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diff --git a/37002.txt b/37002.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..090becf --- /dev/null +++ b/37002.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7930 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of the Sun, by +Mrs. Howard Kingscote and Pandit Natesa Sastri + +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: Tales of the Sun + or Folklore of Southern India + +Author: Mrs. Howard Kingscote + Pandit Natesa Sastri + +Release Date: August 7, 2011 [EBook #37002] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF THE SUN *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + TALES OF THE SUN + + Or + + Folklore of Southern India. + + + + Collected by + + MRS. HOWARD KINGSCOTE + + and + + PANDIT NATESA SASTRI. + + + + London: + W. H. Allen & Co. 13 Waterloo Place, + and at Calcutta. + + 1890. + + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +In offering these few Indian tales to the public, I cannot refrain from +adding a few words at the beginning to express to Pandit Natesa Sastri +my gratitude for the great assistance he has given me in collecting +them, assistance without which they would never have seen the light in +the shape of a complete volume. When I began writing down these tales, +my only means of collecting them was through my native servants, who +used to get them from the old women in the bazaars; but the fables +they brought me were as full of corruptions and foreign adaptions as +the miscellaneous ingredients that find their way into a dish of their +own curry and rice, and had it not been for Mr. Sastri's timely aid, my +small work would have gone forth to the world laden with inaccuracies. + +Mr. Sastri not only corrected the errors of my own tales, but allowed +me to add to them many that he had himself collected, and that had +already been published, either in small volumes or in numbers of +The Indian Antiquary. For this reason I have left several notes which +Mr. Cowper Temple, Mr. Clowston, and others had added to the tales that +had already been printed, as they were too valuable to dispense with, +and may be of service to students of folklore. In conclusion, I would +crave the indulgence of my readers with regard to the style in which +the tales are written, which has been left as nearly as possible in the +form of a literal translation, in order to lend the Stories a "couleur +locale," which is characteristic of the country they spring from. + + +G. K. + + + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Chapter Page + + I. The Three Deaf Men 1 + II. Why Brahmans cannot eat in the Dark 5 + III. The Soothsayer's Son 11 + IV. Ranavirasing 36 + V. Charity alone Conquers 65 + VI. Mr. Won't Give and Mr. Won't Leave 86 + VII. Mr. Mighty-of-his-Mouth 93 + VIII. The Mother-in-Law became an Ass 102 + IX. The Story of Appayya 107 + X. The Brahmin Girl that Married a Tiger 119 + XI. The Good Husband and the Bad Wife 131 + XII. The Good Wife and the Bad Husband 135 + XIII. The Lost Camel 140 + The Three Calamities 143 + The Honest but Rash Hunter 155 + The Brahman's Wife and the Mungoose 162 + The Faithless Wife and the Ungrateful Blind Man 165 + The Wonderful Mango Fruit 171 + The Poisoned Food 179 + Eating up the Protector 184 + XIV. The Monkey with the Tom-Tom 187 + XV. Pride goeth before a Fall 190 + XVI. Good will grow out of Good 194 + XVII. Light makes Prosperity 202 + XVIII. Chandralekha and the Eight Robbers 210 + XIX. The Conquest of Fate 230 + XX. The Brahman Priest who became an Amildar 248 + XXI. The Gardener's Cunning Wife 257 + XXII. Keep it for the Beggar 262 + XXIII. Good Luck to the Lucky One 267 + XXIV. Retaliation 274 + XXV. The Beggar and the Five Muffins 280 + XXVI. The Brahmarakshas and the Hair 285 + Notes 290 + + + + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +It has often struck all lovers of Folklore and National Legends with +wonder, that so many countries should have reproduced in different +imagery and language the same tales. Persia, Arabia, and India give +us the same fables as Italy, France, Norway, and Iceland, except +for slight variations principally arising from difference of custom, +distance of time, idiom and nationality. + +Able writers have explained this to us by a theory worthy of +consideration, and admirable in its origin, but nevertheless wholly +their own. They would have us believe that a certain group of +tales belonged to a certain nation, and that through emigration and +immigration, through wars and dispersions, these same tales have been +carried backwards and forwards and dragged from country to country +borrowing the language and peculiarities of the lands they passed +through, just as the seed of some rare plant is borne on the breeze +and bears fruit coarse or more refined according to the soil in which +it at last takes root. + +In Germany we have Goedeck, Koehler, Sichecht, and a host of others who +tell us that these tales are Oriental, and that all fable originates +in the East, others again that they are transmitted to us by the +same channel as the Aryan languages from Aryan tradition. I cannot +see why one nation or one country alone should have the intelligence +of producing fables which as a rule are next to religion in their +teaching and intentions. If proverbs are the wisdom of nations, what +are fables and legends but developed proverbs. What is the meaning of +fable? It means an intent to convey moral instruction in a narrative +in which the characters are represented by birds, beasts, or fishes; +and often plants. + +Practically a parable is the same thing, and folklore and fairy-tales +are the attempts of intelligent people to inculcate in their children +or other ignorant people the great truths of religion or wisdom, by +means of word-pictures that would bring these truths within the easy +grasp of undeveloped minds, it is the old repeated tale? The Struggle +between Right and Wrong. "Faust and Marguerite." The Wicked Punished, +The Virtuous Rewarded. + +Disguise them as you will, there are certain tendons which run +through the world from age to age; cords which no human hand has yet +severed--which no decree of God's has changed--these are love and +death, hate and vengeance, virtue and vice, right and wrong, suffering +and joy; and as long as there is a world, as long as children are +born, parents will invent fables with which to bring these facts +before their offsprings' eyes in an intelligible manner. + +In the fables of the East, and especially of India, there is one +peculiarity, namely, that craft and cunning are more generally +rewarded than virtue, and stupidity condemned. This is the national +characteristic. The tales of Southern India are as varied as any +others, either Eastern or European. Magic and supernatural phenomena +play a great part, but are usually assisted by the powers of the +gods. This is again a national Hindoo characteristic. The Hindoo +would shrink from any undertaking that is not under the patronage of +the gods; yet here is a very noticeable feature, namely, that the +divinities are treated as entirely secondary in power, interwoven +only into a man's daily affairs as a sort of backbone or support in +time of need, but to be despised and trampled upon at other times with +impunity. This is a natural feature in a nation which has a deity to +represent every vice and sin, and lends a certain character to the +tales of Southern India different to the folklore of other countries. + +Probably further research will lay bare many still hidden treasures +of Hindoo folklore; but this small collection of tales will doubtless +suffice to throw light on Indian tradition, and to bring forward the +natural peculiarities of the Hindoos as well as the assimilation of +the folklore of different nations, an assimilation which I maintain +results from the teaching propensities of each country and not from +appropriation. + + + Georgiana Kingscote. + + + + + + + +FOLKLORE IN SOUTHERN INDIA. + + +I. + +THE STORY OF THE THREE DEAF MEN. + + +When any awkward blunder occurs from a person acting under a mistaken +notion, there is a common proverb in Tamil to the effect that the +matter ended like the story of the three deaf men--(Muchchevidan +kadaiyay mudindadu). The following is the story told to explain +the allusion:-- + +In a remote village there lived a husband and wife. Both of them +were quite deaf. They had made this household arrangement, namely, +to cook cabbage with tamarind and soup without tamarind one day, and +cabbage without tamarind and soup with tamarind on the other. Thus +on every alternate day the same dishes were repeated. One day, when +taking his meal, the husband found the tamarind cabbage so very tasty +that he wanted to have it also next day, and gave instructions to +that effect. The deaf wife did not understand the order. According to +the established rule she cooked cabbage without tamarind next day. The +husband, when he sat down to his meal, found his order disregarded and, +being enraged thereat, threw the cabbage against the wall, and went +out in a rage. The wife ate her fill, and prepared tamarind cabbage +for her husband. + +The husband went out, and sat down in a place where three roads +crossed, to calm down his anger. At that time a shepherd happened to +pass that way. He had lately lost a good cow and calf of his, and had +been seeking them for some days. When he saw the deaf man sitting by +the way, he took him for a soothsayer, and asked him to find out by +his knowledge of Josyam [1] where the cow was likely to be found. The +herdsman, too, was very deaf; and the man, without hearing what he +was saying, abused him, and wished to be left undisturbed. In abusing +him the husband stretched out his hand, pointing to the shepherd's +face. This pointing the shepherd understood to indicate the direction +where the lost cow and calf would be found. Thus thinking the poor +shepherd went on in that direction, promising to present the soothsayer +with the calf if he found it there with the cow. To his joy, and +by mere chance, he found them. His delight knew no bounds. "That is +a capital soothsayer. Surely I must present him with the calf." So +thought he to himself, and returned with them to the deaf man, and, +pointing to the calf, requested him to accept it. + +Now it unfortunately happened that the calf's tail was broken and +crooked. The man thought the herdsman was blaming him unreasonably for +having broken the calf's tail, while he knew nothing about it, and so, +by a waive of his hand, denied the charge. This the shepherd mistook +for a refusal of the calf, and a demand for the cow. The shepherd said, +"How very greedy you are! I promised you only the calf, and not the +cow." The husband said, "Never; I know nothing of either your cow +or calf. I never broke the calf's tail. Some other must have done +it." Thus they quarrelled, without understanding each other, for a +long time, when a third party happened to pass by. Understanding the +cause of the dispute, and, desiring to profit by their stupidity, he +interfered, and said in a loud voice, and yet so as not to be heard +by the deaf husband, "Well, shepherd, you had better go away with +the cow. These soothsayers are always greedy. Leave the calf with +me, and I shall make him accept it." The shepherd, much pleased to +have secured the cow, walked home, leaving the calf with the third +person. When the shepherd had gone, the passenger said to the deaf +man, "You see how very unlawful it is for the shepherd to charge you +with an offence which you never committed. It is always the case with +shepherds. They are the biggest fools in the world! But never mind, so +long as you have a friend in me. I shall somehow explain to him your +innocence, and restore the calf to him." The husband, much pleased, +ran home to escape from the consequences of supposed guilt. At the +expense of the stupidity and deafness of both, the third traveller +walked home with the calf. + +The husband, on his return, sat down to his dinner, and his wife served +him the tamarind cabbage. He happened to put his finger to the place +where the cabbage without tamarind had previously been served on the +leaf. On applying it to his mouth, he found it so very sweet that he +demanded that dish again. The wife replied to him that she had already +emptied the pan. "Then at least bring me the cabbage that is sticking +to the saucepan," said the husband; and the wife did accordingly. + +Here ends the story. The latter portion is also said to be the +explanation of a proverb that is prevalent in Tamil,--"Sevuru kiraiyai +valichchu podudi sunaiketta muli," meaning, "O thou feelingless +deaf woman, give me at least the cabbage that is sticking to the +saucepan." This proverb is applied to stubborn wives, who will +have their own way, and do not obey their husbands submissively in +unrefined society. + + + + + + + +II. + +WHY BRAHMANS CANNOT EAT IN THE DARK. + + +Among Hindus, especially among Brahmans of the Madras Presidency--and I +now see from personal observation that it is the same in the Bombay +Presidency also--there is a custom, while taking their meals, +of leaving their food uneaten when it so happens that from any +cause the light is blown out. Of course this could occur only in the +night-time. Such mishaps now-a-days take place only in poor families, +sitting down to supper with a single light. Hence the following story, +told as the origin of this custom, is beginning to be forgotten. It +runs as follows:-- + +In a certain village there lived a Brahman who had an only +daughter. She was deeply read in Sanskrit, and was of the most +charming beauty. He procured a husband for her as deeply read as +herself. The betrothal had already taken place; the muhurta or +auspicious time for her marriage was fixed at the tenth ghatika [2] +of that night. On that very evening the son-in-law went to a tank +to perform his Sandhya vandana or evening prayers. It swarmed with +crocodiles. People never went near it. The son-in-law, being quite +new to the village, entered the tank without knowing anything of +the danger. Unfortunately, there was none near to warn him. He had +set his foot in the water when a crocodile caught him by the leg, +and began to drag him into the water. That very night was fixed for +his nuptials, and a crocodile was taking him to feast on his flesh. He +was extremely horrified at his position, and said humbly to his enemy, +"My friend crocodile! Listen to my words first, and then decide for +yourself. A wife, the only daughter of an old Brahman, is waiting for +me to-night. If you eat me now, you take me away without my seeing +her, my father-in-law, and other relatives. Their hearts may break +at the news of my death on the very day of the wedding. They may all +curse you. If, on the contrary, you leave me now, I shall go home, +speak to my wife and others about the sad calamity that has come over +me, and after embracing and taking leave of her will come to you +for your supper at the fifteenth ghatika. Till then leave me." The +cruel crocodile, though very fond of human flesh, and himself dying +of hunger, spared him for a few ghatikas at his humble request. After +extracting several oaths from him that he would return in accordance +to his promise, the crocodile went into the water. + +The son-in-law also went home. All his joy vanished; how could he be +happy after his promise to the crocodile. Still, to give no uneasiness +to the aged parents of his wife, he underwent all the ceremonies of +the marriage. Only five more ghatikas remained for him to live in the +world, as he thought. He, in a few words, explained everything to his +wife, and asked her permission to leave her. She showed no sign of +sorrow, preached to him about the iron hand of fate, and that he must +undergo what was written on his forehead. She most willingly gave him +permission to go, and he returned to the tank even a ghatika earlier, +and called the crocodile, who came and seized him. + +At this moment a certain light glittered before the eyes of the +crocodile and vanished. It was a woman that did it. The wife, after +consoling her husband, and preaching to him about the supremacy of +fate, had accompanied him unobserved with a lighted lamp concealed +in a vessel. Just when the crocodile applied its teeth to the leg of +her husband, she took the lamp out, flashed it before the crocodile's +eyes, and quenched it. Nor was it without its intended effect. The +crocodile left the husband to himself, and said, "You had better go +now; I will never touch you after seeing a lamp extinguished when +I began my meal to-day." The husband was astonished at the device +of his wife, and still more at the faithful observance of a rule in +an unreasonable beast. From that day it was fixed that men, who are +still more reasonable, should never eat when the lamp is blown out. + +Another story is told. In a remote village there lived a poor woman, +who laboured from morning till night in different houses, and returned +to her hut with two measures of rice. That quantity would serve +for ten ordinary persons. Being extremely poor, she used to keep no +lamp, but cook her rice in the dark, only guided by the light of the +fire. When she sat down for her meal even the light of the fire faded; +so she had to eat in the dark. Though she used the full two measures of +rice that she brought away every day, her hunger was never satisfied; +she was always in extreme want. + +Now it so happened that she had a younger sister, who was somewhat +richer than herself. The younger came to see her elder sister. The +former never used to be without a light, and so asked her sister to +buy some oil that night and light a lamp. The elder was compelled by +necessity to do so; for that, she devoted a portion of her two measures +of rice, and returned home with great uneasiness and perplexity of mind +as to how less than two measures would furnish their supper that night, +while full two measures were found insufficient on former occasions +for herself alone. The lamp was set for the first time in her house, +and she cooked the remaining rice. The younger sister was astonished +to see her using so much for two. The elder, thinking within herself +that the younger would soon see her mistake, cooked everything. Two +leaves were spread, and they sat down to their supper. [3] Not even a +fourth part of the rice in the pot was consumed, but already they were +satisfied. The younger sister laughed at the foolishness of her elder, +who now said, "I do not know what magic you have in you. Every day I +cook two measures of rice, and fast the whole night, without finding +them sufficient for myself. Now a fourth of less than two measures +has satiated both. Please explain the cause." The younger sister, +who was very intelligent herself, wanted to find out the cause, and +asked next day if she might serve the meals without the lamp. Instead +of eating she stretched out her hand and caught hold of a lock of +hair. She asked the other at once to light the lamp, which, being +done, they found a devil sitting by their side. On being questioned +how he came there, he said that he was in the habit of going to every +one who ate without a lamp, and swallowing his meals fast without +leaving him a morsel. The elder sister perceived her mistake, and used +a lamp from that day. The demon ceased to come. She had abundance +for herself and something to spare. So when the lamp is blown out, +devils are said to come and eat out of our leaves. Hence the custom +of rising whenever such mishaps occur. + + + + + + + +III. + +THE SOOTHSAYER'S SON. + + Janmaprabhriti daridryam dashavarshani bandhanam + Samudratire marenam kinchit bhogam bhavishyati. + + +Thus a Soothsayer when on his death-bed wrote the horoscope of his +second son, and bequeathed it to him as his only property, leaving +the whole of his estate to his eldest son. The second son pondered +over the horoscope, and fell into the following reflections:-- + +"Alas, am I born to this only in the world? The sayings of my father +never failed. I have seen them prove true to the last word while +he was living; and how has he fixed my horoscope! Janma parabhriti +daridryam! From my birth poverty! Nor is that my only fate. Dasa +varshani bandhanam: for ten years, imprisonment--a fate harder +than poverty; and what comes next? Samudratire maranam: death on the +sea-shore; which means that I must die away from home, far from friends +and relatives on a sea-coast. The misery has reached its extreme height +here. Now comes the funniest part of the horoscope, Kinchit bhogam +bhavishyati--that I am to have some happiness afterwards! What this +happiness is, is an enigma to me: To die first, to be happy for some +time after! What happiness? Is it the happiness of this world? So it +must be. For however clever one may be, he cannot foretell what may +take place in the other world. Therefore it must be the happiness +of this world; and how can that be possible after my death? It is +impossible. I think my father has only meant this as a consoling +conclusion to the series of calamities that he has prophesied. Three +portions of his prophecy must prove true; the fourth and last is a +mere comforting statement to bear patiently the calamities enumerated, +and never to prove true. Therefore let me go to Banaras, bathe in +the holy Ganga, wash away my sins, and prepare myself for my end. Let +me avoid sea-coasts, lest death meet me there in accordance with my +father's words. Come imprisonment: I am prepared for it for ten years." + +Thus thought he, and after all the funeral obsequies of his father were +over, took leave of his elder brother, and started for Banaras. [4] +He went by the middle of the Dakhan, [5] avoiding both the coasts, +and went on journeying and journeying for weeks and months, till at +last he reached the Vindhya mountains. While passing that desert he had +to journey for a couple of days through a sandy plain, with no signs +of life or vegetation. The little store of provision with which he +was provided for a couple of days, at last was exhausted. The chombu, +[6] which he carried always full, replenishing it with the sweet water +from the flowing rivulet or plenteous tank, he had exhausted in the +heat of the desert. There was not a morsel in his hand to eat; nor +a drop of water to drink. Turn his eyes wherever he might he found a +vast desert, out of which he saw no means of escape. Still he thought +within himself, "Surely my father's prophecy never proved untrue. I +must survive this calamity to find my death on some sea-coast." So +thought he, and this thought gave him strength of mind to walk fast +and try to find a drop of water somewhere to slake his dry throat. At +last he succeeded, or rather thought that he succeeded. Heaven threw +in his way a ruined well. He thought that he could collect some water +if he let down his chombu with the string that he always carried +noosed to the neck of it. Accordingly he let it down; it went some +way and stopped, and the following words came from the well, "Oh, +relieve me! I am the king of tigers, dying here of hunger. For the +last three days I have had nothing. Fortune has sent you here. If you +assist me now you will find a sure help in me throughout your life. Do +not think that I am a beast of prey. When you have become my deliverer +I can never touch you. Pray, kindly lift me up." Gangadhara, for that +was the name of the Soothsayer's second son, found himself in a very +perplexing position. "Shall I take him out or not? If I take him out +he may make me the first morsel of his hungry mouth. No; that he will +not do. For my father's prophecy never came untrue. I must die on a +sea-coast and not by a tiger." Thus thinking, he asked the tiger king +to hold tight to the vessel, which he accordingly did, and he lifted +him up slowly. The tiger reached the top of the well and felt himself +on safe ground. True to his word he did no harm to Gangadhara. On +the other hand, he walked round his patron three times, and standing +before him, humbly spoke the following words:--"My life-giver, my +benefactor! I shall never forget this day, when I regained my life +through your kind hands. In return for this kind assistance I pledge +my oath to stand by you in all calamities. Whenever you are in any +difficulty just think of me. I am there with you ready to oblige +you by all the means that I can. To tell you briefly how I came in +here:--Three days ago I was roaming in yonder forest, when I saw a +goldsmith passing through it. I chased him. He, finding it impossible +to escape my claws, jumped into this well, and is living to this +moment in the very bottom of it. I also jumped in, but found myself +in the first storey; [7] he is on the last and fourth storey. In the +second storey lives a serpent half-famished with hunger. In the third +storey lies a rat, similarly half-famished, and when you again begin +to draw water these may request you first to release them. In the same +way the goldsmith also may request. I tell you, as your bosom friend, +never assist that wretched man, though he is your relation as a human +being. Goldsmiths are never to be trusted. You can place more faith +in me, a tiger, though I feast sometimes upon men, in a serpent whose +sting makes your blood cold the very next moment, or in a rat, which +does a thousand pieces of mischief in your house. But never trust a +goldsmith. Do not release him; and if you do, you shall surely repent +of it one day or other." Thus advising, the hungry tiger went away +without waiting for an answer. + +Gangadhara thought several times of the eloquent way in which the tiger +addressed him, and admired his fluency of speech. His thirst was not +quenched. So he let down his vessel again, which was now caught hold +of by the serpent, who addressed him thus:--"Oh my protector! Lift me +up. I am the king of serpents, and the son of Adisesha, [8] who is now +pining away in agony for my disappearance. Release me now. I shall ever +remain your servant, remember your assistance, and help you throughout +life in all possible ways. Oblige me: I am dying." Gangadhara, calling +again to mind the Samudratire maranam--death on the sea-shore--lifted +him up. He, like the tiger-king, walked round him thrice, and +prostrating himself before him spoke thus:--"Oh, my life-giver, my +father, for so I must call you, as you have given me another birth. I +have already told you that I am Adisesha's son, and that I am the king +of serpents. I was three days ago basking myself in the morning sun, +when I saw a rat running before me. I chased him. He fell into this +well. I followed him, but instead of falling on the third storey +where he is now lying, I fell into the second. It was on the same +evening that the goldsmith also fell down into the fourth storey, +and the tiger whom you released just before me fell down into the +first. What I have to tell you now is--do not relieve the goldsmith, +though you may release the rat. As a rule, goldsmiths are never to +be trusted. I am going away now to see my father. Whenever you are +in any difficulty just think of me. I will be there by your side to +assist you by all possible means. If, notwithstanding my repeated +advice, you happen to release the goldsmith, you shall suffer for +it severely." So saying, the Nagaraja (serpent-king) glided away in +zigzag movements, and was out of sight in a moment. + +The poor son of the Soothsayer who was now almost dying of thirst, +and was even led to think that the messengers of death were near +him, notwithstanding his firm belief in the words of his father +let down his vessel for a third time. The rat caught hold of it, +and without discussing, he lifted up the poor animal at once. But +it would not go away without showing its gratitude--"Oh life of my +life! My benefactor! I am the king of rats. Whenever you are in any +calamity just think of me. I will come to you, and assist you. My +keen ears overheard all that the tiger-king and serpent-king told +you about the Svarnataskara [9] (gold-smith), who is in the fourth +storey. It is nothing but a sad truth that goldsmiths ought never +to be trusted. Therefore never assist him as you have done to us +all. And if you do, you shall feel it. I am hungry; let me go for the +present." Thus taking leave of his benefactor, the rat, too, ran away. + +Gangadhara for a while thought upon the repeated advice given by the +three animals about releasing the goldsmith, "What wrong would there be +in my assisting him? Why should I not release him also?" So thinking +to himself, Gangadhara let down the vessel again. The goldsmith +caught hold of it, and demanded help. The Soothsayer's son had no +time to lose; he was himself dying of thirst. Therefore he lifted +the goldsmith up, who now began his story:--"Stop for a while," +said Gangadhara, and after quenching his thirst by letting down his +vessel for the fifth time, still fearing that some one might remain +in the well and demand his assistance, he listened to the goldsmith, +who began as follows:--"My dear friend, my protector, what a deal of +nonsense these brutes have been talking to you about me; I am glad you +have not followed their advice. I am just now dying of hunger. Permit +me to go away. My name is Manikkasari. I live in the East main street +of Ujjaini which is twenty kas [10] to the south of this place, and so +lies on your way when you return from Banaras. Do not forget to come +to me and receive my kind remembrances of your assistance, on your +way back to your country." So saying the goldsmith took his leave, +and Gangadhara also pursued his way north after the above adventures. + +He reached Banaras, and lived there for more than ten years, spending +his time in bathing, prayers, and other religious ceremonies. He +quite forgot the tiger, serpent, rat, and goldsmith. After ten years +of religious life, thoughts of home and of his brother rushed into his +mind. "I have secured enough merit now by my religious observances. Let +me return home." Thus thought Gangadhara within himself, and +immediately he was on his way back to his country. Remembering the +prophecy of his father he returned by the same way by which he went to +Banaras ten years before. While thus retracing his steps he reached +the ruined well where he had released the three brute kings and the +goldsmith. At once the old recollections rushed into his mind, and he +thought of the tiger to test his fidelity. Only a moment passed, and +the tiger-king came running before him carrying a large crown in his +mouth, the glitter of the diamonds of which for a time outshone even +the bright rays of the sun. He dropped the crown at his life-giver's +feet, and putting aside all his pride, humbled himself like a pet cat +to the strokes of his protector, and began in the following words:--"My +life-giver! How is it that you have forgotten me, your poor servant, +for such a long time? I am glad to find that I still occupy a corner +in your mind. I can never forget the day when I owed my life to your +lotus hands. I have several jewels with me of little value. This crown, +being the best of all, I have brought here as a single ornament of +great value, and hence easily portable and useful to you in your own +country." Gangadhara looked at the crown, examined it over and over, +counted and recounted the gems, and thought within himself that he +would become the richest of men by separating the diamonds and gold, +and selling them in his own country. He took leave of the tiger-king, +and after his disappearance thought of the kings of serpents and rats, +who came in their turns with their presents, and after the usual +formalities and exchange of words took their leave. Gangadhara was +extremely delighted at the faithfulness with which the brute beasts +behaved themselves, and went on his way to the south. While going along +he spoke to himself thus:--"These beasts have been so very faithful in +their assistance. Much more, therefore, must Manikkasari be faithful. I +do not want anything from him now. If I take this crown with me as +it is, it occupies much space in my bundle. It may also excite the +curiosity of some robbers on the way. I will go now to Ujjaini on my +way, Manikkasari requested me to see him without failure on my return +journey. I shall do so, and request him to have the crown melted, +the diamonds and gold separated. He must do that kindness at least +for me. I shall then roll up these diamonds and gold ball in my rags, +and bend my way homewards." Thus thinking and thinking he reached +Ujjaini. At once he enquired for the house of his goldsmith friend, +and found him without difficulty. Manikkasari was extremely delighted +to find on his threshold him who ten years before, notwithstanding +the advice repeatedly given him by the sage-looking tiger, serpent, +and rat, had relieved him from the pit of death. Gangadhara at once +showed him the crown that he received from the tiger-king, told him +how he got it, and requested his kind assistance to separate the +gold and diamonds. Manikkasari agreed to do so, and meanwhile asked +his friend to rest himself for a while to have his bath and meals; +and Gangadhara, who was very observant of his religious ceremonies, +went direct to the river to bathe. + +How came a crown in the jaws of a tiger? It is not a difficult +question to solve. A king must have furnished the table of the tiger +for a day or two. Had it not been for that, the tiger could not have +had a crown with him. Even so it was. The king of Ujjaini had a week +before gone with all his hunters on a hunting expedition. All of a +sudden a tiger--as we know now, the very tiger-king himself--started +from the wood, seized the king, and vanished. The hunters returned +and informed the prince about the sad calamity that had befallen his +father. They all saw the tiger carrying away the king. Yet such was +their courage that they could not lift their weapons to bring to the +prince the corpse at least of his father. + +When they informed the prince about the death of his father he +wept and wailed, and gave notice that he would give half of his +kingdom to any one who should bring him news about the murderer of +his father. The prince did not at all believe that his father was +devoured by the tiger. His belief was that some hunters, coveting +the ornaments on the king's person, had murdered him. Hence he had +issued the notice. The goldsmith knew full well that it was a tiger +that killed the king, and not any hunter's hands, since he had heard +from Gangadhara about how he obtained the crown. Still, ambition +to get half the kingdom prevailed, and he resolved with himself to +make over Gangadhara as the king's murderer. The crown was lying +on the floor where Gangadhara left it with his full confidence in +Manikkasari. Before his protector's return the goldsmith, hiding +the crown under his garments, flew to the palace. He went before the +prince and informed him that the assassin was caught, and placed the +crown before him. The prince took it into his hands, examined it, +and at once gave half the kingdom to Manikkasari, and then enquired +about the murderer. "He is bathing in the river, and is of such and +such appearance," was the reply. At once four armed soldiers fly to +the river, and bound the poor Brahman hand and foot, he sitting in +meditation the while, without any knowledge of the fate that hung +over him. They brought Gangadhara to the presence of the prince, +who turned his face away from the murderer or supposed murderer, +and asked his soldiers to throw him into the karagriham. [11] In a +minute, without knowing the cause, the poor Brahman found himself in +the dark caves of the karagriham. + +In old times the karagriham answered the purposes of the modern +jail. It was a dark cellar underground, built with strong stone walls, +into which any criminal guilty of a capital offence was ushered to +breathe his last there without food and drink. Such was the cellar +into which Gangadhara was thrust. In a few hours after he left the +goldsmith he found himself inside a dark cell stinking with human +bodies, dying and dead. What were his thoughts when he reached that +place? "It is the goldsmith that has brought me to this wretched +state; and, as for the prince: Why should he not enquire as to how I +obtained the crown? It is of no use to accuse either the goldsmith +or the prince now. We are all the children of fate. We must obey +her commands. Dasavarshani Bandhanam. This is but the first day of +my father's prophecy. So far his statement is true. But how am I +going to pass ten years here? Perhaps without anything to sustain +life I may drag on my existence for a day or two. But how pass ten +years? That cannot be, and I must die. Before death comes let me +think of my faithful brute friends." + +So pondered Gangadhara in the dark cell underground, and at that +moment thought of his three friends. The tiger-king, serpent-king, +and rat-king assembled at once with their armies at a garden near +the karagriham, and for a while did not know what to do. A common +cause--how to reach their protector, who was now in the dark cell +underneath--united them all. They held their council, and decided to +make an underground passage from the inside of a ruined well to the +karagriham. The rat raja issued an order at once to that effect to +his army. They, with their nimble teeth, bored the ground a long way +to the walls of the prison. After reaching it they found that their +teeth could not work on the hard stones. The bandicoots were then +specially ordered for the business; they, with their hard teeth, +made a small slit in the wall for a rat to pass and repass without +difficulty. Thus a passage was effected. + +The rat raja entered first to condole with his protector on his +misfortune. The king of the tigers sent word through the snake-king +that he sympathised most sincerely with his sorrow, and that he was +ready to render all help for his deliverance. He suggested a means +for his escape also. The serpent raja went in, and gave Gangadhara +hopes of delivery. The rat-king undertook to supply his protector +with provisions. "Whatever sweetmeats or bread are prepared in any +house, one and all of you must try to bring whatever you can to our +benefactor. Whatever clothes you find hanging in a house, cut down, dip +the pieces in water, and bring the wet bits to our benefactor. He will +squeeze them and gather water for drink! and the bread and sweetmeats +shall form his food." Having issued these orders the king of the rats, +took leave of Gangadhara. They, in obedience to their king's order, +continued to supply provisions and water. + +The Nagaraja said:--"I sincerely condole with you in your calamity; +the tiger-king also fully sympathises with you, and wants me to tell +you so, as he cannot drag his huge body here as we have done with our +small ones. The king of the rats has promised to do his best to provide +you with food. We would now do what we can for your release. From this +day we shall issue orders to our armies to oppress all the subjects +of this kingdom. The percentage of death by snake-bite and tigers +shall increase from this day. And day by day it shall continue to +increase till your release. After eating what the rats bring you, you +had better take your seat near the entrance of the karagriham. Owing +to the many sudden deaths that will occur some people that walk over +the prison may say, 'How wicked the king has become. Were it not for +his wickedness so many dreadful deaths by snake-bites could never +occur.' Whenever you hear people speaking so, you had better bawl out +so as to be heard by them, 'The wretched prince imprisoned me on the +false charge of having killed his father, while it was a tiger that +killed him. From that day these calamities have broken out in his +dominions. If I were released I would save all by my powers of healing +poisonous wounds and by incantations.' Some one may report this to +the king, and if he knows it, you will obtain your liberty." Thus +comforting his protector in trouble, he advised him to pluck up +courage, and took leave of him. From that day tigers and serpents, +acting under the special orders of their kings, united in killing as +many persons and cattle as possible. Every day people were carried +away by tigers or bitten by serpents. This havoc continued. Gangadhara +went on roaring as loud he could that he would save those lives, had +he only his liberty. Few heard him. The few that did took his words +for the voice of a ghost. "How could he manage to live without food +and drink for so long a time?" said the persons walking over his head +to each other. Thus passed months and years. Gangadhara sat in the +dark cellar, without the sun's light falling upon him, and feasted +upon the bread-crumbs and sweetmeats that the rats so kindly supplied +him with. These circumstances had completely changed his body. He +had become a red, stout, huge, unwieldy lump of flesh. Thus passed +full ten years, as prophesied in the horoscope--Dasavarshani Bandhanam. + +Ten complete years rolled away in close imprisonment. On the last +evening of the tenth year one of the serpents got into the bed-chamber +of the princess and sucked her life. She breathed her last. She was the +only daughter of the king. He had no other issue--son or daughter. His +only hope was in her; and she was snatched away by a cruel and untimely +death. The king at once sent for all the snake-bite curers. He promised +half his kingdom and his daughter's hand to him who would restore her +to life. Now it was that a servant of the king, who had several times +overheard Gangadhara's cries, reported the matter to him. The king +at once ordered the cell to be examined. There was the man sitting in +it. How has he managed to live so long in the cell? Some whispered that +he must be a divine being. Some concluded that he must surely win the +hand of the princess by restoring her to life. Thus they discussed, +and the discussions brought Gangadhara to the king. + +The king no sooner saw Gangadhara than he fell on the ground. He +was struck by the majesty and grandeur of his person. His ten years' +imprisonment in the deep cell underground had given a sort of lustre +to his body, which was not to be met with in ordinary persons. His +hair had first to be cut before his face could be seen. The king +begged forgiveness for his former fault, and requested him to revive +his daughter. + +"Bring me in a muhurta [12] all the corpses of men and cattle, +dying and dead, that remain unburnt or unburied within the range of +your dominions; I shall revive them all," were the only words that +Gangadhara spoke. After it he closed his lips as if in deep meditation, +which commanded more respect than ever. + +Cart-loads of corpses of men and cattle began to come in every +minute. Even graves, it is said, were broken open, and corpses buried a +day or two before were taken out and sent for the revival. As soon as +all were ready, Gangadhara took a vessel full of water and sprinkled +it over them all, thinking only of his Nagaraja and Vyaghraraja. [13] +All rose up as if from deep slumber, and went to their respective +homes. The princess, too, was restored to life. The joy of the king +knew no bounds. He cursed the day on which he imprisoned him, blamed +himself for having believed the word of a goldsmith, and offered him +the hand of his daughter and the whole kingdom, instead of half as he +promised. Gangadhara would not accept anything. The king requested +him to put a stop for ever to these calamities. He agreed to do so, +and asked the king to assemble all his subjects in a wood near the +town. "I shall there call in all the tigers and serpents and give them +a general order." So said Gangadhara, and the king accordingly gave +the order. In a couple of ghatikas [14] the wood near Ujjaini was +full of people, who assembled to witness the authority of man over +such enemies of human beings as tigers and serpents. "He is no man; +be sure of that. How could he have managed to live for ten years +without food and drink? He is surely a god." Thus speculated the mob. + +When the whole town was assembled, just at the dusk of evening, +Gangadhara sat dumb for a moment, and thought upon the Vyaghraraja +and Nagaraja, who came running with all their armies. People began +to take to their heels at the sight of tigers. Gangadhara assured +them of safety, and stopped them. + +The grey light of the evening, the pumpkin colour of Gangadhara, the +holy ashes scattered lavishly over his body, the tigers and snakes +humbling themselves at his feet, gave him the true majesty of the god +Gangadhara. [15] For who else by a single word could thus command vast +armies of tigers and serpents, said some among the people. "Care not +for it; it may be by magic. That is not a great thing. That he revived +cart-loads of corpses makes him surely Gangadhara," said others. The +scene produced a very great effect upon the minds of the mob. + +"Why should you, my children, thus trouble these poor subjects of +Ujjaini? Reply to me, and henceforth desist from your ravages." Thus +said the Soothsayer's son, and the following reply came from the +king of the tigers; "Why should this base king imprison your honour, +believing the mere word of a goldsmith that your honour killed his +father? All the hunters told him that his father was carried away by +a tiger. I was the messenger of death sent to deal the blow on his +neck. I did it, and gave the crown to your honour. The prince makes no +enquiry, and at once imprisons your honour. How can we expect justice +from such a stupid king as that? Unless he adopts a better standard +of justice we will go on with our destruction." + +The king heard, cursed the day on which he believed in the word of +a goldsmith, beat his head, tore his hair, wept and wailed for his +crime, asked a thousand pardons, and swore to rule in a just way from +that day. The serpent-king and tiger-king also promised to observe +their oath as long as justice prevailed, and took their leave. The +goldsmith fled for his life. He was caught by the soldiers of the +king, and was pardoned by the generous Gangadhara, whose voice now +reigned supreme. All returned to their homes. + +The king again pressed Gangadhara to accept the hand of his +daughter. He agreed to do so, not then, but some time afterwards. He +wished to go and see his elder brother first, and then to return and +marry the princess. The king agreed; and Gangadhara left the city +that very day on his way home. + +It so happened that unwittingly he took a wrong road, and had to pass +near a sea coast. His elder brother was also on his way up to Banaras +by that very same route. They met and recognised each other, even at +a distance. They flew into each other's arms. Both remained still for +a time almost unconscious with joy. The emotion of pleasure (ananda) +was so great, especially in Gangadhara, that it proved dangerous to +his life. In a word, he died of joy. + +The sorrow of the elder brother could better be imagined than +described. He saw again his lost brother, after having given up, +as it were, all hopes of meeting him. He had not even asked him his +adventures. That he should be snatched away by the cruel hand of +death seemed unbearable to him. He wept and wailed, took the corpse +on his lap, sat under a tree, and wetted it with tears. But there +was no hope of his dead brother coming to life again. + +The elder brother was a devout worshipper of Ganapati. [16] That was +a Friday, a day very sacred to that god. The elder brother took the +corpse to the nearest Ganesa [17] temple and called upon him. The +god came, and asked him what he wanted. "My poor brother is dead and +gone; and this is his corpse. Kindly keep it in your charge till I +finish worshipping you. If I leave it anywhere else the devils may +snatch it away when I am absent worshipping you; after finishing +your puja [18] I shall burn him." Thus said the elder brother, and, +giving the corpse to the god Ganesa, he went to prepare himself for +that deity's ceremonials. Ganesa made over the corpse to his Ganas, +[19] asking them to watch over it carefully. + +So a spoiled child receives a fruit from its father, who, when he gives +it the fruit asks the child to keep it safe. The child thinks within +itself, "My father will forgive me if I eat a portion of it." So +saying it eats a portion, and when it finds it so sweet, it eats +the whole, saying, "Come what will, what can father do, after all, +if I eat it? Perhaps give me a stroke or two on the back. Perhaps he +may forgive me." In the same way these Ganas of Ganapati first ate +a portion of the corpse, and when they found it sweet, for we know +it was crammed up with the sweetmeats of the kind rats, devoured the +whole, and began consulting about the best excuse possible to offer +to their master. + +The elder brother, after finishing the puja, demanded his brother's +corpse of the god. The god called his Ganas who came to the front +blinking, and fearing the anger of their master. The god was greatly +enraged. The elder brother was very angry. When the corpse was not +forthcoming he cuttingly remarked, "Is this, after all, the return +for my deep belief in you? You are unable even to return my brother's +corpse." Ganesa was much ashamed at the remark, and at the uneasiness +that he had caused to his worshipper. So he, by his divine power, +gave him a living Gangadhara instead of the dead corpse. Thus was +the second son of the Soothsayer restored to life. + +The brothers had a long talk about each other's adventures. They +both went to Ujjaini, where Gangadhara married the princess, and +succeeded to the throne of that kingdom. He reigned for a long time, +conferring several benefits upon his brother. How is the horoscope to +be interpreted? A special synod of Soothsayers was held. A thousand +emendations were suggested. Gangadhara would not accept them. At +last one Soothsayer cut the knot by stopping at a different place +in reading, "Samudra tire maranam kinchit." "On the sea-shore death +for some time. Then "Bhogam bhavishyati." "There shall be happiness +for the person concerned." Thus the passage was interpreted. "Yes; +my father's words never went wrong," said Gangadhara. The three brute +kings continued their visits often to the Soothsayer's son, the then +king of Ujjaini. Even the faithless goldsmith became a frequent visitor +at the palace, and a receiver of several benefits from royal hands. + + + + + + + +IV. + +RANAVIRASING. + + +Once upon a time in the town of Vanjaimanagar, [20] there ruled a +king, named Sivachar. He was a most just king, and ruled so well that +no stone thrown up fell down, no crow pecked at the new drawn milk, +the lion and the bull drank water from the same pond, and peace and +prosperity reigned throughout the kingdom. Notwithstanding all these +blessings, care always sat on his face. The fruit which makes life in +this world sweet, the redeemer to him from the horrible Naraka of Put, +[21] a Putra, [22] he had not. His days and nights he spent in praying +that God might bless him with a son. Wherever he saw pipal trees +(Asvattharajas), [23] he ordered Brahmans to surround them. Whatever +medicines the doctors recommended he was ever ready to swallow, +however bitter they might be. "Eat even dung to get a son," says the +proverb, and accordingly he did every thing to secure that happiness, +but all in vain. + +Sivachar had a minister, named Kharavadana, a most wicked tyrant as +ever lived in the world. The thought that the king was without an +heir, and had no hopes of one, awakened in his mind the ambition +of securing for his family the throne of Vanjaimanagar. Sivachar +knew this well. But what could he do. His only care was to send up +additional prayers to frustrate the thoughts of Kharavadana, and to +secure for himself a good position after death, without undergoing +the severe torments of the Put-hell. + +At last fortune favoured Sivachar; for what religious man fails to +secure his desire? The king in his sixtieth year had a son. His joy +can better be imagined than described. Lacs (Lakhs) of Brahmans +were fed in honour of the son-birth festival, Putrotsavam, as it +is technically called. The state prisons were opened, and all the +prisoners let loose. Thousands of kine and innumerable acres of +land were offered to Brahmans, and every kind of charity was duly +practised. The ten days of the Sutikagrihavasa (confinement) were +over. On the eleventh day the father saw his much longed-for son's +face, and read on the lines of it great prosperity, learning, valour, +goodness and every excellent quality. + +The cradle-swinging, naming, and other ceremonies were duly performed, +and the prince grew up under the great care generally shown to a king's +son. His name the elders fixed as Sundara. [24] The minister whose +only wish was to get the throne for his family, was much disappointed +at the birth of a son to his master. The whole kingdom rejoiced at +the event, and the minister was the only man who was sorry. When one +is disappointed in his high hopes and expectations, he devises plans +to take away the barrier that lies in his way. Even so, Kharavadana +said to himself, "Let me see how affairs progress. The old king is +near his grave. When he dies, leaving a son in his minority I myself +must be his regent for a time. Shall I not then have opportunity +enough of securing for ever for myself and my family the throne of +Vanjaimanagar?" So thought he within himself, and was quiet for a time. + +Sivachar, who was a very shrewd man, on several occasions, read the +minister's mind, and knew very well how his intentions stood. "This +cruel devil may murder my only son. I care not if he usurps the +throne. What I fear is, that he may murder him. Na daivam Sankarat +param. No other god but Sankara. And he must have his own way. If it +is so written on the prince's head I cannot avoid it." Thus sighed +Sivachar, and this sorrow (soka), made him leaner day by day. Just +ten years after the birth of Sundara, the king fell ill and lay on +his deathbed. + +Sivachar had a servant, named Ranavirasing, whom he had all along +observed to be very honest and faithful. That servant the king called +to his side, and asking all others except Sundara, who was weeping +by his father's pillow, to leave the room, addressed him thus:--"My +dear Ranavirasing! I have only a few ghatikas before me. Listen to my +words, and act accordingly. There is one God above us all, who will +punish or reward us according to our bad or good acts. If by avarice +or greed of money you ever play false to the trust that I am going to +repose in you that God will surely punish you. It is not unknown to +you what great difficulties I had in getting this only son, Sundara; +how many temples I built, how many Brahmans I fed, how many religious +austerities I underwent, &c., &c.. God after all gave me a son." Here +his sorrow prevented him from proceeding further, and he began to cry +aloud, and shed tears. "Do not weep on my account, father. We cannot +wipe off what was written on our heads. We must undergo happiness or +misery as is thereon written by Brahma, cried the prince. Ranavirasing +was melted at the sight. He took the boy on his lap, and with his +own upper garment wiped his eyes. The old man continued, "Thus you, +my faithful Ranavirasing, know everything. I now wish that I had +not performed all that I did to get this son. For when I die at this +moment, who is there to take care of him for the next? Kharavadana may +devise plan after plan to remove my boy from this world, and secure +the kingdom for himself. My only hope is in you. I give him into your +hands." Here the aged father, notwithstanding his illness, rose up a +little from his bed, took hold of his son's hand, and after kissing +it for the last time, placed it in Ranavirasing's. "Care not if he +does not get the kingdom. If you only preserve him from the wicked +hands of the minister whom I have all along seen to be covetous of +the throne, you will do a great work for your old master. I make you +from this moment the lord of my palace. From this minute you are +father, mother, brother, servant, and everything to my son. Take +care that you do not betray your trust." Thus ended the king, and +sent at once for the minister. When he came he spoke to him thus, +"Kharavadana! See what I am now. Yesterday I was on the throne. To-day, +in a few minutes, I must breathe my last. Such is the uncertainty of +life. Man's good acts alone follow him to the other world. Take my +signet-ring. [Here the king took the ring from off his finger, and gave +it to the minister.] Yours is the throne for the present, as long as +the prince is in his minority. Govern well the kingdom. When the prince +attains his sixteenth year kindly give him back the throne. Exercise +a paternal care over him. Find a good and intelligent princess for +his wife." Suddenly, before his speech was quite finished, the king +felt the last pangs of death. The sage-looking minister promised +him everything. + +Sivachar breathed his last. After the usual weeping and wailing +of a Hindu funeral, his corpse was burnt to ashes in a sandalwood +pyre. All his queens--and there were several scores--committed sati +[25] with the corpse. The ceremonies were all regularly conducted, +the minister himself superintended everything. + +Kharavadana then succeeded to the throne of Vanjaimanagar. Ranavirasing +became the lord of the palace, and true to his promise exercised all +care over his trust. He was always at the side of Sundara. That he +might not lose the sweetness of boyhood in study and play, Ranavirasing +brought to the palace twenty gentlemen's sons of good conduct and +learning and made them the prince's fellow-students. A professor +for every branch of learning was employed to teach the prince and +his companions. Sundara thus received a sound and liberal education, +only he was never allowed to go out of the palace. Ranavirasing guarded +him very strictly, and he had every reason to do so. For Kharavadana, +as soon as he became king, had issued a notice that the assassin +of Sundara should have a reward of a karor [26] mohurs; and already +every avaricious hand was in search of his head. Before the issue of +this notice, Kharavadana found out a good girl and married her to the +prince. She lived with her husband in the palace, and Ranavirasing +strictly watched her, as she had been chosen by the minister. He would +not allow Sundara to speak to her. These strict prohibitions displeased +the prince, even with his faithful servant. But the latter could not +help it till he had full confidence in her. He used to advise Sundara +not even to take a betel-leaf from her hands. But love is blind. So +the prince within himself accused his old guardian; but he could not +help following his orders. Thus passed on a few years. + +Sundara reached his sixteenth year. Nothing happened about the +transference of the kingdom; the prince, almost in imprisonment in +the palace, had forgotten everything about the kingdom. Ranavirasing +wished to wait till, as he thought, the prince had acquired better +governing faculties. Thus some time passed. + +Full eight years had elapsed from the death of Sivachar. Sundara was +already eighteen, and still he had not received his kingdom. Nothing +was neglected in his education. Though Ranavirasing exercised all +paternal care over him, still it was not to his liking; for he found +in him a great barrier to the pleasures of youth. The only pleasure +for the prince, therefore, was the company of his friends. + +One fine evening on the fourteenth day of the dark half of the month of +Vaisakha of the Vasanta [27] season, the prince was sitting with his +companions in the seventh story of his mansion viewing the town. The +dusk of evening was just throwing her mantle over the city. People in +their several vocations were at that time ceasing work, and returning +home. In the eastern division of the town the prince saw a big mansion, +and just to break the silence asked his friends what that was. "That is +the Rajasthanik Kacheri, [28] a place you ought to have been sitting +in for the last two years. The wretched minister, Kharavadana, has +already usurped your seat; for, if he had intended to give you back +the kingdom he would have done it two years ago when you reached your +sixteenth year. Let us now console ourselves that God has spared your +life till now, notwithstanding all the awards promised to the taker +of your head. Even the proclamation is dying out of the memory of +the people now." So said one of his friends and ceased. + +These words fell like arrows in the ear of Sundara and troubled +him. Shame that he had been thus treated brought a change of colour +over his face which all his friends perceived, and they felt sorry for +having touched upon the subject. The prince, perceiving that he had +played a woman's part among his friends, resumed or pretended to resume +his former cheerful countenance, and changed the conversation to some +pleasanter topics. They separated very late that night. Before doing +so, Sundara asked them all to present themselves in the durbar hall +[29] early next morning. At the same time he also ordered Ranavirasing +to keep horses ready for himself and his friends for a morning ride +through the town the next day. "I was only waiting to hear such an +order from your own mouth, Mai Bab Chakravarti! [30] I was thinking +from your retired disposition that you were not an energetic man. I +will have the horses ready." Ranavirasing at once issued orders to +his servants to keep ready saddled and decked twenty-one horses for +the prince and his companions. He also appointed a certain number of +his men to ride in front of the party. + +The morning came. The friends assembled, as promised the previous +evening. The prince and they, after a light breakfast, mounted their +horses. The horsemen rode in front and behind. The prince with his +friends marched in the middle. Ranavirasing with drawn sword rode +by his side. The party went through the four main streets of the +town. Every one rose up and paid due respect to their old king's +son. When passing through the street where the minister's mansion was, +Ranavirasing perceived that Kharavadana paid no respect to the royal +march. This seemed a most unbearable insult to Ranavirasing. He bit +his lips, gnashed his teeth, and wrung his hands. The prince observed +all the mental pains of his faithful guardian, and laughed to himself +at his simplicity. About mid-day the party returned to the palace. The +friends dispersed, and Sundara after the ceremonies of the new-moon +day had a slight dinner, and retired to rest. + +The morning ride was deep in the mind of the prince. Though he laughed +to himself at the simplicity of Ranavirasing when the latter gnashed +his teeth in the morning, the insult had left a stronger and deeper +impression in his heart. The day was almost spent. Sundara took a very +light supper, and shut himself up in his bed-room before the first +watch was quite over. Ranavirasing, as usual, watched outside. The +prince found his wife sound asleep in her bed, and without disturbing +her he went up and down the room. A thread-like substance attracted his +attention in a corner of the bed-chamber. On examination he found it +to be a thread ladder. He had not even time to think how it came into +the bed-chamber. Just then Ranavirasing had retired for a few minutes +to take his supper. "The old fool is off now to eat; and Paramesvara +has thrown this ladder in my way. Let me now escape." Thus thinking, +Sundara came out unobserved by his old guardian, and ascended to the +top of the seventh mansion. From that place he cast his ladder towards +a big tree in the East Main street. On pulling it he found that it was +firmly fixed. "Let me get down, and Paramesvara will assist me." So +praying, before the first watch was over, the prince got down from +his palace, and was in a few minutes in the East street. The severe +watch kept over him by Ranavirasing made it very difficult for him +to go out when he liked, and now by the grace of God, as he thought, +he had escaped that dark new-moon night. + +"Life is dear to every one. What can I do if any of the minister's +men find me out now and murder me? Na daivam Sankarat param. No +god but Sankara, and he will now help me." Thus thinking he walked +to the nearest pyal, and lingered there till the bustle of the town +subsided. Nor was it in vain that he stopped there. He overheard while +there the following conversation take place between the master and +mistress of the house at which he lingered:--"Console yourself, my +wife. What shall we do? Fate has so willed it on our heads. May Brahma +[31] become without a temple for the evil that he has sent us. When the +old king was living he appreciated my merits, and at every Sankranti +[32] gave me due dakshina [33] for my knowledge of the Vedas. [34] +Now there reigns a tyrant over our kingdom. I have been lingering +here with the hope that the son of Sivachar would one day come to the +throne and relieve our sufferings. Now that such hope is altogether +gone, I have made up my mind to leave this nasty city, and go to some +good place where there reigns a king who can appreciate our yogyata +(merit)." Of these words Sundara overheard every syllable, and these +supplied the fuel to the fire of shame and anger that was already +burning in his mind. "Let me try to win back my kingdom. If I succeed, +I shall save other lives. If I die, I alone die. May Paramesvara help +me." So saying he walked out of the town, and passed the east gate. The +night was as dark as could be, for it was a new moon night. Clouds +were gathering in the sky, and there were some symptoms of rain. + +There was a Ganesa temple on the way. As it was already drizzling, +the prince went inside till the rain should cease. No sooner had he +entered it than he saw two men, who by their conversation appeared to +be shepherds, coming towards that same temple. They seemed to have +been watching their flocks near an adjacent field, and had come to +shelter themselves from the rain in the temple. Sundara when he saw +them, trembled for his life, and crept in. The shepherds sat down on +the verandah, and taking out their bags began to chew betel-nuts. An +idle lizard began to chirp in a corner. To break the silence, one +said to the other, "Well, Ramakon, I have heard that you are a great +soothsayer and interpreter of bird sounds and lizard speeches. Let me +know what these chirps of the lizard that we heard just now mean. Tell +me." Ramakon replied, "This is news which I would never have revealed +at any other time. But as no fourth person is likely to be here at this +time on a rainy night, let me tell you that the prince of the town is +now lingering here in this temple. So the lizard says. Hence I said, +'no fourth person.' I am glad that no evil hand has yet been tempted, +though such a high price has been set upon his head. The very fact +that he has lived up to this time unhurt in a tiger's domain augurs +well for his future prosperity." Ramakon had scarcely finished his +speech when the idle lizard again made its chit, chit, and Ramakon +now asked his friend, Lakshmanakon, for that was the other's name, +to interpret those sounds. "This has rather a sad meaning for the +prince. The Mantri [35] and Pradhani [36] are coming here in a few +minutes (nimishas), to consult on a secret topic. So says the lizard," +said Lakshmanakon to Ramakon, and at that very moment a light was +seen at a distance. "It is the minister's carriage. Let us be off. God +only must save the prince." So saying, they both ran away. + +The feelings of the prince inside were like that of a man who +was being led to the gallows. The bitterest enemy of his life, +the minister himself, was coming to that very place where he was +hiding. "I foolishly accused my old guardian, Ranavirasing, and now +I see his good intentions. How I am to be spared from this calamity +Sankara only knows." Thus thinking, he hurriedly fled to the inmost +part of the temple behind the very image, and sat down there, still +like a stump, without even breathing freely, lest his breath might +reveal him. He had ample time there to admire the sound knowledge of +the shepherds in interpreting the lizard chirps, their simplicity, +their honesty and truthfulness; for, had they been otherwise, they +might at once have caught hold of the prince and made him over to the +tiger minister. True to the interpretation of the second shepherd, a +carriage stopped in front of the Ganesa temple, and there came out of +it the Mantri and the Pradhani. Excepting themselves and, of course, +the carriage driver and, as we know, the prince behind the Ganesa, +there were no others there. Kharavadana and his subordinate chose that +solitary place at the dead of night to hold secret consultations. The +Mantri spoke first, and one could easily perceive from his words that +he was in a fit of anger. "Why should the prince be thus allowed to +ride free through my streets? Of the innumerable servants who eat our +salt was there not one to cut down that impertinent head?" roared the +minister. The Pradhani replied, "My king, my lord, excuse me first +for the humble words that I am going to speak before your honour. We +have taken up a kingdom to which we have no right. If the prince +had demanded the throne two years ago, we ought rightfully to have +returned it to him. He never asked, and we did not restore it. He +never troubles us with demands, but lives like a poor subject of the +crown in his own quarters. Such being the case, why should we kill +him? Why should we murder the only son of our old and much-respected +king Sivachar? What I beg to suggest to your honour is, that we should +no more trouble ourselves about his poor head." The Pradhani, as he +discovered that these words were not to the taste of Kharavadana, +stopped at once without proceeding further, though he had much to +say upon that subject. "Vile wretch! Dare you preach morals to your +superiors. You shall see the result of this, before the morning dawns," +bawled out the Minister. The Pradhani saw that all his excellent advice +was like blowing a horn in a deaf man's ears. He feared for his own +life, and so at once begged a thousand pardons, and promised to bring +the head of the prince within a week. And as Kharavadana wanted only +that, he spared the Pradhani. They then talked on different subjects, +and prepared to start. + +The prince inside, behind the Ganesavigraha, [37] was now almost +stifled to death. The short breaths that he inhaled and exhaled +were themselves enough to kill him. Add to that the horrible +words that fell on his ears. For all that he continued to hide +himself. Kharavadana and the Pradhani finished their conversation +and got into the carriage. Sundara called courage to his assistance, +"Sankara has saved me till now; he may so save me throughout." So +thinking to himself, he boldly came out of the temple without making +the least noise and sat behind the carriage, and, as it rolled on, +thought again within himself: "I will follow these, come what may, +and find out what more plans they devise against my life." + +The carriage drove on to the opposite end of the town. It passed the +west gate and entered a big park outside the town. The undaunted prince +followed. In the middle of the park a fine tank was discovered. The +banks looked like day, being lighted up profusely. In the midst of the +tank a small island with a gaudy mansion was seen. Pillars of gold, +sofas of silver and doors of diamonds made it the very Indraloka [38] +itself. A broad road with avenues of sweet smelling flowering trees +connected the island with the bank. It was at that road that the +carriage stopped. The prince, before that was reached, had got down +and hid himself under the shade of a tree, to see unobserved all that +passed in the mansion which he had every reason to believe was the +destination of the minister. Kharavadana descended from the carriage +and sent the Pradhani home. What most astonished the prince was the +absence of male servants in that garden. At the entrance of the road +twenty young females of the most exquisite beauty waited and conducted +Kharavadana through the sweet bower to the mansion. When it was +reached, the minister sat down on a most richly furnished gold couch, +and ordered the females there to bring the queen. Ten females arranged +themselves on each side of an ivory palanquin, and started, apparently, +to bring the queen in it. "These females themselves resemble Rambha, +[39] Urvasi, [39] &c. A woman who has beauty superior to the heads of +these females must, of course, be of the greatest beauty imaginable in +this world. Let me see her." Thus thinking, the prince Sundara +anxiously awaited the return of the palanquin. In a few minutes it +came. A female of the most charming beauty jumped briskly out of it. The +minister came running to give his helping hand to her. Horror of +horrors, what sees the prince! It was his own wife, the very girl that +the minister had married to him a few years before, that got down from +the palanquin. "Are my eyes deceived? Do they perform their functions +aright? Let me look once more." So again and again wiping his eyes to +clear them a little, the prince saw distinctly. It was his very wife +herself. "Oh, I most foolishly accused that grey-headed guardian for +a wicked fool, because he would not allow me to be friends with my +wife. I now see what he saw a long time ago. Perhaps if I had seen +more of her I should have thus been brought in here by some secret +way that these devils seem now to have to the inmost parts of the +palace. If I had taken anything from her hands I should have died +that very day. My poor old man, my Ranavirasing it is, who has saved +me from all these calamities." These thoughts and a thousand more +were passing through Sundara's mind when he saw his wife sitting down +on the same couch with the minister. She accused him of the delay in +murdering her husband, of his letting all opportunities escape during +the morning ride. "Horrible! Did you, Kharavadana, marry me to such +a faithful wife! Thank God and Ranavirasing that I have not fallen +into her snares," thought Sundara to himself. The minister offered +a thousand excuses, related to her all that had taken place between +himself and the Pradhani, and of what the latter had promised. Then +they both retired to bed. At that moment the treacherous owl began +to hoot, and one of the maid-servants, who happened to be a clever +interpreter of owl-hootings revealed, to secure the favour of the +minister, that the prince was lurking behind a tree in that very +garden. Knowing the price set on Sundara's head even female hands +flew to cut it off. All ran with torches to search the garden. + +These words, of course, fell upon the ears of the prince like +thunder. Before the people there began their search he began his race, +jumped over a high wall, and flew like a kite. Before the lady-racers +and the minister had left their sweet road to the tank-bank, Sundara +found himself in the north street of the town. The news that the +prince was out that night spread like a flame from the pleasure-park +outside throughout the whole town, and before long avaricious persons +were searching in the streets for his valuable head. Sundara thought +it dangerous to pass through the streets, and wished to hide himself +in a safe place. Fortune conducted him to one. It was a ruined old +choultry, where food, during the days of his father, was distributed +in charity to the beggars of the town, and which was now only resorted +to by them to sleep, and not to receive rice. The prince entered it, +and laid himself down in the midst of them, fortunately unobserved. He +could hear from where he was the noise of the persons searching +outside. In the garden the minister searched in vain, and accusing +the female for her wrong interpretation as he thought, retired to bed. + +Outside the north gate, at a distance of three ghatikas' walk, lived +a robber. He used to start out on a plundering expedition once in +seven years. In the houses and mansions he used to rob he took only +jewels of various kinds, Gomeda, [40] pushparuga, (topaz) vajra, [41] +vaidurya, [42] &c.; gold and silver he rejected as being too mean for +his dignity. As he was a high-caste robber, he used to take a coolie +with him on his way to carry his booty. Of course, that coolie never +returned from the cave. He was put to death after his services were +over, lest he should disclose the secret of the robber. + +Unfortunately, that new-moon night happened to be the night of that +cruel robber's plundering expedition. He came out, and when he saw +people in search of the prince, thinking that he was not in his palace, +he wanted to plunder it. Wishing for a coolie, he entered the ruined +choultry, to pick out one among the beggars there. Passing over the +others he came to the prince. He found him stout and strong. "This +beggar will do me good service to-day. I shall break my custom, +and amply reward this man for his services." So thinking to himself, +the gentleman robber tapped Sundara with his cane on the back. The +prince had just closed his eyes. In the short sleep that ensued he +dreamt that the minister's servants were pursuing him, and that +one had caught him. At that very moment the gentleman-robber's +stroke fell upon his back, giving a sort of reality to his dream. He +awoke with horror. "Tell me who you are," asked the unknown person, +"A beggar," was the reply. "How does the night appear to you?" asked +the robber. "As dark as dark can be," replied the prince. The robber +applied a sort of kajjala [43] to the prince's eyes, and asked, "How +does the night appear now?" "As luminous as if a karor of suns were +in the sky," answered Sundara. The robber applied a tilaka [44] to the +intended coolie's forehead and addressed him thus: "I am a robber, now +going to plunder the palace, from which the prince is absent. Follow +me. I shall reward you richly. The kajjala has made the night a day +to you. The tilaka takes you unobserved wherever you wish to go." So +saying, and dragging the coolie or supposed coolie by the hand, +the robber went off to the palace. Wherever he found a door locked, +he applied a leaf that he carried in his hand to the fastening, and +behold, the lock flew back, and the door opened of its own accord. The +prince was astonished. In a few minutes the robber opened one and all +of the gates and boxes, and extracted all the precious stones. He tied +them up in a bundle, and set it on the prince's head, and asked him to +follow. Sundara followed. He assisted in the plunder of his own palace, +and carried the booty behind the robber, who, praised be his stupidity, +never for one moment suspected he was a prince, but admired his coolie +for the beauty of his person, thought of saving his life, and also of +making him his son-in-law. For the robber had a beautiful daughter, +for whom he had long been searching for a suitable husband. So with +this thought he reached the cave, stopped before it, and taking the +bundle from the prince's head ordered him to go into a large cell, +the mouth of which he covered with a big stone, which he lifted up by +pronouncing an incantation over it. The robber went with the bundle +to his wife, and described to her the beauty of the coolie, and what +a fair match he would be for their daughter. The wife did not like it, +and asked her husband to do with the coolie as they usually did, i.e., +murder him; and the robber, who never in anything acted against the +will of his wife, went in to fetch his weapon. + +Meanwhile the robber's daughter, an excellent girl, of the most +charming beauty, overhearing all that took place between her parents, +came running to the cave where the coolie was confined. She pronounced +a single word over the stone lid of the cave, and it opened, and the +prince, who had lost all hopes of recovery, now beheld a beautiful girl +coming towards him. "Whoever you may be, my dear coolie, fly for your +life for the present. You are my husband. My father has so named you, +but as my mother does not like it, he has gone to fetch his weapon to +murder you. Excepting we three, none, not even Brahma, can open the +once-shut gates. After hearing you once called my husband, I must ever +regard you so. Now fly, and escape my father's sharp sword. If you are +a man, marry me in kind remembrance of the assistance rendered. If you +fail to do so you are a beast, and I shall die a virgin." So saying she +conducted out in haste the supposed coolie, who had only time to take a +hasty embrace, whispering in her ear that he was the prince, and that +he would marry her without fail. He now ran for his life. Fearing the +robber would come after him he left the way by which he reached the +cave, and passing through unknown fields reached the south gate of +the town. By that time the search for him had almost abated, and the +prince, praising God for his delivery, reached the south street. The +night was almost spent. Before returning to the palace he wished +to take rest for a few minutes, till he had recovered his breath, +and so he sat down on the pyal of an old and almost ruined house. + +That happened to be the house of a poor Brahman, who had not even +sufficient clothes to wear. As the prince sat down in a corner of +the pyal the door of the house opened, and the old Brahman came +out. The old woman, the Brahmani, was standing at the door with a +vessel containing water for her husband. Subhasastri, for that was +the Brahman's name, looked up to the sky for a couple of minutes, +after which he heaved a deep sigh, and said, "Alas, the prince, +the only son of our former protector, Sivachar, is not to remain +for more than two ghatikas. A kalasarpa (black serpent) will sting +him. What shall we do? We are poor. If we could begin Sarpahoma [45] +now we could tie the mouth of the snake, sacrifice it in the fire, +and thus save the prince." So saying the poor Brahman cried. Sundara, +who overheard everything, jumped down in confusion, and fell at the +feet of the Brahman, who asked him who he was. "I am a herdsman of +the palace. Preserve my master's life," was the reply. Subhasastri +was extremely poor. He had no means to procure a small quantity of +ghi even to begin the homa. [46] He did not know what to do. He begged +from his neighbours, who all laughed at his stupidity, and ridiculed +his astrology. The prince in a hopeless state of anguish wrung his +hands, and in wringing them he felt his ring. Drawing it off his +finger he gave it to Subhasastri, and requested him to pawn it. The +latter resorted to the nearest bazar, and awakening the bazar-keeper +procured from him a little ghi, by pawning the ring. Running home and +bathing in cold water the Brahman sat down for the homa. The prince, +fearing the serpent, wished to sit inside the house, but at a distance +from the place of the ceremony. Just at the appointed hour a large +black serpent broke through the sky, fell on the head of the prince, +whom he was not able to bite, and gave up its life in the fire. "This +is no shepherd, but the very prince himself," said the Brahmani. [47] +Sundara rose up, and running surrounded them thrice, spoke to them +thus:--"You alone are my parents and protectors. This night has +been a most adventurous one with me. There was every possibility of +my escaping every other calamity, and so I did. But no other power +except yours could have averted this snake-bite. So my rescue is due +to you alone. I have no time to lose now. Before daylight I must fly +unobserved to the palace, and you shall before long see my reward +for this." So saying, Sundara ran to his palace and entered. + +Ranavirasing was almost dead. The rumour that the prince was out +reached him. He was astonished at the way in which Sundara had got +out. He searched the whole palace. To his astonishment all the rooms +had previously been opened and plundered. "Has the prince been stolen +away by some vile tricks from the palace," thought Ranavirasing, +and without knowing what to do he was buried in the ocean of sorrow, +from which he gave up all hopes of recovering. What was his joy, +then, when he saw the prince enter the palace just at dawn. "Mai Bab +Chakravarti, where have you been the whole night, throwing away the +advice of your poor slave? How many enemies you have in this world, +you have yet to know," said Ranavirasing. "I know them all now, only +listen to what I say, and do as I bid. I have won the crown without +a blow. Thank the day that gave me you as my protector, for it was +only yesterday that I had ample reason to verify your statements. My +adventures would make your hair stand on end. Thank God I have escaped +from all of them unhurt. If you have a few men ready now, we have won +the kingdom." So saying, the prince explained to him every detail of +his adventure. "If we catch hold of the minister now, we have done +all." "I could never for one moment think that you in a single night +could have seen and done so much. Now that heaven has shown you the +way, I shall obey you," said Ranavirasing, and Sundara accordingly +issued the orders. He described the house with the pyal at which he +had lingered for a while the previous night, and asked a servant to +bring the owner of that house to the Rajasthanik office. Ranavirasing +brought in the Pradhani, who was extremely delighted at the good +intention of the prince. He was offered the Mantri's place. Two were +sent to the shepherds. Twenty were sent to the pleasure-park to have +the minister and his sweet paramour brought to the court in chains. The +female servants were also ordered to be brought. The robber and his +cruel wife were not forgotten. The prince minutely described the +cave, and asked his servants to catch and imprison the robber by +surprising him suddenly, without giving him time to have recourse +to his vile tricks--lock-breaking kajjala, &c. The palace palanquin +was sent for the robber's daughter, whom the prince had firmly made +up his mind to marry. The palace elephants were decked and sent to +fetch with all pomp Subhasastri and his wife to the court. Thus, +without a single stroke, Sundara won the kingdom. Ranavirasing was +thunder-struck by the excellent and bold way in which the prince in +one night went through the series of calamities, and successfully +overcame them all. The Pradhani's delight knew no bounds. He himself +broke open the court and every one connected with the previous night's +adventure was ushered in. The prince bathed, offered up his prayers, +and attended the council. When Subhasastri came in with his wife the +prince put them on the simhasana, [48] and himself standing before +them, explained to all his previous night's adventures, rewarded +the poor Brahman and the shepherds, punished by banishment the +maid-servant who, knowing that the prince's head was coveted, revealed +his concealment, and ordered his wife, the minister, the robber, +and the robber's wife to be beheaded. He rewarded without limit his +protector, Subhasastri, and married the robber's daughter, being won +over by her sincerity. The Pradhani, as we have said already, he made +his minister, and with his old guardian, the faithful Ranavirasing, +the prince reigned for several years in the kingdom of Vanjaimanagar. + + + + + + + +V. + +"CHARITY ALONE CONQUERS." + +Dharmame jayam. + + +In the town of Tevai [49] there lived a king called Suguna. He had +an excellent minister named Dharmasila. They ruled for a long time in +prosperity over the kingdom. Both of them had sons. The prince's name +was Subuddhi. He was a noble prince, and quite in keeping with his +name, was always bent upon doing good to the world. The minister's son +was named Durbuddhi, a most wicked boy, whose only delight was teasing +beasts and birds from his infancy, and which ripened into all sorts +of wickedness as he grew to boyhood. Notwithstanding the difference +between their temperaments the prince and the minister's son were the +best of friends. The motto of the prince was Dharmame jayam--Charity +alone conquers. That of the minister's son was Adharmame jayam--Absence +of Charity alone conquers. When rising from their beds, when beginning +their prayers, when sitting down for meals or study, and, in fact, +before beginning to do anything, each repeated his motto. The people +had great hopes in Subuddhi, whom they fully expected to see a good +and benevolent king; but the minister's son all thoroughly hated. Even +the minister himself, his father, hated his son for his vile turn of +mind, which he found impossible to change. His only friend, as we have +already said, was the prince, who, notwithstanding all his faults, +loved him sincerely. Both of them had grown up together from their +very cradle, had played in the same dust, had read their lessons +side by side in the same school under the same teachers. Fortune so +ordained that the prince's mind should take such a bent, while the +mind of the minister's son turned in a crooked way. + +Nor was Durbuddhi insensible to the disgust and dislike which every +one manifested towards him. He was well aware of all that was going +on around. Still he would not change. + +"I have no friend in this world excepting yourself, my dear Subuddhi," +exclaimed Durbuddhi one day to his royal friend while they were +riding together. + +"Fear nothing. I shall ever stand by you as your true friend," +replied Subuddhi. + +"My very father hates me. Who else would like me then? On the other +hand, every one likes you. You may soon get yourself married to some +beautiful lady, while I must remain a bachelor; for no girl would marry +me. You may soon rise to the place of a king; but I cannot become your +minister, as the people do not like me. What can I do?" So said the +minister's son, and hung down his head, as if conscious for a time +of the utter hatred with which the people regarded him. + +Subuddhi replied, "Heed it not, I will make you my minister, give +you everything you want, and see you well provided for." + +"If so, will you give me your wife one day, at least, if you happen +to get married before me, and if I remain a bachelor after you," +were the words which the wretched Durbuddhi shamelessly uttered to +the face of his only friend. + +These words were enough in themselves to enrage the prince's mind. But +he was of so good a nature that instead of becoming angry, he smiled +at the stupidity of his companion, and agreed that he would thus give +him his wife one day in case he got married first. Thus took place +an agreement between Subuddhi and Durbuddhi while they were still +quite young. + +Several years passed after this agreement, when one day the prince +went to hunt in a neighbouring forest. His inseparable companion, +the minister's son, and several hunters followed him to the wood. The +prince and the minister's son both gave chase to a deer. They rode +so much in advance of the hunters that they lost themselves in a +thick jungle, where the latter could neither see nor follow them. The +hunters returned after dark, and informed the king and the minister +about the disappearance of their sons. They thought that as their +sons were grown-up men they need not fear for their safety. + +The two friends chased the deer and found themselves in the midst +of a thick forest in the evening. Except a slight breakfast in the +early morning they had tasted no other food. Hunger was pinching them +severely. The hot chase had awakened a severe thirst, to quench which +they were not able to find a drop of water. In utter hopelessness of +life they resigned themselves to the course of their steeds. The beasts +seemed very well to understand the wants of their royal riders. They +went on trotting, and at last, about midnight, stopped on the banks +of a large tank. + +The riders, who were almost dead with thirst, opened their closed eyes +when the horses stopped. All of a sudden, and to their great joy, +they found themselves on the banks of a large tank. Their joy knew +no bounds. + +"Surely God takes care of His children. Had it not been for His kind +care how could we have come to this tank, when we had given ourselves +up to the guidance of our horses?" thought Subuddhi to himself, +and got down from his horse. + +The minister's son, who had become more exhausted by that time than +his companion, also alighted. Subuddhi, true to the nobility of his +mind, took both the steeds first to water, and, after satisfying their +thirst and loosening them to graze by the side of a grassy meadow, +he went into the water to quench his thirst. The minister's son also +followed. After a short prayer Subuddhi took some handfuls of water, +and returned to the bank. Durbuddhi also returned. They chose a +clean spot, and sat down to rest during the remaining part of the +night. The prince, when taking his seat, pronounced his usual motto, +"Charity alone conquers," and the minister's son also repeated his, +"Absence of Charity alone conquers." + +These words fell like venom into the ears of the prince at that +time. He could not control his anger then, notwithstanding his mild +disposition. The hardships of the day, their fortunate arrival on a +tank in the dead of night to have their thirst quenched, were fresh +in Subuddhi's mind, and the prayers that he was offering to God were +not yet over. That the minister's son should never think of all this, +and go on with his own stupid motto even at that time was intolerable +to Subuddhi. + +"Vile wretch! detested atheist! have you no shame, to utter your wicked +motto even after such calamities? It is not too late even now. Mend +your character. Think of the God that saved you just now. Believe in +Him. Change your motto from this day." Thus spoke the angry prince +to the minister's son. + +Durbuddhi, who was naturally of a wicked and quarrelsome temperament, +flew into a rage at once at the excellent advice of the prince. + +"Stop your mouth. I know as well as you do; you cannot wag your tail +here. I can oppose you single-handed in this forest." + +Thus saying, the minister's son sprang like an enraged lion at +Subuddhi, who, as he never dreamt of any such thing, was completely +overpowered by the wicked Durbuddhi. The prince was thrown down in the +twinkling of an eye, and the minister's son was upon him. He severely +thrashed his royal master, and, taking hold of a twig that was lying +close by, tore out the prince's two eyes, filled up the sockets with +sand, and ran away with his horse, thinking that he had completely +killed him. + +Subuddhi was almost dead; his body was bruised all over; his eyes +were no more; his physical pain was unbearable. + +"Is there a God over us all?" thought Subuddhi. The night was +almost over. The cool and sweet breeze of the morning gave him some +strength. He rose up, and, crawling on the ground, felt his way to +the entrance of a temple. He crept in, shut the gates, and fastened +the bolt. + +It happened to be a temple of the fierce Kali. She used to go out every +morning to gather roots and fruits, and to return at evening. That +day, when she returned, she found her gates shut against her. She +threatened with destruction the usurper of her temple. A voice, +and we know that it was Subuddhi's, replied from within: + +"I am already dying of the loss of my eyes. So, if in anger you kill +me, it is so much the better; for what use is there in my living +blind? If, on the contrary, you pity me, and by your divine power +give me my eyes, I shall open the gates." + +Kali was in a very difficult position. She was very hungry, and saw +no other way of going inside than by giving Subuddhi his eyes. + +"Open the gates; your request is granted," said Kali. No sooner were +these words uttered than the prince recovered his eyes. His delight +may be better imagined than described. He opened the gates and vowed +before Kali that he would from that day continue in that temple as +her servant and worshipper. + +The wretched Durbuddhi, after his horrible act, rode on composedly, +following the footsteps of his horse, and reached the forest where +he had been hunting the day before in company with the prince. He +thence returned home all alone. When his father saw him coming back +he suspected something wrong to the prince, and asked his son what +had become of him. + +"We chased a deer, and he rode so much in advance of me that he +was out of sight, and finding all search vain, I returned alone," +was Durbuddhi's reply. + +"This I would have believed from anyone but yourself. Never plant your +feet in these dominions till you bring back the prince again. Run for +your life," was the order of the minister, and Durbuddhi accordingly +ran off, fearing the anger of his father. + +Thus the Prince Subuddhi served in the Kali temple; and Durbuddhi, +fully confident that he had killed his friend, roamed about from +place to place, as he saw no possibility of returning to his own +country without the prince. + +Thus passed several months. The goddess Kali was extremely delighted +at the sincere devotion of Subuddhi, and, calling him one day to her +side, said: + +"My son! I am delighted with your great devotion to me. Enough of +your menial services here. Better return now to your kingdom. Your +parents are likely to be much vexed at your loss. Go and console +their minds." Thus ended Kali, and Subuddhi replied: + +"Excuse me, my goddess, my mother, I no more regard them as my +parents. This wood is not a large place if they wished to search +for me. As they were so careless about me, I shall also from this +day disregard them. You are my father and mother. Therefore permit +me to end my days here in your service." So saying, Subuddhi begged +Kali to allow him to stay, and the goddess agreed accordingly, for +some time at least. + +After a few more months, Kali called the prince again to her, and +addressed him thus: + +"My boy! I have devised another plan. Better not, then, go to your +parents, as you do not wish to go now. At a short distance from this +place, in the Kaveri country, reigns a staunch devotee of mine. His +daughter had small-pox, and as he forgot to do proper respect to me, +I have blinded both her eyes. The king has issued a proclamation that +he will give the whole kingdom and his daughter in marriage to him who +would cure her of her defect. He has hung up a bell (ghanta) at which +every physician who wishes to try the case strikes. The king comes +running as soon as he hears the sound, takes home the doctor and shows +him the case. Several persons have tried in vain; for who could repair +a defect inflicted by the displeasure of the gods? Now I mean to send +you there. That king is a staunch worshipper of my feet. Though I have +punished him, still I pity the sad calamity that has come upon his +daughter. You had better go there and strike the bell. He will take +you and show you the case. For three consecutive days apply my holy +ashes to her eyes. Though fools may deride these ashes, still by them +a true devotee can work wonders. On the fourth day her eyes will be +perfectly restored. Then you will secure her hand, and, what is more, +the country of Kaveri. Reign there, for you are born to reign, being +a prince, and not to spend your time here in this wood. If you do not +do so you will commit a sin, and, what is more, incur my displeasure." + +Thus ended Kali, and the prince could not refuse; for he feared the +anger of the goddess. Agreeing to her words, and with her manifold +blessings, he started and reached the kingdom of Kaveri. + +He struck the bell. The king came running to welcome the new +doctor. All the previous physicians had tried by medicines external +and internal. The new doctor--Prince Subuddhi--proposed to treat the +case by mantras--incantations. The old king, who was very religious, +fully believed that the new doctor might effect the cure, and, just +as he expected, on the fourth day his daughter's sight was completely +restored. The king's joy knew no bounds. He enquired into the parentage +of the doctor: and when he came to know that he had princely blood +in his veins, that he was as honourably descended as himself, his +joy was greatly increased. He sent up a thousand prayers to the +god for giving him a royal son-in-law. As promised in his notice, +he would have to give his daughter to anyone, whatever he might be, +who effected the cure. The lowest beggar, the lowest caste-man, if +he had only succeeded in curing her, would have had as much claim to +her hand as the prince-physician. So when the person that effected +the cure proved to be a prince, the king was extremely delighted, +and at once made all arrangements for the marriage of his daughter, +and gave her to Subuddhi: and, himself being very old, he gave the +kingdom also to the prince at the same time. + +Thus by the favour of Kali, Subuddhi had a princess for his wife and a +kingdom to govern. Subuddhi, as we know, was an excellent man. Though +he became king now, he consulted his father-in-law in all matters, +and, in fact, acted only as manager for the old man. Every evening he +used to consult him for an hour or two before disposing of intricate +cases. The duty of signing, too, he reserved for the old man. Thus +even on those days when there were no cases he used to go to his +father-in-law to get papers signed. Thus passed on a couple of years +or so. + +One evening, while sitting in company with his wife in the loftiest +room of his palace after the duties of the day, he cast his eyes to +the east main street and contemplated the bustle of that part of the +town. Carts creaking under the load of merchandise, the flourish +with which the goods and wares were exposed for sale, fashionable +gentlemen in their fanciful evening costumes walking to and fro, +the troublesome hawkers that stand by the roadside questioning every +one as to what they would buy, and several other things interested +him, and for a time made him somewhat proud even, that he ruled over +such a rich country. But sweetness is not always unaccompanied with +bitterness. He saw in that same street a man whose face was very +familiar to him, but whom he could not at once make out. A black +man was sitting on a projecting pyal of a corner of a shop, and was +mending some torn gunny bags. Subuddhi looked at him carefully. + +"Is it the minister's son, Durbuddhi? No; he is not so black; rather +was not when I saw him last," thought Subuddhi with himself, and +examining his face, he at last exclaimed, "It is he! It is he! It is my +friend and companion." "Who is it?" exclaimed the princess, and rushed +at once to his side. She had most carefully watched her husband's face +for the past few minutes while he was in deep contemplation. "It is +my friend, the minister's son, by name Durbuddhi. We were companions +from our birth; we played in the same dust, read in the same school, +and were ever inseparable companions. I do not know what has brought +him to the condition in which I see him now," said Subuddhi, and +sent some one to fetch him. Of the wicked and base act of the vile +Durbuddhi he did not care to inform his gentle wife, who now retired +to her inner apartments, as decorum did not allow her to be in company +with her husband when he was receiving others. + +The persons sent brought in Durbuddhi. Whatever might have been the +cruelty that he had received from the hands of the minister's son, +the prince began to shed tears when he saw his old companion ushered +in, not in that blooming cheerful red complexion in which he had seen +him last, but in a weather-beaten dark skin and dejected colour of +a coolie in which he saw him a few minutes ago. + +"I excuse you all your faults, my dear Durbuddhi. Tell me quickly +what has brought you to this wretched plight," asked Subuddhi, and +while asking he began to cry aloud. The minister's son also shed +tears copiously, and cried or pretended to cry; for be it known that +he was a perfect scoundrel, born to no good in the world. + +"My own mischief has brought me to this plight. When I returned to our +country, after putting out your eyes and thinking that I had killed +you, my father banished me from our dominions, and ordered me never +to plant my feet within their limits without bringing you back. As I +thought I had put an end to your life I never came back to that tank +in search of you. I engaged myself as a coolie in the streets of this +town after trying several other places without success, and I now +stand before you." Thus ended Durbuddhi, and the prince quite forgot +his cruelty to him. He ordered his servants to get the minister's +son bathed, and attired in as rich robes as he himself wore. Then +he related to him his own story, without omitting a single point, +and at once made him his minister. + +The whole story of Durbuddhi, excepting the single point of his +having put out his eyes, the prince related to his wife, father, +and mother-in-law. + +Thus was Durbuddhi again restored to his high position, through the +liberal kindness of Subuddhi. Subuddhi did not stop even at this. He +began to send him with papers and other things to the old king for +signature. This went on for some months. All the while Durbuddhi was +as obedient as might be, and by his vile tricks had completely won +over the heart of the old king. + +One evening, after the signatures were over, Durbuddhi stopped for +a while as if desirous to speak. "What do you want?" said the old +king. "Nothing but your favour," was the only reply, after which he +retired. Thus he went on for some days and weeks. Every day he stopped +for a few minutes after the state business was over, and when the +old king asked the reason for it went on giving evasive answers. At +last one evening the old king was extremely provoked. The cunning +Durbuddhi had purposely intended this. + +"What a big fool are you to stop every day as if wishing to speak +and never to utter a word," broke out the old king. + +"I beg pardon of your honour; I was thinking all the while whether I +should let out my secret or not. At last, I have come to the conclusion +that I will keep it to myself," replied the diabolical Durbuddhi. + +"No, you shall let it out," roared the old king, whose curiosity +was more roused than abated by the words, purposely obscure, of +the minister's son. Durbuddhi, after simulating much reluctance at +disclosing the supposed secret, loudly began his harangue: + +"My lord, ever since I came here I have been making enquiries about +the nobility of your family, about the sacrifices that you and your +ancestors have performed, about the purifications that you and your +elders have undergone, and about a thousand other particulars, each +of which is enough to secure you and your descendants the place of +Achyuta (Achyutapada) himself. These delighted me for a time--I say +for a time--for listen, please, to what follows. When I compared with +the pure fame of your famous family, that of your son-in-law, my heart +began to pain me. Indeed the pain which began at that moment has not +yet ceased. Know, then, that your son-in-law is not a prince. No doubt +he has royal blood in his veins, which makes him look like a king. How +came he to be so skilful in medicine. Just enquire the cause. To be no +more in the dark, the king of my country--over which my father is the +minister--set out one day on savar. While passing a barber's street he +saw a beautiful damsel of that caste. Bewitched by her beauty the king +wanted to include her in his harem, notwithstanding her low position +in society. The child of that woman, is your son-in-law. He being the +son of a barber-mother acquired thus easily the art of medicine. That +a king was his father makes him look like a prince. If he had been of +pure birth why should he leave his kingdom, and come here to effect +the cure of your daughter? Except this prince, or supposed prince, +all those that came here were mere doctors by caste." Thus ended the +vile Durbuddhi, and taking in his hand the papers, vanished out of +the room quickly, like a serpent that had stung. + +The sweet words in which the minister's son clothed his arguments, +the rising passion at the thought that he had been falsely imposed +upon by a barber's son, the shame--or rather supposed shame--that he +thought had come over his family, and a thousand other feelings clouded +for a time the clear reason of the old king. He saw no other way of +putting an end to the shame than by the murder of his dear daughter and +son-in-law first, and of his own self and queen afterwards. At once he +sent for the executioner, who came in. He gave him his signet-ring, +and commanded him to break open the bed-room of his son-in-law that +midnight, and murder him with his wife while asleep. The hukums, or +orders given with signet-rings, can never be disobeyed. The executioner +humbled himself to the ground, as a sign of his accepting the order, +and retired to sharpen his knife for his terrible duty. + +Neither Subuddhi nor his affectionate wife had any reason to suspect +this terrible mandate. The old queen and the treacherous Durbuddhi +had equally no reason to know anything about it. The old man, after +issuing the hukum, shut himself up in his closet, and began to weep +and wail as if he had lost his daughter from that moment. Durbuddhi, +after kindling the fire, as says the Tamil proverb, by means of his +treachery, came back with the papers to the prince. A thought occurred +in his mind that Subuddhi's fate was drawing near. He wanted to carry +out the agreement between himself and the prince about the latter's +wife. The excellent Subuddhi, who always observed oaths most strictly, +was confused for a time. He did not know what to do. To stick to the +oath and surrender his wife to another; or to break it and preserve +the chastity of his own wife. At last, repeating in his own mind, +"Charity alone conquers," and also thinking that Heaven would somehow +devise to preserve his wife, he went to her, explained to her how +the matter stood, and ordered her to go to the minister's son. She +hesitatingly consented; for, as a good wife, she could not disobey +her husband's commands. Subuddhi then told Durbuddhi that he might +have his wife as his own. + +The princess went to her mother, crying that her husband had turned +out mad. "Or else who would promise to give his wife to another. What +does he mean by that?" + +"My daughter! fear nothing, perhaps, in his boyhood, he made this rash +promise without thinking. The promise once made now pains him. Unable +to break it, and leaving it to yourself to preserve your chastity, +he has so ordered you. And he would, nay must, excuse you, if you +by some means or other save yourself, and apparently make good +your husband's promise also. A thought just comes to me how to do +that. There is your foster-sister, exactly resembling you. I shall +send her in your place." So consoling her daughter, the old queen at +once made all the requisite arrangements. And, of course, Subuddhi +had no reason then to know anything about them. + +In the middle of the night his door is forced open, and a ruffian +with a drawn sword, blazing like lightning, rushes in, and murders +the pair. Thus in that very night in which Durbuddhi had reached the +topmost point of his vice, he was cut down by the supreme hand of +God. For, it is said, that when crime increases, God himself cannot +tolerate it. + +The morning dawned. Subuddhi rose from his couch, and after his morning +prayers was sitting in the council hall. The princess and her mother +rose from their beds, and were attending to their business. A servant +just at that time came running to the old queen, and said: + +"Our king is weeping in his room that his daughter is now no more. I +think that there is something wrong with his majesty's brains +to-day. Come and console him." + +The queen, who knew nothing of what had happened, ran to her husband's +room, quite astonished at the change. The husband reported everything +to her--the sage-looking minister's son, the barber's son-in-law, +and everything, and then concluded that their daughter and son-in-law +were no more. + +"What! compose yourself. Our son-in-law is sitting in his durbar. Our +daughter is just adorning herself in her dressing-room. Were you +dreaming? Are you in your right senses?" said the queen. + +The king ordered the executioner to bring the heads, which, on +examination, proved to be those of the minister's son and of the +foster-sister. The queen told everything of the one-day-wife-giving +engagement, and her own arrangements about it. The old king could not +understand what all this meant. He drew out his sword and ran to the +durbar like a maddened lion, and stood armed before his son-in-law. + +"Relate to me your true origin, and everything respecting +yourself. Speak the truth. How came you to learn medicine? If you are a +prince why should you leave your own dominions and come down here? What +about this wicked agreement of giving your wife to another? Who is +this minister's son?" + +Subuddhi, without omitting a single point, related everything that +had taken place, even to the putting out of his eyes. The old man +threw down his sword, took his son-in-law in his arms almost, for so +great was his joy at the excellent way which fate had prepared for +his escape, and said: + +"My son, my life, my eye. True it is, true it is. Dharma alone +conquers, and you that hold that motto have conquered everything. The +vile wretch whom, notwithstanding the series of rogueries that +he practised upon you, you protected, has at last found out that +his Adharmam never conquers. But he never found it out. It was his +Adharmam that cut him off on the very night of his supposed complete +conquest by it." + +Letters were sent at once to Tevai, inviting Suguna and Dharmasila +to the happy rejoicings at the prince and princess's delivery, and +a re-marriage was celebrated with all pomp, in honour of their lucky +escape. Dharmasila, as he disliked his son, never shed a single tear +for his loss. Subuddhi lived for a long time, giving much consolation +to his own and his wife's parents. Through the blessings of Kali they +had several intelligent sons. + + + + + + + +VI. + +VIDAMUNDAN KODAMUNDAN. + +MR. WON'T-GIVE AND MR. WON'T-LEAVE. + + +In a certain town there lived a clever old Brahman, named +Won't-Give. [50] He used to go out daily and to beg in all the houses +round, under the pretence that he had to feed several Brahmans in +his own house. Good people, that believed in his words, used to give +him much rice and curry stuffs, with which he would come home, and +explain to his wife how he had deceived such and such a gentleman +by the imposition of feeding in charity many persons at home. But +if any hungry Brahman, who had heard of his empty boast of feeding +Brahmans at home, came to him, he was sent away with some excuse or +other. In this way Mr. Won't-Give brought home a basketful of rice and +other necessaries every day, of which he only used a small portion for +himself and his wife, and converted the remainder into money. And thus, +by imposition and tricks, he managed to live well for several years. + +In an adjoining village there lived another very clever Brahman, named +Won't-Leave. [51] Whenever he found any man reluctant and unwilling +to give him anything that he begged of him, he would persist in +bothering him until he had wrung from him a dole. This Mr. Won't-Leave, +hearing of the charity of Mr. Won't-Give, and his benevolent feeding +of Brahmans, came to see him one day, and requested him to give him +a meal. Mr. Won't-Give told him that for that day ten Brahmans had +already been settled, and that if he came the next day he would have +his meal without fail. Mr. Won't-Leave agreed to this, and left him +for that day. Mr. Won't-Give had, of course, told him the very lie +he was accustomed to tell all that occasionally begged meals of him. + +Now Mr. Won't-Leave was not so stupid as to be thus imposed upon. He +stood before Mr. Won't-Give's door precisely at the appointed ghatika +(hour) the next day, and reminded the master of the house of his +promise. Mr. Won't-Give had never before been taken at his word, +and determined to send away the impertinent guest by some stronger +excuse than the first, and so he spoke to him thus:-- + +"Sir, I am very sorry to say that my wife fell ill last night of a +strong fever, from which she has not yet recovered. Owing to this +unforeseen accident I have had to postpone my charitable feedings +(samaradhana) till her recovery, so do not trouble me, please, for +some days more." + +Mr. Won't-Leave heard these words with an expression of sincere, +or rather, seemingly sincere, sorrow in his face, and replied:-- + +"Respected sir, I am very sorry for the illness of the mistress of the +house, but to give up charitable feeding of Brahmans on that account +is a great sin. For the last ten years I have been studying the art +of cooking, and can now cook for even several hundreds of Brahmans; so +I can assist you now in preparing the necessaries for the samaradhana." + +Mr. Won't-Give could not refuse such a request, but he deceitfully +determined in his mind to get Mr. Won't-Leave to cook for him, and +then to drive him away without giving him his rice. And so he said:-- + +"Yes, that is a very good idea. I am much obliged to you for your +kind suggestion. Come in; let us cook together." + +So saying, the master of the house took Mr. Won't-Leave inside and +they both went into the kitchen, while the mistress of the house, +at the command of her husband, pretended to be ill. + +Now Mr. Won't-Give was a good liver, and prepared, with the assistance +of Mr. Won't-Leave, several good dishes. And then the difficulty was +to drive the fellow out, for the long-maintained rule of never feeding +a single Brahman must not be broken that day. So, when the cooking +was all over, the master of the house gave to Mr. Won't-Leave a kasu +(copper coin), and asked him to bring some leaves from the bazar +(for plates), and he accordingly went. Mr. Won't-Give, meanwhile, +came to his wife, and instructed her thus:-- + +"My dearest wife, I have spared you the trouble of cooking +to-day. Would that we could get such stupid fools as this every day +to cook for us! I have now sent him out to fetch us some leaves, +and it won't look well if we shut our doors against him or drive him +away; so we must make him go away of his own accord. A thought has +just come into my mind as to how we can do it. As soon as he comes +you shall commence to quarrel with me. I shall then come to you +and beat you, or, rather, the ground near you, with both my hands, +and you must continue your abuse and cries. The guest will find this +very disgusting, and will leave us of his own accord." + +Mr. Won't-Give had just finished when he saw Mr. Won't-Leave returning +with the leaves. The wife, as pre-arranged, abused her husband right +and left for his great imprudence and over-liberality in feeding the +Brahmans. Said she: + +"How are we to get on in the world if you thus empty the house of +everything we have in feeding big-bellied Brahmans? Must you be +so particular as to invite them, even when I am sick?" These, and +a thousand similar expressions, were now launched at the husband's +head. He pretended not to hear it for a time, but at last, apparently +overcome by anger, he went in and with his hands gave successive +blows on the floor. At every blow on the floor the wife cried out +that she was being murdered, and that those who had mercy in their +hearts should come to her rescue. + +Mr. Won't-Leave, from the court-yard of the house, listened to what +was taking place inside, but not wishing to interfere in a quarrel +between husband and wife, left matters to take their own course, +and got into the loft, where he hid himself, fearing that he would +be summoned as a witness to the quarrel. + +After a time Mr. Won't-Give came out of the room where he had been +beating the floor, and to his joy he could not find the guest. He +cautiously looked round him and saw no signs of Mr. Won't-Leave. Of +course, having had no reason to think that his guest would be sitting +in the loft, he did not look up there; and even if he had done so, +he would not have found him, for he had hidden himself out of sight. + +Mr. Won't-Give now carefully bolted the door, and his wife came out +and changed her dirty cloth for a clean one. Said her husband to her: + +"At last we have succeeded in driving him out; come, you too must be +hungry; let us have our dinner together." + +Two leaves were spread on the ground, and all the dishes were equally +divided into them. Meanwhile Mr. Won't-Leave was watching all that took +place below him and, being himself very hungry, was slyly watching +for an opportunity to jump down. Mr. Won't-Give, gloating over his +trickery, said to his wife: + +"Well, my love, did I not beat you without hurting you?" to which +she replied: + +"Did I not continue to cry without shedding tears?" when suddenly +there fell on their ears: + +"And did I not come to have my dinner without going away?" and down +jumped Mr. Won't-Leave, from the loft, and took his seat in front of +the leaf spread by Mr. Won't-Give for his wife. And Mr. Won't-Give, +though disappointed, was highly pleased at the cleverness of his guest. + +This story is cited as the authority for three proverbs that have +come into use in Tamil. + + + "Novamal aditten." + "Oyamal aluden." + "Pokamal vanden." + + +which represent the exchanges of politeness between the husband, +the wife, and the guest, quoted in the foregoing paragraphs. + + + + + + + +VII. + +VAYALVALLAN KAIYAVALLA. + +MR. MIGHTY-OF-HIS-MOUTH AND MR. MIGHTY-OF-HIS-HANDS. + + +In two adjoining villages there lived two famous men. The one +was called Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth [52]--one that could accomplish +wonders with words alone. The other was called Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands +[53]--one who could make no use of that glib instrument the tongue, but +was able to bear burdens, cut wood, and perform other physical labour. + +It so happened that they agreed to live together in the house of +the Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth, to try and see which of them was the +superior. They accordingly kept company for several months, till the +great feast of the nine nights (navaratri) came on. On the first day +of the feast Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands wanted to sacrifice a goat to +the goddess Kali. So he said to Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth, + +"My dear friend, we both are mighty in our way, and so it would be +shameful for us to buy the goat, that we want to sacrifice, with +money. We should manage to get it without payment." + +"Yes, we must do so, and I know how," replied Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth, +and he asked his friend to wait till that evening. + +Now there lived a shepherd at one ghatika's (hour's) distance from +their house, and the two friends resolved to go to his fold that +night and steal away one of his goats. Accordingly, when it was dark, +they approached his fold. The shepherd had just finished his duties +to the mute members of his flock, and wanted to go home and have +his rice hot. But he had no second person to watch the flock, and he +must not lose his supper. So he planted his crook before the fold, +and throwing his blanket (kambali) over it, thus addressed it: + +"My son, I am very hungry, and so must go for my rice. Till I return +do you watch the flock. This wood is rich in tigers and goblins +(bhutas). Some mischievous thief or bhuta--or kuta [54] may come +to steal away the sheep. Watch over them carefully." So saying the +shepherd went away. + +The friends had heard what the shepherd said. Of course, +Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth laughed within himself at this device of the +shepherd to impress upon would-be robbers that he had left some one +there to watch his sheep, while really he had only planted a pole +and thrown a blanket over it. Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands, however, did +not see the trick, and mistaking the stick to be an actual watchman +sitting at his duty before the fold, spoke thus to his friend: + +"Now what are we to do? There is a watchman sitting in front of the +fold." Thereon, Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth cleared away his doubts by +saying that it was no watchman, but a mere stick, and entered the +fold with his friend. + +It had also so happened that on that very night a bhuta (goblin) had +come into the fold to steal away a sheep. It shuddered with fear on +hearing the shepherd mention the kuta, for having never heard of the +existence of kutas, it mistook this imaginary being to be something +superior in strength to itself. So thinking that a kuta might come +to the fold, and not wishing to expose itself till it knew well what +kutas were, the bhuta transformed itself into a sheep and laid itself +down among the flock. By this time the two Mighties had entered the +fold and begun an examination of the sheep. They went on rejecting +one animal after another for some defect or other, till at last they +came to the sheep which was none other than the bhuta. They tested it, +and when they found it very heavy--as, of course, it would be with +the soul of the bhuta in it--they began to tie up its legs to carry +it home. When hands began to shake it the bhuta mistook the Mighties +for the kutas, and said to itself:-- + +"Alas! the kutas have come to take me away. What am I to do? What +a fool I was to come into the fold!" So thought the bhuta as +Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands was carrying it away on his head, with his +friend following him behind. But the bhuta soon began to work its +devilish powers to extricate itself, and Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands +began to feel pains all over his body and said to his friend: + +"My dear Mighty, I feel pains all over me. I think what we have brought +is no sheep!" Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth was inwardly alarmed at the words +of his friend, but did not like to show that he was afraid. So he said: + +"Then put down the sheep, and let us tear open its belly, so that we +shall each have only one-half of it to carry." + +This frightened the bhuta, and he melted away on the head of +Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands, who, relieved of his devilish burden, was +glad to return home safe with his friend. + +The bhuta, too, went to its abode and there told its fellow-goblins +how it had involved itself in a great trouble and how narrowly it +had escaped. They all laughed at its stupidity and said, "What a +great fool you are! They were not kutas. In fact there are no kutas +in the world. They were men, and it was most stupid of you to have +got yourself into their hands. Are you not ashamed to make such a fuss +about your escape?" The injured bhuta retorted that they would not have +made such remarks had they seen the kutas. "Then show us these kutas, +as you choose to call them," said they, "and we will crush them in +the twinkling of an eye." "Agreed," said the injured bhuta, and the +next night it took them to the house of the Mighties, and said from +a distance: "There is their house. I cannot approach it. Do whatever +you like." The other bhutas were amazed at the fear of their timid +brother, and resolved among themselves to put an end to the enemies +of even one member of their caste. So they went in a great crowd +to the house of the Mighties. Some stood outside the house, to see +that none of the inmates escaped, and some watched in the back-yard, +while a score of them jumped over the walls and entered the court-yard. + +Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands was sleeping in the verandah, adjoining the +courtyard, and when he heard the noise of people jumping about, +he opened his eyes, and to his terror saw some bhutas in the +court. Without opening his mouth he quietly rolled himself along +the ground, and went to the room where Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth was +sleeping with his wife and children. Tapping gently at the door he +awoke his friend and said: + +"What shall we do now? The bhutas have invaded our house, and will +soon kill us." + +Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth told him quietly not to be afraid, but to go +and sleep in his original place, and that he himself would make the +bhutas run away. Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands did not understand what his +friend meant, but not wishing to argue rolled his way back to his +original place and pretended to sleep, though his heart was beating +terribly with fright. Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth now awoke his wife, +and instructed her thus: + +"My dearest wife, the foolish bhutas have invaded our house, but +if you act according to my advice we are safe, and the goblins will +depart harmlessly. What I want you to do is, to go to the hall and +light a lamp, spread leaves on the floor, and then pretend to awake +me for my supper. I shall get up and enquire what you have ready to +give me to eat. You will then reply that you have only pepper water +and vegetables. With an angry face I shall say, 'What have you done +with the three bhutas that our son caught hold of on his way back +from school?' Your reply must be, 'The rogue wanted some sweetmeats +on coming home. Unfortunately I had none in the house, so he roasted +the three bhutas and gobbled them up.'" + +Thus instructing his wife Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth pretended to go to +sleep. The wife accordingly spread the leaves and called her husband +for his supper. During the conversation that followed, the fact that +the son had roasted three goblins for sweetmeats was conveyed to the +bhutas. They shuddered at the son's extraordinary ability, and thought, + +"What must the father do for his meals when a son roasts three bhutas +for sweetmeats?" + +So they at once took to their heels. Then going to the brother they +had jeered at, they said to him that indeed the kutas were their +greatest enemies, and that none of their lives were safe while they +remained where they were, as on that very evening the son of a kuta +had roasted three of them for sweetmeats. They therefore all resolved +to fly away to the adjoining forest, and disappeared accordingly. Thus +Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth saved himself and his friend on two occasions +from the bhutas. + +The friends after this went out one day to an adjoining village and +were returning home rather late in the evening. Darkness fell on them +before half the way was traversed, and there lay before them a dense +wood infested by beasts of prey: so they resolved to spend the night in +a high tree and go home next morning, and accordingly got up into a big +pipal. Now this was the very wood into which the bhutas had migrated, +and at midnight they all came down with torches to catch jackals +and other animals to feast upon. The fear of Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands +may be more imagined than described. The dreaded bhutas were at the +foot of the very tree in which he had taken up his abode for the +night! His hands trembled. His body shook. He lost his hold, and down +he came with a horrible rustling of leaves. His friend, however, was, +as usual, ready with a device, and bawled out: + +"I wished to leave these poor beings to their own revelry. But you +are hungry and must needs jump down to catch some of them. Do not +fail to lay your hands on the stoutest bhuta." + +The goblins heard the voice which was already very familiar to their +ears, for was it not the kuta whose son had roasted up three bhutas +for sweetmeats that spoke? So they ran away at once, crying out: + +"Alas, what misery! Our bitter enemies have followed us even to +this wood!" + +Thus the wit of Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth saved himself and his friend +for the third time. + +The sun began to rise, and Mr. Mighty-of-his-hands thrice walked +round Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth and said: + +"My dear friend, truly you only of us two are mighty. Mere physical +strength is of no use without skill in words. The latter is far +superior to the former, and if a man possess both, he is, as it were, +a golden lotus having a sweet scent. It is enough for me now to have +arrived at this moral! With your kind permission I shall return to +my village." Mr. Mighty-of-his-mouth asked his friend not to consider +himself under any obligation, and, after honouring him as became his +position he let him return to his village. + +The moral of this short story is that in man there is nothing great +but mind. + + + + + + + +VIII. + +THE MOTHER-IN-LAW BECAME AN ASS. + + +Little by little the mother-in-law became an ass--vara vara mami +kaludai pol anal, is a proverb among the Tamils, applied to those +who day by day go downwards in their progress in study, position, +or life, and based on the following story:-- + +In a certain village their lived a Brahman with his wife, mother, +and mother-in-law. He was a very good man, and equally kind to all +of them. His mother complained of nothing at his hands, but his wife +was a very bad-tempered woman, and always troubled her mother-in-law +by keeping her engaged in this work or that throughout the day, and +giving her very little food in the evening. Owing to this the poor +Brahman's mother was almost dying of misery. On the other hand, her +own mother received very kind treatment, of course, at her daughter's +hands, but the husband was so completely ruled by his wife, that he +had no strength of mind to oppose her ill-treatment of his mother. + +One evening, just before sunset, the wife abused her mother-in-law with +such fury, that the latter had to fly away to escape a thrashing. Full +of misery she ran out of the village, but the sun had begun to set, +and the darkness of night was fast overtaking her. So finding a ruined +temple she entered it to pass the night there. It happened to be +the abode of the village Kali (goddess), who used to come out every +night at midnight to inspect her village. That night she perceived a +woman--the mother of the poor Brahman--lurking within her prakaras +(boundaries), and being a most benevolent Kali, called out to her, +and asked her what made her so miserable that she should leave her +home on such a dark night. The Brahmani told her story in a few +words, and while she was speaking the cunning goddess was using her +supernatural powers to see whether all she said was true or not, and +finding it to be the truth, she thus replied in very soothing tones:-- + +"I pity your misery, mother, because your daughter-in-law troubles +and vexes you thus when you have become old, and have no strength +in your body. Now take this mango," and taking a ripe one from out +her waist-band, she gave it to the old Brahmani with a smiling +face--"eat it, and you will soon become a young woman like your +own daughter-in-law, and then she shall no longer trouble you." Thus +consoling the afflicted old woman, the kind-hearted Kali went away. The +Brahmani lingered for the remainder of the night in the temple, and +being a fond mother she did not like to eat the whole of the mango +without giving a portion of it to her son. + +Meanwhile, when her son returned home in the evening he found his +mother absent, but his wife explained the matter to him, so as to throw +the blame on the old woman, as she always did. As it was dark he had no +chance of going out to search for her, so he waited for the daylight, +and as soon as he saw the dawn, started to look for his mother. He +had not walked far when to his joy he found her in the temple of Kali. + +"How did you pass the cold night, my dearest mother?" said he. "What +did you have for dinner? Wretch that I am to have got myself married +to a cur. Forget all her faults, and return home." + +His mother shed tears of joy and sorrow, and related her previous +night's adventure, upon which he said:-- + +"Delay not even one nimisha (minute), but eat this fruit at once. I +do not want any of it. Only if you become young and strong enough to +stand that nasty cur's troubles, well and good." + +So the mother ate up the divine fruit, and the son took her upon his +shoulders and brought her home, on reaching which he placed her on the +ground, when to his joy she was no longer an old woman, but a young +girl of sixteen, and stronger than his own wife. The troublesome +wife was now totally put down, and was powerless against so strong +a mother-in-law. + +She did not at all like the change, and having to give up her habits +of bullying, and so she argued to herself thus:-- + +"This jade of a mother-in-law became young through the fruit of the +Kali, why should not my mother also do the same, if I instruct her +and send her to the same temple." + +So she instructed her mother as to the story she ought to give to +the goddess and sent her there. Her old mother, agreeably to her +daughter's injunctions, went to the temple, and on meeting with the +goddess at midnight, gave a false story that she was being greatly +ill-treated by her daughter-in-law, though, in truth, she had nothing +of the kind to complain of. The goddess perceived the lie through her +divine powers, but pretending to pity her, gave her also a fruit. Her +daughter had instructed her not to eat it till next morning, and till +she saw her son-in-law. + +As soon as morning approached, the poor hen-pecked Brahman was ordered +by his wife to go to the temple and fetch his mother-in-law, as he +had some time back fetched away his mother. He accordingly went, and +invited her to come home. She wanted him to eat part of the fruit, as +she had been instructed, but he refused, and so she swallowed it all, +fully expecting to become young again on reaching home. Meanwhile her +son-in-law took her on his shoulders and returned home, expecting, +as his former experience had taught him, to see his mother-in-law +also turn into a young woman. Anxiety to see how the change came on +over-came him, and half way he turned his head, and found such part +of the burden on his shoulders as he could see, to be like parts of an +ass, but he took this to be a mere preliminary stage towards youthful +womanhood! Again he turned, and again he saw the same thing several +times, and the more he looked the more his burden became like an ass, +till at last when he reached home, his burden jumped down braying +like an ass and ran away. + +Thus the Kali, perceiving the evil intentions of the wife, disappointed +her by turning her mother into an ass, but no one knew of it till +she actually jumped down from the shoulders of her son-in-law. + +This story is always cited as the explanation of the proverb +quoted above--vara vara mami kaludai pol anal--little by little +the mother-in-law became an ass, to which is also commonly added ur +varumbodu ulaiyida talaippattal--and as she approached the village, +she began to bray. + + + + + + + +IX. + +The Story of Appayya. [55] + + Apupena hatah chorah + Hata khadgona kesari + Turamgena hatam sainyam + Vidhirbhagyanu sarini + + +In a remote village there lived a poor Brahman and his wife. Though +several years of their wedded life had passed, they unfortunately had +no children, and so, being very eager for a child, and having no hope +of one by his first wife, the poor Brahman made up his mind to marry +a second. His wife would not permit it for some time, but finding +her husband resolved, she gave way, thinking within herself that she +would manage somehow to do away with the second wife. As soon as he +had got her consent the Brahman arranged for his second marriage and +wedded a beautiful Brahman girl. She went to live with him in the same +house with the first wife, who, thinking that she would be making the +world suspicious if she did anything suddenly, waited for some time. + +Isvara himself seemed to favour the new marriage, and the second wife, +a year after her wedding, becoming pregnant, went in the sixth month of +her pregnancy to her mother's house for her confinement. Her husband +bore his separation from her patiently for a fortnight, but after +this the desire to see her again began to prey upon his mind, and +he was always asking his first wife when he ought to go to her. She +seemed to sympathise fully with his trouble, and said:-- + +"My dearest husband, your health is daily being injured, and I am glad +that your love for her has not made it worse than it is. To-morrow +you must start on a visit to her. It is said that we should not go +empty-handed to children, a king, or a pregnant woman; so I shall +give you one hundred apupa cakes, packed up separately in a vessel, +which you must give to her. You are very fond of apupas and I fear +that you will eat some of them on the way; but you had better not do +so. And I will give you some cakes packed in a cloth separately for +you to eat on your journey." + +So the first wife spent the whole night in preparing the apupa cakes, +and mixed poison in the sugar and rice-flour of those she made for +her co-wife and rival; but as she entertained no enmity against her +husband the apupas cakes for him were properly prepared. By the time +the morning dawned she had packed up the hundred apupas in a brass +vessel which could be easily carried on a man's head. + +After a light breakfast--for a heavy one is always bad before a +journey on foot--the Brahman placed the brass vessel on his head, +and holding in his hand the kerchief containing the food for himself +on the way, started for the village of his second wife, which happened +to be at a distance of two days' journey. He walked in hot haste till +evening approached, and when the darkness of night overtook him the +rapidity of his walk had exhausted him, and he felt very hungry. He +espied a wayside shed and a tank near his path, and entered the water +to perform his evening ablution to the god of the day, who was fast +going down below the horizon. As soon as this was over he untied his +kerchief, and did full justice to its contents by swallowing every cake +whole. He then drank some water, and being quite overcome by fatigue, +fell into a deep slumber in the shed, with his brass vessel and its +sweet, or rather poisonous, contents under his head. + +Close by the spot where the Brahman slept there reigned a famous +king who had a very beautiful daughter. Several persons demanded her +hand in marriage, among whom was a robber chieftain who wanted her +for his only son. Though the king liked the boy for his beauty, the +thought that he was only a robber for all that prevented him from +making up his mind to give his daughter in marriage to him. The +robber chief, however, was determined to have his own way, and +accordingly despatched one hundred of his band to fetch away the +princess in the night without her knowledge while she was sleeping, +to his palace in the woods. In obedience to their chieftain's order +the robbers, on the night the Brahman happened to sleep in the shed, +entered the king's palace and stole away the princess, together with +the bed on which she was sleeping. On reaching the shed the hundred +robbers found themselves very thirsty--for being awake at midnight +always brings on thirst. So they placed the cot on the ground and +were entering the water to quench their thirst; just then they +smelt the apupa cakes, which, for all that they contained poison, +had a very sweet savour. The robbers searched about the shed, and +found the Brahman sleeping on one side and the brass vessel lying at +a distance from him, for he had pushed it from underneath his head +when he had stretched himself in his sleep; they opened the vessel, +and to their joy found in it exactly one hundred apupa cakes. + +"We have one here for each of us, and that is something better than +mere water. Let us each eat before we go into it," said the leader +of the gang, and at once each man swallowed greedily what he had in +his hand, and immediately all fell down dead. Lucky it was that no +one knew of the old Brahmani's trick. Had the robbers had any reason +to suspect it they would never have eaten the cakes; had the Brahman +known it he would never have brought them with him for his dear second +wife. Lucky was it for the poor old Brahman and his second wife, +and lucky was it for the sleeping princess, that these cakes went, +after all, into the stomachs of the villainous robbers! + +After sleeping his fill the Brahman, who had been dreaming of his +second wife all night, awoke in haste to pursue the remainder of his +journey to her house. He could not find his brass vessel, but near the +place where he had left it he found several men of the woods, whom +he knew very well by their appearance to be robbers, as he thought, +sleeping. Angered at the loss of his vessel he took up a sword from +one of the dead robbers and cut off all their heads, thinking all +the while that he was killing one hundred living robbers, who were +sleeping after having eaten all his cakes. Presently the princess's +cot fell under his gaze, and he approached it and found on it a most +beautiful lady fast asleep. Being an intelligent man he perceived that +the persons whose heads he had cut off must have been some thieves, +or other wicked men, who had carried her off. He was not long in doubt, +for not far off he saw an army marching up rapidly with a king at its +head, who was saying, "Down with the robber who has stolen away my +daughter." The Brahman at once inferred that this must be the father +of the sleeping princess, and suddenly waking her up from her sleep +spoke thus to her:-- + +"Behold before you the hundred robbers that brought you here a few +hours ago from your palace. I fought one and all of them single-handed, +and have killed them all." + +The princess was highly pleased at what she heard, for she knew of +all the tricks the robbers had previously played to carry her off. So +she fell reverently at the Brahman's feet and said:-- + +"Friend, never till now have I heard of a warrior who, single-handed, +fought one hundred robbers. Your valour is unparalleled. I will be +your wife, if only in remembrance of your having saved me from falling +into the hands of these ruffians." + +Her father and his army was now near the shed, for he had all along +watched the conduct of the robber chieftain, and as soon as the +maid-servants of the palace informed him of the disappearance of the +princess and her bed, he marched straight with his soldiers for the +woods. His joy, when he saw his daughter safe, knew no bounds, and +he flew into his daughter's arms, while she pointed to the Brahman +as her preserver. The king now put a thousand questions to our hero, +who, being well versed in matters of fighting, gave sound replies, and +so came successfully out of his first adventure. The king, astonished +at his valour, took him to his palace, and rewarded him with the hand +of the princess. And the robber chieftain, fearing the new son-in-law, +who, single-handed, had killed a hundred of his robbers, never troubled +himself about the princess. Thus the Brahman's first adventure ended +in making him son-in-law to a king! + +Now there lived a lioness in a wood near the princess's country, +who had a great taste for human flesh, and so, once a week, the king +used to send a man into the wood to serve as her prey. All the people +now collected together before the king, and said:-- + +"Most honoured king, while you have a son-in-law who killed one hundred +robbers with his sword, why should you continue to send a man into +the wood every week. We request you to send your son-in-law next week +to the wood and have the lioness killed." + +This seemed most reasonable to the king, who called for his son-in-law, +and sent him, armed to the teeth, into the wood. + +Now our Brahman could not refuse to go, for fear of losing the fame +of his former exploit, and, hoping that fortune would favour him, he +asked his father-in-law to have him hoisted up into a big banyan tree +with all kinds of weapons, and this was done. The appointed time for +the lioness to eat her prey approached, and as she saw no one coming +for her, and as sometimes those that had to come used to linger for +a short time in the tree in which the Brahman had taken refuge, she +went up to it to see that no such trick has been played upon her this +time. This made the Brahman tremble so violently that he dropped the +sword he held in his hand. At that very moment the lioness happened +to yawn, and the sword dropped right into her jaws and killed her. As +soon as the Brahman saw the course which events had taken, he came +down from the tree, and invented a thousand stories of how he had +given battle to the terrible lioness and overcome her. This exploit +fully established his valour, and feasts and rejoicings in honour of +it followed, and the whole country round blessed the son-in-law of +their king. + +Near this kingdom there also reigned a powerful emperor, who levied +tribute from all the surrounding countries. To this emperor the +father-in-law of our most valorous Brahman, who, at one stroke, +had killed one hundred robbers, and, at another, a fierce lioness, +had also to pay a certain amount of tribute; but, trusting to the +power of his son-in-law, he stopped the tribute to the emperor, who, +by the way, was named Appayya Raja, and who, as soon as the tribute +was stopped, invaded his dominions, and his father-in-law besought +the Brahman for assistance. + +Again the poor Brahman could not refuse, for, if he did, all his +former fame would have been lost; so he determined to undertake +this adventure also, and to trust to fortune rather than give up the +attempt. He asked for the best horse and the sharpest sword, and set +out to fight the enemy, who had already encamped on the other side +of the river, which flowed at a short distance to the east of the town. + +Now the king had a very unruly horse, which had never been broken in, +and this he gave his son-in-law; and, supplying him with a sharp sword, +asked him to start. The Brahman then asked the king's servants to +tie him up with cotton strings tight on to the saddle, and set out +on the expedition. + +The horse, having never till then felt a man on its back, began to +gallop most furiously, and flew onwards so fast that all who saw it +thought the rider must lose his life, and he too was almost dead +with fear. He tried his best to curb his steed, but the more he +pulled the faster it galloped, till giving up all hopes of life he +let it take its course. It jumped into the water and swam across to +the other side of the river, wetting the cotton cords by which the +Brahman was tied down to the saddle, making them swell and giving +him the most excruciating pain. He bore it, however, with all the +patience imaginable. Presently the horse reached the other side +of the river, where there was a big palmyra tree, which a recent +flood had left almost uprooted and ready to fall at the slightest +touch. The Brahman, unable to stop the course of the horse, held +fast on to the tree, hoping thus to check its wild career. But +unfortunately for him the tree gave way, and the steed galloped on +so furiously that he did not know which was the safer--to leave the +tree or to hold on to it. Meanwhile the wet cotton cords hurt him so +that he, in the hopelessness of despair, bawled out appa! ayya! [56] +On went his steed, and still he held on to the palmyra tree. Though +now fighting for his own life, the people that were watching him +from a great distance thought him to be flying to the battlefield, +armed with a palmyra tree! The cry of lamentation, appa ayya, which he +uttered, his enemy mistook for a challenge, because, as we know, his +name happened to be Appayya. Horror-struck at the sight of a warrior +armed with a huge tree, his enemy turned and fled. Yatha raja tatha +prajah--"As is the king so are the subjects,"--and accordingly his +followers also fled. The Brahman warrior (!) seeing the fortunate +course events had again taken pursued the enemy, or rather let his +courser have its own furious way. Thus the enemy and his vast army +melted away in the twinkling of an eye, and the horse, too, when it +became exhausted, returned towards the palace. + +The old king had been watching from the loftiest rooms of his palace +all that had passed on the other side of the river, and believing his +son-in-law had, by his own prowess, driven out the enemy, approached +him with all pomp. Eager hands quickly cut the knots by which the +victorious (!) Brahman had been held tight in his saddle, and his old +father-in-law with tears of joy embraced him on his victory, saying +that the whole kingdom was indebted to him. A splendid triumphal +march was conducted, in which the eyes of the whole town were directed +towards our victorious hero. + +Thus, on three different occasions, and in three different adventures, +fortune favoured the poor Brahman and brought him fame. He then sent +for his two former wives and took them into his palace. His second +wife, who was pregnant when he first started with the apupa cakes to +see her, had given birth to a male child, who was, when she came back +to him, more than a year old. The first wife confessed to her husband +her sin of having given him poisoned cakes, and craved his pardon; +and it was only now that he came to know that the hundred robbers he +killed in his first adventure were all really dead men, and that they +must have died from the effects of the poison in the cakes, and, since +her treachery had given him a new start in life, he forgave her. She, +too, gave up her enmity to the partners of her husband's bed, and +all the four lived in peace and plenty for many a long day afterwards. + + + + + + + +X. + +THE BRAHMIN GIRL THAT MARRIED A TIGER. + + +In a certain village there lived an old Brahmin who had three sons and +a daughter. The girl being the youngest was brought up most tenderly +and became spoilt, and so whenever she saw a beautiful boy she would +say to her parents that she must be wedded to him. Her parents were, +therefore, much put about to devise excuses for taking her away from +her youthful lovers. Thus passed on some years, till the girl was +very nearly grown up, and then the parents, fearing that they would +be driven out of their caste if they failed to dispose of her hand +in marriage before she came to the years of maturity, began to be +eager about finding a bridegroom for her. + +Now near their village there lived a fierce tiger, that had attained to +great proficiency in the art of magic, and had the power of assuming +different forms. Having a great taste for Brahmin's food, the tiger +used now and then to frequent temples and other places of public +refreshment in the shape of an old famished Brahmin in order to share +the food prepared for the Brahmins. The tiger also wanted, if possible, +a Brahmin wife to take to the woods, and there to make her cook his +meals after her fashion. One day, when he was partaking of his meals +in Brahmin shape at a satra [57], he heard the talk about the Brahmin +girl who was always falling in love with every beautiful Brahmin boy. + +Said he to himself, "Praised be the face that I saw first this +morning. I shall assume the shape of a Brahmin boy, and appear as +beautiful can be, and win the heart of the girl." + +Next morning he accordingly became in the form of a great Sastrin +(proficient in the Ramayana) and took his seat near the ghat of the +sacred river of the village. Scattering holy ashes profusely over +his body he opened the Ramayana and began to read. + +"The voice of the new Sastrin is most enchanting. Let us go and hear +him," said some women among themselves, and sat down before him to +hear him expound the great book. The girl for whom the tiger had +assumed this shape came in due time to bathe at the river, and as +soon as she saw the new Sastrin fell in love with him, and bothered +her old mother to speak to her father about him, so as not to lose +her new lover. The old woman too was delighted at the bridegroom +whom fortune had thrown in her way, and ran home to her husband, +who, when he came and saw the Sastrin, raised up his hands in praise +of the great god Mahesvara. The Sastrin was now invited to take his +meals with them, and as he had come with the express intention of +marrying the daughter, he, of course, agreed. + +A grand dinner followed in honour of the Sastrin, and his host began +to question him as to his parentage, &c., to which the cunning +tiger replied that he was born in a village beyond the adjacent +wood. The Brahmin had no time to wait for further enquiries, and as +the boy was very fair he married his daughter to him the very next +day. Feasts followed for a month, during which time the bridegroom +gave every satisfaction to his new relatives, who supposed him to be +human all the while. He also did full justice to the Brahmin dishes, +and swallowed everything that was placed before him. + +After the first month was over the tiger-bridegroom bethought him of +his accustomed prey, and hankered after his abode in the woods. A +change of diet for a day or two is all very well, but to renounce +his own proper food for more than a month was hard. So one day he +said to his father-in-law, "I must go back soon to my old parents, +for they will be pining at my absence. But why should we have to +bear the double expense of my coming all the way here again to take +my wife to my village? So if you will kindly let me take the girl +with me I shall take her to her future home, and hand her over to +her mother-in-law, and see that she is well taken care of." + +The old Brahmin agreed to this, and replied, "My dear son-in-law, +you are her husband, and she is yours, and we now send her with you, +though it is like sending her into the wilderness with her eyes tied +up. But as we take you to be everything to her, we trust you to treat +her kindly." + +The mother of the bride shed tears at the idea of having to send her +away, but nevertheless the very next day was fixed for the journey. The +old woman spent the whole day in preparing cakes and sweetmeats for +her daughter, and when the time for the journey arrived, she took care +to place in her bundles and on her head one or two margosa [58] leaves +to keep off demons. The relatives of the bride requested her husband +to allow her to rest wherever she found shade, and to eat wherever she +found water, and to this he agreed, and so they began their journey. + +The boy tiger and his human wife pursued their journey for two or +three ghatikas [59] in free and pleasant conversation, when the girl +happened to see a fine pond, round which the birds were warbling their +sweet notes. She requested her husband to follow her to the water's +edge and to partake of some of the cakes and sweetmeats with her. + +But he replied, "Be quiet, or I shall show you my original shape." + +This made her afraid, so she pursued her journey in silence until she +saw another pond, when she asked the same question of her husband, +who replied in the same tone. + +Now she was very hungry, and not liking her husband's tone, which +she found had greatly changed ever since they had entered the woods, +said to him, + +"Show me your original shape." + +No sooner were these words uttered than her husband's form changed +from that of a man. Four legs, striped skin, a long tail, and a +tiger's face came over him suddenly and, horror of horrors! a tiger +and not a man stood before her! Nor were her fears stilled when the +tiger in human voice began as follows:-- + +"Know henceforth that I, your husband, am a tiger--this very tiger +that now speaks to you. If you have any regard for your life you must +obey all my orders implicitly, for I can speak to you in human voice, +and understand what you say. In a couple of ghatikas we shall reach +my home, of which you will become the mistress. In the front of my +house you will see half-a-dozen tubs, each of which you must fill up +daily with some dish or other, cooked in your own way. I shall take +care to supply you with all the provisions you want." So saying the +tiger slowly conducted her to his house. + +The misery of the girl may more be imagined than described, for if +she were to object she would be put to death. So, weeping all the +way, she reached her husband's house. Leaving her there he went out +and returned with several pumpkins and some flesh, of which she soon +prepared a curry and gave it to her husband. He went out again after +this and returned in the evening with several vegetables and some +more flesh, and gave her an order:-- + +"Every morning I shall go out in search of provisions and prey, +and bring something with me on my return; you must keep cooked for +me whatever I leave in the house." + +So next morning as soon as the tiger had gone away she cooked +everything left in the house and filled all the tubs with food. At +the tenth ghatika the tiger returned and growled out, + +"I smell a man! I smell a woman in my wood." And his wife for very +fear shut herself up in the house. + +As soon as the tiger had satisfied his appetite he told her to open +the door, which she did, and they talked together for a time, after +which the tiger rested awhile, and then went out hunting again. Thus +passed many a day, till the tiger's Brahmin wife had a son, which +also turned out to be only a tiger. + +One day, after the tiger had gone out to the woods, his wife was +crying all alone in the house, when a crow happened to peck at some +rice that was scattered near her, and seeing the girl crying, began +to shed tears. + +"Can you assist me?" asked the girl. + +"Yes," said the crow. + +So she brought out a palmyra leaf and wrote on it with an iron nail +all her sufferings in the wood, and requested her brothers to come +and relieve her. This palmyra leaf she tied to the neck of the crow, +which, seeming to understand her thoughts, flew to her village and +sat down before one of her brothers. He untied the leaf and read the +contents of the letter and told them to his other brothers. All the +three then started for the wood, asking their mother to give them +something to eat on the way. She had not enough rice for the three, +so she made a big ball of clay and stuck it over with what rice she +had, so as to make it look like a ball of rice. This she gave to the +brothers to eat on their way, and started them off to the woods. + +They had not proceeded long before they espied an ass. The youngest, +who was of a playful disposition, wished to take the ass with him. The +two elder brothers objected to this for a time, but in the end they +allowed him to have his own way. Further on they saw an ant, which +the middle brother took with him. Near the ant there was a big palmyra +tree lying on the ground, which the eldest took with him to keep off +the tiger. + +The sun was now high in the horizon and the three brothers became very +hungry. So they sat down near a tank and opened the bundle containing +the ball of rice. To their utter disappointment they found it to be +all clay, but being extremely hungry they drank all the water in the +pond and continued their journey. On leaving the tank they found a big +iron tub belonging to the washerman of the adjacent village. This they +took also with them in addition to the ass, the ant, and the palmyra +tree. Following the road described by their sister in her letter sent +by the crow, they walked on and on till they reached the tiger's house. + +The sister, overjoyed to see her brothers again, ran out at once to +welcome them. + +"My dearest brothers, I am so glad to see that you have come here +to relieve me after all, but the time for the tiger's coming home is +approaching, so hide yourselves in the loft, and wait till he is gone." + +So saying, she helped her brothers to ascend into the loft. By this +time the tiger returned, and perceived the presence of human beings +by the peculiar smell. He asked his wife whether any one had come to +their house. She said, "No." But when the brothers, who with their +trophies of the way--the ass, the ant, and so on--were sitting upon +the loft, saw the tiger dallying with their sister, they were greatly +frightened; so much so that the youngest, through fear, began to quake, +and they all fell on the floor. + +"What is all this?" said the terrified tiger to his wife. + +"Nothing," said she, "but your brothers-in-law. They came here a watch +[60] ago, and as soon as you have finished your meals they want to +see you." + +"How can my brothers-in-law be such cowards," thought the tiger +to himself. + +He then asked them to speak to him, whereon the youngest brother put +the ant which he had in his hand into the ear of the ass, and as soon +as the latter was bitten, it began to bawl out most horribly. + +"How is it that your brothers have such a hoarse voice?" said the +tiger to his wife. + +He next asked them to show him their legs. Taking courage at the +stupidity of the tiger on the two former occasions, the eldest brother +now stretched out the palmyra tree. + +"By my father, I have never seen such a leg," said the tiger, and +asked his brothers-in-law to show their bellies. The second brother +now showed the tub, at which the tiger shuddered, and saying, "such +a harsh voice, so stout a leg, and such a belly, truly I have never +heard of such persons as these!" He ran away. + +It was already dark, and the brothers, wishing to take advantage +of the tiger's terror, prepared to return home with their sister +at once. They ate up what little food she had, and ordered her to +start. Fortunately for her her tiger-child was asleep. So she tore it +into two pieces and suspended them over the hearth, and, thus getting +rid of the child, she ran off with her brothers towards home. + +Before leaving she bolted the front door from inside, and went out +at the back of the house. As soon as the pieces of the cub, which +were hung up over the hearth, began to roast, they dripped, which +made the fire hiss and sputter; and when the tiger returned at about +midnight, he found the door shut and heard the hissing of the fire, +which he mistook for the noise of cooking muffins. [61] + +"I see," said he to himself, "how very cunning you are; you have +bolted the door and are cooking muffins for your brothers. Let us +see if we can't get your muffins." + +So saying he went round to the back door and entered his house, and +was greatly perplexed to find his cub torn in two and being roasted, +his house deserted by his Brahmin wife, and his property plundered; +for his wife, before leaving, had taken with her as much of the +tiger's property as she could conveniently carry. + +The tiger now discovered all the treachery of his wife, and his heart +grieved for the loss of his son, that was now no more. He determined +to be revenged on his wife, and to bring her back into the wood, and +there tear her into many pieces in place of only two. But how to bring +her back? He assumed his original shape of a young bridegroom, making, +of course, due allowance for the number of years that had passed since +his marriage, and next morning went to his father-in-law's house. His +brothers-in-law and his wife saw from a distance the deceitful form +he had assumed, and devised means to kill him. Meanwhile the tiger +Brahmin approached his father-in-law's house, and the old people +welcomed him. The younger ones too ran here and there to bring +provisions to feed him sumptuously, and the tiger was highly pleased +at the hospitable way in which he was received. + +There was a ruined well at the back of the house, and the eldest of +the brothers placed some thin sticks across its mouth, over which +he spread a fine mat. Now it is usual to ask guests to have an oil +bath before dinner, and so his three brothers-in-law requested the +tiger to take his seat on the fine mat for his bath. As soon as he +sat on it, the thin sticks being unable to bear his weight, gave way, +and down fell the cunning tiger with a heavy crash! The well was at +once filled in with stones and other rubbish, and thus the tiger was +effectually prevented from doing any more mischief. + +But the Brahmin girl, in memory of her having married a tiger, raised +a pillar over the well and planted a tulasi [62] shrub on the top of +it. Morning and evening, for the rest of her life, she used to smear +the pillar with sacred cowdung, and water the tulasi shrub. + +This story is told to explain the Tamil proverb, "Summa irukkiraya, +suruvattai kattattuma," which means-- + +"Be quiet, or I shall show you my original shape." + + + + + + + +XI. + +THE GOOD HUSBAND AND THE BAD WIFE. + + +In a remote village there lived a Brahmin whose good nature and +charitable disposition were proverbial. Equally proverbial also were +the ill-nature and uncharitable disposition of the Brahmani--his +wife. But as Paramesvara (God) had joined them in matrimony, they +had to live together as husband and wife, though their temperaments +were so incompatible. Every day the Brahmin had a taste of his wife's +ill-temper, and if any other Brahmin was invited to dinner by him, +his wife, somehow or other, would manage to drive him away. + +One fine summer morning a rather stupid Brahmin friend of his came +to visit our hero and was at once invited to dinner. He told his +wife to have dinner ready earlier than usual, and went off to the +river to bathe. His friend not feeling very well that day wanted a +hot bath at the house, and so did not follow him to the river, but +remained sitting in the outer verandah. If any other guest had come, +the wife would have accused him of greediness to his face and sent +him away, but this visitor seemed to be a special friend of her lord, +so she did not like to say anything; but she devised a plan to make +him go away of his own accord. + +She proceeded to smear the ground before her husband's friend with +cowdung, and placed in the midst of it a long pestle, supporting +one end of it against the wall. She next approached the pestle most +solemnly and performed worship (puja) to it. The guest did not in the +least understand what she was doing, and respectfully asked her what +it all meant. + +"This is what is called pestle worship," she replied. "I do it as a +daily duty, and this pestle is intended to break the head of some human +being in honour of a goddess, whose feet are most devoutly worshipped +by my husband. Every day as soon as he returns from his bath in the +river, he takes this pestle, which I am ordered to keep ready for him +before his return, and with it breaks the head of any human being +whom he has managed to get hold of by inviting him to a meal. This +is his tribute (dakshina) to the goddess; to-day you are the victim." + +The guest was much alarmed. + +"What! break the head of a guest! I at any rate shall not be deceived +to-day," thought he, and prepared to run away. + +The Brahmin's wife appeared to sympathise with his sad plight, +and said:-- + +"Really, I do pity you. But there is one thing you can do now to save +yourself. If you go out by the front door and walk down the street +my husband may follow you, so you had better go out by the back door." + +To this plan the guest most thankfully agreed, and hastily ran off +by the back door. + +Almost immediately our hero returned from his bath, but before he +could arrive his wife had cleaned up the place she had prepared for +the pestle worship, and when the Brahmin, not finding his friend in +the house inquired of her as to what had become of him, she said in +seeming anger:-- + +"The greedy brute! he wanted me to give him this pestle--this very +pestle which I brought forty years ago as a dowry from my mother's +house, and when I refused he ran away by the back-yard in haste." + +But her kind-hearted lord observed that he would rather lose the +pestle than his guest, even though it was a part of his wife's dowry, +and more than forty years old. So he ran off with the pestle in his +hand after his friend, crying out, + +"Oh Brahmin! Oh Brahmin! Stop please, and take the pestle." + +But the story told by the old woman now seemed all the more true to +the guest when he saw her husband running after him, and so he said, + +"You and your pestle may go where you please. Never more will you +catch me in your house," and ran away. + + + + + + + +XII. + +THE GOOD WIFE AND THE BAD HUSBAND. [63] + + +In a remote village there lived a man and his wife, who was a stupid +little woman and believed everything that was told her. Whenever +people wanted anything from her they used to come and flatter her; +but this had to be done in the absence of her husband, because he +was a very miserly man, and would never part with any of his money, +for all he was exceedingly rich. Nevertheless, without his knowledge +cunning beggars would now and then come to his wife and beg of her, and +they used generally to succeed, as she was so amenable to flattery. But +whenever her husband found her out he would come down heavily upon her, +sometimes with words and sometimes with blows. Thus quarrels arose, +till at last, for the sake of peace, the wife had to give up her +charitable propensities. + +Now there lived in the village a rogue of the first water, who had many +a time witnessed what took place in the rich miser's family. Wishing +to revive his old habit of getting what he wanted from the miser's +wife he watched his opportunity and one day, when the miser had gone +out on horseback to inspect his land, he came to his wife in the +middle of the day and fell down at the threshold as if overcome by +exhaustion. She ran up to him at once and asked him who he was. + +"I am a native of Kailasa," said he, "sent down by an old couple +living there, for news of their son and his wife." + +"Who are those fortunate dwellers on Siva's mountain?" said she. + +On this the rogue gave the names of her husband's deceased parents, +which he had taken good care, of course, to learn from the neighbours. + +"Do you really come from them?" said she. "Are they doing well +there? Dear old people. How glad my husband would be to see you, were +he here! Sit down please, and take rest awhile till he returns. How +do they live there? Have they enough to eat and to dress themselves?" + +These and a thousand other questions she put to the rogue, who, for +his part, wanted to get away as quick as possible, as he knew full +well how he would be treated if the miser should return while he was +there, so he said:-- + +"Mother, language has no words to describe the miseries they are +undergoing in the other world. They have not a rag to cover themselves, +and for the last six days they have eaten nothing, and have lived on +water only. It would break your heart to see them." + +The rogue's pathetic words fully deceived the good woman, who firmly +believed that he had come down from Kailasa, sent by the old couple +to her. + +"Why should they suffer so?" said she, "when their son has plenty to +eat and to dress himself, and when their daughter-in-law wears all +sorts of costly ornaments?" + +With that she went into the house and came out with two boxes +containing all the clothes of herself and her husband, and gave +the whole lot to the rogue, with instructions to take them to her +poor old people in Kailasa. She also gave him her jewel box for her +mother-in-law. + +"But dress and jewels will not fill their hungry stomachs," said he. + +Requesting him to wait a little, the silly woman brought out her +husband's cash chest and emptied the contents into the rogue's coat, +[64] who now went off in haste, promising to give everything to the +good people in Kailasa. Our good lady in accordance with etiquette, +conducted him a few hundred yards along the road and sent news of +herself through him to her relatives, and then returned home. The +rogue now tied up all his booty in his coat and ran in haste towards +the river and crossed over it. + +No sooner had our heroine reached home than her husband returned +after his inspection of his lands. Her pleasure at what she had done +was so great, that she met him at the door and told him all about the +arrival of the messenger from Kailasa, and how she had sent clothes, +and jewels, and money through him to her husband's parents. The anger +of her husband knew no bounds. But he checked himself for a while, +and asked her which road the messenger from Kailasa had taken, as he +said he wanted to follow him and send some more news to his parents. To +this she willingly agreed and pointed out the direction the rogue had +gone. With rage in his heart at the trick played upon his stupid wife, +our hero rode on in hot haste, and after a ride of two ghatikas he +caught sight of the departing rogue, who, finding escape hopeless, +climbed up into a big pipal tree. Our hero soon reached the bottom +of the tree and shouted to the rogue to come down. + +"No, I cannot, this is the way to Kailasa," said the rogue, and +climbed up on the top of the tree. + +Seeing no chance of the rogue's coming down, and as there was no +third person present to whom he could call for help, our hero tied +his horse to an adjacent tree and began climbing up the pipal tree +himself. The rogue thanked all his gods when he saw this, and waited +till his enemy had climbed nearly up to him, and then, throwing down +his bundle of booty, leapt quickly from branch to branch till he +reached the bottom. He then got upon his enemy's horse, and with his +bundle rode into a dense forest in which no one was likely to find him. + +Our hero being much older in years was no match for the rogue. So +he slowly came down, and cursing his stupidity in having risked his +horse to recover his property, returned home at his leisure. His wife, +who was waiting his arrival, welcomed him with a cheerful countenance +and said:-- + +"I thought as much, you have sent away your horse to Kailasa to be +used by your father." + +Vexed as he was at his wife's words, our hero replied in the +affirmative to conceal his own stupidity. + +Thus, some there are in this world, who, though they may not willingly +give away anything, pretend to have done so when, by accident, or +stupidity, they happen to lose it. + + + + + + + +XIII. + +THE LOST CAMEL AND OTHER TALES. + + +FIRST PART. + +There was a city called Alakapuri, famous for all the riches that +sea and land can yield, and inhabited by people speaking different +languages. In that city reigned a king named Alakesa, who was a +storehouse of all excellent qualities. He was so just a king that +during his reign the cow and the tiger amicably quenched their thirst +side by side in the same pond, the cats and the rats sported in one +and the same spot, and the kite and the parrot laid their eggs in the +same nest, as though they were "birds of a feather." [65] The women +never deviated from the path of virtue, and regarded their husbands +as gods. Timely rain refreshed the soil, and all Alakesa's subjects +lived in plenty and happiness. In short, Alakesa was the body, and +his subjects the soul of that body, for he was upright in all things. + +Now there was in Alakapuri a rich merchant who lost a camel one day. He +searched for it without success in all directions, and at last reached +a road which he was informed led to another city, called Mathurapuri, +the king of which was named Mathuresa. He had under him four excellent +ministers, whose names were Bodhaditya, Bodhachandra, Bodhavyapaka, +and Bodhavibhishana. These four ministers, being, for some reason, +displeased with the king, quitted his dominions, and set out for +another country. As they journeyed along they observed the track of a +camel, and each made a remark on the peculiar condition of the animal, +judging from the footsteps and other indications on the road. [66] + +Presently they met the merchant who was searching for his camel, and, +entering into conversation with him, one of the travellers inquired if +the animal was not lame in one of its legs; another asked if it was not +blind of the right eye; the third asked if its tail was not unusually +short; and the fourth inquired if it was not suffering from colic. They +were all answered in the affirmative by the merchant, who was convinced +that they must have seen the animal, and eagerly demanded where they +had seen it. They replied that they had seen traces of the camel, +but not the camel itself, which being inconsistent with the minute +description they had given of it, the merchant accused them of having +stolen the beast, and immediately applied to king Alakesa for redress. + +On hearing the merchant's story, the king was equally impressed +with the belief that the travellers must know what had become of the +camel, and sending for them threatened them with his displeasure if +they did not confess the truth. How could they know, he demanded, +that the camel was lame or blind, or whether the tail was long or +short, or that it was suffering from any malady, unless they had it +in their possession? In reply, they each explained the reasons which +had induced them to express their belief in these particulars. The +first traveller said:-- + +"I noticed in the footmarks of the animal that one was deficient, +and I concluded accordingly that it was lame of one of its legs." + +The second said:--"I noticed that the leaves of the trees on the left +side of the road had been snapped or torn off, whilst those on the +right side were untouched, whence I concluded that the animal was +blind of his right eye." + +The third said:--"I saw some drops of blood on the road, which I +conjectured had flowed from the bites of gnats or flies, and I thence +concluded that the camel's tail was shorter than usual, in consequence +of which he could not brush the insects away." + +The fourth said:--"I observed that while the forefeet of the animal +were planted firmly on the ground the hind ones appeared to have +scarcely touched it, whence I guessed that they were contracted by +pain in the belly of the animal." + +When the king heard their explanation he was much struck by the +sagacity of the travellers, and giving 500 pagodas to the merchant who +had lost the camel; he made the four young men his principal ministers, +and bestowed on each of them several villages as free gifts. + + + + + + + +XIII. + +THE THREE CALAMITIES. + + +From that time these four young men became the confidential advisers +of king Alakesa in all important affairs of state, and, as night is +the house of sins, they in turn kept a regular watch in the city of +Alakapuri, each patrolling the streets during three hours of the +night. Thus they continued to faithfully serve king Alakesa, till +one night, the First Minister, when his watch was over, proceeded +as usual, to see whether the royal bedchamber was properly guarded; +after which he went to the temple of the goddess Kali, where he heard +what seemed to him the voice of a woman, lamenting and sobbing in +great distress. Concealing himself behind the vad-tree of the temple, +he called out:-- + +"Who are you, poor woman? and why do you thus weep?" + +At once the cries ceased, and a voice from the temple inquired:-- + +"Who art thou that thus questionest me?" + +Then the minister knew that it was Kali herself who wept; so he threw +himself on the ground, and, rising up, exclaimed:-- + +"O, my mother!--Kali!--Sambhavi!--Mahamayi! [67] Why should you thus +weep?" quoth Kali. + +"What is the use of my revealing it to thee? Canst thou render any +assistance?" + +The minister said that, if he had but her favour, there was nothing +he could not do. Then the goddess told him that a calamity was about +to come upon the king, and fearing that such a good monarch was soon +to disappear from the world, she wept. + +The thought of such a misfortune caused the minister to tremble; +he fell down before the goddess, and with tears streaming from his +eyes besought her to save him. Kali was much gratified to observe +his devotion to his master, and thus addressed him:-- + +"Know, then, that your king will be in danger of three calamities +to-morrow, any one of which will be sufficient to cause his +death. First of all, early in the morning, there will come to the +palace several carts containing newly-reaped paddy grains. The king +will be delighted at this, and immediately order a measure of the +paddy to be shelled and cooked for his morning meal. Now, the field +in which that paddy grew is the abode of serpents, two of which +were fighting together one day, when they emitted poison, which has +permeated those grains. Therefore, the morning meal of your king will +contain poison, but only in the first handful will it take effect and +he will die. Should he escape, another calamity is in store for him +at noon. The king of Vijayanagara will send to-morrow some baskets of +sweetmeats; in the first basket he has concealed arrows. King Alakesa, +suspecting no treachery, will order the first basket to be opened in +his presence, and will meet his death by that device. And even should +he escape this second calamity, a third will put an end to his life +to-morrow night. A deadly serpent will descend into his bed room, +by means of the chain of his hanging bed, and bite him. But, should +he be saved from this last misfortune, Alakesa will live long and +prosperously, till he attains the age of a hundred and twenty years." + +Thus spake Kali, in tones of sorrow, for she feared that the king +would lose his life by one of these three calamities. The Minister +prostrated himself on the ground, and said that if the goddess would +grant him her favour he was confident he could contrive to avert all +the threatened evils from the king. Kali smiled and disappeared; +and the Minister, taking her kind smile as a token of her favour, +returned home and slept soundly. + +As soon as morning dawned, the First Minister arose, and having made +the customary ablutions, proceeded to the palace. He took care to +reveal to no one the important secret communicated to him by the +goddess--not even to his three colleagues. The sun was not yet two +ghatikas [68] above the horizon when several carts containing the +finest paddy grains, specially selected for the king's use, came +into the courtyard of the palace. Alakesa was present, and ordered +a measure of it to be at once shelled and cooked. The coming in of +the carts and the king's order so exactly coincided with Kali's words +that the Minister began to fear that he was quite unequal to the task +of averting the fatality; yet the recollection of the smile of the +goddess inspired him with fresh resolution, and he at once went to +the palace-kitchen and requested the servants to inform him when the +king was about to go to dinner. After issuing orders for the storing +of the grain, king Alakesa retired to perform his morning ablutions +and other religious duties. + +Meanwhile a carriage containing the jars of sweetmeats sent by the +king of Vijayanagara drove up to the palace, and the emissary who +accompanied the present, told the royal servants that his master +had commanded him to deliver it to king Alakesa in person. The +First Minister well understood the meaning of this, and, promising +to bring the king, went into the palace, caused one of the servants +to be dressed like Alakesa, and conducted him to the carriage. The +officer of the Vijayanagara king placed the first jar before the +supposed Alakesa, who at once opened it, when lo! there darted forth +several arrows, one of which pierced his heart, and he fell dead on +the spot. [69] In an instant the emissary was seized and bound, and +the officers began to lament the death of their good king. But the +fatal occurrence spread rapidly through the palace, and soon the real +Alakesa made his appearance on the scene. The officers now beheld +one Alakesa dead and fallen to the ground, pierced by the arrow, +and another standing there alive and well. The First Minister then +related how, suspecting treachery, he brought out a servant of the +palace dressed like the king, and how he had been slain in place of his +royal master. Alakesa thanked the Minister for having so ingeniously +saved his life, and went into the palace. Thus was one of the three +calamities to the king averted by the faithful Bodhaditya. + +When it was the hour for dinner, the king and his courtiers all sat +down, with the exception of the First Minister, who remained standing, +without having taken a leaf for his own use. The king, observing this, +with a smile pointed out a leaf to him, [70] but Bodhaditya would not +sit; he wished to be near the king and to abstain from eating on that +occasion. So the king allowed him to have his own way. The food having +been served on the leaves, the hands of all, including the king, were +mingling the rice, ghi, and dhal for the first course. Near the king +stood his faithful Minister Bodhaditya, and, when the king raised the +first handful to his mouth, "Stop, my master," cried he, "I have long +hoped for this handful as a present to me from your royal hands. I pray +you give it to me, and feast upon the rest of the rice on your leaf." + +This was uttered more in a tone of command than of request, and the +king was highly incensed at what he naturally considered as insolence +on the part of the Minister. For such a request, especially when made +to a king, is deemed nothing less than an insult, while to refuse it +is equally offensive. So, whatever thoughts may have passed through +Alakesa's mind, recollecting how the Minister had that morning saved +his life, he gave him the handful of rice, which Bodhaditya received +with delight, feeling grateful for the favour of the goddess in being +the means of averting this second calamity. + +Far different, however, were the sentiments of the king and the +assembled company. One and all declared Bodhaditya to be an insolent, +proud fellow; but the king, while secretly blaming himself for having +allowed him to use so much familiarity, suppressed his anger, in +consideration of the important service the Minister had rendered him. + +On the approach of night the heart of the First Minister throbbed +violently, for the third calamity predicted by the goddess was yet +to be encountered. His watch being ended, before retiring to rest, +he went to examine the royal bedroom, where he saw the light burning +brightly, and the king and queen asleep side by side in the ornamented +swing cot, which was suspended from the roof by four chains. Presently, +he perceived, with horror, a fierce black snake, the smell of which +is enough to kill a man, slowly gliding down the chain near the head +of the queen. The Minister noiselessly went forward, and with a single +stroke of his sharp sword, cut the venomous brute in two. Bodhaditya, +to avoid disturbing any person at such an hour of the night, threw the +pieces over the canopy of the bed, rejoicing at having thus averted +the third and last calamity. But a fresh horror then met his eyes; +a drop of the snake's poison had fallen on the bosom of the queen, +which was exposed in the carelessness of slumber. + +"Alas, sacred goddess," he muttered, "why do you thus raise up new +obstacles in my efforts to avert the evil which you predicted? I have +done what I could to save the king, and in this last attempt I have +killed his beloved queen. What shall I do?" + +Having thus briefly reflected, he wiped off the poison from the queen's +bosom with the tip of his little finger, and, lest the contact of the +venom with his finger should endanger his own life, he cut the tip +of it off and threw it on the canopy. Just then the queen awoke, and +perceiving a man hastily leaving the room, she cried: "Who are you?" + +The Minister respectfully answered: "Most venerable mother! I am your +son, Bodhaditya," and at once retired. + +Upon this the queen thought within herself: "Alas! is there such +a thing as a good man in the world? Hitherto I have regarded this +Bodhaditya as my son; but now he has basely taken the opportunity +of thus disgracing me when my lord and I were sound asleep. I shall +inform the king of this, and have that wretch's head struck off before +the morning." + +Accordingly she gently awakened the king, and with tears trickling +down her beauteous face, she told him what had occurred, and concluded +with these words:--"Till now, my lord, I considered that I was wife to +you alone; but this night your First Minister has made me doubt it, +since to my question, 'Who are you?' he answered, without any shame, +'I am Bodhaditya,' and went away." + +On hearing of this violation of the sanctity of his bedchamber, +Alakesa was greatly enraged, and determined to put to death such +an unprincipled servant, but first to communicate the affair to his +three other Ministers. + + + + + + + +XIII. + +SECOND PART. + + +When the Second Minister's watch was over, he went to inspect the +guard at the royal bedchamber, and Alakesa hearing his footsteps +inquired who was there. + +"Your servant, Bodhachandra, most royal lord," was the reply. + +"Enter, Bodhachandra," said the king; "I have somewhat to communicate +to you." + +Then Alakesa, almost choking with rage, told him of the gross offence +of which his colleague the First Minister had been guilty, and demanded +to know whether any punishment could be too severe. Bodhachandra +humbled himself before the king, and thus replied-- + +"My lord, such a crime merits a heavy requital. Can one tie up fire +in one's cloth and think that as it is but a small spark it will +do us no harm? How, then, can we excuse even slight deviations from +the rules of propriety? Therefore, if Bodhaditya be really guilty, +he must be signally punished. But permit me to represent to your +Majesty the advisability of carefully inquiring into this matter +before proceeding to judgment. We ought to ascertain what reasons he +had for such a breach of the harem rules; for should we, carried away +by anger, act rashly in this affair, we may repent when repentance is +of no avail. As an example, I shall, with your Majesty's permission +relate a story." The king having at once given his consent, the Second +Minister began to relate the + + + +STORY OF THE HONEST BUT RASH HUNTER AND HIS FAITHFUL DOG. + +There dwelt in a certain forest a hunter named Ugravira, who was lord +of the woods, and as such, had to pay a fixed sum of money to the king +of the country. It happened once that the king unexpectedly demanded +of him one thousand five hundred pons. [71] The hunter sold all his +property and realised only a thousand pons, and was perplexed how +to procure the rest of the required amount. At length he bethought +him of his dog, which was of the best kind, and was beloved by him +more than anything else in the whole world. He took his dog to an +adjacent city, where he pledged him to a merchant named Kubera for +five hundred pons, at the same time giving the merchant his bond +for the loan. Before going away, the hunter with tears in his eyes, +thus addressed the intelligent animal:-- + +"Mrigasimha, [i.e., lion among beasts] O my faithful friend, do not +leave thy new master until I have paid him back the money I have +borrowed of him. Obey and serve him, even as thou hast ever obeyed +and served me." + +Some time after this, the merchant Kubera had to leave home and +proceed with his merchandise to foreign countries: so he called the +hunter's dog to his side, and bade him watch at his doors and prevent +the intrusion of robbers and other evil-disposed persons. The dog +indicated, both by his eyes and his tail, that he perfectly understood +his instructions. Then the merchant, having enjoined his wife to +feed the dog three times every day with rice and milk, set out on +his travels. The dog kept his watch outside the house, and for a few +days the merchant's wife fed him regularly three times a day. But this +kind treatment was not to continue. She had for her paramour a wicked +youth of the Setti caste, who, soon after the departure of Kubera, +became a constant visitor at the merchant's house. The faithful dog +instinctively surmised that his new master would not approve of such +conduct; so one night, when the youth was leaving the house, Mrigasimha +sprang upon him like an enraged lion, and seizing him by the throat, +sent the evildoer to the other world. The merchant's wife hearing +the scuffle, ran to the spot to save her lover, but found him dead. + +Though extremely grieved at the loss of her paramour, she had the +presence of mind to immediately carry the body to the garden at the +back of the house, where she concealed it in a great pit, and covered +it with earth and leaves, vainly thinking that she had thus concealed +her own shame. All this was not done, however, without being observed +by the watchful dog; and, henceforward, the merchant's wife hated +him with a deadly hatred. She no longer gave him food, and the poor +creature was fain to eat such grains of rice as he found adhering to +the leaves thrown out of the house after meals, still keeping guard +at the door. + +After an absence of two months the merchant returned, and the dog, +the moment he saw him, ran up to him and rolled himself on the ground +at his feet; then seizing the merchant's cloth he dragged him to the +very spot in the garden where the youth's body was hidden, and began +to scratch the ground, at the same time looking into the merchant's +face and howling dismally, from which Kubera concluded that the dog +wished him to examine the place. Accordingly he dug up the spot and +discovered the body of the youth, whom, indeed, he had suspected +of being his wife's paramour. In a great fury he rushed into the +house and commanded his wife, on pain of instant death, to relate the +particulars of this affair without concealing anything. The wretched +woman, seeing that her sin was discovered, confessed all, upon which +her husband exclaimed!-- + +"Disgrace of womankind! you have not a fraction of the virtue possessed +by this faithful brute, which you have, out of revenge, allowed to +starve. But why should I waste words on thee? Happy am I in having no +children by thee! Depart, and let me see thy face no more." So saying, +he thrust her out of the house. Then the merchant fed the dog with +milk, rice and sugar, after which he said to that lion of beasts +(Mrigasimha, as he was called)-- + +"Thou trusty friend, language fails to express my gratitude to +thee. The five hundred pons which I lent thy old master the hunter +are as nothing compared with thy services to me, by which I consider +the debt as more than paid. What must be the feelings of the hunter +without thy companionship? I now give thee leave to return to him." + +The merchant took the hunter's bond, and tearing it slightly at the +top as a token that it was cancelled, he placed it in the dog's mouth +and sent him back to his former master, and he at once set off towards +the forest. + +Now by this time the hunter had contrived to save up the five +hundred pons, and with the money and the interest due thereon, he +was going to the merchant to redeem his bond and reclaim his dog. To +his great surprise he met Mrigasimha on the way, and as soon as the +dog perceived him he ran up to him to receive his caresses. But the +hunter immediately concluded that the poor brute, in his eagerness to +rejoin him, had run away from the merchant, and determined to put him +to death. Accordingly he plucked a creeper, and fastening it round the +dog's neck tied him to a branch of a tree, and the faithful creature, +who was expecting nothing but kindness from his old master, was by him +most cruelly strangled. The hunter then continued his journey, and, +on reaching the merchant's house, he laid down the money before him. + +"My dear friend," said Kubera, "the important service your dog +rendered me in killing my wife's paramour, has amply repaid your +debt, so I gave him permission to return to you, with your bond in +his mouth. Did you not meet him on your way? But why do you look so +horrified? What have you done to the dog?" + +The hunter, to whom everything was now only too clear, threw himself +on the ground, like a huge tree cut at the root, and, after telling +Kubera how he had inconsiderately slain the faithful dog, stabbed +himself with his dagger. The merchant grieved at the death both of +the dog and the hunter, which would not have occurred had he waited +until Ugravira came to redeem his bond, snatched the weapon out of the +hunter's breast and also stabbed himself. The news of this tragedy +soon reached the forest, and the wife of the hunter, not wishing to +survive her lord, threw herself into a well and was drowned. Lastly, +even the wife of the merchant, finding that so many fatalities were +due to her own misconduct, and that she was despised by the very +children in the streets, put an end to her wretched life. + +"Thus," added the Second Minister, "five lives were lost in consequence +of the hunter's rashness. Wherefore I would respectfully beseech your +Majesty to investigate the case of Bodhaditya, and to refrain from +acting merely under the influence of anger." + +Having thus spoken, Bodhachandra obtained leave to retire to his +own house. + + + + + + + +XIII. + +THIRD PART. + + +At the end of the third watch of the night, Bodhavyapaka, the Third +Minister of king Alakesa, went to see whether the royal bedchamber +was properly guarded, and the king, summoning him to his presence, +told him of the First Minister's crime, upon which Bodhavyapaka, +after making due obeisance, thus spake:-- + +"Most noble king, such a grave crime should be severely punished, +but it behoves us not to act before having ascertained that he is +guilty beyond doubt, for evil are the consequences of precipitation, +in proof of which I know a story which I will relate, with your +Majesty's leave." + + + +STORY OF THE BRAHMAN'S WIFE AND THE MUNGOOSE. + +On the banks of the Ganges, which also flows by the most holy city +of Banaras, there is a town named Mithila, where dwelt a very poor +Brahman called Vidyadhara. He had no children, and to compensate +for this want, he and his wife tenderly nourished in their house a +mungoose--a species of weasel. It was their all in all--their younger +son, their elder daughter--their elder son, their younger daughter, +so fondly did they regard that little creature. The god Visvesvara +and his spouse Visalakshi observed this, and had pity for the unhappy +pair; so by their divine power they blessed them with a son. This +most welcome addition to their family did not alienate the affections +of the Brahman and his wife from the mungoose; on the contrary, +their attachment increased, for they believed that it was because of +their having adopted the pet that a son had been born to them. So the +child and the mungoose were brought up together, as twin brothers, +in the same cradle. + +It happened one day when the Brahman had gone out to beg alms of the +pious and charitable, that his wife went into the garden to cull some +pot-herbs, leaving the child asleep in his cradle, and by his side +the mungoose kept guard. An old serpent, which was living in the +well in the garden, crept into the house and under the cradle, and +was beginning to climb into it to bite the child when the mungoose +fiercely attacked it and tore it into several pieces, thus saving +the life of the Brahman's little son, and the venomous snake, that +came to slay, itself lay dead beneath the cradle. + +Pleased at having performed such an exploit, the mungoose ran into +the garden to show the Brahman's wife its blood-smeared mouth, but +she rashly mistook the deliverer of her child for his destroyer, +and with one stroke of the knife in her hand with which she was +cutting herbs she killed the faithful creature, and then hastened +into the house to see her dead son. But there she found the child +in his cradle alive and well, only crying at the absence of his +little companion, the mungoose, and under the cradle lay the great +serpent cut to pieces. The real state of affairs was now evident, +and the Brahman presently returning home, his wife told him of her +rash act and then put an end to her life. The Brahman, in his turn, +disconsolate at the death of the mungoose and his wife, first slew +his child and then killed himself. + + + +"And thus," added the Third Minister, "by one rash act four creatures +perished, so true is it that precipitation results in a series of +calamities. Do not, then, condemn Bodhaditya before his guilt is +clearly proved." Alakesa, having given Bodhachandra the signal to +retire, he quitted the presence and went home. + +When the watch of the Fourth Minister, Bodhavibhishana, was terminated, +he visited the private apartments of the king (who had been meanwhile +pondering over the stories he had heard), and was called into +the sleeping chamber by Alakesa, and informed of his colleague's +unpardonable offence. The Minister, after due prostration, thus +addressed his royal master:-- + +"Great king, I can scarcely bring myself to believe that Bodhaditya +could ever be guilty of such a crime, and I would respectfully remind +your Majesty that it would not be consistent with your world-wide +reputation for wisdom and justice were you to pronounce judgment in +this case without having inquired into all the circumstances. Evil +and injustice result from hasty decisions and actions, of which a +striking illustration is furnished in the + + + +STORY OF THE FAITHLESS WIFE AND THE UNGRATEFUL BLIND MAN. + +In the town of Mithila there lived a young Brahman who, having +had a quarrel with his father-in-law, set out on a pilgrimage to +Banaras. Going through a forest he met a blind man, whose wife was +leading him by means of a stick, one end of which she held in her +hand, and her husband holding the other end was following her. She was +young and fair of face, and the pilgrim made signs to her that she +should go with him and leave her blind husband behind. The proposal +thus signified pleased this wanton woman, so she bade her husband +sit under a tree for a few minutes while she went and plucked him +a ripe mango. The blind man sat down accordingly, and his wife went +away with the Brahman. After waiting a long time in expectation of +his wife's return, and no person coming near him, (for it was an +unfrequented place), her infidelity became painfully apparent to him, +and he bitterly cursed both her and the villain who had enticed her +away from him. For six days he remained at the foot of the tree, +in woeful condition, without a morsel of rice or a drop of water, +and he was well nigh dead, when at length he heard the sound of +footsteps near him, and cried faintly for help. A man of the Setti +caste and his wife came up to him, and inquired how he happened to be +in such a plight. The blind man told them how his wife had deserted +him, and gone away with a young Brahman whom they had met, leaving +him there alone and helpless. His story excited the compassion of the +Setti and his wife. They gave him to eat of the small quantity of rice +they had with them, and, having supplied him with water to quench his +thirst, the Setti bade his wife lead him with his stick. The woman, +though somewhat reluctant to walk thus in company with a man who +was not her husband, yet, reflecting that charitable actions ought +never to be left undone, complied with her lord's request, and began +to lead the blind man. After travelling in this manner for a day, +the three reached a town, and took up their abode for the night in +the house of a friend of the Setti, where the latter and his wife +gave the blind man a share of their rice before tasting a morsel +themselves. At daybreak the next morning they advised him to try to +provide for himself in some way in that town, and prepared to resume +their journey. But the blind man, forgetting all the kindness they +had shown him, began to raise an alarm, crying out:-- + +"Is there no king in this city to protect me and give me my +rights? Here is a Setti rascal taking away my wife with him! As I am +blind, she denies that I am her husband, and follows that rogue! But +will not the king give me justice?" + +The people in the street at once reported these words to the king, +who caused inquiry to be made into the matter. The fact of the Setti's +wife having led the blind man, seemed to indicate that the latter, +and not the Setti, was the woman's husband, and foolishly concluded +that both the Setti and his wife were the real criminals. Accordingly +he sentenced the Setti to the gallows, because he attempted to entice +away a married woman, and his wife to be burnt in the kiln, as she +wished to forsake her husband, and he a blind man. When these sentences +were pronounced the blind man was thunder-struck. The thought that +by a deliberate lie he had caused the death of two innocent persons +now stung him to the heart. By this lie he expected that the Setti +only should be punished, and that his wife would be made over to him +as his own wife, but now he found she also was condemned to death. + +"Vile wretch that I am!" said he; "I do not know what sins I committed +in my former life to be thus blind now. My real wife, too, deserted me; +and I, heaping sins upon sins, have now by a false report sent to death +an innocent man and his wife, who rescued me from a horrible fate and +tended to all my wants last night. O, Mahesvara! what punishment you +have in reserve for me I know not." + +This soliloquy, being overheard by some by-standers, was communicated +to the king, who bitterly reproaching himself for having acted so +rashly, at once released the good Setti and his wife, and caused the +ungrateful blind man to be burnt in the kiln. + +"Thus, you see, my lord," added the fourth Minister, "how +nearly that king had plunged himself into a gulf of crime by his +rashness. Therefore, my most noble king, I would respectfully and +humbly request you to consider well the case of Bodhaditya, and punish +him severely if he be found really guilty." + + + +Having thus spoken, the Fourth Minister obtained leave to depart. + + + + + + + +XIII. + +FOURTH PART. + + +The night was now over: darkness, the harbourer of vice, fled away; +the day dawned. King Alakesa left his bedchamber, bathed and made his +religious ablutions, and, after breakfasting, summoned a council of all +his father's old ministers and advisers. Alakesa took his seat in the +midst of the assembly; anger was clearly visible in his countenance; +his eyes had lost their natural expression and had turned very red; +his breath was as hot as that of a furnace. He thus addressed them:-- + +"Know ye all, the ministers of my father and of myself, that last +night, during the first watch, my First Minister, Bodhaditya, while +I and my queen were asleep in our chamber, came and touched with his +finger the bosom of my queen. Consider well the gravity of this crime, +and express your opinions as to what punishment he merits." + +Thus spake king Alakesa, but all the ministers, not knowing what answer +to return, hung down their heads in silence. Among those present was +an aged minister named Manuniti, who called Bodhaditya to his side +and privately learned the whole story. He then humbly bowed before +the king, and thus spake:-- + +"Most noble king, men are not always all-wise, and, before replying to +your Majesty's question, I beg permission to relate in your presence +the story of a king in whose reign a certain benevolent action was +repaid with disgrace and ignominy:-- + + + +STORY OF THE WONDERFUL MANGO FRUIT. + +On the banks of the Kaveri there was a city called Tiruvidaimarudur, +where ruled a king named Chakraditya. In that city there lived a +poor Brahman and his wife, who, having no children, brought up in +their house a young parrot as tenderly as if it had been their own +offspring. One day the parrot was sitting on the roof of the house, +basking itself in the morning sun, when a large flock of parrots flew +past, talking to each other about certain mango fruits. The Brahman's +parrot asked them what were the peculiar properties of those fruits, +and was informed that beyond the seven oceans there was a great mango +tree, the fruit of which gave perpetual youth to the person who ate +of it, however old and infirm he might be. On hearing of this wonder +the Brahman's parrot requested permission to accompany them, which +being granted, they all continued their flight. When at length they +arrived at the mango tree, all ate of its fruit; but the Brahman's +parrot reflected:-- + +"It would not be right for me to eat this fruit; I am young, while +my adopted parents, the poor Brahman and his wife are very old. So I +shall give them this fruit, and they will become young and blooming +by eating it." + +And that same evening the good parrot brought the fruit to the Brahman, +and explained to him its extraordinary properties. But the Brahman +thought within himself:-- + +"I am a beggar. What matters it if I become young and live for ever, +or else die this very moment? Our king is very good and charitable. If +such a great man should eat of this fruit and renew his youth, he +would confer the greatest benefit on mankind. Therefore I will give +this mango to our good king." + +In pursuance of this self-denying resolution, the poor Brahman +proceeded to the palace and presented the fruit to the king, at the +same time relating how he had obtained it and its qualities. The king +richly rewarded the Brahman for his gift, and sent him away. Then he +began to reflect thus:-- + +"Here is a fruit which can bestow perpetual youth on the person who +eats it. I should gain this great boon for myself alone, and what +happiness could I expect under such circumstances unless shared by +my friends and subjects? I shall therefore not eat this mango-fruit, +but plant it carefully in my garden, and it will in time become a +tree, which will bear much fruit having the same wonderful virtue, +and my subjects shall, every one, eat of the fruit, and, with myself, +be endowed with everlasting youth." + +So, calling his gardener, the king gave him the fruit, and he planted +it in the royal presence. In due course of time the fruit grew +into a fine tree, and during the spring season it began to bud and +blossom and bear fruit. The king, having fixed upon an auspicious +day for cutting one of the mango-fruits, gave it to his domestic +chaplain, who was ninety years old, in order that his youth should +be renewed. But no sooner had the priest tasted it than he fell down +dead. At this unexpected calamity the king was both astonished and +deeply grieved. When the old priest's wife heard of her husband's +sudden death she came and prayed the king to allow her to perform sati +with him on the same funeral pyre, which increased the king's sorrow; +but he gave her the desired permission, and himself superintended +all the ceremonies of the cremation. King Chakraditya then sent for +the poor Brahman, and demanded of him how he had dared to present a +poisonous fruit to his king. The Brahman replied:-- + +"My lord, I brought up a young parrot in my house, in order to console +me for having no son. That parrot brought me the fruit one day, +and told me of its wonderful properties. Believing that the parrot +spoke the truth, I presented it to your Majesty, never for a moment +suspecting it to be poisonous." + +The king listened to the poor Brahman's words, but thought that the +poor priest's death should be avenged. So he consulted his ministers +who recommended, as a slight punishment, that the Brahman should +be deprived of his left eye. This was done accordingly, and, on his +return home, when his wife saw his condition, she asked the reason +of such mutilation. + +"My dear," said she, "the parrot we have fostered so tenderly is the +cause of this." + +And they resolved to break the neck of the treacherous bird. But the +parrot, having overheard their conversation, thus addressed them:-- + +"My kind foster parents, everyone must be rewarded for the good actions +or punished for the evil deeds of his previous life. I brought you the +fruit with a good intention, but my sins in my former life have given +it a different effect. Therefore I pray you to kill me and bury me +with a little milk in a pit. And, after my funeral ceremony is over, +I request you to undertake a pilgrimage to Banaras to expiate your +own sins." + +So the old Brahman and his wife killed their pet parrot and buried +it as directed, after which, overcome with grief, they set out on a +pilgrimage to the Holy City. + +Meanwhile the king commanded his gardener to set guards over the +poison-tree, and to allow no one to eat of its fruit; and all the +inhabitants soon came to know that the king had a mango tree in +his garden, the fruit of which was deadly poison. Now, there was +in the city an old washerwoman, who had frequent quarrels with her +daughter-in-law, and one day, being weary of life, she left the house, +threatening to eat of the poison tree and die. + +The young parrot who was killed for having brought the poisonous +mango-fruit was re-born as a green parrot, and was waiting for an +opportunity to demonstrate the harmless nature of the tree; and when he +saw the old woman approach with a determination to put an end to her +life by eating of its fruit, he plucked one with his beak and dropped +it down before her. The old woman rejoiced that fate sanctioned her +death, and greedily ate the fruit, when lo! instead of dying she +became young and blooming again. Those who had seen her leave the +house a woman over sixty years of age were astonished on seeing her +return as a handsome girl of sixteen and learning that the wonderful +transformation was caused by the supposed poisonous mango-tree. + +The strange news soon reached the king, who, in order to test the tree +still further, ordered another fruit of it to be brought and gave it +to a goldsmith of more than ninety years of age, who had embezzled +some gold which had been entrusted to him to make into ornaments +for the ladies of the palace, and was on that account undergoing +imprisonment. When he had eaten the fruit, he, in his turn, became +a young man of sixteen. The king was now convinced that the fruit +of the mango-tree, so far from being poisonous, had the power of +converting decrepit age into lusty and perennial youth. But how had +the old priest died by eating of it? + +It was by a mere accident. One day a huge serpent was sleeping on a +branch of the mango-tree, and its head hung over one of the fruit; +poison dropped from its mouth and fell on the rind of that fruit; +the gardener, who had no knowledge of this, when asked to bring a +fruit for the priest, happened to bring the one on which the poison +had fallen, and the priest having eaten it, died. + +And now the king caused proclamation to be made throughout his kingdom +that all who pleased might come and partake of the mango-fruit, and +everyone ate of it and became young. But king Chakaraditya's heart +burnt within him at the remembrance of his ill-treatment of the poor +Brahman, who had returned with his wife from Banaras. So he sent +for him, explained his mistake, and gave him a fruit to eat, which, +having tasted, the aged Brahman became young and his eye was also +restored to him. But the greatest loss of all, that of the parrot who +brought the fruit from beyond the seven oceans, remained irreparable. + + + +"Thus, my lord," continued the old minister, Manuniti, "it behoves us +not to act precipitately in this affair of Bodhaditya, which we must +carefully sift before expressing our opinion as to the punishment he +may deserve at your majesty's hands." + + + + + + + +XIII. + +FIFTH PART. + + +When Manuniti had concluded his story of the wonderful mango-fruit, +king Alakesa ordered his four ministers to approach the throne, +and then, with an angry countenance he thus addressed Bodhaditya:-- + +"What excuse have you for entering my bedchamber without permission, +thus violating the rules of the harem?" + +Bodhaditya humbly begged leave to relate to his majesty a story of +how a Brahman fed a hungry traveller and had afterwards to endure the +infamy of having caused that traveller's death, and on king Alakesa +signifying his consent, he thus began:-- + + + +STORY OF THE POISONED FOOD. + +There was a city called Vijayanagara, to the north of which flowed +a small river with mango topes [72] on both banks. One day a young +Brahmin pilgrim came and sat down to rest by the side of the stream, +and, finding the place very cool and shady, he resolved to bathe, +perform his religious ablutions, and make his dinner off the rice +which he carried tied up in a bundle. + +Three days before there had come to the same spot an old Brahmin whose +years numbered more than three score and ten; he had quarrelled with +his family, and had fled from his house to die. Since he had reached +that place he had tasted no food, and the young pilgrim found him lying +in a pitiable state, and placed near him a portion of his rice. The old +man arose, and proceeded to the rivulet in order to wash his feet and +hands, and pronounce a holy incantation or two before tasting the food. + +While thus engaged a kite, carrying in its beak a huge serpent, +alighted upon the tree at the foot of which was the rice given by +the pilgrim to the old man, and while the bird was feasting on the +serpent some of its poison dropped on the rice, and the old Brahmin, +in his hunger, did not observe it on his return; he greedily devoured +some of the rice, and instantly fell down dead. + +The young pilgrim, seeing him prostrate on the ground, ran to help +him, but found that life was gone; and concluding that the old man's +hasty eating after his three days' fast must have caused his death, +and being unwilling to leave his corpse to be devoured by kites and +jackals, he determined to cremate it before resuming his journey. With +this object he ran to the neighbouring village, and, reporting to the +people what had occurred on the tope, requested their assistance in +cremating the old man's body. + +The villagers, however, suspected that the young pilgrim had killed +and robbed the old Brahmin; so they laid hold of him, and, after +giving him a severe flogging, imprisoned him in the village temple +of Kali. Alas! what a reward was this for his kind hospitality! and +how was he repaid for his beneficence! + +The unhappy pilgrim gave vent to his sorrows in the form of verses +in praise of the goddess in whose temple he was a prisoner; for he +was a great Pandit, versed in the four Vedas, and the six Sastras, +and the sixty-four varieties of knowledge. On hearing the pilgrim's +verses, the rage of the goddess descended upon the villagers, who +had so rashly accused and punished him for a crime of which he was +innocent. Suddenly the whole village was destroyed by fire, and the +people lost all their property, and were houseless. In their extremity +they went to the temple of Kali, and humbly requested the goddess to +inform them of the cause of the calamity which had thus unexpectedly +come upon them. The goddess infused herself into the person of one +of the villagers, and thus responded:-- + +"Know ye, unkind villagers, that ye have most unjustly scourged +and imprisoned in our presence an innocent, charitable, and pious +Brahmin. The old man died from the effects of the poison, which dropped +from a serpent's mouth on some rice at the foot of a tree when it +was being devoured by a kite. Ye did not know of this; nevertheless +ye have maltreated a good man without first making due inquiry as to +his guilt or innocence. For this reason we visited your village with +this calamity. Beware, and henceforward avoid such sins." + +So saying, Kali departed from the person through whom she had +manifested herself. [73] Then the villagers perceived the grievous +error into which they had fallen. They released the good pilgrim and +implored his forgiveness, which he readily granted. And thus was an +innocent man charged with murder in return for his benevolent actions. + +"Even so," continued Bodhaditya, "my most noble sovereign, I have +this day had to endure the infamy of having violated the harem for +saving your valuable life." + +He then sent for a thief who was undergoing imprisonment, and gave +him the handful of rice which he had the preceding day snatched +from the king at dinner, and the thief having eaten it, instantly +died. He next caused a servant to go to the royal bed-chamber, and +fetch from the canopy of the couch the pieces of the serpent and his +little finger-tip, which he laid before the wonder-struck king and +the counsellors, and then addressed his majesty as follows:-- + +"My most noble king, and ye wise counsellors, it is known to you +all that we four ministers keep watch over the town during the four +quarters of the night, and mine is the first watch. Well, while I +was on duty the day before yesterday, I heard a weeping voice in the +direction of the temple. I proceeded to the spot, and discovered the +goddess sobbing bitterly. She related to me how three calamities +awaited the king on the morrow. The first of them was the arrows +despatched by the king of Vijayanagara as sweetmeats to our Sovereign; +the second was the poisoned rice, and the third the serpent. In trying +to avert these calamities, I have committed the offence of entering +the harem." + + + +And he thereupon explained the whole affair from first to last. + +King Alakesa and the whole assembly were highly delighted at the +fidelity and devotion of Bodhaditya; for it was now very evident +that he had done nothing amiss, but had saved the life of the king +on three occasions, and indeed also the life of the queen by wiping +off the serpent's poison which had fallen on her bosom. Then Alakesa +related the following story in explanation of the proverb:-- + + + +"EATING UP THE PROTECTOR." [74] + +In the country of Uttara there lived a Brahmin named Kusalanatha, +who had a wife and six sons. All lived in a state of prosperity for +some time, but the entrance of Saturn into the Brahmin's horoscope +turned everything upside down. The once prosperous Brahmin became poor, +and was reduced to go to the neighbouring woods to gather bamboo rice +with which to feed his hungry family. [75] + +One day while plucking the bamboo ears, he saw a bush close by +in flames, in the midst of which was a serpent struggling for its +life. The Brahmin at once ran to its rescue, and stretching towards +it a long green stick the reptile crept on to it and escaped from the +flames, and then spread its hood and with a hissing sound approached +to sting its rescuer. The Brahmin began to weep and bewail his folly in +having saved the ungrateful creature, at which the serpent asked him:-- + +"O Brahmin, why do you weep?" + +Said the old man: "You now purpose to kill me; is this the reward +for my having saved your life?" + +"True, you have rescued me from a terrible death, but how am I to +appease my hunger?" replied the serpent. + +And quoth the Brahmin, "You speak of your hunger, but who is to feed +my old wife and six hungry children at my house?" + +The serpent, seeing the anxiety of the Brahmin, emitted a precious +gem from its hood, and bade him take it home and give it to his +wife for household expenses, after which to return to the wood to be +devoured. The old man agreed, and, solemnly promising to return without +fail, went home. Having given the gem to his family, and told them +of his pact with the serpent, the Brahmin went back to the wood. The +serpent had meanwhile reflected upon its own base ingratitude. + +"Is it right," said it to itself, "to kill him who saved me from the +flames? No! I shall rather perish of hunger, if I cannot find a prey +to-day, than slay my protector." + +So when the old Brahmin appeared, true to his word, the serpent +presented him with another valuable gem, and after expressing a wish +that he should live long and happily with his wife and children, +went its own way, while the Brahmin returned joyously to his home. + +"Even as the serpent purposed acting towards its benefactor," continued +the king, "so did I, in my rage, intend putting to death my faithful +minister and the protector of my life, Bodhaditya; and to free myself +from this grievous sin there is no penance I should not undergo." + + + +Then king Alakesa ordered a thousand Brahmins to be fed every day +during his life, and many rich gifts to be distributed in temples as +atonement for his great error. And from that day Bodhaditya and his +three colleagues enjoyed still more of the royal favour. With those +four faithful ministers king Alakesa lived a most happy life and had +a most prosperous reign. + +May there be prosperity to all! + + + + + + + +XIV. + +THE MONKEY WITH THE TOM-TOM. [76] + + +In a remote wood there lived a monkey, and one day while he was eating +wood-apples, a sharp thorn from the tree ran into the tip of his tail, +he tried his best to get it out but could not. So he proceeded to +the nearest village, and calling the barber asked him to oblige him +by removing the thorn. + +"Friend barber," said the monkey, "a thorn has run into my tail. Kindly +remove it and I will reward you." + +The barber took up his razor and began to examine the tail; but as he +was cutting out the thorn he cut off the tip of the tail. The monkey +was greatly enraged and said:-- + +"Friend barber, give me back my tail. If you cannot do that, give me +your razor." + +The barber was now in a difficulty, and as he could not replace the +tip of the tail he had to give up his razor to the monkey. + +The monkey, went back to the wood with his razor thus trickishly +acquired. On the way he met an old woman, who was cutting fuel from +a dried-up tree. + +"Grandmother, grandmother," said the monkey, "the tree is very +hard. You had better use this sharp razor, and you will cut your +fuel easily." + +The poor woman was very pleased, and took the razor from the monkey. In +cutting the wood she, of course, blunted the razor, and the monkey +seeing his razor thus spoiled, said:-- + +"Grandmother, you have spoiled my razor. So you must either give me +your fuel or get me a better razor." + +The woman was not able to procure another razor. So she gave the +monkey her fuel and returned to her house bearing no load that day. + +The roguish monkey now put the bundle of dry fuel on his head and +proceeded to a village to sell it. There he met an old woman seated +by the roadside and making puddings. Said the monkey to her:-- + +"Grandmother, grandmother, you are making puddings and your fuel is +already exhausted. Use mine also and make more cakes." + +The old lady thanked him for his kindness and used his fuel for her +puddings. The cunning monkey waited till the last stick of his fuel +was burnt up, and then he said to the old woman:-- + +"Grandmother, grandmother, return me my fuel or give me all your +puddings." + +She was unable to return him the fuel, and so had to give him all +her puddings. + +The monkey with the basket of puddings on his head walked and walked +till he met a Paraiya [77] coming with a tom-tom towards him. + +"Brother Paraiya," said the monkey, "I have a basketful of puddings +to give you. Will you, in return, present me with your tom-tom?" + +The Paraiya gladly agreed, as he was then very hungry, and had nothing +with him to eat. + +The monkey now ascended with the tom-tom to the topmost branch of a +big tree and there beat his drum most triumphantly, saying in honour +of his several tricks:-- + +"I lost my tail and got a razor; dum dum." [78] + +"I lost my razor and got a bundle of fuel; dum dum." + +"I lost my fuel and got a basket of puddings; dum dum". + +"I lost my puddings and got a tom-tom; dum dum." + +Thus there are rogues in this innocent world, who live to glory over +their wicked tricks. + + + + + + + +XV. + +PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL. + + +Corresponding to this English proverb, there is one in Tamil--Ahambha +vam alai alikkum--"Self-pride brings destruction;" and the following +story is related by the common folk to illustrate it. + +In a certain village there lived ten cloth merchants, who always +went about together. Once upon a time they had travelled far afield, +and were returning home with a great deal of money which they had +obtained by selling their wares. Now there happened to be a dense +forest near their village, and this they reached early one morning. In +it there lived three notorious robbers, of whose existence the traders +had never heard, and while they were still in the middle of it, the +robbers stood before them, with swords and cudgels in their hands, +and ordered them to lay down all they had. The traders had no weapons +with them, and so, though they were many more in number, they had +to submit themselves to the robbers, who took away everything from +them, even the very clothes they wore, and gave to each only a small +loin-cloth (langoti), a span in breadth and a cubit in length. + +The idea that they had conquered ten men, and plundered all their +property, now took possession of the robbers' minds. They seated +themselves like three monarchs before the men they had plundered, and +ordered them to dance to them before returning home. The merchants now +mourned their fate. They had lost all they had, except their chief +essential, the langoti, and still the robbers were not satisfied, +but ordered them to dance. + +There was, among the ten merchants, one who was very intelligent. He +pondered over the calamity that had come upon him and his friends, +the dance they would have to perform, and the magnificent manner in +which the three robbers had seated themselves on the grass. At the +same time he observed that these last had placed their weapons on +the ground, in the assurance of having thoroughly cowed the traders, +who were now commencing to dance. So he took the lead in the dance, +and, as a song is always sung by the leader on such occasions, to +which the rest keep time with hands and feet, he thus began to sing:-- + + + Namanum puli per, + Talanum tiru per: + Savana talanai + Tiruvanan suttinan, + Savana talan midi + Ta tai tom tadingana. + + "We are puli men, + They are tiru men: + If one sa man, + Surrounds tiru men. + Sa man remains. + Ta, tai, tom, tadingana." + + +The robbers were all uneducated, and thought that the leader was +merely singing a song as usual. So it was in one sense; for the leader +commenced from a distance, and had sung the song over twice, before +he and his companions commenced to approach the robbers. They had +understood his meaning, which, however, even to the best educated, +unless trained to the technical expressions of trade, would have +remained a riddle. + +When two traders discuss the price of an article in the presence of +a purchaser, they use an enigmatic form of language. + +"What is the price of this cloth?" one trader will ask another. + +"Puli rupees," another will reply, meaning "ten rupees." + +Thus, there is no possibility of the purchaser knowing what is meant +unless he be acquainted with trade technicalities. [79] By the rules of +this secret language tiru means "three," puli means "ten," and savana +(or shortly sa) means "one." So the leader by his song meant to hint +to his fellow-traders that they were ten men, the robbers only three, +that if three pounced upon each of the robbers, nine of them could hold +them down, while the remaining one bound the robbers' hands and feet. + +The three thieves, glorying in their victory, and little understanding +the meaning of the song and the intentions of the dancers, were proudly +seated chewing betel and tambak (tobacco). Meanwhile the song was +sung a third time. Ta tai tom had left the lips of the singer; and, +before tadingana was out of them, the traders separated into parties +of three, and each party pounced upon a thief. The remaining one--the +leader himself, for to him the other nine left the conclusion--tore +up into long narrow strips a large piece of cloth, six cubits long, +and tied the hands and feet of the robbers. These were entirely +humbled now, and rolled on the ground like three bags of rice! + +The ten traders now took back all their property, and armed themselves +with the swords and cudgels of their enemies; and when they reached +their village, they often amused their friends and relatives by +relating their adventure. [80] + + + + + + + +XVI. + +GOOD WILL GROW OUT OF GOOD. + + +In a certain town there reigned a king named Patnipriya, [81] to whose +court, a poor old Brahmin, named Papabhiru, [82] came every morning, +with a yellow lime in his hand, and presenting it to the king, +pronounced a benediction in Tamil:-- + + + Nanmai vidaittal, nanmai vilaiyum: + Timai vidaittal, timai vijaiyum: + Nanmaiyum timaiyum pinvara kanalam. + + "If good is sown, then good will grow: + If bad is sown, then bad will grow: + Thus good or bad the end will show." + + +The king respected as much the noble benediction of the Brahman as +he did his grey hairs. + +In this way the presentation of the fruit continued daily, though +the Brahmin had nothing to request from the king, but simply wished +to pay his respects. On observing that he had no ulterior motives, +but was merely actuated by rajasevana, or duty to his king, the king's +admiration for his old morning visitor increased the more. + +After presenting the fruit the Brahmin waited upon his sovereign till +his puja [83] was over, and then went home where his wife kept ready +for him all the requisites for his own puja. Papabhiru then partook +of what dinner his wife had prepared for him. Sometimes, however, +a Brahmin neighbour sent him an invitation to dinner, which he at +once accepted. For his father, before he breathed his last, had +called him to his bedside, and, pronouncing his last benediction, +had thus advised him in Tamil:-- + + + Kalai sottai tallade, + Kannil Kandadai sollade, + Rajanukku payandu nada." + + "Morning meal do thou never spurn, + Nor say thou what thine eyes discern, + But serve thy king for fame to earn." + + +Thus it was that Papabhiru began his visits to the king, nor did he +ever reject an invitation to dinner, though it might come at a very +inconvenient time. + +Now on a certain ekadasi [84] morning, Papabhiru went to the king +to pay his respects as usual, with the lime and the benediction, but +found that he had gone to his puja and so followed him there. On seeing +the Brahmin, the king's face glowed with pleasure, and he said:-- + +"My most revered god on earth, [85] I thought that some ill must have +befallen you, when I missed you in the council-hall this morning; +but praised be Paramesvara for having sent you to me, though it is +a little late. I never do my puja without placing my scimitar by the +side of the god, but last night I left it in my queen's room. It is +under the pillow of the couch on which I usually sleep. Until you +came I could find no suitable person to fetch it for me, and so I have +waited for you. Would you kindly take the trouble to fetch it for me?" + +The poor Brahmin was only too glad of the opportunity thus presented +to him of serving his king, and so he ran to the harem and into the +room where the king usually slept. The queen was a very wicked woman +and always having secret meetings with courtiers of her husband, so +when Papabhiru returned he surprised the queen and one of her lovers +walking in the garden, he went through, however, to the king's room, +and lifting up the king's pillow felt for the scimitar, and went +away. True however, to his father's words, "Nor say thou what thine +eyes discern," he never opened his lips and went his way with a +heavy heart. + +The queen and her wicked suitor were greatly alarmed. + +"That rogue of an old Brahmin has seen us and may report to the king +at the first opportunity," faltered the minister. + +But the queen, as bold in words as in sin, said; "I will have him +murdered before the sun rises. Wait you here. I shall inform the king +of what is to be done and report the result to you, and then you may +go home." + +So saying, she went and stood before her royal husband who was at +his worship. Patnipriya rose up and asked her the reason of her +sudden appearance. + +Said she, "Your Majesty seems to think the whole world as innocent +as yourself. That wretched old Brahmin, though his hair is as white +as milk, has not forgotten his younger days, he asked me to run away +with him. If you do not order his death before to-morrow morning, +I shall kill myself." + +The king was much vexed with what he heard, and all the regard he had +for the Brahmin disappeared at once. He called two of his executioners +and spoke to them thus before his wife:-- + +"Take to the east gate of the town a large iron caldron, and keep it +boiling to the brim with gingely oil. [86] A certain person shall +come to you in the morning and ask you, 'Is it all done?' Without +observing who he is, tie his hands and feet and throw him into the +boiling oil. When he has been boiled to death, put out the fire and +empty out the oil." + +The executioners received the order and went away to perform +their terrible duty. The queen, too, glad at heart at having thus +successfully arranged for the murder of the Brahmin, reported the +fact to the minister, but said nothing about the special question to +be put by the victim. The minister, much pleased, went to his palace +and waited for news of the Brahmin's death. + +When his puja was over the king sent for Papabhiru, and the poor +Brahmin, never having before been sent for at such a time, made his +appearance with a beating heart. When he arrived the king, in order +to arouse no suspicion in his mind, said gently to him:-- + +"My dear Brahmin, to-morrow morning, when you go to make your +ablutions, pass by the east gate. There you will see two persons +seated by the side of a large caldron. Ask them, 'Is it all done?' And +whatever reply they give you, come and communicate to me." + +Thus spoke the king, firmly believing that Papabhiru would never +return to him; while the Brahmin, glad to be able to serve the king +a second time next morning, went home and slept soundly. Early in +the morning, even a ghatika before his usual time, he got up, and, +placing on his head a bag containing dry clothes, proceeded to the +river for his morning bath. He took the road to the eastern gate as +he had been ordered, but had not walked far when a friend invited +him to a dvadasi [87] breakfast. + +"My poor old mother did not taste even a drop of water the whole of the +ekadasi, (yesterday). Rice and hot water for a bath are ready. Pour a +little of the water over your head, [88] pronounce one gayatri [89] +and taste a handful of rice. Whatever may be the urgency of your +business, oblige me for my poor mother's sake." + +Thus spoke his friend, and Papabhiru, out of regard to his father's +order never to spurn a morning meal, ran in haste into his friend's +house to oblige him; the king's order all the while sitting heavily +on his mind. + +Meanwhile the minister was most anxious to hear the news of the +Brahmin's death, but was afraid to send any one to inquire about it, +lest he should arouse suspicion. So he went himself to the east gate, +as soon as the sun had risen, and asked the executioners, sitting by +the side of the caldron, by way of a simple question: "Is the business +all done?" And as they were instructed not to observe who the person +was that came to question them, but to tie him up and boil him in the +oil, they, notwithstanding his howls, bound him and threw him in. As +soon as he was dead, they extinguished the fire, poured out the oil, +turned over the caldron, corpse and all. + +The Brahmin finished his dvadasi breakfast, in great haste, and, +with the betel leaf still in his hand, ran to the gate to inquire of +the persons seated by the caldron whether it was all done. When he +put them the question, they smilingly replied:-- + +"Yes, Sir, it is all done. The minister is boiled to death. We gave +full execution to the king's orders. You may go and report the affair +to him." + +The Brahmin, not knowing the reason for the course events had taken, +ran back and reported the reply of the executioners to the king. The +minister's interference in the affair at once kindled suspicion in the +king's mind. He unsheathed his scimitar, and holding it in his right +hand, twisted the lock of hair on the Brahmin's head into his left. He +then asked him whether he had not tried to get his wife away from him +the previous morning, and told him that, if he concealed the truth, +he would make an end of him. The poor Brahmin now confessed what he +had seen, on which the king threw down the scimitar and fell down on +his knees before him. + +"The words of thy benediction, O respected Brahmin, have only +now been explained to me. Thou hast sown nothing but good; and +good in having thy life preserved, hast thou reaped. The wicked +minister--whose conscious guilt made him so very anxious to hear +about thy death--because he sowed a bad intention in his heart has +reaped evil, even a death that he never expected. Another victim of +evil sowing, remains in my queen, in whom I placed an undeserved love." + +So said he, and ordered her to the gallows. The old Brahmin he +appointed his minister and reigned for a long time. + + + + + + + +XVII. + +LIGHT MAKES PROSPERITY. + + +There is a Tamil proverb dipam lakshmikaram, meaning, "light makes +prosperity," and the following story is related to explain it:-- + +In the town of Govindapathi there lived a merchant named Pasupati +Setti, who had a son and a daughter. The son's name was Vinita and the +daughter's Garvi, and while still playmates they made a mutual vow, +that in case they ever had children that could be married to each +other, they would certainly see that this was done. Garvi grew up +to marry a very rich merchant, and gave birth in due course to three +daughters, the last of whom was named Sunguni. Vinita, too, had three +sons. Before, however, this brother and sister could fulfil their +vow an event happened which threw a gloom over all their expectations. + +Pasupati Setti died, and his creditors--for he had many--grew +troublesome. All his property had to be sold to clear his debts, +and in a month or two after his father's death Vinita was reduced to +the condition of a penniless pauper. But being a sensible person he +patiently bore up against his calamity, and tried his best to live +an honest life on what little was left to him. + +His sister Garvi was, as has been already said, married into a rich +family, and when she saw the penniless condition of her brother the +engagements she had entered into with him began to trouble her. To +give or not to give her daughters in marriage to the sons of her +brother! This was the question that occupied her thoughts for several +months, till at last she determined within herself never to give poor +husbands to her children. Fortunately for her, two young merchants of +respectable family offered themselves to her two eldest daughters, +she gladly accepted them and had the weddings celebrated. The last +daughter, Suguni, alone remained unmarried. + +Vinita was sorely troubled in his heart at this disappointment, +as he never thought that his sister would thus look down upon his +poverty; but, being very sensible, he never interfered and never said +a word. The vow of his childhood was, however, known to every one, and +some came to sympathise with him; while others spoke in a criticising +tone to Garvi for having broken her promise, because her brother had +become poor through unforeseen circumstances. Their remarks fell on the +ears of Suguni, who was as yet unmarried, and also was a very learned +and sensible girl. She found her uncle Vinita extremely courteous and +respectful, and his sons all persons of virtue and good nature. The +thought that her mother should have forgotten all these excellent and +rare qualities in the presence of fleeting mammon (asthiraisvarya) +vexed her heart very greatly. So, though it is considered most +contrary to etiquette for a girl in Hindu society to fix upon a boy +as her husband, she approached her mother and thus addressed her:-- + +"Mother, I have heard all the story about your vow to your brother +to marry us--myself and my sisters--to his sons, our cousins; but +I am ashamed to see you have unwarrantably broken it in the case of +my sisters. I cannot bear such shame. I cannot marry anyone in the +world except one of my three cousins. You must make up your mind to +give me your consent." + +Garvi was astonished to hear her youngest daughter talk thus to her. + +"You wish to marry a beggar?" said she. "We will never agree to it, +and if you persist we will give you away to your penniless pauper, +but we will never see your face again." + +But Suguni persisted. So her marriage with the youngest son of Vinita +was arranged. He had never spoken a word about it to his sister, +but he had waited to make matches for his children till all his +sister's daughters had been given away, and when he heard that Suguni +was determined to marry his youngest son, he was very pleased. He +soon fixed upon two girls from a poor family for his other sons, +and celebrated the three weddings as became his position. + +Suguni was as noble in her conduct as in her love for her poor +cousin. She was never proud or insolent on account of having come +from a rich family. Nor did she ever disregard her husband, or his +brothers, or father. + +Now Vinita and his sons used to go out in the mornings to gather +dried leaves which his three daughters-in-law stitched into plates +(patravali), which the male members of the family sold in the bazar for +about four panams each. [90] Sometimes these leaf-plates would go for +more, sometimes for less; but whatever money the father-in-law brought +home his daughters-in-law used for the day's expense. The youngest +of them was Suguni, who spent the money most judiciously, and fed her +father-in-law and his sons sumptuously. Whatever remained she partook +of with her two poor sisters-in-law, and lived most contentedly. And +the family respected Suguni as a paragon of virtue, and had a very +great regard for her. Her parents, as they had threatened, never +returned to see how their last, and of course once beloved, child +was doing in her husband's home. Thus passed a couple of years. + +One day the king of the town was taking an oil bath, and pulling a +ring off his finger, left it in a niche in the open courtyard. A garuda +(Brahmani kite) was at that moment describing circles in the air, and, +mistaking the glittering rubies in the ring for flesh, pounced upon it +and flew away. Finding it not to be flesh he dropped it in the house of +Suguni's husband. She happened to be alone working in the courtyard, +while her sisters-in-law and the others were in different parts of +the house. So she took up the sparkling ring and hid it in her lap. + +Soon afterwards she heard a proclamation made in the street that the +king had lost a valuable ring, and that any person who could trace it +and give it back to him should obtain a great reward. Suguni called +her husband and his brothers and thus addressed them:-- + +"My lord and brothers, I have the king's ring. Exactly at midday a +garuda dropped it in our courtyard and here it is. We must all go to +the king, and there, before you three, I shall deliver up the ring, +explaining how I got it. When his majesty desires me to name my +reward I shall do so, and beg of you never to contradict or gainsay +my desires, if they appear very humble in your opinion." + +The brothers agreed, and they all started for the palace. They had +a very great respect for Suguni and expected a good result from this +visit to the king. + +The palace was reached, and the ring was given back to the king +with the explanation. His majesty was charmed at the modesty and +truthfulness of Suguni, and asked her to name her reward. + +"My most gracious sovereign! King of kings! Supreme lord! Only a slight +favour thy dog of a servant requests of your majesty. It is this, +that on a Friday night all the lights in the town be extinguished, +and not a lamp be lit even in the palace. Only the house of thy dog +of a servant must be lighted up with such lights as it can afford." + +"Agreed, most modest lady. We grant your request, and we permit you +to have the privilege you desire this very next Friday." + +Joyfully she bowed before his majesty, and returned with her husband +and the others to her house. She then pledged the last jewel she had +by her and procured some money. + +Friday came. She fasted the whole day, and as soon as twilight +approached she called both the brothers of her husband, and thus +addressed them:-- + +"My brothers, I have made arrangements for lighting up our house +with one thousand lamps to-night. One of you, without ever closing +your eyes for a moment, must watch the front of our house and the +other the back. If a woman of a graceful appearance and of feminine +majesty wishes you to permit her to enter it, boldly tell her to +swear first never to go out again. If she solemnly agrees to this, +then permit her to come in. If in the same way any woman wishes to +go out, make a similar condition that she must swear never to return +at any time in her life." + +What Suguni said seemed ridiculous to the brothers; but they allowed +her to have her way, and waited to see patiently what would take place. + +The whole town was gloomy that night, except Suguni's house; for, +by order of his majesty, no light was lit in any other house. The +Ashtalakshmis--the Eight Prosperities--entered the town that night and +went house by house into every street. All of them were dark, and the +only house lit up was Suguni's. They tried to enter it, but the brother +at the door stopped them and ordered them to take the oath. This they +did, and when he came to understand that these ladies were the Eight +Prosperities, he admired the sagacity of his brother's wife. + +A nimisha after the eight ladies had gone in, there came out of the +house a hideous female and requested permission to go, but the brother +at the back would not permit this unless she swore never to come back +again. She solemnly swore, and the next moment he came to know that +she was Mudevi, or Adversity, the elder sister of Prosperity. + +For she said:--"My sisters have come. I cannot stay here for a minute +longer. God bless you and your people. I swear by everything sacred +never to come back." + +And so, unable to breathe there any longer, Adversity ran away. + +When the morning dawned, the Prosperities had already taken up a +permanent abode with the family. The rice bag became filled. The money +chest overflowed with money. The pot contained milk. And thus plenty +began to reign in Suguni's house from that day. The three brothers and +her father-in-law were overjoyed at the way Suguni had driven away +their poverty for ever, and even Suguni's parents did not feel it a +disgrace to come and beg their daughter's pardon. She nobly granted +it and lived with all the members of her family in prosperity for a +long life. + +It is a notion, therefore, among orthodox Hindus, that light in the +house brings prosperity, and darkness adversity. [91] + + + + + + + +XVIII. + +CHANDRALEKHA AND THE EIGHT ROBBERS. + + +There was an ancient city named Kaivalyam, in the Pandiya country, +and in that city there lived a dancing girl named Muttumohana. She was +an excellent gem of womankind, for though born of the dancing-girls' +caste, she was a very learned and pious woman, and never would she +taste her food without first going and worshipping in the temple of +Siva. She moved in the society of kings, ministers, and Brahmins, and +never mingled with low people, however rich they might be. She had a +daughter named Chandralekha, whom she put to school with the sons of +kings, ministers and Brahmins. Chandralekha showed signs of very great +intelligence, even when she was beginning her alphabet, so that the +master took the greatest care with her tuition, and in less than four +years she began her lessons and became a great pandita. [92] However, +as she was only a dancing-girl by birth, there was no objection to her +attending to her studies in open school till she attained to maturity, +and, accordingly, up to that age she attended the school and mastered +the four Vedas and Sastras and the sixty-four varieties of knowledge. + +She then ceased to attend the school, and Muttumohana said to her:-- + +"My darling daughter, for the last seven or eight years you have +been taking lessons under the Brahmin, your master, in the various +departments of knowledge, and you must now pay a large fee to +remunerate your master's labours in having taught you so much. You +are at liberty to take as much money as you please from my hoard." + +So saying she handed over the key to her daughter, and Chandralekha, +delighted at her mother's sound advice, filled up five baskets with +five thousand mohars in each, and setting them on the heads of five +maid-servants, went to her master's house with betel leaves, areca nut, +flowers and cocoanuts in a platter in her hand, to be presented along +with the money. The servants placed the baskets before the master and +stood outside the house, while Chandralekha took the dish of betel +leaves, nuts, &c., and humbly prostrated herself on the ground before +him. Then, rising up, she said:-- + +"My most holy guru (master), great are the pains your holiness +undertook in instructing me, and thus destroying the darkness of my +ignorance. For the last eight years I have been a regular student +under your holiness, and all the branches of knowledge hath your +holiness taught me. Though what I offer might be insufficient for +the pains your holiness took in my case, still I humbly request your +holiness to accept what I have brought." + +Thus said she, and respectfully pushed the baskets of mohars and +the betel-nut platter towards the Brahmin. She expected to hear +benedictions from her tutor, but in that we shall see she was soon +disappointed. + +Replied the wretched Brahmin:-- + +"My dear Chandralekha, do you not know that I am the tutor of the +prince, the minister's son and several others of great wealth in +Kaivalyam? Of money I have more than enough. I do not want a single +mohar from you, but what I want is that you should marry me." [93] + +Thus spoke the shameless teacher, and Chandralekha's face changed +colour. She was horrified to hear such a suggestion from one whom she +had thought till then to be an incarnation of perfection. But, still +hoping to convince him of the unjustness of the request, she said:-- + +"My most holy master! The deep respect I entertain towards your holy +feet is such that, though your holiness's words are plain, I am led +to think that they are merely uttered to test my character. Does not +your holiness know the rules by which a preceptor is to be regarded +as a father, and that I thus stand in the relationship of a daughter +to your holiness? So kindly forget all that your holiness has said, +and accepting what I have brought in my humble state, permit me to +go home." + +But the wretched teacher never meant anything of the sort. He had +spoken in earnest, and his silence now and lascivious look at once +convinced the dancing-girl's daughter of what was passing in his +mind. So she quickly went out and told her servants to take back +the money. + +At home Muttumohana was anxiously awaiting the return of her daughter, +and as soon as Chandralekha came in without the usual cheerfulness in +her face, and without having given the presents, her mother suspected +that something had gone wrong, and inquired of her daughter the cause +of her gloom. She then related to her mother the whole story of her +interview with her old master. Muttumohana was glad to find such a +firm heart in her daughter, and blessed her, saying that she would +be wedded to a young husband, and lead a chaste life, though born of +the dancing-girls' caste. The money she safely locked up in her room. + +Now, the Brahmin, in consequence of his disappointment, was very angry +with Chandralekha, and, that no young and wealthy gentleman might +visit her house, he spread reports that Chandralekha was possessed of +a demon (kuttichchatti). So no one approached Chandralekha's house to +win her love, and her mother was much vexed. Her great wish was that +some respectable young man should secure her daughter's affections, +but the master's rumours stood in the way. And thus a year passed, +and the belief that a kuttichchatti had possessed Chandralekha gained +firm ground. + +After what seemed to these two to be a long period, a sage happened to +visit Muttumohana's house, and she related to him all her daughter's +story. He listened and said:-- + +"Since the belief that a demon has taken possession of your daughter +has taken firm hold of the citizens, it is but necessary now that +she should perform (puja) worship to the demon-king on the night of +the new moon of this month in the cremation-ground. Let her do this +and she will be all right, for then some worthy young man can secure +her affections." + +So saying the sage went away, and his advice seemed to be reasonable +to the mother. She very well knew that no such demon had possessed +her daughter, but that it was all the master's idle report. But still, +to wipe away any evil notion in the minds of the people she publicly +proclaimed that her daughter would perform puja in the cremation-ground +at midnight at the next new moon. [94] Now, it is always the rule in +such rites that the person who is possessed should go alone to the +cremation-ground, and, accordingly, on the night of the next new moon, +Chandralekha went to the burning-ground with a basket containing all +the necessary things for worship, and a light. + +Near Kaivalyam, at a distance of five kos from it, was a great +forest called Khandavam. In it there dwelt eight robbers, who used +to commit the greatest havoc in the country round. At the time that +Chandralekha proceeded to the cremation-ground, these eight robbers +also happened to go there to conceal what they had stolen in the +earlier part of that night. Then, being relieved of their burden, +they determined to go to some other place to plunder during the +latter half of the night also. When Chandralekha heard the sound of +footsteps at a distance she feared something wrong, and, covering up +her glittering light by means of her empty basket, concealed herself +in a hollow place. The thieves came and looked round about them. They +found nobody, but, fearing that some one might be near, one of them +took out an instrument called kannakkol, and, whirling it round his +head, threw it towards the east. This kannakkol is the instrument +by which these robbers bore holes in walls and enter buildings, and +some robbers say they get it from a thunderbolt. During a stormy +day they make a large heap of cow-dung, into which a thunderbolt +falls and leaves a rod in the middle, which is so powerful that it +can bore even through stone walls without making any noise. It has +also the attribute of obeying its master's orders. So when the chief +of the eight robbers threw his kannakkol towards the east, true to +its nature, it fell into the hole in which Chandralekha was hiding, +and began to pierce her in the back. As soon as she felt it, she +dragged it out by both her hands without making the slightest noise, +and, throwing it under her feet, stood firmly over it. The robbers, +having concealed the eight boxes of wealth they had brought with +them in the sands near the cremation-ground, went away to spend the +remaining part of the night usefully in their own fashion. + +As soon as the robbers had left the place Chandralekha came out, and, +taking possession of the robbers' rod, took out the eight boxes that +the robbers had buried. With these she quickly hastened home, where +her mother was awaiting her return. She soon made her appearance, +and related all that had occurred during the night to her mother. They +soon removed the contents of the boxes and locked them up safely. Then, +taking the empty boxes, she filled them up with stones, old iron and +other useless materials, and, arranging them two and two by the side +of each leg of her cot, went to sleep on it. + +As the night was drawing to a close, the robbers, with still more +booty, came to the ground, and were thunderstruck when they missed +their boxes. But as the day was dawning they went away into the jungle, +leaving the investigation of the matter to the next night. They were +astonished at the trick that had been played upon them and were very +anxious to find out the thief who had outwitted thieves. Now they were +sure that their boring-rod, which they had aimed against the unknown +person who might be lurking in the smasanam (cremation-ground), +must have wounded him. So one of them assumed the guise of an +ointment-seller, [95] and, with some ointment in a cocoanut-bottle, +began to walk the streets of Kaivalyam city, crying out:-- + +"Ointment to sell. The best of ointments to cure new wounds and old +sores. Please buy my ointment." + +And the other seven thieves assumed seven different disguises and +also went wandering round the streets of the city. A maid-servant +of Chandralekha had seen that her mistress was suffering from the +effects of a wound in her back, and never suspecting a thief in the +medicine seller, called out to the ointment-man and took him inside +the house. She then informed Chandralekha that she had brought in +an ointment-man, and that she would do well to buy a little of his +medicine for her wound. The clever Chandralekha at once recognised the +thief in the medicine vendor, and he too, as he was a very cunning +brute, recognised in the young lady the thief of his boxes, and +found her wound to be that made by his boring-rod. They soon parted +company. The lady bought a little ointment, and the thief in disguise, +gladly giving a little of his precious stuff from his cocoanut-bottle, +went away. The eight thieves had appointed a place outside Kaivalyam +for their rendezvous, and there they learnt who had robbed them of +their treasure. Not wishing to remain idle, they chose that very +night both to break into Chandralekha's house and bring away herself +and their boxes. + +Chandralekha, too, was very careful. She locked up all the treasures +and kept the eight boxes filled with rubbish, so as to correspond with +their original weights, under the cot on which she slept, or rather +pretended to sleep, that night. The thieves in due course made a hole +into her bedroom and entered. They found her to all appearance sound +asleep, and to their still greater joy, they found beneath her cot +their eight boxes. + +"The vixen is asleep. Let us come to-morrow night and take her away; +but first let us remove our boxes." + +So saying to each other, they took their boxes, each placing one on his +head, and returned in haste to their cave, which they reached early in +the morning. But when they opened the boxes to sort out their booty, +astonishment of astonishments, their eyes met only broken pieces of +stone, lumps of iron, and other such rubbish. Every one of them placed +his forefinger at right angles to the tip of his nose, and exclaimed:-- + +"Ah! A very clever girl. She has managed to deceive us all. But let +this day pass. We shall see whether she will not fall into our hands +to-night." + +Thus, in wonder and amazement, they spent the whole day. Nor was +Chandralekha idle at her own house. She was sure she would again see +the robbers in her room that night, and, in order to be prepared for +the occasion, she made a small sharp knife out of the robber's rod, +and kept it beneath her pillow, in the place where she was accustomed +to keep her purse containing a few betel leaves, nuts, chunam, &c., +to chew. The night came on. Early Chandralekha had her supper and +retired to bed. Sleep she could not, but she cunningly kept eyelids +closed and pretended to sleep. Even before it was midnight the eight +thieves broke into her room, saying to themselves:-- + +"This clever lady-thief sleeps soundly. We will do her no mischief +here. Let us range ourselves two and two at each leg of her cot, +and carry her away unconscious to the woods. There we can kill her." + +Thus thinking, the eight thieves ranged themselves at the side +of the four legs of the cot, and, without the slightest shaking, +removed the cot with the sleeper on it outside the town. Their +joy in thus having brought away their enemy was very great, and, +not fearing for the safe custody of their prisoner, they marched to +their cave. Meanwhile Chandralekha was not idle on the cot. The way +to the jungle was through a long and fine avenue of mango trees. It +was the mango season, and all the branches were hanging with bunches +of ripe and unripe fruit. To make up for her weight on the cot she +kept plucking mango bunches and heaping them on it, and as soon as +a quantity which she thought would make up her weight was upon her +cot, she without the slightest noise took hold of a branch and swung +herself off it. The thieves walked on as before, the weight on their +heads not apparently diminishing, leaving our heroine safely seated +on a mango branch to pass the few remaining ghatikas of that anxious +night there. The thieves reached their cave just at daybreak, and +when they placed their burden down their eyes met only bunches of +ripe mangoes, and not the lady they looked for. + +"Is she a woman of flesh and blood, or is she a devil?" asked the +chief of the next in rank. + +"My lord! she is a woman fast enough, and if we search in the wood +we shall find her," replied he, and at once all the eight robbers +after a light breakfast began to search for her. + +Meanwhile the morning dawned upon Chandralekha and let her see that +she was in the midst of a thick jungle. She feared to escape in +the daytime as the way was long, and she was sure that the robbers +would soon be after her. So she resolved to conceal herself in some +deep ambush and wait for the night. Before she left the cot for the +mango branch she had secured in her hip the small knife she had made +for herself out of the robbers' rod and the purse containing the +materials for chewing betel; and near the tree into which she had +climbed she saw a deep hollow surrounded by impenetrable reeds on all +sides. So she slowly let herself down from the tree into this hollow, +and anxiously waited there for the night. + +All this time the eight thieves were searching for her in different +places, and one of them came to the spot where Chandralekha had sat +in the tree, and the dense bushes near made him suspect that she +was hidden there; so he proceeded to examine the place by climbing +up the tree. When Chandralekha saw the thief on the tree she gave +up all hopes of life. But suddenly a bright thought came into her +mind, just as the man up above saw her. Putting on a most cheerful +countenance she slowly spoke to him. + +"My dear husband, for I must term you so from this moment, since God +has elevated you now to that position, do not raise an alarm. Come +down here gently, that we may be happy in each other's company. You +are my husband and I am your wife from this moment." + +So spoke the clever Chandralekha, and the head of the thief began +to turn with joy when he heard so sweet a speech, and forgetting all +her previous conduct to himself and his brethren, he leapt into the +hollow. She welcomed him with a smiling face, in which the eager heart +of the robber read sincere affection, and gave him some betel-nut +to chew and chewed some herself merrily. Now redness of the tongue +after chewing betel is always an indication of the mutual affection +of a husband and wife among the illiterate of Hindu society. So while +the betel-leaf was being chewed she put out her tongue to show the +thief how red it was, letting him see thereby how deeply she loved +him: and he, to show in return how deeply he loved her, put out his +tongue too. And she, as if examining it closely, clutched it in her +left hand, while with her right hand in the twinkling of an eye cut +off the tongue and nose of the robber, and taking advantage of the +confusion that came over him she cut his throat and left him dead. + +By this time evening was fast approaching, and the other seven robbers, +after fruitless search, returned to their cave, feeling sure that +the eighth man must have discovered Chandralekha. They waited and +waited the whole night, but no one returned, for how could a man who +had been killed come back? + +Our heroine, meanwhile, as soon as evening set in started homewards, +being emboldened by the occasion and the circumstances in which she +was placed. She reached home safely at midnight and related all her +adventures to her mother. Overcome by exhaustion she slept the rest of +the night, and as soon as morning dawned began to strengthen the walls +of her bedroom by iron plates. To her most useful pocket-knife she now +added a bagful of powdered chillies, and went to bed, not to sleep, +but to watch for the robbers. Just as she expected, a small hole was +bored in the east wall of her bedroom, and one of the seven robbers +thrust in his head. As soon as she saw the hole our heroine stood +by the side of it with the powder and knife, and with the latter she +cut off the nose of the man who peeped in and thrust the powder into +the wound. Unable to bear the burning pain he dragged himself back, +uttering "na, na, na, na," having now no nose to pronounce properly +with. A second thief, abusing the former for having lost his nose +so carelessly, went in, and the bold lady inside dealt in the same +way with his nose, and he too, dragged himself back in the same way, +calling out "na, na, na, na." A third thief abused the second in his +turn, and going in lost his nose also. Thus all the seven thieves +lost their noses, and, fearing to be discovered if they remained, +ran off to the forest, where they had to take a few days' rest from +their plundering habits to cure their mutilated noses. + +Chandralekha had thus three or four times disappointed the thieves. The +more she disappointed them the more she feared for her own safety, +especially as she had now inflicted a life-long shame on them. + +"The thieves will surely come as soon as their noses are cured and +kill me in some way or other. I am, after all, only a girl," she +thought to herself. So she went at once to the palace and reported +all her adventures with the eight robbers to the prince, who had been +her former class-mate. The prince was astonished at the bravery of +Chandralekha, and promised the next time the robbers came to lend +her his assistance. So every night a spy from the palace slept in +Chandralekha's house to carry the news of the arrival of the robbers to +the prince, should they ever go there. But the robbers were terribly +afraid of approaching Chandralekha's house, after they came to know +that she had a knife made out of the boring-rod. But they devised +among themselves a plan of inviting Chandralekha to the forest under +the pretence of holding a nautch, and sent to her house a servant for +that purpose. The servant came, and, entering Chandralekha's house, +spoke thus to her:-- + +"My dear young lady, whoever you may be, you have now a chance of +enriching yourself. I see plainly from the situation of your house +that you are one of the dancing-girls' caste. My masters in the forest +have made a plan to give a nautch to their relatives on the occasion +of a wedding which is to take place there the day after to-morrow. If +you come there they will reward you with a karor of mohars for every +nimisha (minute) of your performance." + +Thus spoke the servant, and Chandralekha, knowing that the mission +was from the thieves, agreed to perform the nautch, and, asking the +man to come and take her and her party the next morning to the forest, +sent him away. + +In order to lose no time she went at once to the prince and told him +all about the nautch. Said she:-- + +"I know very well that this is a scheme of the thieves to kill me, +but before they can do that we must try to kill them. A way suggests +itself to me in this wise. To make up a nautch party more than seven +persons are required. One must play the drum; a second must sound the +cymbals; a third must blow upon the nagasvara pipe, etc., etc. So I +request you to give me seven of your strongest men to accompany me +disguised as men of my party, and some of your troops must secretly +lie in ambush in readiness to take the robbers prisoners when a signal +is given to them." + +Thus Chandralekha spoke, and all her advice the prince received with +great admiration. He himself offered to follow her as her drummer for +the nautch, and he chose six of the ablest commanders from his army, +and asked them to disguise themselves as fiddlers, pipers, etc., and +he directed an army of a thousand men to follow their footsteps at a +distance of two ghatikas' march, and to lie in ambush near the place +where they were going to perform the nautch, ready for a call. Thus +everything was arranged and all were ready by the morning to start +from Chandralekha's house. + +Before the third ghatika of the morning was over, the robbers' servant +came to conduct Chandralekha with her party to the forest, where the +prince and six of his strongest men disguised as her followers, were +waiting for him. Chandralekha with all her followers accompanied him, +but as soon as she left her house a spy ran off to the army, which, +as ordered by the prince, began to follow her party at a distance of +two ghatikas. + +After travelling a long way Chandralekha and her party reached the +nautch pavilion at about five ghatikas before sunset. All their +hosts were without their noses, and some still had their noses +bandaged up. When they saw that Chandralekha's followers had a fine +and prepossessing appearance, even the hard hearts of the robbers +softened a little. + +"Let us have a look at her performance. She is now entirely in +our possession. Instead of murdering her now, we will witness her +performance for a ghatika," said the robbers to each other; and all +with one voice said "agreed," and at once the order for the performance +was given. + +Chandralekha, who was clever in every department of knowledge, began +her performance, and, by the most exquisite movement of her limbs, +held the audience spell-bound, when suddenly ta tai, tom clashed the +cymbals. This was the signal for the destruction of the robbers, as +well as the sign of the close of a part of the nautch. In the twinkling +of an eye the seven disguised followers of the dancing-girl had thrown +down the thieves and were upon them. Before the servants of the robbers +could come to the help of their masters the footsteps of an army near +were heard, and in no time the prince's one thousand men were on the +spot and took all the robbers and their followers prisoners. + +So great had been the ravages of these robbers in and round Kaivalyam +that, without any mercy being shown to them, they and their followers +were all ordered to be beheaded, and the prince was so much won over +by the excellent qualities of Chandralekha that, notwithstanding her +birth as a dancing-girl, he regarded her as a gem of womankind and +married her. + +"Buy a girl in a bazar" (kanniyai kadaiyir kol) is a proverb. What +matter where a girl is born provided she is virtuous! And Chandralekha, +by her excellent virtue, won a prince for her lord. And when that +lord came to know of the real nature of his teacher, who was also +the teacher of Chandralekha, he banished him from his kingdom, as a +merciful punishment, in consideration of his previous services. + + + + + + + +XIX. + +THE CONQUEST OF FATE. + + +In the Dakshinadesa there lived a Brahmin boy who from his childhood +was given a very liberal education in Sanskrit. He had read so much +in philosophy that before he reached the sixteenth year of his life +he began to despise the pleasures of the world. Everything which he +saw was an illusion (mithya) to him. So he resolved to renounce the +world and to go to a forest, there to meet with some great sage, +and pass his days with him in peace and happiness. + +Having thus made up his mind, he left his home one day without the +knowledge of his parents and travelled towards the Dandakaranya. After +wandering for a long time in that impenetrable forest, and undergoing +all the miseries of a wood inhabited only by wild beasts, he reached +the banks of the Tungabhadra. His sufferings in his wanderings in a +forest untrodden by human feet, his loneliness in the midst of wild +beasts, his fears whether after all he had not failed in his search +for consolation in a preceptor to teach him the higher branches of +philosophy, came up one after another before his mind. Dejected and +weary, he cast his glance forward as far as it could reach. Was it +a reality or only imagination? He saw before him a lonely cottage +of leaves (parnasala). To a lonely traveller even the appearance of +shelter is welcome, so he followed up his vision till it became a +reality, and an aged hoary Brahmin, full fourscore and more in years, +welcomed our young philosopher. + +"What has brought you here, my child, to this lonely forest thus +alone?" spoke in a sweet voice the hoary lord of the cottage of leaves. + +"A thirst for knowledge, so that I may acquire the mastery over the +higher branches of philosophy," was the reply of our young adventurer, +whose name was Subrahmanya. + +"Sit down my child," said the old sage, much pleased that in this +Kaliyuga, which is one long epoch of sin, there was at least one +young lad who had forsaken his home for philosophy. + +Having thus seen our hero safely relieved from falling a prey to the +tigers and lions of the Dandakaranya, let us enquire into the story +of the old sage. In the good old days even of this Kaliyuga learned +people, after fully enjoying the world, retired to the forests, +with or without their wives, to pass the decline of life in solemn +solitude and contemplation. When they went with their wives they were +said to undergo the vanaprastha stage of family life. + +The hoary sage of our story was undergoing vanaprastha, for he was +in the woods with his wife. His name while living was Jnananidhi. He +had built a neat parnasala, or cottage of leaves, on the banks of +the commingled waters of the Tunga and Bhadra, and here his days and +nights were spent in meditation. Though old in years he retained the +full vigour of manhood, the result of a well-spent youth. The life +of his later years was most simple and sinless. + + + "Remote from man, with God he passed his days; + Prayer all his business, all his pleasures praise." + + +The wood yielded him herbs, fruits, and roots, and the river, +proverbial [96] for its sweet waters, supplied him with drink. He +lived, in fact, as simply as the bard who sang:-- + + + "But from the mountain's grassy side + A guiltless feast I bring; + A bag with herbs and fruits supplied, + And water from the spring." + + +His faithful wife brought him these, while Jnananidhi himself devoted +his whole time to the contemplation of God. + +Such was Jnananidhi--the abode of all wise people--to whom the +boy-philosopher, Subrahmanya, resorted. After questioning each other +both were mightily pleased at the fortune which had brought them +together. Jnananidhi was glad to impart his hard-earned knowledge +during his leisure moments to the young student, and Subrahmanya, +with that longing which made him renounce the city and take to the +woods eagerly swallowed and assimilated whatever was administered to +him. He relieved his mother--for as such he regarded his master's +wife--of all her troubles, and used, himself, to go out to bring +the fruits, herbs, and roots necessary for the repasts of the little +family. Thus passed five years, by which time our young friend had +become learned in the many branches of Aryan philosophy. + +Jnananidhi had a desire to visit the source of the Tungabhadra, but +his wife was eight months advanced in her pregnancy. So he could not +take her; and to take care of her he had to leave behind his disciple, +Subrahmanya. Thus after commending the lady to Subrahmanya's care, +and leaving for female assistance another sage's wife, whom he had +brought from a distant forest, Jnananidhi went his way. + +Now, there is a strong belief among Hindus that Brahma, the great +creator, writes on everyone's head at the time of his birth his +future fortunes in life. He is supposed to do this just at the +moment of birth. Of course, the great god when he enters the room +to discharge his onerous duty, is invisible to all human eyes. But +the eyes of Subrahmanya were not exactly human. The supreme knowledge +which Jnananidhi had imparted to him made it easy for him to discern at +once a person entering most impolitely the room in which his master's +wife had been confined. + +"Let your reverence stop here," said the disciple angrily though +respectfully. + +The great god shuddered, for he had been in the habit of entering +hourly innumerable buildings on his eternal rounds of duty, but never +till then had a human being perceived him and asked him to stop. His +wonder knew no measure, and as he stood bewildered the following +reprimand fell on his ears: + +"Hoary Brahmin sage (for so Brahma appeared), it is unbecoming your age +thus to enter the hut of my master, unallowed by me, who am watching +here. My teacher's wife is ill. Stop!" + +Brahma hastily--for the time of inscribing the future fortune on the +forehead of the baby to be born was fast approaching--explained to +Subrahmanya who he was and what had brought him there. As soon as +our young hero came to know the person who stood before him he rose +up, and, tying his upper cloth round his hips as a mark of respect, +went round the creator thrice, fell down before Brahma's most holy +feet and begged his pardon. Brahma had not much time. He wanted to +go in at once, but our young friend would not leave the god until he +explained what he meant to write on the head of the child. + +"My son!" said Brahma, "I myself do not know what my iron nail will +write on the head of the child. When the child is born I place the +nail on its head, and the instrument writes the fate of the baby in +proportion to its good or bad acts in its former life. To delay me +is merely wrong. Let me go in." + +"Then," said Subrahmanya, "your holiness must inform me when your +holiness goes out what has been written on the child's head." + +"Agreed," said Brahma and went in. After a moment he returned, and +our young hero at the door asked the god what his nail had written. + +"My child!" said Brahma, "I will inform you what it wrote; but if you +disclose it to anyone your head will split into a thousand pieces. The +child is a male child. It has before it a very hard life. A buffalo and +a sack of grain will be its livelihood. What is to be done. Perhaps +it had not done any good acts in its former life, and as the result +of its sin it must undergo miseries now." + +"What! Your supreme holiness, the father of this child is a great +sage! And is this the fate reserved to the son of a sage?" wept the +true disciple of the sage. + +"What have I to do with the matter? The fruits of acts in a former +life must be undergone in the present life. But, remember, if you +should reveal this news to any one your head will split into a +thousand pieces." + +Having said this Brahma went away, leaving Subrahmanya extremely pained +to hear that the son of a great sage was to have a hard life. He could +not even open his lips on the subject, for if he did his head would be +split. In sorrow he passed some days, when Jnananidhi returned from +his pilgrimage and was delighted to see his wife and the child doing +well, and in the learned company of the old sage our young disciple +forgot all his sorrow. + +Three more years passed away in deep study, and again the old +sage wanted to go on a pilgrimage to the sacred source of the +Tungabhadra. Again was his wife expecting her confinement, and he +had to leave her and his disciple behind with the usual temporary +female assistance. Again, too, did Brahma come at the moment of birth, +but found easy admittance as Subrahmanya had now become acquainted +with him owing to the previous event. Again did Brahma take an oath +from him not to communicate the fortunes of the second child, with +the curse that if he broke his oath, his head would split into a +thousand pieces. This child was a female, and the nail had written +that her fate was to be that of a frivolous woman. Extremely vexed +was our young philosopher. The thought vexed him to such a degree, +that language has no words to express it. After worrying a great deal +he consoled himself with the soothing philosophies of the fatalists, +that fate alone governs the world. + +The old sage in due course returned, and our young disciple spent +two more happy years with him. After a little more than ten years +had been thus spent the boy reached to five years and the girl to +two. The more they advanced in years the more did the recollection +of their future pain Subrahmanya. So one morning he humbly requested +the old sage to permit him to go on a long journey to the Himalayas +and other mountains, and Jnananidhi, knowing that all that he knew +had been grasped by the young disciple, permitted him with a glad +heart to satisfy his curiosity. + +Our hero started, and after several years, during which he visited +several towns and learned men, reached the Himalayas. There he saw +many sages, and lived with them for some time. He did not remain in +one place, for his object was more to examine the world. So he went +from place to place, and after a long and interesting journey of +twenty years he again returned to the banks of the Tungabhadra, at +the very place where he lived for ten years and imbibed philosophical +knowledge from Jnananidhi. But he saw there neither Jnananidhi nor his +old wife. They had long since fallen a prey to the lord of death. Much +afflicted at heart at seeing his master and mistress no more, he went +to the nearest town, and there after a deal of search he found a coolie +with a single buffalo. The fate which Brahma's nail had written on +his master's son rushed into the mind of Subrahmanya. He approached +the coolie, and, on closely examining him from a distance, our hero +found distinct indications of his master's face in the labourer. His +grief knew no bounds at seeing the son of a great sage thus earning +his livelihood by minding a buffalo. He followed him to his home, +and found that he had a wife and two children. One sack of corn he had +in his house and no more, from which he took out a portion every day +and gave it to his wife to be shelled. The rice was cooked, and with +the petty earnings of a coolie, he and his family kept body and soul +together. Each time the corn in the sack became exhausted he used to +be able to save enough to replenish it again with corn. Thus did he +(according to the writing of Brahma's nail) pass his days. Kapali +was the name of this coolie, the sage's son. + +"Do you know me, Kapali?" said our hero, as he remembered his name. + +The coolie was astonished to hear his name so readily pronounced by +one who was apparently a stranger to him, but he said:-- + +"I am sorry that I do not know you, Sir." + +Subrahmanya then explained to him who he was, and requested him to +follow his advice. + +"My dear son," said he, "do as I bid you. Early morning to-morrow leave +your bed and take to the market your buffalo and the corn sack. Dispose +of them for whatever amount they will fetch. Do not think twice about +the matter. Buy all that is necessary for a sumptuous meal from the +sale proceeds and eat it all up at once without reserving a morsel +for the morrow. You will get a great deal more than you can eat in a +day; but do not reserve any, even the smallest portion of it. Feed +several other Brahmins with it. Do not think that I advise you for +your ruin. You will see in the end that what your father's disciple +tells you is for your own prosperity." + +However, whatever the sage might say, Kapali could not bring himself +to believe him. + +"What shall I do to feed my wife and children to-morrow if I sell +everything belonging to me to-day?" + +Thus thought Kapali, and consulted his wife. + +Now she was a very virtuous and intelligent woman. Said she:-- + +"My dear lord, we have heard that your father was a great mahatma. This +disciple must equally be a mahatma. His holiness would not advise us +to our ruin. Let us follow the sage's advice." + +When Kapali's wife thus supported the sage, he resolved to dispose of +his beast and sack the next morning, and he did so accordingly. The +provisions he bought were enough to feed fifty Brahmins morning and +evening, as well as his own family. So that day he fed Brahmins for +the first time in his life. Night came on, and after an adventurous day +Kapali retired to sleep, but sleep he could not. Meanwhile Subrahmanya +was sleeping on the bare verandah outside the house, and he came to +the sage and said:-- + +"Holy sage, nearly half the night is spent, and there are only +fifteen ghatikas more for the dawn. What shall I do for the morrow +for my hungry children? All that I had I have spent. I have not even +a morsel of cold rice for the morning." + +Subrahmanya showed him some money that he had in his hand, enough to +buy a buffalo and a sack of corn in case the great god did not help +him, and asked him to spend that night, at least the remainder of it, +in calm sleep. So Kapali, with his heart at ease, retired to rest. + +He had not slept more than ten ghatikas when he dreamt that all +his family--his wife and children--were screaming for a mouthful +of rice. Suddenly he awoke and cursed his poverty which always +made such thoughts dwell uppermost in his mind. There were only +five ghatikas for the lord of the day to make his appearance in the +eastern horizon, and before this could happen he wanted to finish his +morning bath and ablutions, and so he went to his garden to bathe at +the well. The shed for the buffalo was erected in the garden, and it +had been his habit daily before bathing to give fresh straw to his +beast. That morning he thought he would be spared that duty. But, +wonder of wonders! He saw another buffalo standing there. He cursed +his poverty again which made him imagine impossibilities. How could it +be possible that his beast should be standing there when he had sold +it the previous morning? So he went into the shed and found a real +buffalo standing there. He could not believe his eyes, and hastily +brought a lamp from his house. It was, however, a real buffalo, and +beside it was a sack of corn! His heart leapt with joy, and he ran +out to tell his patron, Subrahmanya. But when the latter heard it he +said with a disgusted air:-- + +"My dear Kapali, why do you care so much? Why do you feel so +overjoyed? Take the beast at once with the corn-sack and sell them +as you did yesterday." + +Kapali at once obeyed the orders and changed the money into +provisions. Again fifty Brahmins were fed the next day too, and +nothing was reserved for the third day's use. Thus it went on in +Kapali's house. Every morning he found a buffalo and a sack of corn, +which he sold and fed Brahmins with the proceeds. In this way a month +passed. Said Subrahmanya one day:-- + +"My dear Kapali, I am your holy father's disciple, and I would never +advise you to do a thing prejudicial to your welfare. When I came to +know that you were the son of the great sage, Jnananidhi, and were +leading so wretched a life, I came to see you in order to alleviate +your miseries. I have now done so, having pointed out the way to you +to live comfortably. Daily must you continue thus. Do as you have +been doing for the past month, and never store away anything, for if +you reserve a portion all this happiness may fail, and you will have +to revert to your former wretched life. I have done my duty towards +you. If you become ambitious of hoarding up money this good fortune +may desert you." + +Kapali agreed to follow the advice of the sage to the uttermost detail +and requested him to remain in his house. Again said Subrahmanya:-- + +"My son! I have better work before me than living in your house. So +please excuse me. But before leaving you, I request you to inform +me as to where your sister is. She was a child of two years of age +when I saw her twenty years ago. She must be about twenty-two or +twenty-three now. Where is she?" + +Tears trickled down the eyes of Kapali when his sister was +mentioned. Said he:-- + +"Do not, my patron, think of her. She is lost to the world. I am +ashamed to think of her. Why should we think of such a wretch at this +happy time?" + +At once the inscription made by Brahma's nail rushed into Subrahmanya's +mind and he understood what was meant. Said he:-- + +"Never mind; be open and tell me where she is." + +Then her brother, Kapali, with his eyes still wet with tears, said +that his sister, the daughter of the sage Jnananidhi, was leading the +worst of lives in an adjoining village, and that her name was Kalyani. + +Subrahmanya took leave of Kapali and his wife, after blessing his +little children and again warning his friend. He had conferred what +happiness he could upon his master's son, and now the thought of +reforming his master's daughter reigned supreme in his heart. He +went at once to the village indicated and reached it at about +nightfall. After an easy search he found her house and knocked at the +door. The door was at once opened. But on that day she was astonished +to see a face such as she could never expect to approach her house. + +"Do you know me, Kalyani?" said Subrahmanya, and she in reply said that +she did not. He then explained who he was, and when she came to know +that it was a disciple of her father that was standing before her she +wept most bitterly. The thought that after having been born of such +a holy sage, she had adopted so wretched a life, the most shameful in +the world, made her miserable at heart. She fell down at his feet and +asked to be forgiven. She then explained to him her extreme misery, +and the hard necessity which had compelled her to take to her present +way of living. He then consoled her and spoke thus:-- + +"My dear daughter! My heart burns within me when I see that necessity +has driven you to this wretched life. But I can redeem you if you +will only follow my advice. From this night you had better shut your +door, and never open it to any other person except to him who brings +to you a large measure full of pearls of the first water. You follow +this advice for a day and I shall then advise you further." + +Being the daughter of a great sage, and having been compelled by +necessity to take to a wretched life, she readily consented to follow +her father's disciple when he promised to redeem her. She bolted the +door, and refused admission to anyone unless they brought a large +measure full of pearls. Her visitors, fancying that she must have +gone mad, went away. The night was almost drawing to a close and all +her friends had gone away disappointed. Who was there in the village +to give to her one measure full of pearls? But as the nail of Brahma +had appointed for her such a life as stated, some one was bound to +comply with her terms. And as there was no human being who could do +so, the god Brahma himself assumed the shape of a young man, and, +with a measure full of pearls, visited her in the last watch of the +night and remained with her. + +When morning dawned he disappeared, and when Kalyani explained to the +disciple of her father the next morning that after all one person had +visited her with a measure full of pearls on the previous night, he was +glad to hear of it. He knew that his plan was working well. Said he:-- + +"My dear daughter, you are restored to your former good self hereafter +from this day. There are very few people in this world who could +afford to give you a measure full of pearls every night. So he that +brought you the pearls last night must continue to do so every night, +and he shall be hereafter your only husband. No other person must ever +hereafter see your face, and you must obey my orders. You must sell all +the pearls he brings you every day and convert them into money. This +money you should spend in feeding the poor and other charities. None +of it must you reserve for the next day, neither must you entertain +a desire to hoard up money. The day you fail to follow my advice you +will lose your husband, and then you will have to fall back on your +former wretched life." + +Thus said Subrahmanya, and Kalyani agreed to strictly follow his +injunctions. He then went to live under a tree opposite to her house +for a month to see whether his plan was working well, and found it +worked admirably. + +Thus, after having conferred happiness, to the best of his abilities, +on the son and daughter of his former master, Subrahmanya took +leave of Kalyani, and with her permission, most reluctantly given, +he pursued his pilgrimage. + +One moonlight night, after a long sleep, Subrahmanya rose up almost +at midnight, and hearing the crows crowing he mistook it for the dawn +and commenced his journey. He had not proceeded far, when on his way +he met a beautiful person coming towards him, with a sack of corn +on his head and a bundle of pearls tied up in the end of his upper +cloth on his shoulder, leading a buffalo before him. + +"Who are you, sir, walking thus in this forest?" said Subrahmanya. + +When thus addressed, the person before him threw down the sack and +wept most bitterly. + +"See, sir, my head is almost become bald by having to bear to Kapali's +house a sack of corn every night. This buffalo I lead to Kapali's +shed and this bundle of pearls I take to Kalyani's house. My nail +wrote their fate on their respective heads and by your device I have +to supply them with what my nail wrote. When will you relieve me of +these troubles?" + +Thus wept Brahma, for it was no other personage. He was the creator +and protector of all beings, and when Subrahmanya had pointed out the +way for his master's children, and they had conquered fate, Brahma +too was conquered. So the great god soon gave them eternal felicity +and relieved himself of his troubles. + + + + + + + +XX. + +THE BRAHMAN PRIEST WHO BECAME AN AMILDAR. [97] + + +In the Karnata desa there reigned a famous king named Chamunda, +who was served by an household priest, named Gundappa, well versed +in all the rituals at which he officiated. + +Chamunda, one day, while chewing betel-leaves, thus addressed Gundappa, +who was sitting opposite him:-- + +"My most holy priest, I am greatly pleased at your faithfulness in +the discharge of your sacred duties; and you may ask of me now what +you wish and I shall grant your request." + +The priest elated replied: "I have always had a desire to become +the Amildar [98] of a district and to exercise power over a number +of people; and if your Majesty should grant me this I shall have +attained my ambition." + +"Agreed," said the king, and at that time the Amildarship of Nanjangod +happening to be vacant, his Majesty at once appointed his priest to the +post, thinking that his priest, who was intelligent in his duties, +would do well in the new post. Before he sent him off, however, +he gave Gundappa three bits of advice:-- + +(1). Mukha kappage irabeku. + +(2). Ellaru kevianna kachchi matan adu. + +(3). ellar juttu kayyalii irabeku. + +The meaning of which is: + +(1). You should always keep a black (i.e. frowning) countenance. + +(2). When you speak about State affairs you should do it biting the +ear (i.e. secretly--close to the ear). + +(3.) The locks of every one should be in your hand (i.e. you must +use your influence and make every one subservient to you). + +Gundappa heard these words so kindly given by the king, and the way +in which he listened to them made his Majesty understand that he had +taken them to heart. So with a smiling face the king gave the letter +containing the appointment to Gundappa, who returned home with an +elated heart. + +He told his wife about the change that had come over his prospects, +and wished to start at once to take charge of the new post. The king +and his officers at once sent messengers to Nanjangod informing the +officers of the Amildari that a newly appointed Amildar would be +coming soon. So they all waited near the gate of the town to pay +their respects to the new Amildar and escort him into it. + +Gundappa started the very next morning to Nanjangod with a bundle +containing clean clothes, six by twelve cubits long, on his head. Poor +priest! Wherever he saw the kusa grass on the road, he was drawn +to it by its freshness, and kept on storing it up all the way. The +sacred grass had become so dear to him, that, though he would have no +occasion to use it as Amildar of Nanjangod, he could not pass by it +without gathering some of it. So with his bundle of clothes on his +head and his beloved kusa grass in his hands, Gundappa approached +the city of Nanjangod about the twentieth ghatika of the day. + +Now, though it was very late in the day, none of the officers, +who had come out to receive the Amildar had returned home to their +meals. Everyone was waiting in the gate and when Gundappa turned +up, no one took him to be anything more than a priest. The bundle +on his head and the green ritual grass in his hands proclaimed his +vocation. But everyone thought that, as a priest was coming by the +very road the Amildar would take, he might bring news of him--whether +he had halted on the road and would or might be expected before the +evening. So the next officer in rank to the Amildar came to the most +reverend priest and asked him whether he had any news of the coming +Amildar; on which our hero put down his bundle and taking out the cover +containing the order of his appointment with a handful of kusa grass, +lest his clothes be polluted if he touched them with his bare hands +informed his subordinate that he was himself the Amildar! + +All those assembled were astonished to find such a wretched priest +appointed to so responsible a post, but when it was made known that +Gundappa was the new Amildar the customary music was played and he was +escorted in a manner due to his position, into the town. He had been +fasting from the morning, and a grand feast was prepared for him in +the house of the next senior official, which Gundappa entered for a +dinner and rest. He there informed the officials that he would be at +the office at the twenty-fifth ghatika of the evening. From the way +in which he issued the order all thought that he was really an able +man, and that he had come in the guise of a simple priest in order to +find out the real state of his district. So every officer went home, +bathed, had his meal in haste and attended at the office. + +The chief assistant took the Amildar to his house, and entertained +his guest as became his position. Gundappa, being a priest, was a very +good eater, for never for a day in his life had he spent money out of +his own pocket on meals, so what reason had he to enquire about the +price of provisions? It was at the expense of others he had grown so +fat! And doing more than full justice to all the good things, much to +the secret amusement of his host and assistant, Gundappa rose up from +his food, and washed his hands. He then wanted betel-leaves though to +ask for these before the host offers them is very impolite. But his +subordinate interpreted it as an order from a master and brought the +platter containing the necessary nutmeg, mace, nut, leaves, and chunam +(lime). + +"Where is the dakshina?" [99] next asked the Amildar. His host did +not quite understand whether this was meant in earnest or in joke, +but before he could solve the question in his mind:-- + +"Where is the dakshina?" reiterated the Amildar, and his assistant, +thinking that his new superior was prone to taking bribes, at once +brought a bag containing 500 mohars and placed it in the platter. Now +a dakshina to a Brahmin is not usually more than a couple of rupees, +but should an Amildar ask for one, his assistant would naturally +mistake him, and think he was hinting at a bribe! + +Gundappa greatly pleased at a princely dakshina such as he had never +seen before in all his life, at once opened the bag and counted out +every gold piece in it, carefully tying them up in his bundle. He +then began to chew his betel, and at one gulp swallowed up all the +nutmeg and mace in the platter! All this made his assistant strongly +suspect the real nature of the new Amildar; but then there was the +order of the king, and it must be obeyed! Gundappa next asked his +assistant to go on in advance of him to the office, saying that he +would be there himself in a ghatika. The assistant accordingly left +a messenger to attend on the Amildar, and being very anxious to see +things in good order, left his house for the office. + +Gundappa now remembered the three bits of advice given by the king, +the first of which was that he should always put on, when in office, +a black countenance. Now he understood the word "black" in its literal +sense, and not in its allegorical one of "frowning," and, so going +into the kitchen, he asked for a lump of charcoal paste. When this +was ready he blackened the whole of his face with it, and covering +his face with his cloth--as he was ashamed to show it--entered the +office. With his face thus blackened and partly covered with a cloth, +the new Amildar came and took his seat. Now and then he would remove +the cloth from his eyes to see how his officers were working, and +meanwhile all the clerks and others present were laughing in their +sleeves at the queer conduct of their chief. + +The evening was drawing to a close, and there were certain orders to +be signed: so taking them all in his hand the assistant approached +the Amildar, and stood at a respectful distance. Gundappa, however, +asked him to come nearer, and nearer the assistant came. + +"Still nearer," said Gundappa, and nearer still came the assistant. + +The second bit of advice from the king now rushed into the Amildar's +mind that he should bite the ears of his officials when he enquired +into State affairs, and as Gundappa's want of sense always made +him take what was said literally, he opened his mouth and bit the +ear of his assistant, while in a muffled voice he asked him whether +all his people enjoyed full prosperity! The assistant, now in very +fear of his life, roared out that all the people were enjoying the +greatest prosperity. But Gundappa would not let go his ear till the +poor assistant had roared out the answer more than twenty times. The +poor wretch's ear soon began to swell enormously, and leaving the +office in disgust, he started to report to the king the insane acts +of the new Amildar. + +Two out of the three bits of advice from the king had now been duly +obeyed, but the third, that the locks of all the people must be in +his hands, remained unfulfilled, and Gundappa wished to carry out that +also quickly. Night had now set in, and as the Amildar still remained +in his seat, all his officers were compelled to do the same. In this +way the tenth ghatika of the night approached, and still the Amildar +would not get up, but sat with his black face secured in his cloth, now +and then peeping out to see whether they were all asleep or awake. The +fact was, he was waiting for an opportunity to have all the locks of +his officers in his hand! As soon as all his officers fell asleep +he intended to cut off all their locks, as usual understanding the +words in their literal sense! At about midnight, never dreaming of +the stupid act that the Amildar was contemplating in his mind, every +one fell asleep, and Gundappa rose up, and with a pair of scissors +cut off all the locks of his officers. He then tied them all up in +a bundle and returned to his assistant's home late at night, where +the servants gave him something to eat; after which he started with +his bag of mohars and bundle of locks to his king to inform him of +how well he had obeyed his orders! + +In the early morning he reached the presence of his Majesty only a +nimisha after his assistant had arrived. Seeing the Amildar he was +too afraid to to lodge any complaint, but his swollen ear drew the +attention of every eye in the assembly. + +Gundappa now stood before the king with the charcoal on his face +and said:-- + +"Most noble king, you ordered me to blacken my face for my new +duty. See, I have not even yet removed the dye! You ordered me next +only to speak while biting an ear. Look, please, at my assistant's +ear, who stands before you and tell me whether I have not obeyed +you!! And as for having the locks of my officers in my hands; why +here they are in this bundle!!!" + +Never had the king seen a similar instance of such stupidity, and +the thought that Gundappa had shorn so many respectable heads of +their locks, and had really bitten the ear of a worthy gentleman, +brought much shame to his heart. He begged pardon of the injured +man and from that day forward was very careful in the choice of his +officers! Poor Gundappa was dismissed even from the priestship, and +his belly grew lean from having no longer the privilege of eating +rich food at others' cost! + + + + + + + +XXI. + +THE GARDENER'S CUNNING WIFE. + + +In a certain village there lived with his wife a poor gardener who +cultivated greens in a small patch in the backyard of his house. They +were in thirty little beds, half of which he would water every +day. This occupied him from the fifth to the fifteenth ghatika. + +His wife used to cut a basketful of greens every evening, and he +took them in the mornings to sell in the village. The sale brought +him a measure or two of rice, and on this the family lived! If he +could manage any extra work of an evening he got a few coppers which +served to meet their other expenses. + +Now in that village there was a temple to Kali, before which was a +fine tank with a mango tree on its bank. The fish in the tank and the +mangoes from the tree were dedicated to the goddess, and were strictly +forbidden to the villagers. If any one was discovered cutting a mango +or catching a fish, he was at once excommunicated from the village. So +strict was the prohibition. + +The gardener was returning home one morning after selling his +greens and passed the temple. The mangoes, so carefully guarded by +religious protection, were hanging on the tree in great numbers, +and the gardener's eyes fell on them! His mouth watered. He looked +round about him, and fortunately there was no one by, at least, as +far as his eyes could reach. So he hastily plucked one of the mangoes +and with nimble feet descended into the tank to wash it. Just then +a most charming shoal of fish met his eyes. These protected dwellers +in the tank had no notion of danger, and so were frolicking about at +their ease. The gardener looked about him first and finding no one +by caught half a dozen stout fish at one plunge of his hand. He hid +them and the mango underneath the rice in his basket and returned +home, happy in the thought that he had not been caught. Now he had +a special delight in fish, and when he reached his house he showed +what he brought to his wife and asked her to prepare a dish with the +newly caught fish and the never-till-then tasted mango. + +Meanwhile he had to water his garden, and went to the backyard for +the purpose. The watering was done by a pikota. He used to run up +and down the pole while a friend of his, the son of his neighbour, +lifted the water and irrigated the garden. + +Meanwhile his wife cooked the dish of mango and fish in a pan, and +found the flavour so sweet that even while the fish was only half +cooked she began to taste one bit of it after another till more than +half had already gone down her throat! The dish was at last cooked, +and the few remaining slices in the pan were taken off the fire, so +she went into the verandah and from thence saw her husband running up +and down the pikota. She beckoned to him that the dish was ready and +that he should come in and taste it. However, he never noticed her, +but kept on running up and down the pikota, and while running up +and down he was obliged to wave his hands about, and this his wife +mistook as an indication that she might eat up her portion of the +dish. At any rate her imagination made her think so; and she went in +and ate a slice, and then went out into the verandah again to call +her husband who was still running up and down the pikota. Again, her +husband, so she thought, waved his hands in permission to go on with +her dinner. Again she went in and had another slice. Thus it went on +for a full ghatika till the last slice was consumed. + +"Alas!" thought she, "With what great eagerness my husband fetched +the fish and the mango, and how sadly, out of greediness, have I +disappointed him. Surely his anger will know no bounds when he comes +in. I must soon devise some means to save myself." + +So she brought the pan in which she cooked the fish and mango out +of the house and covered it with another pan of similar size and +sat down before it. Then she undid her hair and twisted it about +her head until it was dishevelled. She then began to make a great +noise. This action by a woman in an illiterate family of low caste is +always supposed to indicate a visitation from a goddess and a demon; +so when her husband from the pikota tree saw the state of his wife, +his guilty conscience smote him. The change in his wife alarmed him, +and he came down suddenly and stood before her. As soon as she saw +him she roared out at him:-- + +"Why have you injured me to-day by plundering my mango and fish? How +dare you do such an irreligious act? You shall soon see the results +of your impertinence!" + +"The goddess has come upon my wife most terribly," thought the poor +man. "Her divine power may soon kill her! What shall I do?" + +So he fell at the feet of the divine visitation as he thought it to +be, and said:-- + +"My most holy goddess, your dog of a servant has this day deviated +from the straight path. Excuse him this time, and he will never do +so a second time." + +"Run then with the pan which contains the fruits of your robbery and +dip it deep into my tank. Then shall the fish become alive and the +mango shall take its place in the tree." + +The gardener received the order most submissively, and taking the +pan in his hand flew to the tank. There he dipped it in the water +and came back to his house fully believing that his sin that day had +been forgiven, and that the cooked fish had become alive again and +the mango a living one. Thus did the cunning wife save herself from +her husband's wrath! + + + + + + + +XXII. + +KEEP IT FOR THE BEGGAR. + + +When anything sweet is prepared in the house on a particular night, and +when the children, after feeding to their fill, say to the mother:-- + +"Amma, this pudding is sweet; keep it for the morning," the mother +says at once:-- + +"Ask me to keep it for the beggar, and I shall do it." + +"Why should I not say keep it for the morning, Amma," ask the curious +children, and the South Indian mother gives to her listening children +the following story:-- + +In a certain village there lived an affectionate husband and wife. The +husband would go to look after the fields and garden and return home +with abundance of vegetables. The wife would cook and serve her lord +to his fill. Before going out in the morning the husband used to +take whatever of last night's dishes were left cold to remain for +his breakfast. + +The husband was a great eater of dhal [100] soup. Every night the +wife used to prepare a large quantity of it and leave a good portion +of it to stand for the morning's breakfast of her lord. And he, too, +owing to his taste for the cold rice, used to warn his wife--though +she was very careful--and say:-- + +"Keep me some of this soup for the next morning." + +The wife used to say: "Yes, my dear husband, I shall do so." + +This went on for several years. Every day the dhal soup was invariably +prepared for the night meal and a good portion of it was reserved for +the cold rice. Every night, the husband, without forgetting for even +a single day, used to ask his wife to reserve a portion. Thus passed +on several years, as we have already said. + +One night this husband had his supper. The wife had sat at her +husband's leaf to take her supper after her lord had had his. That +night, too, our hero, as usual, repeated:-- + +"Keep, my dear, some of this soup for the morning." + +At once a gurgling laughter was heard near the doorsill of their +house. The pair were astonished, and searched their whole house. No +one was discovered. Again the husband said:-- + +"Keep, my dear, some of this soup for the morning." + +Again the laughter was heard. Finding that the laughter immediately +followed his order, the husband repeated it a third time. A third +time also the laughter broke out. They were astonished. Three times +had laughter been heard in their house, and still they could see no +one. Thinking that some one must have mocked him from the neighbouring +houses, he made careful inquiries and satisfied himself that none +of his neighbours had mocked him. He was afraid at the laughter +which thrice proceeded from a part of his house, as he had heard +it distinctly. + +That very night our hero had a sudden and unforeseen calamity, and +just as he was dragging the latch of his backyard door a serpent +stung him in his finger. Neighbours hearing of the venomous reptile +in their next house, ran there with a stout cudgel. Already the +master of the house, who was passionately fond of the dhal soup, +had swooned away. His wife was mourning by his side, saying:-- + +"My dear husband. How did you forget your soup so soon and leave us +all for the other world? Just now you gave me the order, and before +tasting it even you have died." + +The neighbours began to search for the snake; but they did not +succeed. And again a voice exclaimed from vacuum:-- + +"This husband's fate ended at the twelfth ghatika of this night. Yama +ordered me to go and fetch him to his world. I came down and reached +this house at the eighth ghatika when the husband was giving the +order to reserve for the morning meal his dear dhal soup. I could not +contain my laughter, and so broke out with a gurgling noise. As I am +divine no one could perceive me. And so none ever found me in this +house after they heard the laughter. Then I transformed myself into +a serpent and waited for the hour to do my death-dealing duty. The +poor man is now no more. Four ghatikas ago he was of opinion that he +would live and eat his cold rice to-morrow morning. How very sanguine +people are in this world of uncertainty. The cause for my laughter +was the husband's certainty when he issued that order to reserve the +dhal soup for the breakfast." + +Thus ended the messenger, and vanished of course to inform his master +how he had executed his orders. + +And from that day, my children, it was fixed that our life in this +world is always uncertain, and that one who lives at this moment +cannot be sure of doing so at the next moment. While such is the case, +how can you say, "Keep the pudding for to-morrow morning." Since you +saw in the story just related to you, that we can never be certain +of our life, you must say, instead of "for to-morrow morning, for +the beggar." If we keep it for the beggar, and if we fortunately +live till to-morrow morning, we shall use a portion of it and give +the remainder to the beggar. Hence you must always, hereafter, +say when any supper from overnight is to be left for the morning, +"Keep it for the beggar, Amma." + +"Yes, mother. We shall do so hereafter," replied the children. + +In India, among Brahmins, the wife must never take her food before her +lord, unless she is pregnant or sick. In these two cases even on the +days when it is possible to avoid the meal before her lord, the wife +invariably does it; on other days she cannot probably help it when she +is physically unable. And in taking her meal, the wife sits in front +of the leaf (dish) from which her husband has eaten. Most husbands +generally leave their leaves clean, some out of pure affection to +their wives and out of a good intention of not injuring the feelings +of their wives. But there are others, who, as they are unclean in +their other habits, are also unclean in their eating. The appearance +of their leaves after they have left off eating, is like those thrown +out in the streets and mutilated by crows and dogs. But their wives, +cursing their lot to have married such husbands, must, as long as +they are orthodox, eat out of those leaves. + + + + + + + +XXIII. + +GOOD LUCK TO THE LUCKY ONE; OR, SHALL I FALL DOWN? + + +In a certain town there lived a wealthy Brahmin. He wished to build +a house--pretty large and spacious--as became his riches. For that +purpose he called in a great number of soothsayers, and fixed, +guided by their scientific opinion, a place for building the +mansion. A certain portion of every day is supposed to be bad for +doing work. This portion is sometimes called the Rahu-kala--the +evil time of the demon rahu and sometimes tyajya--the time to be +avoided. And abandoning carefully all these evil hours the wealthy +Brahmin built his mansion in ten years. The first entrance into a +new house to dwell is performed always with a great deal of pomp and +ceremony, even by the poor according to their means. And our wealthy +Brahmin to please the gods of the other world and the gods of this +world--bhusuras Brahmins--spent a great deal of his wealth, and with +veoras and music sounding all around him he entered into his house. + +The whole of the day almost was spent in ceremonies and +festivities. All the guests left the place at evening, and much +exhausted by the exertions of the day the Brahmin house-owner retired +to rest. Before sleep could close his eyelids he heard a fearful voice +over his head exclaiming:--"Shall I fall down? Shall I fall down?" + +Great was the concern of the landlord at hearing this voice. He thought +that some demon had taken possession of his house, and that he was +going to pull down the roof of his house over his own head. That very +night with as much haste as he entered the new house, he vacated it +and went back to his old house. + +Sirukakhatti perukavalka is the Tamil proverb. The meaning of it +is "build small and live great," i.e., build small houses without +laying out much capital uselessly in houses and live prosperously; +and in villages many a rich landlord would prefer small houses to big +ones. The idea that he had spent a great deal of money to build a big +house troubled our hero. The spaciousness of the house was one reason +for the devil to come in so easily, as he thought. When he vacated +his house on the very night of the day he entered it people began to +talk all sorts of scandals about it. The ladies in the bathing places +(ghats) in rivers began to give all sorts of colour to the devils in +that house. One said that when she was coming to the river she saw +a company of devils dancing round and round the middle pillar of the +upper storey of that unfortunate house. Another said that she observed +unearthly lights in that mansion the previous night. Thus people +talked and talked, furnishing new colours and new adventures out of +their pure imagination for a phenomena which they never saw. And our +unfortunate rich man had to lock up his house which he built after so +many days, and at the expense of so much money. Thus passed six months. + +In that town there lived a poor beggar Brahmin. He was in extreme +poverty, and spent a great portion of the day in begging from house +to house his meal and clothes. He had, poor man, seven children. With +this large family he was constantly in the greatest misery. He had +not a proper house to live in. A miserable hut was all his wealth in +that village. Winter was approaching, and the roof of their only hut +began to fall down. The increasing miseries made the poor Brahmin +resolve upon suicide. He could not bring himself to do that by his +own hand. He had heard of the haunted house, and resolved to go there +with all his family and perish by the hands of the devils. This was +his secret intention, but he never spoke of it to any one. One day +he came to the rich Brahmin who was the owner of the haunted mansion, +and spoke to him thus:-- + +"My noble lord! The winter is approaching and the roof of my hut has +fallen away. If you would kindly allow it I shall pass the rainy days +in your big house." + +When the rich man heard this he was very glad to see that one person +at least there was in his little world who wanted the use of his +house. So, without hesitating any longer, he replied:-- + +"My most holy sir, you can have the free use of that whole house for +whatever time you may want it. It is enough if you light a lamp there +and live happily. I built it, and I am not destined to live there. You +can go and try your fortune there." + +So said the rich landlord, and gave the key of that haunted house to +the poor Brahmin. The latter took it, and with his family went and +lived there from that day. That very night he also heard the same +voice: "Shall I fall down?" "Shall I fall down?" twice. Nothing +daunted, and quite resolved to perish with his wife and children, +who were sound asleep near him, he exclaimed, "Fall down," and lo! a +golden river of mohurs and pagodas began to fall down in the middle of +the room from the top of the roof. It began falling and falling without +any stopping till the poor Brahmin, who sat agape with wonder, began +to fear that they would all be buried in mohurs. The moment he saw +the sea of wealth before him, his idea of suicide abandoned him. "Stop +please," said he at once, and the mohur-fall came to a sudden stop. He +was delighted at the good nature of the devil, or whatever good spirit +might have taken possession of the house, for its having given him so +much wealth. He heaped up all the mohurs in one room, and locked it up, +and had the key of it in his own possession. His wife and children got +up during the mohur-fall. They also were informed of everything. The +poor Brahmin advised his wife and children to keep the matter secret, +and they, to their great credit, did so. They all--the poor parents and +children--rejoiced at the good fortune that had made its visit to them. + +As soon as morning dawned the poor Brahmin converted little by +little his mohurs into money and bought grains and clothes for his +family. This he did day by day till rumour began to spread that +the poor Brahmin had found a treasure-trove in the rich landlord's +house. Of course this rumour reached the ears of the wealthy +man also. He came to the poor Brahmin and asked him all about the +treasure-trove. The latter to his great honour related to the landlord +every bit of the mohur-fall. He also wished to witness it and sleep +in the room with the poor Brahmin, for the first time in his life, +his thirst for mohurs inducing him to do so. At about midnight "Shall +I fall down?" was again heard. + +"Fall down" said the poor Brahmin, and lo! the mohurs began to descend +like a water-fall. But, horror of horrors, they all appeared as so +many scorpions to the house-owner. The poor man was heaping up the +gold coins, but all of them seemed to crawl as so many scorpions to +the eyes of the landlord. + +"Stop please," said the poor man, and the mohur-fall stopped. + +Then turning to the house-owner, the poor man said: "My lord, you +may take home this heap for your use." + +The house-owner began to weep and said: "Most fortunate of mankind, +I have heard my old father often repeat a proverb, 'To the fortunate +fortune comes,' and its meaning I have discovered to-day only. I built +the house and ran away when I heard the 'shall I fall.' No doubt I +did very well, for had I remained a scorpion torrent would have sent +me to the other world. Know then my most fortunate friend, that I +see all your mohurs as so many scorpions. I have not the fortune to +see them as mohurs. But you have that gift. So from this moment this +house is yours. Whatever you can convert into money of your mohurs +I shall receive and bless you." + +So saying the house-owner came out of the room fearing the +scorpions. And our poor man thus had all the fortune to himself, +and was no longer a poor man. He soon became one of the wealthiest +of men of his time, but remembering that he owed all his riches to +the wealthy landlord who gave him the house, he used to share with +the latter half of his wealth every year. + +This story explains the Tamil proverb Madrishtam ullavanukku kidaikkum; +to the fortunate good fortune. + + + N.B.--This story was also related to me by my step-mother + whose birth-place is a village in the Trichinopoly district. + + N. S. + + + + + + + +XXIV. + +RETALIATION--PALIKKUPPALI. + + +There is a proverb in Tamil called Palikkuppali vangukiradu which +would best be translated by the expression "tit for tat," and the +following story I heard when a boy from my step-mother, illustrating +that proverb, and I have of late found the same story also in the +Trichinopoly districts. + +In a certain village there lived a poor Sudra. He had made a vow +to the goddess of his village, that if he came out successfully in +a certain undertaking he would offer her a couple of goats. And he +succeeded in his undertaking, and thought that his goddess alone had +granted his request. Great was his joy and greater became his faith +in her extraordinary powers. And as he promised he brought two fat +goats and sacrificed them to her. + +These goats thus sacrificed and the Sudra sacrificer who meanwhile +had died by a sudden fever, after a short time were all re-born in +the world to undergo the results of their goodness or sin. The two +goats, because they were sacrificed to the goddess, were re-born as +the king and the minister of a large country. The Sudra, as he had +as much faith in his former life as in his goddess, was reborn in +the priest's (gurukkula) caste, of course neither the king and his +minister nor the priest had any reason to know their former life, +until the death of the latter approached, as we shall presently see. A +large kingdom fell to the share of the king, and he with his minister +reigned over it most peacefully. In an unfrequented wilderness was a +famous temple of a powerful goddess of of that country, and in that +pagoda the priest regularly conducted her worship. + +Thus passed several years, the king and minister happy in their +own kingdom, and the priest executing his religious duties in the +wilderness. The priest was leading a most calm and holy life, eating +what grew in the wilderness. His life was as pure as pure can be. + +But for all that fate would not forgive him for his acts in his +former life. + +The king and the minister had vowed to the goddess of the wilderness +that if they returned successfully from the conquest of an enemy of +theirs they would offer her some human sacrifice. And so they returned, +and to make entire their vow to the goddess they left their kingdom +like ordinary men and came to the wood. All along the way they searched +for a person to sacrifice, but no one--fortunately for him--was to be +found. They still thought that the vow must not be left unaccomplished, +and resolved upon catching the priest of the temple and offering him +up as their intended sacrifice. When such strong people like the king +and his minister resolved to do so, what could the poor priest do? He +was quite unable to escape when those two informed him of what they +were going to do with him on his entering to worship the goddess. Said +the priest:-- + +"Sirs! You have come here resolved upon offering me up as a sacrifice +to the goddess. I cannot hereafter escape your hold. But if you +would allow me to perform my puja to the goddess this morning also, +I shall gladly die after having done my duty." + +So said the priest, and the king and the minister watched at the +entrance and let him in. + +The priest went into the Garbhagriha--the holy of the holies in the +temple, and performed his worship to the goddess. After that was over +he gave the image a severe blow on its back and thus addressed it:-- + +"Most merciless goddess. What have you done for all my faith in you. In +this lonely wilderness, without knowing any other duty than your +worship, I had been your true servant for the past many years. And +in reward for all that, I must fall now a prey to the sacrifice of +the king and the minister who are sharpening their knives outside +to cut off my head at this moment. Is this the result of all my puja +(worship) to you." + +So spake the priest, and the goddess, laughing, thus replied from +the vacuum:-- + +"My true priest. Your acts in your former life must trouble you in +this. And the charitable acts of this life, even, cannot protect +you in your next birth. In your former birth you had murdered two +goats. They were born as king and minister, and have dragged you here +to murder you. But this--the murder you are to undergo soon, by these +hands will relieve you only of one of the two murders of your former +life. And for the other murder you and they would be re-born again, +and again they would kill you. So in your next third life from this +one you would enjoy the fruits of all this devotion. Since now you +know the story of your former life, you will forgive me, I think." + +Thus spoke the goddess, and the priest, as the knowledge of his former +life dawned upon him, by the grace of the goddess, seemed resolved +to die, in order to pay for his former sin. But the idea that in the +next life he was to undergo the same punishment, vexed him much, and +falling down at the goddess's feet, he respectfully requested her to +try her best to let him off the next life; and the goddess's heart +was also moved at the severity of fate which would make her devotee +pass through one more life in misery before he enjoyed the fruits of +his devotion. So she devised the following plan to exculpate him from +his two crimes at the same time, and thus replied:-- + +"Priest! 'Intelligence can conquer even Fate,' is the proverb. When +Kali gave 500 years' life to Vikramaditya in his town, Bhatti, +his minister, by making the king live six months in his capital and +six months in the jungle, made his master's life to last for 1000 +years. So by intelligence we conquer our fate too, sometimes. So hear +my advice. Ask the king who has come to murder you to hold one end of +the knife, and request his minister to hold the other end. Ask both +of them to aim the blow at your neck; that will accomplish everything +complete during this life. They will have no revenge to take from +you in your next life." + +So saying, the voice of the goddess stopped. The priest came back +with a cheerful heart to the king and the minister, and asked them to +oblige him by each of them holding one end of the knife and murdering +him. They agreed, and performed thus their vow. The poor priest, too, +without having another miserable life, was born a king in his next +life, and lived in prosperity. + +Here the story ends, and the story-teller in the Hindu household, +and in my case my stepmother, would at once moralise, that if we did +anything to any one in this life, that one would pay us out for it +in our next life. + + + N.B.--I am led to think that this story does not contain a + purely Hindu moral. + + + + + + + +XXV. + +THE BEGGAR AND THE FIVE MUFFINS. + + +In a certain village there lived a poor beggar and his wife. The man +used to go out every morning with a clean vessel in his hand, return +home with rice enough for the day's meal, and thus they lived on in +extreme poverty. + +One day a poor Madhava Brahmin invited the pair to a feast, and +among Madhavas muffins (tosai) are always a part of the good things +on festive occasions. So during the feast the beggar and his wife had +their fill of muffins. They were so pleased with them, that the woman +was extremely anxious to prepare some muffins in her own house, and +began to save a little rice every day from what her husband brought +her for the purpose. When enough had been thus collected she begged +a poor neighbour's wife to give her a little black pulse which the +latter--praised be her charity--readily did. The faces of the beggar +and his wife literally glowed with joy that day, for were they not +to taste the long-desired muffins for a second time? + +The woman soon turned the rice she had been saving, and the black +pulse she had obtained from her neighbour into a paste, and mixing it +well with a little salt, green chillies, coriander seed and curds, +set it in a pan on the fire; and with her mouth watering all the +while, prepared five muffins! By the time her husband had returned +from his collection of alms, she was just turning out of the pan the +fifth muffin! And when she placed the whole five muffins before him +his mouth, too, began to water. He kept two for himself and two he +placed before his wife, but what was to be done with the fifth? He did +not understand the way out of this difficulty. That half and half made +one, and that each could take two and a half muffins was a question too +hard for him to solve. The beloved muffins must not be torn in pieces; +so he said to his wife that either he or she must take the remaining +one. But how were they to decide which should be the lucky one? + +Proposed the husband:--"Let us both shut our eyes and stretch ourselves +as if in sleep, each on a verandah on either side the kitchen. Whoever +opens an eye and speaks first gets only two muffins; and the other +gets three." + +So great was the desire of each to get the three muffins, that they +both abided by the agreement, and the woman, though her mouth watered +for the muffins, resolved to go through the ordeal. She placed the +five cakes in a pan and covered it over with another pan. She then +carefully bolted the door inside and asking her husband to go into +the east verandah, she lay down in the west one. Sleep she had none, +and with closed eyes kept guard over her husband: for if he spoke +first he would have only two muffins, and the other three would come +to her share. Equally watchful was her husband over her. + +Thus passed one whole day--two--three! The house was never opened! No +beggar came to receive the morning dole. The whole village began to +enquire after the missing beggar. What had become of him? What had +become of his wife? + +"See whether his house is locked on the outside and whether he has +left us to go to some other village," spoke the greyheads. + +So the village watchman came and tried to push the door open, but it +would not open! + +"Surely," said they, "it is locked on the inside! Some great calamity +must have happened. Perhaps thieves have entered the house, and after +plundering their property, murdered the inmates." + +"But what property is a beggar likely to have?" thought the village +assembly, and not liking to waste time in idle speculations, they +sent two watchmen to climb the roof and open the latch from the inside. + +Meanwhile the whole village, men, women, and children, stood outside +the beggar's house to see what had taken place inside. The watchmen +jumped into the house, and to their horror found the beggar and his +wife stretched on opposite verandahs like two corpses. They opened +the door, and the whole village rushed in. They, too, saw the beggar +and his wife lying so still that they thought them to be dead. And +though the beggar pair had heard everything that passed around them, +neither would open an eye or speak. For whoever did it first would +get only two muffins! + +At the public expense of the village two green litters of bamboo and +cocoanut leaves were prepared on which to remove the unfortunate pair +to the cremation ground. + +"How loving they must have been to have died together like this!" said +some greybeards of the village. + +In time the cremation ground was reached, and village watchmen had +collected a score of dried cowdung cakes and a bundle of firewood from +each house, for the funeral pyre. From these charitable contributions +two pyres had been prepared, one for the man and one for the woman. The +pyre was then lighted, and when the fire approached his leg, the man +thought it time to give up the ordeal and to be satisfied with only +two muffins! So while the villagers were still continuing the funeral +rites, they suddenly heard a voice:-- + +"I shall be satisfied with two muffins!" + +Immediately another voice replied from the woman's pyre:-- + +"I have gained the day; let me have the three!" + +The villagers were amazed and ran away. One bold man alone stood face +to face with the supposed dead husband and wife. He was a bold man, +indeed for when a dead man or a man supposed to have died comes to +life, village people consider him to be a ghost. However, this bold +villager questioned the beggars until he came to know their story. He +then went after the runaways and related to them the whole story of +the five muffins to their great amazement. + +But what was to be done to the people who had thus voluntarily faced +death out of love for muffins. Persons who had ascended the green +litter and slept on the funeral pyre could never come back to the +village! If they did the whole village would perish. So the elders +built a small hut in a deserted meadow outside the village and made +the beggar and his wife live there. + +Ever after that memorable day our hero and his wife were called the +muffin beggar, and the muffin beggar's wife, and many old ladies and +young children from the village use to bring them muffins in the +morning and evening, out of pity for them, for had they not loved +muffin so much that they underwent death in life? + + + + + + + +XXVI. + +THE BRAHMARAKSHAS AND THE HAIR. + + +In a certain village there lived a very rich landlord, who owned +several villages, but was such a great miser that no tenant would +willingly cultivate his lands, and those he had gave him not a little +trouble. He was indeed so vexed with them that he left all his lands +untilled, and his tanks and irrigation channels dried up. All this, +of course, made him poorer and poorer day by day. Nevertheless he +never liked the idea of freely opening his purse to his tenants and +obtaining their good will. + +While he was in this frame of mind a learned Sanyasi paid him a visit, +and on his representing his case to him, he said:-- + +"My dear son,--I know an incantation (mantra) in which I can instruct +you. If you repeat it for three months day and night, a Brahmarakshas +will appear before you on the first day of the fourth month. Make him +your servant, and then you can set at naught all your petty troubles +with your tenants. The Brahmarakshas will obey all your orders, +and you will find him equal to one hundred servants." + +Our hero fell at his feet and begged to be instructed at once. The +sage then sat facing the east and his disciple the landlord facing +the west, and in this position formal instruction was given, after +which the Sanyasi went his way. + +The landlord, mightily pleased at what he had learnt, went on +practising the incantation, till, on the first day of the fourth month, +the great Brahmarakshas stood before him. + +"What do you want, sir, from my hands?" said he; "what is the object +of your having propitiated me for these three months?" + +The landlord was thunderstruck at the huge monster who now stood +before him and still more so at his terrible voice, but nevertheless +he said:-- + +"I want you to become my servant and obey all my commands." + +"Agreed," answered the Brahmarakshas in a very mild tone, for it +was his duty to leave off his impertinent ways when any one who had +performed the required penance wanted him to become his servant; +"Agreed. But you must always give me work to do; when one job is +finished you must at once give me a second, and so on. If you fail +I shall kill you." + +The landlord, thinking that he would have work for several such +Brahmarakshasas, was pleased to see that his demoniacal servant was +so eager to help him. He at once took him to a big tank which had been +dried up for several years, and pointing it out spoke as follows:-- + +"You see this big tank; you must make it as deep as the height of +two palmyra trees and repair the embankment wherever it is broken." + +"Yes, my master, your orders shall be obeyed," humbly replied the +servant and fell to work. + +The landlord, thinking that it would take several months, if not +years, to do the work in the tank, for it was two kos long and one +kos broad, returned delighted to his home, where his people were +awaiting him with a sumptuous dinner. When enemies were approaching +the Brahmarakshas came to inform his master that he had finished his +work in the tank. He was indeed astonished and feared for his own life! + +"What! finished the work in one day which I thought would occupy him +for months and years; if he goes on at this rate, how shall I keep +him employed. And when I cannot find it for him he will kill me!" Thus +he thought and began to weep; his wife wiped the tears that ran down +his face, and said:-- + +"My dearest husband, you must not lose courage. Get out of the +Brahmarakshas all the work you can and then let me know. I'll give +him something that will keep him engaged for a very very long time, +and then he'll trouble us no more." + +But her husband only thought her words to be meaningless and followed +the Brahmarakshas to see what he had done. Sure enough the thing was +as complete as could be, so he asked him to plough all his lands, +which extended over twenty villages! This was done in two ghatikas! He +next made him dig and cultivate all his garden lands. This was done +in the twinkling of an eye! The landlord now grew hopeless. + +"What more work have you for me?" roared the Brahmarakshas, as he +found that his master had nothing for him to do, and that the time +for his eating him up was approaching. + +"My dear friend," said he, "my wife says she has a little job to give +you; do it please now. I think that that is the last thing I can give +you to do, and after it in obedience to the conditions under which +you took service with me, I must become your prey!" + +At this moment his wife came to them, holding in her left hand a long +hair, which she had just pulled out from her head, and said:-- + +"Well, Brahmarakshas, I have only a very light job for you. Take this +hair, and when you have made it straight, bring it back to me." + +The Brahmarakshas calmly took it, and sat in a pipal tree to make it +straight. He rolled it several times on his thigh and lifted it up to +see if it became straight; but no, it would still bend! Just then it +occurred to him that goldsmiths, when they want to make their metal +wires straight, have them heated in fire; so he went to a fire and +placed the hair over it, and of course it frizzled up with a nasty +smell! He was horrified! + +"What will my master's wife say if I do not produce the hair she +gave me?" + +So he became mightily afraid, and ran away. + +This story is told to explain the modern custom of nailing a handful +of hair to a tree in which devils are supposed to dwell, to drive +them away. + + + + + + + +NOTES + + +NOTES TO XIII.--FIRST PART. + + +Few stories are more familiar and widely spread than that of the Lost +Camel, which occurs in the opening of the romance. It was formerly, and +perhaps is still, reproduced in English school reading-books. Voltaire, +in chapter iii. of his "Zadig; ou, La Destinee" (the materials of which +he is said to have derived from Geuelette's "Soirees Bretonnes,") +has a version in which a lost palfrey and a she dog are described +by the "sage" from the traces they had left on the path over which +they passed. The great Arabian historian and traveller Mas'udi, in +his "Meadows of Gold, and Mines of Gems," written A.D. 943, gives +the story of the Lost Camel, and from Mas'udi it was probably taken +into the MS. text of the "Thousand and One Nights," procured in the +East (?Constantinople) by Wortley Montague, and now preserved in the +Bodleian Library, Oxford. [101] In that MS. it forms an incident in +the story of the Sultan of Yeman and his Three Sons: the princes, +after their father's death, quarrel over the succession to the throne, +and at length agree to lay their respective claims before one of the +tributary princes. On the road one of them remarks, "A camel has lately +passed this way loaded with grain on one side, and with sweetmeats +on the other." The second observes, "and the camel is blind of one +eye." The third adds, "and it has lost its tail." The owner comes up, +and on hearing their description of his beast, forces them to go before +the king of the country, to whom they explain how they discovered +the defects of the camel and its lading. In a Persian work, entitled +"Nigaristan," three brothers rightly conjecture in like manner that +a camel which had passed, and which they had not seen, was blind +of an eye, wanted a tooth, was lame, and laden with oil on the one +side, and honey on the other. The story is also found in the Hebrew +Talmud. Two slaves are overheard by their master conversing about a +camel that had gone before them along the road. It was blind of an +eye, and laden with two skin bottles, one of which contained wine, +the other oil. In a Siberian version (Radloff), three youths are met +by a man who asks them if they had seen his camel, to which they reply +by describing the colour and defects of the animal so exactly that he +accuses them to the Prince of having stolen it. "I have lost a camel, +my lord," said he, "and when I met these three young men we saluted, +and I told them that I had lost my camel. Quoth one of these youths, +'Was thy camel of a light colour?' The second asked, 'was thy camel +lame?' And the third, 'Was it not blind of an eye?' I answered +Yes to their questions. Now decide, my lord. It is evident these +young men have stolen my camel." Then the Prince asked the eldest, +"How did you know that the camel was of a light colour?" He replied, +"By some hairs which has fallen on the ground when it had rubbed +itself against trees." The two others gave answers similar to those +in our version. Then said the Prince to the man, "Thy camel is lost; +go and look for it." So the stranger mounted his horse and departed. + + + +NOTES TO XIII.--THE SECOND PART. + +The Hunter and his Faithful Dog.--A variety of this story is cited +from a Cawnpore newspaper, in the "Asiatic Journal," Vol. XV. (new +series), Part II. October, 1834, p. 78, which is to the following +effect:--A Bunjarrah named Dabee had a dog called Bhyro, the faithful +companion of his travels, who guarded his goods from robbers while +he slept. He wished to go to a distant part of the country to trade +in grain, but had not sufficient funds for the purpose. After much +cogitation, he at length resolved to pledge his dog for 1,000 rupees, +and when he applied to several persons was laughed at for his folly; +but a wealthy merchant named Dyaram gave the money, on condition that +it should be paid back within twelve months, taking the dog Bhyro in +pledge. When eleven months had passed, the merchant began to bewail +the stupidity which had induced him to lend so large a sum on so +precarious a security. His relentings were, however, premature. One +dark and dreary night he was aroused from his slumbers by a great +noise, occasioned by the clashing of swords and the barking of Bhyro. A +band of armed men had entered the house with intent to plunder, but +before they could effect their purpose they had been observed by the +faithful Bhyro, who commenced an attack upon them. Before Dyaram could +render any assistance, Bhyro had laid two of the robbers dead at his +feet; a third, on the approach of Dyaram, aimed a blow at his head, +which was prevented from taking effect by Bhyro seizing the ruffian +by the throat and laying him prostrate on the ground. After peace +was restored, Dyaram congratulated himself on having received Bhyro +in pledge for the Bunjarrah, by which act he not only escaped being +plundered, but in all probably murdered. Next morning Dyaram called +Bhyro, and after caressing him, said:--"The service you rendered me +last night is more than an equivalent for the 1,000 rupees I lent +your master; go, faithful creature. I give you a free discharge from +your obligation as security for him." Bhyro shook his head in token +that it was impossible for him to go until his master returned; but +Dyaram, comprehending his meaning, soon arranged matters by writing +a statement of the circumstances, and giving a voucher for the 1,000 +rupees. This document he tied round Bhyro's neck, which done, Bhyro +expressed his delight by leaping about in every direction, and, after +licking the hands of Dyaram, darted out of the house and set off in +quest of his master. While these scenes were transpiring in Dyaram's +house, Dabee was not unmindful of the pledge he had left behind him, +and, having succeeded in his speculation, was returning with all haste +to redeem it. At his last stage homewards he was surprised to see +Bhyro approaching him with every demonstration of joy, but at sight +of him Dabee's rage was kindled, and repulsing Bhyro as he fawned +upon him he thus addressed him:--"O, ungrateful wretch! is this the +return you have made for my kindness to you? and is this the manner +in which you have established my character for veracity? You remained +faithful to your trust during eleven months--could you not have held +out for thirty short days? You have, by your desertion from your +post, entailed dishonour upon me, and for this you shall die." And, +so saying, he drew his sword and slew him. After having committed this +deed, he observed a paper tied round Bhyro's neck; having read it, +his grief was indescribable. To atone in some measure for his rash +act, caused poor Bhyro to be buried on the spot where he fell, and a +superb monument to be erected over his remains. To the grave of Bhyro, +even at the present day, resort natives who have been bitten by dogs, +they believing that the dust collected there, when applied to the +wounds, is an antidote for hydrophobia. + + + +NOTES TO XIII.--THE THIRD PART. + +The Brahman's Wife and the Mongoose.--We have, in this story, +an Indian variety of the well-known Welsh legend of Llewellyn and +his dog Gellert. A similar legend was current in France during the +Middle Ages. But our story--mutatis mutandis--is as old as the third +century B.C., since it is found in a Buddhist work of that period. It +also occurs in two Sanskrit forms of the celebrated Fables of Pilpay, +or Bidnaia namely the "Pancha Tantra" (five chapters), which is said +to date as far back as the 5th century A.D., and the "Hitopadesa" +(Friendly Counsels); also in the Arabian and other Eastern versions +of the same work. It is found in all the texts of the Book of +Sindibad--Greek, Syriac, Persian, Hebrew, Old Castilian, Arabic, +&c., and in the several European versions, known generally under +the title of "The History of the Seven Wise Masters," the earliest +form of which being a Latin prose work entitled "Dolopathos." There +are, of course, differences in the details of the numerous versions +both Western and Eastern, but the fundamental outline is the same in +all. In my work on the migrations of popular tales, I have reproduced +all the known versions of this world-wide story, with the exception +of that in the present romance, which is singular in representing the +woman as killing herself after she had discovered her fatal mistake, +and her husband as slaying his little son and himself. The author of +the romance probably added these tragedies, in order to enable the +supposed narrator to more forcibly impress the king with the grievous +consequences of acting in affairs of moment with inconsiderateness +and precipitation. In most versions it is the husband who kills the +faithful animal. Among the Malays the story of the Snake and the +Mongoose is current in this form:--A man left a tame bear in charge +of his house, and of his sleeping child, while he was absent from +home. On his return he missed his child, the house was in disorder, +as if some great struggle had taken place, and the floor was covered +with blood. Hastily concluding that the bear had killed and devoured +the child, the enraged father slew the animal with his spear, but +almost immediately afterwards found the carcase of a tiger, which the +faithful bear had defeated and killed, and the child emerged unharmed +from the jungle, where it had taken refuge. + +In a black-letter English edition of the "Seven Wise Masters," +the knight, having slain his hound and discovered his child safe in +its cradle, exclaims (and here the hand of the misogynist monkish +writer is very evident!)--"Woe be to me, that, for the words of my +wife, I have slain my good and best greyhound, the which had saved +my child's life, and hath slain the serpent; therefore I will put +myself to penance." And so he brake his sword in three pieces, and +travelled in the direction of the Holy Land, and abode there all the +days of his life. The preceding story of the Hunter and his Dog, it +will be observed, is closely allied to that of the Brahman's Wife and +the Mongoose; and in conclusion, where the hunter erects a stately +tomb over his dog's remains, it presents a striking resemblance to +the Welsh legend of Llewellyn and the dog Gellert, which is probably +not merely fortuitous. + +A very curious version is found in a black-letter chapter-book, +entitled the "Seven Wise Mistresses," written in imitation of the +"Seven Wise Masters," by one Thomas Howard, about the end of the +seventeenth century, in which a knight and his lady are wrecked +and cast ashore on a desert island, and the knight soon afterwards +dies. His wife takes a thorn out of a lion's foot (Androcles in +petticoats), and the grateful animal follows her about, and provides +her with food, and this is how the story goes on:-- + +"At last she began mourning to herself, deploring her condition +in living in such obscurity in a foreign Country, and as her daily +companion, a savage Beast, her mind yearning after her own habitation, +she thus complained: 'Oh, how hath fortune frowned on me that I +am driven out from all human knowledge, and am glad to take up my +habitation with the Beast of the Field!' + +"As she thus complained to herself, the Devil chanced to appear to her, +and demanded the cause of her complaint, and she related all to him as +you have heard. Then said he to her: 'What wilt thou give and I will +provide a ship which shall carry thee home to thy own country.' She +answered: 'Half my Estates.' + +"'Nay,' said the Devil, 'If thou wilt give me thy Soul at the term of +twelve years, I will set thee down in thy own country, and thou shalt +live and flourish so long.' 'God forbid,' said the Lady. 'I would +rather end my wretched life in this solitary island than that.' 'Why +then,' said the Devil, 'I will make this bargain with you, that if you +abstain from sleeping all the time of our voyage, which shall be but +three days, I will have nothing to do with your Soul; if you sleep, +I will have it as I have said.' + +"And upon this bargain the lady ventured, provided she might have her +Lion with her. So 'twas concluded, and a brave Ship came and took the +Lady and her Lion. When she lay down the Lion lay by her, and if she +slumbered the Lion would touch her with his paw, by which means he +kept her awake all the voyage, until she landed in her own country, +and being come to her Father's house, she knocked at the gate. Then +the Porter coming with all speed opened the gate and thought that it +was a Beggar. + +"Frowningly he shut it again, saying, 'There's nothing here for +you.' Then she bounced at the gate again, and asked the Porter if such +a Knight lived there, meaning her Father, and he said 'Yes.' 'Then,' +said she, 'Pray, deliver this piece of ring unto him.' Now this ring +was it she brake betwixt her Father and she at her departure out of +the land. Then the Porter delivered the Ring to his Master, saying: +'The Beggar woman at the gate willed me to deliver the piece of ring +unto you.' + +"When the Knight saw the ring he fell down in a swound but when he +was revived he said, 'Call her in, for she is my only Daughter, whom +I thought was dead.' 'Then,' said the Porter, 'I dare not call her in, +for there is a mighty Lion with her.' 'Though it be,' said the Knight, +'call her in.' Then said the Porter [to the Lady], 'You are to come +in, but leave your Lion outside.' 'No,' said the Lady, 'my Lion goes +whereever I go, and where he is not, there will I not be.' + +"And when she came to her Father she fell down on her knees and +wept. Her Father took her up in his arms and kissed her, weeping as +fast, and after he clothed her in purple, and placed her by him in a +chair, and demanded an account of her travels, and she told him all +that had happened, and how the Lion had saved her life, and was the +greatest comfort she had in the Wilderness. It chanced afterwards +that as the Knight was going into his Wood to look after his young +Horses, he met with a wild Boar, with whom he fell in combat. The +Lion loved the Old Knight, and by accident walking along he scented +the Boar, and as the Lion ran toward the place where the Boar was, +the Steward espied him, and he ran into the Palace, and cryed out, +'the Lion is running after my Master to destroy him.' + +"Then the Lady sent after him ten of her servants, who met the Lion, +his mouth all bloody, and they ran back and told the Lady the Lion +had destroyed her aged Father. Then said the Lady, 'O woe is me +that ever I was born, that have brought a Lion from far to destroy +my own Father.' Therefore she commanded her servants to slay the +Lion, which no sooner was done but her Father came in, and said; +'O, I have met with a wild Boar, with whom I fought, and there came +the Lion to my aid, and slew the Boar, and so saved my life, else I +had died by the Boar.' + +"When the Lady heard this, O how she wept and wrung her hands, saying, +'For the words of a wicked Steward, I have slain my good Lion, who +hath saved my life and my Father's. Cursed be the time I was advised +by him.'" + + + +The Faithless Wife and the Ungrateful Blind Man.--I do not remember +having met with this story in any other collection, although there are +there many tales in Asiatic story-books of women abandoning their blind +or infirm husbands, and going off with strange men. A very considerable +proportion, in fact of Eastern stories turn upon the alleged wickedness +and profligacy and intrigues of women. This most unjust estimate of +"the sex" seems to have been universal in Asiatic countries from +every remote times and probably was introduced into Europe through +the Crusades. Not a few of the mediaeval Monkish tales represent women +in a very unfavourable light, and this is also the case in our early +English jest-books, which were compiled soon after the invention of +printing. In the oldest Indian literature, however, especially the +two grand epics "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata," occur several notable +tales of noble women, such as "Dushyanta and Sakuntala," and the +charming romance of "Nala and Damayanti;" and in another work, the +"Adventures of the Ten princes," ("Dasa Kumara Charita,") the fine +story of Gomiui, who is held up as a pattern to her sex. + + + +NOTES TO XIII.--THE FOURTH PART. + +The Wonderful Mango-fruit.--A variety of this story occurs in the +Persian "Tuti Nama" of Nakhshabi:--A Prince, who is very ill, sends +a parrot of great sagacity to procure him some fruit of the Tree of +Life. When at length the bird returns with the life-giving fruit, +the Prince scruples to eat of it, upon which the parrot relates +the legend of "Solomon and the Water of Immortality;" how that wise +monarch declined to procure immunity from death, on consideration that +he should thus survive all his friends and female favourites. The +Prince, however, being suspicious regarding the fruit, sent some +trusty messengers to "bring the first apple that fell from the Tree +of Existence." But it happened that a black snake had poisoned it +by seizing it in its mouth and then letting it drop again. When the +messengers returned with the fruit, the Prince tried the effect on a +holy man, who instantly falls down dead. Upon seeing this, the Prince +dooms the parrot to death; but the sagacious bird suggests that, before +the Prince should execute him for treason, he should himself go to the +Tree of Life and make another experiment with its fruit. The Prince +does so, and, returning home, gives part of the fruit to an old woman, +"who, from age and infirmity, had not stirred abroad for many years;" +and, no sooner had she tasted it, than she was changed into a charming +girl of eighteen. But more closely resembling our story is a version +in a Canarese collection, entitled "Katha Manjari":--A certain king +had a magpie that flew one day to heaven with another magpie. From +thence it took away some mango seed, and, having returned, gave it +to the king, saying:-- + +"If you cause this to be planted and grow, whoever eats of its fruit +old age will forsake him and his youth be restored." + +The king was much pleased, and caused it to be planted in his favourite +garden. After some years, buds appeared and became flowers, then +young fruit, then full grown; and when the fruit was ripe the king +ordered one to be plucked and brought to him, when he gave it to an +old man. But on it had fallen poison from a serpent as it was carried +through the air by a kite, so the old man immediately withered and +died. The king, on seeing this, exclaimed in wrath:-- + +"Is not this bird attempting to kill me?" And he seized the magpie and +wrung off its head. Afterwards in the village the tree had the name +of the poisonous mango. Now, it happened that a washerman, taking the +part of his wife in a quarrel with his old mother, struck the latter, +who was so angry at her son that she resolved to die, in order that +the blame of her death should fall upon him; and having gone to the +poisonous mango-tree in the garden, she cut off a fruit and ate it, +when instantly she became more blooming than a girl of sixteen. This +miracle she published everywhere and it came to the king's ears, who, +having called her and seen her, caused the fruit to be given to other +old people. Having seen what was thus done by the marvelous virtue +of the mango-fruit, the king sorrowfully exclaimed:-- + +"Alas, the faithful magpie is killed which gave me this divine +tree! How guilty am I!" And he pierced himself with his sword and died. + +"Therefore," adds the story-teller, "those who act without thought +are certain to be ruined." The old Brahman's generously presenting +the king with the wonderful mango-fruit in our story, finds its +parallel with a difference, in the Hindu romance entitled "Simhasana +Dwatrinsatri," or Thirty-two Tales of a throne, where a Brahman having +received from the gods, as a reward for his devotional austerities, +the fruit of immortality, joyfully proceeds home and shows it to +his wife, who advises him to give it to the Raja Bhartrihari, as the +wealth he should receive in return were preferable to an endless life +of poverty. He goes to the palace, and presenting the fruit to the +Raja, acquaints him of its nature, and is rewarded with a lakh of +rupees. The Raja gives the fruit to his wife, telling her that if +she ate it her beauty would increase day by day, and she should be +immortal. The Kani gives it to her paramour, the chief of police, who, +in his turn, presents it as the choicest of gifts to a courtesan, who, +after reflecting that it would only enable her to commit innumerable +sins, resolves to offer it to the Raja, in hope of a reward in a future +life. When Raja Bhartrihari receives the fruit again he is astonished, +and, on learning from the haetera from whom she had obtained it, he +knew that his queen was unfaithful, and, abandoning his throne and +kingdom, departs into the jungle, where he became an ascetic. + + + +NOTES TO XIII.--THE FIFTH PART. + +The Poisoned Food.--This is a third instance of food or fruit +being poisoned by serpents, and it occurs very frequently in Eastern +stories. The oldest form of this tale is found in a Sanskrit collection +entitled "Twenty-five Tales of a Vampyre" (Vetalapanchavimsati), +which is probably of Buddhist extraction, and which also exists in +many of the vernacular languages of India. The wife of a man named +Harisvamin having been stolen from him one night by a Vidyadhara +Prince, he gave away all his wealth to the Brahmans, and resolved to +visit the sacred waters to wash away his sins, after which he hoped +to recover his beloved wife; and the story thus proceeds:--Then +he left the country, with his Brahman birth as his only fortune, +and began to go round to all the sacred bathing-places in order to +recover his beloved. And as he was roaming about there came upon him +the terrible lion of the hot season, with the blazing sun for mouth +and with a mane composed of his fiery rays. And the winds blew with +excessive heat, as if warmed by the breath of sighs furnaced forth by +travellers grieved at being separated from their wives. And the tanks, +with their supply of water diminished by the heat and their drying +white mud, appeared to be showing their broken hearts. And the trees +by the roadside seemed to lament on account of the departure of the +glory of spring, making their wailing heard in the shrill moaning of +their bark, with leaves, as it were, lips, parched with heat. + +At that season Harisvamin, wearied out with the heat of the sun, +with bereavement, hunger and thirst, and continual travelling, +emaciated and dirty, and pining for food, reached in the course of his +wanderings a certain village, and found in it the house of a Brahman +named Padmanabha, who was engaged in a sacrifice. And, seeing that +many Brahmans were eating in his house, he stood leaning against the +door-post, silent and motionless. And the good wife of that Brahman +named Padmanabha, seeing him in this position, felt pity for him, +and reflected:-- + +"Alas! mighty is hunger! Whom will it not bring down? For here stands +a man at the door, who appears to be a householder, desiring food, +with downcast countenance; evidently come from a long journey, and +with all his faculties impaired by hunger. So is not he a man to whom +food ought to be given?" Having gone through these reflections, that +kind woman took up in her hand a vessel full of rice boiled in milk, +with ghi and sugar, and brought it, and courteously presented it to +him, and said:-- + +"Go and eat this somewhere on the bank of the lake, for this place +is unfit to eat in, as it is filled with feasting Brahmans." He said +"I will do so," and took the vessel of rice and placed it at no great +distance under a banyan-tree on the edge of the lake; and he washed +his hands and feet in the lake, and rinsed his mouth, and then came +back in high spirits to eat the rice. But while he was thus engaged +a kite, holding a black cobra with its beak and claws, came and sat +on that tree. And it so happened that poisonous saliva issued from +the mouth of that dead snake, which the bird had captured and was +carrying along. The saliva fell into the dish of rice which was placed +under the tree, and Harisvamin, without observing it, came and ate up +that rice. As soon as in his hunger he had devoured all that food, he +began to suffer terrible agonies, caused by the poison. He exclaimed:-- + +"When fate has turned against a man, everything in this world turns +also; accordingly this rice has become poison to me." Thus speaking, +Harisvamin, tortured with the poison, tottered to the house of that +Brahman who was engaged in a sacrifice, and said to his wife:-- + +"The rice which you gave me has poisoned me; so fetch me quickly a +charmer who can counteract the operation of poison; otherwise you +will be guilty of the death of a Brahman." When Harisvamin had said +this to the good woman, who was beside herself to think what it could +all mean, his eyes closed and he died. + +Then the Brahman who was engaged in a sacrifice drove his wife out +of the house, though she was innocent and hospitable, being enraged +with her for the supposed murder of her guest. The good woman, for +her part, having incurred groundless blame from her charitable deed, +and so become burdened with infamy, went to a holy bathing-place, to +perform penance. Then there was a discussion before the superintendent +of religion as to which of the four parties, the kite, the snake, +and the couple who gave rice, was guilty of the murder of a Brahman; +but the question was not decided. + +It will be seen that our story differs very considerably from the +foregoing, which we must regard as the original. The same story occurs +in all the Eastern versions of the Book of Sindibad, but in most of +these it is not a traveller who is thus poisoned, but a wealthy man and +his guests; having sent a domestic to the market to buy sour curds, +which she carried back in an open vessel, poison from a serpent in +a stork's mouth dropped into the curds, of which the master of the +house and his guests partook and died. The story is probably more +than 2,000 years old. + +"Eating up the Protector." Akin to this, but with a very different +conclusion, is the well-known story of the traveller who released a +tiger from a trap into which he had fallen. The Brahman's fidelity +to his pact with the serpent reminds one of the Arabian story of +the Merchant and the Genie. In a Tamil tale, a cow having given +herself up to a tiger to redeem her owner (it is to be understood, +of course, that both animals are human beings re-born in those forms) +she obtains leave to go and suckle her calf, after which she returns +when the tiger, moved by her fidelity, lets her go free. + +The serpent's emitting gems recalls Shakespeare's allusion to the +popular notion of the "toad, ugly and venomous, which bears a precious +jewel in its head." It is a very ancient and widespread belief that +serpents are the guardians of hidden treasures. Preller, in his work +on Grecian mythology, refers to a Servian story in which a shepherd, +as in our tale, saves the life of a snake in a forest fire, and, +in return for this service, the snake's father gives him endless +treasures and teaches him the language of birds. There is a very +similar story in Dozon's "Contes Albanais." + +In the charming tale of "Nala and Damayanti," which occurs in the third +part ("Vana Parva") of the grand Indian epic "Mahabharata," the exiled +king perceives a snake with a ray of jewels in its crest, writhing +in a jungle fire, and lifting it out, carries it some distance, and +is about to set it down, when the snake says to him, "Carry me ten +steps farther, and count them aloud as you go." So Nala proceeds, +counting the steps--one, two, three--and when he said "ten" (dasa, +which means "ten" and also "bite") the snake took him at his word, and +bit the king in the forehead, upon which he became black and deformed. + +An abstract of a considerably modified form of our romance orally +current among the people of Bengal may be given in conclusion: A king +appoints his three sons to patrol in turn the streets of his capital +during the night. It happens that the youngest Prince in going his +rounds one night sees a beautiful woman issuing from the royal palace, +and accosting her, asks her business at such an hour. She replies:-- + +"I am the guardian deity of this palace; the king will be killed this +night, therefore I am going away." + +The Prince persuades the goddess to return into the palace and await +the event. As in our story, he enters his father's sleeping chamber +and discovers a huge cobra near the royal couch. He cuts the serpent +into many pieces, which he puts inside a brass vessel that is in the +room. Then seeing that some drops of the serpent's blood had fallen on +his step-mother's breast, he wraps a piece of cloth round his tongue to +protect it from the poison, and licks off the blood. The lady awakes, +and recognises him as he is leaving the room. She accuses him to the +king of having used an unpardonable freedom with her. In the morning +the king sends for his eldest son, and asks him: "If a trusted servant +should prove faithless how should he be punished?" + +Quoth the Prince: "Surely his head should be parted from his body; +but before doing so you should ascertain whether the man is actually +guilty." + +And then he proceeds to relate the following story:--"Once upon a +time there was a goldsmith who had a grown-up son, whose wife was +acquainted with the language of animals, but she kept secret from her +husband and all others the fact of her being endowed with such a rare +gift. It happened one night she heard a jackal exclaim: 'There is a +dead body floating on the river; would that some one might give me +that body to eat, and for his pains take the diamond ring from the +finger of the dead man.' + +"The woman arose from her bed and went to the bank of the river, and +her husband, who was not asleep, followed her unobserved. She went +into the water, drew the corpse to land, and unable to loosen the +ring from the dead man's finger, which had swelled, she bit off the +finger, and leaving the corpse on the bank, returned home, whither +she had been preceded by her husband. Almost petrified with fear, +the young goldsmith concluded from what he had seen that his wife was +not a human being, but a ghoul (rakshasi), and early in the morning +he hastened to his father and related the whole affair to him--how +the woman had got up during the night and gone to the river, out of +which she dragged a dead body to the land, and was busy devouring it +when he ran home in horror. + +"The old man was greatly shocked, and advised his son to take his wife +on some pretext into the forest and leave her there to be destroyed by +wild beasts. So the husband caused the woman to get herself ready to go +on a visit to her father, and after a hasty breakfast they set out. In +going through a dense jungle, where the goldsmith proposed abandoning +his wife, she heard a serpent cry, 'O, passenger, I pray thee to seize +and give me that croaking frog, and take for thy reward the gold and +precious stones concealed in yonder hole.' The woman at once seized +the frog and threw it towards the serpent, and then began digging into +the ground with a stick. Her husband quaked with fear, thinking that +his ghoul-wife was about to kill him, but she called to him, saying, +'My dear husband, gather up all this gold and precious gems.' + +"Approaching the spot with hesitation he was surprised to perceive an +immense treasure laid bare by his wife, who then explained to him how +she had learned of it from the snake that lay coiled up near them, +whose language she understood. Then he said to his wife--'It is now +so late that we cannot reach your father's house before dark, and +we might be slain by wild beasts. Let us therefore return home.' So +they retraced their steps, and approaching the house the goldsmith +said to his wife--'Do, you, my dear, go in by the back door, while +I enter by the front and show my father all this treasure.' + +The woman went in by the back door and was met by her father-in-law, +who, on seeing her, concluded that she had killed and devoured his +son, and striking her on the head with a hammer which he happened to +have in his hand, she instantly expired. Just then the son came into +the room, but it was too late." + +"I have told your Majesty this story," adds the eldest Prince, "in +order that before putting the man to death you should make sure that +he is guilty." + +The king next calls his second son and asks him the same question, +to which he replies by relating a story to caution his father against +rash actions. + +"A king, separated from his attendants while engaged in the chase, saw +what he conceived to be rain-water dropping from the top of a tree, +and, being very thirst, held his drinking cup under it until it was +nearly filled, and, just as he was about to put it to his lips, his +horse purposely moved so as to cause the contents to be spilled on the +ground, upon which the king in a rage drew his sword and killed the +faithful animal; but afterwards discovering that what he had taken +for rain-water was poison that dropped from a cobra in the tree, +his grief knew no bounds." + +Calling lastly his third son, the king asks him what should be done +to the man who proved false to his trust. The Prince tells the story +of the wonderful tree, the fruit of which bestowed on him who ate of +it perennial youth, with unimportant variations from the version in +our romance. + +Then the Prince explained the occasion of his presence in the Royal +bedchamber, and how he had saved the king and his consort from the +cobra's deadly bite. And the king, overjoyed and full of gratitude, +strained his faithful son to his heart, and ever after cherished and +loved him with all a father's love. + + + + + + + +NOTES + + +[1] Soothsaying. + +[2] An Indian hour equal to twenty-four minutes. + +[3] It is the custom amongst widows to use betel leaves instead +of plates. + +[4] In English, Benares. + +[5] The Deccan. + +[6] A small vessel. + +[7] Storey is here put for divisions in an Indian well. These +divisions are little projecting ledges of stone made for natives to +stand on so that they can get down close to the water if the well +is not full. There are sometimes six or seven divisions, or ledges, +of this sort. + +[8] The first serpent--the king of serpents. + +[9] Literally the stealer of gold--a practice very common in India +among that class. There is a proverb to the effect that even from +the gold given by their mothers to be turned into jewels, they will +pilfer a little. + +[10] The distance of a kas being equal to 2000 Indian poles. + +[11] Dungeon. + +[12] A period of time equal to an hour and a half. + +[13] King of tigers. + +[14] A ghatika is equal to twenty-four minutes. + +[15] Siva. + +[16] The eldest son of Siva commonly known as the belly god. + +[17] Another name of Ganapati. + +[18] Worship. + +[19] Attendants of Ganesa. + +[20] Classical name of Karur, a small, but very ancient, town in the +Koyambatur District of the Madras Presidency. + +[21] Naraka of Put--Naraka is hell, and Put is a certain kind of +hell to which, according to Hindu mythology, son-less persons are +hurled down. + +[22] Putra-son, so-called as he protects the father from the hell +of Put. + +[23] Ficus religiosa. + +[24] The fair. + +[25] Voluntary cremation of widows with the dead bodies of their +husbands on the funeral pile. + +[26] Karor is equal to ten lacs (lakhs); mohur is an old gold coin. + +[27] Spring. + +[28] The king's court. + +[29] Council chamber. + +[30] My darling prince. + +[31] The creator of the Hindu mythology. + +[32] A Hindu feast. + +[33] Fee. + +[34] Vedas--The sacred books of the Hindus. + +[35] Minister. + +[36] The chief officer of the realm next to the minister. + +[37] The image of the belly-god. + +[38] The world of Indra, the regent of the sky. + +[39] Names of divine damsels. + +[40] Cinnamon-stone. + +[41] Diamond. + +[42] A precious stone (cat's eye). + +[43] A sort of paint for the eye (Hindustani--Surma). + +[44] A mark on the forehead. + +[45] Serpent sacrifice. + +[46] Sacrifice. + +[47] Brahman woman. + +[48] Throne. + +[49] Tevai is the classical name of the modern town of Ramnad in the +district of Madura. + +[50] Kodamundan. + +[51] Vidamundan. + +[52] Vayalvallan. + +[53] Kaiyalvallan. + +[54] There is no such word as kuta in Tamil. The Tamil and other +Dravidian languages allow rhyming repetitions of word, like +this--bhuta-kuta. + +[55] [Compare the tale of Fattu, the Valiant Weaver, Indian Antiquary, +Vol. XI., p. 282 ff.--R. C. T.] + +[56] Which in Tamil are exclamations of lamentation, meaning, Ah! Alas! + +[57] A place of public feeding. + +[58] Among high caste Hindus, when girls leave one village and go to +another, the old woman of the house--the mother or grandmother--always +places in her bundles and on her head a few margosa leaves as a +talisman against demons. + +[59] A ghatika is twenty-four minutes. The story being Hindu, the +Hindu method of reckoning distance is used. + +[60] A "watch" is a yama, or three hours. + +[61] Tamil, to'sai. + +[62] A fragrant herb, held in great veneration by the Hindus; Ocymum +sanctum. This herb is sacred alike to Siva and Vishnu. Those species +specially sacred to Siva are--Vendulasi, Siru-tulasi, and Siva-tulasi; +those to Vishnu are Sendulasi, Karundulasi and Vishnu-tulasi. + +[63] Compare the Singalese folktale given on p. 62, Vol I. of the +Orientalist.--Ed. + +[64] Uparani or upavastra, an upper garment. + +[65] This kind of statement often occurs in stories in proof of the +just reign of a monarch. The Hindu idea is that so long as justice +and equity characterise a king's rule, even beasts naturally inimical +are disposed to live in friendship. When timely rain fails or famine +stalks through the land, turning his eyes from the natural causes, +the orthodox Hindu will say that such a king is now reigning over +them unjustly, and hence the calamity.--Translator. + +[66] "Distinguishing the peculiarities of an animal by its footsteps, +&c., is often met with in Indian stories. Precisely the reverse of +this is the tale of the four blind men who disputed about the form +of an elephant. One of them had felt only the elephant's ears, and +said it was like a winnow; another examined the breast and a foreleg, +and said it was like a thick stump of wood; the third felt the trunk, +and said it was like a heavy crook; while the fourth, having touched +only the tail, declared it was like a sweeping rake."--W. A. Clouston. + +[67] The night-watch hearing the tutelary goddess of the village +mourning, is a very ancient idea. It also occurs, for example, +in the story of Viravara, in the Sanskrit book of fables entitled +"Hitopadesa." Sambhavi and Mahamayi are different names of Kali--a +fierce goddess, much worshipped as the presiding deity of cholera +and smallpox.--T. + +[68] A ghatika = 24 minutes.--T. + +[69] Apparently the arrows were attached to some kind of mechanism +which discharged them on the opening of the jar. There is "nothing +new under the sun." Dynamite is perhaps a discovery of our own times, +but "infernal machines," which served the purpose of king-killers, +are of ancient date. + +[70] The Hindus, at their meals, squat on the ground, with leaves in +place of earthenware dishes, on which their food is served.--T. + +[71] A sum of money varying in different localities of the South of +India. In the Chola grants "pon" also occurs. + +[72] An Indian word meaning clumps of trees. + +[73] It is a very common practice to dupe the ordinary people in +this manner in Hindu temples. Some impostor will proclaim to the +crowd that the spirit of a god, or goddess, is upon him, and utters +whatever comes uppermost in his mind. He occasionally contrives to +accomplish his private ends by such "revelations." The ignorant are +greatly misled by these impostors, and learned Hindus condemn the +practice as gross superstition.--T. + +[74] Corresponding to the English proverb: "Quarrelling with one's +bread and butter." + +[75] Full grown and ripe bamboo bears a kind of corn which when +collected and shelled resembles wheat. Hunters cook a most excellent +food of bamboo grain and honey.--T. + +[76] Compare the story of "The Rat's Wedding" from the Panjab, The +Indian Antiquary, Vol. XI., pp, 226ff: where, however, a better moral +from the tale is drawn. + +[77] A low caste man; Pariah. + +[78] In response to the sound of the tom-tom. + +[79] Traders have also certain secret symbols for marking their prices +on their cloths. + +[80] This story, apart from its folklore value, is specially +interesting as showing that the customs mentioned in the Indian +Antiquary, Vol. XIV., pp. 155ff., as being prevalent at Delhi, +regarding secret trade language are universal in India. + +[81] i.e., lover of his wife. + +[82] i.e., a shudder at sin. + +[83] Worship of the household gods or devotion. + +[84] The eleventh lunar day of every fortnight, on which a fast is +observed by orthodox Hindus. + +[85] Bhusura, bhudeva; a generic name for a Brahmin. + +[86] Oil of sesamun; til and gingely oil are the ordinary names for +this common product of India. + +[87] Dvadasi is the twelfth lunar day, on which early in the morning, +before even the fifth ghatika is over, every orthodox Hindu is obliged +by his religious codes to break the previous day's fast. + +[88] Lit. a "chombu-full;" the chombu is a small vessel. + +[89] A sacred hymn. + +[90] A panam is generally worth two anas. + +[91] See also the second tale in this series. + +[92] Learned woman. + +[93] There would of course be no real marriage between a dancing girl +and a Brahmin. Hence the insult. + +[94] In stories of a master falling in love with the girl he has been +teaching, he is usually himself made a soothsayer. In that capacity +he asks the guardian (father or mother) to put the girl in a light +box and to float her down a river. The girl in the box is taken by +a young man, sometimes a prince, and becomes his wife. A tiger or a +lion is then put into the box, and when the teacher, a great way down +the river, takes the box and wishes to run away with the girl inside, +he is torn to pieces, as a fit reward for his evil intentions, by +the beast. But here the story takes a different turn. + +[95] From this point up to the end we shall find the story to be +similar to "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" in the Arabian Nights, +though the plot is different. + +[96] Ganga snana Tunga pana. The Ganges for bath and Tunga +(Tungabhadra) for drink. + +[97] A Kanarese tale related by a risaldar. + +[98] Headman of the village. + +[99] Dakshinas (fees given in donation to Brahmins) are ordinarily +given to priests. + +[100] A yellow grain, peculiar to India. + +[101] It is not generally known that the "Birnam Wood" incident in +Shakespeare's "Macbeth" occurs in the same Arabian historical work. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of the Sun, by +Mrs. Howard Kingscote and Pandit Natesa Sastri + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF THE SUN *** + +***** This file should be named 37002.txt or 37002.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/0/0/37002/ + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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