Old Deccan Days Part 12

But the Parrot above her cried, "Good-bye, Champa Ranee, good-bye; you ate a chicken's head, not mine. Where is your house now? where your servants and all your possessions? Have my words come true, think you, or yours?"

Then the woman saw all, and in her rage and despair, cursing her own folly, she fell violently down on the floor of the temple, and dashing her head against the stone, killed herself.

It was now two years since the Rajah Vicram left his kingdom; and about six months before, b.u.t.ti, in despair of his ever returning, had set out to seek for him. Up and down through many countries had he gone, searching for his master, but without success. As good fortune would have it, however, he chanced to be one of those strangers who had come to witness the Nautch girl's translation, and no sooner did he see the Parrot which spoke to her than in him he recognized Vicram.

The Rajah also saw him, and flew on to his shoulder, upon which b.u.t.ti caught him, put him in a cage and took him home.

Now was a puzzling problem to be solved. The Rajah's soul was in the Parrot's body, and the Carpenter's son's soul in the Rajah's body. How was the latter to be expelled to make way for the former? He could not return to his own body, for that had perished long before. The Wuzeer knew not how to manage the matter, and determined therefore to await the course of events.

It happened that the pretended Rajah and b.u.t.ti each had a fighting ram, and one day the Rajah said to the Wuzeer, "Let us set our rams to fight to-day, and try the strength of mine against yours." "Agreed,"

answered the Wuzeer; and they set them to fight. But there was much difference in the two rams; for when b.u.t.ti's ram was but a lamb, and his horns were growing, b.u.t.ti had tied him to a lime tree, and his horns had got very strong indeed by constantly rubbing against its tender stem and b.u.t.ting against it; but the Carpenter's son had tied his ram, when a lamb, to a young teak tree, the trunk of which was so stout and strong that the little creature, b.u.t.ting against it, could make no impression on it, but only damaged and loosened his own horns.

The pretended Rajah soon saw, to his vexation, that his favorite's horns being less strong than its opponent's, he was getting tired, and beginning to lose courage, would certainly be worsted in the fight; so, quick as thought, he left his own body and transported his soul into the ram's body, in order to give it an increase of courage and resolution, and enable it to win.

No sooner did Vicram Maharajah, who was hanging up in a cage, see what had taken place, than he left the parrot's body and re-entered his own body. Then b.u.t.ti's ram pushed the other down on its knees and the Wuzeer ran and fetched a sword, and cut off its head; thus putting an end, with the life of the ram, to the life of the Carpenter's son.

Great was the joy of Anar Ranee and all the household at recovering the Rajah after his long absence; and Anar Ranee prayed him to fly away no more as a parrot, which he promised her he would not do.

But the taste for wandering and love of an unsettled life did not leave him on his resuming his proper form; and one of the things in which he most delighted was to roam about the jungles near the palace by himself, without attendant or guide. One very sultry day, when he was thus out by himself, he wandered over a rocky part of the country, which was flat and arid, without a tree upon it to offer shelter from the burning sun. Vicram, tired with his walk, threw himself down by the largest piece of rock he could find to rest. As he lay there, half asleep, a little Cobra came out of a hole in the ground, and seeing his mouth wide open (which looked like some shady cranny in a rock), crept in and curled himself up in the Rajah's throat.

Vicram Maharajah called out to the Cobra, "Get out of my throat." But the Cobra said, "No, I won't go; I like being here better then under ground;" and there he stayed. Vicram didn't know what to do, for the Cobra lived in his throat and could not be got out. At times it would peep out of his mouth, but the moment the Rajah tried to catch it, it ran back again.

"Who ever heard of a Rajah in such a miserable plight?" sighed he to b.u.t.ti--"to think of having this Cobra in my throat!"

"Ah, my dear friend," b.u.t.ti would answer, "why will you go roaming about the country by yourself? Will you never be cured of it?"

"If one could only catch this Cobra, I'd be content to wander no more," said the Rajah, "for my wandering has not brought me much good of late." But to catch the Cobra was more than any man could do. At last, one day, Vicram, driven nearly mad in this perplexity, ran away into the jungle. Tidings of this were soon brought to b.u.t.ti, who was much grieved to hear it, and sighed, saying, "Alas! alas! of what avail to Vicram Maharajah is his more than human wisdom, when the one unlucky self-chosen gift neutralizes all the good he might do with it!

It has given him a love of wandering hither and thither, minding everybody's business but his own; his kingdom is neglected, his people uncared for, and he, that used to be the pride of all Rajahs, the best, the n.o.blest, has finally slunk out of his country, like a thief escaping from jail."

b.u.t.ti sent messengers far and wide seeking Vicram Maharajah, but they could not find him; he then determined to go himself in search of his lost friend; and having made proper arrangements for the government of the country during his absence, he set off on his travels.

Meantime Vicram wandered on and on until at last, one day, he came to the palace of a certain Rajah, who reigned over a country very far from his own, and he sat down with the beggars at the palace gate.

Now, the Rajah at whose gate Vicram Maharajah sat had a good and lovely daughter, named Buccoulee.[65] Many Princes wished to marry this Princess, but she would marry none of them. Her father and mother said to her, "Why will you not choose a husband? Among all these Princes who ask you in marriage there are many rich and powerful--many handsome and brave--many wise and good; why will you refuse them all?"

The Princess replied, "It is not my destiny to marry any of them; continually in my dreams I see my destined husband, and I wait for him." "Who is he?" they asked. "His name," she answered, "is the Rajah Vicram; he will come from a very far country; he has not come yet."

They replied, "There is no Rajah, far or near, that we know of, of this name; give over this fancy of yours and marry some one else."

[65] Said to mean some sort of water-plant.

But she constantly refused, saying, "No, I will wait for the Rajah Vicram." Her parents thought, "It may be even as she says. Who knows but perhaps some day a great King, greater than any we know, may come to this country and wish to marry the girl; we shall then be glad that we had not obliged her to marry any of her present suitors?"

No sooner had Vicram Maharajah come to the palace gate, and sat down there with the beggars, than the Princess Buccoulee, looking out of the window, saw him and cried, "There is the husband I saw in my dreams; there is the Rajah Vicram." "Where, child, where?" said her mother; "there's no Rajah there; only a parcel of beggars."

But the Princess persisted that one of them was the Rajah Vicram.

Then the Ranee sent for Vicram Maharajah and questioned him.

He said his name was "Rajah Vicram." But the Rajah and Ranee did not believe him; and they were very angry with the Princess because she persisted in saying that he, and no other, would she marry. At last they got so enraged with her that they said, "Well, marry your beggar husband, if you will, but don't think to remain any longer our daughter after becoming his wife; if you marry him it shall be to follow his fortunes in the jungle; we shall soon see you repent your obstinacy."

"I will marry him and follow him wherever he goes," said the Princess.

So Vicram Maharajah and the Princess Buccoulee were married, and her parents turned her out of the house; nevertheless, they allowed her a little money. "For," they said, "she will fast enough find the difference between a king's daughter and a beggar's wife, without wanting food."

Vicram built a little hut in the jungle, and there they lived; but the poor Princess had a sad time of it, for she was neither accustomed to cook nor wash, and the hard work tired her very much. Her chief grief, however, was that Vicram should have such a hideous tormentor as the Cobra in his throat; and often and often of a night she sat awake, trying to devise some means for catching it, but all in vain.

At last, one night, when she was thinking about it, she saw close by two Cobras come out of their holes, and as they began to talk, she listened to hear what they would say.

"Who are these people?" said the first Cobra. "These," said the second, "are the Rajah Vicram, and his wife the Princess Buccoulee."

"What are they doing here? why is the Rajah so far from his kingdom?"

asked the first Cobra.

"Oh, he ran away because he was so miserable; he has a Cobra that lives in his throat," answered the second.

"Can no one get it out?" said the first.

"No," replied the other; "because they do not know the secret." "What secret?" asked the first Cobra. "Don't you know?" said the second; "why, if his wife only took a few marking nuts,[66] and pounded them well, and mixed them in cocoa-nut oil, and set the whole on fire, and hung the Rajah, her husband, head downward up in a tree above it, the smoke, rising upward, would instantly kill the Cobra in his mouth, which would tumble down dead."

[66] _Semecarpus anacardium._

"I never heard of that before," said the first Cobra.

"Didn't you?" exclaimed the second. "Why, if they did the same thing at the mouth of your hole, they'd kill you in no time; and then, perhaps, they might find all the fine treasure you have there!" "Don't joke in that way," said the first Cobra; "I don't like it;" and he crawled away quite offended, and the second Cobra followed him.

No sooner had the Princess heard this than she determined to try the experiment. So next morning she sent for all the villagers living near (who all knew and loved her, and would do anything she told them, because she was the Rajah's daughter), and bade them take a great cauldron and fill it with cocoa-nut oil, and pound down an immense number of marking nuts and throw them into it, and then bring the cauldron to her. They did so, and she set the whole on fire, and caused Vicram to be hung up in a tree overhead; and as soon as the smoke from the cauldron rose in the air it suffocated the Cobra in Vicram Maharajah's throat, which fell down quite dead. Then the Rajah Vicram said to his wife, "O worthy Buccoulee! what a n.o.ble woman you are! You have delivered me from this torment, which was more than all the wise men in my kingdom could do."

Buccoulee then caused the cauldron of oil to be placed close to the hole of the first Cobra, which she had heard speaking the night before, and he was suffocated.

She then ordered the people to dig him out of his hole, and in it they found a vast amount of treasure--gold, silver and jewels. Then Buccoulee sent for royal robes for herself and her husband, and bade him cut his hair and shave him; and when they were all ready, she took the remainder of the treasure and returned with it to her father's house; and her father and mother, who had repented of their harshness, gladly welcomed her back, and were both surprised and delighted to see all the vast treasures she had, and what a handsome, princely-looking man her husband was.

Then one day news was brought to Vicram that a stranger Wuzeer had arrived in the palace as the Rajah's guest, and that this Wuzeer had for twelve years been wandering round the world in search of his master, but, not having found him, was returning to his own home.

Vicram thought to himself, "Can this possibly be b.u.t.ti?" and he ran to see.

It was indeed b.u.t.ti, who cried for joy to see him, saying, "Oh Vicram, Vicram! do you know it is twelve years since you left us all?"

Then Vicram Maharajah told b.u.t.ti how the good Princess Buccoulee had married him and succeeded in killing the Cobra, and how he was then on the point of returning to his own country. So they all set out together, being given many rich presents by Buccoulee's father and mother. At last after a long, long journey, they reached home. Anar Ranee was overjoyed to see them again, for she had long mourned her husband as dead. When Buccoulee Ranee was told who Anar Ranee was and taken to see her, she felt very much frightened, for she thought, "Perhaps she will be jealous of me and hate me." But with a gentle smile Anar Ranee came to meet her, saying, "Sister, I hear it is to you we owe the preservation of the Rajah, and that it was you who killed the Cobra; I can never be sufficiently grateful to you, nor love you enough, as long as I live."

From that day Vicram Maharajah stayed in his own kingdom, ruling it wisely and well, and beloved by all. He and b.u.t.ti lived to a good old age, and their affection for each other lasted as long as they lived.

So that it became a proverb in that country, and instead of saying, "So-and-so love each other like brothers" (when speaking of two who were much attached), the people would say, "So-and-so love each other like the Rajah and the Wuzeer."

[Decoration]

VIII.

_LESS INEQUALITY THAN MEN DEEM._

A young Rajah once said to his Wuzeer, "How is it that I am so often ill? I take care of myself; I never go out in the rain; I wear warm clothes; I eat good food. Yet I am always catching cold or getting fever, in spite of all precautions."