Old Deccan Days Part 23

Then they sent for the Ranee to show her the bangle, but as soon as she saw it she recognized it as one of the bangles which had belonged to Chandra, and burst into tears, crying, "This is not my bangle. Oh, my lord, no jeweler on earth made this bangle! See, it is different to mine; and when any one comes near it, it tinkles and all the little bells begin to ring. Have you forgotten it? This was my beauty's bangle! My diamond's! My little darling's! My lost child's! Where did it come from? How did it come here? How into this land, and into this town and bazaar, among these wicked people? For this Jeweler must have kept my bangle and brought this one in its place. No human goldsmith's hands made this, for it is none other than Chandra's." Then she begged the Rajah to inquire further about it.

But they all thought her mad; and the Jeweler said, "It is the Ranee's fancy, for this is the same bangle she gave me to clean." The other people also agreed that both the bangles were almost exactly alike, and must be a pair; and it being certain that Koila had had the bangle when he was seized by the police, the Rajah ordered him to be instantly executed. But the Ranee took Chandra's bangle and locked it away in a strong cupboard, apart from all her other jewels.

Then they took Koila out into the jungle and would have cut off his head, but he said to his guards, "If I must die, let me die by my own hands," and drawing his sword he fell upon it, and as the sword was very sharp it cut his body in two--one half fell on one side of the sword, and the other half on the other side--and they left his body where it fell.

When the news of what had taken place came to the town, many people who had seen Koila selling his bangle the day before began to murmur, saying, "There must be some injustice here--the Rajah has been over-hasty. Most likely the poor man did not steal the bangle. It is not likely that he would have tried to sell it openly before us all in the bazaar if it had been stolen property. How cruel of the Rajah to put such a handsome, gentle, n.o.ble-looking youth to death!--and he was a stranger, too!" And many wept at thought of his hard fate. When the Rajah heard of this he was very angry, and sent and commanded that the matter should be no further discussed in the town, saying, "If any one speaks another word of what has been done, or laments or sheds tears for the dead, he shall be instantly hanged." Then the people all felt very frightened, and not a soul dared to speak of Koila, though every one thought about him much.

Early the very morning that this happened the old milk-seller (at whose house, which was a little out of the town, Chandra had been sleeping) took her guest a bowl full of milk to drink; but no sooner had Chandra tasted it than she began to cry, saying, "Good mother, what have you done? my mouth is full of blood!" "No, no, my daughter,"

answered the old woman; "you must have been dreaming some bad dream.

See, this is pure, fresh, warm milk I have brought you; drink again."

But when Chandra tasted it for the second time, she answered, "Oh no!

oh no! it is not milk that I taste, but blood. All last night I had a dreadful dream, and this morning when I woke I found that my marriage necklace had snapped in two; and now this milk tastes to me as blood.

Let me go! let me go! for I know my husband is dead."

The old woman tried to comfort her, saying, "Why should you fancy he is dead? he was quite well yesterday, when he went to sell your bangle; and he said he would come back to you soon; in a little while, very likely, he will be here." But she answered, "No, no; I feel sure that he is dead! Oh, let me go! for I must find him before I die."

Then the old woman said, "You must not go; you are too beautiful to run about through the streets of this strange town alone, and your husband would be very angry if he saw you doing so; and who knows but that you might lose your way, and get carried off as a slave; remember, he told you to stay here till he returned. Be patient; remain where you are, and I will go quickly into the town and seek your husband. If he is alive, I will bring him back to you, and if he is dead I will bring you word." So, taking a chattee full of milk on her head, as if to sell, she went to the town to find Koila, while every minute seemed an hour to Chandra until her return.

When the old milk-seller reached the town, she went up and down all the streets looking for Koila, or expecting to hear some one mention the handsome stranger who had gone to sell such a wonderful bangle the day before. But she could not find him, nor did she hear him spoken of, for all were afraid to say a word about him on account of the Rajah's decree. Being unable to trace him, the old woman got suspicious, and began to search, more carefully than before, down all the streets near the market-place, where she thought he was most likely to have gone; but, lest people should wonder at her errand, she called out each time as if she had some different thing to sell.

First, "Buy some milk--who'll buy milk--who'll buy?" Then, on going for a second time down the same street, "Buy b.u.t.ter--b.u.t.ter! very fine b.u.t.ter!" and so on. At last one woman, who had been watching her with some curiosity, said, "Old woman, what nonsense you talk! you have been half-a-dozen times up and down this same street, as if you had half-a-dozen different things to sell in that one chattee. Any one would think you had as little sense as that pretty young bangle-seller yesterday, who spent all the day trying to sell a bangle, and got put to death for his pains."

"Of whom do you speak?" asked the old woman. "Oh," said the other, "I suppose, as you're a milk-seller from the country, you know nothing about it. But that's not to be talked about, for the Rajah has said that whoever speaks of him or mourns him shall be instantly hanged.

Ah! he was very handsome."

"Where is he now?" whispered the old woman. "There," answered the other; "you can see the place where that crowd of people has collected. The Rajah's Jeweler accused him of having stolen the bangle; so he was executed, many thought unjustly; but do not say I said it." And so saying, she pointed toward the jungle some way off.

The old woman ran to the place, but when she there saw two halves of Koila's body lying side by side, stiff and cold, she threw her earthen chattee down on the ground and fell on her knees, crying bitterly. The noise attracted the attention of the Rajah's guards, some of whom immediately seized her, saying, "Old woman, it is against the law to lament that dead man or murmur at the Rajah's decree; you deserve to be put to death." But she answered quickly, "The dead man! I do not cry for the dead man: can you not see that my chattee is broken and all the milk spilt? Is it not enough to make one weep?" And she began to cry again. "Hush! hush!" they answered; "don't cry; come, the chattee wasn't worth much; it was only an earthen thing. Stop your tears, and maybe we'll give you a chattee of gold."

"I neither care for your golden chattees nor for silver," she said, angrily. "Go away; go away! my earthen chattee was worth them all. My grandfather's grandfather and my grandmother's grandmother used this chattee; and to think that it should now be broken and all the milk spilt!" And picking up the broken pieces, she went home sobbing, as if the loss of her chattee was all her grief. But when she got to her own house, she ran into where Chandra was, crying, "Alas! my pretty child!

alas, my daughter! your fears are true!" and as gently as she could she told her what had happened.

No sooner did Chandra hear it than she ran away straight to the Rajah's palace in the midst of the town, and rushing into the room where he was, said, "How did you dare to kill my husband?"

Now, at the sound of her voice, her bangle, which the Ranee had locked up in the cupboard, broke through all the intervening doors and rolled to Chandra's feet.

The Rajah was unable to answer her a word. Then she fell on her knees and rent her clothes and tore her hair; and when she tore it all the land began to burn and all her hair burned too.

Then the old milk-seller, who had followed her, ran and put a lump of b.u.t.ter on her head, thinking to cool it; and two other woman, who were by, fetched water to pour upon her hair, but by this time nineteen lines of houses were in flames. Then the old woman cried, "Oh! spare the Purwari[104] lines; don't burn them down, for I did all I could for you." So Chandra did not burn that part of the town near which the old woman and her friends lived. But the fire burnt on and on in the other direction; and it killed the Rajah and the Ranee and all the people in the palace, and the wicked Jeweler and his wife; and as he was dying Chandra tore out his heart and gave it to the eagles who hovered overhead, saying, "Here is vengeance for the death of your little ones." And the Nautch girl, Moulee, and her mother, who were watching the fire from far off, were smothered in the flames.[105]

[104] Or outcasts'; literally, "the extra-muralists'," _i.e._, the houses of the lowest cla.s.ses, not permitted to live within the city walls.

[105] See Notes at the end.

Then Chandra went to where Koila's dead body lay and wept over it bitterly; and as she was weeping, there fell down to her from heaven a needle and thread; and she took them, saying, "Oh, that I could by any means restore you!" and, placing the two halves of his body side by side, she sewed them together.

And when she had done this, she cried to Mahdeo, saying, "Sire, I have done the best I can; I have joined the body; give it life." And as she said these words Mahdeo had pity on her, and he sent Koila's spirit back and it returned to his body again. Then Chandra was glad, and they returned and lived in their own land.

But to this day in the Madura Tinivelly country you can trace where all the land was burnt.

[Decoration]

XXIII.

_HOW THE THREE CLEVER MEN OUTWITTED THE DEMONS._

There was once upon a time a very rich man who had a very beautiful wife, and this man's chief amus.e.m.e.nt used to be shooting with a bow and arrow, at which he was so clever that every morning he would shoot through one of the pearls in his wife's nose-ring without hurting her at all.[106] One fine day, that was a holiday, the Pearl-shooter's brother-in-law came to take his sister to their father and mother's house to pay her own family a little visit; and when he saw her, he said, "Why do you look so pale and thin and miserable? is your husband unkind to you, or what is the matter?" "No," she answered; "my husband is very kind to me, and I have plenty of money and jewels, and as nice a house as I could wish; my only grief is that every morning he amuses himself by shooting one of the pearls from my nose-ring, and that frightens me; for I think perhaps some day he may miss his aim and the arrow run into my face and kill me. So I am in constant terror of my life; yet I do not like to ask him not to do it, because it gives him so much pleasure; but if he left off of his own accord, I should be very glad." "What does he say to you himself about it?" asked the brother. "Every day," she replied, "when he has shot the pearl, he comes to me quite happy and proud, and says, 'Was there ever a man as clever as I am?' and I answer him, 'No, I do not think there ever was any as clever as you.'" "Do not say so again," said the brother; "but next time he asks you the question, answer, 'Yes, there are many men in the world more clever than you.'" The Pearl-shooter's wife promised to take her brother's advice. So, next time her husband shot the pearl from her nose-ring, and said to her, "Was there ever a man as clever as I am?" she answered, "Yes, there are many men in the world more clever than you."

[106] See Notes at the end.

Then he said, "If so be that there are, I will not rest until I have found them." And he left her, and went a far journey into the jungle in order to find, if possible, a cleverer man than himself. On, on, on he journeyed a very long way, until at last he came to a large river, and on the river-bank sat a traveler eating his dinner. The Pearl-shooter sat down beside him and the two began conversing together. At last, the Pearl-shooter said to his friend, "What is the reason of your journey, and where are you going?" The stranger answered, "I am a Wrestler, and the strongest man in all this country; I can do many wonderful things in the way of wrestling and carrying heavy weights, and I began to think that in all this world there was no one so clever as I; but I have lately heard of a still more wonderful man who lives in a distant country, and who is so clever that every morning he shoots one of the pearls from his wife's nose-ring without hurting her. So I go to find him, and learn if this is true."

The Pearl-shooter answered, "Then you need travel no further, for I am that man of whom you heard." "Why are you traveling about, then, and where are you going?" asked the Wrestler. "I," replied the other, "am also traveling to see if in all the world I can find a cleverer man than myself; therefore, as we have both the same object in view, let us be as brothers and go about together; perhaps there is still in the world a better man than we." The Wrestler agreed; so they both started on their way together. They had not gone very far before they came to a place where three roads met, and there sat another man, whom neither of them had ever seen before. He accosted the Wrestler and the Pearl-shooter and said to them, "Who are you, friends, and where are you going?" "We," answered they, "are two clever men, who are traveling through the world to see if we can find a cleverer man than we; but who may you be, and where are you going?" "I," replied the third man, "am a Pundit,[107] a man of memory, renowned for my good head, a great thinker; and verily I thought there was not in the world a more wonderful man than I; but having heard of two men in distant lands of very great cleverness, the one of whom is a Wrestler, and the other a shooter of pearls from his wife's nose-ring, I go to find them and learn if the things I heard are true." "They are true," said the others; "for we, O Pundit, are the very two men of whom you speak."

[107] Wise man.

At this news the Pundit was overjoyed, and cried, "Then let us be as brothers; since your homes are far distant, return with me to my house, which is close by; there you can rest a while, and each of us put our various powers to the proof." This proposal pleased the Wrestler and the Pearl-shooter, who accompanied the Pundit to his house.

Now, in the kitchen there was an enormous cauldron of iron, so heavy that five-and-twenty men could hardly move it; and in the dead of night the Wrestler, to prove his power, got up from the veranda where he was sleeping, and as quietly as possible lifted this great cauldron on his shoulders and carried it down to the river, where he waded with it into the deepest part of the water, and there buried it. After having accomplished this feat, he returned to the Pundit's house as quietly as he had left it, and, rolling himself up in his blanket, fell fast asleep. But though he had come never so softly, the Pundit's wife heard him, and waking her husband, she said, "I hear footsteps as of people creeping quietly about and not wishing to be heard, and but a little while ago I noticed the same thing; perhaps there are thieves in the house; let us go and see: it is strange they should choose such a bright moonlight night." And they both got up quickly and walked round the house. They found nothing, however, out of order, nor any signs of anything having been touched or disarranged, until they came to the kitchen. And, indeed, at first they thought all was as they left it there, when, just as they were going away, the Pundit's wife cried out to him, "Why, what has become of the great cauldron? I never thought of looking to see if that was safe; for it did not seem possible that it could have been moved." And they both looked inside the house and outside, but the cauldron was nowhere to be seen. At last, however, they discovered deep footprints in the sand close to the kitchen door, as of some one who had been carrying a very heavy weight, and these they traced down to the river-side.

Then the Pundit said, "Some one immensely strong has evidently done this, for here are the footprints of one man only; and he must have buried the cauldron in the water, for, see, there is no continuation of the footprints on the other side. I wonder who can have done it?

Let us go and see that our two guests are asleep; perhaps the Wrestler played us this trick to prove his great strength." And with his wife he went into the veranda, where the Pearl-shooter and the Wrestler lay rolled up in their blankets, fast asleep. First, they looked at the Pearl-shooter; but on seeing him the Pundit shook his head, saying, "No, he certainly has not done this thing." They then looked at the Wrestler, and the cunning Pundit licked the skin of the sleeping man, and, turning to his wife, whispered, "This is a.s.suredly the man who stole the cauldron and put it in the river, for he must have been but lately up to his neck in fresh water, since there is no taste of salt on his skin from his foot even to his shoulders. To-morrow I will surprise him by showing him I know this." And so saying, the Pundit crept back into the house, followed by his wife.

Next morning early, as soon as it was light, the Pearl-shooter and the Wrestler were accosted by their host, who said to them, "Let us go down to the river and have a wash, for I cannot offer you a bath, since the great cauldron, in which we generally bathe, has been mysteriously carried away this very night." "Where can it have gone?"

said the Wrestler. "Ah, where indeed?" answered the Pundit; and he led them down to where the cauldron had been put into the river by the Wrestler the night before, and wading about in the water until he found it, pointed it out to him, saying, "See, friend, how far this cauldron traveled!" The Wrestler was much surprised to find that the Pundit knew where the cauldron was hidden, and said, "Who can have put it there?" "I will tell you," answered the Pundit; "why, I think it was you!" And then he related how his wife had heard footsteps, and, being afraid of thieves, had awakened him the night before, and how they had discovered that the cauldron was missing, and traced it down to the river-side; and then how he had found out that the Wrestler had just before been into the water up to his neck. The Wrestler and the Pearl-shooter were both much astonished at the Pundit's wisdom in having found this out; and the Pearl-shooter said to himself, "Both these men are certainly more clever than I." Then the three clever men returned to the house, and were very happy and joyful, and amused themselves laughing and talking all the rest of the day; and when evening came, the Pundit said to the Wrestler, "Let us to-night forego all meagre fare and have a royal feast; friend Strongman, pray you go and catch the fattest of those goats that we see upon the hills yonder, and we will cook it for our dinner." The Wrestler a.s.sented, and ran on and on until he reached the flock of goats browsing upon the hill-side. Now, just at that moment a wicked little Demon came by that way, and on seeing the Wrestler looking at the goats (to see which seemed the finest to take home to dinner), he thought to himself, "If I can make him choose me, and take me home with him for his dinner, I shall be able to play him and his friends some fine tricks." So, quick as thought, he changed himself into a very handsome goat, and when the Wrestler saw this one goat, so much taller and finer and fatter than all the rest, he ran and caught hold of him and tucked him under his arm, to carry him home for dinner. The goat kicked and kicked and jumped about, and tried to b.u.t.t more fiercely than the Wrestler had ever known any mortal goat do before, but still he held him tight and brought him in triumph to the Pundit's door. The Pundit heard him coming and ran out to meet him; but when he saw the goat, he started back quite frightened, for the Wrestler was holding it so tight that its eyes were almost starting out of its head, and they were fiery and evil-looking and burning like two living coals, and the Pundit saw at once that it was a Demon, and no goat, that his friend held; then he thought quickly, "If I appear to be frightened, this cruel Demon will get into the house and devour us all; I must endeavor to intimidate him." So, in a bold voice, he cried, "O Wrestler! Wrestler! foolish friend! what have you done? We asked you to fetch a fat goat for our dinner, and here you have only brought one wretched little Demon. If you could not find goats, while you were about it you might as well have brought more Demons, for we are hungry people. My children are each accustomed to eat one Demon a day, and my wife eats three, and I myself eat twelve, and here you have only brought one between us all! What are we to do?" At hearing these reproaches, the Wrestler was so much astonished that he dropped the Demon-goat, who, for his part, was so frightened at the Pundit's words, that he came crawling along quite humbly upon his knees, saying, "Oh, sir, do not eat me, do not eat me, and I will give you anything you like in the world. Only let me go, and I will fetch you mountains of treasure, rubies and diamonds, and gold and precious stones beyond all count. Do not eat me; only let me go!" "No, no,"

said the Pundit; "I know what you'll do; you'll just go away and never return: we are very hungry; we do not want gold and precious stones, but we want a good dinner; we must certainly eat you." The Demon thought all that the Pundit said must be true, he spoke so fearlessly and naturally. So he only repeated more earnestly, "Only let me go; I promise you to return and bring you all the riches that you could desire."

The Pundit was too wise to seem glad; but he said sternly, "Very well, you may go; but unless you return quickly and bring the treasure you promise, be you in the uttermost part of the earth, we will find you and eat you, for we are more powerful than you and all your fellows."

The Demon, who had just experienced how much stronger the Wrestler was than ordinary men, and then heard from the Pundit's own lips of his love for eating Demons, thought himself exceedingly lucky to have escaped their clutches so easily; and returning to his own land, he fetched from the Demons' storehouse a vast amount of precious things, with which he was flying away with all speed (in order to pay his debt and avoid being afterward hunted and eaten), when several of his comrades caught hold of him, and in angry tones asked where he was carrying away so much of their treasure. The Demon answered, "I take it to save my life; for whilst wandering round the world I was caught by terrible creatures, more dreadful than the sons of men, and they threaten to eat me unless I bring the treasure."

"We should like to see these dreadful creatures," answered they, "for we never before heard of mortals who devoured Demons." To which he replied, "These are not ordinary mortals; I tell you they are the fiercest creatures I ever saw, and would devour our Rajah, himself, did they get the chance; one of them said that he daily ate twelve Demons, that his wife ate three, and each of his children one." At hearing this they consented to let him go for the time; but the Demon Rajah commanded him to return with all speed next day, that the matter might be further discussed in solemn council.

When, after three days' absence, the Demon returned to the Pundit's house with the treasure, the Pundit angrily said to him, "Why have you been so long away? You promised to return as soon as possible." He answered, "All my fellow-Demons detained me, and would hardly let me go, they were so angry at my bringing you so much treasure; and though I told them how great and powerful you are, they would not believe me, but will, as soon as I return, judge me in solemn council for serving you." "Where is your solemn council held?" asked the Pundit. "Oh, very far, far away," answered the Demon, "in the depths of the jungle, where our Rajah daily holds his court." "I and my friends should like to see that place, and your Rajah and all his court," said the Pundit; "you must take us with you when you go, for we have absolute mastery over all Demons, even over their Rajah himself, and unless you do as we command we shall be very angry." "Very well," answered the Demon, for he felt quite frightened at the Pundit's fierce words; "mount on my back and I'll take you there." So the Pundit, the Wrestler and the Pearl-shooter all mounted the Demon, and he flew away with them, on, on, on, as fast as wings could cut the air, till they reached the great jungle where the durbar[108] was to be held, and there he placed them all on the top of a high tree just over the Demon Rajah's throne.

In a few minutes the Pearl-shooter, the Wrestler and the Pundit heard a rushing noise, and thousands and thousands of Demons filled the place, covering the ground as far as the eye could reach, and thronging chiefly round the Rajah's throne; but they did not notice the men in the tree above them. Then the Rajah ordered that the Demon who had taken of their treasure to give to mortals should be brought to judgment; and when they had dragged the culprit into the midst of them, they accused him, and having proved him guilty, would have punished him; but he defended himself stoutly, saying, "n.o.ble Rajah, those who forced me to fetch them treasure were no ordinary mortals, but great and terrible; they said they ate many Demons; the man ate twelve a day, his wife ate three, and each of his children one. He said, moreover, that he and his friends were more powerful than us all, and ruled your majesty as absolutely as we are ruled by you." The Demon Rajah answered, "Let us see these great people of whom you speak, and we will believe you; but----" At this moment the tree upon which the Pundit, the Pearl-shooter and the Wrestler were, broke, and down they all tumbled--first, the Wrestler, then the Pearl-shooter, and lastly the Pundit--upon the head of the Demon Rajah as he sat in judgment. They seemed to have come down from the sky, so suddenly did they appear, and, being very much alarmed at their awkward position determined to take the aggressive. So the Wrestler kicked and hugged and beat the Rajah with all his might and main, and the Pearl-shooter did likewise, while the Pundit, who was perched up a little higher than either of the others, cried, "So be it, so be it. We will eat him first for dinner, and afterward we will eat all the other Demons." The Demons hearing this, one and all flew away from the confusion and left their Rajah to his fate; while he cried, "Oh spare me! spare me! I see it is all true; only let me go, and I will give you as much treasure as you like." "No, no," said the Pundit; "don't listen to him, friends; we will eat him for dinner." And the Wrestler and the Pearl-shooter kicked and beat him harder than before. Then the Demon cried again, "Let me go! let me go!" "No, no," they answered; and they chastised him vigorously for the s.p.a.ce of an hour, until, at last, fearing they should get tired, the Pundit said, "The treasure would be no use to us here in the jungle; but if you brought us a very great deal to our own house, we might give up eating you for dinner to-day; you must, however, give us great compensation, for we are all very hungry." To this the Demon Rajah gladly agreed, and, calling together his scattered subjects, ordered them to take the three valiant men home again and convey the treasure to the Pundit's house. The little Demons obeyed his orders with much fear and trembling, but they were very willing to do their best to get the Pundit, the Pearl-shooter and the Wrestler out of Demon-land, and they, for their parts, were no less anxious to go. When they got home, the Pundit said, "You shall not go until the engagement is fulfilled." Instantly Demons without number filled the house with riches, and when they had accomplished their task, they all flew away, fearing greatly the terrible Pundit and his friends, who talked of eating Demons as men would eat almonds and raisins. So, by never showing that he was afraid, this brave Pundit saved his family from being eaten by these Demons, and also got a vast amount of treasure. Then he divided it into three equal portions: a third he gave to the Wrestler, a third he gave to the Pearl-shooter, and a third he kept himself; after which he sent his friends, with many kindly words, back to their own homes. So the Pearl-shooter returned to his house laden with gold and jewels of priceless worth; and when he got there, he called his wife and gave them to her, saying, "I have been a far journey and brought back all these treasures for you, and I have learnt that your words were true, since in the world there are cleverer men than I; for mine is a cleverness that profits not, and but for a Pundit and a Wrestler, I should not have gained these riches. I will shoot the pearl from your nose-ring no more." And he never did.

[108] Council.

[Decoration]

[Decoration]

XXIV.

_THE ALLIGATOR AND THE JACKAL._