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diff --git a/2400.txt b/2400.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d56fa7 --- /dev/null +++ b/2400.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8641 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vikram and the Vampire, by Richard F. Burton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Vikram and the Vampire + +Author: Richard F. Burton + +Release Date: November, 2000 [EBook #2400] +Last Updated: July 26, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIKRAM AND THE VAMPIRE *** + + + + +Produced by Sara Vazirian + + + + + + +VIKRAM AND THE VAMPIRE + +By Sir Richard F. Burton + +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). + + + +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. Showing 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,[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.[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![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.[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[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,[6] are generally known, by name at least, to +European litterateurs.. Voltaire remarks,[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[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,[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.[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,[11] and Vikram and Urvasi,[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.[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[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. + + + + +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.[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,[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[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,[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[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,[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,[21] the bright god who exerts his sway over the three worlds, +heaven and earth and grewsome Hades,[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[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,[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.[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.[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.[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[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,[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.[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,[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[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,[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,[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.[35]" + +To so moral a speech the lapidary replied, "Maha-Raja[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,[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.[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,[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,[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[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.[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,[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,[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,[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."[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." + + + + +VIKRAM AND THE VAMPIRE + + + + +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 [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 [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 [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.[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,[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, [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. [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: [54] and when she bit it with +her teeth, she meant to say that 'My father is Raja Dantawat, [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. [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. [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, +[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, [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 [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, [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. [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.[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.[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.[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.[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.[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 physiological theory, but very observable in every-day practice. For +what said the poet?-- + + Divorce, friend! Re-wed thee! The spring draweth near,[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.[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.[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 [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[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[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,[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,[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[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[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[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[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,[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.[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[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.[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.[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,[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[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[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[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.[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.[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,[91] accompanied by the kokila bird,[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,[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.[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[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,[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[97]?" + +"A little more ceremony between coves in the lorst,[98]" whispered the +king, speaking as a flash man, "were not out of place. But, look sharp, +mind old Oliver,[99] or the lamb-skin man[100] will have the pull of +us, and as sure as eggs is eggs we shall be scragged as soon as +lagged.[101]" + +"Well, keep your red rag[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,[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,[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[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[106] crew. +There were stabbers with their poniards hung to lanyards lashed round +their naked waists, Dhaturiya-poisoners[107] distinguished by the +little bag slung under the left arm, and Phansigars[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,[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[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[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[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! [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.[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[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[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.[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,[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[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[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[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[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[123] had evidently changed these children before they +were born; and Shani[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.[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.[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,[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,[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.[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[130]; +that for cutting purses, or for snatching them out of a man's +waistcloth,[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.[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.[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[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[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,[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,[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,[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.[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[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,[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,[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.[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,[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 flowers, 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,[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[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,[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[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[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.[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,[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.[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,[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.[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,"[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 be 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,[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[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,[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.[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 Gunakar-Devasharma, with another +question. + +"Unmadini shall be mine," quoth the head. + +"You lie, she shall be mine," shouted the body. + +"Holy Yama,[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.[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[162] is the queen amongst +rivers, and the mountain Sumeru[163] is the monarch among mountains, and +the tree Kalpavriksha[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[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[166]? Still listen, +O mighty Raja, whilst I recount to you a true story, and Saraswati[167] +sit on my tongue." + + + + +THE VAMPIRE'S TENTH STORY [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[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.[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 +[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,[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 twice-born, and by refusing to be slaves; in fact, society +shall be all "mouth" and mixed castes.[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.[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.[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.[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.[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[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[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[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,[181] O warrior king! it will fare badly +in those days for the Rajas of Hindustan, when the red-coated men of +Shaka[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)[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,[184]" +large and small tubes, which discharge flame and smoke, and bullets as +big as those hurled by the bow of Bharata.[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,[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.[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 eight-limbed 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,[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,[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,[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.[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,[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[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.[194] Thus shall thy glory and splendour be great; the +Eight Powers[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[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.[197] + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + +[Footnote 1: Metamorphoseon, seu de Asino Aureo, libri Xl. The well known and +beautiful episode is in the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth books.] + +[Footnote 2: This ceremony will be explained in a future page.] + +[Footnote 3: A common exclamation of sorrow, surprise, fear, and other emotions. +It is especially used by women.] + +[Footnote 4: Quoted from view of the Hindoos, by William Ward, of Serampore (vol. +i. p. 25).] + +[Footnote 5: In Sanskrit, Vetala-pancha-Vinshati. "Baital" is the modern form of +"Vetala".] + +[Footnote 6: In Arabic, Badpai el Hakim.] + +[Footnote 7: Dictionnaire philosophique sub v. "Apocryphes."] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 9: "Vikrama" means "valour" or "prowess."] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 11: Translated by Sir Wm. Jones, 1789; and by Professor Williams, 1856.] + +[Footnote 12: Translated by Professor H. H. Wilson.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 16: The words are found, says Mr. Ward, in the Hindu History compiled +by Mrityungaya.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 18: Lunus, not Luna.] + +[Footnote 19: That is to say, "upon an empty stomach."] + +[Footnote 20: There are three sandhyas amongst the Hindus--morning, mid-day, and +sunset; and all three are times for prayer.] + +[Footnote 21: The Hindu Cupid.] + +[Footnote 22: Patali, the regions beneath the earth.] + +[Footnote 23: The Hindu Triad.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 26: A Moslem would say, "This is our fate." A Hindu refers at once to +metempsychosis, as naturally as a modern Swedenborgian to spiritism.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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."] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 32: The Hindu Saturnalia.] + +[Footnote 33: The powders are of wheaten flour, mixed with wild ginger-root, +sappan-wood, and other ingredients. Sometimes the stuff is thrown in +syringes.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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!] + +[Footnote 36: Maha (great) raja (king): common address even to those who are not +royal.] + +[Footnote 37: The name means. "Quietistic Disposition."] + +[Footnote 38: August. In the solar-lunar year of the Hindu the months are divided +into fortnights--light and dark.] + +[Footnote 39: A flower, whose name frequently occurs in Sanskrit poetry.] + +[Footnote 40: The stars being men's souls raised to the sky for a time pro +portioned to their virtuous deeds on earth.] + +[Footnote 41: A measure of length, each two miles.] + +[Footnote 42: The warm region below.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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!"] + +[Footnote 47: A pond, natural or artificial; in the latter case often covering an +extent of ten to twelve acres.] + +[Footnote 48: The Hindustani "gilahri," or little grey squirrel, whose twittering +cry is often mistaken for a bird's.] + +[Footnote 49: The autumn or rather the rainy season personified--a hackneyed +Hindu prosopopoeia.] + +[Footnote 50: Light conversation upon the subject of women is a persona offence +to serious-minded Hindus.] + +[Footnote 51: Cupid in his two forms, Eros and Anteros.] + +[Footnote 52: This is true to life in the East, women make the first advances, +and men do the begueules.] + +[Footnote 53: Raja-hans, a large grey goose, the Hindu equivalent for our swan.] + +[Footnote 54: Properly Karnatak; karna in Sanskrit means an ear.] + +[Footnote 55: Danta in Sanskrit is a tooth.] + +[Footnote 56: Padma means a foot.] + +[Footnote 57: A common Hindu phrase equivalent to our "I manage to get on."] + +[Footnote 58: Meaning marriage maternity, and so forth.] + +[Footnote 59: Yama is Pluto; 'mother of Yama' is generally applied to an old +scold.] + +[Footnote 60: Snake-land: the infernal region.] + +[Footnote 61: A form of abuse given to Durga, who was the mother of Ganesha +(Janus); the latter had an elephant's head.] + +[Footnote 62: Unexpected pleasure, according to the Hindus, gives a bristly +elevation to the down of the body.] + +[Footnote 63: The Hindus banish "flasks," et hoc genus omne, from these scenes, +and perhaps they are right.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 65: The fabulous mass of precious stones forming the sacred mountain of +Hindu mythology.] + +[Footnote 66: "I love my love with an 'S,' because he is stupid and not +pyschological."] + +[Footnote 67: Hindu mythology has also its Cerberus, Trisisa, the "three headed" +hound that attends dreadful Yama (Pluto)] + +[Footnote 68: Parceque c'est la saison des amours.] + +[Footnote 69: The police magistrate, the Catual of Camoens.] + +[Footnote 70: The seat of a Hindu ascetic.] + +[Footnote 71: The Hindu scriptures.] + +[Footnote 72: The Goddess of Prosperity.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 74: In the original a "maina "-the Gracula religiosa.] + +[Footnote 75: As we should say, buried them.] + +[Footnote 76: A large kind of black bee, common in India.] + +[Footnote 77: The beautiful wife of the demigod Rama Chandra.] + +[Footnote 78: The Hindu Ars Amoris.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 80: In Western India, a place celebrated for suicides.] + +[Footnote 81: Kama Deva. "Out on thee, foul fiend, talk'st thou of nothing but +ladies?"] + +[Footnote 82: The pipal or Ficus religiosa, a favourite roosting-place for +fiends.] + +[Footnote 83: India.] + +[Footnote 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).] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 86: The Monkey God.] + +[Footnote 87: Generally written "Banyan."] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 91: Rati is the wife of Kama, the God of Desire; and we explain the +word by "Spring personified."] + +[Footnote 92: The Indian Cuckoo (Cucuius Indicus). It is supposed to lay its eggs +in the nest of the crow.] + +[Footnote 93: This is the well-known Ghi or Ghee, the one sauce of India which is +as badly off in that matter as England.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 95: Literally, "one of all tastes"--a wild or gay man, we should say.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 97: The high-toper is a swell-thief, the other is a low dog.] + +[Footnote 98: Engaged in shoplifting.] + +[Footnote 99: The moon.] + +[Footnote 100: The judge.] + +[Footnote 101: To be lagged is to be taken; scragging is hanging.] + +[Footnote 102: The tongue.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 104: Supposed to be a good omen.] + +[Footnote 105: Share the booty.] + +[Footnote 106: Bhawani is one of the many forms of the destroying goddess, the +wife of Shiva.] + +[Footnote 107: Wretches who kill with the narcotic seed of the stramonium.] + +[Footnote 108: Better know as "Thugs," which in India means simply "rascals."] + +[Footnote 109: Crucifixion, until late years, was common amongst the Buddhists +of the Burmese empire. According to an eye-witness, Mr. F. Carey, the +punishment 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 of 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.] + +[Footnote 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."] + +[Footnote 111: Fate and Destiny are rather Moslem than Hindu fancies.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 116: Cupid. His wife Rati is the spring personified. The Hindu poets +always unite love and spring, and perhaps physiologically they are +correct.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 118: A village Brahman on stated occasions receives fees from all the +villagers.] + +[Footnote 119: The land of Greece.] + +[Footnote 120: Savans, professors. So in the old saying, "Hanta, Pandit Sansara +"--Alas! the world is learned! This a little antedates the well-known +schoolmaster.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 122: Meaning the place of reading the four Shastras.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 124: Shani is the planet Saturn, which has an exceedingly baleful +influence in India as elsewhere.] + +[Footnote 125: The Eleatic or Materialistic school of Hindu philosophy, which +agrees to explode an intelligent separate First Cause.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 128: Spiritual preceptors and learned men.] + +[Footnote 129: Under certain limitations, gambling is allowed by Hindu law and +the winner has power over the person and property of the loser. No +"debts of honour" in Hindustan!] + +[Footnote 130: Quotations from standard works on Hindu criminal law, which in +some points at least is almost as absurd as our civilized codes.] + +[Footnote 131: Hindus carry their money tied up in a kind of sheet which is wound +round the waist and thrown over the shoulder.] + +[Footnote 132: A thieves' manual in the Sanskrit tongue; it aspires to the +dignity of a "Scripture."] + +[Footnote 133: All sounds, say the Hindus, are of similar origin, and they do not +die; if they did, they could not be remembered.] + +[Footnote 134: Gold pieces.] + +[Footnote 135: These are the qualifications specified by Hindu classical +authorities as necessary to make a distinguished thief.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 138: The Hindu Mercury, god of rascals.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 140: Stanzas, generally speaking, on serious subjects.] + +[Footnote 141: Whitlows on the nails show that the sufferer, in the last life, +stole gold from a Brahman.] + +[Footnote 142: A low caste Hindu, who catches and exhibits snakes and performs +other such mean offices.] + +[Footnote 143: Meaning, in spite of themselves.] + +[Footnote 144: When the moon is in a certain lunar mansion, at the conclusion of +the wet season.] + +[Footnote 145: In Hindustan, it is the prevailing wind of the hot weather.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 147: The priestly caste sprang, as has been said, from the noblest part +of the Demiurgus; the three others from lower members.] + +[Footnote 148: A chew of betel leaf and spices is offered by the master of the +house when dismissing a visitor.] + +[Footnote 149: Respectable Hindus say that receiving a fee for a daughter is like +selling flesh.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 151: Meaning that the sight of each other will cause a smile, and that +what one purposes the other will consent to.] + +[Footnote 152: This would be the verdict of a Hindu jury.] + +[Footnote 153: Because stained with the powder of Mhendi, or the Lawsonia inermis +shrub.] + +[Footnote 154: Kansa's son: so called because the god Shiva, when struck by his +shafts, destroyed him with a fiery glance.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 156: The celebrated Gayatri, the Moslem Kalmah.] + +[Footnote 157: Kama again.] + +[Footnote 158: From "Man," to think; primarily meaning, what makes man think.] + +[Footnote 159: The Cirrhadae of classical writers.] + +[Footnote 160: The Hindu Pluto; also called the Just King.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 162: The "Ganges," in heaven called Mandakini. I have no idea why we +still adhere to our venerable corruption of the word.] + +[Footnote 163: The fabulous mountain supposed by Hindu geographers to occupy the +centre of the universe.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 165: "Vikramaditya, Lord of the Saka." This is prevoyance on the part +of the Vampire; the king had not acquired the title.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 167: Goddess of eloquence. "The waters of the Saraswati" is the +classical Hindu phrase for the mirage.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 169: A minister. The word, as is the case with many in this collection, +is quite modern Moslem, and anachronistic.] + +[Footnote 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."] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 174: Soma, the moon, I have said, is masculine in India.] + +[Footnote 175: Pluto.] + +[Footnote 176: Nothing astonishes Hindus so much as the apparent want of +affection between the European parent and child.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 178: Kama] + +[Footnote 179: An oath, meaning, "From such a falsehood preserve me, Ganges!"] + +[Footnote 180: The Indian Neptune.] + +[Footnote 181: A highly insulting form of adjuration.] + +[Footnote 182: The British Islands--according to Wilford.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 184: It is a disputed point whether the ancient Hindus did or did not +know the use of gunpowder.] + +[Footnote 185: It is said to have discharged balls, each 6,400 pounds in weight.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 187: The celebrated burning springs of Baku, near the Caspian, are so +called. There are many other "fire mouths."] + +[Footnote 188: The Hindu Styx.] + +[Footnote 189: From Yaksha, to eat; as Rakshasas are from Raksha, to +preserve.--See Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, p. 57.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 192: Meaning Kali of the cemetery (Smashana); another form of Durga.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 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.] + +[Footnote 195: "Sidhis," the personified Powers of Nature. At least, so we +explain them: but people do not worship abstract powers.] + +[Footnote 196: The residence of Indra, king of heaven, built by Wishwa-Karma, the +architect of the gods.] + +[Footnote 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 Vikram and the Vampire, by Richard F. 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