;
+that he was pleased with their looks, but that they must satisfy him
+about their knowledge.
+
+"I have," the first said, "a perfect acquaintance with the Shastras
+(or Scriptures); in science there is none to rival me. As for my
+handsome mien, it may plainly be seen by you."
+
+The second exclaimed, "My attainments are unique in the
+knowledge of archery. I am acquainted with the art of discharging
+arrows and killing anything which though not seen is heard, and
+my fine proportions are plainly visible to you."
+
+The third continued, "I understand the language of land and water
+animals, of birds and of beasts, and I have no equal in strength. Of
+my comeliness you yourself may judge."
+
+"I have the knowledge," quoth the fourth, "how to make a certain
+cloth which can be sold for five rubies: having sold it I give the
+proceeds of one ruby to a Brahman, of the second I make an
+offering to a deity, a third I wear on my own person, a fourth I
+keep for my wife; and, having sold the fifth, I spend it in giving
+feasts. This is my knowledge, and none other is acquainted with it.
+My good looks are apparent."
+
+The father hearing these speeches began to reflect, "It is said that
+excess in anything is not good. Sita[FN#88] was very lovely, but
+the demon Ravana carried her away; and Bali king of Mahabahpur
+gave much alms, but at length he became poor.[FN#89] My
+daughter is too fair to remain a maiden; to which of these shall I
+give her?"
+
+So saying, Hiranyadatt went to his daughter, explained the
+qualities of the four suitors, and asked, "To which shall I give
+thee?" On hearing these words she was abashed; and, hanging
+down her head, knew not what to reply.
+
+Then the Baniya, having reflected, said to himself, "He who is
+acquainted with the Shastras is a Brahman, he who could shoot an
+arrow at the sound was a Kshatriya or warrior, and he who made
+the cloth was a Shudra or servile. But the youth who understands
+the language of birds is of our own caste. To him, therefore, will I
+marry her." And accordingly he proceeded with the betrothal of his
+daughter.
+
+Meanwhile Madansena went one day, during the spring season into
+the garden for a stroll. It happened, just before she came out, that
+Somdatt, the son of the merchant Dharmdatt, had gone for pleasure
+into the forest, and was returning through the same garden to his
+home.
+
+He was fascinated at the sight of the maiden, and said to his friend,
+"Brother, if I can obtain her my life will be prosperous, and if I do
+not obtain her my living in the world will be in vain."
+
+Having thus spoken, and becoming restless from the fear of
+separation, he involuntarily drew near to her, and seizing her hand,
+said - "If thou wilt not form an affection for me, I will throw away
+my life on thy account."
+
+"Be pleased not to do this," she replied; "it will be sinful, and it
+will involve me in the guilt and punishment of shedding blood;
+hence I shall be miserable in this world and in that to be."
+
+"Thy blandishments," he replied, "have pierced my heart, and the
+consuming thought of parting from thee has burnt up my body, and
+memory and understanding have been destroyed by this pain; and
+from excess of love I have no sense of right or wrong. But if thou
+wilt make me a promise, I will live again."
+
+She replied, "Truly the Kali Yug (iron age) has commenced, since
+which time falsehood has increased in the world and truth has
+diminished; people talk smoothly with their tongues, but nourish
+deceit in their hearts; religion is destroyed, crime has increased,
+and the earth has begun to give little fruit. Kings levy fines,
+Brahmans have waxed covetous, the son obeys not his sire's
+commands, brother distrusts brother; friendship has departed from
+amongst friends; sincerity has left masters; servants have given up
+service; man has abandoned manliness; and woman has abandoned
+modesty. Five days hence, my marriage is to be; but if thou slay
+not thyself, I will visit thee first, and after that I will remain with
+my husband."
+
+Having given this promise, and having sworn by the Ganges, she
+returned home. The merchant's son also went his way.
+
+Presently the marriage ceremonies came on, and Hiranyadatt the
+Baniya expended a lakh of rupees in feasts and presents to the
+bridegroom. The bodies of the twain were anointed with turmeric,
+the bride was made to hold in her hand the iron box for eye paint,
+and the youth a pair of betel scissors. During the night before the
+wedding there was loud and shrill music, the heads and limbs of
+the young couple were rubbed with an ointment of oil, and the
+bridegroom's head was duly shaved. The wedding procession was
+very grand. The streets were a blaze of flambeaux and torches
+carried in the hand, fireworks by the ton were discharged as the
+people passed; elephants, camels, and horses richly caparisoned,
+were placed in convenient situations; and before the procession
+had reached the house of the bride half a dozen wicked boys and
+bad young men were killed or wounded.[FN#90] After the
+marriage formulas were repeated, the Baniya gave a feast or
+supper, and the food was so excellent that all sat down quietly, no
+one uttered a complaint, or brought dishonour on the bride's
+family, or cut with scissors the garments of his neighbour.
+
+The ceremony thus happily concluded, the husband brought
+Madansena home to his own house. After some days the wife of
+her husband's youngest brother, and also the wife of his eldest
+brother, led her at night by force to her bridegroom, and seated her
+on a bed ornamented with flowers.
+
+As her husband proceeded to take her hand, she jerked it away, and
+at once openly told him all that she had promised to Somdatt on
+condition of his not killing himself.
+
+"All things," rejoined the bridegroom, hearing her words, "have
+their sense ascertained by speech; in speech they have their basis,
+and from speech they proceed; consequently a falsifier of speech
+falsifies everything. If truly you are desirous of going to him, go!
+
+"Receiving her husband's permission, she arose and went off to the
+young merchant's house in full dress. Upon the road a thief saw
+her, and in high good humour came up and asked - 
+
+"Whither goest thou at midnight in such darkness, having put on
+all these fine clothes and ornaments?"
+
+She replied that she was going to the house of her beloved.
+
+"And who here," said the thief, "is thy protector?"
+
+"Kama Deva," she replied, "the beautiful youth who by his fiery
+arrows wounds with love the hearts of the inhabitants of the three
+worlds, Ratipati, the husband of Rati,[FN#91] accompanied by the
+kokila bird,[FN#92] the humming bee and gentle breezes." She
+then told to the thief the whole story, adding - 
+
+"Destroy not my jewels: I give thee a promise before I go, that on
+my return thou shalt have all these ornaments."
+
+Hearing this the thief thought to himself that it would be useless
+now to destroy her jewels, when she had promised to give them to
+him presently of her own good will. He therefore let her go, and
+sat down and thus soliloquized:
+
+"To me it is astonishing that he who sustained me in my mother's
+womb should take no care of me now that I have been born and am
+able to enjoy the good things of this world. I know not whether he
+is asleep or dead. And I would rather swallow poison than ask man
+for money or favour. For these six things tend to lower a man: --
+friendship with the perfidious; causeless laughter; altercation with
+women; serving an unworthy master; riding an ass, and speaking
+any language but Sanskrit. And these five things the deity writes
+on our fate at the hour of birth:-- first, age; secondly, action;
+thirdly, wealth; fourthly, science; fifthly, fame. I have now done a
+good deed, and as long as a man's virtue is in the ascendant, all
+people becoming his servants obey him. But when virtuous deeds
+diminish, even his friends become inimical to him."
+
+Meanwhile Madansena had reached the place where Somdatt the
+young trader had fallen asleep.
+
+She awoke him suddenly, and he springing up in alarm quickly
+asked her, "Art thou the daughter of a deity? or of a saint? or of a
+serpent? Tell me truly, who art thou? And whence hast thou
+come?"
+
+She replied, "I am human-- Madansena, the daughter of the Baniya
+Hiranyadatt. Dost thou not remember taking my hand in that
+grove, and declaring that thou wouldst slay thyself if I did not
+swear to visit thee first and after that remain with my husband?"
+
+"Hast thou," he inquired, "told all this to thy husband or not?"
+
+She replied, "I have told him everything; and he, thoroughly
+understanding the whole affair, gave me permission."
+
+"This matter," exclaimed Somdatt in a melancholy voice, "is like
+pearls without a suitable dress, or food without clarified
+butter,[FN#93] or singing without melody; they are all alike
+unnatural. In the same way, unclean clothes will mar beauty, bad
+food will undermine strength, a wicked wife will worry her
+husband to death, a disreputable son will ruin his family, an
+enraged demon will kill, and a woman, whether she love or hate,
+will be a source of pain. For there are few things which a woman
+will not do. She never brings to her tongue what is in her heart, she
+never speaks out what is on her tongue, and she never tells what
+she is doing. Truly the Deity has created woman a strange creature
+in this world." He concluded with these words: "Return thou home
+with another man's wife I have no concern."
+
+Madansena rose and departed. On her way she met the thief, who,
+hearing her tale, gave her great praise, and let her go
+unplundered.[FN#94]
+
+She then went to her husband, and related the whole matter to him.
+But he had ceased to love her, and he said, "Neither a king nor a
+minister, nor a wife, nor a person's hair nor his nails, look well out
+of their places. And the beauty of the kokila is its note, of an ugly
+man knowledge, of a devotee forgiveness, and of a woman her
+chastity."
+
+The Vampire having narrated thus far, suddenly asked the king,
+"Of these three, whose virtue was the greatest?"
+
+Vikram, who had been greatly edified by the tale, forgot himself,
+and ejaculated, "The Thief's."
+
+"And pray why?" asked the Baital.
+
+"Because," the hero explained, "when her husband saw that she
+loved another man, however purely, he ceased to feel affection for
+her. Somdatt let her go unharmed, for fear of being punished by
+the king. But there was no reason why the thief should fear the law
+and dismiss her; therefore he was the best."
+
+"Hi! hi! hi!" laughed the demon, spitefully. "Here, then, ends my
+story."
+
+Upon which, escaping as before from the cloth in which he was
+slung behind the Raja's back, the Baital disappeared through the
+darkness of the night, leaving father and son looking at each other
+in dismay.
+
+"Son Dharma Dhwaj," quoth the great Vikram, "the next time
+when that villain Vampire asks me a question, I allow thee to take
+the liberty of pinching my arm even before I have had time to
+answer his questions. In this way we shall never, of a truth, end our
+task."
+
+"Your words be upon my head, sire," replied the young prince. But
+he expected no good from his father's new plan, as, arrived under
+the sires-tree, he heard the Baital laughing with all his might."
+
+Surely he is laughing at our beards, sire," said the beardless prince,
+who hated to be laughed at like a young person.
+
+"Let them laugh that win," fiercely cried Raja Vikram, who hated
+to be laughed at like an elderly person.
+
+   *     *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+The Vampire lost no time in opening a fresh story.
+
+
+        THE VAMPIRE'S  FIFTH STORY.
+
+     Of the Thief Who Laughed and Wept.
+
+Your majesty (quoth the demon, with unusual politeness),  there is
+a country called  Malaya, on the western coast of the  land of
+Bharat--you see that I am particular in specifying  the place--and in
+it was a city known as Chandrodaya,  whose king was named
+Randhir.
+
+This Raja, like most others of his semi-deified order, had been in
+youth what is called a Sarva-rasi[FN#95]; that is, he ate and drank
+and listened to music, and looked at dancers and made love much
+more than he studied, reflected, prayed, or conversed with the
+wise.  After the age of thirty he began to reform, and he brought
+such zeal to the good cause, that in an incredibly short space of
+time he came to be accounted and quoted as the paragon of correct
+Rajas. This was very praiseworthy. Many of Brahma's viceregents
+on earth, be it observed, have loved food and drink, and music and
+dancing, and the worship of Kama, to the end of their days.
+
+Amongst his officers was Gunshankar, a magistrate of police, who,
+curious to say, was as honest as he was just. He administered
+equity with as much care before as after dinner; he took no bribes
+even in the matter of advancing his family; he was rather merciful
+than otherwise to the poor, and he never punished the rich
+ostentatiously, in order to display his and his law's disrespect for
+persons.  Besides which, when sitting on the carpet of justice, he
+did not, as some Kotwals do, use rough or angry language to those
+who cannot reply; nor did he take offence when none was
+intended.
+
+All the people of the city Chandrodaya, in the province of Malaya,
+on the western coast of Bharatland, loved and esteemed this
+excellent magistrate; which did not, however, prevent thefts being
+committed so frequently and so regularly, that no one felt his
+property secure. At last the merchants who had suffered most from
+these depredations went in a body before Gunshankar, and said to
+him:
+
+"O flower of the law! robbers have exercised great tyranny upon
+us, so great indeed that we can no longer stay in this city."
+
+Then the magistrate replied, "What has happened, has happened.
+But in future you shall be free from annoyance. I will make due
+preparation for these thieves."
+
+Thus saying Gunshankar called together his various delegates, and
+directed them to increase the number of their people. He pointed
+out to them how they should keep watch by night; besides which
+he ordered them to open registers of all arrivals and departures, to
+make themselves acquainted by means of spies with the
+movements of every suspected person in the city, and to raise a
+body of paggis (trackers), who could follow the footprints of
+thieves even when they wore thieving shoes,[FN#96] till they
+came up with and arrested them. And lastly, he gave the patrols
+full power, whenever they might catch a robber in the act, to slay
+him without asking questions.
+
+People in numbers began to mount guard throughout the city every
+night, but, notwithstanding this, robberies continued to be
+committed. After a time all the merchants having again met
+together went before the magistrate, and said, "O incarnation of
+justice! you have changed your officers, you have hired watchmen,
+and you have established patrols: nevertheless the thieves have not
+diminished, and plundering is ever taking place."
+
+Thereupon Gunshankar carried them to the palace, and made them
+lay their petition at the feet of the king Randhir. That Raja, having
+consoled them, sent them home, saying, "Be ye of good cheer. I
+will to-night adopt a new plan, which, with the blessing of the
+Bhagwan, shall free ye from further anxiety."
+
+Observe, O Vikram, that Randhir was one of those concerning
+whom the poet sang--
+
+              The unwise run from one end to the other.
+
+Not content with becoming highly respectable, correct, and even
+unimpeachable in point of character, he reformed even his
+reformation, and he did much more than he was required to do.
+
+When Canopus began to sparkle gaily in the southern skies, the
+king arose and prepared for a night's work. He disguised his face
+by smearing it with a certain paint, by twirling his moustachios up
+to his eyes, by parting his beard upon his chin, and conducting the
+two ends towards his ears, and by tightly tying a hair from a
+horse's tail over his nose, so as quite to change its shape. He then
+wrapped himself in a coarse outer garment, girt his loins, buckled
+on his sword, drew his shield upon his arm, and without saying a
+word to those within the palace, he went out into the streets alone,
+and on foot.
+
+It was dark, and Raja Randhir walked through the silent city for
+nearly an hour without meeting anyone. As, however, he passed
+through a back street in the merchants' quarter, he saw what
+appeared to be a homeless dog, lying at the foot of a house-wall.
+He approached it, and up leaped a human figure, whilst a loud
+voice cried, "Who art thou?"
+
+Randhir replied, "I am a thief; who art thou?"
+
+"And I also am a thief," rejoined the other, much pleased at
+hearing this; "come, then, and let us make together. But what art
+thou, a high-loper or a lully-prigger[FN#97]?"
+
+"A little more ceremony between coves in the lorst,[FN#98]"
+whispered the king, speaking as a flash man, "were not out of
+place. But, look sharp, mind old Oliver,[FN#99] or the lamb-skin
+man[FN#100] will have the pull of us, and as sure as eggs is eggs
+we shall be scragged as soon as lagged.[FN#101]"
+
+"Well, keep your red rag[FN#102] quiet," grumbled the other, "and
+let us be working."
+
+Then the pair, king and thief, began work in right earnest. The
+gang seemed to swarm in the street. They were drinking spirits,
+slaying victims, rubbing their bodies with oil, daubing their eyes
+with lamp-black, and repeating incantations to enable them to see
+in the darkness; others were practicing the lessons of the god with
+the golden spear,[FN#103] and carrying out the four modes of
+breaching a house: 1. Picking out burnt bricks.  2.Cutting through
+unbaked ones when old, when softened by recent damp, by
+exposure to the sun, or by saline exudations.  3. Throwing water on
+a mud wall; and 4. Boring through one of wood. The sons of
+Skanda were making breaches in the shape of lotus blossoms, the
+sun, the new moon, the lake, and the water jar, and they seemed to
+be anointed with magic unguents, so that no eye could behold, no
+weapon harm them.
+
+At length having filled his bag with costly plunder, the thief said to
+the king, "Now, my rummy cove, we'll be off to the flash ken,
+where the lads and the morts are waiting to wet their whistles."
+
+Randhir, who as a king was perfectly familiar with "thieves'
+Latin," took heart, and resolved to hunt out the secrets of the den.
+On the way, his companion, perfectly satisfied with the importance
+which the new cove had attached to a rat-hole,[FN#104] and
+convinced that he was a true robber, taught him the whistle, the
+word, and the sign peculiar to the gang, and promised him that he
+should smack the lit[FN#105] that night before "turning in."
+
+So saying the thief rapped twice at the city gate, which was at once
+opened to him, and preceding his accomplice led the way to a rock
+about two kos (four miles) distant from the walls. Before entering
+the dark forest at the foot of the eminence, the robber stood still for
+a moment and whistled twice through his fingers with a shrill
+scream that rang through the silent glades. After a few minutes the
+signal was answered by the hooting of an owl, which the robber
+acknowledged by shrieking like a jackal. Thereupon half a dozen
+armed men arose from their crouching places in the grass, and one
+advanced towards the new comers to receive the sign. It was given,
+and they both passed on, whilst the guard sank, as it were, into the
+bowels of the earth. All these things Randhir carefully remarked:
+besides which he neglected not to take note of all the
+distinguishable objects that lay on the road, and, when he entered
+the wood, he scratched with his dagger all the tree trunks within
+reach.
+
+After a sharp walk the pair reached a high perpendicular sheet  of
+rock, rising abruptly from a clear space in the jungle, and profusely
+printed over with vermilion hands. The thief, having walked up to
+it, and made his obeisance, stooped to the ground, and removed a
+bunch of grass. The two then raised by their united efforts a heavy
+trap door, through which poured a stream of light, whilst a
+confused hubbub of voices was heard below.
+
+"This is the ken," said the robber, preparing to descend a thin
+ladder of bamboo, "follow me!" And he disappeared with his bag
+of valuables.
+
+The king did as he was bid, and the pair entered together a large
+hall, or rather a cave, which presented a singular spectacle.  It was
+lighted up by links fixed to the sombre walls, which threw a smoky
+glare over the place, and the contrast after the deep darkness
+reminded Randhir of his mother's descriptions of Patal-puri, the
+infernal city. Carpets of every kind, from the choicest tapestry to
+the coarsest rug, were spread upon the ground, and were strewed
+with bags, wallets, weapons, heaps of booty, drinking cups, and all
+the materials of debauchery.
+
+Passing through this cave the thief led Randhir into another, which
+was full of thieves, preparing for the pleasures of the night. Some
+were changing garments, ragged and dirtied by creeping through
+gaps in the houses: others were washing the blood from their hands
+and feet; these combed out their long dishevelled, dusty hair: those
+anointed their skins with perfumed cocoa-nut oil. There were all
+manner of murderers present, a villanous collection of Kartikeya's
+and Bhawani's[FN#106] crew. There were stabbers with their
+poniards hung to lanyards lashed round their naked waists,
+Dhaturiya- poisoners[FN#107] distinguished by the little bag slung
+under the left arm, and Phansigars[FN#108] wearing their fatal
+kerchiefs round their necks. And Randhir had reason to thank the
+good deed in the last life that had sent him there in such strict
+disguise, for amongst the robbers he found, as might be expected, a
+number of his own people, spies and watchmen, guards and
+patrols.
+
+The thief, whose importance of manner now showed him to be the
+chief of the gang, was greeted with applause as he entered the
+robing room, and he bade all make salam to the new companion. A
+number of questions concerning the success of the night's work
+was quickly put and answered:  then the company, having got
+ready for the revel, flocked into the first cave. There they sat down
+each in his own place, and began to eat and drink and make merry.
+
+After some hours the flaring torches began to burn out, and
+drowsiness to overpower the strongest heads. Most of the robbers
+rolled themselves up in the rugs, and covering their heads, went to
+sleep. A few still sat with their backs to the wall, nodding drowsily
+or leaning on one side, and too stupefied with opium and hemp to
+make any exertion.
+
+At that moment a servant woman, whom the king saw for the first
+time, came into the cave, and looking at him exclaimed, "O Raja!
+how came you with these wicked men? Do you run away as fast as
+you can, or they will surely kill you when they awake."
+
+"I do not know the way; in which direction am I to go?"  asked
+Randhir.
+
+The woman then showed him the road. He threaded the confused
+mass of snorers, treading with the foot of a tiger-cat, found the
+ladder, raised the trap-door by exerting all his strength, and
+breathed once more the open air of heaven. And before plunging
+into the depths of the wood he again marked the place where the
+entrance lay and carefully replaced the bunch of grass.
+
+Hardly had Raja Randhir returned to the palace, and removed the
+traces of his night's occupation, when he received a second
+deputation of the merchants, complaining bitterly and with the
+longest faces about their fresh misfortunes.
+
+"O pearl of equity!" said the men of money, "but yesterday you
+consoled us with the promise of some contrivance by the blessing
+of which our houses and coffers would be safe from theft; whereas
+our goods have never yet suffered so severely as during the last
+twelve hours."
+
+Again Randhir dismissed them, swearing that this time he would
+either die or destroy the wretches who had been guilty of such
+violence.
+
+Then having mentally prepared his measures, the Raja warned a
+company of archers to hold themselves in readiness for secret
+service, and as each one of his own people returned from the
+robbers' cave he had him privily arrested and put to death--because
+the deceased, it is said, do not, like Baitals, tell tales. About
+nightfall, when he thought that the thieves, having finished their
+work of  plunder, would meet together as usual for wassail and
+debauchery, he armed himself, marched out his men, and led them
+to the rock in the jungle.
+
+But the robbers, aroused by the disappearance of the new
+companion, had made enquiries and had gained intelligence of the
+impending danger. They feared to flee during the daytime, lest
+being tracked they should be discovered and destroyed in detail.
+When night came they hesitated to disperse, from the certainty that
+they would be captured in the morning. Then their captain, who
+throughout had been of one opinion, proposed to them that they
+should resist,  and promised them success if  they would hear his
+words. The gang  respected him, for he was known to be brave:
+they all listened to his advice, and they promised to be obedient.
+
+As young night began to cast transparent shade upon the jungle
+ground, the chief of the thieves mustered his men, inspected their
+bows and arrows, gave them encouraging words, and led them
+forth from the cave. Having placed them in ambush he climbed the
+rock to espy the movements of the enemy, whilst others applied
+their noses and ears to the level ground. Presently the moon shone
+full upon Randhir and his band of archers, who were advancing
+quickly and carelessly, for they expected to catch the robbers in
+their cave. The captain allowed them to march nearly through the
+line of ambush. Then he gave the signal, and at that moment the
+thieves, rising suddenly from the bush fell upon the royal troops
+and drove them back in confusion.
+
+The king also fled, when the chief of the robbers shouted out,
+"Hola! thou a Rajput and running away from combat?" Randhir
+hearing this halted, and the two, confronting each other, bared their
+blades and began to do battle with prodigious fury.
+
+The king was cunning of fence, and so was the thief. They opened
+the duel, as skilful swordsmen should, by bending almost double,
+skipping in a circle, each keeping his eye well fixed upon the
+other, with frowning brows and contemptuous lips; at the same
+time executing divers gambados and measured leaps, springing
+forward like frogs and backward like monkeys, and beating time
+with their sabres upon their shields, which rattled like drums.
+
+Then Randhir suddenly facing his antagonist, cut at his legs with a
+loud cry, but the thief sprang in the air, and the blade whistled
+harmlessly under him. Next moment the robber chief's sword,
+thrice whirled round his head, descended like lightning in a
+slanting direction towards the king's left shoulder: the latter,
+however, received it upon his target and escaped all hurt, though
+he staggered with the violence of the blow.
+
+And thus they continued attacking each other, parrying and
+replying, till their breath failed them and their hands and wrists
+were numbed and cramped with fatigue. They were so well
+matched in courage, strength, and address, that neither obtained the
+least advantage, till the robber's right foot catching a stone slid
+from under him, and thus he fell to the ground at the mercy of his
+enemy. The thieves fled, and the Raja, himself on his prize, tied his
+hands behind him, and brought him back to the city at the point of
+his good sword.
+
+The next morning Randhir visited his prisoner, whom he caused to
+be bathed, and washed, and covered with fine clothes. He then had
+him mounted on a camel and sent him on a circuit of the city,
+accompanied by a crier proclaiming aloud: "Who hears! who
+hears! who hears! the king commands! This is the thief who has
+robbed and plundered the city of Chandrodaya. Let all men
+therefore assemble themselves together this evening in the open
+space outside the gate leading towards the sea. And let them
+behold the penalty of evil deeds, and learn to be wise."
+
+Randhir had condemned the thief to be crucified,[FN#109] nailed
+and tied with his hands and feet stretched out at full length, in an
+erect posture until death; everything he wished to eat was ordered
+to him in order to prolong life and misery. And when death should
+draw near, melted gold was to be poured down his throat till it
+should burst from his neck and other parts of his body.
+
+In the evening the thief was led out for execution, and by chance
+the procession passed close to the house of a wealthy landowner.
+He had a favourite daughter named Shobhani, who was in the
+flower of her youth and very lovely; every day she improved, and
+every moment added to her grace and beauty. The girl had been
+carefully kept out of sight of mankind, never being allowed outside
+the high walls of the garden, because her nurse, a wise woman
+much trusted in the neighbourhood, had at the hour of death given
+a solemn warning to her parents. The prediction was that the
+maiden should be the admiration of the city, and should die a Sati-
+widow[FN#110] before becoming a wife. From that hour Shobhani
+was kept as a pearl in its casket by her father, who had vowed
+never to survive her, and had even fixed upon the place and style
+of his suicide.
+
+But the shaft of Fate[FN#111] strikes down the vulture sailing
+above the clouds, and follows the worm into the bowels of the
+earth, and pierces the fish at the bottom of the ocean--how then can
+mortal man expect to escape it? As the robber chief, mounted upon
+the camel, was passing to the cross under the old householder's
+windows, a fire breaking out in the women's apartments, drove the
+inmates into the rooms looking upon the street.
+
+The hum of many voices arose from the solid pavement of heads:
+"This is the thief who has been robbing the whole city; let him
+tremble now, for Randhir will surely crucify him!"
+
+In beauty and bravery of bearing, as in strength and courage, no
+man in Chandrodaya surpassed the robber, who, being
+magnificently dressed, looked, despite his disgraceful cavalcade,
+like the son of a king. He sat with an unmoved countenance, hardly
+hearing in his pride the scoffs of the mob; calm and steady when
+the whole city was frenzied with anxiety because of him. But as he
+heard the word "tremble" his lips quivered, his eyes flashed fire,
+and deep lines gathered between his eyebrows.
+
+Shobhani started with a scream from the casement behind which
+she had hid herself, gazing with an intense womanly curiosity into
+the thoroughfare. The robber's face was upon a level with, and not
+half a dozen feet from, her pale cheeks. She marked his handsome
+features, and his look of wrath made her quiver as if it had been a
+flash of lightning. Then she broke away from the fascination of his
+youth and beauty, and ran breathless to her father, saying:
+
+"Go this moment and get that thief released!
+
+"The old housekeeper replied: "That thief has been pilfering and
+plundering the whole city, and by his means the king's archers
+were defeated; why, then, at my request, should our most gracious
+Raja Randhir release him?"
+
+Shobhani, almost beside herself, exclaimed: "If by giving up your
+whole property, you can induce the Raja to release him, then
+instantly so do; if he does not come to me, I must give up my life!"
+
+The maiden then covered her head with her veil, and sat down in
+the deepest despair, whilst her father, hearing her words, burst into
+a cry of grief, and hastened to present himself before the Raja. He
+cried out:
+
+"O great king, be pleased to receive four lakhs of rupees, and to
+release this thief."
+
+But the king replied: "He has been robbing the whole city, and by
+reason of him my guards have been destroyed. I cannot by any
+means release him."
+
+Then the old householder finding, as he had expected the Raja
+inexorable, and not to be moved, either by tears or bribes, or by the
+cruel fate of the girl, returned home with fire in his heart, and
+addressed her:
+
+ "Daughter, I have said and done all that is possible but it avails
+me nought with the king. Now, then, we die."
+
+In the mean time, the guards having led the thief all round the city,
+took him outside the gates, and made him stand near the cross.
+Then the messengers of death arrived from the palace, and the
+executioners began to nail his limbs. He bore the agony with the
+fortitude of the brave; but when he heard what had been done by
+the old householder's daughter, he raised his voice and wept
+bitterly, as though his heart had been bursting, and almost with the
+same breath he laughed heartily as at a feast. All were startled by
+his merriment; coming as it did at a time when the iron was
+piercing his flesh, no man could see any reason for it.
+
+When he died, Shobhani, who was married to him in the  spirit,
+recited to herself these sayings:
+
+"There are thirty-five millions of hairs on the human body. The
+woman who ascends the pile with her husband will remain so
+many years in heaven. As the snake-catcher draws the serpent
+from his hole, so she, rescuing her husband from hell, rejoices with
+him; aye, though he may have sunk to a  region of torment, be
+restrained in dreadful bonds, have reached the place of anguish, be
+exhausted of strength, and afflicted and tortured for his crimes. No
+other effectual duty is known for virtuous women at any time after
+the death of their lords, except casting themselves into the same
+fire. As long as a woman in her successive transmigrations, shall
+decline burning herself, like a faithful wife, in the same fire  with
+her deceased lord, so long shall she not be exempted  from
+springing again to life in the body of some female animal."
+
+Therefore the beautiful Shobhani, virgin and wife, resolved to burn
+herself, and to make the next life of the thief certain. She showed
+her courage by thrusting her finger into a torch flame till it became
+a cinder, and she solemnly bathed in the nearest stream.
+
+A hole was dug in the ground, and upon a bed of green tree-trunks
+were heaped hemp, pitch, faggots, and clarified butter, to form the
+funeral pyre. The dead body, anointed, bathed, and dressed in new
+clothes, was then laid upon the heap, which was some two feet
+high. Shobhani prayed that as long as fourteen Indras reign, or as
+many years as there are hairs in her head, she might abide in
+heaven with her husband, and be waited upon by the heavenly
+dancers. She then presented her ornaments and little gifts of corn
+to her friends, tied some cotton round both wrists, put two new
+combs in her hair, painted her forehead, and tied up in the end of
+her body-cloth clean parched rice[FN#112] and cowrie-shells.
+These she gave to the bystanders, as she walked seven times round
+the funeral pyre, upon which lay the body. She then ascended the
+heap of wood, sat down upon it, and taking the thief's head in her
+lap, without cords or levers or upper layer or faggots, she ordered
+the pile to be lighted. The crowd standing around set fire to it in
+several places, drummed their drums, blew their conchs, and raised
+a loud cry of "Hari bol! Hari bol! [FN#113]" Straw was thrown on,
+and pitch and clarified butter were freely poured out. But
+Shobhani's was a Sahamaran, a blessed easy death: no part of her
+body was seen to move after the pyre was lighted--in fact, she
+seemed to die before the flame touched her.
+
+By the blessing of his daughter's decease, the old householder
+beheaded himself.[FN#114] He caused an instrument to be made
+in the shape of a half-moon with an edge like a razor, and fitting
+the back of his neck. At both ends of it, as at the beam of a
+balance, chains were fastened. He sat down with eyes closed; he
+was rubbed with the purifying clay of the holy river,
+Vaiturani[FN#115]; and he repeated the proper incantations. Then
+placing his feet upon the extremities of the chains, he suddenly
+jerked up his neck, and his severed head rolled from his body upon
+the ground. What a happy death was this!
+
+The Baital was silent, as if meditating on the fortunate
+transmigration which the old householder had thus secured.
+
+"But what could the thief have been laughing at, sire?" asked the
+young prince Dharma Dhwaj of his father.
+
+"At the prodigious folly of the girl, my son," replied the warrior
+king, thoughtlessly.
+
+"I am indebted once more to your majesty," burst out the Baital,
+"for releasing me from this unpleasant position, but the Raja's
+penetration is again at fault. Not to leave your royal son and heir
+labouring under a false impression, before going I will explain
+why the brave thief burst into tears, and why he laughed at such a
+moment.
+
+"He wept when he reflected that he could not requite her kindness
+in being willing to give up everything she had in the world to save
+his life; and this thought deeply grieved him.
+
+Then it struck him as being passing strange that she had begun to
+love him when the last sand of his life was well nigh run out; that
+wondrous are the ways of the revolving heavens which bestow
+wealth upon the niggard that cannot use it, wisdom upon the bad
+man who will misuse it, a beautiful wife upon the fool who cannot
+protect her, and fertilizing showers upon the stony hills. And
+thinking over these things, the gallant and beautiful thief laughed
+aloud.
+
+"Before returning to my sires-tree," continued the Vampire, "as I
+am about to do in virtue of your majesty's unintelligent reply, I
+may remark that men may laugh and cry, or may cry and laugh,
+about everything in this world, from their neighbours' deaths,
+which, as a general rule, in no wise concern them, to their own
+latter ends, which do concern them exceedingly. For my part, I am
+in the habit of laughing at everything, because it animates the
+brain, stimulates the lungs, beautifies the countenance, and--for the
+moment, good-bye, Raja Vikram!
+
+The warrior king, being forewarned this time, shifted the bundle
+containing the Baital from his back to under his arm, where he
+pressed it with all his might.
+
+This proceeding, however, did not prevent the Vampire from
+slipping back to his tree, and leaving an empty cloth with the Raja.
+
+Presently the demon was trussed up as usual; a voice sounded
+behind Vikram, and the loquacious thing again began to talk.
+
+
+         THE VAMPIRE'S SIXTH STORY.
+
+ In Which Three Men Dispute about a Woman.
+
+On the lovely banks of Jumna's stream there was a city known as
+Dharmasthal--the Place of Duty; and therein dwelt a certain
+Brahman called Keshav. He was a very pious man, in the constant
+habit of performing penance and worship upon the river Sidi. He
+modelled his own clay images instead of buying them from others;
+he painted holy stones red at the top, and made to them offerings
+of flowers, fruit, water, sweetmeats, and fried peas. He had
+become a learned man somewhat late in life, having, until twenty
+years old, neglected his reading, and addicted himself to
+worshipping the beautiful youth Kama-Deva[FN#116] and Rati his
+wife, accompanied by the cuckoo, the humming-bee, and sweet
+breezes.
+
+One day his parents having rebuked him sharply for his
+ungovernable conduct, Keshav wandered to a neighbouring
+hamlet, and hid himself in the tall fig-tree which shadowed a
+celebrated image of Panchanan.[FN#117] Presently an evil thought
+arose in his head: he defiled the god, and threw him into the
+nearest tank.
+
+The next morning, when the person arrived whose livelihood
+depended on the image, he discovered that his god was gone. He
+returned into the village distracted, and all was soon in an uproar
+about the lost deity.
+
+In the midst of this confusion the parents of Keshav arrived,
+seeking for their son; and a man in the crowd declared that he had
+seen a young man sitting in Panchanan's tree, but what had become
+of the god he knew not.
+
+The runaway at length appeared, and the suspicions of the villagers
+fell upon him as the stealer of Panchanan. He confessed the fact,
+pointed out the place where he had thrown the stone, and added
+that he had polluted the god. All hands and eyes were raised in
+amazement at this atrocious crime, and every one present declared
+that Panchanan would certainly punish the daring insult by
+immediate death. Keshav was dreadfully frightened; he began to
+obey his parents from that very hour, and applied to his studies so
+sedulously that he soon became the most learned man of his
+country.
+
+Now Keshav the Brahman had a daughter whose name was the
+Madhumalati or Sweet Jasmine. She was very beautiful. Whence
+did the gods procure the materials to form so exquisite a face?
+They took a portion of the most excellent part of the moon to form
+that beautiful face? Does any one seek a proof of this? Let him
+look at the empty places left in the moon. Her eyes resembled the
+full-blown blue nymphaea; her arms the charming stalk of the
+lotus; her flowing tresses the thick darkness of night.
+
+When this lovely person arrived at a marriageable age, her mother,
+father, and brother, all three became very anxious about her. For
+the wise have said, "A daughter nubile but without a husband is
+ever a calamity hanging over a house." And, "Kings, women, and
+climbing plants love those who are near them." Also, "Who is
+there that has not suffered from the sex? for a woman cannot be
+kept in due subjection, either by gifts or kindness, or correct
+conduct, or the greatest services, or the laws of morality, or by the
+terror of punishment, for she cannot discriminate between good
+and evil." 
+
+It so happened that one day Keshav the Brahman went to the
+marriage of a certain customer of his,[FN#118] and his son
+repaired to the house of a spiritual preceptor in order to read.
+During their absence, a young man came to the house, when the
+Sweet Jasmine's mother, inferring his good qualities from his good
+looks, said to him, "I will give to thee my daughter in marriage."
+The father also had promised his daughter to a Brahman youth
+whom he had met at the house of his employer; and the brother
+likewise had betrothed his sister to a fellow student at the place
+where he had gone to read.
+
+After some days father and son came home, accompanied by these
+two suitors, and in the house a third was already seated. The name
+of the first was Tribikram, of the second Baman, and of the third
+Madhusadan. The three were equal in mind and body, in
+knowledge, and in age.
+
+Then the father, looking upon them, said to himself, "Ho! there is
+one bride and three bridegrooms; to whom shall I give, and to
+whom shall I not give? We three have pledged our word to these
+three. A strange circumstance has occurred; what must we do?" 
+
+He then proposed to them a trial of wisdom, and made them agree
+that he who should quote the most excellent saying of the wise
+should become his daughter's husband.
+
+Quoth Tribikram: "Courage is tried in war; integrity in the
+payment of debt and interest; friendship in distress; and the
+faithfulness of a wife in the day of poverty." 
+
+Baman proceeded: "That woman is destitute of virtue who in her
+father's house is not in subjection, who wanders to feasts and
+amusements, who throws off her veil in the presence of men, who
+remains as a guest in the houses of strangers, who is much devoted
+to sleep, who drinks inebriating beverages, and who delights in
+distance from her husband." 
+
+"Let none," pursued Madhusadan, "confide in the sea, nor in
+whatever has claws or horns, or who carries deadly weapons;
+neither in a woman, nor in a king." 
+
+Whilst the Brahman was doubting which to prefer, and rather
+inclining to the latter sentiment, a serpent bit the beautiful girl, and
+in a few hours she died.
+
+Stunned by this awful sudden death, the father and the three suitors
+sat for a time motionless. They then arose, used great exertions,
+and brought all kinds of sorcerers, wise men and women who
+charm away poisons by incantations. These having seen the girl
+said, "She cannot return to life." The first declared, "A person
+always dies who has been bitten by a snake on the fifth, sixth,
+eighth, ninth, and fourteenth days of the lunar month.'' The second
+asserted, "One who has been bitten on a Saturday or a Tuesday
+does not survive." The third opined, "Poison infused during certain
+six lunar mansions cannot be got under." Quoth the fourth, "One
+who has been bitten in any organ of sense, the lower lip, the cheek,
+the neck, or the stomach, cannot escape death." The fifth said, "In
+this case even Brahma, the Creator, could not restore life--of what
+account, then, are we? Do you perform the funeral rites; we will
+depart." 
+
+Thus saying, the sorcerers went their way. The mourning father
+took up his daughter's corpse and caused it to be burnt, in the place
+where dead bodies are usually burnt, and returned to his house.
+
+After that the three young men said to one another, "We must now
+seek happiness elsewhere. And what better can we do than obey
+the words of Indra, the God of Air, who spake thus ?-- 
+
+"'For a man who does not travel about there is no felicity, and a
+good man who stays at home is a bad man. Indra is the friend of
+him who travels. Travel! 
+
+"'A traveller's legs are like blossoming branches, and he himself
+grows and gathers the fruit. All his wrongs vanish, destroyed by
+his exertion on the roadside. Travel! 
+
+"'The fortune of a man who sits, sits also; it rises when he rises; it
+sleeps when he sleeps; it moves well when he moves. Travel! 
+
+"'A man who sleeps is like the Iron Age. A man who awakes is like
+the Bronze Age. A man who rises up is like the Silver Age. A man
+who travels is like the Golden Age. Travel! 
+
+"'A traveller finds honey; a traveller finds sweet figs. Look at the
+happiness of the sun, who travailing never tires. Travel!"' 
+
+Before parting they divided the relics of the beloved one, and then
+they went their way.
+
+Tribikram, having separated and tied up the burnt bones, became
+one of the Vaisheshikas, in those days a powerful sect. He
+solemnly forswore the eight great crimes, namely: feeding at night;
+slaying any animal; eating the fruit of trees that give milk, or
+pumpkins or young bamboos: tasting honey or flesh; plundering
+the wealth of others; taking by force a married woman; eating
+flowers, butter, or cheese; and worshipping the gods of other
+religions. He learned that the highest act of virtue is to abstain
+from doing injury to sentient creatures; that crime does not justify
+the destruction of life; and that kings, as the administrators of
+criminal justice, are the greatest of sinners. He professed the five
+vows of total abstinence from falsehood, eating flesh or fish, theft,
+drinking spirits, and marriage. He bound himself to possess
+nothing beyond a white loin-cloth, a towel to wipe the mouth, a
+beggar's dish, and a brush of woollen threads to sweep the ground
+for fear of treading on insects. And he was ordered to fear secular
+affairs; the miseries of a future state; the receiving from others
+more than the food of a day at once; all accidents; provisions, if
+connected with the destruction of animal life; death and disgrace;
+also to please all, and to obtain compassion from all.
+
+He attempted to banish his love. He said to himself, "Surely it was
+owing only to my pride and selfishness that I ever looked upon a
+woman as capable of affording happiness; and I thought, 'Ah! ah!
+thine eyes roll about like the tail of the water-wagtail, thy lips
+resemble the ripe fruit, thy bosom is like the lotus bud, thy form is
+resplendent as gold melted in a crucible, the moon wanes through
+desire to imitate the shadow of thy face, thou resemblest the
+pleasure-house of Cupid; the happiness of all time is concentrated
+in thee; a touch from thee would surely give life to a dead image;
+at thy approach a living admirer would be changed by joy into a
+lifeless stone; obtaining thee I can face all the horrors of war; and
+were I pierced by showers of arrows, one glance of thee would
+heal all my wounds.' 
+
+"My mind is now averted from the world. Seeing her I say, 'Is this
+the form by which men are bewitched? This is a basket covered
+with skin; it contains bones, flesh, blood, and impurities. The
+stupid creature who is captivated by this--is there a cannibal
+feeding in Currim a greater cannibal than he? These persons call a
+thing made up of impure matter a face, and drink its charms as a
+drunkard swallows the inebriating liquor from his cup. The blind,
+infatuated beings! Why should I be pleased or displeased with this
+body, composed of flesh and blood? It is my duty to seek Him who
+is the Lord of this body, and to disregard everything which gives
+rise either to pleasure or to pain.'"
+
+Baman, the second suitor, tied up a bundle of his beloved one's
+ashes, and followed--somewhat prematurely--the precepts of the
+great lawgiver Manu. "When the father of a family perceives his
+muscles becoming flaccid, and his hair grey, and sees the child of
+his child, let him then take refuge in a forest. Let him take up his
+consecrated fire and all his domestic implements for making
+oblations to it, and, departing from the town to the lonely wood, let
+him dwell in it with complete power over his organs of sense and
+of action. With many sorts of pure food, such as holy sages used to
+eat, with green herbs, roots, and fruit, let him perform the five
+great sacraments, introducing them with due ceremonies. Let him
+wear a black antelope-hide, or a vesture of bark; let him bathe
+evening and morning; let him suffer the hair of his head, his beard
+and his nails to grow continually. Let him slide backwards and
+forwards on the ground; or let him stand a whole day on tiptoe; or
+let him continue in motion, rising and sitting alternately; but at
+sunrise, at noon, and at sunset, let him go to the waters and bathe.
+In the hot season let him sit exposed to five fires, four blazing
+around him, with the sun above; in the rains let him stand
+uncovered, without even a mantle, where the clouds pour the
+heaviest showers; in the cold season let him wear damp clothes,
+and let him increase by degrees the austerity of his devotions.
+Then, having reposited his holy fires, as the law directs, in his
+mind, let him live without external fire, without a mansion, wholly
+silent, feeding on roots and fruit." 
+
+Meanwhile Madhusadan the third, having taken a wallet and
+neckband, became a Jogi, and began to wander far and wide, living
+on nothing but chaff, and practicing his devotions. In order to see
+Brahma he attended to the following duties; 1. Hearing; 2.
+Meditation; 3. Fixing the Mind; 4. Absorbing the Mind. He
+combated the three evils, restlessness, injuriousness,
+voluptuousness by settling the Deity in his spirit, by subjecting his
+senses, and by destroying desire. Thus he would do away with the
+illusion (Maya) which conceals all true knowledge. He repeated
+the name of the Deity till it appeared to him in the form of a Dry
+Light or glory. Though connected with the affairs of life, that is,
+with affairs belonging to a body containing blood, bones, and
+impurities; to organs which are blind, palsied, and full of weakness
+and error; to a mind filled with thirst, hunger, sorrow, infatuation;
+to confirmed habits, and to the fruits of former births: still he
+strove not to view these things as realities. He made a companion
+of a dog, honouring it with his own food, so as the better to think
+on spirit. He practiced all the five operations connected with the
+vital air, or air collected in the body. He attended much to
+Pranayama, or the gradual suppression of breathing, and he
+secured fixedness of mind as follows. By placing his sight and
+thoughts on the tip of his nose he perceived smell; on the tip of his
+tongue he realized taste, on the root of his tongue he knew sound,
+and so forth. He practiced the eighty-four Asana or postures,
+raising his hand to the wonders of the heavens, till he felt no longer
+the inconveniences of heat or cold, hunger or thirst. He particularly
+preferred the Padma or lotus-posture, which consists of bringing
+the feet to the sides, holding the right in the left hand and the left in
+the right. In the work of suppressing his breath he permitted its
+respiration to reach at furthest twelve fingers' breadth, and
+gradually diminished the distance from his nostrils till he could
+confine it to the length of twelve fingers from his nose, and even
+after restraining it for some time he would draw it from no greater
+distance than from his heart. As respects time, he began by
+retaining inspiration for twenty-six seconds, and he enlarged this
+period gradually till he became perfect. He sat cross-legged,
+closing with his fingers all the avenues of inspiration, and he
+practiced Prityahara, or the power of restraining the members of
+the body and mind, with meditation and concentration, to which
+there are four enemies, viz., a sleepy heart, human passions, a
+confused mind, and attachment to anything but the one Brahma.
+He also cultivated Yama, that is, inoffensiveness, truth, honesty,
+the forsaking of all evil in the world, and the refusal of gifts except
+for sacrifice, and Nihama, i.e., purity relative to the use of water
+after defilement, pleasure in everything whether in prosperity or
+adversity, renouncing food when hungry, and keeping down the
+body. Thus delivered from these four enemies of the flesh, he
+resembled the unruffled flame of the lamp, and by Brahmagnana,
+or meditating on the Deity, placing his mind on the sun, moon,
+fire, or any other luminous body, or within his heart, or at the
+bottom of his throat, or in the centre of his skull, he was enabled to
+ascend from gross images of omnipotence to the works and the
+divine wisdom of the glorious original.
+
+One day Madhusadan, the Jogi, went to a certain house for food,
+and the householder having seen him began to say, "Be so good as
+to take your food here this day!" The visitor sat down, and when
+the victuals were ready, the host caused his feet and hands to be
+washed, and leading him to the Chauka, or square place upon
+which meals are served, seated him and sat by him. And he quoted
+the scripture: "No guest must be dismissed in the evening by a
+housekeeper: he is sent by the returning sun, and whether he come
+in fit season or unseasonably, he must not sojourn in the house
+without entertainment: let me not eat any delicate food, without
+asking my guest to partake of it: the satisfaction of a guest will
+assuredly bring the housekeeper wealth, reputation, long life, and a
+place in heaven." 
+
+The householder's wife then came to serve up the food, rice and
+split peas, oil, and spices, all cooked in a new earthen pot with
+pure firewood. Part of the meal was served and the rest remained
+to be served, when the woman's little child began to cry aloud and
+to catch hold of its mother's dress. She endeavoured to release
+herself, but the boy would not let go, and the more she coaxed the
+more he cried, and was obstinate. On this the mother became
+angry, took up the boy and threw him upon the fire, which
+instantly burnt him to ashes.
+
+Madhusadan, the Jogi, seeing this, rose up without eating. The
+master of the house said to him, "Why eatest thou not?" He
+replied, "I am ' Atithi,' that is to say, to be entertained at your
+house, but how can one eat under the roof of a person who has
+committed such a Rakshasa-like (devilish) deed? Is it not said, 'He
+who does not govern his passions, lives in vain'? 'A foolish king, a
+person puffed up with riches, and a weak child, desire that which
+cannot be procured'? Also, 'A king destroys his enemies, even
+when flying; and the touch of an elephant, as well as the breath of
+a serpent, are fatal; but the wicked destroy even while laughing'?"
+
+Hearing this, the householder smiled; presently he arose and went
+to another part of the tenement, and brought back with him a book,
+treating on Sanjivnividya, or the science of restoring the dead to
+life. This he had taken from its hidden place, two beams almost
+touching one another with the ends in the opposite wall. The
+precious volume was in single leaves, some six inches broad by
+treble that length, and the paper was stained with yellow orpiment
+and the juice of tamarind seeds to keep away insects.
+
+The householder opened the cloth containing the book, untied the
+flat boards at the top and bottom, and took out from it a charm.
+Having repeated this Mantra, with many ceremonies, he at once
+restored the child to life, saying, "Of all precious things,
+knowledge is the most valuable; other riches may be stolen, or
+diminished by expenditure, but knowledge is immortal, and the
+greater the expenditure the greater the increase; it can be shared
+with none, and it defies the power of the thief." 
+
+The Jogi, seeing this marvel, took thought in his heart, "If I could
+obtain that book, I would restore my beloved to life, and give up
+this course of uncomfortable postures and difficulty of breathing."
+With this resolution he sat down to his food, and remained in the
+house.
+
+At length night came, and after a time, all, having eaten supper,
+and gone to their sleeping-places, lay down. The Jogi also went to
+rest in one part of the house, but did not allow sleep to close his
+eyes. When he thought that a fourth part of the hours of darkness
+had sped, and that all were deep in slumber, then he got up very
+quietly, and going into the room of the master of the house, he
+took down the book from the beam-ends and went his ways.
+
+Madhusadan, the Jogi, went straight to the place where the
+beautiful Sweet Jasmine had been burned. There he found his two
+rivals sitting talking together and comparing experiences. They
+recognized him at once, and cried aloud to him, "Brother! thou
+also hast been wandering over the world; tell us this--hast thou
+learned anything which can profit us?" He replied, "I have learned
+the science of restoring the dead to life"; upon which they both
+exclaimed, "If thou hast really learned such knowledge, restore our
+beloved to life." 
+
+Madhusadan proceeded to make his incantations, despite terrible
+sights in the air, the cries of jackals, owls, crows, cats, asses,
+vultures, dogs, and lizards, and the wrath of innumerable invisible
+beings, such as messengers of Yama (Pluto), ghosts, devils,
+demons, imps, fiends, devas, succubi, and others. All the three
+lovers drawing blood from their own bodies, offered it to the
+goddess Chandi, repeating the following incantation, "Hail!
+supreme delusion! Hail! goddess of the universe! Hail! thou who
+fulfillest the desires of all. May I presume to offer thee the blood
+of my body; and wilt thou deign to accept it, and be propitious
+towards me!"
+
+They then made a burnt-offering of their flesh, and each one
+prayed, "Grant me, O goddess! to see the maiden alive again, in
+proportion to the fervency with which I present thee with mine
+own flesh, invoking thee to be propitious to me. Salutation to thee
+again and again, under the mysterious syllables any! any!"
+
+Then they made a heap of the bones and the ashes, which had been
+carefully kept by Tribikram and Baman. As the Jogi Madhusadan
+proceeded with his incantation, a white vapour arose from the
+ground, and, gradually condensing, assumed a perispiritual form--
+the fluid envelope of the soul. The three spectators felt their blood
+freeze as the bones and the ashes were gradually absorbed into the
+before shadowy shape, and they were restored to themselves only
+when the maiden Madhuvati begged to be taken home to her
+mother.
+
+Then Kama, God of Love, blinded them, and they began fiercely to
+quarrel about who should have the beautiful maid. Each wanted to
+be her sole master. Tribikram declared the bones to be the great
+fact of the incantation; Baman swore by the ashes; and
+Madhusadan laughed them both to scorn. No one could decide the
+dispute; the wisest doctors were all nonplussed; and as for the
+Raja--well! we do not go for wit or wisdom to kings. I wonder if
+the great Raja Vikram could decide which person the woman
+belonged to?
+
+"To Baman, the man who kept her ashes, fellow!" exclaimed the
+hero, not a little offended by the free remarks of the fiend.
+
+"Yet," rejoined the Baital impudently, "if Tribikram had not
+preserved her bones how could she have been restored to life? And
+if Madhusadan had not learned the science of restoring the dead to
+life how could she have been revivified? At least, so it seems to
+me. But perhaps your royal wisdom may explain."
+
+"Devil!" said the king angrily, "Tribikram, who preserved her
+bones, by that act placed himself in the position of her son;
+therefore he could not marry her. Madhusadan, who, restoring her
+to life, gave her life, was evidently a father to her; he could not,
+then, become her husband. Therefore she was the wife of Baman,
+who had collected her ashes." 
+
+"I am happy to see, O king," exclaimed the Vampire, "that in spite
+of my presentiments, we are not to part company just yet. These
+little trips I hold to be, like lovers' quarrels, the prelude to closer
+union. With your leave we will still practice a little suspension." 
+
+And so saying, the Baital again ascended the tree, and was
+suspended there.
+
+"Would it not be better," thought the monarch, after recapturing
+and shouldering the fugitive, "for me to sit down this time and
+listen to the fellow's story? Perhaps the double exercise of walking
+and thinking confuses me." 
+
+With this idea Vikram placed his bundle upon the ground, well tied
+up with turband and waistband; then he seated himself
+cross-legged before it, and bade his son do the same.
+
+The Vampire strongly objected to this measure, as it was contrary,
+he asserted, to the covenant between him and the Raja. Vikram
+replied by citing the very words of the agreement, proving that
+there was no allusion to walking or sitting.
+
+Then the Baital became sulky, and swore that he would not utter
+another word. But he, too, was bound by the chain of destiny.
+Presently he opened his lips, with the normal prelude that he was
+about to tell a true tale.
+
+
+        THE VAMPIRE'S SEVENTH STORY.
+
+Showing the Exceeding Folly of Many Wise Fools.
+
+The Baital resumed.
+
+Of all the learned Brahmans in the learnedest university of Gaur
+(Bengal) none was so celebrated as Vishnu Swami. He could write
+verse as well as prose in dead languages, not very correctly, but
+still, better than all his fellows--which constituted him a
+distinguished writer. He had history, theosophy, and the four
+Vedas of Scriptures at his fingers' ends, he was skilled in the
+argute science of Nyasa or Disputation, his mind was a mine of
+Pauranic or cosmogonico-traditional lore, handed down from the
+ancient fathers to the modern fathers: and he had written bulky
+commentaries, exhausting all that tongue of man has to say, upon
+the obscure text of some old philosopher whose works upon ethics,
+poetry, and rhetoric were supposed by the sages of Gaur to contain
+the germs of everything knowable. His fame went over all the
+country; yea, from country to country. He was a sea of excellent
+qualities, the father and mother of Brahmans, cows, and women,
+and the horror of loose persons, cut-throats, courtiers, and
+courtesans. As a benefactor he was equal to Karna, most liberal of
+heroes. In regard to truth he was equal to the veracious king
+Yudhishtira.
+
+True, he was sometimes at a loss to spell a common word in his
+mother tongue, and whilst he knew to a fingerbreadth how many
+palms and paces the sun, the moon, and all the stars are distant
+from the earth, he would have been puzzled to tell you where the
+region called Yavana[FN#119] lies. Whilst he could enumerate, in
+strict chronological succession, every important event that
+happened five or six million years before he was born, he was
+profoundly ignorant of those that occurred in his own day. And
+once he asked a friend seriously, if a cat let loose in the jungle
+would not in time become a tiger.
+
+Yet did all the members of alma mater Kasi, Pandits[FN#120] as
+well as students, look with awe upon Vishnu Swami's livid cheeks,
+and lack-lustre eyes, grimed hands and soiled cottons.
+
+Now it so happened that this wise and pious Brahmanic peer had
+four sons, whom he brought up in the strictest and most serious
+way. They were taught to repeat their prayers long before they
+understood a word of them, and when they reached the age of
+four[FN#121] they had read a variety of hymns and spiritual
+songs. Then they were set to learn by heart precepts that inculcate
+sacred duties, and arguments relating to theology, abstract and
+concrete.
+
+Their father, who was also their tutor, sedulously cultivated, as all
+the best works upon education advise, their implicit obedience,
+humble respect, warm attachment, and the virtues and sentiments
+generally. He praised them secretly and reprehended them openly,
+to exercise their humility. He derided their looks, and dressed them
+coarsely, to preserve them from vanity and conceit. Whenever they
+anticipated a "treat," he punctually disappointed them, to teach
+them self-denial. Often when he had promised them a present, he
+would revoke, not break his word, in order that discipline might
+have a name and habitat in his household. And knowing by
+experience how much stronger than love is fear, he frequently
+threatened, browbeat, and overawed them with the rod and the
+tongue, with the terrors of this world, and with the horrors of the
+next, that they might be kept in the right way by dread of falling
+into the bottomless pits that bound it on both sides.
+
+At the age of six they were transferred to the Chatushpati[FN#122]
+or school. Every morning the teacher and his pupils assembled in
+the hut where the different classes were called up by turns. They
+laboured till noon, and were allowed only two hours, a moiety of
+the usual time, for bathing, eating, sleep, and worship, which took
+up half the period. At 3 P.M. they resumed their labours, repeating
+to the tutor what they had learned by heart, and listening to the
+meaning of it: this lasted till twilight. They then worshipped, ate
+and drank for an hour: after which came a return of study,
+repeating the day's lessons, till 10 P.M.
+
+In their rare days of ease--for the learned priest, mindful of the
+words of the wise, did not wish to dull them by everlasting work--
+they were enjoined to disport themselves with the gravity and the
+decorum that befit young Samditats, not to engage in night frolics,
+not to use free jests or light expressions, not to draw pictures on
+the walls, not to eat honey, flesh, and sweet substances turned acid,
+not to talk to little girls at the well-side, on no account to wear
+sandals, carry an umbrella, or handle a die even for love, and by no
+means to steal their neighbours' mangoes.
+
+As they advanced in years their attention during work time was
+unremittingly directed to the Vedas. Wordly studies were almost
+excluded, or to speak more correctly, whenever wordly studies
+were brought upon the carpet, they were so evil entreated, that they
+well nigh lost all form and feature. History became "The Annals of
+India on Brahminical Principles," opposed to the Buddhistical;
+geography "The Lands of the Vedas," none other being deemed
+worthy of notice; and law, "The Institutes of Manu," then almost
+obsolete, despite their exceeding sanctity.
+
+But Jatu-harini[FN#123] had evidently changed these children
+before they were born; and Shani[FN#124] must have been in the
+ninth mansion when they came to light.
+
+Each youth as he attained the mature age of twelve was formally
+entered at the University of Kasi, where, without loss of time, the
+first became a gambler, the second a confirmed libertine, the third
+a thief, and the fourth a high Buddhist, or in other words an utter
+atheist.
+
+Here King Vikram frowned at his son, a hint that he had better not
+behave himself as the children of highly moral and religious
+parents usually do. The young prince understood him, and briefly
+remarking that such things were common in distinguished
+Brahman families, asked the Baital what he meant by the word
+"Atheist."
+
+Of a truth (answered the Vampire) it is most difficult to explain.
+The sages assign to it three or four several meanings: first, one
+who denies that the gods exist secondly, one who owns that the
+gods exist but denies that they busy themselves with human
+affairs; and thirdly, one who believes in the gods and in their
+providence, but also believes that they are easily to be set aside.
+Similarly some atheists derive all things from dead and
+unintelligent matter; others from matter living and energetic but
+without sense or will: others from matter with forms and qualities
+generable and conceptible; and others from a plastic and
+methodical nature. Thus the Vishnu Swamis of the world have
+invested the subject with some confusion. The simple, that is to
+say, the mass of mortality, have confounded that confusion by
+reproachfully applying the word atheist to those whose opinions
+differ materially from their own.
+
+But I being at present, perhaps happily for myself, a Vampire, and
+having, just now, none of these human or inhuman ideas, meant
+simply to say that the pious priest's fourth son being great at
+second and small in the matter of first causes, adopted to their
+fullest extent the doctrines of the philosophical Buddhas.[FN#125]
+Nothing according to him exists but the five elements, earth, water,
+fire, air (or wind), and vacuum, and from the last proceeded the
+penultimate, and so forth. With the sage Patanjali, he held the
+universe to have the power of perpetual progression.[FN#126] He
+called that Matra (matter), which is an eternal and infinite
+principle, beginningless and endless. Organization, intelligence,
+and design, he opined, are inherent in matter as growth is in a tree.
+He did not believe in soul or spirit, because it could not be detected
+in the body, and because it was a departure from physiological
+analogy. The idea "I am," according to him, was not the
+identification of spirit with matter, but a product of the mutation of
+matter in this cloud-like, error-formed world. He believed in
+Substance (Sat) and scoffed at Unsubstance (Asat). He asserted the
+subtlety and globularity of atoms which are uncreate. He made
+mind and intellect a mere secretion of the brain, or rather words
+expressing not a thing, but a state of things. Reason was to him
+developed instinct, and life an element of the atmosphere affecting
+certain organisms. He held good and evil to be merely
+geographical and chronological expressions, and he opined that
+what is called Evil is mostly an active and transitive form of Good.
+Law was his great Creator of all things, but he refused a creator of
+law, because such a creator would require another creator, and so
+on in a quasi-interminable series up to absurdity. This reduced his
+law to a manner of haphazard. To those who, arguing against it,
+asked him their favourite question, How often might a man after he
+had jumbled a set of letters in a bag fling them out upon the ground
+before they would fall into an exact poem? he replied that the
+calculation was beyond his arithmetic, but that the man had only to
+jumble and fling long enough inevitably to arrive at that end. He
+rejected the necessity as well as the existence of revelation, and he
+did not credit the miracles of Krishna, because, according to him,
+nature never suspends her laws, and, moreover, he had never seen
+aught supernatural. He ridiculed the idea of Mahapralaya, or the
+great destruction, for as the world had no beginning, so it will have
+no end. He objected to absorption, facetiously observing with the
+sage Jamadagni, that it was pleasant to eat sweetmeats, but that for
+his part he did not wish to become the sweetmeat itself. He would
+not believe that Vishnu had formed the universe out of the wax in
+his ears. He positively asserted that trees are not bodies in which
+the consequences of merit and demerit are received. Nor would he
+conclude that to men were attached rewards and punishments from
+all eternity. He made light of the Sanskara, or sacrament. He
+admitted Satwa, Raja, and Tama,[FN#127] but only as properties
+of matter. He acknowledged gross matter (Sthulasharir), and
+atomic matter (Shukshma-sharir), but not Linga-sharir, or the
+archetype of bodies. To doubt all things was the foundation of his
+theory, and to scoff at all who would not doubt was the
+corner-stone of his practice. In debate he preferred logical and
+mathematical grounds, requiring a categorical "because" in answer
+to his "why?" He was full of morality and natural religion, which
+some say is no religion at all. He gained the name of atheist by
+declaring with Gotama that there are innumerable worlds, that the
+earth has nothing beneath it but the circumambient air, and that the
+core of the globe is incandescent. And he was called a practical
+atheist--a worse form apparently--for supporting the following
+dogma: "that though creation may attest that a creator has been, it
+supplies no evidence to prove that a creator still exists." On which
+occasion, Shiromani, a nonplussed theologian, asked him, "By
+whom and for what purpose werst thou sent on earth?" The youth
+scoffed at the word "sent," and replied, "Not being thy Supreme
+Intelligence, or Infinite Nihility, I am unable to explain the
+phenomenon." Upon which he quoted--
+
+               How sunk in darkness Gaur must be
+               Whose guide is blind Shiromani!
+
+At length it so happened that the four young men, having
+frequently been surprised in flagrant delict, were summoned to the
+dread presence of the university Gurus,[FN#128] who addressed
+them as follows:--
+
+"There are four different characters in the world: he who perfectly
+obeys the commands; he who practices the commands, but follows
+evil; he who does neither good nor evil; and he who does nothing
+but evil. The third character, it is observed, is also an offender, for
+he neglects that which he ought to observe. But ye all belong to the
+fourth category."
+ 
+Then turning to the elder they said:
+
+"In works written upon the subject of government it is advised,
+'Cut off the gambler's nose and ears, hold up his name to public
+contempt, and drive him out of the country, that he may thus
+become an example to others. For they who play must more often
+lose than win; and losing, they must either pay or not pay. In the
+latter case they forfeit caste, in the former they utterly reduce
+themselves. And though a gambler's wife and children are in the
+house, do not consider them to be so, since it is not known when
+they will be lost.[FN#129] Thus he is left in a state of perfect
+not-twoness (solitude), and he will be reborn in hell.' O young
+man! thou hast set a bad example to others, therefore shalt thou
+immediately exchange this university for a country life."
+
+Then they spoke to the second offender thus :---
+
+"The wise shun woman, who can fascinate a man in the twinkling
+of an eye; but the foolish, conceiving an affection for her, forfeit in
+the pursuit of pleasure their truthfulness, reputation, and good
+disposition, their way of life and mode of thought, their vows and
+their religion. And to such the advice of their spiritual teachers
+comes amiss, whilst they make others as bad as themselves. For it
+is said, 'He who has lost all sense of shame, fears not to disgrace
+another; 'and there is the proverb, 'A wild cat that devours its own
+young is not likely to let a rat escape; ' therefore must thou too, O
+young man! quit this seat of learning with all possible expedition."
+
+The young man proceeded to justify himself by quotations from
+the Lila-shastra, his text-book, by citing such lines as--
+
+               Fortune favours folly and force,
+
+and by advising the elderly professors to improve their skill in the
+peace and war of love. But they drove him out with execrations.
+
+As sagely and as solemnly did the Pandits and the Gurus reprove
+the thief and the atheist, but they did not dispense the words of
+wisdom in equal proportions. They warned the former that petty
+larceny is punishable with fine, theft on a larger scale with
+mutilation of the hand, and robbery, when detected in the act, with
+loss of life[FN#130]; that for cutting purses, or for snatching them
+out of a man's waistcloth,[FN#131] 'the first penalty is chopping
+off the fingers, the second is the loss of the hand, and the third is
+death. Then they call him a dishonour to the college, and they said,
+"Thou art as a woman, the greatest of plunderers; other robbers
+purloin property which is worthless, thou stealest the best; they
+plunder in the night, thou in the day," and so forth. They told him
+that he was a fellow who had read his Chauriya Vidya to more
+purpose then his ritual.[FN#132] And they drove him from the
+door as he in his shamelessness began to quote texts about the four
+approved ways of housebreaking, namely, picking out burnt
+bricks, cutting through unbaked bricks, throwing water on a mud
+wall, and boring one of wood with a centre-bit.
+
+But they spent six mortal hours in convicting the atheist, whose
+abominations they refuted by every possible argumentation: by
+inference, by comparison, and by sounds, by Sruti and Smriti, i.e.,
+revelational and traditional, rational and evidential, physical and
+metaphysical, analytical and synthetical, philosophical and
+philological, historical, and so forth. But they found all their
+endeavours vain. "For," it is said, "a man who has lost all shame,
+who can talk without sense, and who tries to cheat his opponent,
+will never get tired, and will never be put down." He declared that
+a non-ad was far more probable than a monad (the active
+principle), or the duad (the passive principle or matter.) He
+compared their faith with a bubble in the water, of which we can
+never predicate that it does exist or it does not. It is, he said,
+unreal, as when the thirsty mistakes the meadow mist for a pool of
+water. He proved the eternity of sound.[FN#133] He impudently
+recounted and justified all the villanies of the Vamachari or
+left-handed sects. He told them that they had taken up an ass's load
+of religion, and had better apply to honest industry. He fell foul of
+the gods; accused Yama of kicking his own mother, Indra of
+tempting the wife of his spiritual guide, and Shiva of associating
+with low women. Thus, he said, no one can respect them. Do not
+we say when it thunders awfully, "the rascally gods are dying!"
+And when it is too wet, "these villain gods are sending too much
+rain"? Briefly, the young Brahman replied to and harangued them
+all so impertinently, if not pertinently, that they, waxing angry, fell
+upon him with their staves, and drove him out of assembly.
+
+Then the four thriftless youths returned home to their father, who
+in his just indignation had urged their disgrace upon the Pandits
+and Gurus, otherwise these dignitaries would never have resorted
+to such extreme measures with so distinguished a house. He took
+the opportunity of turning them out upon the world, until such time
+as they might be able to show substantial signs of reform. "For," he
+said, "those who have read science in their boyhood, and who in
+youth, agitated by evil passions, have remained in the insolence of
+ignorance, feel regret in their old age, and are consumed by the fire
+of avarice." In order to supply them with a motive for the task
+proposed, he stopped their monthly allowance But he added, if
+they would repair to the neighbouring university of Jayasthal, and
+there show themselves something better than a disgrace to their
+family, he would direct their maternal uncle to supply them with
+all the necessaries of food and raiment.
+
+In vain the youths attempted, with sighs and tears and threats of
+suicide, to soften the paternal heart. He was inexorable, for two
+reasons. In the first place, after wondering away the wonder with
+which he regarded his own failure, he felt that a stigma now
+attached to the name of the pious and learned Vishnu Swami,
+whose lectures upon "Management during Teens," and whose
+"Brahman Young Man's Own Book,'' had become standard works.
+Secondly, from a sense of duty, he determined to omit nothing that
+might tend to reclaim the reprobates. As regards the monthly
+allowance being stopped, the reverend man had become every year
+a little fonder of his purse; he had hoped that his sons would have
+qualified themselves to take pupils, and thus achieve for
+themselves, as he phrased it, "A genteel independence"; whilst
+they openly derided the career, calling it "an admirable provision
+for the more indigent members of the middle classes." For which
+reason he referred them to their maternal uncle, a man of known
+and remarkable penuriousness.
+
+The four ne'er-do-weals, foreseeing what awaited them at
+Jayasthal, deferred it as a last resource; determining first to see a
+little life, and to push their way in the world, before condemning
+themselves to the tribulations of reform.
+
+They tried to live without a monthly allowance, and notably they
+failed; it was squeezing, as men say, oil from sand. The gambler,
+having no capital, and, worse still, no credit, lost two or three
+suvernas[FN#134] at play, and could not pay them; in consequence
+of which he was soundly beaten with iron-shod staves, and was
+nearly compelled by the keeper of the hell to sell himself into
+slavery. Thus he became disgusted; and telling his brethren that
+they would find him at Jayasthal, he departed, with the intention of
+studying wisdom.
+
+A month afterwards came the libertine's turn to be disappointed.
+He could no longer afford fine new clothes; even a well-washed
+coat was beyond his means. He had reckoned upon his handsome
+face, and he had matured a plan for laying various elderly
+conquests under contribution. Judge, therefore, his disgust when
+all the women-- high and low, rich and poor, old and young, ugly
+and beautiful--seeing the end of his waistcloth thrown empty over
+his shoulder, passed him in the streets without even deigning a
+look. The very shopkeepers' wives, who once had adored his
+mustachio and had never ceased talking of his "elegant" gait,
+despised him; and the wealthy old person who formerly supplied
+his small feet with the choicest slippers, left him to starve. Upon
+which he also in a state of repentance, followed his brother to
+acquire knowledge.
+
+"Am I not," quoth the thief to himself, "a cat in climbing, a deer in
+running, a snake in twisting, a hawk in pouncing, a dog in
+scenting?--keen as a hare, tenacious as a wolf, strong as a lion?--a
+lamp in the night, a horse on a plain, a mule on a stony path, a boat
+in the water, a rock on land[FN#135]?" The reply to his own
+questions was of course affirmative. But despite all these fine
+qualities, and notwithstanding his scrupulous strictness in
+invocating the house-breaking tool and in devoting a due portion
+of his gains to the gods of plunder,[FN#136] he was caught in a
+store-room by the proprietor, who inexorably handed him over to
+justice. As he belonged to the priestly caste,[FN#137] the fine
+imposed upon him was heavy. He could not pay it, and therefore
+he was thrown into a dungeon, where he remained for some time.
+But at last he escaped from jail, when he made his parting bow to
+Kartikeya,[FN#138] stole a blanket from one of the guards, and set
+out for Jayasthal, cursing his old profession.
+
+The atheist also found himself in a position that deprived him of all
+his pleasures. He delighted in afterdinner controversies, and in
+bringing the light troops of his wit to bear upon the unwieldy
+masses of lore and logic opposed to him by polemical Brahmans
+who, out of respect for his father, did not lay an action against him
+for overpowering them in theological disputation.[FN#139] In the
+strange city to which he had removed no one knew the son of
+Vishnu Swami, and no one cared to invite him to the house. Once
+he attempted his usual trick upon a knot of sages who, sitting
+round a tank, were recreating themselves with quoting mystical
+Sanskrit shlokas[FN#140] of abominable long-windedness. The
+result was his being obliged to ply his heels vigorously in flight
+from the justly incensed literati, to whom he had said "tush" and
+"pish," at least a dozen times in as many minutes. He therefore also
+followed the example of his brethren, and started for Jayasthal
+with all possible expedition.
+
+Arrived at the house of their maternal uncle, the young men, as by
+one assent, began to attempt the unloosening of his purse-strings.
+Signally failing in this and in other notable schemes, they
+determined to lay in that stock of facts and useful knowledge
+which might reconcile them with their father, and restore them to
+that happy life at Gaur which they then despised, and which now
+brought tears into their eyes.
+
+Then they debated with one another what they should study
+
+   *     *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+That branch of the preternatural, popularly called "white magic,"
+found with them favour.
+
+   *     *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+They chose a Guru or teacher strictly according to the orders of
+their faith, a wise man of honourable family and affable
+demeanour, who was not a glutton nor leprous, nor blind of one
+eye, nor blind of both eyes, nor very short, nor suffering from
+whitlows,[FN#141] asthma, or other disease, nor noisy and
+talkative, nor with any defect about the fingers and toes, nor
+subject to his wife.
+
+   *     *     *     *     *     *     * 
+
+A grand discovery had been lately made by a certain
+physiologico-philosophico- psychologico-materialist, a
+Jayasthalian. In investigating the vestiges of creation, the cause of
+causes, the effect of effects, and the original origin of that Matra
+(matter) which some regard as an entity, others as a non-entity,
+others self-existent, others merely specious and therefore
+unexistent, he became convinced that the fundamental form of
+organic being is a globule having another globule within itself
+After inhabiting a garret and diving into the depths of his self-
+consciousness for a few score years, he was able to produce such
+complex globule in triturated and roasted flint by means of--I will
+not say what. Happily for creation in general, the discovery died a
+natural death some centuries ago. An edifying spectacle, indeed,
+for the world to see; a cross old man sitting amongst his gallipots
+and crucibles, creating animalculae, providing the corpses of birds,
+beasts, and fishes with what is vulgarly called life, and supplying
+to epigenesis all the latest improvements!
+
+In those days the invention, being a novelty, engrossed the
+thoughts of the universal learned, who were in a fever of
+excitement about it. Some believed in it so implicity that they saw
+in every experiment a hundred things which they did not see.
+Others were so sceptical and contradictory that they would not
+preceive what they did see. Those blended with each fact their own
+deductions, whilst these span round every reality the web of their
+own prejudices. Curious to say, the Jayasthalians, amongst whom
+the luminous science arose, hailed it with delight, whilst the
+Gaurians derided its claim to be considered an important addition
+to human knowledge.
+
+Let me try to remember a few of their words.
+
+"Unfortunate human nature," wrote the wise of Gaur against the
+wise of Jayasthal, "wanted no crowning indignity but this! You
+had already proved that the body is made of the basest element--
+earth. You had argued away the immovability, the ubiquity, the
+permanency, the eternity, and the divinity of the soul, for is not
+your favourite axiom, ' It is the nature of limbs which thinketh in
+man'? The immortal mind is, according to you, an ignoble viscus;
+the god-like gift of reason is the instinct of a dog somewhat highly
+developed. Still you left us something to hope. Still you allowed us
+one boast. Still life was a thread connecting us with the Giver of
+Life. But now, with an impious hand, in blasphemous rage ye have
+rent asunder that last frail tie." And so forth.
+
+"Welcome! thrice welcome! this latest and most admirable
+development of human wisdom," wrote the sage Jayasthalians
+against the sage Gaurians, "which has assigned to man his proper
+state and status and station in the magnificent scale of being. We
+have not created the facts which we have investigated, and which
+we now proudly publish. We have proved materialism to be
+nature's own system. But our philosophy of matter cannot overturn
+any truth, because, if erroneous, it will necessarily sink into
+oblivion; if real, it will tend only to instruct and to enlighten the
+world. Wise are ye in your generation, O ye sages of Gaur, yet
+withal wondrous illogical." And much of this kind.
+
+Concerning all which, mighty king! I, as a Vampire, have only to
+remark that those two learned bodies, like your Rajaship's Nine
+Gems of Science, were in the habit of talking most about what they
+least understood.
+
+The four young men applied the whole force of their talents to
+mastering the difficulties of the life-giving process; and in due
+time, their industry obtained its reward.
+
+Then they determined to return home. As with beating hearts they
+approached the old city, their birthplace, and gazed with moistened
+eyes upon its tall spires and grim pagodas, its verdant meads and
+venerable groves, they saw a Kanjar,[FN#142] who, having tied up
+in a bundle the skin and bones of a tiger which he had found dead,
+was about to go on his way. Then said the thief to the gambler,
+"Take we these remains with us, and by means of them prove the
+truth of our science before the people of Gaur, to the offence of
+their noses.[FN#143]" Being now possessed of knowledge, they
+resolved to apply it to its proper purpose, namely, power over the
+property of others. Accordingly, the wencher, the gambler, and the
+atheist kept the Kanjar in conversation whilst the thief vivified a
+shank bone; and the bone thereupon stood upright, and hopped
+about in so grotesque and wonderful a way that the man, being
+frightened, fled as if I had been close behind him.
+
+Vishnu Swami had lately written a very learned commentary on
+the mystical words of Lokakshi:
+
+"The Scriptures are at variance--the tradition is at variance. He
+who gives a meaning of his own, quoting the Vedas, is no
+philosopher.
+
+"True philosophy, through ignorance, is concealed as in the
+fissures of a rock.
+
+"But the way of the Great One--that is to be followed."
+
+And the success of his book had quite effaced from the Brahman
+mind the holy man's failure in bringing up his children. He
+followed up this by adding to his essay on education a twentieth
+tome, containing recipes for the "Reformation of Prodigals."
+
+The learned and reverend father received his sons with open arms.
+He had heard from his brother-in-law that the youths were
+qualified to support themselves, and when informed that they
+wished to make a public experiment of their science, he exerted
+himself, despite his disbelief in it, to forward their views.
+
+The Pandits and Gurus were long before they would consent to
+attend what they considered dealings with Yama (the Devil). In
+consequence, however, of Vishnu Swami's name and importunity,
+at length, on a certain day, all the pious, learned, and reverend
+tutors, teachers, professors, prolocutors, pastors, spiritual fathers,
+poets, philosophers, mathematicians, schoolmasters, pedagogues,
+bear-leaders, institutors, gerund-grinders, preceptors, dominies,
+brushers, coryphaei, dry-nurses, coaches, mentors, monitors,
+lecturers, prelectors, fellows, and heads of houses at the university
+at Gaur, met together in a large garden, where they usually
+diverted themselves out of hours with ball-tossing,
+pigeon-tumbling, and kite-flying.
+
+Presently the four young men, carrying their bundle of bones and
+the other requisites, stepped forward, walking slowly with eyes
+downcast, like shrinking cattle: for it is said, the Brahman must not
+run, even when it rains.
+
+After pronouncing an impromptu speech, composed for them by
+their father, and so stuffed with erudition that even the writer
+hardly understood it, they announced their wish to prove, by ocular
+demonstration, the truth of a science upon which their
+short-sighted rivals of Jayasthal had cast cold water, but which,
+they remarked in the eloquent peroration of their discourse, the
+sages of Gaur had welcomed with that wise and catholic spirit of
+inquiry which had ever characterized their distinguished body.
+
+Huge words, involved sentences, and the high-flown compliment,
+exceedingly undeserved, obscured, I suppose, the bright wits of the
+intellectual convocation, which really began to think that their
+liberality of opinion deserved all praise.
+
+None objected to what was being prepared, except one of the heads
+of houses; his appeal was generally scouted, because his Sanskrit
+style was vulgarly intelligible, and he had the bad name of being a
+practical man. The metaphysician Rashik Lall sneered to Vaiswata
+the poet, who passed on the look to the theo-philosopher
+Vardhaman. Haridatt the antiquarian whispered the metaphysician
+Vasudeva, who burst into a loud laugh; whilst Narayan,
+Jagasharma, and Devaswami, all very learned in the Vedas, opened
+their eyes and stared at him with well-simulated astonishment. So
+he, being offended, said nothing more, but arose and walked home.
+
+A great crowd gathered round the four young men and their father,
+as opening the bundle that contained the tiger's remains, they
+prepared for their task.
+
+One of the operators spread the bones upon the ground and fixed
+each one into its proper socket, not forgetting even the teeth and
+tusks.
+
+The second connected, by means of a marvellous unguent, the
+skeleton with the muscles and heart of an elephant, which he had
+procured for the purpose.
+
+The third drew from his pouch the brain and eyes of a large
+tom-cat, which he carefully fitted into the animal's skull, and then
+covered the body with the hide of a young rhinoceros.
+
+Then the fourth--the atheist--who had been directing the operation,
+produced a globule having another globule within itself. And as
+the crowd pressed on them, craning their necks, breathless with
+anxiety, he placed the Principle of Organic Life in the tiger's body
+with such effect that the monster immediately heaved its chest,
+breathed, agitated its limbs, opened its eyes, jumped to its feet,
+shook itself, glared around, and began to gnash its teeth and lick its
+chops, lashing the while its ribs with its tail.
+
+The sages sprang back, and the beast sprang forward. With a roar
+like thunder during Elephanta-time,[FN#144] it flew at the nearest
+of the spectators, flung Vishnu Swami to the ground and clawed
+his four sons. Then, not even stopping to drink their blood, it
+hurried after the flying herd of wise men. Jostling and tumbling,
+stumbling and catching at one another's long robes, they rushed in
+hottest haste towards the garden gate. But the beast, having the
+muscles of an elephant as well as the bones of a tiger, made a few
+bounds of eighty or ninety feet each, easily distanced them, and
+took away all chance of escape. To be brief: as the monster was
+frightfully hungry after its long fast, and as the imprudent young
+men had furnished it with admirable implements of destruction, it
+did not cease its work till one hundred and twenty-one learned and
+highly distinguished Pandits and Gurus lay upon the ground
+chawed, clawed, sucked dry, and in most cases stone-dead.
+Amongst them, I need hardly say, were the sage Vishnu Swami
+and his four sons.
+
+Having told this story the Vampire hung silent for a time. Presently
+he resumed--
+
+"Now, heed my words, Raja Vikram! I am about to ask thee,
+Which of all those learned men was the most finished fool? The
+answer is easily found, yet it must be distasteful to thee. Therefore
+mortify thy vanity, as soon as possible, or I shall be talking, and
+thou wilt be walking through this livelong night, to scanty purpose.
+Remember! science without understanding is of little use; indeed,
+understanding is superior to science, and those devoid of
+understanding perish as did the persons who revivified the tiger.
+Before this, I warned thee to beware of thyself, and of thine own
+conceit. Here, then, is an opportunity for self-discipline--which of
+all those learned men was the greatest fool?"
+
+The warrior king mistook the kind of mortification imposed upon
+him, and pondered over the uncomfortable nature of the reply--in
+the presence of his son.
+
+Again the Baital taunted him.
+
+"The greatest fool of all," at last said Vikram, in slow and by no
+means willing accents, "was the father. Is it not said, 'There is no
+fool like an old fool'?"
+
+"Gramercy!" cried the Vampire, bursting out into a discordant
+laugh, "I now return to my tree. By this head! I never before heard
+a father so readily condemn a father." With these words he
+disappeared, slipping out of the bundle.
+
+The Raja scolded his son a little for want of obedience, and said
+that he had always thought more highly of his acuteness--never
+could have believed that he would have been taken in by so
+shallow a trick. Dharma Dhwaj answered not a word to this, but
+promised to be wiser another time.
+
+Then they returned to the tree, and did what they had so often done
+before.
+
+And, as before, the Baital held his tongue for a time. Presently he
+began as follows.
+
+
+        THE VAMPIRE'S EIGHTH STORY.
+
+   Of the Use and Misuse of Magic Pills.
+
+The lady Chandraprabha, daughter of the Raja Subichar, was a
+particularly beautiful girl, and marriage-able withal. One day as
+Vasanta, the Spring, began to assert its reign over the world,
+animate and inanimate, she went accompanied by her young
+friends and companions to stroll about her father's pleasure-garden.
+
+The fair troop wandered through sombre groves, where the dark
+tamale-tree entwined its branches with the pale green foliage of the
+nim, and the pippal's domes of quivering leaves contrasted with the
+columnar aisles of the banyan fig. They admired the old monarchs
+of the forest, bearded to the waist with hangings of moss, the
+flowing creepers delicately climbing from the lower branches to
+the topmost shoots, and the cordage of llianas stretching from
+trunk to trunk like bridges for the monkeys to pass over. Then they
+issued into a clear space dotted with asokas bearing rich crimson
+fiowers, cliterias of azure blue, madhavis exhibiting petals virgin
+white as the snows on Himalaya, and jasmines raining showers of
+perfumed blossoms upon the grateful earth. They could not
+sufficiently praise the tall and graceful stem of the arrowy areca,
+contrasting with the solid pyramid of the cypress, and the more
+masculine stature of the palm. Now they lingered in the trellised
+walks closely covered over with vines and creepers; then they
+stopped to gather the golden bloom weighing down the mango
+boughs, and to smell the highly-scented flowers that hung from the
+green fretwork of the chambela.
+
+It was spring, I have said. The air was still except when broken by
+the hum of the large black bramra bee, as he plied his task amidst
+the red and orange flowers of the dak, and by the gushings of many
+waters that made music as they coursed down their stuccoed
+channels between borders of many coloured poppies and beds of
+various flowers. From time to time the dulcet note of the kokila
+bird, and the hoarse plaint of the turtle-dove deep hid in her leafy
+bower, attracted every ear and thrilled every heart. The south
+wind--"breeze of the south,[FN#145] the friend of love and spring"
+blew with a voluptuous warmth, for rain clouds canopied the earth,
+and the breath of the narcissus, the rose, and the citron, teemed
+with a languid fragrance.
+
+The charms of the season affected all the damsels. They amused
+themselves in their privacy with pelting blossoms at one another,
+running races down the smooth broad alleys, mounting the silken
+swings that hung between the orange trees, embracing one another,
+and at times trying to push the butt of the party into the fishpond.
+Perhaps the liveliest of all was the lady Chandraprabha, who on
+account of her rank could pelt and push all the others, without fear
+of being pelted and pushed in return.
+
+It so happened, before the attendants had had time to secure
+privacy for the princess and her women, that Manaswi, a very
+handsome youth, a Brahman's son, had wandered without
+malicious intention into the garden. Fatigued with walking, and
+finding a cool shady place beneath a tree, he had lain down there,
+and had gone to sleep, and had not been observed by any of the
+king's people. He was still sleeping when the princess and her
+companions were playing together.
+
+Presently Chandraprabha, weary of sport, left her friends, and
+singing a lively air, tripped up the stairs leading to the
+summer-house. Aroused by the sound of her advancing footsteps,
+Manaswi sat up; and the princess, seeing a strange man, started.
+But their eyes had met, and both were subdued by love--love
+vulgarly called "love at first sight."
+
+"Nonsense!" exclaimed the warrior king, testily, "I can never
+believe in that freak of Kama Deva." He spoke feelingly, for the
+thing had happened to himself more than once, and on no occasion
+had it turned out well.
+
+"But there is such a thing, O Raja, as love at first sight," objected
+the Baital, speaking dogmatically.
+
+"Then perhaps thou canst account for it, dead one," growled the
+monarch surlily.
+
+"I have no reason to do so, O Vikram," retorted the Vampire,
+"when you men have already done it. Listen, then, to the words of
+the wise. In the olden time, one of your great philosophers
+invented a fluid pervading all matter, strongly self-repulsive like
+the steam of a brass pot, and widely spreading like the breath of
+scandal. The repulsiveness, however, according to that wise man,
+is greatly modified by its second property, namely, an energetic
+attraction or adhesion to all material bodies. Thus every substance
+contains a part, more or less, of this fluid, pervading it throughout,
+and strongly bound to each component atom. He called it
+'Ambericity,' for the best of reasons, as it has no connection with
+amber, and he described it as an imponderable, which, meaning
+that it could not be weighed, gives a very accurate and satisfactory
+idea of its nature.
+
+"Now, said that philosopher, whenever two bodies containing that
+unweighable substance in unequal proportions happen to meet, a
+current of imponderable passes from one to the other, producing a
+kind of attraction, and tending to adhere. The operation takes place
+instantaneously when the force is strong and much condensed.
+Thus the vulgar who call things after their effects and not from
+their causes, term the action of this imponderable love at first
+sight; the wise define it to be a phenomenon of ambericity. As
+regards my own opinion about the matter, I have long ago told it to
+you, O Vikram! Silliness--"
+
+"Either hold your tongue, fellow, or go on with your story," cried
+the Raja, wearied out by so many words that had no manner of
+sense.
+
+Well! the effect of the first glance was that Manaswi, the
+Brahman's son, fell back in a swoon and remained senseless upon
+the ground where he had been sitting; and the Raja's daughter
+began to tremble upon her feet, and presently dropped unconscious
+upon the floor of the summer-house. Shortly after this she was
+found by her companions and attendants, who, quickly taking her
+up in their arms and supporting her into a litter, conveyed her
+home.
+
+Manaswi, the Brahman's son, was so completely overcome, that he
+lay there dead to everything. Just then the learned, deeply read, and
+purblind Pandits Muldev and Shashi by name, strayed into the
+garden, and stumbled upon the body.
+
+"Friend," said Muldev, "how came this youth thus to fall senseless
+on the ground?"
+
+"Man," replied Shashi, "doubtless some damsel has shot forth the
+arrows of her glances from the bow of her eyebrows, and thence he
+has become insensible!"
+
+"We must lift him up then," said Muldev the benevolent.
+
+"What need is there to raise him?" asked Shashi the misanthrope
+by way of reply.
+
+Muldev, however, would not listen to these words. He ran to the
+pond hard by, soaked the end of his waistcloth in water, sprinkled
+it over the young Brahman, raised him from the ground, and
+placed him sitting against the wall. And perceiving, when he came
+to himself, that his sickness was rather of the soul than of the body,
+the old men asked him how he came to be in that plight.
+
+"We should tell our griefs," answered Manaswi, "only to those
+who will relieve us! What is the use of communicating them to
+those who, when they have heard, cannot help us? What is to be
+gained by the empty pity or by the useless condolence of men in
+general?"
+
+The Pandits, however, by friendly looks and words, presently
+persuaded him to break silence, when he said, "A certain princess
+entered this summer-house, and from the sight of her I have fallen
+into this state. If I can obtain her, I shall live; if not, I must die."
+
+"Come with me, young man!" said Muldev the benevolent: "I will
+use every endeavour to obtain her, and if I do not succeed I will
+make thee wealthy and independent of the world."
+
+Manaswi rejoined: "The Deity in his beneficence has created many
+jewels in this world, but the pearl, woman, is chiefest of all; and
+for her sake only does man desire wealth. What are riches to one
+who has abandoned his wife? What are they who do not possess
+beautiful wives? they are but beings inferior to the beasts! wealth
+is the fruit of virtue; ease, of wealth; a wife, of ease. And where no
+wife is, how can there be happiness?" And the enamoured youth
+rambled on in this way, curious to us, Raja Vikram, but perhaps
+natural enough in a Brahman's son suffering under that endemic
+malady--determination to marry.
+
+"Whatever thou mayest desire," said Muldev, "shall by the
+blessing of heaven be given to thee."
+
+Manaswi implored him, saying most pathetically, ''O Pandit,
+bestow then that damsel upon me!"
+
+Muldev promised to do so, and having comforted the youth, led
+him to his own house. Then he welcomed him politely, seated him
+upon the carpet, and left him for a few minutes, promising him to
+return. When he reappeared, he held in his hand two little balls or
+pills, and showing them to Manaswi, he explained their virtues as
+follows:
+
+"There is in our house an hereditary secret, by means of which I
+try to promote the weal of humanity. But in all cases my success
+depends mainly upon the purity and the heartwholeness of those
+that seek my aid. If thou place this in thy mouth, thou shalt be
+changed into a damsel twelve years old, and when thou
+withdrawest it again, thou shalt again recover thine original form.
+Beware, however, that thou use the power for none but a good
+purpose; otherwise some great calamity will befall thee. Therefore,
+take counsel of thyself before undertaking this trial!"
+
+What lover, O warrior king Vikram, would have hesitated, under
+such circumstances, to assure the Pandit that he was the most
+innocent, earnest, and well-intentioned being in the Three Worlds?
+
+The Brahman's son, at least, lost no time in so doing. Hence the
+simple-minded philosopher put one of the pills into the young
+man's mouth, warning him on no account to swallow it, and took
+the other into his own mouth. Upon which Manaswi became a
+sprightly young maid, and Muldev was changed to a reverend and
+decrepid senior, not fewer than eighty years old.
+
+Thus transformed, the twain walked up to the palace of the Raja
+Subichar, and stood for a while to admire the gate. Then passing
+through seven courts, beautiful as the Paradise of Indra, they
+entered, unannounced, as became the priestly dignity, a hall where,
+surrounded by his courtiers, sat the ruler. The latter, seeing the
+Holy Brahman under his roof, rose up, made the customary
+humble salutation, and taking their right hands, led what appeared
+to be the father and daughter to appropriate seats. Upon which
+Muldev, having recited a verse, bestowed upon the Raja a blessing
+whose beauty has been diffused over all creation.
+
+"May that Deity[FN#146] who as a mannikin deceived the great
+king Bali; who as a hero, with a monkey-host, bridged the Salt
+Sea; who as a shepherd lifted up the mountain Gobarddhan in the
+palm of his hand, and by it saved the cowherds and cowherdesses
+from the thunders of heaven--may that Deity be thy protector!"
+
+Having heard and marvelled at this display of eloquence, the Raja
+inquired, "Whence hath your holiness come?"
+
+"My country," replied Muldev, "is on the northern side of the great
+mother Ganges, and there too my dwelling is. I travelled to a
+distant land, and having found in this maiden a worthy wife for my
+son, I straightway returned homewards. Meanwhile a famine had
+laid waste our village, and my wife and my son have fled I know
+not where. Encumbered with this damsel, how can I wander about
+seeking them? Hearing the name of a pious and generous ruler, I
+said to myself, ' I will leave her under his charge until my return.'
+Be pleased to take great care of her."
+
+For a minute the Raja sat thoughtful and silent. He was highly
+pleased with the Brahman's perfect compliment. But he could not
+hide from himself that he was placed between two difficulties: one,
+the charge of a beautiful young girl, with pouting lips, soft speech,
+and roguish eyes; the other, a priestly curse upon himself and his
+kingdom. He thought, however, refusal the more dangerous; so he
+raised his face and exclaimed, "O produce of Brahma's
+head,[FN#147] I will do what your highness has desired of me."
+
+Upon which the Brahman, after delivering a benediction of adieu
+almost as beautiful and spirit-stirring as that with which he had
+presented himself, took the betel[FN#148] and went his ways.
+
+Then the Raja sent for his daughter Chandraprabha and said to her,
+"This is the affianced bride of a young Brahman, and she has been
+trusted to my protection for a time by her father-in-law. Take her
+therefore into the inner rooms, treat her with the utmost regard,
+and never allow her to be separated from thee, day or night, asleep
+or awake, eating or drinking, at home or abroad."
+
+Chandraprabha took the hand of Sita--as Manaswi had pleased to
+call himself--and led the way to her own apartment. Once the seat
+of joy and pleasure, the rooms now wore a desolate and
+melancholy look. The windows were darkened, the attendants
+moved noiselessly over the carpets, as if their footsteps would
+cause headache, and there was a faint scent of some drug much
+used in cases of deliquium. The apartments were handsome, but
+the only ornament in the room where they sat was a large bunch of
+withered flowers in an arched recess, and these, though possibly
+interesting to some one, were not likely to find favour as a
+decoration in the eyes of everybody.
+
+The Raja's daughter paid the greatest attention and talked with
+unusual vivacity to the Brahman's daughter-in-law, either because
+she had roguish eyes, or from some presentiment of what was to
+occur, whichever you please, Raja Vikram, and it is no matter
+which. Still Sita could not help perceiving that there was a shade
+of sorrow upon the forehead of her fair new friend, and so when
+they retired to rest she asked the cause of it.
+
+Then Chandraprabha related to her the sad tale: "One day in the
+spring season, as I was strolling in the garden along with my
+companions, I beheld a very handsome Brahman, and our eyes
+having met, he became unconscious, and I also was insensible. My
+companions seeing my condition, brought me home, and therefore
+I know neither his name nor his abode. His beautiful form is
+impressed upon my memory. I have now no desire to eat or to
+drink, and from this distress my colour has become pale and my
+body is thus emaciated." And the beautiful princess sighed a sigh
+that was musical and melancholy, and concluded by predicting for
+herself--as persons similarly placed often do--a sudden and
+untimely end about the beginning of the next month.
+
+"What wilt thou give me," asked the Brahman's daughter-in-law
+demurely, "if I show thee thy beloved at this very moment?"
+
+The Raja's daughter answered, "I will ever be the lowest of thy
+slaves, standing before thee with joined hands."
+
+Upon which Sita removed the pill from her mouth, and instantly
+having become Manaswi, put it carefully away in a little bag hung
+round his neck. At this sight Chandraprabha felt abashed, and hung
+down her head in beautiful confusion. To describe--
+
+"I will have no descriptions, Vampire!" cried the great Vikram,
+jerking the bag up and down as if he were sweating gold in it. "The
+fewer of thy descriptions the better for us all."
+
+Briefly (resumed the demon), Manaswi reflected upon the eight
+forms of marriage--viz., Bramhalagan, when a girl is given to a
+Brahman, or man of superior caste, without reward; Daiva, when
+she is presented as a gift or fee to the officiating priest at the close
+of a sacrifice; Arsha, when two cows are received by the girl's
+father in exchange for the bride[FN#149]; Prajapatya, when the
+girl is given at the request of a Brahman, and the father says to his
+daughter and her to betrothed, "Go, fulfil the duties of religion";
+Asura, when money is received by the father in exchange for the
+bride; Rakshasha, when she is captured in war, or when her
+bridegroom overcomes his rival; Paisacha, when the girl is taken
+away from her father's house by craft; and eighthly,
+Gandharva-lagan, or the marriage that takes place by mutual
+consent.[FN#150]
+
+Manaswi preferred the latter, especially as by her rank and age the
+princess was entitled to call upon her father for the Lakshmi
+Swayambara wedding, in which she would have chosen her own
+husband. And thus it is that Rama, Arjuna, Krishna, Nala, and
+others, were proposed to by the princesses whom they married.
+
+For five months after these nuptials, Manaswi never stirred out of
+the palace, but remained there by day a woman, and a man by
+night. The consequence was that he--I call him "he," for whether
+Manaswi or Sita, his mind ever remained masculine--presently
+found himself in a fair way to become a father.
+
+Now, one would imagine that a change of sex every twenty-four
+hours would be variety enough to satisfy even a man. Manaswi,
+however, was not contented. He began to pine for more liberty,
+and to find fault with his wife for not taking him out into the
+world. And you might have supposed that a young person who,
+from love at first sight, had fallen senseless upon the steps of a
+summer-house, and who had devoted herself to a sudden and
+untimely end because she was separated from her lover, would
+have repressed her yawns and little irritable words even for a year
+after having converted him into a husband. But no! Chandraprabha
+soon felt as tired of seeing Manaswi and nothing but Manaswi, as
+Manaswi was weary of seeing Chandraprabha and nothing but
+Chandraprabha. Often she had been on the point of proposing
+visits and out-of-door excursions. But when at last the idea was
+first suggested by her husband, she at once became an injured
+woman. She hinted how foolish it was for married people to
+imprison themselves and to quarrel all day. When Manaswi
+remonstrated, saying that he wanted nothing better than to appear
+before the world with her as his wife, but that he really did not
+know what her father might do to him, she threw out a cutting
+sarcasm upon his effeminate appearance during the hours of light.
+She then told him of an unfortunate young woman in an old
+nursery tale who had unconsciously married a fiend that became a
+fine handsome man at night when no eye could see him, and utter
+ugliness by day when good looks show to advantage. And lastly,
+when inveighing against the changeableness, fickleness, and
+infidelity of mankind, she quoted the words of the poet--
+
+               Out upon change! it tires the heart
+                      And weighs the noble spirit down;
+               A vain, vain world indeed thou art
+                      That can such vile condition own
+               The veil hath fallen from my eyes,
+                      I cannot love where I despise....
+
+You can easily, O King Vikram, continue for yourself and
+conclude this lecture, which I leave unfinished on account of its
+length.
+
+Chandraprabha and Sita, who called each other the Zodiacal Twins
+and Laughter Light,[FN#151] and All-consenters, easily persuaded
+the old Raja that their health would be further improved by air,
+exercise, and distractions. Subichar, being delighted with the
+change that had taken place in a daughter whom he loved, and
+whom he had feared to lose, told them to do as they pleased. They
+began a new life, in which short trips and visits, baths and dances,
+music parties, drives in bullock chariots, and water excursions
+succeeded one another.
+
+It so happened that one day the Raja went with his whole family to
+a wedding feast in the house of his grand treasurer, where the
+latter's son saw Manaswi in the beautiful shape of Sita. This was a
+third case of love at first sight, for the young man immediately said
+to a particular friend, "If I obtain that girl, I shall live; if not, I shall
+abandon life."
+
+In the meantime the king, having enjoyed the feast, came back to
+his palace with his whole family. The condition of the treasurer's
+son, however, became very distressing; and through separation
+from his beloved, he gave up eating and drinking. The particular
+friend had kept the secret for some days, though burning to tell it.
+At length he found an excuse for himself in the sad state of his
+friend, and he immediately went and divulged all that he knew to
+the treasurer. After this he felt relieved.
+
+The minister repaired to the court, and laid his case before the
+king, saying, "Great Raja! through the love of that Brahman's
+daughter-in-law, my son's state is very bad; he has given up eating
+and drinking; in fact he is consumed by the fire of separation. If
+now your majesty could show compassion, and bestow the girl
+upon him, his life would be saved. If not----"
+
+"Fool!" cried the Raja, who, hearing these words, had waxed very
+wroth; "it is not right for kings to do injustice. Listen! when a
+person puts any one in charge of a protector, how can the latter
+give away his trust without consulting the person that trusted him?
+And yet this is what you wish me to do."
+
+The treasurer knew that the Raja could not govern his realm
+without him, and he was well acquainted with his master's
+character. He said to himself, "This will not last long;" but he
+remained dumb, simulating hopelessness, and hanging down his
+head, whilst Subichar alternately scolded and coaxed, abused and
+flattered him, in order to open his lips. Then, with tears in his eyes,
+he muttered a request to take leave; and as he passed through the
+palace gates, he said aloud, with a resolute air, "It will cost me but
+ten days of fasting!"
+
+The treasurer, having returned home, collected all his attendants,
+and went straightway to his son's room. Seeing the youth still
+stretched upon his sleeping-mat, and very yellow for the want of
+food. he took his hand, and said in a whisper, meant to be audible,
+"Alas! poor son, I can do nothing but perish with thee."
+
+The servants, hearing this threat, slipped one by one out of the
+room, and each went to tell his friend that the grand treasurer had
+resolved to live no longer. After which, they went back to the
+house to see if their master intended to keep his word, and curious
+to know, if he did intend to die, how, where, and when it was to be.
+And they were not disappointed: I do not mean that the wished
+their lord to die, as he was a good master to them but still there
+was an excitement in the thing----
+
+(Raja Vikram could not refrain from showing his anger at the
+insult thus cast by the Baital upon human nature; the wretch,
+however, pretending not to notice it, went on without interrupting
+himself)
+
+----which somehow or other pleased them.
+
+When the treasurer had spent three days without touching bread or
+water, all the cabinet council met and determined to retire from
+business unless the Raja yielded to their solicitations. The treasurer
+was their working man. "Besides which," said the cabinet council,
+"if a certain person gets into the habit of refusing us, what is to be
+the end of it, and what is the use of being cabinet councillors any
+longer?"
+
+Early on the next morning, the ministers went in a body before the
+Raja, and humbly represented that "the treasurer's son is at the
+point of death, the effect of a full heart and an empty stomach.
+Should he die, the father, who has not eaten or drunk during the
+last three days" (the Raja trembled to hear the intelligence, though
+he knew it), "his father, we say, cannot be saved. If the father dies
+the affairs of the kingdom come to ruin,--is he not the grand
+treasurer? It is already said that half the accounts have been
+gnawed by white ants, and that some pernicious substance in the
+ink has eaten jagged holes through the paper, so that the other half
+of the accounts is illegible. It were best, sire, that you agree to
+what we represent."
+
+The white ants and corrosive ink were too strong for the Raja's
+determination. Still, wishing to save appearances, he replied, with
+much firmness, that he knew the value of the treasurer and his son,
+that he would do much to save them, but that he had passed his
+royal word, and had undertaken a trust. That he would rather die a
+dozen deaths than break his promise, or not discharge his duty
+faithfully. That man's condition in this world is to depart from it,
+none remaining in it; that one comes and that one goes, none
+knowing when or where; but that eternity is eternity for happiness
+or misery. And much of the same nature, not very novel, and not
+perhaps quite to the purpose, but edifying to those who knew what
+lay behind the speaker's words.
+
+The ministers did not know their lord's character so well as the
+grand treasurer, and they were more impressed by his firm
+demeanour and the number of his words than he wished them to
+be. After allowing his speech to settle in their minds, he did away
+with a great part of its effect by declaring that such were the
+sentiments and the principles--when a man talks of his principles,
+O Vikram! ask thyself the reason why--instilled into his youthful
+mind by the most honourable of fathers and the most virtuous of
+mothers. At the same time that he was by no means obstinate or
+proof against conviction. In token whereof he graciously permitted
+the councillors to convince him that it was his royal duty to break
+his word and betray his trust, and to give away another man's wife.
+
+Pray do not lose your temper, O warrior king! Subichar, although a
+Raja, was a weak man; and you know, or you ought to know, that
+the wicked may be wise in their generation, but the weak never
+can.
+
+Well, the ministers hearing their lord's last words, took courage,
+and proceeded to work upon his mind by the figure of speech
+popularly called "rigmarole." They said: "Great king! that old
+Brahman has been gone many days, and has not returned; he is
+probably dead and burnt. It is therefore right that by giving to the
+grand treasurer's son his daughter-in-law, who is only affianced,
+not fairly married, you should establish your government firmly.
+And even if he should return, bestow villages and wealth upon
+him; and if he be not then content, provide another and a more
+beautiful wife for his son, and dismiss him. A person should be
+sacrificed for the sake of a family, a family for a city, a city for a
+country, and a country for a king!"
+
+Subichar having heard them, dismissed them with the remark that
+as so much was to be said on both sides, he must employ the night
+in thinking over the matter, and that he would on the next day
+favour them with his decision. The cabinet councillors knew by
+this that he meant that he would go and consult his wives. They
+retired contented, convinced that every voice would be in favour of
+a wedding, and that the young girl, with so good an offer, would
+not sacrifice the present to the future.
+
+That evening the treasurer and his son supped together.
+
+The first words uttered by Raja Subichar, when he entered his
+daughter's apartment, were an order addressed to Sita: "Go thou at
+once to the house of my treasurer's son."
+
+Now, as Chandraprabha and Manaswi were generally scolding
+each other, Chandraprabha and Sita were hardly on speaking
+terms. When they heard the Raja's order for their separation they
+were--
+
+--"Delighted?" cried Dharma Dhwaj, who for some reason took the
+greatest interest in the narrative.
+
+"Overwhelmed with grief, thou most guileless Yuva Raja (young
+prince)!" ejaculated the Vampire.
+
+Raja Vikram reproved his son for talking about thing of which he
+knew nothing, and the Baital resumed.
+
+They turned pale and wept, and they wrung their hands, and they
+begged and argued and refused obedience. In fact they did
+everything to make the king revoke his order.
+
+"The virtue of a woman," quoth Sita, "is destroyed through too
+much beauty; the religion of a Brahman is impaired by serving
+kings; a cow is spoiled by distant pasturage, wealth is lost by
+committing injustice, and prosperity departs from the house where
+promises are not kept."
+
+The Raja highly applauded the sentiment, but was firm as a rock
+upon the subject of Sita marrying the treasurer's son.
+
+Chandraprabha observed that her royal father, usually so
+conscientious, must now be acting from interested motives, and
+that when selfishness sways a man, right becomes left and left
+becomes right, as in the reflection of a mirror.
+
+Subichar approved of the comparison; he was not quite so
+resolved, but he showed no symptoms of changing his mind.
+
+Then the Brahman's daughter-in-law, with the view of gaining
+time--a famous stratagem amongst feminines--said to the Raja:
+"Great king, if you are determined upon giving me to the grand
+treasurer's son, exact from him the promise that he will do what I
+bid him. Only on this condition will I ever enter his house!"
+
+"Speak, then," asked the king; "what will he have to do?"
+
+She replied, "I am of the Brahman or priestly caste, he is the son of
+a Kshatriya or warrior: the law directs that before we twain can
+wed, he should perform Yatra (pilgrimage) to all the holy places."
+
+"Thou hast spoken Veda-truth, girl," answered the Raja, not sorry
+to have found so good a pretext for temporizing, and at the same
+time to preserve his character for firmness, resolution,
+determination.
+
+That night Manaswi and Chandraprabha, instead of scolding each
+other, congratulated themselves upon having escaped an imminent
+danger--which they did not escape.
+
+In the morning Subichar sent for his ministers, including his grand
+treasurer and his love-sick son, and told them how well and wisely
+the Brahman's daughter-in-law had spoken upon the subject of the
+marriage. All of them approved of the condition; but the young
+man ventured to suggest, that while he was a-pilgrimaging the
+maiden should reside under his father's roof. As he and his father
+showed a disposition to continue their fasts in case of the small
+favour not being granted, the Raja, though very loath to separate
+his beloved daughter and her dear friend, was driven to do it. And
+Sita was carried off, weeping bitterly, to the treasurer's palace.
+That dignitary solemnly committed her to the charge of his third
+and youngest wife, the lady Subhagya-Sundari, who was about her
+own age, and said, "You must both live together, without any kind
+of wrangling or contention, and do not go into other people's
+houses." And the grand treasurer's son went off to perform his
+pilgrimages.
+
+It is no less sad than true, Raja Vikram, that in less than six days
+the disconsolate Sita waxed weary of being Sita, took the ball out
+of her mouth, and became Manaswi. Alas for the infidelity of
+mankind! But it is gratifying to reflect that he met with the
+punishment with which the Pandit Muldev had threatened him.
+One night the magic pill slipped down his throat. When morning
+dawned, being unable to change himself into Sita, Manaswi was
+obliged to escape through a window from the lady
+Subhagya-Sundari's room. He sprained his ankle with the leap, and
+he lay for a time upon the ground--where I leave him whilst
+convenient to me.
+
+When Muldev quitted the presence of Subichar, he resumed his old
+shape, and returning to his brother Pandit Shashi, told him what he
+had done. Whereupon Shashi, the misanthrope, looked black, and
+used hard words and told his friend that good nature and
+soft-heartedness had caused him to commit a very bad action--a
+grievous sin. Incensed at this charge, the philanthropic Muldev
+became angry, and said, "I have warned the youth about his purity;
+what harm can come of it?"
+
+"Thou hast," retorted Shashi, with irritating coolness, "placed a
+sharp weapon in a fool's hand."
+
+"I have not," cried Muldev, indignantly.
+
+"Therefore," drawled the malevolent, "you are answerable for all
+the mischief he does with it, and mischief assuredly he will do."
+
+"He will not, by Brahma!" exclaimed Muldev.
+
+"He will, by Vishnu!" said Shashi, with an amiability produced by
+having completely upset his friend's temper; "and if within the
+coming six months he does not disgrace himself, thou shalt have
+the whole of my book-case; but if he does, the philanthropic
+Muldev will use all his skill and ingenuity in procuring the
+daughter of Raja Subichar as a wife for his faithful friend Shashi."
+
+Having made this covenant, they both agreed not to speak of the
+matter till the autumn.
+
+The appointed time drawing near, the Pandits began to make
+inquiries about the effect of the magic pills. Presently they found
+out that Sita, alias Manaswi, had one night mysteriously
+disappeared from the grand treasurer's house, and had not been
+heard of since that time. This, together with certain other things
+that transpired presently, convinced Muldev, who had cooled down
+in six months, that his friend had won the wager. He prepared to
+make honourable payment by handing a pill to old Shashi, who at
+once became a stout, handsome young Brahman, some twenty
+years old. Next putting a pill into his own mouth, he resumed the
+shape and form under which he had first appeared before Raja
+Subichar; and, leaning upon his staff, he led the way to the palace.
+
+The king, in great confusion, at once recognized the old priest, and
+guessed the errand upon which he and the youth were come.
+However, he saluted them, and offered them seats, and receiving
+their blessings, he began to make inquiries about their health and
+welfare. At last he mustered courage to ask the old Brahman where
+he had been living for so long a time.
+
+"Great king," replied the priest, "I went to seek after my son, and
+having found him, I bring him to your majesty. Give him his wife,
+and I will take them both home with me.''
+
+Raja Subichar prevaricated not a little; but presently, being hard
+pushed, he related everything that had happened.
+
+"What is this that you have done?" cried Muldev, simulating
+excessive anger and astonishment. "Why have you given my son's
+wife in marriage to another man? You have done what you wished,
+and now, therefore, receive my Shrap (curse)!"
+
+The poor Raja, in great trepidation, said, "O Vivinity! be not thus
+angry! I will do whatever you bid me."
+
+Said Muldev, "If through dread of my excommunication you will
+freely give whatever I demand of you, then marry your daughter,
+Chandraprabha, to this my son. On this condition I forgive you. To
+me, now a necklace of pearls and a venomous krishna (cobra
+capella); the most powerful enemy and the kindest friend, the most
+precious gem and a clod of earth; the softest bed and the hardest
+stone; a blade of grass and the loveliest woman--are precisely the
+same. All I desire is that in some holy place, repeating the name of
+God, I may soon end my days."
+
+Subichar, terrified by this additional show of sanctity, at once
+summoned an astrologer, and fixed upon the auspicious moment
+and lunar influence. He did not consult the princess, and had he
+done so she would not have resisted his wishes. Chandraprabha
+had heard of Sita's escape from the treasurer's house, and she had
+on the subject her own suspicions. Besides which she looked
+forward to a certain event, and she was by no means sure that her
+royal father approved of the Gandharba form of marriage--at least
+for his daughter. Thus the Brahman's son receiving in due time the
+princess and her dowry, took leave of the king and returned to his
+own village.
+
+Hardly, however, had Chandraprabha been married to Shashi the
+Pandit, when Manaswi went to him, and began to wrangle, and
+said, "Give me my wife!" He had recovered from the effects of his
+fall, and having lost her he therefore loved her--very dearly.
+
+But Shashi proved by reference to the astrologers, priests, and ten
+persons as witnesses, that he had duly wedded her, and brought her
+to his home; "therefore," said he, "she is my spouse."
+
+Manaswi swore by all holy things that he had been legally married
+to her, and that he was the father of her child that was about to be.
+"How then," continued he, "can she be thy spouse?" He would
+have summoned Muldev as a witness, but that worthy, after
+remonstrating with him, disappeared. He called upon
+Chandraprabha to confirm his statement, but she put on an
+innocent face, and indignantly denied ever having seen the man.
+
+Still, continued the Baital, many people believed Manaswi's story,
+as it was marvellous and incredible. Even to the present day, there
+are many who decidedly think him legally married to the daughter
+of Raja Subichar.
+
+"Then they are pestilent fellows!" cried the warrior king Vikram,
+who hated nothing more than clandestine and runaway matches.
+"No one knew that the villain, Manaswi, was the father of her
+child; whereas, the Pandit Shashi married her lawfully, before
+witnesses, and with all the ceremonies.[FN#152] She therefore
+remains his wife, and the child will perform the funeral obsequies
+for him, and offer water to the manes of his pitris (ancestors). At
+least, so say law and justice."
+
+"Which justice is often unjust enough!" cried the Vampire; "and
+ply thy legs, mighty Raja; let me see if thou canst reach the
+sires-tree before I do."
+
+      *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+"The next story, O Raja Vikram, is remarkably interesting."
+
+
+         THE VAMPIRE'S NINTH STORY.
+                      
+Showing That a Man's Wife Belongs Not to His Body but to His
+                   Head.
+
+Far and wide through the lovely land overrun by the Arya from the
+Western Highlands spread the fame of Unmadini, the beautiful
+daughter of Haridas the Brahman. In the numberless odes, sonnets,
+and acrostics addressed to her by a hundred Pandits and poets her
+charms were sung with prodigious triteness. Her presence was
+compared to light shining in a dark house; her face to the full
+moon; her complexion to the yellow champaka flower; her curls to
+female snakes; her eyes to those of the deer; her eyebrows to bent
+bows; her teeth to strings of little opals; her feet to rubies and red
+gems,[FN#153] and her gait to that of the wild goose. And none
+forgot to say that her voice affected the author like the song of the
+kokila bird, sounding from the shadowy brake, when the breeze
+blows coolly, or that the fairy beings of Indra's heaven would have
+shrunk away abashed at her loveliness.
+
+But, Raja Vikram! all the poets failed to win the fair Unmadini's
+love. To praise the beauty of a beauty is not to praise her. Extol her
+wit and talents, which has the zest of novelty, then you may
+succeed. For the same reason, read inversely, the plainer and
+cleverer is the bosom you would fire, the more personal you must
+be upon the subject of its grace and loveliness. Flattery you know,
+is ever the match which kindles the Flame of love. True it is that
+some by roughness of demeanour and bluntness in speech,
+contrasting with those whom they call the "herd," have the art to
+succeed in the service of the bodyless god.[FN#154] But even they
+must--
+
+The young prince Dharma Dhwaj could not help laughing at the
+thought of how this must sound in his father's ear. And the Raja
+hearing the ill-timed merriment, sternly ordered the Baital to cease
+his immoralities and to continue his story.
+
+Thus the lovely Unmadini, conceiving an extreme contempt for
+poets and literati, one day told her father who greatly loved her,
+that her husband must be a fine young man who never wrote
+verses. Withal she insisted strongly on mental qualities and
+science, being a person of moderate mind and an adorer of talent--
+when not perverted to poetry.
+
+As you may imagine, Raja Vikram, all the beauty's bosom friends,
+seeing her refuse so many good offers, confidently predicted that
+she would pass through the jungle and content herself with a bad
+stick, or that she would lead ring-tailed apes in Patala.
+
+At length when some time had elapsed, four suitors appeared from
+four different countries, all of them claiming equal excellence in
+youth and beauty, strength and understanding. And after paying
+their respects to Haridas, and telling him their wishes, they were
+directed to come early on the next morning and to enter upon the
+first ordeal--an intellectual conversation.
+
+This they did.
+
+"Foolish the man," quoth the young Mahasani, "that seeks
+permanence in this world--frail as the stem of the plantain-tree,
+transient as the ocean foam.
+
+"All that is high shall presently fall; all that is low must finally
+perish.
+
+"Unwillingly do the manes of the dead taste the tears shed by their
+kinsmen: then wail not, but perform the funeral obsequies with
+diligence."
+
+"What ill-omened fellow is this?" quoth the fair Unmadini, who
+was sitting behind her curtain;" besides, he has dared to quote
+poetry! "There was little chance of success for that suitor.
+
+"She is called a good woman, and a woman of pure descent,"
+quoth the second suitor, "who serves him to whom her father and
+mother have given her; and it is written in the scriptures that a
+woman who in the lifetime of her husband, becoming a devotee,
+engages in fasting, and in austere devotion, shortens his days, and
+hereafter falls into the fire. For it is said--
+
+               "A woman's bliss is found not in the smile
+                Of father, mother, friend, nor in herself;
+                Her husband is her only portion here,
+                Her heaven hereafter."
+
+The word "serve," which might mean "obey," was peculiarly
+disagreeable to the fair one's ears, and she did not admire the check
+so soon placed upon her devotion, or the decided language and
+manner of the youth. She therefore mentally resolved never again
+to see that person, whom she determined to be stupid as an
+elephant.
+
+"A mother," said Gunakar, the third candidate, "protects her son in
+babyhood, and a father when his offspring is growing up. But the
+man of warrior descent defends his brethren at all times. Such is
+the custom of the world, and such is my state. I dwell on the heads
+of the strong!"
+
+Therefore those assembled together looked with great respect upon
+the man of valour.
+
+Devasharma, the fourth suitor, contented himself with listening to
+the others, who fancied that he was overawed by their cleverness.
+And when it came to his turn he simply remarked, "Silence is
+better than speech." Being further pressed, he said, "A wise man
+will not proclaim his age, nor a deception practiced upon himself,
+nor his riches, nor the loss of riches, nor family faults, nor
+incantations, nor conjugal love, nor medicinal prescriptions, nor
+religious duties, nor gifts, nor reproach, nor the infidelity of his
+wife."
+
+Thus ended the first trial. The master of the house dismissed the
+two former speakers, with many polite expressions and some
+trifling presents. Then having given betel to them, scented their
+garments with attar, and sprinkled rose-water over their heads, he
+accompanied them to the door, showing much regret. The two
+latter speakers he begged to come on the next day.
+
+Gunakar and Devasharma did not fail. When they entered the
+assembly-room and took the seats pointed out to them, the father
+said, "Be ye pleased to explain and make manifest the effects of
+your mental qualities. So shall I judge of them."
+
+"I have made," said Gunakar, "a four-wheeled carriage, in which
+the power resides to carry you in a moment wherever you may
+purpose to go."
+
+"I have such power over the angel of death," said Devasharma,
+"that I can at all times raise a corpse, and enable my friends to do
+the same."
+
+Now tell me by thy brains, O warrior King Vikram, which of these
+two youths was the fitter husband for the maid?
+
+Either the Raja could not answer the question, or perhaps he would
+not, being determined to break the spell which had already kept
+him walking to and fro for so many hours. Then the Baital, who
+had paused to let his royal carrier commit himself, seeing that the
+attempt had failed, proceeded without making any further
+comment.
+
+The beautiful Unmadini was brought out, but she hung down her
+head and made no reply. Yet she took care to move both her eyes
+in the direction of Devasharma. Whereupon Haridas, quoting the
+proverb that "pearls string with pearls," formally betrothed to him
+his daughter.
+The soldier suitor twisted the ends of his mustachios into his eyes,
+which were red with wrath, and fumbled with his fingers about the
+hilt of his sword. But he was a man of noble birth, and presently
+his anger passed away.
+
+Mahasani the poet, however, being a shameless person--and when
+can we be safe from such?--forced himself into the assembly and
+began to rage and to storm, and to quote proverbs in a loud tone of
+voice. He remarked that in this world women are a mine of grief, a
+poisonous root, the abode of solicitude, the destroyers of
+resolution, the occasioners of fascination, and the plunderers of all
+virtuous qualities. From the daughter he passed to the father, and
+after saying hard things of him as a "Maha-Brahman,"[FN#155]
+who took cows and gold and worshipped a monkey, he fell with a
+sweeping censure upon all priests and sons of priests, more
+especially Devasharma. As the bystanders remonstrated with him,
+he became more violent, and when Haridas, who was a weak man,
+appeared terrified by his voice, look, and gesture, he swore a
+solemn oath that despite all the betrothals in the world, unless
+Unmadini became his wife he would commit suicide, and as a
+demon haunt the house and injure the inmates.
+
+Gunakar the soldier exhorted this shameless poet to slay himself at
+once, and to go where he pleased. But as Haridas reproved the
+warrior for inhumanity, Mahasani nerved by spite, love, rage, and
+perversity to an heroic death, drew a noose from his bosom, rushed
+out of the house, and suspended himself to the nearest tree.
+
+And, true enough, as the midnight gong struck, he appeared in the
+form of a gigantic and malignant Rakshasa (fiend), dreadfully
+frightened the household of Haridas, and carried off the lovely
+Unmadini, leaving word that she was to he found on the topmost
+peak of Himalaya.
+
+The unhappy father hastened to the house where Devasharma
+lived. There, weeping bitterly and wringing his hands in despair,
+he told the terrible tale, and besought his intended son-in-law to be
+up and doing.
+
+The young Brahman at once sought his late rival, and asked his
+aid. This the soldier granted at once, although he had been nettled
+at being conquered in love by a priestling.
+
+The carriage was at once made ready, and the suitors set out,
+bidding the father be of good cheer, and that before sunset he
+should embrace his daughter. They then entered the vehicle;
+Gunakar with cabalistic words caused it to rise high in the air, and
+Devasharma put to flight the demon by reciting the sacred
+verse,[FN#156] "Let us meditate on the supreme splendour (or
+adorable light) of that Divine Ruler (the sun) who may illuminate
+our understandings. Venerable men, guided by the intelligence,
+salute the divine sun (Sarvitri) with oblations and praise. Om!"
+
+Then they returned with the girl to the house, and Haridas blessed
+them, praising the sun aloud in the joy of his heart. Lest other
+accidents might happen, he chose an auspicious planetary
+conjunction, and at a fortunate moment rubbed turmeric upon his
+daughter's hands.
+
+The wedding was splendid, and broke the hearts of twenty-four
+rivals. In due time Devasharma asked leave from his father-in-law
+to revisit his home, and to carry with him his bride. This request
+being granted, he set out accompanied by Gunakar the soldier, who
+swore not to leave the couple before seeing them safe under their
+own roof-tree.
+
+It so happened that their road lay over the summits of the wild
+Vindhya hills, where dangers of all kinds are as thick as shells
+upon the shore of the deep. Here were rocks and jagged precipices
+making the traveller's brain whirl when he looked into them. There
+impetuous torrents roared and flashed down their beds of black
+stone, threatening destruction to those who would cross them. Now
+the path was lost in the matted thorny underwood and the pitchy
+shades of the jungle, deep and dark as the valley of death. Then the
+thunder-cloud licked the earth with its fiery tongue, and its voice
+shook the crags and filled their hollow caves. At times, the sun was
+so hot, that wild birds fell dead from the air. And at every moment
+the wayfarers heard the trumpeting of giant elephants, the fierce
+howling of the tiger, the grisly laugh of the foul hyaena, and the
+whimpering of the wild dogs as they coursed by on the tracks of
+their prey.
+
+Yet, sustained by the five-armed god[FN#157] the little party
+passed safely through all these dangers. They had almost emerged
+from the damp glooms of the forest into the open plains which
+skirt the southern base of the hills, when one night the fair
+Unmadini saw a terrible vision.
+
+She beheld herself wading through a sluggish pool of muddy
+water, which rippled, curdling as she stepped into it, and which, as
+she advanced, darkened with the slime raised by her feet. She was
+bearing in her arms the semblance of a sick child, which struggled
+convulsively and filled the air with dismal wails. These cries
+seemed to be answered by a multitude of other children, some
+bloated like toads, others mere skeletons lying upon the bank, or
+floating upon the thick brown waters of the pond. And all seemed
+to address their cries to her, as if she were the cause of their
+weeping; nor could all her efforts quiet or console them for a
+moment.
+
+When the bride awoke, she related all the particulars of her
+ill-omened vision to her husband; and the latter, after a short
+pause, informed her and his friend that a terrible calamity was
+about to befall them. He then drew from his travelling wallet a
+skein of thread. This he divided into three parts, one for each, and
+told his companions that in case of grievous bodily injury, the bit
+of thread wound round the wounded part would instantly make it
+whole. After which he taught them the Mantra,[FN#158] or
+mystical word by which the lives of men are restored to their
+bodies, even when they have taken their allotted places amongst
+the stars, and which for evident reasons I do not want to repeat. It
+concluded, however, with the three Vyahritis, or sacred syllables--
+Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svar!
+
+Raja Vikram was perhaps a little disappointed by this declaration.
+He made no remark, however, and the Baital thus pursued:
+
+As Devasharma foretold, an accident of a terrible nature did occur.
+On the evening of that day, as they emerged upon the plain, they
+were attacked by the Kiratas, or savage tribes of the
+mountain.[FN#159] A small, black, wiry figure, armed with a bow
+and little cane arrows, stood in their way, signifying by gestures
+that they must halt and lay down their arms. As they continued to
+advance, he began to speak with a shrill chattering, like the note of
+an affrighted bird, his restless red eyes glared with rage, and he
+waved his weapon furiously round his head. Then from the rocks
+and thickets on both sides of the path poured a shower of shafts
+upon the three strangers.
+
+The unequal combat did not last long. Gunakar, the soldier,
+wielded his strong right arm with fatal effect and struck down
+some threescore of the foes. But new swarms came on like angry
+hornets buzzing round the destroyer of their nests. And when he
+fell, Devasharma, who had left him for a moment to hide his
+beautiful wife in the hollow of a tree, returned, and stood fighting
+over the body of his friend till he also, overpowered by numbers,
+was thrown to the ground. Then the wild men, drawing their
+knives, cut off the heads of their helpless enemies, stripped their
+bodies of all their ornaments, and departed, leaving the woman
+unharmed for good luck.
+
+When Unmadini, who had been more dead than alive during the
+affray, found silence succeed to the horrid din of shrieks and
+shouts, she ventured to creep out of her refuge in the hollow tree.
+And what does she behold? her husband and his friend are lying
+upon the ground, with their heads at a short distance from their
+bodies. She sat down and wept bitterly.
+
+Presently, remembering the lesson which she had learned that very
+morning, she drew forth from her bosom the bit of thread and
+proceeded to use it. She approached the heads to the bodies, and
+tied some of the magic string round each neck. But the shades of
+evening were fast deepening, and in her agitation, confusion and
+terror, she made a curious mistake by applying the heads to the
+wrong trunks. After which, she again sat down, and having recited
+her prayers, she pronounced, as her husband had taught her, the
+life-giving incantation.
+
+In a moment the dead men were made alive. They opened their
+eyes, shook themselves, sat up and handled their limbs as if to feel
+that all was right. But something or other appeared to them all
+wrong. They placed their palms upon their foreheads, and looked
+downwards, and started to their feet and began to stare at their
+hands and legs. Upon which they scrutinized the very scanty
+articles of dress which the wild men had left upon them, and lastly
+one began to eye the other with curious puzzled looks.
+
+The wife, attributing their gestures to the confusion which one
+might expect to find in the brains of men who have just undergone
+so great a trial as amputation of the head must be, stood before
+them for a moment or two. She then with a cry of gladness flew to
+the bosom of the individual who was, as she supposed, her
+husband. He repulsed her, telling her that she was mistaken. Then,
+blushing deeply in spite of her other emotions, she threw both her
+beautiful arms round the neck of the person who must be, she
+naturally concluded, the right man. To her utter confusion, he also
+shrank back from her embrace.
+
+Then a horrid thought flashed across her mind: she perceived her
+fatal mistake, and her heart almost ceased to beat.
+
+"This is thy wife!" cried the Brahman's head that had been fastened
+to the soldier's body.
+
+"No; she is thy wife!" replied the soldier's head which had been
+placed upon the Brahman's body.
+
+"Then she is my wife!" rejoined the first compound creature.
+
+"By no means! she is my wife," cried the second.
+
+"What then am I?" asked Devasharma-Gunakar.
+
+"What do you think I am?" answered GunakarDevasharma, with
+another question.
+
+"Unmadini shall be mine," quoth the head.
+
+"You lie, she shall be mine," shouted the body.
+
+"Holy Yama,[FN#160] hear the villain," exclaimed both of them at
+the same moment.
+
+         *     *     *     *     *
+                      
+In short, having thus begun, they continued to quarrel violently,
+each one declaring that the beautiful Unmadini belonged to him,
+and to him only. How to settle their dispute Brahma the Lord of
+creatures only knows. I do not, except by cutting off their heads
+once more, and by putting them in their proper places. And I am
+quite sure, O Raja Vikram! that thy wits are quite unfit to answer
+the question, To which of these two is the beautiful Unmadini
+wife? It is even said--amongst us Baitals --that when this pair of
+half-husbands appeared in the presence of the Just King, a terrible
+confusion arose, each head declaiming all the sins and peccadilloes
+which its body had committed, and that Yama the holy ruler
+himself hit his forefinger with vexation.[FN#161]
+
+Here the young prince Dharma Dhwaj burst out laughing at the
+ridiculous idea of the wrong heads. And the warrior king, who, like
+single-minded fathers in general, was ever in the idea that his son
+had a velleity for deriding and otherwise vexing him, began a
+severe course of reproof. He reminded the prince of the common
+saying that merriment without cause degrades a man in the opinion
+of his fellows, and indulged him with a quotation extensively used
+by grave fathers, namely, that the loud laugh bespeaks a vacant
+mind. After which he proceeded with much pompousness to
+pronounce the following opinion:
+
+"It is said in the Shastras----"
+
+"Your majesty need hardly display so much erudition! Doubtless it
+comes from the lips of Jayudeva or some other one of your Nine
+Gems of Science, who know much more about their songs and
+their stanzas than they do about their scriptures," insolently
+interrupted the Baital, who never lost an opportunity of carping at
+those reverend men.
+
+"It is said in the Shastras," continued Raja Vikram sternly, after
+hesitating whether he should or should not administer a corporeal
+correction to the Vampire, "that Mother Ganga[FN#162] is the
+queen amongst rivers, and the mountain Sumeru[FN#163] is the
+monarch among mountains, and the tree Kalpavriksha[FN#164] is
+the king of all trees, and the head of man is the best and most
+excellent of limbs. And thus, according to this reason, the wife
+belonged to him whose noblest position claimed her."
+
+"The next thing your majesty will do, I suppose," continued the
+Baital, with a sneer, "is to support the opinions of the Digambara,
+who maintains that the soul is exceedingly rarefied, confined to
+one place, and of equal dimensions with the body, or the fancies of
+that worthy philosopher Jaimani, who, conceiving soul and mind
+and matter to be things purely synonymous, asserts outwardly and
+writes in his books that the brain is the organ of the mind which is
+acted upon by the immortal soul, but who inwardly and verily
+believes that the brain is the mind, and consequently that the brain
+is the soul or spirit or whatever you please to call it; in fact, that
+soul is a natural faculty of the body. A pretty doctrine, indeed, for
+a Brahman to hold. You might as well agree with me at once that
+the soul of man resides, when at home, either in a vein in the
+breast, or in the pit of his stomach, or that half of it is in a man's
+brain and the other or reasoning half is in his heart, an organ of his
+body."
+
+"What has all this string of words to do with the matter, Vampire?"
+asked Raja Vikram angrily.
+
+"Only," said the demon laughing, "that in my opinion, as opposed
+to the Shastras and to Raja Vikram, that the beautiful Unmadini
+belonged, not to the head part but to the body part. Because the
+latter has an immortal soul in the pit of its stomach, whereas the
+former is a box of bone, more or less thick, and contains brains
+which are of much the same consistence as those of a calf."
+
+"Villain!" exclaimed the Raja, "does not the soul or conscious life
+enter the body through the sagittal suture and lodge in the brain,
+thence to contemplate, through the same opening, the divine
+perfections?"
+
+"I must, however, bid you farewell for the moment, O warrior
+king, Sakadhipati-Vikramadityal[FN#165]! I feel a sudden and
+ardent desire to change this cramped position for one more natural
+to me."
+
+The warrior monarch had so far committed himself that he could
+not prevent the Vampire from flitting. But he lost no more time in
+following him than a grain of mustard, in its fall, stays on a cow's
+horn. And when he had thrown him over his shoulder, the king
+desired him of his own accord to begin a new tale.
+
+"O my left eyelid flutters," exclaimed the Baital in despair, "my
+heart throbs, my sight is dim: surely now beginneth the end. It is as
+Vidhata hath written on my forehead--how can it be
+otherwise[FN#166]? Still listen, O mighty Raja, whilst I recount to
+you a true story, and Saraswati[FN#167] sit on my tongue."
+
+
+     THE VAMPIRE'S TENTH STORY.[FN#168]
+
+Of the Marvellous Delicacy of Three Queens.
+
+The Baital said, O king, in the Gaur country, Vardhman by name,
+there is a city, and one called Gunshekhar was the Raja of that
+land. His minister was one Abhaichand, a Jain, by whose teachings
+the king also came into the Jain faith.
+
+The worship of Shiva and of Vishnu, gifts of cows, gifts of lands,
+gifts of rice balls, gaming and spirit-drinking, all these he
+prohibited. In the city no man could get leave to do them, and as
+for bones, into the Ganges no man was allowed to throw them, and
+in these matters the minister, having taken orders from the king,
+caused a proclamation to be made about the city, saying,
+"Whoever these acts shall do, the Raja having confiscated, will
+punish him and banish him from the city."
+
+Now one day the Diwan[FN#169] began to say to the Raja, "O
+great king, to the decisions of the Faith be pleased to give ear.
+Whosoever takes the life of another, his life also in the future birth
+is taken: this very sin causes him to be born again and again upon
+earth and to die And thus he ever continues to be born again and to
+die. Hence for one who has found entrance into this world to
+cultivate religion is right and proper. Be pleased to behold! By
+love, by wrath, by pain, by desire, and by fascination overpowered,
+the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahadeva (Shiva) in various ways
+upon the earth are ever becoming incarnate. Far better than they is
+the Cow, who is free from passion, enmity, drunkenness, anger,
+covetousness, and inordinate affection, who supports mankind, and
+whose progeny in many ways give ease and solace to the creatures
+of the world These deities and sages (munis) believe in the
+Cow.[FN#170]
+
+"For such reason to believe in the gods is not good. Upon this earth
+be pleased to believe in the Cow. It is our duty to protect the life of
+everyone, beginning from the elephant, through ants, beasts, and
+birds, up to man. In the world righteousness equal to that there is
+none. Those who, eating the flesh of other creatures, increase their
+own flesh, shall in the fulness of time assuredly obtain the fruition
+of Narak [FN#17l]; hence for a man it is proper to attend to the
+conversation of life. They who understand not the pain of other
+creatures, and who continue to slay and to devour them, last but
+few days in the land, and return to mundane existence, maimed,
+limping, one-eyed, blind, dwarfed, hunchbacked, and imperfect in
+such wise. Just as they consume the bodies of beasts and of birds,
+even so they end by spoiling their own bodies. From drinking
+spirits also the great sin arises, hence the consuming of spirits and
+flesh is not advisable."
+
+The minister having in this manner explained to the king the
+sentiments of his own mind, so brought him over to the Jain faith,
+that whatever he said, so the king did. Thus in Brahmans, in Jogis,
+in Janganis, in Sevras, in Sannyasis,[FN#172] and in religious
+mendicants, no man believed, and according to this creed the rule
+was carried on.
+
+Now one day, being in the power of Death, Raja Gunshekhar died.
+Then his son Dharmadhwaj sat upon the carpet (throne), and began
+to rule. Presently he caused the minister Abhaichand to be seized,
+had his head shaved all but seven locks of hair, ordered his face to
+be blackened, and mounting him on an ass, with drums beaten, had
+him led all about the city, and drove him from the kingdom. From
+that time he carried on his rule free from all anxiety.
+
+It so happened that in the season of spring, the king Dharmadhwaj,
+taking his queens with him, went for a stroll in the garden, where
+there was a large tank with lotuses blooming within it. The Raja
+admiring its beauty, took off his clothes and went down to bathe.
+
+After plucking a flower and coming to the bank, he was going to
+give it into the hands of one of his queens, when it slipped from his
+fingers, fell upon her foot, and broke it with the blow. Then the
+Raja being alarmed, at once came out of the tank, and began to
+apply remedies to her.
+
+Hereupon night came on, and the moon shone brightly: the falling
+of its rays on the body of the second queen formed blisters And
+suddenly from a distance the sound of a wooden pestle came out of
+a householder's dwelling, when the third queen fainted away with a
+severe pain in the head
+
+Having spoken thus much the Baital said "O my king! of these
+three which is the most delicate?" The Raja answered, "She indeed
+is the most delicate who fainted in consequence of the headache."
+The Baital hearing this speech, went and hung himself from the
+very same tree, and the Raja, having gone there and taken him
+down and fastened him in the bundle and placed him on his
+shoulder, carried him away.
+
+
+       THE VAMPIRE'S ELEVENTH STORY.
+
+         Which Puzzles Raja Vikram.
+
+There is a queer time coming, O Raja Vikram!--a queer time
+coming (said the Vampire), a queer time coming. Elderly people
+like you talk abundantly about the good old days that were, and
+about the degeneracy of the days that are. I wonder what you
+would say if you could but look forward a few hundred years.
+
+Brahmans shall disgrace themselves by becoming soldiers and
+being killed, and Serviles (Shudras) shall dishonour themselves by
+wearing the thread of the twiceborn, and by refusing to be slaves;
+in fact, society shall be all "mouth" and mixed castes.[FN#173]
+The courts of justice shall be disused; the great works of peace
+shall no longer be undertaken; wars shall last six weeks, and their
+causes shall be clean forgotten; the useful arts and great sciences
+shall die starved; there shall be no Gems of Science; there shall be
+a hospital for destitute kings, those, at least, who do not lose their
+heads, and no Vikrama----
+
+A severe shaking stayed for a moment the Vampire's tongue.
+
+He presently resumed. Briefly, building tanks feeding Brahmans;
+lying when one ought to lie; suicide, the burning of widows, and
+the burying of live children, shall become utterly unfashionable.
+
+The consequence of this singular degeneracy, O mighty Vikram,
+will be that strangers shall dwell beneath the roof tree in Bharat
+Khanda (India), and impure barbarians shall call the land their
+own. They come from a wonderful country, and I am most
+surprised that they bear it. The sky which ought to be gold and
+blue is there grey, a kind of dark white; the sun looks deadly pale,
+and the moon as if he were dead.[FN#174] The sea, when not dirty
+green, glistens with yellowish foam, and as you approach the
+shore, tall ghastly cliffs, like the skeletons of giants, stand up to
+receive or ready to repel. During the greater part of the sun's
+Dakhshanayan (southern declination) the country is covered with a
+sort of cold white stuff which dazzles the eyes; and at such times
+the air is obscured with what appears to be a shower of white
+feathers or flocks of cotton. At other seasons there is a pale glare
+produced by the mist clouds which spread themselves over the
+lower firmament. Even the faces of the people are white; the men
+are white when not painted blue; the women are whiter, and the
+children are whitest: these indeed often have white hair.
+
+"Truly," exclaimed Dharma Dhwaj, "says the proverb, 'Whoso
+seeth the world telleth many a lie.'"
+
+At present (resumed the Vampire, not heeding the interruption),
+they run about naked in the woods, being merely Hindu outcastes.
+Presently they will change-- the wonderful white Pariahs! They
+will eat all food indifferently, domestic fowls, onions, hogs fed in
+the street, donkeys, horses, hares, and (most horrible!) the flesh of
+the sacred cow. They will imbibe what resembles meat of
+colocynth, mixed with water, producing a curious frothy liquid,
+and a fiery stuff which burns the mouth, for their milk will be
+mostly chalk and pulp of brains; they will ignore the sweet juices
+of fruits and sugar-cane, and as for the pure element they will
+drink it, but only as medicine, They will shave their beards instead
+of their heads, and stand upright when they should sit down, and
+squat upon a wooden frame instead of a carpet, and appear in red
+and black like the children of Yama.[FN#175] They will never
+offer sacrifices to the manes of ancestors, leaving them after their
+death to fry in the hottest of places. Yet will they perpetually
+quarrel and fight about their faith; for their tempers are fierce, and
+they would burst if they could not harm one another. Even now the
+children, who amuse themselves with making puddings on the
+shore, that is to say, heaping up the sand, always end their little
+games with "punching," which means shutting the hand and
+striking one another's heads, and it is soon found that the children
+are the fathers of the men.
+
+These wonderful white outcastes will often be ruled by female
+chiefs, and it is likely that the habit of prostrating themselves
+before a woman who has not the power of cutting off a single
+head, may account for their unusual degeneracy and uncleanness.
+They will consider no occupation so noble as running after a
+jackal; they will dance for themselves, holding on to strange
+women, and they will take a pride in playing upon instruments,
+like young music girls.
+
+The women, of course, relying upon the aid of the female
+chieftains, will soon emancipate themselves from the rules of
+modesty. They will eat with their husbands and with other men,
+and yawn and sit carelessly before them showing the backs of their
+heads. They will impudently quote the words, "By confinement at
+home, even under affectionate and observant guardians, women
+are not secure, but those are really safe who are guarded by their
+own inclinations "; as the poet sang--
+
+               Woman obeys one only word, her heart.
+
+They will not allow their husbands to have more than one wife,
+and even the single wife will not be his slave when he needs her
+services, busying herself in the collection of wealth, in ceremonial
+purification, and feminine duty; in the preparation of daily food
+and in the superintendence of household utensils. What said Rama
+of Sita his wife?" If I chanced to be angry, she bore my impatience
+like the patient earth without a murmur; in the hour of necessity
+she cherished me as a mother does her child; in the moments of
+repose she was a lover to me; in times of gladness she was to me
+as a friend." And it is said, "a religious wife assists her husband in
+his worship with a spirit as devout as his own. She gives her whole
+mind to make him happy; she is as faithful to him as a shadow to
+the body, and she esteems him, whether poor or rich, good or bad,
+handsome or deformed. In his absence or his sickness she
+renounces every gratification; at his death she dies with him, and
+he enjoys heaven as the fruit of her virtuous deeds. Whereas if she
+be guilty of many wicked actions and he should die first, he must
+suffer much for the demerits of his wife."
+
+But these women will talk aloud, and scold as the braying ass, and
+make the house a scene of variance, like the snake with the
+ichneumon, the owl with the crow, for they have no fear of losing
+their noses or parting with their ears. They will (O my mother!)
+converse with strange men and take their hands; they will receive
+presents from them, and, worst of all, they will show their white
+faces openly without the least sense of shame; they will ride
+publicly in chariots and mount horses, whose points they pride
+themselves upon knowing, and eat and drink in crowded places--
+their husbands looking on the while, and perhaps even leading
+them through the streets. And she will be deemed the pinnacle of
+the pagoda of perfection, that most excels in wit and
+shamelessness, and who can turn to water the livers of most men.
+They will dance and sing instead of minding their children, and
+when these grow up they will send them out of the house to shift
+for themselves, and care little if they never see them
+again.[FN#176] But the greatest sin of all will be this: when
+widowed they will ever be on the look-out for a second husband,
+and instances will be known of women fearlessly marrying three,
+four, and five times.[FN#177] You would think that all this licence
+satisfies them. But no! The more they have the more their weak
+minds covet. The men have admitted them to an equality, they will
+aim at an absolute superiority, and claim respect and homage; they
+will eternally raise tempests about their rights, and if anyone
+should venture to chastise them as they deserve, they would call
+him a coward and run off to the judge.
+
+The men will, I say, be as wonderful about their women as about
+all other matters. The sage of Bharat Khanda guards the frail sex
+strictly, knowing its frailty, and avoids teaching it to read and
+write, which it will assuredly use for a bad purpose. For women
+are ever subject to the god[FN#178] with the sugar-cane bow and
+string of bees, and arrows tipped with heating blossoms, and to
+him they will ever surrender man, dhan, tan--mind, wealth, and
+body. When, by exceeding cunning, all human precautions have
+been made vain, the wise man bows to Fate, and he forgets, or he
+tries to forget, the past. Whereas this race of white Pariahs will
+purposely lead their women into every kind of temptation, and,
+when an accident occurs, they will rage at and accuse them, killing
+ten thousand with a word, and cause an uproar, and talk scandal
+and be scandalized, and go before the magistrate, and make all the
+evil as public as possible. One would think they had in every way
+done their duty to their women!
+
+And when all this change shall have come over them, they will feel
+restless and take flight, and fall like locusts upon the Aryavartta
+(land of India). Starving in their own country, they will find
+enough to eat here, and to carry away also. They will be
+mischievous as the saw with which ornament-makers trim their
+shells, and cut ascending as well as descending. To cultivate their
+friendship will be like making a gap in the water, and their
+partisans will ever fare worse than their foes. They will be selfish
+as crows, which, though they eat every kind of flesh, will not
+permit other birds to devour that of the crow.
+
+In the beginning they will hire a shop near the mouth of mother
+Ganges, and they will sell lead and bullion, fine and coarse
+woollen cloths, and all the materials for intoxication. Then they
+will begin to send for soldiers beyond the sea, and to enlist
+warriors in Zambudwipa (India). They will from shopkeepers
+become soldiers: they will beat and be beaten; they will win and
+lose; but the power of their star and the enchantments of their
+Queen Kompani, a daina or witch who can draw the blood out of a
+man and slay him with a look, will turn everything to their good.
+Presently the noise of their armies shall be as the roaring of the
+sea; the dazzling of their arms shall blind the eyes like lightning;
+their battle-fields shall be as the dissolution of the world; and the
+slaughter-ground shall resemble a garden of plantain trees after a
+storm. At length they shall spread like the march of a host of ants
+over the land They will swear, "Dehar Ganga[FN#179]!" and they
+hate nothing so much as being compelled to destroy an army, to
+take and loot a city, or to add a rich slip of territory to their rule.
+And yet they will go on killing and capturing and adding region to
+region, till the Abode of Snow (Himalaya) confines them to the
+north, the Sindhu-naddi (Incus) to the west, and elsewhere the sea.
+Even in this, too, they will demean themselves as lords and
+masters, scarcely allowing poor Samudradevta[FN#180] to rule his
+own waves.
+
+Raja Vikram was in a silent mood, otherwise he would not have
+allowed such ill-omened discourse to pass uninterrupted. Then the
+Baital, who in vain had often paused to give the royal carrier a
+chance of asking him a curious question, continued his recital in a
+dissonant and dissatisfied tone of voice.
+
+By my feet and your head,[FN#181] O warrior king! it will fare
+badly in those days for the Rajas of Hindustan, when the
+red-coated men of Shaka[FN#182] shall come amongst them.
+Listen to my words.
+
+In the Vindhya Mountain there will be a city named Dharmapur,
+whose king will be called Mahabul. He will be a mighty warrior,
+well-skilled in the dhanur-veda (art of war)[FN#183], and will
+always lead his own armies to the field. He will duly regard all the
+omens, such as a storm at the beginning of the march, an
+earthquake, the implements of war dropping from the hands of the
+soldiery, screaming vultures passing over or walking near the
+army, the clouds and the sun's rays waxing red, thunder in a clear
+sky, the moon appearing small as a star, the dropping of blood
+from the clouds, the falling of lightning bolts, darkness filling the
+four quarters of the heavens, a corpse or a pan of water being
+carried to the right of the army, the sight of a female beggar with
+dishevelled hair, dressed in red, and preceding the vanguard, the
+starting of the flesh over the left ribs of the commander-in-chief,
+and the weeping or turning back of the horses when urged forward.
+
+He will encourage his men to single combats, and will carefully
+train them to gymnastics. Many of the wrestlers and boxers will be
+so strong that they will often beat all the extremities of the
+antagonist into his body, or break his back, or rend him into two
+pieces. He will promise heaven to those who shall die in the front
+of battle and he will have them taught certain dreadful expressions
+of abuse to be interchanged with the enemy when commencing the
+contest. Honours will be conferred on those who never turn their
+backs in an engagement, who manifest a contempt of death, who
+despise fatigue, as well as the most formidable enemies, who shall
+be found invincible in every combat, and who display a courage
+which increases before danger, like the glory of the sun advancing
+to his meridian splendour.
+
+But King Mahabul will be attacked by the white Pariahs, who, as
+usual, will employ against him gold, fire, and steel. With gold they
+will win over his best men, and persuade them openly to desert
+when the army is drawn out for battle. They will use the terrible
+"fire weapon,[FN#184]'' large and small tubes, which discharge
+flame and smoke, and bullets as big as those hurled by the bow of
+Bharata.[FN#185] And instead of using swords and shields, they
+will fix daggers to the end of their tubes, and thrust with them like
+lances.
+
+Mahabul, distinguished by valour and military skill, will march out
+of his city to meet the white foe. In front will be the ensigns, bells,
+cows'-tails, and flags, the latter painted with the bird
+Garura,[FN#186] the bull of Shiva, the Bauhinia tree, the
+monkey-god Hanuman, the lion and the tiger, the fish, an
+alms-dish, and seven palm-trees. Then will come the footmen
+armed with fire-tubes, swords and shields, spears and daggers,
+clubs, and bludgeons. They will be followed by fighting men on
+horses and oxen, on camels and elephants. The musicians, the
+water-carriers, and lastly the stores on carriages, will bring up the
+rear.
+
+The white outcastes will come forward in a long thin red thread,
+and vomiting fire like the Jwalamukhi.[FN#187] King Mahabul
+will receive them with his troops formed in a circle; another
+division will be in the shape of a halfmoon; a third like a cloud,
+whilst others shall represent a lion, a tiger, a carriage, a lily, a
+giant, and a bull. But as the elephants will all turn round when they
+feel the fire, and trample upon their own men, and as the cavalry
+defiling in front of the host will openly gallop away; Mahabul,
+being thus without resource, will enter his palanquin, and
+accompanied by his queen and their only daughter, will escape at
+night-time into the forest.
+
+The unfortunate three will be deserted by their small party, and
+live for a time on jungle food, fruits and roots; they will even be
+compelled to eat game. After some days they will come in sight of
+a village, which Mahabul will enter to obtain victuals. There the
+wild Bhils, famous for long years, will come up, and surrounding
+the party, will bid the Raja throw down his arms. Thereupon
+Mahabul, skilful in aiming, twanging and wielding the bow on all
+sides, so as to keep off the bolts of the enemy, will discharge his
+bolts so rapidly, that one will drive forward another, and none of
+the barbarians will be able to approach. But he will have failed to
+bring his quiver containing an inexhaustible store of arms, some of
+which, pointed with diamonds, shall have the faculty of returning
+again to their case after they have done their duty. The conflict will
+continue three hours, and many of the Bhils will be slain: at length
+a shaft will cleave the king's skull, he will fall dead, and one of the
+wild men will come up and cut off his head.
+
+When the queen and the princess shall have seen that Mahabul fell
+dead, they will return to the forest weeping and beating their
+bosoms. They will thus escape the Bhils, and after journeying on
+for four miles, at length they will sit down wearied, and revolve
+many thoughts in their minds.
+
+They are very lovely (continued the Vampire), as I see them with
+the eye of clear-seeing. What beautiful hair! it hangs down like the
+tail of the cow of Tartary, or like the thatch of a house; it is shining
+as oil, dark as the clouds, black as blackness itself. What charming
+faces! likest to water-lilies, with eyes as the stones in unripe
+mangos, noses resembling the beaks of parrots, teeth like pearls set
+in corals, ears like those of the redthroated vulture, and mouths
+like the water of life. What excellent forms! breasts like boxes
+containing essences, the unopened fruit of plantains or a couple of
+crabs; loins the width of a span, like the middle of the viol; legs
+like the trunk of an elephant, and feet like the yellow lotus.
+
+And a fearful place is that jungle, a dense dark mass of thorny
+shrubs, and ropy creepers, and tall canes, and tangled brake, and
+gigantic gnarled trees, which groan wildly in the night wind's
+embrace. But a wilder horror urges the unhappy women on; they
+fear the polluting touch of the Bhils; once more they rise and
+plunge deeper into its gloomy depths.
+
+The day dawns. The white Pariahs have done their usual work,
+They have cut off the hands of some, the feet and heads of others,
+whilst many they have crushed into shapeless masses, or scattered
+in pieces upon the ground. The field is strewed with corpses, the
+river runs red, so that the dogs and jackals swim in blood; the birds
+of prey sitting on the branches, drink man's life from the stream,
+and enjoy the sickening smell of burnt flesh.
+
+Such will be the scenes acted in the fair land of Bharat.
+
+Perchance two white outcastes, father and son, who with a party of
+men are scouring the forest and slaying everything, fall upon the
+path which the women have taken shortly before. Their attention is
+attracted by footprints leading towards a place full of tigers,
+leopards, bears, wolves, and wild dogs. And they are utterly
+confounded when, after inspection, they discover the sex of the
+wanderers.
+
+"How is it," shall say the father, "that the footprints of mortals are
+seen in this part of the forest?"
+
+The son shall reply, "Sir, these are the marks of women's feet: a
+man's foot would not be so small."
+
+"It is passing strange," shall rejoin the elder white Pariah, "but thou
+speakest truth. Certainly such a soft and delicate foot cannot
+belong to anyone but a woman."
+
+"They have only just left the track," shall continue the son, "and
+look! this is the step of a married woman. See how she treads on
+the inside of her sole, because of the bending of her ankles." And
+the younger white outcaste shall point to the queen's footprints.
+
+"Come, let us search the forest for them," shall cry the father,
+"what an opportunity of finding wives fortune has thrown in our
+hands. But no! thou art in error," he shall continue, after examining
+the track pointed out by his son, "in supposing this to be the sign
+of a matron. Look at the other, it is much longer; the toes have
+scarcely touched the ground, whereas the marks of the heels are
+deep. Of a truth this must be the married woman." And the elder
+white outcaste shall point to the footprints of the princess.
+
+"Then," shall reply the son, who admires the shorter foot, "let us
+first seek them, and when we find them, give to me her who has
+the short feet, and take the other to wife thyself."
+
+Having made this agreement they shall proceed on their way, and
+presently they shall find the women lying on the earth, half dead
+with fatigue and fear. Their legs and feet are scratched and torn by
+brambles, their ornaments have fallen off, and their garments are in
+strips. The two white outcastes find little difficulty, the first
+surprise over, in persuading the unhappy women to follow them
+home, and with great delight, conformably to their arrangement,
+each takes up his prize on his horse and rides back to the tents. The
+son takes the queen, and the father the princess.
+
+In due time two marriages come to pass; the father, according to
+agreement, espouses the long foot, and the son takes to wife the
+short foot. And after the usual interval, the elder white outcaste,
+who had married the daughter, rejoices at the birth of a boy, and
+the younger white outcaste, who had married the mother, is
+gladdened by the sight of a girl.
+
+Now then, by my feet and your head, O warrior king Vikram,
+answer me one question. What relationship will there be between
+the children of the two white Pariahs?
+
+Vikram's brow waxed black as a charcoal-burner's, when he again
+heard the most irreverent oath ever proposed to mortal king. The
+question presently attracted his attention, and he turned over the
+Baital's words in his head, confusing the ties of filiality,
+brotherhood, and relationship, and connection in general.
+
+"Hem!" said the warrior king, at last perplexed, and remembering,
+in his perplexity, that he had better hold his tongue--"ahem!"
+
+"I think your majesty spoke? " asked the Vampire, in an inquisitive
+and insinuating tone of voice.
+
+"Hem!" ejaculated the monarch.
+
+The Baital held his peace for a few minutes, coughing once or
+twice impatiently. He suspected that the extraordinary nature of
+this last tale, combined with the use of the future tense, had given
+rise to a taciturnity so unexpected in the warrior king. He therefore
+asked if Vikram the Brave would not like to hear another little
+anecdote.
+
+"This time the king did not even say "hem!" Having walked at an
+unusually rapid pace, he distinguished at a distance the fire kindled
+by the devotee, and he hurried towards it with an effort which left
+him no breath wherewith to speak, even had he been so inclined.
+
+"Since your majesty is so completely dumbfoundered by it,
+perhaps this acute young prince may be able to answer my
+question?" insinuated the Baital, after a few minutes of anxious
+suspense.
+
+But Dharma Dhwaj answered not a syllable.
+
+
+                CONCLUSION.
+
+At Raja Vikram's silence the Baital was greatly surprised, and he
+praised the royal courage and resolution to the skies. Still he did
+not give up the contest at once.
+
+"Allow me, great king," pursued the Demon, in a dry tone of voice,
+"to wish you joy. After so many failures you have at length
+succeeded in repressing your loquacity. I will not stop to enquire
+whether it was humility and self-restraint which prevented your
+answering my last question, or whether Rajait was mere ignorance
+and inability. Of course I suspect the latter, but to say the truth
+your condescension in at last taking a Vampire's advice, flatters me
+so much, that I will not look too narrowly into cause or motive."
+
+Raja Vikram winced, but maintained a stubborn silence, squeezing
+his lips lest they should open involuntarily.
+
+"Now, however, your majesty has mortified, we will suppose, a
+somewhat exacting vanity, I also will in my turn forego the
+pleasure which I had anticipated in seeing you a corpse and in
+entering your royal body for a short time, just to know how queer
+it must feel to be a king. And what is more, I will now perform my
+original promise, and you shall derive from me a benefit which
+none but myself can bestow. First, however, allow me to ask you,
+will you let me have a little more air?"
+
+Dharma Dhwaj pulled his father's sleeve, but this time Raja
+Vikram required no reminder: wild horses or the executioner's saw,
+beginning at the shoulder, would not have drawn a word from him.
+Observing his obstinate silence, the Baital, with an ominous smile,
+continued:
+
+"Now give ear, O warrior king, to what I am about to tell thee, and
+bear in mind the giant's saying, 'A man is justified in killing one
+who has a design to kill him.' The young merchant Mal Deo, who
+placed such magnificent presents at your royal feet, and
+Shanta-Shil the devotee saint, who works his spells, incantations,
+and magical rites in a cemetery on the banks of the Godaveri river,
+are, as thou knowest, one person--the terrible Jogi, whose wrath
+your father aroused in his folly, and whose revenge your blood
+alone can satisfy. With regard to myself, the oilman's son, the
+same Jogi, fearing lest I might interfere with his projects of
+universal dominion, slew me by the power of his penance, and has
+kept me suspended, a trap for you, head downwards from the
+sires-tree.
+
+"That Jogi it was, you now know, who sent you to fetch me back to
+him on your back. And when you cast me at his feet he will return
+thanks to you and praise your valour, perseverance and resolution
+to the skies. I warn you to beware. He will lead you to the shrine of
+Durga, and when he has finished his adoration he will say to you,
+'O great king, salute my deity with the eightlimbed reverence.' "
+
+Here the Vampire whispered for a time and in a low tone, lest
+some listening goblin might carry his words if spoken out loud to
+the ears of the devotee Shanta-Shil.
+
+At the end of the monologue a rustling sound was heard. It
+proceeded from the Baital, who was disengaging himself from the
+dead body in the bundle, and the burden became sensibly lighter
+upon the monarch's back.
+
+The departing Baital, however, did not forget to bid farewell to the
+warrior king and to his son. He complimented the former for the
+last time, in his own way, upon the royal humility and the
+prodigious self-mortification which he had displayed--qualities, he
+remarked, which never failed to ensure the proprietor's success in
+all the worlds.
+
+Raja Vikram stepped out joyfully, and soon reached the burning
+ground. There he found the Jogi, dressed in his usual habit, a
+deerskin thrown over his back, and twisted reeds instead of a
+garment hanging round his loins. The hair had fallen from his
+limbs and his skin was bleached ghastly white by exposure to the
+elements. A fire seemed to proceed from his mouth, and the matted
+locks dropping from his head to the ground were changed by the
+rays of the sun to the colour of gold or saffron. He had the beard of
+a goat and the ornaments of a king; his shoulders were high and his
+arms long, reaching to his knees: his nails grew to such a length as
+to curl round the ends of his fingers, and his feet resembled those
+of a tiger. He was drumming upon a skull, and incessantly
+exclaiming, "Ho, Kali! ho, Durga! ho, Devi!"
+
+As before, strange beings were holding their carnival in the Jogi's
+presence. Monstrous Asuras, giant goblins, stood grimly gazing
+upon the scene with fixed eyes and motionless features. Rakshasas
+and messengers of Yama, fierce and hideous, assumed at pleasure
+the shapes of foul and ferocious beasts. Nagas and Bhutas, partly
+human and partly bestial, disported themselves in throngs about
+the upper air, and were dimly seen in the faint light of the dawn.
+Mighty Daityas, Bramba-daityas, and Pretas, the size of a man's
+thumb, or dried up like leaves, and Pisachas of terrible power
+guarded the place. There were enormous goats, vivified by the
+spirits of those who had slain Brahmans; things with the bodies of
+men and the faces of horses, camels and monkeys; hideous worms
+containing the souls of those priests who had drunk spirituous
+liquors; men with one leg and one ear, and mischievous
+blood-sucking demons, who in life had stolen church property.
+There were vultures, wretches that had violated the beds of their
+spiritual fathers, restless ghosts that had loved low-caste women,
+shades for whom funeral rites had not been performed, and who
+could not cross the dread Vaitarani stream,[FN#188] and vital
+souls fresh from the horrors of Tamisra, or utter darkness, and the
+Usipatra Vana, or the sword-leaved forest. Pale spirits, Alayas,
+Gumas, Baitals, and Yakshas,[FN#189] beings of a base and
+vulgar order, glided over the ground, amongst corpses and
+skeletons animated by female fiends, Dakinis, Yoginis, Hakinis,
+and Shankinis, which were dancing in frightful revelry. The air
+was filled with supernatural sights and sounds, cries of owls and
+jackals, cats and crows, dogs, asses, and vultures, high above
+which rose the clashing of the bones with which the Jogi sat
+drumming upon the skull before him, and tending a huge cauldron
+of oil whose smoke was of blue fire. But as he raised his long lank
+arm, silver-white with ashes, the demons fled, and a momentary
+silence succeeded to their uproar. The tigers ceased to roar and the
+elephants to scream; the bears raised their snouts from their foul
+banquets, and the wolves dropped from their jaws the remnants of
+human flesh. And when they disappeared, the hooting of the owl,
+and ghastly "ha! ha!" of the curlew, and the howling of the jackal
+died away in the far distance, leaving a silence still more
+oppressive.
+
+As Raja Vikram entered the burning-ground, the hollow sound of
+solitude alone met his ear. Sadly wailed the wet autumnal blast.
+The tall gaunt trees groaned aloud, and bowed and trembled like
+slaves bending before their masters. Huge purple clouds and
+patches and lines of glaring white mist coursed furiously across the
+black expanse of firmament, discharging threads and chains and
+lozenges and balls of white and blue, purple and pink lightning,
+followed by the deafening crash and roll of thunder, the dreadful
+roaring of the mighty wind, and the torrents of plashing rain. At
+times was heard in the distance the dull gurgling of the swollen
+river, interrupted by explosions, as slips of earth-bank fell
+headlong into the stream. But once more the Jogi raised his arm
+and all was still: nature lay breathless, as if awaiting the effect of
+his tremendous spells.
+
+The warrior king drew near the terrible man, unstrung his bundle
+from his back, untwisted the portion which he held, threw open the
+cloth, and exposed to Shanta-Shil's glittering eyes the corpse,
+which had now recovered its proper form--that of a young child.
+Seeing it, the devotee was highly pleased, and thanked Vikram the
+Brave, extolling his courage and daring above any monarch that
+had yet lived. After which he repeated certain charms facing
+towards the south, awakened the dead body, and placed it in a
+sitting position. He then in its presence sacrificed to his goddess,
+the White One,[FN#190] all that he had ready by his side--betel
+leaf and flowers, sandal wood and unbroken rice, fruits, perfumes,
+and the flesh of man untouched by steel. Lastly, he half filled his
+skull with burning embers, blew upon them till they shot forth
+tongues of crimson light, serving as a lamp, and motioning the
+Raja and his son to follow him, led the way to a little fane of the
+Destroying Deity erected in a dark clump of wood, outside and
+close to the burning ground.
+
+They passed through the quadrangular outer court of the temple
+whose piazza was hung with deep shade.[FN#191] In silence they
+circumambulated the small central shrine, and whenever
+Shanta-Shil directed, Raja Vikram entered the Sabha, or vestibule,
+and struck three times upon the gong, which gave forth a loud and
+warning sound.
+
+They then passed over the threshold, and looked into the gloomy
+inner depths. There stood Smashana-Kali,[FN#192] the goddess, in
+her most horrid form. She was a naked and very black woman,
+with half-severed head, partly cut and partly painted, resting on her
+shoulder; and her tongue lolled out from her wide yawning
+mouth[FN#193]; her eyes were red like those of a drunkard; and
+her eyebrows were of the same colour: her thick coarse hair hung
+like a mantle to her heels. She was robed in an elephant's hide,
+dried and withered, confined at the waist with a belt composed of
+the hands of the giants whom she had slain in war: two dead
+bodies formed her earrings, and her necklace was of bleached
+skulls. Her four arms supported a scimitar, a noose, a trident, and a
+ponderous mace. She stood with one leg on the breast of her
+husband, Shiva, and she rested the other on his thigh. Before the
+idol lay the utensils of worship, namely, dishes for the offerings,
+lamps, jugs, incense, copper cups, conches and gongs; and all of
+them smelt of blood.
+
+As Raja Vikram and his son stood gazing upon the hideous
+spectacle, the devotee stooped down to place his skull-lamp upon
+the ground, and drew from out his ochre-coloured cloth a sharp
+sword which he hid behind his back.
+
+"Prosperity to thine and thy son's for ever and ever, O mighty
+Vikram!" exclaimed Shanta-Shil, after he had muttered a prayer
+before the image. "Verily thou hast right royally redeemed thy
+pledge, and by the virtue of thy presence all my wishes shall
+presently be accomplished. Behold! the Sun is about to drive his
+car over the eastern hills, and our task now ends. Do thou
+reverence before this my deity, worshipping the earth through thy
+nose, and so prostrating thyself that thy eight limbs may touch the
+ground.[FN#194] Thus shall thy glory and splendour be great; the
+Eight Powers[FN#195] and the Nine Treasures shall be thine, and
+prosperity shall ever remain under thy roof-tree."
+
+Raja Vikram, hearing these words, recalled suddenly to mind all
+that the Vampire had whispered to him. He brought his joined
+hands open up to his forehead, caused his two thumbs to touch his
+brow several times, and replied with the greatest humility,
+
+"O pious person! I am a king ignorant of the way to do such
+obeisance. Thou art a spiritual preceptor: be pleased to teach me
+and I will do even as thou desirest."
+
+Then the Jogi, being a cunning man, fell into his own net. As he
+bent him down to salute the goddess, Vikram, drawing his sword,
+struck him upon the neck so violent a blow, that his head rolled
+from his body upon the ground. At the same moment Dharma
+Dhwaj, seizing his father's arm, pulled him out of the way in time
+to escape being crushed by the image, which fell with the sound of
+thunder upon the floor of the temple.
+
+A small thin voice in the upper air was heard to cry, "A man is
+justified in killing one who has the desire to kill him." Then glad
+shouts of triumph and victory were heard in all directions. They
+proceeded from the celestial choristers, the heavenly dancers, the
+mistresses of the gods, and the nymphs of Indra's Paradise, who
+left their beds of gold and precious stones, their seats glorious as
+the meridian sun, their canals of crystal water, their perfumed
+groves, and their gardens where the wind ever blows in softest
+breezes, to applaud the valour and good fortune of the warrior
+king.
+
+At last the brilliant god, Indra himself, with the thousand eyes,
+rising from the shade of the Parigat tree, the fragrance of whose
+flowers fills the heavens, appeared in his car drawn by yellow
+steeds and cleaving the thick vapours which surround the earth--
+whilst his attendants sounded the heavenly drums and rained a
+shower of blossoms and perfumes--bade the Vikramajit the Brave
+ask a boon.
+
+The Raja joined his hands and respectfully replied,
+
+"O mighty ruler of the lower firmament, let this my history
+become famous throughout the world!"
+
+"It is well," rejoined the god. "As long as the sun and moon
+endure, and the sky looks down upon the ground, so long shall this
+thy adventure be remembered over all the earth. Meanwhile rule
+thou mankind."
+
+Thus saying, Indra retired to the delicious Amrawati[FN#196]
+Vikram took up the corpses and threw them into the cauldron
+which Shanta-Shil had been tending. At once two heroes started
+into life, and Vikram said to them, "When I call you, come!"
+
+With these mysterious words the king, followed by his son,
+returned to the palace unmolested. As the Vampire had predicted,
+everything was prosperous to him, and he presently obtained the
+remarkable titles, Sakaro, or foe of the Sakas, and
+Sakadhipati-Vikramaditya.
+
+And when, after a long and happy life spent in bringing the world
+under the shadow of one umbrella, and in ruling it free from care,
+the warrior king Vikram entered the gloomy realms of Yama, from
+whom for mortals there is no escape, he left behind him a name
+that endured amongst men like the odour of the flower whose
+memory remains long after its form has mingled with the
+dust.[FN#197]
+
+                 FOOTNOTES
+
+[FN#1]  Metamorphoseon, seu de Asino Aureo, libri Xl. The well
+known and beautiful episode is in the fourth. the fifth, and the sixth
+books.
+
+[FN#2]  This ceremony will be explained in a future page.
+
+[FN#3]  A common exclamation of sorrow, surprise, fear, and
+other emotions. It is especially used by women.
+
+[FN#4]  Quoted from view of the Hindoos, by William Ward, of
+Serampore (vol. i. p. 25).
+
+[FN#5]  In Sanskrit, Vetala-pancha-Vinshati. "Baital" is the
+modern form of " Vetala.
+
+[FN#6]  In Arabic, Badpai el Hakim. 
+
+[FN#7]  Dictionnaire philosophique sub v. " Apocryphes."
+
+[FN#8]  I do not mean that rhymes were not known before the days
+of Al-Islam, but that the Arabs popularized assonance and
+consonance in Southern Europe.
+
+[FN#9]  "Vikrama" means "valour " or " prowess."
+
+[FN#10] Mr. Ward of Serampore is unable to quote the names of
+more than nine out of the eighteen, namely: Sanskrit, Prakrit,
+Naga, Paisacha, Gandharba, Rakshasa, Ardhamagadi, Apa, and
+Guhyaka  - most of them being the languages of different orders of
+fabulous beings. He tells us, however, that an account of these
+dialects may be found in the work called Pingala.
+
+[FN#11] Translated by Sir Wm. Jones, 1789; and by Professor
+Williams, 1856.
+
+[FN#12] Translated by Professor H. H. Wilson.
+
+[FN#13] The time was propitious to savans. Whilst Vikramaditya
+lived, Magha, another king, caused to be written a poem called
+after his name For each verse he is said to have paid to learned
+men a gold piece, which amounted to a total of 5,280l. - a large
+sum in those days, which preceded those of Paradise Lost. About
+the same period Karnata, a third king, was famed for patronizing
+the learned men who rose to honour at Vikram's court. Dhavaka, a
+poet of nearly the same period, received from King Shriharsha the
+magnificent present of 10,000l. for a poem called the Ratna-Mala.
+
+[FN#14]  Lieut. Wilford supports the theory that there were eight
+Vikramadityas, the last of whom established the era. For further
+particulars, the curious reader will consult Lassen's Anthologia,
+and Professor H. H. Wilson's Essay on Vikram (New), As. Red..
+ix. 117. 
+
+[FN#15]  History tells us another tale. The god Indra and the King
+of Dhara gave the kingdom to Bhartari-hari, another son of
+Gandhar-ba-Sena, by a handmaiden. For some time, the brothers
+lived together; but presently they quarrelled. Vikram being
+dismissed from court, wandered from place to place in abject
+poverty, and at one time hired himself as a servant to a merchant
+living in Guzerat. At length, Bhartari-hari, disgusted with the
+world on account of the infidelity of his wife, to whom he was
+ardently attached, became a religious devotee, and left the
+kingdom to its fate. In the course of his travels, Vikram came to
+Ujjayani, and finding it without a head, assumed the sovereignty.
+He reigned with great splendour, conquering by his arms Utkala,
+Vanga, Kuch-bahar, Guzerat, Somnat, Delhi, and other places;
+until, in his turn, he was conquered, and slain by Shalivahan.
+
+[FN#16]  The words are found, says Mr. Ward, in the Hindu
+History compiled by Mrityungaya.
+
+[FN#17]  These duties of kings are thus laid down in the
+Rajtarangini. It is evident, as Professor H. H. Wilson says, that the
+royal status was by no means a sinecure. But the rules are
+evidently the closet work of some pedantic, dogmatic Brahman,
+teaching kingcraft to kings. He directs his instructions, not to
+subordinate judges, but to the Raja as the chief magistrate, and
+through him to all appointed for the administration of his justice.
+
+[FN#18]  Lunus, not Luna.
+
+[FN#19]  That is to say, "upon an empty stomach."
+
+[FN#20]  There are three sandhyas amongst the Hindus--morning,
+mid-day, and sunset; and all three are times for prayer.
+
+[FN#21]  The Hindu Cupid.
+
+[FN#22]  Patali, the regions beneath the earth.
+
+[FN#23]  The Hindu Triad.
+
+[FN#24]  Or Avanti, also called Padmavati. It is the first meridian
+of the Hindus, who found their longitude by observation of lunar
+eclipses, calculated for it and Lanka, or Ceylon. The clepsydra was
+used for taking time.
+
+[FN#25]  In the original only the husband ''practiced austere
+devotion." For the benefit of those amongst whom the "pious wife"
+is an institution, I have extended the privilege.
+
+[FN#26]  A Moslem would say, "This is our fate." A Hindu refers
+at once to metempsychosis, as naturally as a modern
+Swedenborgian to spiritism.
+
+[FN#27]  In Europe, money buys this world, and delivers you from
+the pains of purgatory; amongst the Hindus, it furthermore opens
+the gate of heaven.
+
+[FN#28]  This part of the introduction will remind the reader of the
+two royal brothers and their false wives in the introduction to the
+Arabian Nights. The fate of Bhartari Raja, however, is historical.
+
+[FN#29]  In the original, "Div"--a supernatural being god, or
+demon. This part of the plot is variously told. According to some,
+Raja Vikram was surprised, when entering the city to see a grand
+procession at the house of a potter and a boy being carried off on
+an elephant to the violent grief of his parents The King inquired
+the reason of their sorrow, and was told that the wicked Div that
+guarded the city was in the habit of eating a citizen per diem.
+Whereupon the valorous Raja caused the boy to dismount; took his
+place; entered the palace; and, when presented as food for the
+demon, displayed his pugilistic powers in a way to excite the
+monsters admiration.
+
+[FN#30]  In India, there is still a monastic order the pleasant duty
+of whose members is to enjoy themselves as much as possible. It
+has been much the same in Europe. "Representez-vous le convent
+de l'Escurial ou du Mont Cassin, ou les cenobites ont toutes sortes
+de commodities, necessaires, utiles, delectables. superflues,
+surabondantes, puisqu'ils ont les cent cinquante mille, les quatre
+cent mille, les cinq cent mille ecus de rente; et jugez si monsieur
+l'abbe a de quoi laisser dormir la meridienne a ceux qui
+voudront."--Saint Augustin, de l'Ouvrage des Moines, by Le
+Camus, Bishop of Belley, quoted by Voltaire, Dict. Phil., sub v.
+"Apocalypse."
+
+[FN#31]  This form of matrimony was recognized by the ancient
+Hindus, and is frequent in books. It is a kind of Scotch wedding--
+ultra-Caledonian--taking place by mutual consent, without any
+form or ceremony. The Gandharbas are heavenly minstrels of
+Indra's court, who are supposed to be witnesses.
+
+[FN#32]  The Hindu Saturnalia.
+
+[FN#33]  The powders are of wheaten flour, mixed with wild
+ginger-root, sappan-wood, and other ingredients. Sometimes the
+stuff is thrown in syringes.
+
+[FN#34]  The Persian proverb is-- "Bala e tavilah bar sat i
+maimun": "The woes of the stable be on the monkey's head!" In
+some Moslem countries a hog acts prophylactic. Hence probably
+Mungo Park's troublesome pig at Ludamar.
+
+[FN#35]  So the moribund father of the "babes in the wood"
+lectures his wicked brother, their guardian: 
+               "To God and you I recommend
+                    My children deare this day:
+               But little while, be sure, we have
+                    Within this world to stay."
+ But, to appeal to the moral sense of a goldsmith!
+
+[FN#36]  Maha (great) raja (king): common address even to those
+who are not royal.
+
+[FN#37]  The name means. "Quietistic Disposition."
+
+[FN#38]   August. In the solar-lunar year of the Hindu the months
+are divided into fortnights--light and dark.
+
+[FN#39]  A flower, whose name frequently occurs in Sanskrit
+poetry.
+
+[FN#40]  The stars being men's souls raised to the sky for a time
+pro portioned to their virtuous deeds on earth.
+
+[FN#41]  A measure of length, each two miles.
+
+[FN#42]  The warm region below.
+
+[FN#43]  Hindus admire only glossy black hair; the "bonny brown
+hair" loved by our ballads is assigned by them to low-caste men,
+witches, and fiends.
+
+[FN#44]  A large kind of bat; a popular and silly Anglo-Indian
+name. It almost justified the irate Scotchman in calling "prodigious
+leears" those who told him in India that foxes flew and tress were
+tapped for toddy.
+
+[FN#45]  The Hindus, like the European classics and other ancient
+peoples, reckon four ages:--The Satya Yug, or Golden Age,
+numbered 1,728,000 years: the second, or Treta Yug, comprised
+1,296,000; the Dwapar Yug had 864,000 and the present, the Kali
+Yug, has shrunk to 832,000 years.
+
+[FN#46]  Especially alluding to prayer. On this point, Southey
+justly remarks (Preface to Curse of Kehama): "In the religion of
+the Hindoos there is one remarkable peculiarity. Prayers, penances,
+and sacrifices are supposed to possess an inherent and actual value,
+in one degree depending upon the disposition or motive of the
+person who performs them. They are drafts upon heaven for which
+the gods cannot refuse payment. The worst men, bent upon the
+worst designs, have in this manner obtained power which has
+made them formidable to the supreme deities themselves."
+Moreover, the Hindu gods hear the prayers of those who desire the
+evil of others. Hence when a rich man becomes poor, his friends
+say, "See how sharp are men's teeth!" and, "He is ruined because
+others could not bear to see his happiness!"
+
+[FN#47]  A pond. natural or artificial; in the latter case often
+covering an extent of ten to twelve acres.
+
+[FN#48]   The Hindustani "gilahri," or little grey squirrel, whose
+twittering cry is often mistaken for a bird's.
+
+[FN#49]  The autumn or rather the rainy season personified - a
+hackneyed Hindu prosopopoeia.
+
+[FN#50]  Light conversation upon the subject of women is a
+persona offence to serious-minded Hindus.
+
+[FN#51]  Cupid in his two forms, Eros and Anteros.
+
+[FN#52]  This is true to life in the East, women make the first
+advances, and men do the begueules.
+
+[FN#53]  Raja-hans, a large grey goose, the Hindu equivalent for
+our swan.
+
+[FN#54]  Properly Karnatak; karna in Sanskrit means an ear.
+
+[FN#55]  Danta in Sanskrit is a tooth.
+
+[FN#56]  Padma means a foot.
+
+[FN#57]   A common Hindu phrase equivalent to our " I manage to
+get on."
+
+[FN#58]  Meaning marriage maternity, and so forth.
+
+[FN#59]  Yama is Pluto; 'mother of Yama' is generally applied to
+an old scold.
+
+[FN#60]  Snake-land: the infernal region.
+
+[FN#61]  A form of abuse given to Durga, who was the mother of
+Ganesha (Janus); the latter had an elephant's head.
+
+[FN#62]  Unexpected pleasure, according to the Hindus, gives a
+bristly elevation to the down of the body.
+
+[FN#63]   The Hindus banish " flasks,'' et hoc genus omne, from
+these scenes, and perhaps they are right.
+
+[FN#64]   The Pankha, or large common fan, is a leaf of the
+Corypha umbraculifera, with the petiole cut to the length of about
+five feet, pared round the edges and painted to look pretty. It is
+waved by the servant standing behind a chair.
+
+[FN#65]  The fabulous mass of precious stones forming the sacred
+mountain of Hindu mythology.
+
+[FN#66]  "I love my love with an 'S,' because he is stupid and not
+pyschological."
+
+[FN#67]  Hindu mythology has also its Cerberus, Trisisa, the "
+three headed " hound that attends dreadful Yama (Pluto)
+
+[FN#68]  Parceque c'est la saison des amours.
+
+[FN#69]  The police magistrate, the Catual of Camoens.
+
+[FN#70]  The seat of a Hindu ascetic.
+
+[FN#71]  The Hindu scriptures.
+
+[FN#72]  The Goddess of Prosperity.
+
+[FN#73]  In the original the lover is not blamed; this would be the
+Hindu view of the matter; we might be tempted to think of the old
+injunction not to seethe a kid in the mother's milk.
+
+[FN#74]  In the original a "maina "-the Gracula religiosa.
+
+[FN#75]  As we should say, buried them.
+
+[FN#76]  A large kind of black bee, common in India.
+
+[FN#77]  The beautiful wife of the demigod Rama Chandra.
+
+[FN#78]  The Hindu Ars Amoris.
+
+[FN#79]  The old philosophers, believing in a " Sat " (xx xx),
+postulated an Asat (xx xx xx) and made the latter the root of the
+former.
+
+[FN#80]  In Western India, a place celebrated for suicides.
+
+[FN#81]  Kama Deva. "Out on thee, foul fiend, talk'st thou of
+nothing but ladies?"
+
+[FN#82]  The pipal or Ficus religiosa, a favourite roosting-place
+for fiends.
+
+[FN#83]  India.
+
+[FN#84]  The ancient name of a priest by profession, meaning "
+praepositus " or praeses. He was the friend and counsellor of a
+chief, the minister of a king, and his companion in peace and war.
+(M. Muller's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 485).
+
+[FN#85]  Lakshmi, the Goddess of Prosperity. Raj-Lakshmi would
+mean the King's Fortune, which we should call tutelary genius.
+Lakshichara is our " luckless," forming, as Mr. Ward says, an
+extraordinary coincidence of sound and meaning in languages so
+different. But the derivations are very distinct.
+
+[FN#86]  The Monkey God.
+
+[FN#87]  Generally written "Banyan."
+
+[FN#88]  The daughter of Raja Janaka, married to Ramachandra.
+The latter placed his wife under the charge of his brother
+Lakshmana, and went into the forest to worship, when the demon
+Ravana disguised himself as a beggar, and carried off the prize.
+
+[FN#89]  This great king was tricked by the god Vishnu out of the
+sway of heaven and earth, but from his exceeding piety he was
+appointed to reign in Patala, or Hades.
+
+[FN#90]   The procession is fair game, and is often attacked in the
+dark with sticks and stones, causing serious disputes. At the supper
+the guests confer the obligation by their presence, and are
+exceedingly exacting.
+
+[FN#91]  Rati is the wife of Kama, the God of Desire; and we
+explain the word by "Spring personified."
+
+[FN#92]  The Indian Cuckoo (Cucuius Indicus). It is supposed to
+lay its eggs in the nest of the crow.
+
+[FN#93]  This is the well-known Ghi or Ghee, the one sauce of
+India which is as badly off in that matter as England.
+
+[FN#94]  The European reader will observe that it is her purity
+which carries the heroine through all these perils. Moreover, that
+her :virtue is its own reward, as it loses to her the world.
+
+[FN#95]  Literally, "one of all tastes"--a wild or gay man, we
+should say.
+
+[FN#96]  These shoes are generally made of rags and bits of
+leather; they have often toes behind the foot, with other similar
+contrivances, yet they scarcely ever deceive an experienced man.
+
+[FN#97]  The high-toper is a swell-thief, the other is a low dog.
+
+[FN#98]  Engaged in shoplifting.
+
+[FN#99]  The moon.
+
+[FN#100]  The judge.
+
+[FN#101]  To be lagged is to be taken; scragging is hanging.
+
+[FN#102]  The tongue.
+
+[FN#103]  This is the god Kartikeya, a mixture of Mars and
+Mercury, who revealed to a certain Yugacharya the scriptures
+known as "Chauriya-Vidya"--Anglice, "Thieves' Manual."  The
+classical robbers of the Hindu drama always perform according to
+its precepts.  There is another work respected by thieves and called
+the "Chora-Panchashila," because consisting of fifty lines.
+
+[FN#104]  Supposed to be a good omen.
+
+[FN#105]  Share the booty.
+
+[FN#106]  Bhawani is one of the many forms of the destroying
+goddess, the wife of Shiva.
+
+[FN#107]  Wretches who kill with the narcotic seed of the
+stramonium.
+
+[FN#108]  Better know as "Thugs," which in India means simply
+"rascals."
+
+[FN#109]  Crucifixion, until late years, was common amongst the
+Buddhists of the Burmese empire.  According to an eye-witness,
+Mr. F. Carey, the puishment was inflicted in two ways. 
+Sometimes criminals were crucified by their hands and feet being
+nailed to a scaffold; others were merely tied up, and fed.  In these
+cases the legs and feet of the patient began to swell and mortify at
+the expiration fo three or four days; men are said to have lived in
+this state for a fortnight, and at last they expired from fatigue and
+mortification.  The sufferings from cramp also must be very
+severe.  In India generally impalement was more common than
+crucifixion.
+
+[FN#110]  Our Suttee.  There is an admirable Hindu proverb,
+which says, "No one knows the ways of woman; she kill her
+husband and becomes a Sati."
+
+[FN#111]  Fate and Destiny are rather Moslem than Hindu fancies.
+
+[FN#112]  Properly speaking, the husbandman should plough with
+not fewer than four bullocks; but few can afford this.  If he plough
+with a cow or a bullock, and not with a bull, the rice produced by
+his ground is unclean, and may not be used in any religious
+ceremony.
+
+[FN#113]  A shout of triumph, like our "Huzza" or "Hurrah!" of
+late degraded into "Hooray."  "Hari bol" is of course religious,
+meaning "Call upon Hari!" i.e. Krishna, i.e. Vishnu.
+
+[FN#114]  This form of suicide is one of those recognized in India. 
+So in Europe we read of fanatics who, with a suicidal ingenuity,
+have succeeded in crucifying themselves.
+
+[FN#115]  The river of Jaganath in Orissa; it shares the honours of
+sanctity with some twenty-nine others, and in the lower regions it
+represents the classical Styx.
+
+[FN#116]  Cupid. His wife Rati is the spring personified. The
+Hindu poets always unite love and spring, and perhaps
+physiologically they are correct. 
+
+[FN#117]  An incarnation of the third person of the Hindu Triad,
+or Triumvirate, Shiva the God of Destruction, the Indian Bacchus.
+The image has five faces, and each face has three eyes. In Bengal
+it is found in many villages, and the women warn their children not
+to touch it on pain of being killed. 
+
+[FN#118]  A village Brahman on stated occasions receives fees
+from all the villagers. 
+
+[FN#119]  The land of Greece.
+
+[FN#120]  Savans, professors. So in the old saying, "Hanta, Pandit
+Sansara "--Alas! the world is learned! This a little antedates the
+well-known schoolmaster.
+
+[FN#121]  Children are commonly sent to school at the age of five.
+Girls are not taught to read, under the common idea that they will
+become widows if they do.
+
+[FN#122]  Meaning the place of reading the four Shastras.
+
+[FN#123]  A certain goddess who plays tricks with mankind. If a
+son when grown up act differently from what his parents did,
+people say that he has been changed in the womb.
+
+[FN#124]  Shani is the planet Saturn, which has an exceedingly
+baleful influence in India as elsewhere.
+
+[FN#125]  The Eleatic or Materialistic school of Hindu
+philosophy, which agrees to explode an intelligent soparate First
+Cause.
+
+[FN#126]  The writings of this school give an excellent view of the
+"progressive system," which has popularly been asserted to be a
+modern idea. But Hindu philosophy seems to have exhausted every
+fancy that can spring from the brain of man.
+
+[FN#127]  Tama is the natural state of matter, Raja is passion
+acting upon nature, and Satwa is excellence These are the three
+gunas or qualities of matter.
+
+[FN#128]  Spiritual preceptors and learned men.
+
+[FN#129]  Under certain limitations, gambling is allowed hy Hindu
+law and the winner has power over the person and property of the
+loser. No "debts of honour" in Hindustan!
+
+[FN#130]  Quotations from standard works on Hindu criminal law,
+which in some points at least is almost as absurd as our civilized
+codes.
+
+[FN#131]  Hindus carry their money tied up in a kind of sheet. which
+is wound round the waist and thrown over the shoulder.
+
+[FN#132]  A thieves' manual in the Sanskrit tongue; it aspires to the
+dignity of a "Scripture."  
+
+[FN#133]  All sounds, say the Hindus, are of similar origin, and they
+do not die; if they did, they could not be remembered.
+
+[FN#134]  Gold pieces.
+
+[FN#135]   These are the qualifications specified by Hindu classical
+authorities as necessary to make a distinguished thief.
+
+[FN#136]  Every Hindu is in a manner born to a certain line of life,
+virtuous or vicious, honest or dishonest and his Dharma, or religious
+duty, consists in conforming to the practice and the worship of his
+profession. The "Thug," for instance, worships Bhawani, who enables
+him to murder successfully; and his remorse would arise from
+neglecting to murder.
+
+[FN#137]  Hindu law sensibly punishes, in theory at least, for the
+same offence the priest more severely than the layman--a hint for him
+to practice what he preaches.
+
+[FN#138]  The Hindu Mercury, god of rascals.
+
+[FN#139]  A penal offence in India. How is it that we English have
+omitted to codify it? The laws of Manu also punish severely all
+disdainful expressions, such as  "tush" or "pish," addressed during
+argument to a priest.
+
+[FN#140]  Stanzas, generally speaking, on serious subjects.
+
+[FN#141]  Whitlows on the nails show that the sufferer, in the last
+life, stole gold from a Brahman.
+
+[FN#142]  A low caste Hindu, who catches and exhibits snakes and
+performs other such mean offices.
+
+[FN#143]  Meaning, in spite of themselves.
+
+[FN#144]  When the moon is in a certain lunar mansion, at the
+conclusion of the wet season.
+
+[FN#145]  In Hindustan, it is the prevailing wind of the hot weather.
+
+[FN#146]  Vishnu, as a dwarf, sank down into and secured in the
+lower regions the Raja Bali, who by his piety and prayerfulness was
+subverting the reign of the lesser gods; as Ramachandra he built a
+bridge between Lanka (Ceylon) and the main land; and as Krishna he
+defended, by holding up a hill as an umbrella for them, his friends the
+shepherds and shepherdesses from the thunders of Indra, whose
+worship they had neglected.
+
+[FN#147]  The priestly caste sprang, as has been said, from the
+noblest part of the Demiurgus; the three others from lower members.
+
+[FN#148]  A chew of betel leaf and spices is offered by the master of
+the house when dismissing a visitor.
+
+[FN#149]  Respectable Hindus say that receiving a fee for a daughter
+is like selling flesh.
+
+[FN#150]  A modern custom amongst the low caste is for the bride
+and bridegroom, in the presence of friends, to place a flower garland
+on each other's necks, and thus declare themselves man and wife. The
+old classical Gandharva-lagan has been before explained.
+
+[FN#151]  Meaning that the sight of each other will cause a smile,
+and that what one purposes the other will consent to.
+
+[FN#152]  This would be the verdict of a Hindu jury.
+
+[FN#153]  Because stained with the powder of Mhendi, or the
+Lawsonia inermis shrub.
+
+[FN#154]  Kansa's son: so called because the god Shiva, when struck
+by his shafts, destroyed him with a fiery glance.
+
+[FN#155]  "Great Brahman"; used contemptuously to priests who
+officiate for servile men. Brahmans lose their honour by the
+following things: By becoming servants to the king; by pursuing any
+secular business; by acting priests to Shudras (serviles); by officiating
+as priests for a whole village; and by neglecting any part of the three
+daily services. Many violate these rules; yet to kill a Brahman is still
+one of the five great Hindu sins. In the present age of the world, the
+Brahman may not accept a gift of cows or of gold; of course he
+despises the law. As regards monkey worship, a certain Rajah of
+Nadiya is said to have expended 10,000L in marrying two monkeys
+with all the parade and splendour of the Hindu rite.
+
+[FN#156]  The celebrated Gayatri, the Moslem Kalmah.
+
+[FN#157]  Kama again.  
+
+[FN#158]  From "Man," to think; primarily meaning, what makes
+man think.
+
+[FN#159]  The Cirrhadae of classical writers.
+
+[FN#160]  The Hindu Pluto; also called the Just King.
+
+[FN#161]  Yama judges the dead. whose souls go to him in four
+hours and forty minutes; therefore a corpse cannot be burned till after
+that time. His residence is Yamalaya. and it is on the south side of the
+earth; down South, as we say. (I, Sam. xxv. 1, and xxx. 15). The
+Hebrews, like the Hindus, held the northern parts of the world to be
+higher than the southern. Hindus often joke a man who is seen
+walking in that direction, and ask him where he is going.
+
+[FN#162]  The "Ganges," in heaven called Mandakini. I have no idea
+why we still adhere to our venerable corruption of the word.
+
+[FN#163]  The fabulous mountain supposed by Hindu geographers
+to occupy the centre of the universe.
+
+[FN#164]  The all-bestowing tree in Indra's Paradise which grants
+everything asked of it. It is the Tuba of Al-Islam and is not unknown
+to the Apocryphal New Testament.
+
+[FN#165]  "Vikramaditya, Lord of the Saka." This is prevoyance on
+the part of the Vampire; the king had not acquired the title.
+
+[FN#166]  On the sixth day after the child's birth, the god Vidhata
+writes all its fate upon its forehead. The Moslems have a similar idea,
+and probably it passed to the Hindus.
+
+[FN#167]  Goddess of eloquence. "The waters of the Saraswati " is
+the classical Hindu phrase for the mirage.
+
+[FN#168]  This story is perhaps the least interesting in the collection.
+I have translated it literally, in order to give an idea of the original.
+The reader will remark in it the source of our own nursery tale about
+the princess who was so high born and delicately bred, that she could
+discover the three peas laid beneath a straw mattress and four feather
+beds. The Hindus, however, believe that Sybaritism can be carried so
+far; I remember my Pandit asserting the truth of the story.
+
+[FN#169]  A minister. The word, as is the case with many in this
+collection, is quite modern Moslem, and anachronistic.
+
+[FN#170]  The cow is called the mother of the gods, and is declared
+by Brahma, the first person of the triad, Vishnu and Shiva being the
+second and the third, to be a proper object of worship. "If a European
+speak to the Hindu about eating the flesh of cows," says an old
+missionary, "they immediately raise their hands to their ears; yet
+milkmen, carmen, and farmers beat the cow as unmercifully as a
+carrier of coals beats his ass in England."The Jains or Jainas (from ji,
+to conquer; as subduing the passions) are one of the atheistical sects
+with whom the Brahmans have of old carried on the fiercest religious
+controversies, ending in many a sanguinary fight. Their tenets are
+consequently exaggerated and ridiculed, as in the text. They believe
+that there is no such God as the common notions on the subject point
+out, and they hold that the highest act of virtue is to abstain from
+injuring sentient creatures. Man does not possess an immortal spirit:
+death is the same to Brahma and to a fly. Therefore there is no
+heaven or hell separate from present pleasure or pain. Hindu
+Epicureans!--"Epicuri de grege porci."
+
+[FN#171]  Narak is one of the multitudinous places of Hindu
+punishment, said to adjoin the residence of Ajarna. The less
+cultivated Jains believe in a region of torment. The illuminati,
+however, have a sovereign contempt for the Creator, for a future
+state, and for all religious ceremonies. As Hindus, however, they
+believe in future births of mankind, somewhat influenced by present
+actions. The "next birth" in the mouth of a Hindu, we are told, is the
+same as "to-morrow" in the mouth of a Christian. The
+metempsychosis is on an extensive scale: according to some, a person
+who loses human birth must pass through eight millions of successive
+incarnations--fish, insects, worms, birds, and beasts--before he can
+reappear as a man.
+
+[FN#172]  Jogi, or Yogi, properly applies to followers of the Yoga or
+Patanjala school, who by ascetic practices acquire power over the
+elements. Vulgarly, it is a general term for mountebank vagrants,
+worshippers of Shiva. The Janganis adore the same deity, and carry
+about a Linga. The Sevras are Jain beggars, who regard their chiefs
+as superior to the gods of other sects. The Sannyasis are mendicant
+followers of Shiva; they never touch metals or fire, and. in religious
+parlance, they take up the staff They are opposed to the Viragis,
+worshippers of Vishnu, who contend as strongly against the
+worshippers of gods who receive bloody offerings. as a Christian
+could do against idolatry.
+
+[FN#173]  The Brahman, or priest, is supposed to proceed from the
+mouth of Brahma, the creating person of the Triad; the Khshatriyas
+(soldiers) from his arms; the Vaishyas (enterers into business) from
+his thighs; and the Shudras, "who take refuge in the Brahmans," from
+his feet. Only high caste men should assume the thread at the age of
+puberty.
+
+[FN#174]  Soma. the moon, I have said, is masculine in India.
+
+[FN#175]  Pluto.
+
+[FN#176]  Nothing astonishes Hindus so much as the apparent want
+of affection between the European parent and child.
+
+[FN#177]  A third marriage is held improper and baneful to a Hindu
+woman. Hence. before the nuptials they betroth the man to a tree,
+upon which the evil expends itself, and the tree dies.
+
+[FN#178]  Kama
+
+[FN#179]  An oath. meaning, "From such a falsehood preserve me,
+Ganges!"
+
+[FN#180]  The Indian Neptune.
+
+[FN#181]  A highly insulting form of adjuration.
+
+[FN#182]  The British Islands--according to Wilford.
+
+[FN#183]  Literally the science (veda) of the bow (dhanush). This
+weapon, as everything amongst the Hindus, had a divine origin: it
+was of three kinds--the common bow, the pellet or stone bow, and the
+crossbow or catapult.
+
+[FN#184]  It is a disputed point whether the ancient Hindus did or did
+not know the use of gunpowder.
+
+[FN#185]  It is said to have discharged balls, each 6,400 pounds in
+weight.
+
+[FN#186]  A kind of Mercury, a god with the head and wings of a
+bird, who is the Vahan or vehicle of the second person of the Triad,
+Vishnu.
+
+[FN#187]  The celebrated burning springs of Baku, near the Caspian,
+are so called. There are many other "fire mouths."
+
+[FN#188]  The Hindu Styx.
+
+[FN#189]  From Yaksha, to eat; as Rakshasas are from Raksha, to
+preserve.--See Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, p. 57.
+
+[FN#190]  Shiva is always painted white, no one knows why. His
+wife Gauri has also a European complexion. Hence it is generally
+said that the sect popularly called "Thugs," who were worshippers of
+these murderous gods. spared Englishmen, the latter being supposed
+to have some rapport with their deities.
+
+[FN#191]  The Hindu shrine is mostly a small building, with two
+inner compartments. the vestibule and the Garbagriha, or adytum, in
+which stands the image.
+
+[FN#192]  Meaning Kali of the cemetery (Smashana); another form
+of Durga.
+
+[FN#193]  Not being able to find victims, this pleasant deity, to
+satisfy her thirst for the curious juice, cut her own throat that the
+blood might spout up into her mouth. She once found herself dancing
+on her husband, and was so shocked that in surprise she put out her
+tongue to a great length, and remained motionless. She is often
+represented in this form.
+
+[FN#194]  This ashtanga, the most ceremonious of the five forms of
+Hindu salutation, consists of prostrating and of making the eight parts
+of the body--namely, the temples, nose and chin, knees and hands--
+touch the ground.
+
+[FN#195]  "Sidhis," the personified Powers of Nature. At least, so we
+explain them: but people do not worship abstract powers.
+
+[FN#196]  The residence of Indra, king of heaven, built by Wishwa-
+Karma, the architect of the gods.
+
+[FN#197]  In other words, to the present day, whenever a Hindu
+novelist, romancer, or tale writer seeks a peg upon which to suspend
+the texture of his story, he invariably pitches upon the glorious, pious,
+and immortal memory of that Eastern King Arthur, Vikramaditya,
+shortly called Vikram.
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's etext, Vikram and the Vampire, by
+Sir Richard F. Burton
+
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