{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_48511/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_48511","id":"gutenberg_48511","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48511","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Hindus -- Folklore","Tales -- India","Vampires -- India -- Folklore"],"text":"TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE\n\n  * Italics are denoted by underscores as in _italics_.\n  * Small caps are represented in upper case as in SMALL CAPS.\n  * Obvious printer errors have been silently corrected.\n  * Original spelling, hyphenation and punctuation have been kept,\n    but variant spellings were made consistent when a predominant\n    usage was found.\n  * Illustrations have been slightly moved so that they do not break\n    up paragraphs while remaining close to the text they illustrate.\n  * Illustration captions have been harmonized and made consistent\n    so that the same expressions appear both in them and in the List\n    of Illustrations.\n  * Both \u201cBramha\u201d and \u201cBrahma\u201d have been kept as distinct even though\n    they probably denote the same deity.\n\n\n\n\nTALES OF HINDU DEVILRY.\n\n\n\n\n    LONDON: PRINTED BY\n    SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE\n    AND PARLIAMENT STREET\n\n\n[Illustration: During the three hours of return hardly a word passed\nbetween the pair.\n                                                    _Frontispiece._]\n\n\n\n\n    VIKRAM AND THE VAMPIRE\n    OR\n    TALES OF HINDU DEVILRY.\n\n\n    ADAPTED BY\n    RICHARD F. BURTON, F.R.G.S. &c.\n\n\n    \u2018Les fables, loin de grandir les hommes, la Nature et Dieu,\n        rapetissent tout.\u2019\n                                               LAMARTINE (_Milton_).\n\n    \u2018One who had eyes saw it; the blind will not understand it.\n    A poet, who is a boy, he has perceived it; he who understands it\n        will be his sire\u2019s sire.\u2019\u2014RIG-VEDA (I. 164, 16).\n\n\n    _WITH THIRTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS_\n    BY\n    _ERNEST GRISET_.\n\n\n    LONDON:\n    LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.\n    1870.\n\n\n\n\n    TO MY UNCLE,\n\n    ROBERT BAGSHAW, OF DOVERCOURT,\n\n    THESE TALES,\n    THAT WILL REMIND HIM OF A LAND WHICH\n    HE KNOWS SO WELL,\n    ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\n\u2018The genius of Eastern nations,\u2019 says an established and respectable\nauthority, \u2018was, from the earliest times, much turned towards\ninvention and the love of fiction. The Indians, the Persians,\nand the Arabians, were all famous for their fables. Amongst the\nancient Greeks we hear of the Ionian and Milesian tales, but they\nhave now perished, and, from every account that we hear of them,\nappear to have been loose and indelicate.\u2019 Similarly, the classical\ndictionaries define \u2018Milesi\u00e6 fabul\u00e6\u2019 to be \u2018licentious themes,\u2019\n\u2018stories of an amatory or mirthful nature,\u2019 or \u2018ludicrous and\nindecent plays.\u2019 M. Deri\u00e9ge seems indeed to confound them with the\n\u2018M\u0153urs du Temps\u2019 illustrated with artistic _gouaches_, when he says,\n\u2018une de ces fables mil\u00e9siennes, rehauss\u00e9es de peintures, que la\ncorruption romaine recherchait alors avec une folle ardeur.\u2019\n\nMy friend, Mr. Richard Charnock, F.A.S.L., more correctly defines\nMilesian fables to have been originally \u2018certain tales or novels,\ncomposed by Aristides of Miletus;\u2019 gay in matter and graceful in\nmanner. \u2018They were translated into Latin by the historian Sisenna,\nthe friend of Atticus, and they had a great success at Rome.\nPlutarch, in his life of Crassus, tells us that after the defeat\nof Carhes (Carrh\u00e6?) some Milesiacs were found in the baggage of\nthe Roman prisoners. The Greek text and the Latin translation have\nlong been lost. The only surviving fable is the tale of Cupid and\nPsyche,[1] which Apuleius calls \u201cMilesius sermo,\u201d and it makes us\ndeeply regret the disappearance of the others.\u2019 Besides this there\nare the remains of Apollodorus and Conon, and a few traces to be\nfound in Pausanias, Athen\u00e6us, and the scholiasts.\n\n  [1] _Metamorphoseon, seu de Asino Aureo, libri XI._ The well\n  known and beautiful episode is in the fourth, the fifth, and the\n  sixth books.\n\nI do not, therefore, agree with Blair, with the dictionaries, or with\nM. Deri\u00e9ge. Miletus, the great maritime city of Asiatic Ionia, was of\nold the meeting place of the East and the West. Here the Ph\u0153nician\ntrader from the Baltic would meet the Hindu wandering to Intra, from\nExtra, Gangem; and the Hyperborean would step on shore side by side\nwith the Nubian and the \u00c6thiop. Here was produced and published for\nthe use of the then civilised world, the genuine Oriental apologue,\nmyth and tale combined, which, by amusing narrative and romantic\nadventure, insinuates a lesson in morals or in humanity, of which\nwe often in our days must fail to perceive the drift. The book\nof Apuleius, before quoted, is subject to as many discoveries of\nrecondite meaning as Rabelais. As regards the licentiousness of the\nMilesian fables, this sign of semi-civilisation is still inherent\nin most Eastern books of the description which we call \u2018light\nliterature,\u2019 and the ancestral tale-teller never collects a larger\npurse of coppers than when he relates the worst of his \u2018aurei.\u2019\nBut this looseness, resulting from the separation of the sexes, is\naccidental, not necessary. The following collection will show that it\ncan be dispensed with, and that there is such a thing as comparative\npurity in Hindu literature. The author, indeed, almost always takes\nthe trouble to marry his hero and his heroine, and if he cannot find\na priest, he generally adopts an exceedingly left-hand and Caledonian\nbut legal rite called \u2018gandharbavivaha.\u2019[2]\n\n  [2] This ceremony will be explained in a future page.\n\nThe work of Apuleius, as ample internal evidence shows, is borrowed\nfrom the East. The groundwork of the tale is the metamorphosis\nof Lucius of Corinth into an ass, and the strange accidents which\nprecede his recovering the human form.\n\nAnother old Hindu story-book relates, in the popular fairy-book\nstyle, the wondrous adventures of the hero and demigod, the great\nGandharba-Sena. That son of Indra, who was also the father of\nVikramajit, the subject of this and another collection, offended the\nruler of the firmament by his fondness for a certain nymph, and was\ndoomed to wander over earth under the form of a donkey. Through the\ninterposition of the gods, however, he was permitted to become a man\nduring the hours of darkness, thus comparing with the English legend\u2014\n\n    Amundeville is lord by day,\n    But the monk is lord by night.\n\nWhilst labouring under this curse, Gandharba-Sena persuaded the King\nof Dhara to give him a daughter in marriage, but it unfortunately so\nhappened that at the wedding hour he was unable to show himself in\nany but asinine shape. After bathing, however, he proceeded to the\nassembly, and, hearing songs and music, he resolved to give them a\nspecimen of his voice.\n\nThe guests were filled with sorrow that so beautiful a virgin should\nbe married to a donkey. They were afraid to express their feelings\nto the king, but they could not refrain from smiling, covering their\nmouths with their garments. At length some one interrupted the\ngeneral silence and said:\n\n\u2018O king, is this the son of Indra? You have found a fine bridegroom;\nyou are indeed happy; don\u2019t delay the marriage; delay is improper\nin doing good; we never saw so glorious a wedding! It is true that\nwe once heard of a camel being married to a jenny-ass; when the\nass, looking up to the camel, said, \u201cBless me, what a bridegroom!\u201d\nand the camel, hearing the voice of the ass, exclaimed, \u201cBless me,\nwhat a musical voice!\u201d In that wedding, however, the bride and the\nbridegroom were equal; but in this marriage, that such a bride should\nhave such a bridegroom is truly wonderful.\u2019\n\nOther Brahmans then present said:\n\n\u2018O king, at the marriage hour, in sign of joy the sacred shell is\nblown, but thou hast no need of that\u2019 (alluding to the donkey\u2019s\nbraying).\n\nThe women all cried out:\n\n\u2018O my mother![3] what is this? at the time of marriage to have an\nass! What a miserable thing! What! will he give that angelic girl in\nwedlock to a donkey?\u2019\n\n  [3] A common exclamation of sorrow, surprise, fear, and other\n  emotions. It is especially used by women.\n\nAt length Gandharba-Sena, addressing the king in Sanskrit, urged him\nto perform his promise. He reminded his future father-in-law that\nthere is no act more meritorious than speaking truth; that the mortal\nframe is a mere dress, and that wise men never estimate the value of\na person by his clothes. He added that he was in that shape from the\ncurse of his sire, and that during the night he had the body of a\nman. Of his being the son of Indra there could be no doubt.\n\nHearing the donkey thus speak Sanskrit, for it was never known that\nan ass could discourse in that classical tongue, the minds of the\npeople were changed, and they confessed that, although he had an\nasinine form, he was unquestionably the son of Indra. The king,\ntherefore, gave him his daughter in marriage.[4] The metamorphosis\nbrings with it many misfortunes and strange occurrences, and it lasts\ntill Fate in the author\u2019s hand restores the hero to his former shape\nand honours.\n\n  [4] Quoted from _View of the Hindoos_, by William Ward, of\n  Serampore (vol. i. p. 25).\n\nGandharba-Sena is a quasi-historical personage, who lived in the\ncentury preceding the Christian era. The story had, therefore, ample\ntime to reach the ears of the learned African Apuleius, who was born\nA.D. 130.\n\nThe _Baital-Pachisi_, or _Twenty-five_ (tales of a) _Baital_[5]\u2014a\nVampire or evil spirit which animates dead bodies\u2014is an old\nand thoroughly Hindu repertory. It is the rude beginning of\nthat fictitious history which ripened to the _Arabian Nights\u2019\nEntertainments_, and which, fostered by the genius of Boccaccio,\nproduced the romance of the chivalrous days, and its last\ndevelopment, the novel\u2014that prose-epic of modern Europe.\n\n  [5] In Sanskrit, _V\u00e9t\u00e1la-pancha-Vinshat\u00ed_. \u2018Baital\u2019 is the modern\n  form of \u2018V\u00e9t\u00e1la.\u2019\n\nComposed in Sanskrit, \u2018the language of the gods,\u2019 alias the Latin of\nIndia, it has been translated into all the Prakrit or vernacular and\nmodern dialects of the great peninsula. The reason why it has not\nfound favour with the Moslems is doubtless the highly polytheistic\nspirit which pervades it; moreover, the Faithful had already a\nspecimen of that style of composition. This was the Hitopadesa, or\n_Advice of a Friend_, which, as a line in its introduction informs\nus, was borrowed from an older book, the _Panchatantra_, or _Five\nChapters_. It is a collection of apologues recited by a learned\nBrahman, Vishnu Sharma by name, for the edification of his pupils,\nthe sons of an Indian Raja. They have been adapted to or translated\ninto a number of languages, notably into Pehlvi and Persian, Syriac\nand Turkish, Greek and Latin, Hebrew and Arabic. And as the _Fables\nof Pilpay_,[6] they are generally known, by name at least, to\nEuropean litt\u00e9rateurs. Voltaire remarks,[7] \u2018Quand on fait r\u00e9flexion\nque presque toute la terre a \u00e9t\u00e9 infatu\u00e9e de pareils contes, et\nqu\u2019ils ont fait l\u2019\u00e9ducation du genre humain, on trouve les fables de\nPilpay, Lokman, d\u2019\u00c9sope bien raisonnables.\u2019\n\n  [6] In Arabic, _Bidpai el Hakim_.\n\n  [7] _Dictionnaire philosophique_, sub v. \u2018Apocryphes.\u2019\n\nThese tales, detached, but strung together by artificial\nmeans\u2014pearls with a thread drawn through them\u2014are manifest\nprecursors of the Decamerone, or Ten Days. A modern Italian critic\ndescribes the now classical fiction as a collection of one hundred\nof those novels which Boccaccio is believed to have read out at the\ncourt of Queen Joanna of Naples, and which later in life were by him\nassorted together by a most simple and ingenious contrivance. But\nthe great Florentine invented neither his stories nor his \u2018plot,\u2019 if\nwe may so call it. He wrote in the middle of the fourteenth century\n(1344-8) when the West had borrowed many things from the East,\nrhymes[8] and romance, lutes and drums, alchemy and knight-errantry.\nMany of the \u2018Novelle\u2019 are, as Orientalists well know, to this day\nsung and recited almost textually by the wandering tale-tellers,\nbards, and rhapsodists of Persia and Central Asia.\n\n  [8] I do not mean that rhymes were not known before the days of\n  El Islam, but that the Arabs popularised assonance and consonance\n  in Southern Europe.\n\nThe great kshatriya (soldier) king Vikramaditya,[9] or Vikramarka,\nmeaning the \u2018Sun of Heroism,\u2019 plays in India the part of King\nArthur, and of Harun El Rashid further West. He is a semi-historical\npersonage. The son of Gandharba-Sena the donkey and the daughter of\nthe King of Dhara, he was promised by his father the strength of a\nthousand male elephants. When his sire died, his grandfather, the\ndeity Indra, resolved that the babe should not be born, upon which\nhis mother stabbed herself. But the tragic event duly happening\nduring the ninth month, Vikram came into the world by himself, and\nwas carried to Indra, who pitied and adopted him, and gave him a good\neducation.\n\n  [9] \u2018Vikrama\u2019 means \u2018valour\u2019 or \u2018prowess.\u2019\n\nThe circumstances of his accession to the throne, as will presently\nappear, are differently told. Once, however, made King of Malaya, the\nmodern Malwa, a province of Western Upper India, he so distinguished\nhimself that the Hindu fabulists, with their usual brave kind of\nspeaking, have made him \u2018bring the whole earth under the shadow of\none umbrella.\u2019\n\nThe last ruler of the race of May\u00fara, which reigned 318 years, was\nR\u00e1ja-p\u00e1l. He reigned 25 years, but giving himself up to effeminacy,\nhis country was invaded by Shak\u00e1ditya, a king from the highlands\nof Kumaon. Vikramaditya, in the fourteenth year of his reign,\npretended to espouse the cause of R\u00e1ja-p\u00e1l, attacked and destroyed\nShak\u00e1ditya, and ascended the throne of Delhi. His capital was Avanti,\nor Ujjayani, the modern Ujjain. It was 13 kos (26 miles) long by\n18 miles wide, an area of 468 square miles, but a trifle in Indian\nhistory. He obtained the title of Shak\u00e1ri, \u2018foe of the Shakas,\u2019 the\nSac\u00e6 or Scythians, by his victories over that redoubtable race.\nIn the Kali Yug, or Iron Age, he stands highest amongst the Hindu\nkings as the patron of learning. Nine persons under his patronage,\npopularly known as the \u2018Nine Gems of Science,\u2019 hold in India the\nhonourable position of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.\n\nThese learned persons wrote works in the eighteen original dialects\nfrom which, say the Hindus, all the languages of the earth have\nbeen derived.[10] Dhanwantari enlightened the world upon the\nsubjects of medicine and incantations. Kshapanaka treated the\nprimary elements. Amara-Singha compiled a Sanskrit dictionary and\na philosophical treatise. Shankubet\u00e1labhatta composed comments and\nGhatakarpara, a poetical work of no great merit. The books of Mihira\nare not mentioned. Var\u00e1ha produced two works on astrology and one on\narithmetic. And Barar\u00fach\u00ed introduced certain improvements in grammar,\ncommented upon the incantations, and wrote a poem in praise of King\nM\u00e1dhava.\n\n  [10] Mr. Ward of Serampore is unable to quote the names of\n  more than nine out of the eighteen, namely: Sanskrit, Prakrit,\n  Naga, Paisacha, Gandharba, Rakshasa, Ardham\u00e1gadi, Apa, and\n  Guhyaka\u2014most of them being the languages of different orders of\n  fabulous beings. He tells us, however, that an account of these\n  dialects may be found in the work called _Pingala_.\n\nBut the most celebrated of all the patronised ones was Kalid\u00e1sa. His\ntwo dramas, Sakuntala,[11] and Vikram and Urvasi,[12] have descended\nto our day; besides which he produced a poem on the seasons, a\nwork on astronomy, a poetical history of the gods, and many other\nbooks.[13]\n\n  [11] Translated by Sir Wm. Jones, 1789; and by Professor\n  Williams, 1856.\n\n  [12] Translated by Professor H. H. Wilson.\n\n  [13] The time was propitious to savans. Whilst Vikramaditya\n  lived, M\u00e1gha, another king, caused to be written a poem called\n  after his name. For each verse he is said to have paid to learned\n  men a gold piece, which amounted to a total of 5,280_l._\u2014a large\n  sum in those days, which preceded those of _Paradise Lost_. About\n  the same period, Karn\u00e1ta, a third king, was famed for patronising\n  the learned men who rose to honour at Vikram\u2019s court. Dhavaka,\n  a poet of nearly the same period, received from King Shriharsha\n  the magnificent present of 10,000_l._ for a poem called the\n  _Ratna-Mal\u00e1_.\n\nVikramaditya established the Sambat era, dating from A.C. 56. After\na long, happy, and glorious reign, he lost his life in a war with\nShalivahana, King of Pratisthana. That monarch also left behind him\nan era called the \u2018Shaka,\u2019 beginning with A.D. 78. It is employed,\neven now, by the Hindus in recording their births, marriages, and\nsimilar occasions.\n\nKing Vikramaditya was succeeded by his infant son Vikrama-Sena, and\nfather and son reigned over a period of 93 years. At last the latter\nwas supplanted by a devotee named Samudra-p\u00e1la, who entered into\nhis body by miraculous means. The usurper reigned 24 years and 2\nmonths, and the throne of Delhi continued in the hands of his sixteen\nsuccessors, who reigned 641 years and three months. Vikrama-p\u00e1la, the\nlast, was slain in battle by Tilaka-chandra, King of Vaharannah.[14]\n\n  [14] Lieut. Wilford supports the theory that there were eight\n  Vikramadityas, the last of whom established the era. For\n  further particulars, the curious reader will consult Lassen\u2019s\n  _Anthologia_, and Professor H. H. Wilson\u2019s _Essay on Vikram_,\n  (New) As. Res. ix. 117.\n\nIt is not pretended that the words of these Hindu tales are\npreserved to the letter. The question about the metamorphosis of\ncats into tigers, for instance, proceeded from a Gem of Learning\nin a university much nearer home than Gaur. Similarly the learned\nand still living Mgr. Gaume (_Trait\u00e9 du Saint-Esprit_, p. 81) joins\nCamerarius in the belief that serpents bite women rather than men.\nAnd he quotes (p. 192) Cornelius \u00e0 Lapide, who informs us that the\nleopard is the produce of a lioness with a hy\u00e6na or a pard.\n\nThe merit of the old stories lies in their suggestiveness and their\ngeneral applicability. I have ventured to remedy the conciseness of\ntheir language, and to clothe the skeleton with flesh and blood.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                              PAGE\n    INTRODUCTION.                                                1\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S FIRST STORY._\n    IN WHICH A MAN DECEIVES A WOMAN.                            54\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S SECOND STORY._\n    OF THE RELATIVE VILLANY OF MEN AND WOMEN.                   97\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S THIRD STORY._\n    OF A HIGH-MINDED FAMILY.                                   140\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S FOURTH STORY._\n    OF A WOMAN WHO TOLD THE TRUTH.                             156\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S FIFTH STORY._\n    OF THE THIEF WHO LAUGHED AND WEPT.                         167\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S SIXTH STORY._\n    IN WHICH THREE MEN DISPUTE ABOUT A WOMAN.                  190\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S SEVENTH STORY._\n    SHOWING THE EXCEEDING FOLLY OF MANY WISE FOOLS.            209\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S EIGHTH STORY._\n    OF THE USE AND MISUSE OF MAGIC PILLS.                      238\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S NINTH STORY._\n    SHOWING THAT A MAN\u2019S WIFE BELONGS NOT TO HIS BODY BUT TO\n        HIS HEAD.                                              267\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S TENTH STORY._\n    OF THE MARVELLOUS DELICACY OF THREE QUEENS.                285\n\n    _THE VAMPIRE\u2019S ELEVENTH STORY._\n    WHICH PUZZLES RAJA VIKRAM.                                 290\n\n    CONCLUSION.                                                307\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n    DURING THE THREE HOURS OF RETURN HARDLY A WORD PASSED\n    BETWEEN THE PAIR.                               _Frontispiece_\n\n    HE WAS PLAYING UPON A HUMAN SKULL WITH TWO SHANK BONES._p._ 43\n\n    HE ONCE MORE SEIZED THE BAITAL\u2019S HAIR.                      48\n\n    WENT UP TO HER WITH POLITE SALUTATIONS.           _To face_ 65\n\n    HAVING SAID THIS, HE THREW ONE OF THE SWEETMEATS TO THE\n    DOG.                                              _To face_ 85\n\n    MOUNTING THEIR HORSES, FOLLOWED THE PARTY.                  93\n\n    HE DISMISSED THE PALANQUIN-BEARERS.                        117\n\n    HE SET OUT ALONE WITH HIS ILL-GOTTEN WEALTH.     _To face_ 118\n\n    THE KING, PUFFING WITH FURY, FOLLOWED HIM AT THE TOP OF\n    HIS SPEED, AND CAUGHT HIM BY HIS TAIL.           _To face_ 139\n\n    IN THE MEANTIME A TRAVELLER, A RAJPUT, BY NAME BIRBAL.     143\n\n    THE BAITAL DISAPPEARED THROUGH THE DARKNESS.     _To face_ 165\n\n    AS, HOWEVER, HE PASSED THROUGH A BACK STREET.    _To face_ 170\n\n    AFTER A FEW MINUTES THE SIGNAL WAS ANSWERED.               173\n\n    THE TWO THEN RAISED, BY THEIR UNITED EFFORTS, A HEAVY\n    TRAP-DOOR.                                       _To face_ 174\n\n    TREADING WITH THE FOOT OF A TIGER-CAT.                     177\n\n    THE KING WAS CUNNING AT FENCE, AND SO WAS THE THIEF.\n                                                     _To face_ 179\n\n    PRESENTLY THE DEMON WAS TRUSSED UP AS USUAL.               188\n\n    BAMAN, THE SECOND SUITOR, TIED UP A BUNDLE AND FOLLOWED.   198\n\n    MEANWHILE MADHUSADAN, THE THIRD, BECAME A JOGI.            199\n\n    THE HOUSEHOLDER\u2019S WIFE CAME TO SERVE UP THE FOOD, RICE\n    AND SPLIT PEAS.                                  _To face_ 203\n\n    MADHUSADAN PROCEEDED TO MAKE HIS INCANTATIONS, DESPITE\n    TERRIBLE SIGHTS IN THE AIR.                      _To face_ 205\n\n    VIKRAM PLACED HIS BUNDLE UPON THE GROUND, AND SEATED\n    HIMSELF CROSS-LEGGED BEFORE IT.                  _To face_ 207\n\n    THEY TRIED TO LIVE WITHOUT A MONTHLY ALLOWANCE, AND\n    NOTABLY THEY FAILED.                                       223\n\n    AN EDIFYING SPECTACLE, INDEED, FOR THE WORLD TO SEE: A\n    CROSS OLD MAN SITTING AMONGST HIS GALLIPOTS AND\n    CRUCIBLES.                                       _To face_ 228\n\n    THE BONE THEREUPON STOOD UPRIGHT, AND HOPPED ABOUT.        230\n\n    THEY PREPARED FOR THEIR TASK.                              234\n\n    WITH A ROAR LIKE THUNDER.                        _To face_ 235\n\n    BUT THEIR EYES HAD MET.                                    241\n\n    AS THEY EMERGED UPON THE PLAIN, THEY WERE ATTACKED BY\n    THE KIRATAS.                                     _To face_ 277\n\n    THEN A HORRID THOUGHT FLASHED ACROSS HER MIND; SHE\n    PERCEIVED HER FATAL MISTAKE.                     _To face_ 279\n\n    THERE HE FOUND THE JOGI.                                   310\n\n    AS HE BENT HIM DOWN TO SALUTE THE GODDESS.                 317\n\n    TAILPIECE.                                                 319\n\n\n\n\nVIKRAM AND THE VAMPIRE.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nThe sage Bhavabhuti\u2014Eastern teller of these tales\u2014after making\nhis initiatory and propitiatory cong\u00e9 to Ganesha, Lord of Incepts,\ninforms the reader that this book is a string of fine pearls to be\nhung round the neck of human intelligence; a fragrant flower to be\nborne on the turban of mental wisdom; a jewel of pure gold, which\nbecomes the brow of all supreme minds; and a handful of powdered\nrubies, whose tonic effects will appear palpably upon the mental\ndigestion of every patient. Finally, that by aid of the lessons\ninculcated in the following pages, man will pass happily through this\nworld into the state of absorption, where fables will be no longer\nrequired.\n\nHe then teaches us how Vikramaditya the Brave became King of Ujjayani.\n\nSome nineteen centuries ago, the renowned city of Ujjayani\nwitnessed the birth of a prince to whom was given the gigantic name\nVikramaditya. Even the Sanskrit-speaking people, who are not usually\npressed for time, shortened it to \u2018Vikram,\u2019 and a little further West\nit would infallibly have been docked down to \u2018Vik.\u2019\n\nVikram was the second son of an old king Gandharba-Sena, concerning\nwhom little favourable has reached posterity, except that he became\nan ass, married four queens, and had by them six sons, each of\nwhom was more learned and powerful than the other. It so happened\nthat in course of time the father died. Thereupon his eldest heir,\nwho was known as Shank, succeeded to the carpet of Rajaship, and\nwas instantly murdered by Vikram, his \u2018scorpion,\u2019 the hero of the\nfollowing pages.[15]\n\n  [15] History tells us another tale. The god Indra and the King\n  of Dhara gave the kingdom to Bhartari-hari, another son of\n  Gandharba-Sena, by a handmaiden. For some time, the brothers\n  lived together; but presently they quarrelled. Vikram being\n  dismissed from court, wandered from place to place in abject\n  poverty, and at one time hired himself as a servant to a merchant\n  living in Guzerat. At length, Bhartari-hari, disgusted with the\n  world on account of the infidelity of his wife, to whom he was\n  ardently attached, became a religious devotee, and left the\n  kingdom to its fate. In the course of his travels, Vikram came to\n  Ujjayani, and finding it without a head, assumed the sovereignty.\n  He reigned with great splendour, conquering by his arms Utkala,\n  Vanga, Kuch-behar, Guzerat, Somnat, Delhi, and other places;\n  until, in his turn, he was conquered and slain by Shalivaban.\n\nBy this act of vigour and manly decision, which all younger-brother\nprinces should devoutly imitate, Vikram having obtained the title of\nBir, or the Brave, made himself Raja. He began to rule well, and\nthe gods so favoured him that day by day his dominions increased. At\nlength he became lord of all India, and having firmly established\nhis government, he instituted an era\u2014an uncommon feat for a mere\nmonarch, especially when hereditary.\n\nThe steps,[16] says the historian, which he took to arrive at that\npinnacle of grandeur, were these:\n\n  [16] The words are found, says Mr. Ward, in the _Hindu History_\n  compiled by Mrityungaya.\n\nThe old King calling his two grandsons Bhartari-hari and\nVikramaditya, gave them good counsel respecting their future\nlearning. They were told to master everything, a certain way not\nto succeed in anything. They were diligently to learn grammar, the\nscriptures, and all the religious sciences. They were to become\nfamiliar with military tactics, international law, and music, the\nriding of horses and elephants\u2014especially the latter\u2014the driving of\nchariots, and the use of the broadsword, the bow, and the mogdars or\nIndian clubs. They were ordered to be skilful in all kinds of games,\nin leaping and running, in besieging forts, in forming and breaking\nbodies of troops; they were to endeavour to excel in every princely\nquality, to be cunning in ascertaining the power of an enemy, how to\nmake war, to perform journeys, to sit in the presence of the nobles,\nto separate the different sides of a question, to form alliances,\nto distinguish between the innocent and the guilty, to assign\nproper punishments to the wicked, to exercise authority with perfect\njustice, and to be liberal. The boys were then sent to school, and\nwere placed under the care of excellent teachers, where they became\ntruly famous. Whilst under pupilage, the eldest was allowed all the\npower necessary to obtain a knowledge of royal affairs, and he was\nnot invested with the regal office till in these preparatory steps\nhe had given full satisfaction to his subjects, who expressed high\napproval of his conduct.\n\nThe two brothers often conversed on the duties of kings, when the\ngreat Vikramaditya gave the great Bhartari-hari the following\nvaluable advice:[17]\n\n  [17] These duties of kings are thus laid down in the\n  _Rajtarangini_. It is evident, as Professor H. H. Wilson says,\n  that the royal status was by no means a sinecure. But the rules\n  are evidently the closet work of some pedantic, dogmatic Brahman,\n  teaching kingcraft to kings. He directs his instructions, not\n  to subordinate judges, but to the Raja as the chief magistrate,\n  and through him to all appointed for the administration of his\n  justice.\n\n\u2018As Indra, during the four rainy months, fills the earth with water,\nso a king should replenish his treasury with money. As Surya the sun,\nin warming the earth eight months, does not scorch it, so a king, in\ndrawing revenues from his people, ought not to oppress them. As Vayu,\nthe wind, surrounds and fills everything, so the king by his officers\nand spies should become acquainted with the affairs and circumstances\nof his whole people. As Yama judges men without partiality or\nprejudice, and punishes the guilty, so should a king chastise,\nwithout favour, all offenders. As Varuna, the regent of water, binds\nwith his pasha or divine noose his enemies, so let a king bind\nevery malefactor safely in prison. As Chandra,[18] the moon, by his\ncheering light gives pleasure to all, thus should a king, by gifts\nand generosity, make his people happy. And as Prithwi, the earth,\nsustains all alike, so should a king feel an equal affection and\nforbearance towards every one.\u2019\n\n  [18] Lunus, not Luna.\n\nBecome a monarch, Vikram meditated deeply upon what is said of\nmonarchs:\u2014\u2018A king is fire and air; he is both sun and moon; he is\nthe god of criminal justice; he is the genius of wealth; he is the\nregent of water; he is the lord of the firmament; he is a powerful\ndivinity who appears in human shape.\u2019 He reflected with some\nsatisfaction that the scriptures had made him absolute, had left the\nlives and properties of all his subjects to his arbitrary will, had\npronounced him to be an incarnate deity, and had threatened to punish\nwith death even ideas derogatory to his honour.\n\nHe punctually observed all the ordinances laid down by the author of\nthe Niti, or institutes of government. His night and day were divided\ninto sixteen pahars or portions, each one hour and a half, and they\nwere disposed of as follows:\n\nBefore dawn Vikram was awakened by a servant appointed to this\nspecial duty. He swallowed\u2014a thing allowed only to a khshatriya or\nwarrior\u2014a Mithridatic every morning on the saliva,[19] and he made\nthe cooks taste every dish before he ate of it. As soon as he had\nrisen, the pages in waiting repeated his splendid qualities, and as\nhe left his sleeping-room in full dress, several Brahmans rehearsed\nthe praises of the gods. Presently he bathed, worshipped his guardian\ndeity, again heard hymns, drank a little water, and saw alms\ndistributed to the poor. He ended this watch by auditing his accounts.\n\n  [19] That is to say, \u2018upon an empty stomach.\u2019\n\nNext, entering his court, he placed himself amidst the assembly. He\nwas always armed when he received strangers, and he caused even women\nto be searched for concealed weapons. He was surrounded by so many\nspies and so artful, that, of a thousand, no two ever told the same\ntale. At the lev\u00e9e, on his right sat his relations, the Brahmans,\nand men of distinguished birth. The other castes were on the left,\nand close to him stood the ministers and those whom he delighted to\nconsult. Afar in front gathered the bards chanting the praises of the\ngods and of the king; also the charioteers, elephanteers, horsemen,\nand soldiers of valour. Amongst the learned men in those assemblies\nthere were ever some who were well instructed in all the scriptures,\nand others who had studied in one particular school of philosophy,\nand were acquainted only with the works on divine wisdom, or with\nthose on justice, civil and criminal, on the arts, mineralogy or the\npractice of physic; also persons cunning in all kinds of customs;\nriding masters, dancing-masters, teachers of good behaviour,\nexaminers, tasters, mimics, mountebanks, and others, who all attended\nthe court and awaited the king\u2019s commands. He here pronounced\njudgment in suits of appeal. His poets wrote about him:\n\n    The lord of lone splendour an instant suspends\n    His course at mid-noon, ere he westward descends;\n    And brief are the moments our young monarch knows,\n    Devoted to pleasure or paid to repose!\n\nBefore the second sandhya,[20] or noon, about the beginning of the\nthird watch, he recited the names of the gods, bathed, and broke his\nfast in his private room; then rising from food, he was amused by\nsingers and dancing girls. The labours of the day now became lighter.\nAfter eating he retired, repeating the name of his guardian deity,\nvisited the temples, saluted the gods, conversed with the priests,\nand proceeded to receive and to distribute presents. Fifthly, he\ndiscussed political questions with his ministers and councillors.\n\n  [20] There are three sandhyas amongst the Hindus\u2014morning,\n  midday, and sunset; and all three are times for prayer.\n\nOn the announcement of the herald that it was the sixth watch\u2014about\n2 or 3 P.M.\u2014Vikram allowed himself to follow his own inclinations,\nto regulate his family, and to transact business of a private and\npersonal nature.\n\nAfter gaining strength by rest, he proceeded to review his troops,\nexamining the men, saluting the officers, and holding military\ncouncils. At sunset he bathed a third time and performed the five\nsacraments of listening to a prelection of the Veda; making oblations\nto the manes; sacrificing to Fire in honour of the deities; giving\nrice to dumb creatures; and receiving guests with due ceremonies. He\nspent the evening amidst a select company of wise, learned, and pious\nmen, conversing on different subjects, and reviewing the business of\nthe day.\n\nThe night was distributed with equal care. During the first portion\nVikram received the reports which his spies and envoys, dressed in\nevery disguise, brought to him about his enemies. Against the latter\nhe ceased not to use the five arts, namely\u2014dividing the kingdom,\nbribes, mischief-making, negotiations, and brute-force\u2014especially\npreferring the two first and the last. His forethought and prudence\ntaught him to regard all his nearest neighbours and their allies\nas hostile. The powers beyond those natural enemies he considered\nfriendly because they were the foes of his foes. And all the remoter\nnations he looked upon as neutrals, in a transitional or provisional\nstate as it were, till they became either his neighbours\u2019 neighbours,\nor his own neighbours, that is to say, his friends or his foes.\n\nThis important duty finished he supped, and at the end of the third\nwatch he retired to sleep, which was not allowed to last beyond three\nhours. In the sixth watch he arose and purified himself. The seventh\nwas devoted to holding private consultations with his ministers, and\nto furnishing the officers of government with requisite instructions.\nThe eighth or last watch was spent with the Purohita or priest, and\nwith Brahmans, hailing the dawn with its appropriate rites; he then\nbathed, made the customary offerings, and prayed in some unfrequented\nplace near pure water.\n\nAnd throughout these occupations he bore in mind the duty of kings,\nnamely\u2014to pursue every object till it be accomplished; to succour\nall dependants, and hospitably to receive guests, however numerous.\nHe was generous to his subjects respecting taxes, and kind of speech;\nyet he was inexorable as death in the punishment of offences. He\nrarely hunted, and he visited his pleasure gardens only on stated\ndays. He acted in his own dominions with justice; he chastised\nforeign foes with rigour; he behaved generously to Brahmans, and\nhe avoided favouritism amongst his friends. In war he never slew a\nsuppliant, a spectator, a person asleep or undressed, or anyone that\nshowed fear. Whatever country he conquered, offerings were presented\nto its gods, and effects and money were given to the reverends. But\nwhat benefited him most was his attention to the creature comforts of\nthe Nine Gems of Science: those eminent men ate and drank themselves\ninto fits of enthusiasm, and ended by immortalising their patron\u2019s\nname.\n\nBecome Vikram the Great he established his court at a delightful\nand beautiful location rich in the best of water. The country was\ndifficult of access, and artificially made incapable of supporting a\nhost of invaders, but four great roads met near the city. The capital\nwas surrounded with durable ramparts, having gates of defence, and\nnear it was a mountain fortress, under the especial charge of a great\ncaptain.\n\nThe metropolis was well garrisoned and provisioned, and it surrounded\nthe royal palace, a noble building without as well as within.\nGrandeur seemed embodied there, and Prosperity had made it her own.\nThe nearer ground, viewed from the terraces and pleasure pavilions,\nwas a lovely mingling of rock and mountain, plain and valley, field\nand fallow, crystal lake and glittering stream. The banks of the\nwinding Lavana were fringed with meads whose herbage, pearly with\nmorning dew, afforded choicest grazing for the sacred cow, and were\ndotted with perfumed clumps of Bo-trees, tamarinds, and holy figs: in\none place Vikram planted 100,000 in a single orchard and gave them to\nhis spiritual advisers. The river valley separated the stream from\na belt of forest growth which extended to a hill range, dark with\nimpervious jungle, and cleared here and there for the cultivator\u2019s\nvillage. Behind it, rose another subrange, wooded with a lower\nbush and already blue with air, whilst in the background towered\nrange upon range, here rising abruptly into points and peaks, there\nramp-shaped or wall-formed, with sheer descents, and all of light\nazure hue adorned with glories of silver and gold.\n\nAfter reigning for some years, Vikram the Brave found himself, at\nthe age of thirty, a staid and sober middle-aged man. He had several\nsons\u2014daughters are naught in India\u2014by his several wives, and he had\nsome paternal affection for nearly all\u2014except, of course, for his\neldest son, a youth who seemed to conduct himself as though he had a\nclaim to the succession. In fact, the king seemed to have taken up\nhis abode for life at Ujjayani, when suddenly he bethought himself,\n\u2018I must visit those countries of whose names I am ever hearing.\u2019 The\nfact is, he had determined to spy out in disguise the lands of all\nhis foes, and to find the best means of bringing against them his\nformidable army.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe now learn how Bhartari Raja becomes Regent of Ujjayani.\n\nHaving thus resolved, Vikram the Brave gave the government into the\ncharge of a younger brother, Bhartari Raja, and in the garb of a\nreligious mendicant, accompanied by Dharma Dhwaj, his second son, a\nyouth bordering on the age of puberty, he began to travel from city\nto city, and from forest to forest.\n\nThe Regent was of a settled melancholic turn of mind, having lost in\nearly youth a very peculiar wife. One day, whilst out hunting, he\nhappened to pass a funeral pyre, upon which a Brahman\u2019s widow had\njust become Sati (a holy woman) with the greatest fortitude. On his\nreturn home he related the adventure to Sita Rani, his spouse, and\nshe at once made reply that virtuous women die with their husbands,\nkilled by the fire of grief, not by the flames of the pile. To prove\nher truth the prince, after an affectionate farewell, rode forth to\nthe chase, and presently sent back the suite with his robes torn and\nstained, to report his accidental death. Sita perished upon the spot,\nand the widower remained inconsolable\u2014for a time.\n\nHe led the dullest of lives, and took to himself sundry spouses,\nall equally distinguished for birth, beauty, and modesty. Like his\nbrother, he performed all the proper devoirs of a Raja, rising before\nthe day to finish his ablutions, to worship the gods, and to do due\nobeisance to the Brahmans. He then ascended the throne, to judge his\npeople according to the Shastra, carefully keeping in subjection\nlust, anger, avarice, folly, drunkenness, and pride; preserving\nhimself from being seduced by the love of gaming and of the chase;\nrestraining his desire for dancing, singing, and playing on musical\ninstruments, and refraining from sleep during daytime, from wine,\nfrom molesting men of worth, from dice, from putting human beings to\ndeath by artful means, from useless travelling, and from holding any\none guilty without the commission of a crime. His lev\u00e9es were in a\nhall decently splendid, and he was distinguished only by an umbrella\nof peacock\u2019s feathers; he received all complainants, petitioners,\nand presenters of offences with kind looks and soft words. He united\nto himself the seven or eight wise councillors, and the sober and\nvirtuous secretary that formed the high cabinet of his royal brother,\nand they met in some secret lonely spot, as a mountain, a terrace, a\nbower or a forest, whence women, parrots, and other talkative birds\nwere carefully excluded.\n\nAnd at the end of this useful and somewhat laborious day, he retired\nto his private apartments, and, after listening to spiritual songs\nand to soft music, he fell asleep. Sometimes he would summon his\nbrother\u2019s \u2018Nine Gems of Science,\u2019 and give ear to their learned\ndiscourses. But it was observed that the viceroy reserved this\nexercise for nights when he was troubled with insomnia\u2014the words of\nwisdom being to him an infallible remedy for that disorder.\n\nThus passed onwards his youth, doing nothing that it could desire,\nforbidden all pleasures because they were unprincely, and working\nin the palace harder than in the pauper\u2019s hut. Having, however,\nfortunately for himself, few predilections and no imagination, he\nbegan to pride himself upon being a philosopher. Much business\nfrom an early age had dulled his wits, which were never of the\nmost brilliant; and in the steadily increasing torpidity of his\nspirit, he traced the germs of that quietude which forms the highest\nhappiness of man in this storm of matter called the world. He\ntherefore allowed himself but one friend of his soul. He retained, I\nhave said, his brother\u2019s seven or eight ministers; he was constant\nin attendance upon the Brahman priests who officiated at the palace,\nand who kept the impious from touching sacred property; and he was\ncourteous to the commander-in-chief who directed his warriors, to the\nofficers of justice who inflicted punishment upon offenders, and to\nthe lords of towns, varying in number from one to a thousand. But he\nplaced an intimate of his own in the high position of confidential\ncouncillor, the ambassador to regulate war and peace.\n\nMahi-pala was a person of noble birth, endowed with shining\nabilities, popular, dexterous in business, acquainted with foreign\nparts, famed for eloquence and intrepidity, and as Menu the Lawgiver\nadvises, remarkably handsome.\n\nBhartari Raja, as I have said, became a quietist and a philosopher.\nBut Kama,[21] the bright god who exerts his sway over the three\nworlds, heaven and earth and grewsome Hades,[22] had marked out the\nprince once more as the victim of his blossom-tipped shafts and his\nflowery bow. How, indeed, could he hope to escape the doom which has\nfallen equally upon Bramha the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and\ndreadful Shiva the Three-eyed Destroyer?[23]\n\n  [21] The Hindu Cupid.\n\n  [22] Patala, the regions beneath the earth.\n\n  [23] The Hindu Triad.\n\nBy reason of her exceeding beauty, her face was a full moon shining\nin the clearest sky; her hair was the purple cloud of autumn when,\ngravid with rain, it hangs low over earth; and her complexion\nmocked the pale waxen hue of the large-flowered jasmine. Her eyes\nwere those of the timid antelope; her lips were red as those of\nthe pomegranate\u2019s bud, and when they opened, from them distilled a\nfountain of ambrosia. Her neck was like a pigeon\u2019s; her hand the\npink lining of the conch-shell; her waist a leopard\u2019s; her feet the\nsoftest lotuses. In a word, a model of grace and loveliness was\nDangalah Rani, Raja Bhartari\u2019s last and youngest wife.\n\nThe warrior laid down his arms before her; the politician spoke\nout every secret in her presence. The religious prince would have\nslaughtered a cow\u2014that sole unforgivable sin\u2014to save one of her\neyelashes: the absolute king would not drink a cup of water without\nher permission; the staid philosopher, the sober quietist, to win\nfrom her the shadow of a smile, would have danced before her like a\nsinging-girl. So desperately enamoured became Bhartari Raja.\n\nIt is written, however, that love, alas! breeds not love; and so\nit happened to the Regent. The warmth of his affection, instead of\nanimating his wife, annoyed her; his protestations wearied her; his\nvows gave her the headache; and his caresses were a colic that made\nher blood run cold. Of course, the prince perceived nothing, being\nlost in wonder and admiration of the beauty\u2019s coyness and coquetry.\nAnd as women must give away their hearts, whether asked or not, so\nthe lovely Dangalah Rani lost no time in lavishing all the passion of\nher idle soul upon Mahi-pala, the handsome ambassador of peace and\nwar. By this means the three were happy and were contented; their\nfelicity, however, being built on a rotten foundation, could not long\nendure. It soon ended in the following extraordinary way.\n\nIn the city of Ujjayani,[24] within sight of the palace, dwelt a\nBrahman and his wife, who, being old and poor, and having nothing\nelse to do, had applied themselves to the practice of austere\ndevotion.[25] They fasted and refrained from drink, they stood on\ntheir heads, and they held their arms for weeks in the air; they\nprayed till their knees were like pads; they disciplined themselves\nwith scourges of wire; and they walked about unclad in the cold\nseason, and in summer they sat within a circle of flaming wood, till\nthey became the envy and admiration of all the plebeian gods that\ninhabit the lower heavens. In fine, as a reward for their exceeding\npiety, the venerable pair received at the hands of a celestial\nmessenger an apple of the tree Kalpavriksha\u2014a fruit which has the\nvirtue of conferring eternal life upon him that tastes it.\n\n  [24] Or Avanti, also called Padmavati. It is the first meridian\n  of the Hindus, who found their longitude by observation of lunar\n  eclipses, calculated for it and Lanka, or Ceylon. The clepsydra\n  was used for taking time.\n\n  [25] In the original only the husband \u2018practised austere\n  devotion.\u2019 For the benefit of those amongst whom the \u2018pious wife\u2019\n  is an institution, I have extended the privilege.\n\nScarcely had the god disappeared, when the Brahman, opening his\ntoothless mouth, prepared to eat the fruit of immortality. Then his\nwife addressed him in these words, shedding copious tears the while:\n\n\u2018To die, O man, is a passing pain; to be poor is an interminable\nanguish. Surely our present lot is the penalty of some great crime\ncommitted by us in a past state of being.[26] Callest thou this state\nlife? Better we die at once, and so escape the woes of the world!\u2019\n\n  [26] A Moslem would say, \u2018This is our fate.\u2019 A Hindu refers at\n  once to metempsychosis, as naturally as a modern Swedenborgian to\n  spiritism.\n\nHearing these words, the Brahman sat undecided, with open jaws\nand eyes fixed upon the apple. Presently he found tongue: \u2018I have\naccepted the fruit, and have brought it here; but having heard thy\nspeech, my intellect hath wasted away; now I will do whatever thou\npointest out.\u2019\n\nThe wife resumed her discourse, which had been interrupted by a more\nthan usually copious flow of tears. \u2018Moreover, O husband, we are old,\nand what are the enjoyments of the stricken in years? Truly quoth\nthe poet\u2014\n\n    Die loved in youth, not hated in age.\n\nIf that fruit could have restored thy dimmed eyes, and deaf ears, and\nblunted taste, and warmth of love, I had not spoken to thee thus.\u2019\n\nAfter which the Brahman threw away the apple, to the great joy of his\nwife, who felt a natural indignation at the prospect of seeing her\ngoodman become immortal, whilst she still remained subject to the\nlaws of death; but she concealed this motive in the depths of her\nthought, enlarging, as women are apt to do, upon everything but the\ntruth. And she spoke with such success, that the priest was about\nto toss in his rage the heavenly fruit into the fire, reproaching\nthe gods as if by sending it they had done him an injury. Then the\nwife snatched it out of his hand, and telling him that it was too\nprecious to be wasted, bade him arise and gird his loins and wend him\nto the Regent\u2019s palace, and offer him the fruit\u2014as King Vikram was\nabsent\u2014with a right reverend brahmanical benediction. She concluded\nwith impressing upon her unworldly husband the necessity of requiring\na large sum of money as a return for his inestimable gift. \u2018By\nthis means,\u2019 she said, \u2018thou mayst promote thy present and future\nwelfare.\u2019[27]\n\n  [27] In Europe, money buys this world, and delivers you from the\n  pains of purgatory; amongst the Hindus, it furthermore opens the\n  gate of heaven.\n\nThen the Brahman went forth, and standing in the presence of the\nRaja, told him all things touching the fruit, concluding with, \u2018O,\nmighty prince! vouchsafe to accept this tribute, and bestow wealth\nupon me. I shall be happy in your living long!\u2019\n\nBhartari Raja led the supplicant into an inner strong-room, where\nstood heaps of the finest gold-dust, and bade him carry away all\nthat he could; this the priest did, not forgetting to fill even\nhis eloquent and toothless mouth with the precious metal. Having\ndismissed the devotee groaning under the burden, the Regent entered\nthe apartments of his wives, and, having summoned the beautiful Queen\nDangalah Rani, gave her the fruit, and said, \u2018Eat this, light of my\neyes! This fruit\u2014joy of my heart!\u2014will make thee everlastingly\nyoung and beautiful.\u2019\n\nThe pretty queen, placing both hands upon her husband\u2019s bosom, kissed\nhis eyes and lips, and sweetly smiling on his face\u2014for great is the\nguile of women\u2014whispered, \u2018Eat it thyself, dear one, or at least\nshare it with me; for what is life and what is youth without the\npresence of those we love?\u2019 But the Raja, whose heart was melted by\nthese unusual words, put her away tenderly, and, having explained\nthat the fruit would serve for only one person, departed.\n\nWhereupon the pretty queen, sweetly smiling as before, slipped the\nprecious present into her pocket. When the Regent was transacting\nbusiness in the hall of audience she sent for the ambassador who\nregulated war and peace, and presented him with the apple in a manner\nat least as tender as that with which it had been offered to her.\n\nThen the ambassador, after slipping the fruit into his pocket also,\nretired from the presence of the pretty queen, and meeting Lakha, one\nof the maids of honour, explained to her its wonderful power, and\ngave it to her as a token of his love. But the maid of honour, being\nan ambitious girl, determined that the fruit was a fit present to set\nbefore the Regent in the absence of the King. Bhartari Raja accepted\nit, bestowed on her great wealth, and dismissed her with many thanks.\n\nHe then took up the apple and looked at it with eyes brimful of\ntears, for he knew the whole extent of his misfortune. His heart\nached, he felt a loathing for the world, and he said with sighs and\ngroans:[28]\n\n  [28] This part of the introduction will remind the reader of the\n  two royal brothers and their false wives in the introduction to\n  the _Arabian Nights_. The fate of Bhartari Raja, however, is\n  historical.\n\n\u2018Of what value are these delusions of wealth and affection, whose\nsweetness endures for a moment and becomes eternal bitterness? Love\nis like the drunkard\u2019s cup: delicious is the first drink, palling are\nthe draughts that succeed it, and most distasteful are the dregs.\nWhat is life but a restless vision of imaginary pleasures and of\nreal pains, from which the only waking is the terrible day of death?\nThe affection of this world is of no use, since, in consequence\nof it, we fall at last into hell. For which reason it is best to\npractise the austerities of religion, that the Deity may bestow upon\nus hereafter that happiness which he refuses to us here!\u2019\n\nThus did Bhartari Raja determine to abandon the world. But before\nsetting out for the forest, he could not refrain from seeing the\nqueen once more, so hot was the flame which Kama had kindled in his\nheart. He therefore went to the apartments of his women, and having\ncaused Dangalah Rani to be summoned, he asked her what had become of\nthe fruit which he had given to her. She answered that, according to\nhis command, she had eaten it. Upon which the Regent showed her the\napple, and she beholding it stood aghast, unable to make any reply.\nThe Raja gave careful orders for her beheading; he then went out, and\nhaving had the fruit washed, ate it. He quitted the throne to be a\njogi, or religious mendicant, and without communicating with any one\ndeparted into the jungle. There he became such a devotee that death\nhad no power over him, and he is wandering still. But some say that\nhe was duly absorbed into the essence of the Deity.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe are next told how the valiant Vikram returned to his own country.\n\nThus Vikram\u2019s throne remained empty. When the news reached King\nIndra, Regent of the Lower Firmament and Protector of Earthly\nMonarchs, he sent Prithwi Pala, a fierce giant,[29] to defend the\ncity of Ujjayani till such time as its lawful master might reappear,\nand the guardian used to keep watch and ward night and day over his\ntrust.\n\n  [29] In the original, \u2018Div\u2019\u2014a supernatural being, god, or demon.\n  This part of the plot is variously told. According to some, Raja\n  Vikram was surprised, when entering the city, to see a grand\n  procession at the house of a potter, and a boy being carried off\n  on an elephant, to the violent grief of his parents. The king\n  inquired the reason of their sorrow, and was told that the wicked\n  Div that guarded the city was in the habit of eating a citizen\n  per diem. Whereupon the valorous Raja caused the boy to dismount;\n  took his place; entered the palace; and, when presented as food\n  for the demon, displayed his pugilistic powers in a way to excite\n  the monster\u2019s admiration.\n\nIn less than a year the valorous Raja Vikram became thoroughly tired\nof wandering about the woods half dressed: now suffering from famine,\nthen exposed to the attacks of wild beasts, and at all times very\nill at ease. He reflected also that he was not doing his duty to his\nwives and children; that the heir-apparent would probably make the\nworst use of the parental absence; and finally, that his subjects,\ndeprived of his fatherly care, had been left in the hands of a man\nwho, for aught he could say, was not worthy of the high trust. He\nhad also spied out all the weak points of friend and foe. Whilst\nthese and other equally weighty considerations were hanging about the\nRaja\u2019s mind, he heard a rumour of the state of things spread abroad;\nthat Bhartari, the regent, having abdicated his throne, had gone away\ninto the forest. Then quoth Vikram to his son, \u2018We have ended our\nwayfarings, now let us turn our steps homewards!\u2019\n\nThe gong was striking the mysterious hour of midnight as the king and\nthe young prince approached the principal gate. And they were pushing\nthrough it when a monstrous figure rose up before them, and called\nout with a fearful voice, \u2018Who are ye, and where are ye going? Stand\nand deliver your names!\u2019\n\n\u2018I am Raja Vikram,\u2019 rejoined the king, half choked with rage, \u2018and I\nam come to mine own city. Who art thou that darest to stop or stay\nme?\u2019\n\n\u2018That question is easily answered,\u2019 cried Prithwi Pala the giant, in\nhis roaring voice; \u2018the gods have sent me to protect Ujjayani. If\nthou be really Raja Vikram, prove thyself a man: first fight with me,\nand then return to thine own.\u2019\n\nThe warrior king cried \u2018Sadhu!\u2019 wanting nothing better. He girt his\ngirdle tight round his loins, summoned his opponent into the empty\nspace beyond the gate, told him to stand on guard, and presently\nbegan to devise some means of closing with or running in upon him.\nThe giant\u2019s fists were large as water melons, and his knotted arms\nwhistled through the air like falling trees, threatening fatal blows.\nBesides which the Raja\u2019s head scarcely reached the giant\u2019s stomach,\nand the latter, each time he struck out, whooped so abominably loud,\nthat no human nerves could remain unshaken.\n\nAt last Vikram\u2019s good luck prevailed. The giant\u2019s left foot slipped,\nand the hero, seizing his antagonist\u2019s other leg, began to trip him\nup. At the same moment the young prince, hastening to his parent\u2019s\nassistance, jumped viciously upon the enemy\u2019s naked toes. By their\nunited exertions they brought him to the ground, when the son sat\ndown upon his stomach, making himself as weighty as he well could,\nwhilst the father, climbing up to the monster\u2019s throat, placed\nhimself astride upon it, and pressing both thumbs upon his eyes,\nthreatened to blind him if he would not yield.\n\nThen the giant, modifying the bellow of his voice, cried out\u2014\n\n\u2018O Raja, thou hast overthrown me, and I grant thee thy life.\u2019\n\n\u2018Surely thou art mad, monster,\u2019 replied the king, in jeering tone,\nhalf laughing, half angry. \u2018To whom grantest thou life? If I desire\nit I can kill thee; how, then, dost thou talk about granting me my\nlife?\u2019\n\n\u2018Vikram of Ujjayani,\u2019 said the giant, \u2018be not too proud! I will save\nthee from a nearly impending death. Only hearken to the tale which I\nhave to tell thee, and use thy judgment, and act upon it. So shalt\nthou rule the world free from care, and live without danger, and die\nhappily.\u2019\n\n\u2018Proceed,\u2019 quoth the Raja, after a moment\u2019s thought, dismounting from\nthe giant\u2019s throat, and beginning to listen with all his ears.\n\nThe giant raised himself from the ground, and when in a sitting\nposture, began in solemn tones to speak as follows:\n\n\u2018In short, the history of the matter is, that three men were born\nin this same city of Ujjayani, in the same lunar mansion, in the\nsame division of the great circle described upon the ecliptic,\nand in the same period of time. You, the first, were born in the\nhouse of a king. The second was an oilman\u2019s son, who was slain by\nthe third, a jogi, or anchorite, who kills all he can, wafting the\nsweet scent of human sacrifice to the nostrils of Durga, goddess of\ndestruction. Moreover, the holy man, after compassing the death of\nthe oilman\u2019s son, has suspended him head downwards from a mimosa tree\nin a cemetery. He is now anxiously plotting thy destruction. He hath\nmurdered his own child\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018And how came an anchorite to have a child?\u2019 asked Raja Vikram,\nincredulously.\n\n\u2018That is what I am about to tell thee,\u2019 replied the giant. \u2018In the\ngood days of thy generous father, Gandharba-Sena, as the court was\ntaking its pleasure in the forest, they saw a devotee, or rather a\ndevotee\u2019s head, protruding from a hole in the ground. The white\nants had surrounded his body with a case of earth, and had made\ntheir home upon his skin. All kinds of insects and small animals\ncrawled up and down the face, yet not a muscle moved. Wasps had hung\ntheir nests to its temples, and scorpions wandered in and out of the\nmatted and clotted hair; yet the hermit felt them not. He spoke to\nno one; he received no gifts; and had it not been for the opening\nof his nostrils, as he continually inhaled the pungent smoke of a\nthorn fire, man would have deemed him dead. Such were his religious\nausterities.\n\n\u2018Thy father marvelled much at the sight, and rode home in profound\nthought. That evening, as he sat in the hall of audience, he could\nspeak of nothing but the devotee; and his curiosity soon rose to such\na pitch, that he proclaimed about the city a reward of one hundred\ngold pieces to any one that could bring to court this anchorite of\nhis own free will.\n\n\u2018Shortly afterwards, Vasantasena, a singing and dancing girl more\ncelebrated for wit and beauty than for sagesse or discretion,\nappeared before thy sire, and offered for the petty inducement of a\ngold bangle to bring the anchorite into the palace, carrying a baby\non his shoulder.\n\n\u2018The king hearing her speak was astonished, gave her a betel leaf in\ntoken that he held her to her promise, and permitted her to depart,\nwhich she did with a laugh of triumph.\n\n\u2018Vasantasena went directly to the jungle, where she found the pious\nman faint with thirst, shrivelled with hunger, and half dead with\nheat and cold. She cautiously put out the fire. Then, having prepared\na confection, she approached from behind and rubbed upon his lips\na little of the sweetmeat, which he licked up with great relish.\nThereupon she made more and gave it to him. After two days of this\ngenerous diet he gained some strength, and on the third, as he felt\na finger upon his mouth, he opened his eyes and said, \u201cWhy hast thou\ncome here?\u201d\n\n\u2018The girl, who had her story in readiness, replied: \u201cI am the\ndaughter of a deity, and have practised religious observances in the\nheavenly regions. I have now come into this forest!\u201d And the devotee,\nwho began to think how much more pleasant is such society than\nsolitude, asked her where her hut was, and requested to be led there.\n\n\u2018Then Vasantasena, having unearthed the holy man and compelled him to\npurify himself, led him to the abode which she had caused to be built\nfor herself in the wood. She explained its luxuries by the nature of\nher vow, which bound her to indulge in costly apparel, in food with\nsix flavours, and in every kind of indulgence.[30] In course of time\nthe hermit learned to follow her example; he gave up inhaling smoke,\nand he began to eat and drink as a daily occupation.\n\n  [30] In India, there is still a monastic order the pleasant duty\n  of whose members is to enjoy themselves as much as possible. It\n  has been much the same in Europe. \u2018Repr\u00e9sentez-vous le couvent de\n  l\u2019Escurial ou du Mont Cassin, o\u00f9 les c\u00e9nobites ont toutes sortes\n  de commodit\u00e9s, n\u00e9cessaires, utiles, d\u00e9lectables, superflues,\n  surabondantes, puisqu\u2019ils ont les cent cinquante mille, les\n  quatre cent mille, les cinq cent mille \u00e9cus de rente; et jugez\n  si monsieur l\u2019abb\u00e9 a de quoi laisser dormir la m\u00e9ridienne \u00e0 ceux\n  qui voudront.\u2019\u2014_Saint Augustin, de l\u2019Ouvrage des Moines_, by Le\n  Camus, Bishop of Belley, quoted by Voltaire, _Dict. phil._, sub\n  v. \u2018Apocalypse.\u2019\n\n\u2018At length Kama began to trouble him. Briefly the saint and saintess\nwere made man and wife, by the simple form of matrimony called the\nGandharbavivaha,[31] and about ten months afterwards a son was born\nto them. Thus the anchorite came to have a child.\n\n  [31] This form of matrimony was recognised by the ancient\n  Hindus, and is frequent in books. It is a kind of Scotch\n  wedding\u2014ultra-Caledonian\u2014taking place by mutual consent,\n  without any form or ceremony. The Gandharbas are heavenly\n  minstrels of Indra\u2019s court, who are supposed to be witnesses.\n\n\u2018Remained Vasantasena\u2019s last feat. Some months passed: then she said\nto the devotee her husband, \u201cOh saint! let us now, having finished\nour devotions, perform a pilgrimage to some sacred place, that all\nthe sins of our bodies may be washed away, after which we will die\nand depart into everlasting happiness.\u201d Cajoled by these speeches,\nthe hermit mounted his child upon his shoulder and followed her where\nshe went\u2014directly into Raja Gandharba-Sena\u2019s palace.\n\n\u2018When the king and the ministers and the officers and the courtiers\nsaw Vasantasena, and her spouse carrying the baby, they recognised\nher from afar. The Raja exclaimed, \u201cLo! this is the very singing girl\nwho went forth to bring back the devotee.\u201d And all replied: \u201cO great\nmonarch! thou speakest truly; this is the very same woman. And be\npleased to observe that whatever things she, having asked leave to\nundertake, went forth to do, all these she hath done!\u201d Then gathering\naround her they asked her all manner of questions, as if the whole\nmatter had been the lightest and the most laughable thing in the\nworld.\n\n\u2018But the anchorite, having heard the speeches of the king and his\ncourtiers, thought to himself, \u201cThey have done this for the purpose\nof taking away the fruits of my penance.\u201d Cursing them all with\nterrible curses, and taking up his child, he left the hall. Thence he\nwent to the forest, slaughtered the innocent, and began to practise\nausterities with a view to revenge that hour, and, having slain his\nchild, he will attempt thy life. His prayers have been heard. In the\nfirst place they deprived thee of thy father. Secondly, they cast\nenmity between thee and thy brother, thus dooming him to an untimely\nend. Thirdly, they are now working thy ruin. The anchorite\u2019s design\nis to offer up a king and a king\u2019s son to his patroness Durga, and\nby virtue of such devotional act he will obtain the sovereignty of\nthe whole world!\n\n\u2018But I have promised, O Vikram, to save thee, if such be the will of\nFortune, from impending destruction. Therefore hearken well unto my\nwords. Distrust them that dwell amongst the dead, and remember that\nit is lawful and right to strike off his head that would slay thee.\nSo shalt thou rule the universal earth, and leave behind thee an\nimmortal name!\u2019\n\nSuddenly Prithwi Pala, the giant, ceased speaking, and disappeared.\nVikram and his son then passed through the city gates, feeling their\nlimbs to be certain that no bones were broken, and thinking over the\nscene that had occurred.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe now are informed how the valiant King Vikram met with the Vampire.\n\nIt was the spring season when the Raja returned, and the Holi\nfestival[32] caused dancing and singing in every house. Ujjayani\nwas extraordinarily happy and joyful at the return of her ruler,\nwho joined in her gladness with all his kingly heart. The faces\nand dresses of the public were red and yellow with gulal and\nabir,\u2014perfumed powders,[33]\u2014which were sprinkled upon one another\nin token of merriment. Musicians deafened the citizens\u2019 ears, dancing\ngirls performed till ready to faint with fatigue, the manufacturers\nof comfits made their fortunes, and the Nine Gems of Science\ncelebrated the auspicious day with the most long-winded odes. The\nroyal hero, decked in regal attire, and attended by many thousands\nof state palanquins glittering with their various ornaments, and\nescorted by a suite of a hundred kingly personages, with their\nmartial array of the four hosts, of cavalry, elephants, chariots, and\ninfantry, and accompanied by Amazon girls, lovely as the suite of the\ngods, himself a personification of majesty, bearing the white parasol\nof dominion, with a golden staff and tassels, began once more to\nreign.\n\n  [32] The Hindu Saturnalia.\n\n  [33] The powders are of wheaten flour, mixed with wild-ginger\n  root, sappan-wood, and other ingredients. Sometimes the stuff is\n  thrown in syringes.\n\nAfter the first pleasures of return, the king applied himself\nunremittingly to good government and to eradicating the abuses which\nhad crept into the administration during the period of his wanderings.\n\nMindful of the wise saying, \u2018if the Raja did not punish the guilty,\nthe stronger would roast the weaker like a fish on the spit,\u2019 he\nbegan the work of reform with an iron hand. He confiscated the\nproperty of a councillor who had the reputation of taking bribes; he\nbranded the forehead of a sudra or servile man whose breath smelt\nof ardent spirits, and a goldsmith having been detected in fraud\nhe ordered him to be cut to shreds with razors as the law in its\nmercy directs. In the case of a notorious evil speaker he opened\nthe back of his head and had his tongue drawn through the wound. A\nfew murderers he burned alive on iron beds, praying the while that\nVishnu might have mercy upon their souls. His spies were ordered,\nas the shastra called \u2018The Prince\u2019 advises, to mix with robbers and\nthieves with a view of leading them into situations where they might\nmost easily be entrapped, and once or twice when the fellows were\ntoo wary, he seized them and their relations and impaled them all,\nthereby conclusively proving, without any mistake, that he was king\nof earth.\n\nWith the sex feminine he was equally severe. A woman convicted of\nhaving poisoned an elderly husband in order to marry a younger man\nwas thrown to the dogs, which speedily devoured her. He punished\nsimple infidelity by cutting off the offender\u2019s nose\u2014an admirable\npractice, which is not only a severe penalty to the culprit, but also\na standing warning to others, and an efficient preventative to any\nrecurrence of the fault. Faithlessness combined with bad example or\nbrazenfacedness was further treated by being led in solemn procession\nthrough the bazar mounted on a diminutive and crop-eared donkey, with\nthe face turned towards the crupper. After a few such examples the\nwomen of Ujjayani became almost modest; it is the fault of man when\nthey are not tolerably well behaved in one point at least.\n\nEvery day as Vikram sat upon the judgment-seat, trying causes and\npunishing offences, he narrowly observed the speech, the gestures,\nand the countenances of the various criminals and litigants and\ntheir witnesses. Ever suspecting women, as I have said, and holding\nthem to be the root of all evil, he never failed when some sin or\ncrime more horrible than usual came before him, to ask the accused,\n\u2018Who is she?\u2019 and the suddenness of the question often elicited\nthe truth by accident. For there can be nothing thoroughly and\nentirely bad unless a woman is at the bottom of it; and knowing\nthis, Raja Vikram made certain notable hits under the most\nimprobable circumstances, which had almost given him a reputation\nfor omniscience. But this is easily explained: a man intent upon\nsquaring the circle will see squares in circles wherever he looks,\nand sometimes he will find them.\n\nIn disputed cases of money claims, the king adhered strictly to\nestablished practice, and consulted persons learned in the law. He\nseldom decided a cause on his own judgment, and he showed great\ntemper and patience in bearing with rough language from irritated\nplaintiffs and defendants, from the infirm, and from old men beyond\neighty. That humble petitioners might not be baulked in having access\nto the \u2018fountain of justice,\u2019 he caused an iron box to be suspended\nby a chain from the windows of his sleeping apartment. Every morning\nhe ordered the box to be opened before him, and listened to all the\nplacets at full length. Even in this simple process he displayed\nabundant cautiousness. For, having forgotten what little of the\nhumanities he had mastered in his youth, he would hand the paper to\na secretary whose business it was to read it out before him; after\nwhich operation the man of letters was sent into an inner room, and\nthe petition was placed in the hands of a second scribe. Once it so\nhappened by the bungling of the deceitful kayasths (clerks) that an\nimportant difference was found to occur in the same sheet. So upon\nstrict inquiry one secretary lost his ears and the other his right\nhand. After this petitions were rarely if ever falsified.\n\nThe Raja Vikram also lost no time in attacking the cities and towns\nand villages of his enemies, but the people rose to a man against\nhim, and hewing his army to pieces with their weapons, vanquished\nhim. This took place so often that he despaired of bringing all the\nearth under the shadow of his umbrella.\n\nAt length on one occasion when near a village he listened to a\nconversation of the inhabitants. A woman having baked some cakes was\ngiving them to her child, who leaving the edges would eat only the\nmiddle. On his asking for another cake, she cried, \u2018This boy\u2019s way is\nlike Vikram\u2019s in his attempt to conquer the world!\u2019 On his enquiring\n\u2018Mother, why, what am I doing; and what has Vikram done?\u2019 \u2018Thou, my\nboy,\u2019 she replied, \u2018throwing away the outside of the cake eatest\nthe middle only. Vikram also in his ambition, without subduing\nthe frontiers before attacking the towns, invades the heart of the\ncountry and lays it waste. On that account, both the townspeople and\nothers rising, close upon him from the frontiers to the centre, and\ndestroy his army. _That_ is his folly.\u2019\n\nVikram took notice of the woman\u2019s words. He strengthened his army\nand resumed his attack on the provinces and cities, beginning with\nthe frontiers, reducing the outer towns and stationing troops in the\nintervals. Thus he proceeded regularly with his invasions. After a\nrespite, adopting the same system and marshalling huge armies, he\nreduced in regular course each kingdom and province till he became\nmonarch of the whole world.\n\nIt so happened that one day as Vikram the Brave sat upon the judgment\nseat, a young merchant, by name Mal Deo, who had lately arrived at\nUjjayani with loaded camels and elephants, and with the reputation\nof immense wealth, entered the palace court. Having been received\nwith extreme condescension, he gave into the king\u2019s hand a fruit\nwhich he had brought in his own, and then spreading a prayer carpet\non the floor he sat down. Presently, after a quarter of an hour, he\narose and went away. When he had gone the king reflected in his mind:\n\u2018Under this disguise, perhaps, is the very man of whom the giant\nspoke.\u2019 Suspecting this, he did not eat the fruit, but calling the\nmaster of the household he gave the present to him, ordering him\nto keep it in a very careful manner. The young merchant, however,\ncontinued every day to court the honour of an interview, each time\npresenting a similar gift.\n\nBy chance one morning Raja Vikram went, attended by his ministers, to\nsee his stables. At this time the young merchant also arrived there,\nand in the usual manner placed a fruit in the royal hand. As the king\nwas thoughtfully tossing it in the air, it accidentally fell from his\nfingers to the ground. Then the monkey, who was tethered amongst the\nhorses to draw calamities from their heads,[34] snatched it up and\ntore it to pieces. Whereupon a ruby of such size and water came forth\nthat the king and his ministers, beholding its brilliancy, gave vent\nto expressions of wonder.\n\n  [34] The Persian proverb is\u2014\u2018Bala e tavilah bar sar i maimun:\u2019\n  \u2018The woes of the stable be on the monkey\u2019s head!\u2019 In some Moslem\n  countries a hog acts prophylactic. Hence probably Mungo Park\u2019s\n  troublesome pig at Ludamar.\n\nQuoth Vikram to the young merchant severely\u2014for his suspicious were\nnow thoroughly roused\u2014\u2018Why hast thou given to us all this wealth?\u2019\n\n\u2018O great king,\u2019 replied Mal Deo, demurely, \u2018it is written in the\nscriptures (shastra) \u201cOf Ceremony\u201d that \u201cwe must not go empty-handed\ninto the presence of the following persons, namely, Rajas, spiritual\nteachers, judges, young maidens, and old women whose daughters we\nwould marry.\u201d But why, O Vikram, dost thou speak of one ruby only,\nsince in each of the fruits which I have laid at thy feet there is a\nsimilar jewel?\u2019\n\nHaving heard this speech, the king said to the master of his\nhousehold, \u2018Bring all the fruits which I have entrusted to thee.\u2019 The\ntreasurer, on receiving the royal command, immediately brought them,\nand having split them, there was found in each one a ruby, one and\nall equally perfect in size and water. Raja Vikram beholding such\ntreasures was excessively pleased. Having sent for a lapidary, he\nordered him to examine the rubies, saying, \u2018We cannot take anything\nwith us out of this world. Virtue is a noble quality to possess here\nbelow\u2014so tell justly what is the value of each of these gems.\u2019[35]\n\n  [35] So the moribund father of the \u2018babes in the wood\u2019 lectures\n  his wicked brother, their guardian:\n\n    \u2018To God and you I recommend\n      My children deare this day:\n    But little while, be sure, we have\n      Within this world to stay.\u2019\n\n  But to appeal to the moral sense of a goldsmith!\n\nTo so moral a speech the lapidary replied, \u2018Maharaja![36] thou\nhast said truly; whoever possesses virtue, possesses everything;\nvirtue indeed accompanies us always, and is of advantage in both\nworlds. Hear, O great king! each gem is perfect in colour, quality\nand beauty. If I were to say that the value of each was ten million\nmillions of suvarnas (gold pieces), even then thou couldst not\nunderstand its real worth. In fact, each ruby would buy one of the\nseven regions into which the earth is divided.\u2019\n\n  [36] Maha (great) raja (king): common address even to those who\n  are not royal.\n\nThe king on hearing this was delighted, although his suspicions\nwere not satisfied; and, having bestowed a robe of honour upon\nthe lapidary, dismissed him. Thereon, taking the young merchant\u2019s\nhand, he led him into the palace, seated him upon his own carpet in\npresence of the court, and began to say, \u2018My entire kingdom is not\nworth one of these rubies: tell me how it is that thou who buyest and\nsellest hast given me such and so many pearls?\u2019\n\nMal Deo replied: \u2018O great king, the speaking of matters like the\nfollowing in public is not right; these things\u2014prayers, spells,\ndrugs, good qualities, household affairs, the eating of forbidden\nfood, and the evil we may have heard of our neighbour\u2014should not\nbe discussed in full assembly. Privately I will disclose to thee my\nwishes. This is the way of the world; when an affair comes to six\nears, it does not remain secret; if a matter is confided to four ears\nit may escape further hearing; and if to two ears even Bramha the\nCreator does not know it; how then can any rumour of it come to man?\u2019\n\nHaving heard this speech, Raja Vikram took Mal Deo aside, and began\nto ask him, saying, \u2018O generous man! you have given me so many\nrubies, and even for a single day you have not eaten food with me; I\nam exceedingly ashamed, tell me what you desire.\u2019\n\n\u2018Raja,\u2019 said the young merchant, \u2018I am not Mal Deo, but\nShanta-Shil,[37] a devotee. I am about to perform spells,\nincantations and magical rites on the banks of the river Godavari,\nin a large smashana, a cemetery where bodies are burned. By this\nmeans the Eight Powers of Nature will all become mine. This thing I\nask of you as alms, that you and the young prince Dharma Dhwaj will\npass one night with me, doing my bidding. By you remaining near me my\nincantations will be successful.\u2019\n\n  [37] The name means, \u2018Quietistic Disposition.\u2019\n\nThe valiant Vikram nearly started from his seat at the word cemetery,\nbut, like a ruler of men, he restrained his face from expressing his\nfeelings, and he presently replied, \u2018Good, we will come, tell us on\nwhat day!\u2019\n\n\u2018You are to come to me,\u2019 said the devotee, \u2018armed, but without\nfollowers, on the Monday evening the 14th of the dark half of the\nmonth Bhadra.\u2019[38] The Raja said: \u2018Do you go your ways, we will\ncertainly come.\u2019 In this manner, having received a promise from the\nking, and having taken leave, the devotee returned to his house:\nthence he repaired to the temple, and having made preparations, and\ntaken all the necessary things, he went back into the cemetery and\nsat down to his ceremonies.\n\nThe valiant Vikram, on the other hand, retired into an inner\napartment, to consult his own judgment about an adventure with which,\nfor fear of ridicule, he was unwilling to acquaint even the most\ntrustworthy of his ministers.\n\n  [38] August. In the solar-lunar year of the Hindu the months are\n  divided into fortnights\u2014light and dark.\n\nIn due time came the evening moon\u2019s day, the 14th of the dark half of\nthe month Bhadra. As the short twilight fell gloomily on earth, the\nwarrior king, accompanied by his son, with turband-ends tied under\ntheir chins, and with trusty blades tucked under their arms ready for\nfoes, human, bestial, or devilish, slipped out unseen through the\npalace wicket, and took the road leading to the cemetery on the river\nbank.\n\nDark and drear was the night. Urged by the furious blast of the\nlingering winter-rains, masses of bistre-coloured cloud, like the\nforms of unwieldy beasts, rolled heavily over the firmament plain.\nWhenever the crescent of the young moon, rising from an horizon sable\nas the sad Tamala\u2019s hue,[39] glanced upon the wayfarers, it was no\nbrighter than the fine tip of an elephant\u2019s tusk protruding from the\nmuddy wave. A heavy storm was impending; big drops fell in showers\nfrom the forest trees as they groaned under the blast, and beneath\nthe gloomy avenue the clayey ground gleamed ghastly white. As the\nRaja and his son advanced, a faint ray of light, like the line of\npure gold streaking the dark surface of the touchstone, caught their\neyes, and directed their footsteps towards the cemetery.\n\n  [39] A flower, whose name frequently occurs in Sanskrit poetry.\n\nWhen Vikram came upon the open space on the river bank where corpses\nwere burned, he hesitated for a moment to tread its impure ground.\nBut seeing his son undismayed, he advanced boldly, trampling upon\nremnants of bones, and only covering his mouth with his turband-end.\n\nPresently, at the further extremity of the smashana or burning\nground, appeared a group. By the lurid flames that flared and\nflickered round the half-extinguished funeral pyres, with remnants\nof their dreadful loads, Raja Vikram and Dharma Dhwaj could note\nthe several features of the ill-omened spot. There was an outer\ncircle of hideous bestial forms; tigers were roaring, and elephants\nwere trumpeting; wolves, whose foul hairy coats blazed with sparks\nof bluish phosphoric light, were devouring the remnants of human\nbodies; foxes, jackals, and hyenas were disputing over their prey;\nwhilst bears were chewing the livers of children. The space within\nwas peopled by a multitude of fiends. There were the subtle bodies\nof men that had escaped their grosser frames prowling about the\ncharnel ground, where their corpses had been reduced to ashes, or\nhovering in the air, waiting till the new bodies which they were to\nanimate were made ready for their reception. The spirits of those\nthat had been foully slain wandered about with gashed limbs; and\nskeletons, whose mouldy bones were held together by bits of blackened\nsinew, followed them as the murderer does his victim. Malignant\nwitches with shrivelled skins, horrid eyes and distorted forms,\ncrawled and crouched over the earth; whilst spectres and goblins\nnow stood motionless, and tall as lofty palm trees; then, as if in\nfits, leaped, danced, and tumbled before their evocator. The air was\nfilled with shrill and strident cries, with the fitful moaning of the\nstorm-wind, with the hooting of the owl, with the jackal\u2019s long wild\ncry, and with the hoarse gurgling of the swollen river, from whose\nbanks the earth-slip thundered in its fall.\n\nIn the midst of all, close to the fire which lit up his evil\ncountenance, sat Shanta-Shil, the jogi, with the banner that denoted\nhis calling and his magic staff planted in the ground behind him.\nHe was clad in the ochre-coloured loin-wrap of his class; from his\nhead streamed long tangled locks of hair like horsehair; his black\nbody was striped with lines of chalk, and a girdle of thigh bones\nencircled his waist. His face was smeared with ashes from a funeral\npyre, and his eyes, fixed as those of a statue, gleamed from this\nmask with an infernal light of hate. His cheeks were shaven, and he\nhad not forgotten to draw the horizontal sectarian mark. But this\nwas of blood; and Vikram, as he drew near, saw that he was playing\nupon a human skull with two shank bones, making music for the horrid\nrevelry.\n\n[Illustration: He was playing upon a human skull with two shank bones.]\n\nNow Raja Vikram, as has been shown by his encounter with Indra\u2019s\nwatchman, was a bold prince, and he was cautious as he was brave.\nThe sight of a human being in the midst of these terrors raised his\nmettle; he determined to prove himself a hero, and feeling that the\ncritical moment was now come, he hoped to rid himself and his house\nfor ever of the family curse that hovered over them.\n\nFor a moment he thought of the giant\u2019s words, \u2018And remember that it\nis lawful and right to strike off his head that would slay thee.\u2019 A\nstroke with his good sword might at once and effectually put an end\nto the danger. But then he remembered that he had passed his royal\nword to do the devotee\u2019s bidding that night. Besides, he felt assured\nthat the hour for action had not yet sounded.\n\nThese reflections having passed through his mind with the rapid\ncourse of a star that has lost its honours,[40] Vikram courteously\nsaluted Shanta-Shil. The jogi briefly replied, \u2018Come sit down, both\nof ye.\u2019 The father and son took their places, by no means surprised\nor frightened by the devil dances before and around them. Presently\nthe valiant Raja reminded the devotee that he was come to perform his\npromise, and lastly asked, \u2018What commands are there for us?\u2019\n\n  [40] The stars being men\u2019s souls raised to the sky for a time\n  proportioned to their virtuous deeds on earth.\n\nThe jogi replied, \u2018O king, since you have come, just perform one\npiece of business. About two kos[41] hence, in a southerly direction,\nthere is another place where dead bodies are burned; and in that\nplace is a mimosa tree, on which a body is hanging. Bring it to me\nimmediately.\u2019\n\n  [41] A measure of length, each two miles.\n\nRaja Vikram took his son\u2019s hand, unwilling to leave him in such\ncompany; and, catching up a firebrand, went rapidly away in the\nproper direction. He was now certain that Shanta-Shil was the\nanchorite who, enraged by his father, had resolved his destruction;\nand his uppermost thought was a firm resolve \u2018to breakfast upon his\nenemy, ere his enemy could dine upon him.\u2019 He muttered this old\nsaying as he went, whilst the tom-tom-ing of the anchorite upon the\nskull resounded in his ears, and the devil-crowd, which had held its\npeace during his meeting with Shanta-Shil, broke out again in an\ninfernal din of whoops and screams, yells and laughter.\n\nThe darkness of the night was frightful, the gloom deepened till\nit was hardly possible to walk. The clouds opened their fountains,\nraining so that you would say they could never rain again. Lightning\nblazed forth with more than the light of day, and the roar of the\nthunder caused the earth to shake. Baleful gleams tipped the black\ncones of the trees and fitfully scampered like fireflies over the\nwaste. Unclean goblins dogged the travellers and threw themselves\nupon the ground in their path and obstructed them in a thousand\ndifferent ways. Huge snakes, whose mouths distilled blood and black\nvenom, kept clinging around their legs in the roughest part of the\nroad, till they were persuaded to loose their hold either by the\nsword or by reciting a spell. In fact there were so many horrors and\nsuch a tumult and noise that even a brave man would have faltered,\nyet the king kept on his way.\n\nAt length having passed over, somehow or other, a very difficult\nroad, the Raja arrived at the smashana, or burning place pointed\nout by the jogi. Suddenly he sighted the tree where from root to\ntop every branch and leaf was in a blaze of crimson flame. And when\nhe, still dauntless, advanced towards it, a clamour continued to be\nraised, and voices kept crying, \u2018Kill them! kill them! seize them!\nseize them! take care that they do not get away! let them scorch\nthemselves to cinders! let them suffer the pains of Patala.\u2019[42]\n\n  [42] The warm region below.\n\nFar from being terrified by this state of things the valiant Raja\nincreased in boldness, seeing a prospect of an end to his adventure.\nApproaching the tree he felt that the fire did not burn him, and\nso he sat there for a while to observe the body, which hung, head\ndownwards, from a branch a little above him.\n\nIts eyes, which were wide open, were of a greenish-brown, and never\ntwinkled; its hair also was brown,[43] and brown was its face\u2014three\nseveral shades which, notwithstanding, approached one another in an\nunpleasant way, as in an over-dried cocoa-nut. Its body was thin and\nribbed like a skeleton or a bamboo framework, and as it held on to\na bough, like a flying fox,[44] by the toe-tips, its drawn muscles\nstood out as if they were ropes of coir. Blood it appeared to have\nnone, or there would have been a decided determination of that\ncurious juice to the head; and as the Raja handled its skin, it felt\nicy cold and clammy as might a snake. The only sign of life was the\nwhisking of a ragged little tail much resembling a goat\u2019s.\n\n  [43] Hindus admire only glossy black hair; the \u2018bonny brown\n  hair\u2019 loved by our ballads is assigned by them to low-caste men,\n  witches, and fiends.\n\n  [44] A large kind of bat; a popular and silly Anglo-Indian name.\n  It almost justified the irate Scotchman in calling \u2018prodigious\n  lecars\u2019 those who told him in India that foxes flew and trees\n  were tapped for toddy.\n\nJudging from these signs the brave king at once determined the\ncreature to be a Baital\u2014a Vampire. For a short time he was puzzled\nto reconcile the appearance with the words of the giant, who informed\nhim that the anchorite had hung the oilman\u2019s son to a tree. But soon\nhe explained to himself the difficulty, remembering the exceeding\ncunning of jogis and other reverend men, and determining that his\nenemy, the better to deceive him, had doubtless altered the shape and\nform of the young oilman\u2019s body.\n\nWith this idea, Vikram was pleased, saying, \u2018My trouble has been\nproductive of fruit.\u2019 Remained the task of carrying the Vampire to\nShanta-Shil the devotee. Having taken his sword, the Raja fearlessly\nclimbed the tree, and ordering his son to stand away from below,\nclutched the Vampire\u2019s hair with one hand, and with the other struck\nsuch a blow of the sword, that the bough was cut and the thing fell\nheavily upon the ground. Immediately on falling it gnashed its teeth\nand began to utter a loud wailing cry like the screams of an infant\nin pain. Vikram having heard the sound of its lamentations, was\npleased, and began to say to himself, \u2018This devil must be alive.\u2019\nThen nimbly sliding down the trunk, he made a captive of the body,\nand asked \u2018Who art thou?\u2019\n\n[Illustration: He once more seized the Baital\u2019s hair.]\n\nScarcely, however, had the words passed the royal lips, when the\nVampire slipped through the fingers like a worm, and uttering a loud\nshout of laughter, rose in the air with its legs uppermost, and as\nbefore suspended itself by its toes to another bough. And there it\nswung to and fro, moved by the violence of its cachinnation.\n\n\u2018Decidedly this is the young oilman!\u2019 exclaimed the Raja, after he\nhad stood for a minute or two with mouth open, gazing upwards and\nwondering what he should do next. Presently he directed Dharma Dhwaj\nnot to lose an instant in laying hands upon the thing when it next\nmight touch the ground, and then he again swarmed up the tree. Having\nreached his former position, he once more seized the Baital\u2019s hair,\nand with all the force of his arms\u2014for he was beginning to feel\nreally angry\u2014he tore it from its hold and dashed it to the ground,\nsaying, \u2018O wretch, tell me who thou art?\u2019\n\nThen, as before, the Raja slid deftly down the trunk, and hurried\nto the aid of his son, who, in obedience to orders, had fixed his\ngrasp upon the Vampire\u2019s neck. Then too, as before, the Vampire,\nlaughing aloud, slipped through their fingers and returned to its\ndangling-place.\n\nTo fail twice was too much for Raja Vikram\u2019s temper, which was\nright kingly and somewhat hot. This time he bade his son strike the\nBaital\u2019s head with his sword. Then, more like a wounded bear of\nHimalaya than a prince who had established an era, he hurried up the\ntree, and directed a furious blow with his sabre at the Vampire\u2019s\nlean and calfless legs. The violence of the stroke made its toes\nloose their hold of the bough, and when it touched the ground,\nDharma Dhwaj\u2019s blade fell heavily upon its matted brown hair. But the\nblows appeared to have lighted on iron-wood\u2014to judge at least from\nthe behaviour of the Baital, who no sooner heard the question, \u2018O\nwretch, who art thou?\u2019 than it returned in loud glee and merriment to\nits old position.\n\nFive mortal times did Raja Vikram repeat this profitless labour. But\nso far from losing heart, he quite entered into the spirit of the\nadventure. Indeed he would have continued climbing up that tree and\ntaking that corpse under his arm\u2014he found his sword useless\u2014and\nbringing it down, and asking it who it was, and seeing it slip\nthrough his fingers, six times sixty times, or till the end of the\nfourth and present age,[45] had such extreme resolution been required.\n\n  [45] The Hindus, like the European classics and other ancient\n  peoples, reckon four ages:\u2014The Satya Yug, or Golden Age,\n  numbered 1,728,000 years; the second, or Treta Yug, comprised\n  1,296,000; the Dwapar Yug had 864,000; and the present, the Kali\n  Yug, has shrunk to 832,000 years.\n\nHowever, it was not necessary. On the seventh time of falling, the\nBaital, instead of eluding its capturer\u2019s grasp, allowed itself to\nbe seized, merely remarking that \u2018even the gods cannot resist a\nthoroughly obstinate man.\u2019[46] And seeing that the stranger, for the\nbetter protection of his prize, had stripped off his waistcloth and\nwas making it into a bag, the Vampire thought proper to seek the most\nfavourable conditions for himself, and asked his conqueror who he\nwas, and what he was about to do?\n\n  [46] Especially alluding to prayer. On this point, Southey justly\n  remarks (Preface to _Curse of Kehama_): \u2018In the religion of the\n  Hindoos there is one remarkable peculiarity. Prayers, penances,\n  and sacrifices are supposed to possess an inherent and actual\n  value, in one degree depending upon the disposition or motive\n  of the person who performs them. They are drafts upon heaven\n  for which the gods cannot refuse payment. The worst men, bent\n  upon the worst designs, have in this manner obtained power which\n  has made them formidable to the supreme deities themselves.\u2019\n  Moreover, the Hindoo gods hear the prayers of those who desire\n  the evil of others. Hence when a rich man becomes poor, his\n  friends say, \u2018See how sharp are men\u2019s teeth!\u2019 and, \u2018He is ruined\n  because others could not bear to see his happiness!\u2019\n\n\u2018Vile wretch,\u2019 replied the breathless hero, \u2018know me to be Vikram\nthe Great, Raja of Ujjayani, and I bear thee to a man who is amusing\nhimself by drumming to devils on a skull.\u2019\n\n\u2018Remember the old saying, mighty Vikram!\u2019 said the Baital, with a\nsneer, \u2018that many a tongue has cut many a throat. I have yielded\nto thy resolution and I am about to accompany thee, bound to thy\nback like a beggar\u2019s wallet. But hearken to my words, ere we set\nout upon the way. I am of a loquacious disposition, and it is well\nnigh an hour\u2019s walk between this tree and the place where thy friend\nsits, favouring his friends with the peculiar music which they love.\nTherefore, I shall try to distract my thoughts, which otherwise might\nnot be of the most pleasing nature, by means of sprightly tales and\nprofitable reflections. Sages and men of sense spend their days in\nthe delights of light and heavy literature, whereas dolts and fools\nwaste time in sleep and idleness. And I purpose to ask thee a number\nof questions, concerning which we will, if it seems fit to thee, make\nthis covenant:\n\n\u2018Whenever thou answerest me, either compelled by Fate or entrapped\nby my cunning into so doing, or thereby gratifying thy vanity and\nconceit, I leave thee and return to my favourite place and position\nin the siras-tree, but when thou shalt remain silent, confused, and\nat a loss to reply, either through humility or thereby confessing\nthine ignorance, and impotence, and want of comprehension, then\nwill I allow thee, of mine own free will, to place me before thine\nemployer. Perhaps I should not say so; it may sound like bribing\nthee, but\u2014take my counsel, and mortify thy pride, and assumption,\nand arrogance, and haughtiness, as soon as possible. So shalt thou\nderive from me a benefit which none but myself can bestow.\u2019\n\nRaja Vikram hearing these rough words, so strange to his royal\near, winced; then he rejoiced that his heir-apparent was not near;\nthen he looked round at his son Dharma Dhwaj, to see if he was\nimpertinent enough to be amused by the Baital. But the first glance\nshowed him the young prince busily employed in pinching and screwing\nthe monster\u2019s legs, so as to make it fit better into the cloth.\nVikram then seized the ends of the waistcloth, twisted them into a\nconvenient form for handling, stooped, raised the bundle with a jerk,\ntossed it over his shoulder, and bidding his son not to lag behind,\nset off at a round pace towards the western end of the cemetery.\n\nThe shower had ceased, and, as they gained ground, the weather\ngreatly improved.\n\nThe Vampire asked a few indifferent questions about the wind and\nthe rain and the mud. When he received no answer, he began to feel\nuncomfortable, and he broke out with these words: \u2018O King Vikram,\nlisten to the true story which I am about to tell thee.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S FIRST STORY.\n\nIN WHICH A MAN DECEIVES A WOMAN.\n\n\nIn Benares once reigned a mighty prince, by name Pratapamukut, to\nwhose eighth son Vajramukut happened the strangest adventure.\n\nOne morning, the young man, accompanied by the son of his father\u2019s\npradhan or prime minister, rode out hunting, and went far into\nthe jungle. At last the twain unexpectedly came upon a beautiful\n\u2018tank\u2019[47] of a prodigious size. It was surrounded by short thick\nwalls of fine baked brick; and flights and ramps of cut-stone steps,\nhalf the length of each face, and adorned with turrets, pendants,\nand finials, led down to the water. The substantial plaster work and\nthe masonry had fallen into disrepair, and from the crevices sprang\nhuge trees, under whose thick shade the breeze blew freshly, and on\nwhose balmy branches the birds sang sweetly; the grey squirrels[48]\nchirruped joyously as they coursed one another up the gnarled\ntrunks, and from the pendent llianas the long-tailed monkeys were\nswinging sportively. The bountiful hand of Sravana[49] had spread\nthe earthen rampart with a carpet of the softest grass and many-hued\nwild flowers, in which were buzzing swarms of bees and myriads of\nbright-winged insects; and flocks of water-fowl, wild geese, Brahmini\nducks, bitterns, herons, and cranes, male and female, were feeding on\nthe narrow strip of brilliant green that belted the long deep pool,\namongst the broad-leaved lotuses with the lovely blossoms, splashing\nthrough the pellucid waves, and basking happily in the genial sun.\n\n  [47] A pond, natural or artificial; in the latter case often\n  covering an extent of ten to twelve acres.\n\n  [48] The Hindustani \u2018gilahri,\u2019 or little grey squirrel, whose\n  twittering cry is often mistaken for a bird\u2019s.\n\n  [49] The autumn or rather the rainy season personified\u2014a\n  hackneyed Hindu prosopop\u0153ia.\n\nThe prince and his friend wondered when they saw the beautiful tank\nin the midst of a wild forest, and made many vain conjectures about\nit. They dismounted, tethered their horses, and threw their weapons\nupon the ground; then, having washed their hands and faces, they\nentered a shrine dedicated to Mahadeva, and there began to worship\nthe presiding deity.\n\nWhilst they were making their offerings, a bevy of maidens,\naccompanied by a crowd of female slaves, descended the opposite\nflight of steps. They stood there for a time, talking and laughing\nand looking about them to see if any alligators infested the waters.\nWhen convinced that the tank was safe, they disrobed themselves in\norder to bathe. It was truly a splendid spectacle\u2014\u2014\n\n\u2018Concerning which the less said the better,\u2019 interrupted Raja Vikram\nin an offended tone.[50]\n\n  [50] Light conversation upon the subject of women is a personal\n  offence to serious-minded Hindus.\n\n\u2014\u2014but it did not last long. The Raja\u2019s daughter\u2014for the principal\nmaiden was a princess\u2014soon left her companions, who were scooping\nup water with their palms and dashing it over one another\u2019s heads,\nand proceeded to perform the rites of purification, meditation, and\nworship. Then she began strolling with a friend under the shade of a\nsmall mango grove.\n\nThe prince also left his companion sitting in prayer, and walked\nforth into the forest. Suddenly the eyes of the Raja\u2019s son and the\nRaja\u2019s daughter met. She started back with a little scream. He was\nfascinated by her beauty, and began to say to himself, \u2018O thou vile\nKama,[51] why worriest thou me?\u2019\n\n  [51] Cupid in his two forms, Eros and Anteros.\n\nHearing this, the maiden smiled encouragement, but the poor youth,\nbetween palpitation of the heart and hesitation about what to say,\nwas so confused that his tongue clave to his teeth. She raised her\neyebrows a little. There is nothing which women despise in a man more\nthan modesty,[52] for mo-des-ty\u2014\u2014\n\n  [52] This is true to life; in the East, women make the first\n  advances, and men do the _b\u00e9gueules_.\n\nA violent shaking of the bag which hung behind Vikram\u2019s royal back\nbroke off the end of this offensive sentence. And the warrior\nking did not cease that discipline till the Baital promised him to\npreserve more decorum in his observations.\n\nStill the prince stood before her with downcast eyes and suffused\ncheeks: even the spur of contempt failed to arouse his energies. Then\nthe maiden called to her friend, who was picking jasmine flowers so\nas not to witness the scene, and angrily asked why that strange man\nwas allowed to stand and stare at her? The friend, in hot wrath,\nthreatened to call the slave, and to throw Vajramukut into the pond\nunless he instantly went away with his impudence. But as the prince\nwas rooted to the spot, and really had not heard a word of what had\nbeen said to him, the two women were obliged to make the first move.\n\nAs they almost reached the tank, the beautiful maiden turned her head\nto see what the poor modest youth was doing.\n\nVajramukut was formed in every way to catch a woman\u2019s eye. The Raja\u2019s\ndaughter therefore half forgave him his offence of mod\u2014\u2014. Again she\nsweetly smiled, disclosing two rows of little opals. Then descending\nto the water\u2019s edge, she stooped down and plucked a lotus. This she\nworshipped; next she placed it in her hair, then she put it to her\near, then she bit it with her teeth, then she trod upon it with her\nfoot, then she raised it up again, and lastly she stuck it in her\nbosom. After which she mounted her conveyance and went home to her\nfriends; whilst the prince, having become thoroughly desponding and\ndrowned in grief at separation from her, returned to the minister\u2019s\nson.\n\n\u2018Females!\u2019 ejaculated the minister\u2019s son, speaking to himself in a\ncareless tone, when, his prayer finished, he left the temple, and\nsat down upon the tank steps to enjoy the breeze. He presently drew\na roll of paper from under his waist-belt, and in a short time was\nengrossed with his study. The women seeing this conduct, exerted\nthemselves in every possible way of wile to attract his attention and\nto distract his soul. They succeeded only so far as to make him roll\nhis head with a smile, and to remember that such is always the custom\nof man\u2019s bane; after which he turned over a fresh page of manuscript.\nAnd although he presently began to wonder what had become of the\nprince his master, he did not look up even once from his study.\n\nHe was a philosopher, that young man. But after all, Raja Vikram,\nwhat is mortal philosophy? Nothing but another name for indifference!\nWho was ever philosophical about a thing truly loved or really\nhated?\u2014no one! Philosophy, says Shankharacharya, is either the gift\nof nature or the reward of study. But I, the Baital, the devil, ask\nyou, what is a born philosopher, save a man of cold desires? And\nwhat is a bred philosopher but a man who has survived his desires? A\nyoung philosopher?\u2014a cold-blooded youth! An elderly philosopher?\u2014a\nleucophlegmatic old man! Much nonsense, of a verity, ye hear in\npraise of nothing from your Rajaship\u2019s Nine Gems of Science, and from\nsundry other such wise fools.\n\nThen the prince began to relate the state of his case, saying, \u2018O\nfriend, I have seen a damsel, but whether she be a musician from\nIndra\u2019s heaven, a maiden of the sea, a daughter of the serpent kings,\nor the child of an earthly Raja, I cannot say.\u2019\n\n\u2018Describe her,\u2019 said the statesman in embryo.\n\n\u2018Her face,\u2019 quoth the prince, \u2018was that of the full moon, her hair\nlike a swarm of bees hanging from the blossoms of the acacia, the\ncorners of her eyes touched her ears, her lips were sweet with lunar\nambrosia, her waist was that of a lion, and her walk the walk of\na king-goose.[53] As a garment, she was white; as a season, the\nspring; as a flower, the jasmine; as a speaker, the kokila bird; as\na perfume, musk; as a beauty, Kama-deva; and as a being, Love. And\nif she does not come into my possession I will not live; this I have\ncertainly determined upon.\u2019\n\n  [53] Raja-hans, a large grey goose, the Hindu equivalent for our\n  swan.\n\nThe young minister, who had heard his prince say the same thing more\nthan once before, did not attach great importance to these awful\nwords. He merely remarked that, unless they mounted at once, night\nwould surprise them in the forest. Then the two young men returned\nto their horses, untethered them, drew on their bridles, saddled\nthem, and catching up their weapons, rode slowly towards the Raja\u2019s\npalace. During the three hours of return hardly a word passed between\nthe pair. Vajramukut not only avoided speaking; he never once replied\ntill addressed thrice in the loudest voice.\n\nThe young minister put no more questions, \u2018for,\u2019 quoth he to\nhimself, \u2018when the prince wants my counsel, he will apply for it.\u2019\nIn this point he had borrowed wisdom from his father, who held in\npeculiar horror the giving of unasked-for advice. So, when he saw\nthat conversation was irksome to his master, he held his peace and\nmeditated upon what he called his \u2018day-thought.\u2019 It was his practice\nto choose every morning some tough food for reflection, and to chew\nthe cud of it in his mind at times when, without such employment, his\nwits would have gone wool-gathering. You may imagine, Raja Vikram,\nthat with a few years of this head-work, the minister\u2019s son became a\nvery crafty young person.\n\nAfter the second day the Prince Vajramukut, being restless from grief\nat separation, fretted himself into a fever. Having given up writing,\nreading, drinking, sleeping, the affairs entrusted to him by his\nfather, and everything else, he sat down, as he said, to die. He used\nconstantly to paint the portrait of the beautiful lotus gatherer, and\nto lie gazing upon it with tearful eyes; then he would start up and\ntear it to pieces and beat his forehead, and begin another picture of\na yet more beautiful face.\n\nAt last, as the pradhan\u2019s son had foreseen, he was summoned by\nthe young Raja, whom he found upon his bed, looking yellow and\ncomplaining bitterly of headache. Frequent discussions upon the\nsubject of the tender passion had passed between the two youths, and\none of them had ever spoken of it so very disrespectfully that the\nother felt ashamed to introduce it. But when his friend, with a view\nto provoke communicativeness, advised a course of boiled and bitter\nherbs and great attention to diet, quoting the hemistich attributed\nto the learned physician Charndatta\u2014\n\n    A fever starve, but feed a cold,\n\nthe unhappy Vajramukut\u2019s fortitude abandoned him; he burst into\ntears, and exclaimed, \u2018Whosoever enters upon the path of love cannot\nsurvive it; and if (by chance) he should live, what is life to him\nbut a prolongation of his misery?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yea,\u2019 replied the minister\u2019s son, \u2018the sage hath said\u2014\n\n    The road of love is that which hath no beginning nor end;\n    Take thou heed of thyself, man! ere thou place foot upon it.\n\nAnd the wise, knowing that there are three things whose effect upon\nhimself no man can foretell\u2014namely, desire of woman, the dice-box,\nand the drinking of ardent spirits\u2014find total abstinence from them\nthe best of rules. Yet, after all, if there is no cow, we must milk\nthe bull.\u2019\n\nThe advice was, of course, excellent, but the hapless lover could\nnot help thinking that on this occasion it came a little too late.\nHowever, after a pause he returned to the subject and said, \u2018I have\nventured to tread that dangerous way, be its end pain or pleasure,\nhappiness or destruction.\u2019 He then hung down his head and sighed from\nthe bottom of his heart.\n\n\u2018She is the person who appeared to us at the tank?\u2019 asked the\npradhan\u2019s son, moved to compassion by the state of his master.\n\nThe prince assented.\n\n\u2018O great king,\u2019 resumed the minister\u2019s son, \u2018at the time of going\naway had she said anything to you? or had you said anything to her?\u2019\n\n\u2018Nothing!\u2019 replied the other laconically, when he found his friend\nbeginning to take an interest in the affair.\n\n\u2018_Then_,\u2019 said the minister\u2019s son, \u2018it will be exceedingly difficult\nto get possession of her.\u2019\n\n\u2018_Then_,\u2019 repeated the Raja\u2019s son, \u2018I am doomed to death; to an early\nand melancholy death!\u2019\n\n\u2018Humph!\u2019 ejaculated the young statesman rather impatiently, \u2018did she\nmake any sign, or give any hint? Let me know all that happened: half\nconfidences are worse than none.\u2019\n\nUpon which the prince related everything that took place by the side\nof the tank, bewailing the false shame which had made him dumb, and\nconcluding with her pantomime.\n\nThe pradhan\u2019s son took thought for a while. He thereupon seized the\nopportunity of representing to his master all the evil effects of\nbashfulness when women are concerned, and advised him, as he would be\na happy lover, to brazen his countenance for the next interview.\n\nWhich the young Raja faithfully promised to do.\n\n\u2018And, now,\u2019 said the other, \u2018be comforted, O my master! I know her\nname and her dwelling-place. When she suddenly plucked the lotus\nflower and worshipped it, she thanked the gods for having blessed her\nwith a sight of your beauty.\u2019\n\nVajramukut smiled, the first time for the last month.\n\n\u2018When she applied it to her ear, it was as if she would have\nexplained to thee, \u201cI am a daughter of the Carnatic;\u201d[54] and when\nshe bit it with her teeth, she meant to say that \u201cMy father is Raja\nDantawat,\u201d[55] who, by the bye, has been, is, and ever will be, a\nmortal foe to thy father.\u2019\n\n  [54] Properly Karnatak; karna in Sanskrit means an ear.\n\n  [55] Danta in Sanskrit is a tooth.\n\nVajramukut shuddered.\n\n\u2018When she put it under her foot it meant, \u201cMy name is Padmavati.\u201d\u2019[56]\n\n  [56] Padma means a foot.\n\nVajramukut uttered a cry of joy.\n\n\u2018And when she placed it in her bosom, \u201cYou are truly dwelling in my\nheart\u201d was meant to be understood.\u2019\n\nAt these words the young Raja started up full of new life, and after\npraising with enthusiasm the wondrous sagacity of his dear friend,\nbegged him by some contrivance to obtain the permission of his\nparents, and to conduct him to her city. The minister\u2019s son easily\ngot leave for Vajramukut to travel, under pretext that his body\nrequired change of water, and his mind change of scene. They both\ndressed and armed themselves for the journey, and having taken some\njewels, mounted their horses and followed the road in that direction\nin which the princess had gone.\n\nArrived after some days at the capital of the Carnatic, the\nminister\u2019s son having disguised his master and himself in the garb of\ntravelling traders, alighted and pitched his little tent upon a clear\nbit of ground in one of the suburbs. He then proceeded to inquire\nfor a wise woman, wanting, he said, to have his fortune told. When\nthe prince asked him what this meant, he replied that elderly dames\nwho professionally predict the future are never above ministering to\nthe present, and therefore that, in such circumstances, they are the\nproperest persons to be consulted.\n\n\u2018Is this a treatise upon the subject of immorality, devil?\u2019 demanded\nthe King Vikram ferociously. The Baital declared that it was not, but\nthat he must tell his story.\n\n[Illustration: Went up to her with polite salutations.]\n\nThe person addressed pointed to an old woman who, seated before\nthe door of her hut, was spinning at her wheel. Then the young men\nwent up to her with polite salutations and said, \u2018Mother, we are\ntravelling traders, and our stock is coming after us; we have come on\nin advance for the purpose of finding a place to live in. If you will\ngive us a house, we will remain there and pay you highly.\u2019\n\nThe old woman, who was a physiognomist as well as a fortune-teller,\nlooked at the faces of the young men and liked them, because their\nbrows were wide and their mouths denoted generosity. Having listened\nto their words, she took pity upon them and said kindly, \u2018This\nhovel is yours, my masters, remain here as long as you please.\u2019\nThen she led them into an inner room, again welcomed them, lamented\nthe poorness of her abode, and begged them to lie down and rest\nthemselves.\n\nAfter some interval of time the old woman came to them once more,\nand sitting down began to gossip. The minister\u2019s son upon this asked\nher, \u2018How is it with thy family, thy relatives, and connections;\nand what are thy means of subsistence?\u2019 She replied, \u2018My son is a\nfavourite servant in the household of our great king Dantawat, and\nyour slave is the wet-nurse of the Princess Padmavati, his eldest\nchild. From the coming on of old age,\u2019 she added, \u2018I dwell in this\nhouse, but the king provides for my eating and drinking. I go once a\nday to see the girl, who is a miracle of beauty and goodness, wit\nand accomplishments, and returning thence, I bear my own griefs at\nhome.\u2019[57]\n\n  [57] A common Hindu phrase equivalent to our \u2018I manage to get on.\u2019\n\nIn a few days the young Vajramukut had, by his liberality, soft\nspeech, and good looks, made such progress in nurse Lakshmi\u2019s\naffections that, by the advice of his companion, he ventured to\nbroach the subject ever nearest his heart. He begged his hostess,\nwhen she went on the morrow to visit the charming Padmavati, that she\nwould be kind enough to slip a bit of paper into the princess\u2019s hand.\n\n\u2018Son,\u2019 she replied, delighted with the proposal\u2014and what old woman\nwould not be?\u2014\u2018there is no need for putting off so urgent an affair\ntill the morrow. Get your paper ready, and I will immediately give\nit.\u2019\n\nTrembling with pleasure, the prince ran to find his friend, who was\nseated in the garden reading, as usual, and told him what the old\nnurse had engaged to do. He then began to debate about how he should\nwrite his letter, to cull sentences and to weigh phrases; whether\n\u2018light of my eyes\u2019 was not too trite, and \u2018blood of my liver\u2019 rather\ntoo forcible. At this the minister\u2019s son smiled, and bade the prince\nnot trouble his head with composition. He then drew his inkstand from\nhis waist-shawl, nibbed a reed pen, and choosing a piece of pink and\nflowered paper, he wrote upon it a few lines. He then folded it,\ngummed it, sketched a lotus flower upon the outside, and handing it\nto the young prince, told him to give it to their hostess, and that\nall would be well.\n\nThe old woman took her staff in her hand and hobbled straight to\nthe palace. Arrived there, she found the Raja\u2019s daughter sitting\nalone in her apartment. The maiden, seeing her nurse, immediately\narose, and making a respectful bow, led her to a seat and began the\nmost affectionate inquiries. After giving her blessing and sitting\nfor some time and chatting about indifferent matters, the nurse\nsaid, \u2018O daughter! in infancy I reared and nourished thee, now the\nBhagwan (Deity) has rewarded me by giving thee stature, beauty,\nhealth, and goodness. My heart only longs to see the happiness of\nthy womanhood,[58] after which I shall depart in peace. I implore\nthee read this paper, given to me by the handsomest and the properest\nyoung man that my eyes have ever seen.\u2019\n\n  [58] Meaning marriage, maternity, and so forth.\n\nThe princess, glancing at the lotus on the outside of the note,\nslowly unfolded it and perused its contents, which were as follows:\n\n                    1.\n    She was to me the pearl that clings\n      To sands all hid from mortal sight,\n    Yet fit for diadems of kings,\n      The pure and lovely light.\n\n                    2.\n    She was to me the gleam of sun\n      That breaks the gloom of wintry day;\n    One moment shone my soul upon,\n      Then passed\u2014how soon!\u2014away.\n\n                    3.\n    She was to me the dreams of bliss\n      That float the dying eyes before,\n    For one short hour shed happiness,\n      And fly to bless no more.\n\n                    4.\n    O light, again upon me shine;\n      O pearl, again delight my eyes;\n    O dreams of bliss, again be mine!\u2014\n      No! earth may not be Paradise.\n\nI must not forget to remark, parenthetically, that the minister\u2019s\nson, in order to make these lines generally useful, had provided them\nwith a last stanza in triplicate. \u2018For lovers,\u2019 he said sagely, \u2018are\neither in the optative mood, the desperative, or the exultative.\u2019\nThis time he had used the optative. For the desperative he would\nsubstitute:\n\n                    4.\n    The joys of life lie dead, lie dead,\n      The light of day is quenched in gloom;\n    The spark of hope my heart hath fled\u2014\n      What now withholds me from the tomb?\n\nAnd this was the termination exultative, as he called it:\n\n                    4.\n    O joy! the pearl is mine again,\n      Once more the day is bright and clear,\n    And now \u2019tis real, then \u2019twas vain,\n      My dream of bliss\u2014O heaven is here!\n\nThe Princess Padmavati having perused this doggrel with a\ncontemptuous look, tore off the first word of the last line, and\nsaid to the nurse, angrily, \u2018Get thee gone, O mother of Yama,[59]\nO unfortunate creature, and take back this answer\u2019\u2014giving her the\nscrap of paper\u2014\u2018to the fool who writes such bad verses. I wonder\nwhere he studied the humanities. Begone, and never do such an action\nagain!\u2019\n\n  [59] Yama is Pluto; \u2018mother of Yama\u2019 is generally applied to an\n  old scold.\n\nThe old nurse, distressed at being so treated, rose up and returned\nhome. Vajramukut was too agitated to await her arrival, so he went\nto meet her on the way. Imagine his disappointment when she gave\nhim the fatal word and repeated to him exactly what happened, not\nforgetting to describe a single look! He felt tempted to plunge his\nsword into his bosom; but Fortune interfered, and sent him to consult\nhis confidant.\n\n\u2018Be not so hasty and desperate, my prince,\u2019 said the pradhan\u2019s son,\nseeing his wild grief; \u2018you have not understood her meaning. Later in\nlife you will be aware of the fact that, in nine cases out of ten,\na woman\u2019s \u201cno\u201d is a distinct \u201cyes.\u201d This morning\u2019s work has been\ngood; the maiden asked where you learned the humanities, which being\ninterpreted signifies \u201cWho are you?\u201d\u2019\n\nOn the next day the prince disclosed his rank to old Lakshmi, who\nnaturally declared that she had always known it. The trust they\nreposed in her made her ready to address Padmavati once more on\nthe forbidden subject. So she again went to the palace, and having\nlovingly greeted her nursling, said to her, \u2018The Raja\u2019s son, whose\nheart thou didst fascinate on the brim of the tank, on the fifth day\nof the moon, in the light half of the month Yeth, has come to my\nhouse, and sends this message to thee: \u201cPerform what you promised;\nwe have now come;\u201d and I also tell thee that this prince is worthy\nof thee: just as thou art beautiful, so is he endowed with all good\nqualities of mind and body.\u2019\n\nWhen Padmavati heard this speech she showed great anger, and, rubbing\nsandal on her beautiful hands, she slapped the old woman\u2019s cheeks,\nand cried, \u2018Wretch, Daina (witch)! get out of my house; did I not\nforbid thee to talk such folly in my presence?\u2019\n\nThe lover and the nurse were equally distressed at having taken the\nadvice of the young minister, till he explained what the crafty\ndamsel meant. \u2018When she smeared the sandal on her ten fingers,\u2019 he\nexplained, \u2018and struck the old woman on the face, she signified that\nwhen the remaining ten moonlight nights shall have passed away she\nwill meet you in the dark.\u2019 At the same time he warned his master\nthat to all appearances the lady Padmavati was far too clever to make\na comfortable wife. The minister\u2019s son especially hated talented,\nintellectual, and strong-minded women: he had been heard to describe\nthe torments of Naglok[60] as the compulsory companionship of a\npolemical divine and a learned authoress, well stricken in years and\nof forbidding aspect, as such persons mostly are. Amongst womankind\nhe admired\u2014theoretically, as became a philosopher\u2014the small,\nplump, laughing, chattering, unintellectual, and material-minded.\nAnd therefore\u2014excuse the digression, Raja Vikram\u2014he married an\nold maid, tall, thin, yellow, strictly proper, cold-mannered, a\nconversationist, and who prided herself upon spirituality. But more\nwonderful still, after he did marry her, he actually loved her\u2014what\nan incomprehensible being is man in these matters!\n\n  [60] Snake-land; the infernal region.\n\nTo return, however. The pradhan\u2019s son, who detected certain symptoms\nof strong-mindedness in the Princess Padmavati, advised his lord to\nbe wise whilst wisdom availed him. This sage counsel was, as might be\nguessed, most ungraciously rejected by him for whose benefit it was\nintended. Then the sensible young statesman rated himself soundly for\nhaving broken his father\u2019s rule touching advice, and atoned for it by\nblindly forwarding the views of his master.\n\nAfter the ten nights of moonlight had passed, the old nurse was again\nsent to the palace with the usual message. This time Padmavati put\nsaffron on three of her fingers, and again left their marks on the\nnurse\u2019s cheek. The minister\u2019s son explained that this was to crave\ndelay for three days, and that on the fourth the lover would have\naccess to her.\n\nWhen the time had passed the old woman again went and inquired after\nher health and well-being. The princess was as usual very wroth, and\nhaving personally taken her nurse to the western gate, she called her\n\u2018Mother of the elephant\u2019s trunk,\u2019[61] and drove her out with threats\nof the bastinado if she ever came back. This was reported to the\nyoung statesman, who, after a few minutes\u2019 consideration, said, \u2018The\nexplanation of this matter is, that she has invited you to-morrow, at\nnight-time, to meet her at this very gate.\u2019\n\n  [61] A form of abuse given to Durga, who was the mother of\n  Ganesha (Janus); the latter had an elephant\u2019s head.\n\nWhen brown shadows fell upon the face of earth, and here and there a\nstar spangled the pale heavens, the minister\u2019s son called Vajramukut,\nwho had been engaged in adorning himself at least half that day. He\nhad carefully shaved his cheeks and chin; his mustachio was trimmed\nand curled; he had arched his eyebrows by plucking out with tweezers\nthe fine hairs around them; he had trained his curly musk-coloured\nlove-locks to hang gracefully down his face; he had drawn broad lines\nof antimony along his eyelids, a most brilliant sectarian mark was\naffixed to his forehead, the colour of his lips had been heightened\nby chewing betel-nut\u2014\u2014\n\n\u2018One would imagine that you are talking of a silly girl, not of a\nprince, fiend!\u2019 interrupted Vikram, who did not wish his son to hear\nwhat he called these fopperies and frivolities.\n\n\u2014\u2014and whitened his neck by having it shaved (continued the\nBaital, speaking quickly, as if determined not to be interrupted),\nand reddened the tips of his ears by squeezing them, and made his\nteeth shine by rubbing copper powder into the roots, and set off\nthe delicacy of his fingers by staining the tips with henna. He had\nnot been less careful of his dress: he wore a well-arranged turban,\nwhich had taken him at least two hours to bind, and a rich suit of\nbrown stuff chosen for the adventure he was about to attempt, and he\nhung about his person a number of various weapons, so as to appear a\nhero\u2014which young damsels admire.\n\nVajramukut asked his friend how he looked, and smiled happily when\nthe other replied \u2018Admirable!\u2019 His happiness was so great that he\nfeared it might not last, and he asked the minister\u2019s son how best to\nconduct himself?\n\n\u2018As a conqueror, my prince!\u2019 answered that astute young man, \u2018if it\nso be that you would be one. When you wish to win a woman, always\nimpose upon her. Tell her that you are her master, and she will\nforthwith believe herself to be your servant. Inform her that she\nloves you, and forthwith she will adore you. Show her that you care\nnothing for her, and she will think of nothing but you. Prove to her\nby your demeanour that you consider her a slave, and she will become\nyour pariah. But above all things\u2014excuse me if I repeat myself too\noften\u2014beware of the fatal virtue which men call modesty and women\nsheepishness. Recollect the trouble it has given us, and the danger\nwhich we have incurred; all this might have been managed at a tank\nwithin fifteen miles of your royal father\u2019s palace. And allow me to\nsay that you may still thank your stars; in love a lost opportunity\nis seldom if ever recovered. The time to woo a woman is the moment\nyou meet her, before she has had time to think; allow her the use of\nreflection and she may escape the net. And after avoiding the rock of\nModesty, fall not, I conjure you, into the gulf of Security. I fear\nthe lady Padmavati, she is too clever and too prudent. When damsels\nof her age draw the sword of Love, they throw away the scabbard of\nPrecaution. But you yawn\u2014I weary you\u2014it is time for us to move.\u2019\n\nTwo watches of the night had passed, and there was profound stillness\non earth. The young men then walked quietly through the shadows,\ntill they reached the western gate of the palace, and found the\nwicket ajar. The minister\u2019s son peeped in and saw the porter dozing,\nstately as a Brahman deep in the Vedas, and behind him stood a veiled\nwoman seemingly waiting for somebody. He then returned on tiptoe to\nthe place where he had left his master, and with a parting caution\nagainst modesty and security, bade him fearlessly glide through the\nwicket. Then having stayed a short time at the gate listening with\nanxious ear, he went back to the old woman\u2019s house.\n\nVajramukut penetrating to the staircase, felt his hand grasped by the\nveiled figure, who motioning him to tread lightly, led him quickly\nforwards. They passed under several arches, through dim passages and\ndark doorways, till at last running up a flight of stone steps they\nreached the apartments of the princess.\n\nVajramukut was nearly fainting as the flood of splendour broke upon\nhim. Recovering himself he gazed around the rooms, and presently\na tumult of delight invaded his soul, and his body bristled with\njoy.[62] The scene was that of fairyland. Golden censers exhaled\nthe most costly perfumes, and gemmed vases bore the most beautiful\nflowers; silver lamps containing fragrant oil illuminated doors whose\npanels were wonderfully decorated, and walls adorned with pictures\nin which such figures were formed that on seeing them the beholder\nwas enchanted. On one side of the room stood a bed of flowers and a\ncouch covered with brocade of gold, and strewed with freshly-culled\njasmine flowers. On the other side, arranged in proper order, were\nattar-holders, betel-boxes, rose-water bottles, trays, and silver\ncases with four partitions for essences compounded of rose-leaves,\nsugar, and spices, prepared sandal wood, saffron, and pods of musk.\nScattered about a stuccoed floor white as crystal, were coloured\ncaddies of exquisite confections, and in others sweetmeats of various\nkinds.[63] Female attendants clothed in dresses of various colours\nwere standing each according to her rank, with hands respectfully\njoined. Some were reading plays and beautiful poems, others danced\nand others performed with glittering fingers and flashing arms on\nvarious instruments\u2014the ivory lute, the ebony pipe, and the silver\nkettledrum. In short, all the means and appliances of pleasure and\nenjoyment were there; and any description of the appearance of the\napartments, which were the wonder of the age, is impossible.\n\n  [62] Unexpected pleasure, according to the Hindus, gives a\n  bristly elevation to the down of the body.\n\n  [63] The Hindus banish \u2018flasks,\u2019 et hoc genus omne, from these\n  scenes, and perhaps they are right.\n\nThen another veiled figure, the beautiful Princess Padmavati, came\nup and disclosed herself, and dazzled the eyes of her delighted\nVajramukut. She led him into an alcove, made him sit down, rubbed\nsandal powder upon his body, hung a garland of jasmine flowers round\nhis neck, sprinkled rose-water over his dress, and began to wave over\nhis head a fan of peacock feathers with a golden handle.\n\nSaid the prince, who despite all efforts could not entirely shake\noff his unhappy habit of being modest, \u2018Those very delicate hands\nof yours are not fit to ply the pankha.[64] Why do you take so much\ntrouble? I am cool and refreshed by the sight of you. Do give the fan\nto me and sit down.\u2019\n\n  [64] The Pankha, or large common fan, is a leaf of the Corypha\n  umbraculifera, with the petiole cut to the length of about five\n  feet, pared round the edges and painted to look pretty. It is\n  waved by the servant standing behind a chair.\n\n\u2018Nay, great king!\u2019 replied Padmavati, with the most fascinating of\nsmiles, \u2018you have taken so much trouble for my sake in coming here,\nit is right that I perform service for you.\u2019\n\nUpon which her favourite slave, taking the pankha from the hand\nof the princess, exclaimed, \u2018This is my duty. I will perform the\nservice; do you two enjoy yourselves!\u2019\n\nThe lovers then began to chew betel, which, by the bye, they disposed\nof in little agate boxes which they drew from their pockets, and they\nwere soon engaged in the tenderest conversation.\n\nHere the Baital paused for a while, probably to take breath. Then he\nresumed his tale as follows:\n\nIn the meantime, it became dawn; the princess concealed him; and when\nnight returned they again engaged in the same innocent pleasures.\nThus day after day sped rapidly by. Imagine, if you can, the youth\u2019s\nfelicity; he was of an ardent temperament, deeply enamoured, barely\na score of years old, and he had been strictly brought up by serious\nparents. He therefore resigned himself entirely to the siren for\nwhom he willingly forgot the world, and he wondered at his good\nfortune, which had thrown in his way a conquest richer than all the\nmines of Meru.[65] He could not sufficiently admire his Padmavati\u2019s\ngrace, beauty, bright wit, and numberless accomplishments. Every\nmorning, for vanity\u2019s sake, he learned from her a little useless\nknowledge in verse as well as prose, for instance, the saying of the\npoet\u2014\n\n    Enjoy the present hour, \u2018tis thine; be this, O man, thy law;\n    Who e\u2019er resaw the yester? Who the morrow e\u2019er foresaw?\n\nAnd this highly philosophical axiom\u2014\n\n    Eat, drink, and love\u2014the rest\u2019s not worth a fillip.\n\n  [65] The fabulous mass of precious stones forming the sacred\n  mountain of Hindu mythology.\n\n\u2018By means of which he hoped, Raja Vikram!\u2019 said the demon, not\nheeding his royal carrier\u2019s \u2018ughs\u2019 and \u2018poohs,\u2019 \u2018to become in course\nof time almost as clever as his mistress.\u2019\n\nPadmavati, being, as you have seen, a maiden of superior mind, was\nnaturally more smitten by her lover\u2019s dulness than by any other of\nhis qualities; she adored it, it was such a contrast to herself.[66]\nAt first she did what many clever women do\u2014she invested him with the\nbrightness of her own imagination. Still water, she pondered, runs\ndeep; certainly under this disguise must lurk a brilliant fancy, a\npenetrating but a mature and ready judgment\u2014are they not written by\nnature\u2019s hand on that broad high brow? With such lovely mustachios\ncan he be aught but generous, noble-minded, magnanimous? Can such\neyes belong to any but a hero? And she fed the delusion. She would\nsmile upon him with intense fondness, when, after wasting hours over\na few lines of poetry, he would misplace all the adjectives and\nbarbarously entreat the metre. She laughed with gratification, when,\nexcited by the bright sayings that fell from her lips, the youth\nput forth some platitude, dim as the lamp in the expiring fire-fly.\nWhen he slipped in grammar she saw malice under it, when he retailed\na borrowed jest she called it a good one, and when he used\u2014as\nprinces sometimes will\u2014bad language, she discovered in it a charming\nsimplicity.\n\n  [66] \u2018I love my love with an \u201cS,\u201d because he is stupid and not\n  psychological.\u2019\n\nAt first she suspected that the stratagems which had won her heart\nwere the results of a deep-laid plot proceeding from her lover. But\nclever women are apt to be rarely sharp-sighted in every matter which\nconcerns themselves. She frequently determined that a third was in\nthe secret. She therefore made no allusion to it. Before long the\nenamoured Vajramukut had told her everything, beginning with the\ndiatribe against love pronounced by the minister\u2019s son, and ending\nwith the solemn warning that she, the pretty princess, would some day\nor other play her husband a foul trick.\n\n\u2018If I do not revenge myself upon _him_,\u2019 thought the beautiful\nPadmavati, smiling like an angel as she listened to the youth\u2019s\nconfidence, \u2018may I become a gardener\u2019s ass in the next birth!\u2019\n\nHaving thus registered a vow, she broke silence, and praised to the\nskies the young pradhan\u2019s wisdom and sagacity; professed herself\nready from gratitude to become his slave, and only hoped that one\nday or other she might meet that true friend by whose skill her soul\nhad been gratified in its dearest desire. \u2018Only,\u2019 she concluded, \u2018I\nam convinced that now my Vajramukut knows every corner of his little\nPadmavati\u2019s heart, he will never expect her to do anything but love,\nadmire, adore and kiss him!\u2019 Then suiting the action to the word, she\nconvinced him that the young minister had for once been too crabbed\nand cynic in his philosophy.\n\nBut after the lapse of a month Vajramukut, who had eaten and drunk\nand slept a great deal too much, and who had not once hunted, became\nbilious in body and in mind melancholic. His face turned yellow, and\nso did the whites of his eyes; he yawned, as liver patients generally\ndo, complained occasionally of sick headaches, and lost his appetite;\nhe became restless and anxious, and once when alone at night he thus\nthought aloud: \u2018I have given up country, throne, home, and everything\nelse, but the friend by means of whom this happiness was obtained I\nhave not seen for the long length of thirty days. What will he say to\nhimself, and how can I know what has happened to him?\u2019\n\nIn this state of things he was sitting, and in the meantime the\nbeautiful princess arrived. She saw through the matter, and lost\nnot a moment in entering upon it. She began by expressing her\nastonishment at her lover\u2019s fickleness and fondness for change, and\nwhen he was ready to wax wroth, and quoted the words of the sage,\n\u2018A barren wife may be superseded by another in the eighth year;\nshe whose children all die, in the tenth; she who brings forth\nonly daughters, in the eleventh; she who scolds, without delay,\u2019\nthinking that she alluded to his love, she smoothed his temper by\nexplaining that she referred to his forgetting his friend. \u2018How is\nit possible, O my soul,\u2019 she asked with the softest of voices, \u2018that\nthou canst enjoy happiness here whilst thy heart is wandering there?\nWhy didst thou conceal this from me, O astute one? Was it for fear\nof distressing me? Think better of thy wife than to suppose that she\nwould ever separate thee from one to whom we both owe so much!\u2019\n\nAfter this Padmavati advised, nay ordered, her lover to go forth that\nnight, and not to return till his mind was quite at ease, and she\nbegged him to take a few sweetmeats and other trifles as a little\ntoken of her admiration and regard for the clever young man of whom\nshe had heard so much.\n\nVajramukut embraced her with a transport of gratitude, which so\ninflamed her anger that, fearing lest the cloak of concealment might\nfall from her countenance, she went away hurriedly to find the\ngreatest delicacies which her comfit boxes contained. Presently she\nreturned, carrying a bag of sweetmeats of every kind for her lover,\nand as he rose up to depart, she put into his hand a little parcel\nof sugar-plums especially intended for the friend; they were made up\nwith her own delicate fingers, and they would please, she flattered\nherself, even his discriminating palate.\n\nThe young prince, after enduring a number of farewell embraces and\nhopings for a speedy return, and last words ever beginning again,\npassed safely through the palace gate, and with a relieved aspect\nwalked briskly to the house of the old nurse. Although it was\nmidnight his friend was still sitting on his mat.\n\nThe two young men fell upon one another\u2019s bosoms and embraced\naffectionately. Then they began to talk of matters nearest their\nhearts. The Raja\u2019s son wondered at seeing the jaded and haggard looks\nof his companion, who did not disguise that they were caused by his\nanxiety as to what might have happened to his friend at the hand of\nso talented and so superior a princess. Upon which Vajramukut, who\nnow thought Padmavati an angel, and his late abode a heaven, remarked\nwith formality\u2014and two blunders to one quotation\u2014that abilities\nproperly directed win for a man the happiness of both worlds.\n\nThe pradhan\u2019s son rolled his head.\n\n\u2018Again on your hobby-horse, nagging at talent whenever you find it\nin others!\u2019 cried the young prince with a pun, which would have\ndelighted Padmavati. \u2018Surely you are jealous of her!\u2019 he resumed,\nanything but pleased with the dead silence that had received his\njoke; \u2018jealous of her cleverness, and of her love for me. She is the\nvery best creature in the world. Even you, woman-hater as you are,\nwould own it if you only knew all the kind messages she sent, and\nthe little pleasant surprise she has prepared for you. There! take\nand eat; they are made by her own dear hands!\u2019 cried the young Raja,\nproducing the sweetmeats. \u2018As she herself taught me to say\u2014\n\n          Thank God I am a man,\n    Not a philosopher!\u2019\n\n\u2018The kind messages she sent me! The pleasant surprise she has\nprepared for me!\u2019 repeated the minister\u2019s son in a hard, dry tone.\n\u2018My lord will be pleased to tell me how she heard of my name?\u2019\n\n\u2018I was sitting one night,\u2019 replied the prince, \u2018in anxious thought\nabout you, when at that moment the princess coming in and seeing my\ncondition, asked, \u201cWhy are you thus sad? Explain the cause to me.\u201d\nI then gave her an account of your cleverness, and when she had\nheard it she gave me permission to go and see you, and sent these\nsweetmeats for you: eat them and I shall be pleased.\u2019\n\n\u2018Great king!\u2019 rejoined the young statesman, \u2018one, thing vouchsafe\nto hear from me. You have not done well in that you have told my\nname. You should never let a woman think that your left hand knows\nthe secret which she confided to your right, much less that you have\nshared it to a third person. Secondly, you did evil in allowing her\nto see the affection with which you honour your unworthy servant\u2014a\nwoman ever hates her lover\u2019s or husband\u2019s friend.\u2019\n\n\u2018What could I do?\u2019 rejoined the young Raja, in a querulous tone of\nvoice. \u2018When I love a woman I like to tell her everything\u2014to have no\nsecrets from her\u2014to consider her another self\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018Which habit,\u2019 interrupted the pradhan\u2019s son, \u2018you will lose when you\nare a little older, when you recognise the fact that love is nothing\nbut a bout, a game of skill between two individuals of opposite\nsexes: the one seeking to gain as much, and the other striving to\nlose as little, as possible; and that the sharper of the twain thus\nmet on the chess-board must, in the long run, win. And reticence is\nbut a habit. Practise it for a year, and you will find it harder\nto betray than to conceal your thoughts. It hath its joys also. Is\nthere no pleasure, think you, when suppressing an outbreak of tender\nbut fatal confidence, in saying to yourself, \u201cO, if she only knew\nthis?\u201d \u201cO, if she did but suspect that?\u201d Returning, however, to the\nsugar-plums, my life to a pariah\u2019s that they are poisoned!\u2019\n\n[Illustration: Having said this, he threw one of the sweetmeats to\nthe dog.]\n\n\u2018Impossible!\u2019 exclaimed the prince, horror-struck at the thought;\n\u2018what you say, surely no one ever could do. If a mortal fears not his\nfellow-mortal, at least he dreads the Deity.\u2019\n\n\u2018I never yet knew,\u2019 rejoined the other, \u2018what a woman in love does\nfear. However, prince, the trial is easy. Come here, Muti!\u2019 cried\nhe to the old woman\u2019s dog, \u2018and off with thee to that three-headed\nkinsman of thine, that attends upon his amiable-looking master.\u2019[67]\n\n  [67] Hindu mythology has also its Cerberus, Trisisa, the\n  \u2018three-headed\u2019 hound that attends dreadful Yama (Pluto).\n\nHaving said this, he threw one of the sweetmeats to the dog; the\nanimal ate it, and presently writhing and falling down, died.\n\n\u2018The wretch! O the wretch!\u2019 cried Vajramukut, transported with wonder\nand anger. \u2018And I loved her! But now it is all over, I dare not\nassociate with such a calamity!\u2019\n\n\u2018What has happened, my lord, has happened!\u2019 quoth the minister\u2019s son\ncalmly. \u2018I was prepared for something of this kind from so talented\na princess. None commit such mistakes, such blunders, such follies\nas your clever women; they cannot even turn out a crime decently\nexecuted. O give me dulness with one idea, one aim, one desire. O\nthrice blest dulness that combines with happiness, power.\u2019\n\nThis time Vajramukut did not defend talent.\n\n\u2018And your slave did his best to warn you against perfidy. But now\nmy heart is at rest. I have tried her strength. She has attempted\nand failed; the defeat will prevent her attempting again\u2014just yet.\nBut let me ask you to put to yourself one question. Can you be happy\nwithout her?\u2019\n\n\u2018Brother!\u2019 replied the prince, after a pause, \u2018I cannot;\u2019 and he\nblushed as he made the avowal.\n\n\u2018Well,\u2019 replied the other, \u2018better confess than conceal that fact;\nwe must now meet her on the battlefield, and beat her at her own\nweapons\u2014cunning. I do not willingly begin treachery with women,\nbecause, in the first place, I don\u2019t like it; and secondly, I know\nthat they will certainly commence practising it upon me, after which\nI hold myself justified in deceiving them. And probably this will be\na good wife; remember that she intended to poison me, not you. During\nthe last month my fear has been lest my prince had run into the\ntiger\u2019s brake. Tell me, my lord, when does the princess expect you to\nreturn to her?\u2019\n\n\u2018She bade me,\u2019 said the young Raja, \u2018not return till my mind was\nquite at ease upon the subject of my talented friend.\u2019\n\n\u2018This means that she expects you back to-morrow night, as you cannot\nenter the palace before. And now I will retire to my cot, as it is\nthere that I am wont to ponder over my plans. Before dawn my thought\nshall mature one which must place the beautiful Padmavati in your\npower.\u2019\n\n\u2018A word before parting,\u2019 exclaimed the prince: \u2018you know my father\nhas already chosen a spouse for me; what will he say if I bring home\na second?\u2019\n\n\u2018In my humble opinion,\u2019 said the minister\u2019s son, rising to retire,\n\u2018woman is a monogamous, man a polygamous creature, a fact scarcely\nestablished in physiological theory, but very observable in everyday\npractice. For what said the poet?\u2014\n\n    Divorce, friend! Re-wed thee! The spring draweth near,[68]\n    And a wife\u2019s but an almanac\u2014good for the year.\n\nIf your royal father say anything to you, refer him to what he\nhimself does.\u2019\n\n  [68] Parceque c\u2019est la saison des amours.\n\nReassured by these words, Vajramukut bade his friend a cordial\ngood-night and sought his cot, where he slept soundly, despite the\nemotions of the last few hours. The next day passed somewhat slowly.\nIn the evening, when accompanying his master to the palace, the\nminister\u2019s son gave him the following directions.\n\n\u2018Our object, dear my lord, is how to obtain possession of the\nprincess. Take, then, this trident, and hide it carefully, when\nyou see her show the greatest love and affection. Conceal what has\nhappened, and when she, wondering at your calmness, asks about me,\ntell her that last night I was weary and out of health, that illness\nprevented my eating her sweetmeats, but that I shall eat them for\nsupper to-night. When she goes to sleep, then, taking off her jewels\nand striking her left leg with the trident, instantly come away\nto me. But should she lie awake, rub upon your thumb a little of\nthis\u2014do not fear, it is only a powder of grubs fed on verdigris\u2014and\napply it to her nostrils. It would make an elephant senseless, so be\ncareful how you approach it to your own face.\u2019\n\nVajramukut embraced his friend, and passed safely through the palace\ngate. He found Padmavati awaiting him; she fell upon his bosom and\nlooked into his eyes, and deceived herself, as clever women will do.\nOverpowered by her joy and satisfaction, she now felt certain that\nher lover was hers eternally, and that her treachery had not been\ndiscovered; so the beautiful princess fell into a deep sleep.\n\nThen Vajramukut lost no time in doing as the minister\u2019s son had\nadvised, and slipped out of the room, carrying off Padmavati\u2019s jewels\nand ornaments. His counsellor having inspected them, took up a sack\nand made signs to his master to follow him. Leaving the horses and\nbaggage at the nurse\u2019s house, they walked to a burning-place outside\nthe city. The minister\u2019s son there buried his dress, together with\nthat of the prince, and drew from the sack the costume of a religious\nascetic: he assumed this himself, and gave to his companion that\nof a disciple. Then quoth the guru (spiritual preceptor) to his\nchela (pupil), \u2018Go, youth, to the bazaar, and sell these jewels,\nremembering to let half the jewellers in the place see the things,\nand if any one lay hold of thee, bring him to me.\u2019\n\nUpon which, as day had dawned, Vajramukut carried the princess\u2019s\nornaments to the market, and entering the nearest goldsmith\u2019s shop,\noffered to sell them, and asked what they were worth. As your majesty\nwell knows, gardeners, tailors, and goldsmiths are proverbially\ndishonest, and this man was no exception to the rule. He looked at\nthe pupil\u2019s face and wondered, because he had brought articles whose\nvalue he did not appear to know. A thought struck him that he might\nmake a bargain which would fill his coffers, so he offered about\na thousandth part of the price. This the pupil rejected, because\nhe wished the affair to go further. Then the goldsmith, seeing him\nabout to depart, sprang up and stood in the doorway, threatening to\ncall the officers of justice if the young man refused to give up\nthe valuables which he said had lately been stolen from his shop.\nAs the pupil only laughed at this, the goldsmith thought seriously\nof executing his threat, hesitating only because he knew that the\nofficers of justice would gain more than he could by that proceeding.\nAs he was still in doubt a shadow darkened his shop, and in entered\nthe chief jeweller of the city. The moment the ornaments were shown\nto him he recognised them, and said, \u2018These jewels belong to Raja\nDantawat\u2019s daughter; I know them well, as I set them only a few\nmonths ago!\u2019 Then he turned to the disciple, who still held the\nvaluables in his hand, and cried, \u2018Tell me truly whence you received\nthem.\u2019\n\nWhile they were thus talking, a crowd of ten or twenty persons had\ncollected, and at length the report reached the superintendent of\nthe archers. He sent a soldier to bring before him the pupil, the\ngoldsmith, and the chief jeweller, together with the ornaments. And\nwhen all were in the hall of justice, he looked at the jewels and\nsaid to the young man, \u2018Tell me truly, whence have you obtained\nthese?\u2019\n\n\u2018My spiritual preceptor,\u2019 said Vajramukut, pretending great fear,\n\u2018who is now worshipping in the cemetery outside the town, gave me\nthese white stones, with an order to sell them. How know I whence he\nobtained them? Dismiss me, my lord, for I am an innocent man.\u2019\n\n\u2018Let the ascetic be sent for,\u2019 commanded the kotwal.[69] Then, having\ntaken both of them, along with the jewels, into the presence of King\nDantawat, he related the whole circumstances.\n\n  [69] The police magistrate, the Catual of Camoens.\n\n\u2018Master!\u2019 said the king on hearing the statement, \u2018whence have you\nobtained these jewels?\u2019\n\nThe spiritual preceptor, before deigning an answer, pulled from\nunder his arm the hide of a black antelope, which he spread out and\nsmoothed deliberately before using it as an asan.[70] He then began\nto finger a rosary of beads each as large as an egg, and after\nspending nearly an hour in mutterings and in rollings of the head, he\nlooked fixedly at the Raja, and replied:\n\n  [70] The seat of a Hindu ascetic.\n\n\u2018By Shiva! great king, they are mine own! On the fourteenth of\nthe dark half of the moon at night, I had gone into a place where\ndead bodies are burned, for the purpose of accomplishing a witch\u2019s\nincantation. After long and toilsome labour she appeared, but her\ndemeanour was so unruly that I was forced to chastise her. I struck\nher with this, my trident, on the left leg, if memory serves me. As\nshe continued to be refractory, in order to punish her I took off all\nher jewels and clothes, and told her to go where she pleased. Even\nthis had little effect upon her\u2014never have I looked upon so perverse\na witch. In this way the jewels came into my possession.\u2019\n\nRaja Dantawat was stunned by these words. He begged the ascetic\nnot to leave the palace for a while, and forthwith walked into the\nprivate apartments of the women. Happening first to meet the queen\ndowager, he said to her, \u2018Go, without losing a minute, O my mother,\nand look at Padmavati\u2019s left leg, and see if there is a mark or\nnot, and what sort of a mark!\u2019 Presently she returned, and coming\nto the king said, \u2018Son, I find thy daughter lying upon her bed,\nand complaining that she has met with an accident; and, indeed,\nPadmavati must be in great pain. I found that some sharp instrument\nwith three points had wounded her. The girl says that a nail hurt\nher, but I never yet heard of a nail making three holes. However, we\nmust all hasten, or there will be erysipelas, tumefaction, gangrene,\nmortification, amputation, and perhaps death in the house,\u2019 concluded\nthe old queen, hurrying away in the pleasing anticipation of these\nghastly consequences.\n\nFor a moment King Dantawat\u2019s heart was ready to break. But he was\naccustomed to master his feelings; he speedily applied the reins\nof reflection to the wild steed of passion. He thought to himself,\n\u2018the affairs of one\u2019s household, the intentions of one\u2019s heart, and\nwhatever one\u2019s losses may be, should not be disclosed to any one.\nSince Padmavati is a witch, she is no longer my daughter. I will\nverily go forth and consult the spiritual preceptor.\u2019\n\nWith these words the king went outside, where the guru was still\nsitting upon his black hide, making marks with his trident on the\nfloor. Having requested that the pupil might be sent away, and having\ncleared the room, he said to the jogi, \u2018O holy man! what punishment\nfor the heinous crime of witchcraft is awarded to a woman in the\nDharma-Shastra?\u2019[71]\n\n  [71] The Hindu scriptures.\n\n\u2018Great king!\u2019 replied the devotee, \u2018in the Dharma-Shastra it is\nthus written: \u201cIf a Brahman, a cow, a woman, a child, or any other\nperson whatsoever, who may be dependent on us, should be guilty\nof a perfidious act, their punishment is that they be banished the\ncountry.\u201d However much they may deserve death, we must not spill\ntheir blood, as Lakshmi[72] flies in horror from the deed.\u2019\n\n  [72] The Goddess of Prosperity.\n\nHearing these words the Raja dismissed the guru with many thanks and\nlarge presents. He waited till nightfall and then ordered a band of\ntrusty men to seize Padmavati without alarming the household, and to\ncarry her into a distant jungle full of fiends, tigers, and bears,\nand there to abandon her.\n\n[Illustration: Mounting their horses, followed the party.]\n\nIn the meantime, the ascetic and his pupil, hurrying to the cemetery,\nresumed their proper dresses; they then went to the old nurse\u2019s\nhouse, rewarded her hospitality till she wept bitterly, girt on\ntheir weapons, and mounting their horses, followed the party which\nissued from the gate of King Dantawat\u2019s palace. And it may easily be\nbelieved that they found little difficulty in persuading the poor\ngirl to exchange her chance in the wild jungle for the prospect of\nbecoming Vajramukut\u2019s wife\u2014lawfully wedded\u2014at Benares. She did not\neven ask if she was to have a rival in the house,\u2014a question which\nwomen, you know, never neglect to put under usual circumstances.\nAfter some days the two pilgrims of one love arrived at the house of\ntheir fathers, and to all, both great and small, excess in joy came.\n\n\u2018Now, Raja Vikram!\u2019 said the Baital, \u2018you have not spoken much;\ndoubtless you are engrossed by the interest of a story wherein a man\nbeats a woman at her own weapon\u2014deceit. But I warn you that you will\nassuredly fall into Narak (the infernal regions) if you do not make\nup your mind upon and explain this matter. Who was the most to blame\namongst these four? the lover,[73] the lover\u2019s friend, the girl, or\nthe father?\u2019\n\n  [73] In the original the lover is not blamed; this would be the\n  Hindu view of the matter; we might be tempted to think of the old\n  injunction not to seethe a kid in the mother\u2019s milk.\n\n\u2018For my part I think Padmavati was the worst, _she_ being at the\nbottom of all their troubles,\u2019 cried Dharma Dhwaj. The king said\nsomething about young people and the two senses of seeing and\nhearing, but his son\u2019s sentiment was so sympathetic that he at\nonce pardoned the interruption. At length, determined to do justice\ndespite himself, Vikram said, \u2018Raja Dantawat is the person most at\nfault.\u2019\n\n\u2018In what way was he at fault?\u2019 asked the Baital curiously.\n\nKing Vikram gave him this reply: \u2018The Prince Vajramukut being\ntempted of the love-god was insane, and therefore not responsible\nfor his actions. The minister\u2019s son performed his master\u2019s business\nobediently, without considering causes or asking questions\u2014a very\nexcellent quality in a dependant who is merely required to do as he\nis bid. With respect to the young woman, I have only to say that she\nwas a young woman, and thereby of necessity a possible murderess. But\nthe Raja, a prince, a man of a certain age and experience, a father\nof eight! He ought never to have been deceived by so shallow a trick,\nnor should he, without reflection, have banished his daughter from\nthe country.\u2019\n\n\u2018Gramercy to you!\u2019 cried the Vampire, bursting into a discordant\nshout of laughter, \u2018I now return to my tree. By my tail! I never yet\nheard a Raja so readily condemn a Raja.\u2019\n\nWith these words he slipped out of the cloth, leaving it to hang\nempty over the great king\u2019s shoulder.\n\nVikram stood for a moment, fixed to the spot with blank dismay.\nPresently, recovering himself, he retraced his steps, followed by\nhis son, ascended the siras-tree, tore down the Baital, packed him up\nas before, and again set out upon his way.\n\nSoon afterwards a voice sounded behind the warrior king\u2019s back, and\nbegan to tell another true story.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S SECOND STORY.\n\nOF THE RELATIVE VILLANY OF MEN AND WOMEN.\n\n\nIn the great city of Bhogavati dwelt, once upon a time, a young\nprince, concerning whom I may say that he strikingly resembled this\namiable son of your majesty.\n\nRaja Vikram was silent, nor did he acknowledge the Baital\u2019s indirect\ncompliment. He hated flattery, but he liked, when flattered, to\nbe flattered in his own person; a feature in their royal patron\u2019s\ncharacter which the Nine Gems of Science had turned to their own\naccount.\n\nNow the young prince Raja Ram (continued the tale teller) had an old\nfather, concerning whom I may say that he was exceedingly unlike your\nRajaship, both as a man and as a parent. He was fond of hunting,\ndicing, sleeping by day, drinking at night, and eating perpetual\ntonics, while he delighted in the idleness of watching nautch girls,\nand the vanity of falling in love. But he was adored by his children\nbecause he took the trouble to win their hearts. He did not lay it\ndown as a law of heaven that his offspring would assuredly go to\nPatala if they neglected the duty of bestowing upon him without\ncause all their affections, as your moral, virtuous, and highly\nrespectable fathers are only too apt\u2014. A\u00efe! a\u00efe!\n\nThese sounds issued from the Vampire\u2019s lips as the warrior king,\nspeechless with wrath, passed his hand behind his back, and viciously\ntwisted up a pinch of the speaker\u2019s skin. This caused the Vampire to\ncry aloud, more however, it would appear, in derision than in real\nsuffering, for he presently proceeded with the same subject.\n\nFathers, great king, may be divided into three kinds; and be it\nsaid aside, that mothers are the same. Firstly, we have the parent\nof many ideas, amusing, pleasant, of course poor, and the idol of\nhis children. Secondly, there is the parent with one idea and a\nhalf. This sort of man would, in your place, say to himself, \u2018That\ndemon-fellow speaks a manner of truth. I am not above learning from\nhim, despite his position in life. I will carry out his theory,\njust to see how far it goes;\u2019 and so saying, he wends his way home,\nand treats his young ones with prodigious kindness for a time, but\nit is not lasting. Thirdly, there is the real one-idea\u2019d type of\nparent\u2014yourself, O warrior king Vikram, an admirable example. You\nlearn in youth what you are taught: for instance, the blessed precept\nthat the green stick is of the trees of Paradise; and in age you\npractise what you have learned. You cannot teach yourselves anything\nbefore your beards sprout, and when they grow stiff you cannot be\ntaught by others. If any one attempt to change your opinions you cry,\n\n    What is new is not true,\n    What is true is not new,\n\nand you rudely pull his hand from the subject. Yet have you your uses\nlike other things of earth. In life you are good working camels for\nthe mill-track, and when you die your ashes are not worse compost\nthan those of the wise.\n\nYour Rajaship will observe (continued the Vampire, as Vikram began\nto show symptoms of ungovernable anger) that I have been concise in\ntreating this digression. Had I not been so, it would have led me far\nindeed from my tale. Now to return.\n\nWhen the old king became air mixed with air, the young king, though\nhe found hardly ten pieces of silver in the paternal treasury and\nlegacies for thousands of golden ounces, yet mourned his loss with\nthe deepest grief. He easily explained to himself the reckless\nemptiness of the royal coffers as a proof of his dear kind parent\u2019s\ngoodness, because he loved him.\n\nBut the old man had left behind him, as he could not carry it\noff with him, a treasure more valuable than gold and silver: one\nChuraman, a parrot, who knew the world, and who besides discoursed in\nthe most correct Sanskrit. By sage counsel and wise guidance this\nadmirable bird soon repaired his young master\u2019s shattered fortunes.\n\nOne day the prince said, \u2018Parrot, thou knowest everything: tell me\nwhere there is a mate fit for me. The shastras inform us, respecting\nthe choice of a wife, \u201cShe who is not descended from his paternal\nor maternal ancestors within the sixth degree is eligible by a high\ncaste man for nuptials. In taking a wife let him studiously avoid the\nfollowing families, be they ever so great, or ever so rich in kine,\ngoats, sheep, gold, or grain: the family which has omitted prescribed\nacts of devotion; that which has produced no male children; that\nin which the Veda (scripture) has not been read; that which has\nthick hair on the body; and that in which members have been subject\nto hereditary disease. Let a person choose for his wife a girl\nwhose person has no defect; who has an agreeable name; who walks\ngracefully, like a young elephant; whose hair and teeth are moderate\nin quantity and in size; and whose body is of exquisite softness.\u201d\u2019\n\n\u2018Great king,\u2019 responded the parrot Churaman, \u2018there is in the country\nof Magadh a Raja, Magadheshwar by name, and he has a daughter called\nChandravati. You will marry her; she is very learned, and, what is\nbetter far, very fair. She is of yellow colour, with a nose like the\nflower of the sesamum; her legs are taper, like the plantain-tree;\nher eyes are large, like the principal leaf of the lotus; her\neyebrows stretch towards her ears; her lips are red, like the young\nleaves of the mango-tree; her face is like the full moon; her voice\nis like the sound of the cuckoo; her arms reach to her knees; her\nthroat is like the pigeon\u2019s; her flanks are thin, like those of the\nlion; her hair hangs in curls only down to her waist; her teeth\nare like the seeds of the pomegranate; and her gait is that of the\ndrunken elephant or the goose.\u2019\n\nOn hearing the parrot\u2019s speech, the king sent for an astrologer,\nand asked him, \u2018Whom shall I marry?\u2019 The wise man, having consulted\nhis art, replied, \u2018Chandravati is the name of the maiden, and your\nmarriage with her will certainly take place.\u2019 Thereupon the young\nRaja, though he had never seen his future queen, became incontinently\nenamoured of her. He summoned a Brahman, and sent him to King\nMagadheshwar, saying, \u2018If you arrange satisfactorily this affair of\nour marriage we will reward you amply\u2019\u2014a promise which lent wings to\nthe priest.\n\nNow it so happened that this talented and beautiful princess had\na jay,[74] whose name was Madan-manjari or Love-garland. She also\npossessed encyclop\u00e6dic knowledge after her degree, and, like the\nparrot, she spoke excellent Sanskrit.\n\n  [74] In the original a \u2018maina\u2019\u2014the Gracula religiosa.\n\nBe it briefly said, O warrior king\u2014for you think that I am talking\nfables\u2014that in the days of old, men had the art of making birds\ndiscourse in human language. The invention is attributed to a great\nphilosopher, who split their tongues, and after many generations\nproduced a selected race born with those members split. He altered\nthe shapes of their skulls by fixing ligatures behind the occiput,\nwhich caused the sinciput to protrude, their eyes to become\nprominent, and their brains to master the art of expressing thoughts\nin words.\n\nBut this wonderful discovery, like those of great philosophers\ngenerally, had in it a terrible practical flaw. The birds beginning\nto speak, spoke wisely and so well, they told the truth so\npersistently, they rebuked their brethren of the featherless skins\nso openly, they flattered them so little and they counselled them so\nmuch, that mankind presently grew tired of hearing them discourse.\nThus the art gradually fell into desuetude, and now it is numbered\nwith the things that were.\n\nOne day the charming Princess Chandravati was sitting in confidential\nconversation with her jay. The dialogue was not remarkable, for\nmaidens in all ages seldom consult their confidantes or speculate\nupon the secrets of futurity, or ask to have dreams interpreted,\nexcept upon one subject. At last the princess said, for perhaps the\nhundredth time that month, \u2018Where, O jay, is there a husband worthy\nof me?\u2019\n\n\u2018Princess,\u2019 replied Madan-manjari, \u2018I am happy at length to be able\nas willing to satisfy your just curiosity. For just it is, though the\ndelicacy of our sex\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018Now, no preaching!\u2019 said the maiden; \u2018or thou shalt have salt\ninstead of sugar for supper.\u2019\n\nJays, your Rajaship, are fond of sugar. So the confidante retained a\nquantity of good advice which she was about to produce, and replied,\n\n\u2018I now see clearly the ways of Fortune. Raja Ram, king of Bhogavati,\nis to be thy husband. He shall be happy in thee and thou in him, for\nhe is young and handsome, rich and generous, good-tempered, not too\nclever, and without a chance of being an invalid.\u2019\n\nThereupon the princess, although she had never seen her future\nhusband, at once began to love him. In fact, though neither had set\neyes upon the other, both were mutually in love.\n\n\u2018How can that be, sire?\u2019 asked the young Dharma Dhwaj of his father.\n\u2018I always thought that\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\nThe great Vikram interrupted his son, and bade him not to ask silly\nquestions. Thus he expected to neutralise the evil effects of the\nBaital\u2019s doctrine touching the amiability of parents unlike himself.\n\nNow, as both these young people (resumed the Baital) were of\nprincely family and well to do in the world, the course of their\nlove was unusually smooth. When the Brahman sent by Raja Ram had\nreached Magadh, and had delivered his king\u2019s homage to the Raja\nMagadheshwar, the latter received him with, distinction, and agreed\nto his proposal. The beautiful princess\u2019s father sent for a Brahman\nof his own, and charging him with nuptial gifts and the customary\npresents, sent him back to Bhogavati in company with the other\nenvoy, and gave him this order, \u2018Greet Raja Ram, on my behalf, and\nafter placing the tilak or mark upon his forehead, return here with\nall speed. When you come back I will get all things ready for the\nmarriage.\u2019\n\nRaja Ram, on receiving the deputation, was greatly pleased, and\nafter generously rewarding the Brahmans and making all the necessary\npreparations, he set out in state for the land of Magadha, to claim\nhis betrothed.\n\nIn due season the ceremony took place with feasting and bands of\nmusic, fireworks and illuminations, rehearsals of scripture, songs,\nentertainments, processions, and abundant noise. And hardly had the\nturmeric disappeared from the beautiful hands and feet of the bride,\nwhen the bridegroom took an affectionate leave of his new parents\u2014he\nhad not lived long in the house\u2014and receiving the dowry and the\nbridal gifts, set out for his own country.\n\nChandravati was dejected by leaving her mother, and therefore she\nwas allowed to carry with her the jay, Madan-manjari. She soon told\nher husband the wonderful way in which she had first heard his name,\nand he related to her the advantage which he had derived from\nconfabulation with Churaman, his parrot.\n\n\u2018Then why do we not put these precious creatures into one cage,\nafter marrying them according to the rites of the angelic marriage\n(Gandharva-lagana)?\u2019 said the charming queen. Like most brides, she\nwas highly pleased to find an opportunity of making a match.\n\n\u2018Ay! why not, love? Surely they cannot live happy in what the world\ncalls single blessedness,\u2019 replied the young king. As bridegrooms\nsometimes are for a short time, he was very warm upon the subject of\nmatrimony.\n\nThereupon, without consulting the parties chiefly concerned in their\nscheme, the master and mistress, after being comfortably settled at\nthe end of their journey, caused a large cage to be brought, and put\ninto it both their favourites.\n\nUpon which Churaman the parrot leaned his head on one side and\ndirected a peculiar look at the jay. But Madan-manjari raised her\nbeak high in the air, puffed through it once or twice, and turned\naway her face in extreme disdain.\n\n\u2018Perhaps,\u2019 quote the parrot, at length breaking silence, \u2018you will\ntell me that you have no desire to be married?\u2019\n\n\u2018Probably,\u2019 replied the jay.\n\n\u2018And why?\u2019 asked the male bird.\n\n\u2018Because I don\u2019t choose,\u2019 replied the female.\n\n\u2018Truly a feminine form of resolution this,\u2019 ejaculated the parrot. \u2018I\nwill borrow my master\u2019s words and call it a woman\u2019s reason, that is\nto say, no reason at all. Have you any objection to be more explicit?\u2019\n\n\u2018None whatever,\u2019 retorted the jay, provoked by the rude innuendo\ninto telling more plainly than politely exactly what she thought;\n\u2018none whatever, sir parrot. You he-things are all of you sinful,\ntreacherous, deceitful, selfish, devoid of conscience, and accustomed\nto sacrifice us, the weaker sex, to your smallest desire or\nconvenience.\u2019\n\n\u2018Of a truth, fair lady,\u2019 quoth the young Raja Ram to his bride, \u2018this\npet of thine is sufficiently impudent.\u2019\n\n\u2018Let her words be as wind in thine ear, master,\u2019 interrupted the\nparrot. \u2018And pray, Mistress Jay, what are you she-things but\ntreacherous, false, ignorant, and avaricious beings, whose only wish\nin this world is to prevent life being as pleasant as it might be?\u2019\n\n\u2018Verily, my love,\u2019 said the beautiful Chandravati to her bridegroom,\n\u2018this thy bird has a habit of expressing his opinions in a very free\nand easy way.\u2019\n\n\u2018I can prove what I assert,\u2019 whispered the jay in the ear of the\nprincess.\n\n\u2018We can confound their feminine minds by an anecdote,\u2019 whispered the\nparrot in the ear of the prince.\n\nBriefly, King Vikram, it was settled between the twain that each\nshould establish the truth of what it had advanced by an illustration\nin the form of a story.\n\nChandravati claimed, and soon obtained, precedence for the jay. Then\nthe wonderful bird, Madan-manjari, began to speak as follows:\u2014\n\nI have often told thee, O queen, that before coming to thy feet, my\nmistress was Ratnawati, the daughter of a rich trader, the dearest,\nthe sweetest the\u2014\u2014\n\nHere the jay burst into tears, and the mistress was sympathetically\naffected. Presently the speaker resumed\u2014\n\nHowever, I anticipate. In the city of Hapur there was a wealthy\nmerchant, who was without offspring; on this account he was\ncontinually fasting and going on pilgrimage, and when at home he\nwas ever engaged in reading the Puranas and in giving alms to the\nBrahmans.\n\nAt length, by favour of the Deity, a son was born to this merchant,\nwho celebrated his birth with great pomp and rejoicing, and gave\nlarge gifts to Brahmans and to bards, and distributed largely to the\nhungry, the thirsty, and the poor. When the boy was five years old he\nhad him taught to read, and when older he was sent to a guru, who had\nformerly himself been a student, and who was celebrated as teacher\nand lecturer.\n\nIn the course of time the merchant\u2019s son grew up. Praise be to\nBramha! what a wonderful youth it was, with a face like a monkey\u2019s,\nlegs like a stork\u2019s, and a back like a camel\u2019s. You know the old\nproverb:\u2014\n\n    Expect thirty-two villanies from the limping and eighty from\n      the one-eyed man,\n    But when the hunchback comes, say \u2018Lord defend us!\u2019\n\nInstead of going to study, he went to gamble with other\nne\u2019er-do-weels, to whom he talked loosely, and whom he taught to be\nbad-hearted as himself. He made love to every woman, and despite his\nugliness, he was not unsuccessful. For they are equally fortunate\nwho are very handsome or very ugly, in so far as they are both,\nremarkable and remarked. But the latter bear away the palm. Beautiful\nmen begin well with women, who do all they can to attract them,\nlove them as the apples of their eyes, discover them to be fools,\nhold them to be their equals, deceive them, and speedily despise\nthem. It is otherwise with the ugly man, who, in consequence of his\nhomeliness, must work his wits and take pains with himself, and\nbecome as pleasing as he is capable of being, till women forget his\nape\u2019s face, bird\u2019s legs, and bunchy back.\n\nThe hunchback, moreover, became a Tantri, so as to complete his\nvillanies. He was duly initiated by an apostate Brahman, made a\ndeclaration that he renounced all the ceremonies of his old religion,\nand was delivered from their yoke, and proceeded to perform in\ntoken of joy an abominable rite. In company with eight men and eight\nwomen\u2014a Brahman female, a dancing girl, a weaver\u2019s daughter, a woman\nof ill fame, a washerwoman, a barber\u2019s wife, a milkmaid, and the\ndaughter of a landowner\u2014choosing the darkest time of night and the\nmost secret part of the house, he drank with them, was sprinkled and\nanointed, and went through many ignoble ceremonies, such as sitting\nnude upon a dead body. The teacher informed him that he was not to\nindulge shame, or aversion to anything, nor to prefer one thing to\nanother, nor to regard caste, ceremonial cleanness or uncleanness,\nbut freely to enjoy all the pleasures of sense\u2014that is, of course,\nwine and us, since we are the representatives of the wife of Cupid,\nand wine prevents the senses from going astray. And whereas holy\nmen, holding that the subjugation or annihilation of the passions\nis essential to final beatitude, accomplish this object by bodily\nausterities, and by avoiding temptation, he proceeded to blunt the\nedge of the passions with excessive indulgence. And he jeered at the\npious, reminding them that their ascetics are safe only in forests,\nand while keeping a perpetual fast; but that he could subdue his\npassions in the very presence of what they most desired.\n\nPresently this excellent youth\u2019s father died, leaving him immense\nwealth. He blunted his passions so piously and so vigorously, that\nin very few years his fortune was dissipated. Then he turned towards\nhis neighbour\u2019s goods and prospered for a time, till being discovered\nrobbing, he narrowly escaped the stake. At length he exclaimed, \u2018Let\nthe gods perish! the rascals send me nothing but ill luck!\u2019 and so\nsaying he arose and fled from his own country.\n\nChance led that villain hunchback to the city of Chandrapur, where,\nhearing the name of my master Hemgupt, he recollected that one of his\nfather\u2019s wealthiest correspondents was so called. Thereupon, with\nhis usual audacity, he presented himself at the house, walked in,\nand although he was clothed in tatters, introduced himself, told his\nfather\u2019s name and circumstances, and wept bitterly.\n\nThe good man was much astonished, and not less grieved, to see the\nson of his old friend in such woful plight. He rose up, however,\nembraced the youth, and asked the reason of his coming.\n\n\u2018I freighted a vessel,\u2019 said the false hunchback, \u2018for the purpose\nof trading to a certain land. Having gone there, I disposed of my\nmerchandise, and, taking another cargo, I was on my voyage home.\nSuddenly a great storm arose, and the vessel was wrecked, and I\nescaped on a plank, and after a time arrived here. But I am ashamed,\nsince I have lost all my wealth, and I cannot show my face in this\nplight in my own city. My excellent father would have consoled me\nwith his pity. But now that I have carried him and my mother to\nGanges,[75] every one will turn against me; they will rejoice in my\nmisfortunes, they will accuse me of folly and recklessness\u2014alas!\nalas! I am truly miserable.\u2019\n\n  [75] As we should say, buried them.\n\nMy dear master was deceived by the cunning of the wretch. He\noffered him hospitality, which was readily enough accepted, and he\nentertained him for some time as a guest. Then, having reason to be\nsatisfied with his conduct, Hemgupt admitted him to his secrets, and\nfinally made him a partner in his business. Briefly, the villain\nplayed his cards so well, that at last the merchant said to himself,\n\n\u2018I have had for years an anxiety and a calamity in my house. My\nneighbours whisper things to my disadvantage, and those who are\nbolder speak out with astonishment amongst themselves, saying, \u201cAt\nseven or eight people marry their daughters, and this indeed is the\nappointment of the law: that period is long since gone; she is now\nthirteen or fourteen years old, and she is very tall and lusty,\nresembling a married woman of thirty. How can her father eat his rice\nwith comfort and sleep with satisfaction, whilst such a disreputable\nthing exists in his house? At present he is exposed to shame, and\nhis deceased friends are suffering through his retaining a girl from\nmarriage beyond the period which nature has prescribed.\u201d And now,\nwhile I am sitting quietly at home, the Bhagwan (Deity) removes all\nmy uneasiness: by his favour such an opportunity occurs. It is not\nright to delay. It is best that I should give my daughter in marriage\nto him. Whatever can be done to-day is best; who knows what may\nhappen to-morrow?\u2019\n\nThus thinking, the old man went to his wife and said to her, \u2018Birth,\nmarriage, and death are all under the direction of the gods; can\nanyone say when they will be ours? We want for our daughter a young\nman who is of good birth, rich and handsome, clever and honourable.\nBut we do not find him. If the bridegroom be faulty, thou sayest, all\nwill go wrong. I cannot put a string round the neck of our daughter\nand throw her into the ditch. If, however, thou think well of the\nmerchant\u2019s son now my partner, we will celebrate Ratnawati\u2019s marriage\nwith him.\u2019\n\nThe wife, who had been won over by the hunchback\u2019s hypocrisy, was\nalso pleased, and replied, \u2018My lord! when the Deity so plainly\nindicates his wish, we should do it; since, though we have sat\nquietly at home, the desire of our hearts is accomplished. It is\nbest that no delay be made; and, having quickly summoned the family\npriest, and having fixed upon a propitious planetary conjunction,\nthat the marriage be celebrated.\u2019\n\nThen they called their daughter\u2014ah, me! what a beautiful being she\nwas, and worthy the love of a Gandharva (demigod). Her long hair,\npurple with the light of youth, was glossy as the bramra\u2019s[76] wing;\nher brow was pure and clear as the agate; the ocean-coral looked\npale beside her lips, and her teeth were as two chaplets of pearls.\nEverything in her was formed to be loved. Who could look into her\neyes without wishing to do it again? Who could hear her voice without\nhoping that such music would sound once more? And she was good as she\nwas fair. Her father adored her; her mother, though a middle-aged\nwoman, was not envious or jealous of her; her relatives doted on her,\nand her friends could find no fault with her. I should never end were\nI to tell her precious qualities. Alas, alas! my poor Ratnawati!\n\n  [76] A large kind of black bee, common in India.\n\nSo saying, the jay wept abundant tears; then she resumed:\n\nWhen her parents informed my mistress of their resolution, she\nreplied, \u2018Sadhu\u2014it is well!\u2019 She was not like most young women,\nwho hate nothing so much as a man whom their seniors order them to\nlove. She bowed her head and promised obedience, although, as she\nafterwards told her mother, she could hardly look at her intended, on\naccount of his prodigious ugliness. But presently the hunchback\u2019s wit\nsurmounted her disgust. She was grateful to him for his attention to\nher father and mother; she esteemed him for his moral and religious\nconduct; she pitied him for his misfortunes, and she finished with\nforgetting his face, legs, and back in her admiration of what she\nsupposed to be his mind.\n\nShe had vowed before marriage faithfully to perform all the duties\nof a wife, however distasteful to her they might be; but after the\nnuptials, which were not long deferred, she was not surprised to find\nthat she loved her husband. Not only did she omit to think of his\nfeatures and figure; I verily believe that she loved him the more for\nhis repulsiveness. Ugly, very ugly men prevail over women for two\nreasons. Firstly, we begin with repugnance, which in the course of\nnature turns to affection; and we all like the most that which, when\nunaccustomed to it, we most disliked. Hence the poet says, with as\nmuch truth as is in the male:\n\n    Never despair, O man! when woman\u2019s spite\n    Detests thy name and sickens at thy sight:\n    Sometimes her heart shall learn to love thee more\n    For the wild hatred which it felt before, &c.\n\nSecondly, the very ugly man appears, deceitfully enough, to think\nlittle of his appearance, and he will give himself the trouble to\npursue a heart because he knows that the heart will not follow after\nhim. Moreover, we women (said the jay) are by nature pitiful, and\nthis our enemies term a \u2018strange perversity.\u2019 A widow is generally\ndisconsolate if she loses a little, wizen-faced, shrunken-shanked,\nugly, spiteful, distempered thing that scolded her and quarrelled\nwith her, and beat her and made her hours bitter; whereas she will\nfollow her husband to Ganges with exemplary fortitude if he was\nbrave, handsome, generous\u2014\u2014\n\n\u2018Either hold your tongue or go on with your story,\u2019 cried the warrior\nking, in whose mind these remarks awakened disagreeable family\nreflections.\n\n\u2018Hi! hi! hi!\u2019 laughed the demon; \u2018I will obey your majesty, and make\nMadan-manjari, the misanthropical jay, proceed.\u2019\n\nYes, she loved the hunchback; and how wonderful is _our_ love! quoth\nthe jay. A light from heaven which rains happiness on this dull, dark\nearth! A spell falling upon the spirit, which reminds us of a higher\nexistence! A memory of bliss! A present delight! An earnest of future\nfelicity! It makes hideousness beautiful and stupidity clever, old\nage young and wickedness good, moroseness amiable, and low-mindedness\nmagnanimous, perversity pretty and vulgarity piquant. Truly it is\nsovereign alchemy and excellent flux for blending contradictions is\n_our_ love, exclaimed the jay.\n\nAnd so saying, she cast a triumphant look at the parrot, who only\nremarked that he could have desired a little more originality in her\nremarks.\n\nFor some months (resumed Madan-manjari), the bride and the bridegroom\nlived happily together in Hemgupt\u2019s house. But it is said:\n\n    Never yet did the tiger become a lamb;\n\nand the hunchback felt that the edge of his passions again wanted\nblunting. He reflected, \u2018Wisdom is exemption from attachment, and\naffection for children, wife, and home.\u2019 Then he thus addressed my\npoor young mistress:\n\n\u2018I have been now in thy country some years, and I have heard no\ntidings of my own family, hence my mind is sad. I have told thee\neverything about myself; thou must now ask thy mother leave for me to\ngo to my own city, and, if thou wishest, thou mayest go with me.\u2019\n\nRatnawati lost no time in saying to her mother, \u2018My husband wishes to\nvisit his own country; will you so arrange that he may not be pained\nabout this matter?\u2019\n\nThe mother went to her husband, and said, \u2018Your son-in-law desires\nleave to go to his own country.\u2019\n\nHemgupt replied, \u2018Very well; we will grant him leave. One has no\npower over another man\u2019s son. We will do what he wishes.\u2019\n\nThe parents then called their daughter, and asked her to tell them\nher real desire\u2014whether she would go to her father-in-law\u2019s house,\nor would remain in her mother\u2019s home. She was abashed at this\nquestion, and could not answer; but she went back to her husband, and\nsaid, \u2018As my father and mother have declared that you should do as\nyou like, do not leave me behind.\u2019\n\nPresently the merchant summoned his son-in-law, and having bestowed\ngreat wealth upon him, allowed him to depart. He also bade his\ndaughter farewell, after giving her a palanquin and a female slave.\nAnd the parents took leave of them with wailing and bitter tears;\ntheir hearts were like to break. And so was mine.\n\n[Illustration: He dismissed the palanquin-bearers.]\n\nFor some days the hunchback travelled quietly along with his wife,\nin deep thought. He could not take her to his city, where she would\nfind out his evil life, and the fraud which he had passed upon her\nfather. Besides which, although he wanted her money, he by no means\nwanted her company for life. After turning on many projects in his\nevil-begotten mind, he hit upon the following:\n\nHe dismissed the palanquin-bearers when halting at a little shed in\nthe thick jungle through which they were travelling, and said to his\nwife, \u2018This is a place of danger; give me thy jewels, and I will hide\nthem in my waist-shawl. When thou reachest the city thou canst wear\nthem again.\u2019 She then gave up to him all her ornaments, which were of\ngreat value. Thereupon he inveigled the slave girl into the depths of\nthe forest, where he murdered her, and left her body to be devoured\nby wild beasts. Lastly, returning to my poor mistress, he induced her\nto leave the hut with him, and pushed her by force into a dry well,\nafter which exploit he set out alone with his ill-gotten wealth,\nwalking towards his own city.\n\nIn the meantime, a wayfaring man, who was passing through that\njungle, hearing the sound of weeping, stood still, and began to say\nto himself, \u2018How came to my ears the voice of a mortal\u2019s grief in\nthis wild wood?\u2019 He then followed the direction of the noise, which\nled him to a pit, and peeping over the side, he saw a woman crying\nat the bottom. The traveller at once loosened his girdle cloth,\nknotted it to his turban, and letting down the line pulled out the\npoor bride. He asked her who she was, and how she came to fall into\nthat well. She replied, \u2018I am the daughter of Hemgupt, the wealthiest\nmerchant in the city of Chandrapur; and I was journeying with my\nhusband to his own country, when robbers set upon us and surrounded\nus. They slew my slave girl, they threw me into a well, and having\nbound my husband they took him away, together with my jewels. I have\nno tidings of him, nor he of me.\u2019 And so saying, she burst into tears\nand lamentations.\n\n[Illustration: He set out alone with his ill-gotten wealth.]\n\nThe wayfaring man believed her tale, and conducted her to her home,\nwhere she gave the same account of the accident which had befallen\nher, ending with, \u2018Beyond this, I know not if they have killed my\nhusband, or have let him go.\u2019 The father thus soothed her grief:\n\u2018Daughter! have no anxiety; thy husband is alive, and by the will\nof the Deity he will come to thee in a few days. Thieves take\nmen\u2019s money, not their lives.\u2019 Then the parents presented her with\nornaments more precious than those which she had lost; and summoning\ntheir relations and friends, they comforted her to the best of their\npower. And so did I.\n\nThe wicked hunchback had, meanwhile, returned to his own city, where\nhe was excellently well received, because he brought much wealth with\nhim. His old associates flocked around him rejoicing; and he fell\ninto the same courses which had beggared him before. Gambling and\ndebauchery soon blunted his passions, and emptied his purse. Again\nhis boon companions, finding him without a broken cowrie, drove him\nfrom their doors; he stole, and was flogged for theft; and lastly,\nhalf famished, he fled the city. Then he said to himself, \u2018I must go\nto my father-in-law, and make the excuse that a grandson has been\nborn to him, and that I have come to offer him congratulations on the\nevent.\u2019\n\nImagine, however, his fears and astonishment when, as he entered the\nhouse, his wife stood before him. At first he thought it was a ghost,\nand turned to run away, but she went out to him and said, \u2018Husband,\nbe not troubled! I have told my father that thieves came upon us, and\nkilled the slave girl and robbed me and threw me into a well, and\nbound thee and carried thee off. Tell the same story, and put away\nall anxious feelings. Come up and change thy tattered garments\u2014alas!\nsome misfortune hath befallen thee. But console thyself; all is now\nwell, since thou art returned to me, and fear not, for the house is\nthine, and I am thy slave.\u2019\n\nThe wretch, with all his hardness of heart, could scarcely refrain\nfrom tears. He followed his wife to her room, where she washed his\nfeet, caused him to bathe, dressed him in new clothes, and placed\nfood before him. When her parents returned, she presented him to\ntheir embrace, saying in a glad way, \u2018Rejoice with me, O my father\nand mother! the robbers have at length allowed him to come back to\nus.\u2019 Of course the parents were deceived; they are mostly a purblind\nrace; and Hemgupt, showing great favour to his worthless son-in-law,\nexclaimed, \u2018Remain with us, my son, and be happy!\u2019\n\nFor two or three months the hunchback lived quietly with his wife,\ntreating her kindly and even affectionately. But this did not last\nlong. He made acquaintance with a band of thieves, and arranged his\nplans with them.\n\nAfter a time, his wife one night came to sleep by his side, having\nput on all her jewels. At midnight, when he saw that she was fast\nasleep, he struck her with a knife so that she died. Then he admitted\nhis accomplices, who savagely murdered Hemgupt and his wife; and\nwith their assistance he carried off any valuable article upon\nwhich he could lay his hands. The ferocious wretch! As he passed my\ncage he looked at it, and thought whether he had time to wring my\nneck. The barking of a dog saved my life; but my mistress, my poor\nRatnawati\u2014ah, me! ah, me!\u2014\n\n\u2018Queen,\u2019 said the jay, in deepest grief, \u2018all this have I seen with\nmine own eyes, and have heard with mine own ears. It affected me in\nearly life, and gave me a dislike for the society of the other sex.\nWith due respect to you, I have resolved to remain an old maid. Let\nyour majesty reflect, what crime had my poor mistress committed? A\nmale is of the same disposition as a highway robber; and she who\nforms friendship with such a one, cradles upon her bosom a black and\nvenomous snake.\u2019\n\n\u2018Sir Parrot,\u2019 said the jay, turning to her wooer, \u2018I have spoken.\nI have nothing more to say _but_ that you he-things are all a\ntreacherous, selfish, wicked race, created for the express purpose\nof working our worldly woe, and\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018When a female, O my king, asserts that she has nothing more to say,\n_but_,\u2019 broke in Churaman, the parrot, with a loud dogmatical voice,\n\u2018I know that what she has said merely whets her tongue for what\nshe is about to say. This person has surely spoken long enough and\ndrearily enough.\u2019\n\n\u2018Tell me then, O parrot,\u2019 said the king, \u2018what faults there may be in\nthe other sex.\u2019\n\n\u2018I will relate,\u2019 quoth Churaman, \u2018an occurrence which in my early\nyouth determined me to live and to die an old bachelor.\u2019\n\nWhen quite a young bird, and before my schooling began, I was caught\nin the land of Malaya, and was sold to a very rich merchant called\nSagardati, a widower with one daughter, the lady Jayashri. As her\nfather spent all his days and half his nights in his counting-house,\nconning his ledgers and scolding his writers, that young woman had\nmore liberty than is generally allowed to those of her age, and a\nmighty bad use she made of it.\n\nO king! men commit two capital mistakes in rearing the \u2018domestic\ncalamity,\u2019 and these are over-vigilance and under-vigilance. Some\nparents never lose sight of their daughters, suspect them of all evil\nintentions, and are silly enough to show their suspicions, which is\nan incentive to evil doing. For the weak-minded things do naturally\nsay, \u2018I will be wicked at once. What do I now but suffer all the\npains and penalties of badness, without enjoying its pleasures?\u2019\nAnd so they are guilty of many evil actions; for, however vigilant\nfathers and mothers may be, the daughter can always blind their eyes.\n\nOn the other hand, many parents take no trouble whatever with their\ncharges: they allow them to sit in idleness, the origin of badness;\nthey permit them to communicate with the wicked, and they give them\nliberty which breeds opportunity. Thus they also, falling into the\nsnares of the unrighteous, who are ever a more painstaking race than\nthe righteous, are guilty of many evil actions.\n\nWhat, then, must wise parents do? The wise will study the characters\nof their children, and modify their treatment accordingly. If a\ndaughter be naturally good, she will be treated with a prudent\nconfidence. If she be vicious, an apparent trust will be reposed\nin her; but her father and mother will secretly ever be upon their\nguard. The one-idea\u2019d\u2014\u2014\n\n\u2018All this parrot-prate, I suppose, is only intended to vex me,\u2019\ncried the warrior king, who always considered himself, and very\nnaturally, a person of such consequence as ever to be uppermost in\nthe thoughts and minds of others. \u2018If thou must tell a tale, then\ntell one, Vampire! or else be silent, as I am sick to the death of\nthy psychics.\u2019\n\n\u2018It is well, O warrior king,\u2019 resumed the Baital. After that Churaman\nthe parrot had given the young Raja Ram a golden mine full of good\nadvice about the management of daughters, he proceeded to describe\nJayashri.\n\nShe was tall, stout, and well made, of lymphatic temperament, and\nyet strong passions. Her fine large eyes had heavy and rather\nfull eyelids, which are to be avoided. Her hands were symmetrical\nwithout being small, and the palms were ever warm and damp. Though\nher lips were good, her mouth was somewhat underhung; and her voice\nwas so deep, that at times it sounded like that of a man. Her hair\nwas smooth as the kokila\u2019s plume, and her complexion was that of\nthe young jasmine; and these were the points at which most persons\nlooked. Altogether, she was neither handsome nor ugly, which is an\nexcellent thing in woman. Sita the goddess[77] was lovely to excess;\ntherefore she was carried away by a demon. Raja Bali was exceedingly\ngenerous, and he emptied his treasury. In this way, exaggeration,\neven of good, is exceedingly bad.\n\n  [77] The beautiful wife of the demigod Rama Chandra.\n\nYet must I confess, continued the parrot, that, as a rule, the\nbeautiful woman is more virtuous than the ugly. The former is often\ntempted, but her vanity and conceit enable her to resist, by the\nself-promise that she shall be tempted again and again. On the\nother hand, the ugly woman must tempt instead of being tempted, and\nshe must yield, because her vanity and conceit are gratified by\nyielding, not by resisting.\n\n\u2018Ho, there!\u2019 broke in the jay, contemptuously. \u2018What woman cannot\nwin the hearts of the silly things called men? Is it not said that a\npig-faced female who dwells in Landanpur has a lover?\u2019\n\nI was about to remark, my king! said the parrot, somewhat nettled, if\nthe aged virgin had not interrupted me, that as ugly women are more\nvicious than handsome women, so they are more successful. \u2018We love\nthe pretty, we adore the plain,\u2019 is a true saying amongst the worldly\nwise. And why do we adore the plain? Because they seem to think less\nof themselves than of us\u2014a vital condition of adoration.\n\nJayashri made some conquests by the portion of good looks which she\npossessed, more by her impudence, and most by her father\u2019s reputation\nfor riches. She was truly shameless, and never allowed herself less\nthan half a dozen admirers at the time. Her chief amusement was to\nappoint interviews with them successively, at intervals so short that\nshe was obliged to hurry away one in order to make room for another.\nAnd when a lover happened to be jealous, or ventured in any way to\ncriticise her arrangements, she replied at once by showing him the\ndoor. Answer unanswerable!\n\nWhen Jayashri had reached the ripe age of thirteen, the son of a\nmerchant, who was her father\u2019s gossip and neighbour, returned home\nafter a long sojourn in far lands, whither he had travelled in the\nsearch of wealth. The poor wretch, whose name, by the bye, was\nShridat (Gift of Fortune), had loved her in her childhood; and he\ncame back, as men are apt to do after absence from familiar scenes,\npainfully full of affection for house and home and all belonging to\nit. From his cross stingy old uncle to the snarling superannuated\nbeast of a watchdog, he viewed all with eyes of love and melting\nheart. He could not see that his idol was greatly changed, and nowise\nfor the better; that her nose was broader and more club-like, her\neyelids fatter and thicker, her under lip more prominent, her voice\nharsher, and her manner coarser. He did not notice that she was an\nadept in judging of men\u2019s dress, and that she looked with admiration\nupon all swordsmen, especially upon those who fought on horses and\nelephants. The charm of memory, the curious faculty of making past\ntime present, caused all he viewed to be enchanting to him.\n\nHaving obtained her father\u2019s permission, Shridat applied for\nbetrothal to Jayashri, who, with peculiar boldness, had resolved\nthat no suitor should come to her through her parent. And she, after\nleading him on by all the coquetries of which she was a mistress,\nrefused to marry him, saying that she liked him as a friend, but\nwould hate him as a husband.\n\nYou see, my King! there are three several states of feeling with\nwhich women regard their masters, and these are love, hate, and\nindifference. Of all, love is the weakest and the most transient,\nbecause the essentially unstable creatures naturally fall out of it\nas readily as they fall into it. Hate being a sister excitement will\neasily become, if man has wit enough to effect the change, love; and\nhate-love may perhaps last a little longer than love-love. Also, man\nhas the occupation, the excitement, and the pleasure of bringing\nabout the change. As regards the neutral state, that poet was not\nhappy in his ideas who sang,\n\n    Whene\u2019er indifference appears, or scorn,\n    Then, man, despair! then, hapless lover, mourn!\n\nFor a man versed in the Lila Shastra[78] can soon turn a woman\u2019s\nindifference into hate, which I have shown is as easily permuted to\nlove. In which predicament it is the old thing over again, and it\nends in the pure Asat[79] or nonentity.\n\n  [78] The Hindu _Ars Amoris_.\n\n  [79] The old philosophers, believing in a \u2018Sat\u2019 (\u03c4\u1f78 \u1f44\u03bd),\n  postulated an Asat (\u03c4\u1f78 \u03bc\u1f74 \u1f44\u03bd) and made the latter the root of the\n  former.\n\n\u2018Which of these two birds, the jay or the parrot, had dipped deeper\ninto human nature, mighty King Vikram?\u2019 asked the demon in a\nwheedling tone of voice.\n\nThe trap was this time set too openly, even for the royal personage\nto fall into it. He hurried on, calling to his son, and not\nanswering a word. The Vampire therefore resumed the thread of his\nstory at the place where he had broken it off.\n\nShridat was in despair when he heard the resolve of his idol. He\nthought of drowning himself, of throwing himself down from the summit\nof Mount Girnar,[80] of becoming a religious beggar; in short, of a\nmultitude of follies. But he refrained from all such heroic remedies\nfor despair, having rightly judged, when he became somewhat calmer,\nthat they would not be likely to further his suit. He discovered that\npatience is a virtue, and he resolved impatiently enough to practise\nit. And by perseverance he succeeded. The worse for him! How vain are\nmen to wish! How wise is the Deity, who is deaf to their wishes!\n\n  [80] In Western India, a place celebrated for suicides.\n\nJayashri, for potent reasons best known to herself, was married\nto Shridat six months after his return home. He was in raptures.\nHe called himself the happiest man in existence. He thanked and\nsacrificed to the Bhagwan for listening to his prayers. He recalled\nto mind with thrilling heart the long years which he had spent\nin hopeless exile from all that was dear to him; his sadness and\nanxiety, his hopes and joys, his toils and troubles, his loyal love\nand his vows to Heaven for the happiness of his idol, and for the\nfurtherance of his fondest desires.\n\nFor truly he loved her, continued the parrot, and there is something\nholy in such love. It becomes not only a faith, but the best of\nfaiths\u2014an abnegation of self which emancipates the spirit from its\nstraightest and earthliest bondage, the \u2018I;\u2019 the first step in the\nregions of heaven; a homage rendered through the creature to the\nCreator; a devotion solid, practical, ardent, not as worship mostly\nis, a cold and lifeless abstraction; a merging of human nature into\none far nobler and higher, the spiritual existence of the supernal\nworld. For perfect love is perfect happiness, and the only perfection\nof man; and what is a demon but a being without love? And what makes\nman\u2019s love truly divine, is the fact that it is bestowed upon such a\nthing as woman.\n\n\u2018And now, Raja Vikram,\u2019 said the Vampire, speaking in his proper\nperson, \u2018I have given you Madan-manjari the jay\u2019s and Churaman\nthe parrot\u2019s definitions of the tender passion, or rather their\ndescriptions of its effects. Kindly observe that I am far from\naccepting either one or the other. Love is, according to me, somewhat\nakin to mania, a temporary condition of selfishness, a transient\nconfusion of identity. It enables man to predicate of others who are\nhis other selves, that which he is ashamed to say about his real\nself. I will suppose the beloved object to be ugly, stupid, vicious,\nperverse, selfish, low-minded, or the reverse; man finds it charming\nby the same rule that makes his faults and foibles dearer to him\nthan all the virtues and good qualities of his neighbours. Ye call\nlove a spell, an alchemy, a deity. Why? Because it deifies self by\ngratifying all man\u2019s pride, man\u2019s vanity, and man\u2019s conceit, under\nthe mask of complete unegotism. Who is not in heaven when he is\ntalking of himself? and, prithee, of what else consists all the talk\nof lovers?\u2019\n\nIt is astonishing that the warrior king allowed this speech to last\nas long as it did. He hated nothing so fiercely, now that he was in\nmiddle age, as any long mention of the \u2018handsome god.\u2019[81] Having\nvainly endeavoured to stop by angry mutterings the course of the\nBaital\u2019s eloquence, he stepped out so vigorously and so rudely shook\nthat inveterate talker, that the latter once or twice nearly bit off\nthe tip of his tongue. Then the Vampire became silent, and Vikram\nrelapsed into a walk which allowed the tale to be resumed.\n\n  [81] Kama Deva. \u2018Out on thee, foul fiend, talk\u2019st thou of nothing\n  but ladies?\u2019\n\nJayashri immediately conceived a strong dislike for her husband, and\nsimultaneously a fierce affection for a reprobate who before had been\nindifferent to her. The more lovingly Shridat behaved to her, the\nmore vexed and annoyed she was. When her friends talked to her, she\nturned up her nose, raising her eyebrows (in token of displeasure),\nand remained silent. When her husband spoke words of affection to\nher, she found them disagreeable, and turning away her face, reclined\non the bed. Then he brought dresses and ornaments of various kinds\nand presented them to her, saying, \u2018Wear these.\u2019 Whereupon she\nwould become more angry, knit her brows, turn her face away, and in\nan audible whisper call him \u2018fool.\u2019 All day she stayed out of the\nhouse, saying to her companions, \u2018Sisters, my youth is passing away,\nand I have not, up to the present time, tasted any of this world\u2019s\npleasures.\u2019 Then she would ascend to the balcony, peep through the\nlattice, and seeing the reprobate going along, she would cry to her\nfriend, \u2018Bring that person to me.\u2019 All night she tossed and turned\nfrom side to side, reflecting in her heart, \u2018I am puzzled in my mind\nwhat I shall say, and whither I shall go. I have forgotten sleep,\nhunger, and thirst; neither heat nor cold is refreshing to me.\u2019\n\nAt last, unable any longer to support the separation from her\nreprobate paramour, whom she adored, she resolved to fly with him.\nOn one occasion, when she thought that her husband was fast asleep,\nshe rose up quietly, and leaving him, made her way fearlessly in\nthe dark night to her lover\u2019s abode. A footpad, who saw her on the\nway, thought to himself, \u2018Where can this woman, clothed in jewels,\nbe going alone at midnight?\u2019 And thus he followed her unseen, and\nwatched her.\n\nWhen Jayashri reached the intended place, she went into the house,\nand found her lover lying at the door. He was dead, having been\nstabbed by the footpad; but she, thinking that he had, according to\ncustom, drunk intoxicating hemp, sat upon the floor, and raising his\nhead, placed it tenderly in her lap. Then, burning with the fire of\nseparation from him, she began to kiss his cheeks, and to fondle and\ncaress him with the utmost freedom and affection.\n\nBy chance a Pisach (evil spirit) was seated in a large fig-tree[82]\nopposite the house, and it occurred to him, when beholding this\nscene, that he might amuse himself in a characteristic way. He\ntherefore hopped down from his branch, vivified the body, and began\nto return the woman\u2019s caresses. But as Jayashri bent down to kiss his\nlips, he caught the end of her nose in his teeth, and bit it clean\noff. He then issued from the corpse, and returned to the branch where\nhe had been sitting.\n\n  [82] The pipal or _Ficus religiosa_, a favourite roosting place\n  for fiends.\n\nJayashri was in despair. She did not, however, lose her presence of\nmind, but sat down and proceeded to take thought; and when she had\nmatured her plan she arose, dripping with blood, and walked straight\nhome to her husband\u2019s house. On entering his room she clapped her\nhand to her nose, and began to gnash her teeth, and to shriek so\nviolently, that all the members of the family were alarmed. The\nneighbours also collected in numbers at the door, and, as it was\nbolted inside, they broke it open and rushed in, carrying lights.\nThere they saw the wife sitting upon the ground with her face\nmutilated, and the husband standing over her, apparently trying to\nappease her.\n\n\u2018O ignorant, criminal, shameless, pitiless wretch!\u2019 cried the people,\nespecially the women; \u2018why hast thou cut off her nose, she not having\noffended in any way?\u2019\n\nPoor Shridat, seeing at once the trick which had been played upon\nhim, thought to himself: \u2018One should put no confidence in a changeful\nmind, a black serpent, or an armed enemy, and one should dread a\nwoman\u2019s doings. What cannot a poet describe? What is there that a\nsaint (jogi) does not know? What nonsense will not a drunken man\ntalk? What limit is there to a woman\u2019s guile? True it is that the\ngods know nothing of the defects of a horse, of the thundering of\nclouds, of a woman\u2019s deeds, or of a man\u2019s future fortunes. How then\ncan we know?\u2019 He could do nothing but weep, and swear by the herb\nbasil, by his cattle, by his grain, by a piece of gold, and by all\nthat is holy, that he had not committed the crime.\n\nIn the meanwhile, the old merchant, Jayashri\u2019s father, ran off, and\nlaid a complaint before the kotwal, and the footmen of the police\nmagistrate were immediately sent to apprehend the husband, and to\ncarry him bound before the judge. The latter, after due examination,\nlaid the affair before the king. An example happening to be necessary\nat the time, the king resolved to punish the offence with severity,\nand he summoned the husband and wife to the court.\n\nWhen the merchant\u2019s daughter was asked to give an account of what had\nhappened, she pointed out the state of her nose, and said, \u2018Maharaj!\nwhy enquire of me concerning what is so manifest?\u2019 The king then\nturned to the husband, and bade him state his defence. He said, \u2018I\nknow nothing of it,\u2019 and in the face of the strongest evidence he\npersisted in denying his guilt.\n\nThereupon the king, who had vainly threatened to cut off Shridat\u2019s\nright hand, infuriated by his refusing to confess and to beg for\nmercy, exclaimed, \u2018How must I punish such a wretch as thou art?\u2019 The\nunfortunate man answered, \u2018Whatever your majesty may consider just,\nthat be pleased to do.\u2019 Thereupon the king cried, \u2018Away with him, and\nimpale him;\u2019 and the people, hearing the command, prepared to obey it.\n\nBefore Shridat had left the court, the footpad, who had been looking\non, and who saw that an innocent man was about to be unjustly\npunished, raised a cry for justice, and, pushing through the crowd,\nresolved to make himself heard. He thus addressed the throne: \u2018Great\nking, the cherishing of the good, and the punishment of the bad,\nis the invariable duty of kings.\u2019 The ruler having caused him to\napproach, asked him who he was, and he replied boldly, \u2018Maharaj! I am\na thief, and this man is innocent, and his blood is about to be shed\nunjustly. Your majesty has not done what is right in this affair.\u2019\nThereupon the king charged him to tell the truth according to his\nreligion; and the thief related explicitly the whole circumstances,\nomitting, of course, the murder.\n\n\u2018Go ye,\u2019 said the king to his messengers, \u2018and look in the mouth of\nthe woman\u2019s lover who has fallen dead. If the nose be there found,\nthen has this thief-witness told the truth, and the husband is a\nguiltless man.\u2019\n\nThe nose was presently produced in court, and Shridat escaped the\nstake. The king caused the wicked Jayashri\u2019s face to be smeared with\noily soot, and her head and eyebrows to be shaved; thus blackened and\ndisfigured, she was mounted upon a little ragged-limbed ass, and was\nled around the market and the streets, after which she was banished\nfor ever from the city. The husband and the thief were then dismissed\nwith betel and other gifts, together with much sage advice, which\nneither of them wanted.\n\n\u2018My king,\u2019 resumed the misogyne parrot, \u2018of such excellencies as\nthese are women composed. It is said that \u201cwet cloth will extinguish\nfire and bad food will destroy strength; a degenerate son ruins a\nfamily, and when a friend is in wrath he takes away life. But a woman\nis an inflicter of grief in love and in hate; whatever she does turns\nout to be for our ill. Truly the Deity has created woman a strange\nbeing in this world.\u201d And again, \u201cThe beauty of the nightingale is\nits song, science is the beauty of an ugly man, forgiveness is the\nbeauty of a devotee, and the beauty of a woman is virtue\u2014but where\nshall we find it?\u201d And again, \u201cAmong the sages, Narudu; among the\nbeasts, the jackal; among the birds, the crow; among men, the barber;\nand in this world woman\u2014is the most crafty.\u201d\n\n\u2018What I have told thee, my king, I have seen with mine own eyes, and\nI have heard with mine own ears. At the time I was young, but the\nevent so affected me that I have ever since held female kind to be a\nwalking pest, a two-legged plague, whose mission on earth, like flies\nand other vermin, is only to prevent our being too happy. O, why do\nnot children and young parrots sprout in crops from the ground\u2014from\nbudding trees or vine-stocks?\u2019\n\n\u2018I was thinking, sire,\u2019 said the young Dharma Dhwaj to the warrior\nking his father, \u2018what women would say of us if they could compose\nSanskrit verses!\u2019\n\n\u2018Then keep your thoughts to yourself,\u2019 replied the Raja, nettled at\nhis son daring to say a word in favour of the sex. \u2018You always take\nthe part of wickedness and depravity\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018Permit me, your majesty,\u2019 interrupted the Baital, \u2018to conclude my\ntale.\u2019\n\nWhen Madan-manjari, the jay, and Churaman, the parrot, had given\nthese illustrations of their belief, they began to wrangle, and\nwords ran high. The former insisted that females are the salt of the\nearth, speaking, I presume, figuratively. The latter went so far as\nto assert that the opposite sex have no souls, and that their brains\nare in a rudimental and inchoate state of development. Thereupon\nhe was tartly taken to task by his master\u2019s bride, the beautiful\nChandravati, who told him that those only have a bad opinion of women\nwho have associated with none but the vicious and the low, and that\nhe should be ashamed to abuse feminine parrots, because his mother\nhad been one.\n\nThis was truly logical.\n\nOn the other hand, the jay was sternly reproved for her mutinous and\ntreasonable assertions by the husband of her mistress, Raja Ram, who,\nalthough still a bridegroom, had not forgotten the gallant rule of\nhis syntax\u2014\n\n    The masculine is more worthy than the feminine;\n\ntill Madan-manjari burst into tears and declared that her life was\nnot worth having. And Raja Ram looked at her as if he could have\nwrung her neck.\n\nIn short, Raja Vikram, all the four lost their tempers, and with\nthem what little wits they had. Two of them were but birds, and the\nothers seem not to have been much better, being young, ignorant,\ninexperienced, and lately married. How then could they decide\nso difficult a question as that of the relative wickedness and\nvillany of men and women? Had your majesty been there, the knot of\nuncertainty would soon have been undone by the trenchant edge of your\nwit and wisdom, your knowledge and experience. You have, of course,\nlong since made up your mind upon the subject?\n\nDharma Dhwaj would have prevented his father\u2019s reply. But the youth\nhad been twice reprehended in the course of this tale, and he thought\nit wisest to let things take their own way.\n\n\u2018Women,\u2019 quoth the Raja, oracularly, \u2018are worse than we are; a man,\nhowever depraved he may be, ever retains some notion of right and\nwrong, but a woman does not. She has no such regard whatever.\u2019\n\n\u2018The beautiful Bangalah Rani for instance?\u2019 said the Baital, with a\ndemonic sneer.\n\nAt the mention of a word, the uttering of which was punishable by\nextirpation of the tongue, Raja Vikram\u2019s brain whirled with rage.\nHe staggered in the violence of his passion, and putting forth both\nhands to break his fall, he dropped the bundle from his back. Then\nthe Baital, disentangling himself and laughing lustily, ran off\ntowards the tree as fast as his thin brown legs could carry him. But\nhis activity availed him little.\n\n[Illustration: The king, puffing with fury, followed him at the top\nof his speed, and caught him by his tail.]\n\nThe king, puffing with fury, followed him at the top of his speed,\nand caught him by his tail before he reached the siras-tree, hurled\nhim backwards with force, put foot upon his chest, and after shaking\nout the cloth, rolled him up in it with extreme violence, bumped his\nback half a dozen times against the stony ground, and finally, with a\njerk, threw him on his shoulder, as he had done before.\n\nThe young prince, afraid to accompany his father whilst he was\npursuing the fiend, followed slowly in the rear, and did not join him\nfor some minutes.\n\nBut when matters were in their normal state, the Vampire, who had\nendured with exemplary patience the penalty of his impudence, began\nin honeyed accents,\n\n\u2018Listen, O warrior king, whilst thy servant recounts unto thee\nanother true tale.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S THIRD STORY.\n\nOF A HIGH-MINDED FAMILY.\n\n\nIn the venerable city of Bardwan, O warrior king! (quoth the Vampire)\nduring the reign of the mighty Rupsen, nourished one Rajeshwar, a\nRajput warrior of distinguished fame. By his valour and conduct he\nhad risen from the lowest ranks of the army to command it as its\ncaptain. And arrived at that dignity, he did not put a stop to all\nimprovements, like other chiefs, who rejoice to rest and return\nthanks. On the contrary, he became such a reformer that, to some\nextent, he remodelled the art of war.\n\nInstead of attending to rules and regulations, drawn up in their\nstudies by pandits and Brahmans, he consulted chiefly his own\nexperience and judgment. He threw aside the systematic plans of\ncampaigns laid down in the Shastras or books of the ancients, and\nhe acted upon the spur of the moment. He displayed a skill in the\nchoice of ground, in the use of light troops, and in securing his\nown supplies whilst he cut off those of the enemy, which Kartikaya\nhimself, God of War, might have envied. Finding that the bows of his\ntroops were clumsy and slow to use, he had them all changed before\ncompelled so to do by defeat; he also gave his attention to the\nsword handles, which cramped the men\u2019s grasp, but which having been\nused for eighteen hundred years, were considered perfect weapons.\nAnd having organised a special corps of warriors using fire arrows,\nhe soon brought it to such perfection that, by using it against the\nelephants of his enemies, he gained many a campaign.\n\nOne instance of his superior judgment I am about to quote to thee, O\nVikram, after which I return to my tale; for thou art truly a warrior\nking, very likely to imitate the innovations of the great general\nRajeshwar.\n\n(A grunt from the monarch was the result of the Vampire\u2019s sneer.)\n\nHe found his master\u2019s armies recruited from Northern Hindostan,\nand officered by Kshatriya warriors, who grew great only because\nthey grew old and\u2014fat. Thus the energy and talent of the younger\nmen were wasted in troubles and disorders; whilst the seniors were\noften so ancient that they could not mount their chargers unaided,\nnor, when they were mounted, could they see anything a dozen yards\nbefore them. But they had served in a certain obsolete campaign, and\nuntil Rajeshwar gave them pensions and dismissals, they claimed a\nright to take first part in all campaigns present and future. The\ncommander-in-chief refused to use any captain who could not stand\nsteady on his legs, or endure the sun for a whole day. When a soldier\ndistinguished himself in action, he raised him to the powers and\nprivileges of the warrior caste. And whereas it had been the habit to\nlavish circles and bars of silver and other metals upon all those who\nhad joined in the war, whether they had sat behind a heap of sand or\nhad been foremost to attack the foe, he broke through the pernicious\ncustom, and he rendered the honour valuable by conferring it only\nupon the deserving. I need hardly say that, in an inordinately short\nspace of time, his army beat every king and general that opposed it.\n\nOne day the great commander-in-chief was seated in a certain room\nnear the threshold of his gate, when the voices of a number of people\noutside were heard. Rajeshwar asked, \u2018Who is at the door, and what is\nthe meaning of the noise I hear?\u2019 The porter replied, \u2018It is a fine\nthing your honour has asked. Many persons come sitting at the door\nof the rich for the purpose of obtaining a livelihood and wealth.\nWhen they meet together they talk of various things: it is these very\npeople who are now making this noise.\u2019\n\nRajeshwar, on hearing this, remained silent.\n\nIn the meantime a traveller, a Rajput, Birbal by name, hoping to\nobtain employment, came from the southern quarter to the palace\nof the chief. The porter having listened to his story, made the\ncircumstance known to his master, saying, \u2018O chief! an armed man has\narrived here, hoping to obtain employment, and is standing at the\ndoor. If I receive a command he shall be brought into your honour\u2019s\npresence.\u2019\n\n\u2018Bring him in,\u2019 cried the commander-in-chief.\n\n[Illustration: In the meantime a traveller, a Rajput, by name Birbal.]\n\nThe porter brought him in, and Rajeshwar inquired, \u2018O Rajput, who and\nwhat art thou?\u2019\n\nBirbal submitted that he was a person of distinguished fame for the\nuse of weapons, and that his name for fidelity and valour had gone\nforth to the utmost ends of Bharat-Kandha.[83]\n\n  [83] India.\n\nThe chief was well accustomed to this style of self-introduction,\nand its only effect upon his mind was a wish to shame the man by\nshowing him that he had not the least knowledge of weapons. He\ntherefore bade him bare his blade and perform some feat.\n\nBirbal at once drew his good sword. Guessing the thoughts which\nwere hovering about the chief\u2019s mind, he put forth his left hand,\nextending the forefinger upwards, waved his blade like the arm of a\ndemon round his head, and, with a dexterous stroke, so shaved off\na bit of nail that it fell to the ground, and not a drop of blood\nappeared upon the fingertip.\n\n\u2018Live for ever!\u2019 exclaimed Rajeshwar in admiration. He then addressed\nto the recruit a few questions concerning the art of war, or rather\nconcerning his peculiar views of it. To all of which Birbal answered\nwith a spirit and a judgment which convinced the hearer that he was\nno common sworder.\n\nWhereupon Rajeshwar bore off the new man at arms to the palace of the\nking Rupsen, and recommended that he should be engaged without delay.\n\nThe king, being a man of few words and many ideas, after hearing his\ncommander-in-chief, asked, \u2018O Rajput, what shalt I give thee for thy\ndaily expenditure?\u2019\n\n\u2018Give me a thousand ounces of gold daily,\u2019 said Birbal, \u2018and then I\nshall have wherewithal to live on.\u2019\n\n\u2018Hast thou an army with thee?\u2019 exclaimed the king in the greatest\nastonishment.\n\n\u2018I have not,\u2019 responded the Rajput somewhat stiffly. \u2018I have first, a\nwife; second, a son; third, a daughter; fourth, myself; there is no\nfifth person with me.\u2019\n\nAll the people of the court on hearing this turned aside their heads\nto laugh, and even the women, who were peeping at the scene, covered\ntheir mouths with their veils. The Rajput was then dismissed the\npresence.\n\nIt is, however, noticeable amongst you humans, that the world often\ntakes you at your own valuation. Set a high price upon yourselves,\nand each man shall say to his neighbour, \u2018In this man there must be\nsomething.\u2019 Tell every one that you are brave, clever, generous, or\neven handsome, and after a time they will begin to believe you. And\nwhen thus you have attained success, it will be harder to unconvince\nthem than it was to convince them. Thus\u2014\u2014\n\n\u2018Listen not to him, sirrah,\u2019 cried Raja Vikram to Dharma Dhwaj, the\nyoung prince, who had fallen a little way behind, and was giving ear\nattentively to the Vampire\u2019s ethics. \u2018Listen to him not. And tell me,\nvillain, with these ignoble principles of thine, what will become of\nmodesty, humility, self-sacrifice, and a host of other Guna or good\nqualities which\u2014which are good qualities?\u2019\n\n\u2018I know not,\u2019 rejoined the Baital, \u2018neither do I care. But my\nhabitually inspiriting a succession of human bodies has taught me\none fact. The wise man knows himself, and is, therefore, neither\nunduly humble or elated, because he had no more to do with making\nhimself than with the cut of his cloak, or with the fitness of his\nloin-cloth. But the fool either loses his head by comparing himself\nwith still greater fools, or is prostrated when he finds himself\ninferior to other and lesser fools. This shyness he calls modesty,\nhumility, and so forth. Now, whenever entering a corpse, whether it\nbe of man, woman, or child, I feel peculiarly modest; I know that my\ntenement lately belonged to some conceited ass. And\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018Wouldst thou have me bump thy back against the ground?\u2019 asked Rajah\nVikram angrily.\n\n(The Baital muttered some reply scarcely intelligible about his\nhaving this time stumbled upon a metaphysical thread of ideas, and\nthen continued his story.)\n\nNow Rupsen, the king, began by inquiring of himself why the Rajput\nhad rated his services so highly. Then he reflected that if this\nrecruit had asked so much money, it must have been for some reason\nwhich would afterwards become apparent. Next, he hoped that if he\ngave him so much, his generosity might some day turn out to his own\nadvantage. Finally, with this idea in his mind, he summoned Birbal\nand the steward of his household, and said to the latter, \u2018Give this\nRajput a thousand ounces of gold daily from our treasury.\u2019\n\nIt is related that Birbal made the best possible use of his wealth.\nHe used every morning to divide it into two portions, one of which\nwas distributed to Brahmans and Parohitas.[84] Of the remaining\nmoiety, having made two parts, he gave one as alms to pilgrims, to\nBairagis or Vishnu\u2019s mendicants, and to Sanyasis or worshippers of\nShiva, whose bodies, smeared with ashes, were hardly covered with a\nnarrow cotton cloth and a rope about their loins, and whose heads\nof artificial hair, clotted like a rope, besieged his gate. With\nthe remaining fourth, having caused food to be prepared, he regaled\nthe poor, while he himself and his family ate what was left. Every\nevening, arming himself with sword and buckler, he took up his\nposition as guard at the royal bedside, and walked round it all\nnight sword in hand. If the king chanced to wake and asked who was\npresent, Birbal immediately gave reply that \u2018Birbal is here; whatever\ncommand you give, that he will obey.\u2019 And oftentimes Rupsen gave him\nunusual commands, for it is said, \u2018To try thy servant, bid him do\nthings in season and out of season: if he obey thee willingly, know\nhim to be useful; if he reply, dismiss him at once. Thus is a servant\ntried, even as a wife by the poverty of her husband, and brethren and\nfriends by asking their aid.\u2019\n\n  [84] The ancient name of a priest by profession, meaning\n  \u2018pr\u00e6positus\u2019 or pr\u00e6ses. He was the friend and counsellor of a\n  chief, the minister of a king, and his companion in peace and\n  war. (M. M\u00fcller\u2019s _Ancient Sanskrit Literature_, p. 485.)\n\nIn such manner, through desire of money, Birbal remained on guard\nall night; and whether eating, drinking, sleeping, sitting, going or\nwandering about, during the twenty-four hours, he held his master\nin watchful remembrance. This, indeed, is the custom; if a man sell\nanother the latter is sold, but a servant by doing service sells\nhimself, and when a man has become dependent, how can he be happy?\nCertain it is that, however intelligent, clever, or learned a man may\nbe, yet, while he is in his master\u2019s presence, he remains silent as a\ndumb man, and struck with dread. Only while he is away from his lord\ncan he be at ease. Hence, learned men say that to do service aright\nis harder than any religious study.\n\nOn one occasion it is related that there happened to be heard at\nnight time the wailing of a woman in a neighbouring cemetery. The\nking on hearing it called out, \u2018Who is in waiting?\u2019\n\n\u2018I am here,\u2019 replied Birbal; \u2018what command is there?\u2019\n\n\u2018Go,\u2019 spoke the king, \u2018to the place whence proceeds this sound of\nwoman\u2019s wail, and having inquired the cause of her grief, return\nquickly.\u2019\n\nOn receiving this order the Rajput went to obey it; and the king,\nunseen by him, and attired in a black dress, followed for the purpose\nof observing his courage.\n\nPresently Birbal arrived at the cemetery. And what sees he there? A\nbeautiful woman of a light yellow colour, loaded with jewels from\nhead to foot, holding a horn in her right and a necklace in her left\nhand. Sometimes she danced, sometimes she jumped, and sometimes she\nran about. There was not a tear in her eye, but, beating her head and\nmaking lamentable cries, she kept dashing herself on the ground.\n\nSeeing her condition, and not recognising the goddess born of sea\nfoam, and whom all the host of heaven loved,[85] Birbal inquired,\n\u2018Why art thou thus beating thyself and crying out? Who art thou? And\nwhat grief is upon thee?\u2019\n\n  [85] Lakshmi, the Goddess of Prosperity. Raj-Lakshmi would\n  mean the King\u2019s Fortune, which we should call tutelary genius.\n  Lakshichara is our \u2018luckless,\u2019 forming, as Mr. Ward says, an\n  extraordinary coincidence of sound and meaning in languages so\n  different. But the derivations are very distinct.\n\n\u2018I am the Royal-Luck,\u2019 she replied.\n\n\u2018For what reason,\u2019 asked Birbal, \u2018art thou weeping?\u2019\n\nThe goddess then began to relate her position to the Rajput. She\nsaid, with tears, \u2018In the king\u2019s palace Shudra (or low caste acts)\nare done, and hence misfortune will certainly fall upon it, and I\nshall forsake it. After a month has passed the king, having endured\nexcessive affliction, will die. In grief for this I weep. I have\nbrought much happiness to the king\u2019s house, and hence I am full of\nregret that this my prediction cannot in any way prove untrue.\u2019\n\n\u2018Is there,\u2019 asked Birbal, \u2018any remedy for this trouble, so that the\nking may be preserved and live a hundred years?\u2019\n\n\u2018Yes,\u2019 said the goddess, \u2018there is. About eight miles to the east\nthou wilt find a temple dedicated to my terrible sister Devi. Offer\nto her thy son\u2019s head, cut off with thine own hand, and the reign of\nthy king shall endure for an age.\u2019 So saying Raj-Lakshmi disappeared.\n\nBirbal answered not a word, but with hurried steps he turned towards\nhis home. The king, still in black so as not to be seen, followed him\nclosely, and observed and listened to everything he did.\n\nThe Rajput went straight to his wife, awakened her, and related to\nher everything that had happened. The wise have said, \u2018she alone\ndeserves the name of wife who always receives her husband with\naffectionate and submissive words.\u2019 When she heard the circumstances,\nshe at once aroused her son, and her daughter also awoke. Then Birbal\ntold them all that they must follow him to the temple of Devi in the\nwood.\n\nOn the way the Rajput said to his wife, \u2018If thou wilt give up thy son\nwillingly, I will sacrifice him for our master\u2019s sake to Devi the\nDestroyer.\u2019\n\nShe replied, \u2018Father and mother, son and daughter, brother and\nrelative, have I now none. You are everything to me. It is written\nin the scripture that a wife is not made pure by gifts to priests,\nnor by performing religious rites; her virtue consists in waiting\nupon her husband, in obeying him and in loving him\u2014yea! though he be\nlame, maimed in the hands, dumb, deaf, blind, one-eyed, leprous, or\nhumpbacked. It is a true saying that \u201ca son under one\u2019s authority,\na body free from sickness, a desire to acquire knowledge, an\nintelligent friend, and an obedient wife; whoever holds these five\nwill find them bestowers of happiness and dispellers of affliction.\nAn unwilling servant, a parsimonious king, an insincere friend, and a\nwife not under control; such things are disturbers of ease and givers\nof trouble.\u201d\u2019\n\nThen the good wife turned to her son and said, \u2018Child, by the gift\nof thy head, the king\u2019s life may be spared, and the kingdom remain\nunshaken.\u2019\n\n\u2018Mother,\u2019 replied that excellent youth, \u2018in my opinion we should\nhasten this matter. Firstly, I must obey your command; secondly, I\nmust promote the interests of my master; thirdly, if this body be\nof any use to a goddess, nothing better can be done with it in this\nworld.\u2019\n\n(\u2018Excuse me, Raja Vikram,\u2019 said the Baital, interrupting himself, \u2018if\nI repeat these fair discourses at full length; it is interesting to\nhear a young person, whose throat is about to be cut, talk so like a\ndoctor of laws.\u2019)\n\nThen the youth thus addressed his sire: \u2018Father, whoever can be of\nuse to his master, the life of that man in this world has been lived\nto good purpose, and by reason of his usefulness he will be rewarded\nin other worlds.\u2019\n\nHis sister, however, exclaimed, \u2018If a mother should give poison to\nher daughter, and a father sell his son, and a king seize the entire\nproperty of his subjects, where then could one look for protection?\u2019\nBut they heeded her not, and continued talking as they journeyed\ntowards the temple of Devi\u2014the king all the while secretly following\nthem.\n\nPresently they reached the temple, a single room, surrounded by a\nspacious paved area; in front was an immense building capable of\nseating hundreds of people. Before the image there were pools of\nblood, where victims had lately been slaughtered. In the sanctum was\nDevi, a large black figure with ten arms. With a spear in one of her\nright hands she pierced the giant Mahisha; and with one of her left\nhands she held the tail of a serpent, and the hair of the giant,\nwhose breast the serpent was biting. Her other arms were all raised\nabove her head, and were filled with different instruments of war;\nagainst her right leg leaned a lion.\n\nThen Birbal joined his hands in prayer, and with Hindu mildness\nthus addressed the awful goddess: \u2018O mother, let the king\u2019s life be\nprolonged for a thousand years by the sacrifice of my son. O Devi,\nmother! destroy, destroy his enemies! Kill! kill! Reduce them to\nashes! Drive them away! Devour them! devour them! Cut them in two!\nDrink! drink their blood! Destroy them root and branch! With thy\nthunderbolt, spear, scymitar, discus, or rope, annihilate them!\nSpheng! Spheng!\u2019\n\nThe Rajput, having caused his son to kneel before the goddess, struck\nhim so violent a blow that his head rolled upon the ground. He then\nthrew the sword down, when his daughter, frantic with grief, snatched\nit up and struck her neck with such force that her head, separated\nfrom her body, fell. In her turn the mother, unable to survive the\nloss of her children, seized the weapon and succeeded in decapitating\nherself. Birbal, beholding all this slaughter, thus reflected: \u2018My\nchildren are dead; why, now, should I remain in servitude, and upon\nwhom shall I bestow the gold I receive from the king?\u2019 He then gave\nhimself so deep a wound in the neck, that his head also separated\nfrom his body.\n\nRupsen, the king, seeing these four heads on the ground, said in his\nheart, \u2018For my sake has the family of Birbal been destroyed. Kingly\npower, for the purpose of upholding which the destruction of a whole\nhousehold is necessary, is a mere curse, and to carry on government\nin this manner is not just.\u2019 He then took up the sword and was about\nto slay himself, when the Destroying Goddess, probably satisfied with\nbloodshed, stayed his hand, bidding him at the same time ask any boon\nhe pleased.\n\nThe generous monarch begged, thereupon, that his faithful servant\nmight be restored to life, together with all his high-minded family;\nand the goddess Devi in the twinkling of an eye fetched from Patala,\nthe regions below the earth, a vase full of Amrita, the water of\nimmortality, sprinkled it upon the dead, and raised them all as\nbefore. After which the whole party walked leisurely home, and in due\ntime the king divided his throne with his friend Birbal.\n\nHaving stopped for a moment, the Baital proceeded to remark, in a\nsententious tone, \u2018Happy the servant who grudges not his own life to\nsave that of his master! And happy, thrice happy the master who can\nannihilate all greedy longing for existence and worldly prosperity.\nRaja, I have to ask thee one searching question\u2014Of these five, who\nwas the greatest fool?\u2019\n\n\u2018Demon!\u2019 exclaimed the great Vikram, all whose cherished feelings\nabout fidelity and family affection, obedience and high-mindedness,\nwere outraged by this Vampire view of the question; \u2018if thou meanest\nby the greatest fool the noblest mind, I reply without hesitating\nRupsen, the king.\u2019\n\n\u2018Why, prithee?\u2019 asked the Baital.\n\n\u2018Because, dull demon,\u2019 said the king, \u2018Birbal was bound to offer up\nhis life for a master who treated him so generously; the son could\nnot disobey his father, and the women naturally and instinctively\nkilled themselves, because the example was set to them. But Rupsen\nthe king gave up his throne for the sake of his retainer, and valued\nnot a straw his life and his high inducements to live. For this\nreason I think him the most meritorious.\u2019\n\n\u2018Surely, mighty Vikram,\u2019 laughed the Vampire, \u2018you will be tired of\never clambering up yon tall tree, even had you the legs and arms of\nHanuman[86] himself.\u2019\n\n  [86] The Monkey God.\n\nAnd so saying he disappeared from the cloth, although it had been\nplaced upon the ground.\n\nBut the poor Baital had little reason to congratulate himself on the\nsuccess of his escape. In a short time he was again bundled into the\ncloth with the usual want of ceremony, and he revenged himself by\ntelling another true story.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S FOURTH STORY.\n\nOF A WOMAN WHO TOLD THE TRUTH.\n\n\n\u2018Listen, great king!\u2019 again began the Baital.\n\nAn unimportant Baniya[87] (trader), Hiranyadatt, had a daughter,\nwhose name was Madansena Sundari, the beautiful army of Cupid. Her\nface was like the moon; her hair like the clouds; her eyes like those\nof a musk-rat; her eyebrows like a bent bow; her nose like a parrot\u2019s\nbill; her neck like that of a dove; her teeth like pomegranate\ngrains; the red colour of her lips like that of a gourd; her waist\nlithe and bending like the pard\u2019s; her hands and feet like softest\nblossoms; her complexion like the jasmine\u2014in fact, day by day the\nsplendour of her youth increased.\n\n  [87] Generally written \u2018Banyan.\u2019\n\nWhen she had arrived at maturity, her father and mother began often\nto revolve in their minds the subject of her marriage. And the people\nof all that country side ruled by Birbar king of Madanpur bruited it\nabroad that in the house of Hiranyadatt had been born a daughter by\nwhose beauty gods, men, and munis (sages) were fascinated.\n\nThereupon many, causing their portraits to be painted, sent them by\nmessengers to Hiranyadatt the Baniya, who showed them all to his\ndaughter. But she was capricious, as beauties sometimes are, and when\nher father said, \u2018Make choice of a husband thyself,\u2019 she told him\nthat none pleased her, and moreover she begged of him to find her a\nhusband who possessed good looks, good qualities, and good sense.\n\nAt length, when some days had passed, four suitors came from four\ndifferent countries. The father told them that he must have from each\nsome indication that he possessed the required qualities; that he was\npleased with their looks, but that they must satisfy him about their\nknowledge.\n\n\u2018I have,\u2019 the first said, \u2018a perfect acquaintance with the Shastras\n(or Scriptures); in science there is none to rival me. As for my\nhandsome mien, it may plainly be seen by you.\u2019\n\nThe second exclaimed, \u2018My attainments are unique in the knowledge\nof archery. I am acquainted with the art of discharging arrows\nand killing anything which though not seen is heard, and my fine\nproportions are plainly visible to you.\u2019\n\nThe third continued, \u2018I understand the language of land and water\nanimals, of birds and of beasts, and I have no equal in strength. Of\nmy comeliness you yourself may judge.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have the knowledge,\u2019 quoth the fourth, \u2018how to make a certain\ncloth which can be sold for five rubies: having sold it I give the\nproceeds of one ruby to a Brahman, of the second I make an offering\nto a deity, a third I wear on my own person, a fourth I keep for my\nwife; and, having sold the fifth, I spend it in giving feasts. This\nis my knowledge, and none other is acquainted with it. My good looks\nare apparent.\u2019\n\nThe father hearing these speeches began to reflect, \u2018It is said that\nexcess in anything is not good. Sita[88] was very lovely, but the\ndemon Ravana carried her away; and Bali king of Mahabahpur gave much\nalms, but at length he became poor.[89] My daughter is too fair to\nremain a maiden; to which of these shall I give her?\u2019\n\n  [88] The daughter of Raja Janaka, married to Ramachandra. The\n  latter placed his wife under the charge of his brother Lakshmana,\n  and went into the forest to worship, when the demon Ravana\n  disguised himself as a beggar, and carried off the prize.\n\n  [89] This great king was tricked by the god Vishnu out of the\n  sway of heaven and earth, but from his exceeding piety he was\n  appointed to reign in Patala, or Hades.\n\nSo saying, Hiranyadatt went to his daughter, explained the qualities\nof the four suitors, and asked, \u2018To which shall I give thee?\u2019 On\nhearing these words she was abashed; and, hanging down her head, knew\nnot what to reply.\n\nThen the Baniya, having reflected, said to himself, \u2018He who is\nacquainted with the Shastras is a Brahman, he who could shoot an\narrow at the sound was a Kshatriya or warrior, and he who made the\ncloth was a Shudra or servile. But the youth who understands the\nlanguage of birds is of our own caste. To him, therefore, will I\nmarry her.\u2019 And accordingly he proceeded with the betrothal of his\ndaughter.\n\nMeanwhile Madansena went one day, during the spring season, into the\ngarden for a stroll. It happened, just before she came out, that\nSomdatt, the son of the merchant Dharmdatt, had gone for pleasure\ninto the forest, and was returning through the same garden to his\nhome.\n\nHe was fascinated at the sight of the maiden, and said to his friend,\n\u2018Brother, if I can obtain her my life will be prosperous, and if I do\nnot obtain her my living in the world will be in vain.\u2019\n\nHaving thus spoken, and becoming restless from the fear of\nseparation, he involuntarily drew near to her, and seizing her hand,\nsaid\u2014\n\n\u2018If thou wilt not form an affection for me, I will throw away my life\non thy account.\u2019\n\n\u2018Be pleased not to do this,\u2019 she replied; \u2018it will be sinful, and it\nwill involve me in the guilt and punishment of shedding blood; hence\nI shall be miserable in this world and in that to be.\u2019\n\n\u2018Thy blandishments,\u2019 he replied, \u2018have pierced my heart, and the\nconsuming thought of parting from thee has burnt up my body, and\nmemory and understanding have been destroyed by this pain; and from\nexcess of love I have no sense of right or wrong. But if thou wilt\nmake me a promise, I will live again.\u2019\n\nShe replied, \u2018Truly the Kali Yug (iron age) has commenced, since\nwhich time falsehood has increased in the world and truth has\ndiminished; people talk smoothly with their tongues, but nourish\ndeceit in their hearts; religion is destroyed, crime has increased,\nand the earth has begun to give little fruit. Kings levy fines,\nBrahmans have waxed covetous, the son obeys not his sire\u2019s commands,\nbrother distrusts brother; friendship has departed from amongst\nfriends; sincerity has left masters; servants have given up service;\nman has abandoned manliness; and woman has abandoned modesty. Five\ndays hence, my marriage is to be; but if thou slay not thyself, I\nwill visit thee first, and after that I will remain with my husband.\u2019\n\nHaving given this promise, and having sworn by the Ganges, she\nreturned home. The merchant\u2019s son also went his way.\n\nPresently the marriage ceremonies came on, and Hiranyadatt the Baniya\nexpended a lakh of rupees in feasts and presents to the bridegroom.\nThe bodies of the twain were anointed with turmeric, the bride was\nmade to hold in her hand the iron box for eye paint, and the youth\na pair of betel scissors. During the night before the wedding there\nwas loud and shrill music, the heads and limbs of the young couple\nwere rubbed with an ointment of oil, and the bridegroom\u2018s head was\nduly shaved. The wedding procession was very grand. The streets were\na blaze of flambeaux and torches carried in the hand, fireworks by\nthe ton were discharged as the people passed; elephants, camels, and\nhorses richly caparisoned, were placed in convenient situations; and\nbefore the procession had reached the house of the bride half a dozen\nwicked boys and bad young men were killed or wounded.[90] After the\nmarriage formulas were repeated the Baniya gave a feast or supper,\nand the food was so excellent that all sat down quietly, no one\nuttered a complaint, or brought dishonour on the bride\u2019s family, or\ncut with scissors the garments of his neighbour.\n\n  [90] The procession is fair game, and is often attacked in the\n  dark with sticks and stones, causing serious disputes. At the\n  supper the guests confer the obligation by their presence, and\n  are exceedingly exacting.\n\nThe ceremony thus happily concluded, the husband brought Madansena\nhome to his own house. After some days the wife of her husband\u2019s\nyoungest brother and also the wife of his eldest brother led her at\nnight by force to her bridegroom, and seated her on a bed ornamented\nwith flowers.\n\nAs her husband proceeded to take her hand, she jerked it away, and\nat once openly told him all that she had promised to Somdatt on\ncondition of his not killing himself.\n\n\u2018All things,\u2019 rejoined the bridegroom, hearing her words, \u2018have\ntheir sense ascertained by speech; in speech they have their basis,\nand from speech they proceed; consequently a falsifier of speech\nfalsifies everything. If truly you are desirous of going to him, go!\u2019\n\nReceiving her husband\u2019s permission, she arose and went off to the\nyoung merchant\u2019s house in full dress. Upon the road a thief saw her,\nand in high good humour came up and asked\u2014\n\n\u2018Whither goest thou at midnight in such darkness, having put on all\nthese fine clothes and ornaments?\u2019\n\nShe replied that she was going to the house of her beloved.\n\n\u2018And who here,\u2019 said the thief, \u2018is thy protector?\u2019\n\n\u2018Kama Deva,\u2019 she replied, \u2018the beautiful youth who by his fiery\narrows wounds with love the hearts of the inhabitants of the three\nworlds, Ratipati, the husband of Rati,[91] accompanied by the kokila\nbird,[92] the humming bee and gentle breezes.\u2019 She then told to the\nthief the whole story, adding\u2014\n\n  [91] Rati is the wife of Kama, the God of Desire; and we explain\n  the word by \u2018Spring personified.\u2019\n\n  [92] The Indian Cuckoo (_Cuculus Indicus_). It is supposed to lay\n  its eggs in the nest of the crow.\n\n\u2018Destroy not my jewels: I give thee a promise before I go that on my\nreturn thou shalt have all these ornaments.\u2019\n\nHearing this the thief thought to himself that it would be useless\nnow to destroy her jewels, when she had promised to give them to him\npresently of her own good will. He therefore let her go, and sat\ndown and thus soliloquised:\n\n\u2018To me it is astonishing that he who sustained me in my mother\u2019s womb\nshould take no care of me now that I have been born and am able to\nenjoy the good things of this world. I know not whether he is asleep\nor dead. And I would rather swallow poison than ask man for money\nor favour. For these six things tend to lower a man:\u2014friendship\nwith the perfidious; causeless laughter; altercation with women;\nserving an unworthy master; riding an ass, and speaking any language\nbut Sanskrit. And these five things the deity writes on our fate at\nthe hour of birth:\u2014first, age; secondly, action; thirdly, wealth;\nfourthly, science; fifthly, fame. I have now done a good deed, and as\nlong as a man\u2019s virtue is in the ascendant, all people becoming his\nservants obey him. But when virtuous deeds diminish, even his friends\nbecome inimical to him.\u2019\n\nMeanwhile Madansena had reached the place where Somdatt the young\ntrader had fallen asleep.\n\nShe awoke him suddenly, and he springing up in alarm quickly asked\nher, \u2018Art thou the daughter of a deity? or of a saint? or of a\nserpent? Tell me truly, who art thou? And whence hast thou come?\u2019\n\nShe replied, \u2018I am human\u2014Madansena, the daughter of the Baniya\nHiranyadatt. Dost thou not remember taking my hand in that grove, and\ndeclaring that thou wouldst slay thyself if I did not swear to visit\nthee first and after that remain with my husband?\u2019\n\n\u2018Hast thou,\u2019 he inquired, \u2018told all this to thy husband or not?\u2019\n\nShe replied, \u2018I have told him everything; and he, thoroughly\nunderstanding the whole affair, gave me permission.\u2019\n\n\u2018This matter,\u2019 exclaimed Somdatt in a melancholy voice, \u2018is\nlike pearls without a suitable dress, or food without clarified\nbutter,[93] or singing without melody; they are all alike unnatural.\nIn the same way, unclean clothes will mar beauty, bad food will\nundermine strength, a wicked wife will worry her husband to death, a\ndisreputable son will ruin his family, an enraged demon will kill,\nand a woman, whether she love or hate, will be a source of pain. For\nthere are few things which a woman will not do. She never brings to\nher tongue what is in her heart, she never speaks out what is on her\ntongue, and she never tells what she is doing. Truly the Deity has\ncreated woman a strange creature in this world.\u2019 He concluded with\nthese words: \u2018Return thou home; with another man\u2019s wife I have no\nconcern.\u2019\n\n  [93] This is the well-known Ghi or Ghee, the one sauce of India,\n  which is as badly off in that matter as England.\n\nMadansena rose and departed. On her way she met the thief,\nwho, hearing her tale, gave her great praise, and let her go\nunplundered.[94]\n\n  [94] The European reader will observe that it is her purity which\n  carries the heroine through all these perils. Moreover, that her\n  virtue is its own reward, as it loses to her the world.\n\n[Illustration: The Baital disappeared through the darkness.]\n\nShe then went to her husband, and related the whole matter to him.\nBut he had ceased to love her, and he said, \u2018Neither a king nor a\nminister, nor a wife, nor a person\u2019s hair nor his nails, look well\nout of their places. And the beauty of the kokila is its note, of\nan ugly man knowledge, of a devotee forgiveness, and of a woman her\nchastity.\u2019\n\nThe Vampire having narrated thus far, suddenly asked the king, \u2018Of\nthese three, whose virtue was the greatest?\u2019\n\nVikram, who had been greatly edified by the tale, forgot himself, and\nejaculated, \u2018The Thief\u2019s.\u2019\n\n\u2018And pray why?\u2019 asked the Baital.\n\n\u2018Because,\u2019 the hero explained, \u2018when her husband saw that she loved\nanother man, however purely, he ceased to feel affection for her.\nSomdatt let her go unharmed, for fear of being punished by the king.\nBut there was no reason why the thief should fear the law and dismiss\nher; therefore he was the best.\u2019\n\n\u2018Hi! hi! hi!\u2019 laughed the demon, spitefully. \u2018Here, then, ends my\nstory.\u2019\n\nUpon which, escaping as before from the cloth in which he was slung\nbehind the Raja\u2019s back, the Baital disappeared through the darkness\nof the night, leaving father and son looking at each other in dismay.\n\n\u2018Son Dharma Dhwaj,\u2019 quoth the great Vikram, \u2018the next time when\nthat villain Vampire asks me a question, I allow thee to take the\nliberty of pinching my arm even before I have had time to answer his\nquestions. In this way we shall never, of a truth, end our task.\u2019\n\n\u2018Your words be upon my head, sire,\u2019 replied the young prince. But he\nexpected no good from his father\u2019s new plan, as, arrived under the\nsiras-tree, he heard the Baital laughing with all his might.\n\n\u2018Surely he is laughing at our beards, sire,\u2019 said the beardless\nprince, who hated to be laughed at like a young person.\n\n\u2018Let them laugh that win,\u2019 fiercely cried Raja Vikram, who hated to\nbe laughed at like an elderly person.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Vampire lost no time in opening a fresh story.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S FIFTH STORY.\n\nOF THE THIEF WHO LAUGHED AND WEPT.\n\n\nYour majesty (quoth the demon, with unusual politeness), there\nis a country called Malaya, on the western coast of the land of\nBharat\u2014you see that I am particular in specifying the place\u2014and in\nit was a city known as Chandrodaya, whose king was named Randhir.\n\nThis Raja, like most others of his semi-deified order, had been in\nyouth what is called a Sarva-rasi;[95] that is, he ate and drank and\nlistened to music, and looked at dancers and made love much more than\nhe studied, reflected, prayed, or conversed with the wise. After the\nage of thirty he began to reform, and he brought such zeal to the\ngood cause, that in an incredibly short space of time he came to be\naccounted and quoted as the paragon of correct Rajas. This was very\npraiseworthy. Many of Bramha\u2019s vicegerents on earth, be it observed,\nhave loved food and drink, and music and dancing, and the worship of\nKama, to the end of their days.\n\n  [95] Literally, \u2018one of all tastes\u2019\u2014a wild or gay man, we should\n  say.\n\nAmongst his officers was Gunshankar, a magistrate of police, who,\ncurious to say, was as honest as he was just. He administered equity\nwith as much care before as after dinner; he took no bribes even\nin the matter of advancing his family; he was rather merciful than\notherwise to the poor, and he never punished the rich ostentatiously,\nin order to display his and his law\u2019s disrespect for persons. Besides\nwhich, when sitting on the carpet of justice, he did not, as some\nKotwals do, use rough or angry language to those who cannot reply;\nnor did he take offence when none was intended.\n\nAll the people of the city Chandrodaya, in the province of Malaya, on\nthe western coast of Bharatland, loved and esteemed this excellent\nmagistrate; which did not, however, prevent thefts being committed so\nfrequently, and so regularly, that no one felt his property secure.\nAt last the merchants who had suffered most from these depredations\nwent in a body before Gunshankar, and said to him:\n\n\u2018O flower of the law! robbers have exercised great tyranny upon us,\nso great indeed that we can no longer stay in this city.\u2019\n\nThen the magistrate replied, \u2018What has happened, has happened. But in\nfuture you shall be free from annoyance. I will make due preparation\nfor these thieves.\u2019\n\nThus saying Gunshankar called together his various delegates, and\ndirected them to increase the number of their people. He pointed\nout to them how they should keep watch by night; besides which he\nordered them to open registers of all arrivals and departures, to\nmake themselves acquainted by means of spies with the movements of\nevery suspected person in the city, and to raise a body of paggis\n(trackers), who could follow the footprints of thieves even when they\nwore thieving shoes,[96] till they came up with and arrested them.\nAnd lastly, he gave the patrols full power, whenever they might catch\na robber in the act, to slay him without asking questions.\n\n  [96] These shoes are generally made of rags and bits of leather;\n  they have often toes behind the foot, with other similar\n  contrivances, yet they scarcely ever deceive an experienced man.\n\nPeople in numbers began to mount guard throughout the city every\nnight, but, notwithstanding this, robberies continued to be\ncommitted. After a time all the merchants having again met together\nwent before the magistrate, and said, \u2018O incarnation of justice! you\nhave changed your officers, you have hired watchmen, and you have\nestablished patrols: nevertheless the thieves have not diminished,\nand plundering is ever taking place.\u2019\n\nThereupon Gunshankar carried them to the palace, and made them\nlay their petition at the feet of king Randhir. That Raja, having\nconsoled them, sent them home, saying, \u2018Be ye of good cheer. I will\nto-night adopt a new plan, which, with the blessing of the Bhagwan,\nshall free ye from further anxiety.\u2019\n\nObserve, O Vikram, that Randhir was one of those concerning whom the\npoet sang\u2014\n\n    The unwise run from one end to the other.\n\nNot content with becoming highly respectable, correct, and\neven unimpeachable in point of character, he reformed even his\nreformation, and he did much more than he was required to do.\n\nWhen Canopus began to sparkle gaily in the southern skies, the king\narose and prepared for a night\u2019s work. He disguised his face by\nsmearing it with a certain paint, by twirling his moustachios up to\nhis eyes, by parting his beard upon his chin, and conducting the two\nends towards his ears, and by tightly tying a hair from a horse\u2019s\ntail over his nose, so as quite to change its shape. He then wrapped\nhimself in a coarse outer garment, girt his loins, buckled on his\nsword, drew his shield upon his arm, and without saying a word to\nthose within the palace, he went out into the streets alone, and on\nfoot.\n\nIt was dark, and Raja Randhir walked through the silent city for\nnearly an hour without meeting anyone. As, however, he passed through\na back street in the merchants\u2019 quarter, he saw what appeared to be\na homeless dog, lying at the foot of a house-wall. He approached it,\nand up leaped a human figure, whilst a loud voice cried, \u2018Who art\nthou?\u2019\n\nRandhir replied, \u2018I am a thief; who art thou?\u2019\n\n[Illustration: As, however, he passed through a back street....]\n\n\u2018And I also am a thief,\u2019 rejoined the other, much pleased at hearing\nthis; \u2018come, then, and let us make together. But what art thou, a\nhigh-toper or a lully-prigger?\u2019[97]\n\n  [97] The high-toper is a swell thief, the other is a low dog.\n\n\u2018A little more ceremony betwen coves in the lorst,\u2019[98] whispered\nthe king, speaking as a flash man, \u2018were not out of place. But, look\nsharp, mind old Oliver,[99] or the lamb-skin man[100] will have the\npull of us, and as sure as eggs is eggs we shall be scragged as soon\nas lagged.\u2019[101]\n\n  [98] Engaged in shoplifting.\n\n  [99] The moon.\n\n  [100] The judge.\n\n  [101] To be lagged is to be taken; scragging is hanging.\n\n\u2018Well, keep your red rag[102] quiet,\u2019 grumbled the other, \u2018and let us\nbe working.\u2019\n\n  [102] The tongue.\n\nThen the pair, king and thief, began work in right earnest. The gang\nseemed to swarm in the street. They were drinking spirits, slaying\nvictims, rubbing their bodies with oil, daubing their eyes with\nlamp-black, and repeating incantations to enable them to see in the\ndarkness; others were practising the lessons of the god with the\ngolden spear,[103] and carrying out the four modes of breaching a\nhouse: 1. Picking out burnt bricks. 2. Cutting through unbaked ones\nwhen old, when softened by recent damp, by exposure to the sun, or\nby saline exudations. 3. Throwing water on a mud wall; and 4. Boring\nthrough one of wood. The sons of Skanda were making breaches in the\nshape of lotus blossoms, the sun, the new moon, the lake, and the\nwater jar, and they seemed to be anointed with magic unguents, so\nthat no eye could behold, no weapon harm them.\n\n  [103] This is the god Kartikeya, a mixture of Mars and Mercury,\n  who revealed to a certain Yugacharya the scriptures known as\n  \u2018Chauriya-Vidya\u2019\u2014Anglice, \u2018Thieves\u2019 Manual.\u2019 The classical\n  robbers of the Hindu drama always perform according to its\n  precepts. There is another work respected by thieves, and called\n  the \u2018Chora-Pancha-shika,\u2019 because consisting of fifty lines.\n\nAt length having filled his bag with costly plunder, the thief said\nto the king, \u2018Now, my rummy cove, we\u2019ll be off to the flash ken,\nwhere the lads and the morts are waiting to wet their whistles.\u2019\n\nRandhir, who as a king was perfectly familiar with \u2018thieves\u2019 Latin,\u2019\ntook heart, and resolved to hunt out the secrets of the den. On the\nway, his companion, perfectly satisfied with the importance which the\nnew cove had attached to a rat-hole,[104] and convinced that he was a\ntrue robber, taught him the whistle, the word, and the sign peculiar\nto the gang, and promised him that he should smack the lit[105] that\nnight before \u2018turning in.\u2019\n\n  [104] Supposed to be a good omen.\n\n  [105] Share the booty.\n\nSo saying the thief rapped twice at the city gate, which was at once\nopened to him, and preceding his accomplice led the way to a rock\nabout two kos (four miles) distant from the walls. Before entering\nthe dark forest at the foot of the eminence, the robber stood still\nfor a moment and whistled twice through his fingers with a shrill\nscream that rang through the silent glades. After a few minutes\nthe signal was answered by the hooting of an owl, which the robber\nacknowledged by shrieking like a jackal. Thereupon half a dozen armed\nmen arose from their crouching places in the grass, and one advanced\ntowards the new comers to receive the sign. It was given, and they\nboth passed on, whilst the guard sank, as it were, into the bowels\nof the earth. All these things Randhir carefully remarked: besides\nwhich he neglected not to take note of all the distinguishable\nobjects that lay on the road, and, when he entered the wood, he\nscratched with his dagger all the tree trunks within reach.\n\n[Illustration: After a few minutes the signal was answered.]\n\nAfter a sharp walk the pair reached a high perpendicular sheet of\nrock, rising abruptly from a clear space in the jungle, and profusely\nprinted over with vermilion hands. The thief, having walked up to it,\nand made his obeisance, stooped to the ground, and removed a bunch of\ngrass. The two then raised by their united efforts a heavy trap-door,\nthrough which poured a stream of light, whilst a confused hubbub of\nvoices was heard below.\n\n\u2018This is the ken,\u2019 said the robber, preparing to descend a thin\nladder of bamboo, \u2018follow me!\u2019 And he disappeared with his bag of\nvaluables.\n\nThe king did as he was bid, and the pair entered together a large\nhall, or rather a cave, which presented a singular spectacle. It\nwas lighted up by links fixed to the sombre walls, which threw a\nsmoky glare over the place, and the contrast after the deep darkness\nreminded Randhir of his mother\u2019s descriptions of Patal-puri, the\ninfernal city. Carpets of every kind, from the choicest tapestry to\nthe coarsest rug, were spread upon the ground, and were strewed with\nbags, wallets, weapons, heaps of booty, drinking cups, and all the\nmaterials of debauchery.\n\n[Illustration: The two then raised, by their united efforts, a heavy\ntrap-door.]\n\nPassing through this cave the thief led Randhir into another, which\nwas full of thieves, preparing for the pleasures of the night.\nSome were changing garments, ragged and dirtied by creeping through\ngaps in the houses; others were washing the blood from their hands\nand feet; these combed out their long dishevelled, dusty hair; those\nanointed their skins with perfumed cocoa-nut oil. There were all\nmanner of murderers present, a villanous collection of Kartikeya\u2019s,\nand Bhawani\u2019s[106] crew. There were stabbers with their poniards hung\nto lanyards lashed round their naked waists, Dhaturiya-poisoners[107]\ndistinguished by the little bag slung under the left arm, and\nPhansigars[108] wearing their fatal kerchiefs round their necks. And\nRandhir had reason to thank the good deed in the last life that had\nsent him there in such strict disguise, for amongst the robbers he\nfound, as might be expected, a number of his own people, spies and\nwatchmen, guards and patrols.\n\n  [106] Bhawani is one of the many forms of the destroying goddess,\n  the wife of Shiva.\n\n  [107] Wretches who kill with the narcotic seed of the stramonium.\n\n  [108] Better known as \u2018Thugs,\u2019 which in India means simply\n  \u2018rascals.\u2019\n\nThe thief, whose importance of manner now shewed him to be the chief\nof the gang, was greeted with applause as he entered the robing\nroom, and he bade all make salaam to the new companion. A number of\nquestions concerning the success of the night\u2019s work was quickly\nput and answered: then the company, having got ready for the revel,\nflocked into the first cave. There they sat down each in his own\nplace, and began to eat and drink and make merry.\n\nAfter some hours the flaring torches began to burn out, and\ndrowsiness to overpower the strongest heads. Most of the robbers\nrolled themselves up in the rugs, and covering their heads, went to\nsleep. A few still sat with their backs to the wall, nodding drowsily\nor leaning on one side, and too stupefied with opium and hemp to make\nany exertion.\n\nAt that moment a servant woman, whom the king saw for the first time,\ncame into the cave, and looking at him exclaimed, \u2018O Raja! how came\nyou with these wicked men? Do you run away as fast as you can, or\nthey will surely kill you when they awake.\u2019\n\n\u2018I do not know the way; in which direction am I to go?\u2019 asked Randhir.\n\nThe woman then showed him the road. He threaded the confused mass of\nsnorers, treading with the foot of a tiger-cat, found the ladder,\nraised the trap-door by exerting all his strength, and breathed once\nmore the open air of heaven. And before plunging into the depths\nof the wood, he again marked the place where the entrance lay, and\ncarefully replaced the bunch of grass.\n\nHardly had Raja Randhir returned to the palace, and removed the\ntraces of his night\u2019s occupation, when he received a second\ndeputation of the merchants, complaining bitterly and with the\nlongest faces about their fresh misfortunes.\n\n\u2018O pearl of equity!\u2019 said the men of money, \u2018but yesterday you\nconsoled us with the promise of some contrivance by the blessing of\nwhich our houses and coffers would be safe from theft; whereas our\ngoods have never yet suffered so severely as during the last twelve\nhours.\u2019\n\n[Illustration: Treading with the foot of a tiger-cat.]\n\nAgain Randhir dismissed them, swearing that this time he would either\ndie or destroy the wretches who had been guilty of such violence.\n\nThen having mentally prepared his measures, the Raja warned a company\nof archers to hold themselves in readiness for secret service, and\nas each one of his own people returned from the robbers\u2019 cave, he\nhad him privily arrested and put to death\u2014because the deceased, it\nis said, do not, like Baitals, tell tales. About nightfall, when he\nthought that the thieves, having finished their work of plunder,\nwould meet together as usual for wassail and debauchery, he armed\nhimself, marched out his men, and led them to the rock in the jungle.\n\nBut the robbers, aroused by the disappearance of the new companion,\nhad made enquiries and had gained intelligence of the impending\ndanger. They feared to flee during the day time, lest being tracked\nthey should be discovered and destroyed in detail. When night came\nthey hesitated to disperse, from the certainty that they would be\ncaptured in the morning. Then their captain, who throughout had\nbeen of one opinion, proposed to them that they should resist,\nand promised them success if they would hear his words. The gang\nrespected him, for he was known to be brave: they all listened to his\nadvice, and they promised to be obedient.\n\nAs young night began to cast transparent shade upon the jungle\nground, the chief of the thieves mustered his men, inspected their\nbows and arrows, gave them encouraging words, and led them forth from\nthe cave. Having placed them in ambush he climbed the rock to espy\nthe movements of the enemy, whilst others applied their noses and\nears to the level ground. Presently the moon shone full upon Randhir\nand his band of archers, who were advancing quickly and carelessly,\nfor they expected to catch the robbers in their cave. The captain\nallowed them to march nearly through the line of ambush. Then he gave\nthe signal, and at that moment the thieves, rising suddenly from\nthe bush, fell upon the royal troops and drove them back in confusion.\n\n[Illustration: The king was cunning at fence, and so was the thief.]\n\nThe king also fled, when the chief of the robbers shouted out, \u2018Hola!\nthou a Rajput and running away from combat?\u2019 Randhir hearing this\nhalted, and the two, confronting each other, bared their blades and\nbegan to do battle with prodigious fury.\n\nThe king was cunning of fence, and so was the thief. They opened the\nduel, as skilful swordsmen should, by bending almost double, skipping\nin a circle, each keeping his eye well fixed upon the other, with\nfrowning brows and contemptuous lips; at the same time executing\ndivers gambados and measured leaps, springing forward like frogs and\nbackward like monkeys, and beating time with their sabres upon their\nshields, which rattled like drums.\n\nThen Randhir suddenly facing his antagonist, cut at his legs with a\nloud cry, but the thief sprang in the air, and the blade whistled\nharmlessly under him. Next moment the robber chief\u2019s sword, thrice\nwhirled round his head, descended like lightning in a slanting\ndirection towards the king\u2019s left shoulder: the latter, however,\nreceived it upon his target and escaped all hurt, though he\nstaggered with the violence of the blow.\n\nAnd thus they continued attacking each other, parrying and replying,\ntill their breath failed them and their hands and wrists were numbed\nand cramped with fatigue. They were so well matched in courage,\nstrength, and address, that neither obtained the least advantage,\ntill the robber\u2019s right foot catching a stone slid from under him,\nand thus he fell to the ground at the mercy of his enemy. The thieves\nfled, and the Raja, throwing himself on his prize, tied his hands\nbehind him, and brought him back to the city at the point of his good\nsword.\n\nThe next morning Randhir visited his prisoner, whom he caused to be\nbathed, and washed, and covered with fine clothes. He then had him\nmounted on a camel and sent him on a circuit of the city, accompanied\nby a crier proclaiming aloud:\n\n\u2018Who hears! who hears! who hears! the king commands! This is the\nthief who has robbed and plundered the city of Chandrodaya. Let all\nmen therefore assemble themselves together this evening in the open\nspace outside the gate leading towards the sea. And let them behold\nthe penalty of evil deeds, and learn to be wise.\u2019\n\nRandhir had condemned the thief to be crucified,[109] nailed and\ntied with his hands and feet stretched out at full length, in an\nerect posture until death; everything he wished to eat was ordered to\nhim in order to prolong life and misery. And when death should draw\nnear, melted gold was to be poured down his throat till it should\nburst from his neck and other parts of his body.\n\n  [109] Crucifixion, until late years, was common amongst the\n  Buddhists of the Burmese empire. According to an eye-witness, Mr.\n  F. Carey, the punishment was inflicted in two ways. Sometimes\n  criminals were crucified by their hands and feet being nailed to\n  a scaffold; others were merely tied up, and fed. In these cases\n  the legs and feet of the patient begin to swell and mortify at\n  the expiration of three or four days; men are said to have lived\n  in this state for a fortnight, and at last they expired from\n  fatigue and mortification. The sufferings from cramp also must be\n  very severe. In India generally impalement was more common than\n  crucifixion.\n\nIn the evening the thief was led out for execution, and by chance the\nprocession passed close to the house of a wealthy landowner. He had a\nfavourite daughter named Shobhani, who was in the flower of her youth\nand very lovely; every day she improved, and every moment added to\nher grace and beauty. The girl had been carefully kept out of sight\nof mankind, never being allowed outside the high walls of the garden,\nbecause her nurse, a wise woman, much trusted in the neighbourhood,\nhad at the hour of death given a solemn warning to her parents. The\nprediction was that the maiden should be the admiration of the city,\nand should die a Sati-widow[110] before becoming a wife. From that\nhour Shobhani was kept as a pearl in its casket by her father, who\nhad vowed never to survive her, and had even fixed upon the place and\nstyle of his suicide.\n\n  [110] Our Suttee. There is an admirable Hindu proverb, which\n  says, \u2018No one knows the ways of woman; she kills her husband and\n  becomes a Sati.\u2019\n\nBut the shaft of Fate[111] strikes down the vulture sailing above\nthe clouds, and follows the worm into the bowels of the earth, and\npierces the fish at the bottom of the ocean\u2014how then can mortal man\nexpect to escape it? As the robber chief, mounted upon the camel,\nwas passing to the cross under the old householder\u2019s windows, a fire\nbreaking out in the women\u2019s apartments, drove the inmates into the\nrooms looking upon the street.\n\n  [111] Fate and Destiny are rather Moslem than Hindu fancies.\n\nThe hum of many voices arose from the solid pavement of heads: \u2018This\nis the thief who has been robbing the whole city; let him tremble\nnow, for Randhir will surely crucify him!\u2019\n\nIn beauty and bravery of bearing, as in strength and courage, no\nman in Chandrodaya surpassed the robber, who, being magnificently\ndressed, looked, despite his disgraceful cavalcade, like the son of\na king. He sat with an unmoved countenance, hardly hearing in his\npride the scoffs of the mob; calm and steady when the whole city\nwas frenzied with anxiety because of him. But as he heard the word\n\u2018tremble\u2019 his lips quivered, his eyes flashed fire, and deep lines\ngathered between his eyebrows.\n\nShobhani started with a scream from the casement behind which she\nhad hid herself, gazing with an intense womanly curiosity into the\nthoroughfare. The robber\u2019s face was upon a level with, and not half a\ndozen feet from, her pale cheeks. She marked his handsome features,\nand his look of wrath made her quiver as if it had been a flash of\nlightning. Then she broke away from the fascination of his youth and\nbeauty, and ran breathless to her father, saying:\n\n\u2018Go this moment and get that thief released!\u2019\n\nThe old housekeeper replied: \u2018That thief has been pilfering and\nplundering the whole city, and by his means the king\u2019s archers were\ndefeated; why, then, at my request, should our most gracious Raja\nRandhir release him?\u2019\n\nShobhani, almost beside herself, exclaimed: \u2018If by giving up your\nwhole property you can induce the Raja to release him, then instantly\nso do; if he does not come to me, I must give up my life!\u2019\n\nThe maiden then covered her head with her veil, and sat down in the\ndeepest despair, whilst her father, hearing her words, burst into a\ncry of grief, and hastened to present himself before the Raja. He\ncried out:\n\n\u2018O great king, be pleased to receive four lakhs of rupees, and to\nrelease this thief.\u2019\n\nBut the king replied: \u2018He has been robbing the whole city, and by\nreason of him my guards have been destroyed. I cannot by any means\nrelease him.\u2019\n\nThen the old householder finding, as he had expected, the Raja\ninexorable, and not to be moved, either by tears or bribes, or by the\ncruel fate of the girl, returned home with fire in his heart, and\naddressed her:\n\n\u2018Daughter, I have said and done all that is possible; but it avails\nme nought with the king. Now, then, we die.\u2019\n\nIn the mean time, the guards having led the thief all round the city,\ntook him outside the gates, and made him stand near the cross. Then\nthe messengers of death arrived from the palace, and the executioners\nbegan to nail his limbs. He bore the agony with the fortitude of the\nbrave; but when he heard what had been done by the old householder\u2019s\ndaughter, he raised his voice and wept bitterly, as though his\nheart had been bursting, and almost with the same breath he laughed\nheartily as at a feast. All were startled by his merriment; coming as\nit did at a time when the iron was piercing his flesh, no man could\nsee any reason for it.\n\nWhen he died, Shobhani, who was married to him in the spirit, recited\nto herself these sayings:\n\n\u2018There are thirty-five millions of hairs on the human body. The woman\nwho ascends the pile with her husband will remain so many years in\nheaven. As the snake-catcher draws the serpent from his hole, so\nshe, rescuing her husband from hell, rejoices with him; aye, though\nhe may have sunk to a region of torment, be restrained in dreadful\nbonds, have reached the place of anguish, be exhausted of strength,\nand afflicted and tortured for his crimes. No other effectual duty is\nknown for virtuous women at any time after the death of their lords,\nexcept casting themselves into the same fire. As long as a woman, in\nher successive transmigrations, shall decline burning herself, like a\nfaithful wife, in the same fire with her deceased lord, so long shall\nshe not be exempted from springing again to life in the body of some\nfemale animal.\u2019\n\nTherefore the beautiful Shobhani, virgin and wife, resolved to burn\nherself, and make the next life of the thief certain. She showed her\ncourage by thrusting her finger into a torch flame till it became a\ncinder, and she solemnly bathed in the nearest stream.\n\nA hole was dug in the ground, and upon a bed of green tree-trunks\nwere heaped hemp, pitch, faggots, and clarified butter, to form the\nfuneral pyre. The dead body, anointed, bathed, and dressed in new\nclothes, was then laid upon the heap, which was some two feet high.\nShobhani prayed that as long as fourteen Indras reign, or as many\nyears as there are hairs in her head, she might abide in heaven with\nher husband, and be waited upon by the heavenly dancers. She then\npresented her ornaments and little gifts of corn to her friends,\ntied some cotton round both wrists, put two new combs in her hair,\npainted her forehead, and tied up in the end of her body-cloth\nclean parched rice[112] and cowrie-shells. These she gave to the\nbystanders, as she walked seven times round the funeral pyre, upon\nwhich lay the body. She then ascended the heap of wood, sat down\nupon it, and taking the thief\u2019s head in her lap, without cords or\nlevers or upper layer of faggots, she ordered the pile to be lighted.\nThe crowd standing around set fire to it in several places, drummed\ntheir drums, blew their conchs, and raised a loud cry of \u2018Hari bol!\nHari bol!\u2019[113] Straw was thrown on, and pitch and clarified butter\nwere freely poured out. But Shobhani\u2019s was a Saha-maran, a blessed\neasy death: no part of her body was seen to move after the pyre was\nlighted\u2014in fact, she seemed to die before the flame touched her.\n\n  [112] Properly speaking, the husbandman should plough with not\n  less than four bullocks; but few can afford this. If he plough\n  with a cow or a bullock, and not with a bull, the rice produced\n  by his ground is unclean, and may not be used in any religious\n  ceremony.\n\n  [113] A shout of triumph, like our \u2018Huzza\u2019 or \u2018Hurrah!\u2019 of late\n  degraded into \u2018Hooray.\u2019 \u2018Hari bol\u2019 is of course religious,\n  meaning \u2018Call upon Hari!\u2019 i.e. Krishna, i.e. Vishnu.\n\nBy the blessing of his daughter\u2019s decease, the old householder\nbeheaded himself.[114] He caused an instrument to be made in the\nshape of a half-moon, with an edge like a razor, and fitting the back\nof his neck. At both ends of it, as at the beam of a balance, chains\nwere fastened. He sat down with eyes closed; he was rubbed with the\npurifying clay of the holy river, Vaitarani;[115] and he repeated\nthe proper incantations. Then placing his feet upon the extremities\nof the chains, he suddenly jerked up his neck, and his severed head\nrolled from his body upon the ground. What a happy death was this!\n\n  [114] This form of suicide is one of those recognised in India.\n  So in Europe we read of fanatics who, with a suicidal ingenuity,\n  have succeeded in crucifying themselves.\n\n  [115] The river of Jaganath in Orissa; it shares the honours of\n  sanctity with some twenty-nine others, and in the lower regions\n  it represents the classical Styx.\n\nThe Baital was silent, as if meditating on the fortunate\ntransmigration which the old householder had thus secured.\n\n\u2018But what could the thief have been laughing at, sire?\u2019 asked the\nyoung prince Dharma Dhwaj of his father.\n\n\u2018At the prodigious folly of the girl, my son,\u2019 replied the warrior\nking, thoughtlessly.\n\n\u2018I am indebted once more to your majesty,\u2019 burst out the Baital,\n\u2018for releasing me from this unpleasant position, but the Raja\u2019s\npenetration is again at fault. Not to leave your royal son and heir\nlabouring under a false impression, before going I will explain why\nthe brave thief burst into tears, and why he laughed at such a moment.\n\n\u2018He wept when he reflected that he could not requite her kindness in\nbeing willing to give up everything she had in the world to save his\nlife; and this thought deeply grieved him.\n\n\u2018Then it struck him as being passing strange that she had begun to\nlove him when the last sand of his life was well nigh run out; that\nwondrous are the ways of the revolving heavens which bestow wealth\nupon the niggard that cannot use it, wisdom upon the bad man who will\nmisuse it, a beautiful wife upon the fool who cannot protect her, and\nfertilising showers upon the stony hills. And thinking over these\nthings, the gallant and beautiful thief laughed aloud.\n\n\u2018Before returning to my siras-tree,\u2019 continued the Vampire, \u2018as I\nam about to do in virtue of your majesty\u2019s unintelligent reply, I\nmay remark that men may laugh and cry, or may cry and laugh, about\neverything in this world, from their neighbours\u2019 deaths, which, as\na general rule, in no wise concerns them, to their own latter ends,\nwhich do concern them exceedingly. For my part, I am in the habit of\nlaughing at everything, because it animates the brain, stimulates the\nlungs, beautifies the countenance, and\u2014for the moment, \u2018good-bye,\nRaja Vikram!\u2019\n\n[Illustration: Presently the demon was trussed up as usual.]\n\nThe warrior king, being forewarned this time, shifted the bundle\ncontaining the Baital from his back to under his arm, where he\npressed it with all his might.\n\nThis proceeding, however, did not prevent the Vampire from slipping\nback to his tree, and leaving an empty cloth with the Raja.\n\nPresently the demon was trussed up as usual; a voice sounded behind\nVikram, and the loquacious thing again began to talk.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S SIXTH STORY.\n\nIN WHICH THREE MEN DISPUTE ABOUT A WOMAN.\n\n\nOn the lovely banks of Jumna\u2019s stream there was a city known as\nDharmasthal\u2014the Place of Duty; and therein dwelt a certain Brahman\ncalled Keshav. He was a very pious man, in the constant habit of\nperforming penance and worship upon the river Sidi. He modelled\nhis own clay images instead of buying them from others; he painted\nholy stones red at the top, and made to them offerings of flowers,\nfruit, water, sweetmeats, and fried peas. He had become a learned\nman somewhat late in life, having, until twenty years old, neglected\nhis reading, and addicted himself to worshipping the beautiful youth\nKama-deva[116] and Rati his wife, accompanied by the cuckoo, the\nhumming-bee, and sweet breezes.\n\n  [116] Cupid. His wife Rati is the spring personified. The Hindu\n  poets always unite love and spring, and perhaps physiologically\n  they are correct.\n\nOne day his parents having rebuked him sharply for his ungovernable\nconduct, Keshav wandered to a neighbouring hamlet, and hid\nhimself in the tall fig-tree which shadowed a celebrated image of\nPanch\u00e1nan.[117] Presently an evil thought arose in his head: he\ndefiled the god, and threw him into the nearest tank.\n\n  [117] An incarnation of the third person of the Hindu Triad, or\n  Triumvirate, Shiva the God of Destruction, the Indian Bacchus.\n  The image has five faces, and each face has three eyes. In Bengal\n  it is found in many villages, and the women warn their children\n  not to touch it on pain of being killed.\n\nThe next morning, when the person arrived whose livelihood depended\non the image, he discovered that his god was gone. He returned into\nthe village distracted, and all was soon in an uproar about the lost\ndeity.\n\nIn the midst of this confusion the parents of Keshav arrived, seeking\nfor their son; and a man in the crowd declared that he had seen a\nyoung man sitting in Panch\u00e1nan\u2019s tree, but what had become of the god\nhe knew not.\n\nThe runaway at length appeared, and the suspicions of the villagers\nfell upon him as the stealer of Panch\u00e1nan. He confessed the fact,\npointed out the place where he had thrown the stone, and added\nthat he had polluted the god. All hands and eyes were raised in\namazement at this atrocious crime, and every one present declared\nthat Panch\u00e1nan would certainly punish the daring insult by immediate\ndeath. Keshav was dreadfully frightened; he began to obey his parents\nfrom that very hour, and applied to his studies so sedulously that he\nsoon became the most learned man of his country.\n\nNow Keshav the Brahman had a daughter whose name was the Madhumalati\nor Sweet Jasmine. She was very beautiful. Whence did the gods procure\nthe materials to form so exquisite a face? They took a portion of the\nmost excellent part of the moon to form that beautiful face! Does\nany one seek a proof of this? Let him look at the empty places left\nin the moon. Her eyes resembled the full-blown blue nymph\u00e6a; her\narms the charming stalk of the lotus; her flowing tresses the thick\ndarkness of night.\n\nWhen this lovely person arrived at a marriageable age, her mother,\nfather, and brother, all three became very anxious about her. For\nthe wise have said, \u2018A daughter nubile but without husband is ever\na calamity hanging over a house.\u2019 And, \u2018Kings, women, and climbing\nplants love those who are near them.\u2019 Also, \u2018Who is there that\nhas not suffered from the sex? for a woman cannot be kept in due\nsubjection, either by gifts or kindness, or correct conduct, or the\ngreatest services, or the laws of morality, or by the terror of\npunishment, for she cannot discriminate between good and evil.\u2019\n\nIt so happened that one day Keshav the Brahman went to the marriage\nof a certain customer of his,[118] and his son repaired to the house\nof a spiritual preceptor in order to read. During their absence,\na young man came to the house, when the Sweet Jasmine\u2019s mother,\ninferring his good qualities from his good looks, said to him, \u2018I\nwill give to thee my daughter in marriage.\u2019 The father also had\npromised his daughter to a Brahman youth whom he had met at the house\nof his employer; and the brother likewise had betrothed his sister to\na fellow student at the place where he had gone to read.\n\n  [118] A village Brahman on stated occasions receives fees from\n  all the villagers.\n\nAfter some days father and son came home, accompanied by these two\nsuitors, and in the house a third was already seated. The name of\nthe first was Tribikram, of the second Baman, and of the third\nMadhusadan. The three were equal in mind and body, in knowledge, and\nin age.\n\nThen the father, looking upon them, said to himself, \u2018Ho! there is\none bride and three bridegrooms; to whom shall I give, and to whom\nshall I not give? We three have pledged our word to these three. A\nstrange circumstance has occurred; what must we do?\u2019\n\nHe then proposed to them a trial of wisdom, and made them agree that\nhe who should quote the most excellent saying of the wise should\nbecome his daughter\u2019s husband.\n\nQuoth Tribikram: \u2018Courage is tried in war; integrity in the payment\nof debt and interest; friendship in distress; and the faithfulness of\na wife in the day of poverty.\u2019\n\nBaman proceeded: \u2018That woman is destitute of virtue who in her\nfather\u2019s house is not in subjection, who wanders to feasts and\namusements, who throws off her veil in the presence of men, who\nremains as a guest in the houses of strangers, who is much devoted to\nsleep, who drinks inebriating beverages, and who delights in distance\nfrom her husband.\u2019\n\n\u2018Let none,\u2019 pursued Madhusadan, \u2018confide in the sea, nor in whatever\nhas claws or horns, or who carries deadly weapons; neither in a\nwoman, nor in a king.\u2019\n\nWhilst the Brahman was doubting which to prefer, and rather inclining\nto the latter sentiment, a serpent bit the beautiful girl, and in a\nfew hours she died.\n\nStunned by this awful sudden death, the father and the three suitors\nsat for a time motionless. They then arose, used great exertions,\nand brought all kinds of sorcerers, wise men and women who charm\naway poisons by incantations. These having seen the girl said, \u2018She\ncannot return to life.\u2019 The first declared, \u2018A person always dies\nwho has been bitten by a snake on the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth,\nand fourteenth days of the lunar month.\u2019 The second asserted, \u2018One\nwho has been bitten on a Saturday or a Tuesday does not survive.\u2019\nThe third opined, \u2018Poison infused during certain six lunar mansions\ncannot be got under.\u2019 Quoth the fourth, \u2018One who has been bitten\nin any organ of sense, the lower lip, the cheek, the neck, or the\nstomach, cannot escape death.\u2019 The fifth said, \u2018In this case even\nBrahma, the Creator, could not restore life\u2014of what account, then,\nare we? Do you perform the funeral rites; we will depart.\u2019\n\nThus saying, the sorcerers went their way. The mourning father took\nup his daughter\u2019s corpse and caused it to be burnt, in the place\nwhere dead bodies are usually burnt, and returned to his house.\n\nAfter that the three young men said to one another, \u2018We must now seek\nhappiness elsewhere. And what better can we do than obey the words of\nIndra, the God of Air, who spake thus?\u2014\n\n\u2018\u201cFor a man who does not travel about there is no felicity, and a\ngood man who stays at home is a bad man. Indra is the friend of him\nwho travels. Travel!\n\n\u2018\u201cA traveller\u2019s legs are like blossoming branches, and he himself\ngrows and gathers the fruit. All his wrongs vanish, destroyed by his\nexertion on the roadside. Travel!\n\n\u2018\u201cThe fortune of a man who sits, sits also; it rises when he rises;\nit sleeps when he sleeps; it moves well when he moves. Travel!\n\n\u2018\u201cA man who sleeps is like the Iron Age. A man who awakes is like\nthe Bronze Age. A man who rises up is like the Silver Age. A man who\ntravels is like the Golden Age. Travel!\n\n\u2018\u201cA traveller finds honey; a traveller finds sweet figs. Look at the\nhappiness of the sun, who travelling never tires. Travel!\u201d\u2019\n\nBefore parting they divided the relics of the beloved one, and then\nthey went their way.\n\nTribikram, having separated and tied up the burnt bones, became one\nof the Vaisheshikas, in those days a powerful sect. He solemnly\nforswore the eight great crimes, namely: feeding at night; slaying\nany animal; eating the fruit of trees that give milk, or pumpkins\nor young bamboos; tasting honey or flesh; plundering the wealth of\nothers; taking by force a married woman; eating flowers, butter,\nor cheese; and worshipping the gods of other religions. He learned\nthat the highest act of virtue is to abstain from doing injury to\nsentient creatures; that crime does not justify the destruction of\nlife; and that kings, as the administrators of criminal justice,\nare the greatest of sinners. He professed the five vows of total\nabstinence from falsehood, eating flesh or fish, theft, drinking\nspirits, and marriage. He bound himself to possess nothing beyond a\nwhite loin-cloth, a towel to wipe the mouth, a beggar\u2019s dish, and a\nbrush of woollen threads to sweep the ground for fear of treading on\ninsects. And he was ordered to fear secular affairs; the miseries of\na future state; the receiving from others more than the food of a day\nat once; all accidents; provisions, if connected with the destruction\nof animal life; death and disgrace; also to please all, and to obtain\ncompassion from all.\n\nHe attempted to banish his love. He said to himself, \u2018Surely it\nwas owing only to my pride and selfishness that I ever looked upon\na woman as capable of affording happiness; and I thought, \u201cAh! ah!\nthine eyes roll about like the tail of the water-wagtail, thy lips\nresemble the ripe fruit, thy bosom is like the lotus buds, thy form\nis resplendent as gold melted in a crucible, the moon wanes through\ndesire to imitate the shadow of thy face, thou resemblest the\npleasure-house of Cupid; the happiness of all time is concentrated in\nthee; a touch from thee would surely give life to a dead image; at\nthy approach a living admirer would be changed by joy into a lifeless\nstone; obtaining thee I can face all the horrors of war; and were I\npierced by showers of arrows, one glance of thee would heal all my\nwounds.\u201d\n\n\u2018My mind is now averted from the world. Seeing her I say, \u201cIs this\nthe form by which men are bewitched? This is a basket covered with\nskin; it contains bones, flesh, blood, and impurities. The stupid\ncreature who is captivated by this\u2014is there a cannibal feeding in\nCurrim a greater cannibal than he? These persons call a thing made up\nof impure matter a face, and drink its charms as a drunkard swallows\nthe inebriating liquor from his cup. The blind, infatuated beings!\nWhy should I be pleased or displeased with this body, composed\nof flesh and blood? It is my duty to seek Him who is the Lord of\nthis body, and to disregard everything which gives rise either to\npleasure or to pain.\u2019\n\n[Illustration: Baman, the second suitor, tied up a bundle and\nfollowed.]\n\nBaman, the second suitor, tied up a bundle of his beloved one\u2019s\nashes, and followed\u2014somewhat prematurely\u2014the precepts of the\ngreat lawgiver Manu. \u2018When the father of a family perceives his\nmuscles becoming flaccid, and his hair grey, and sees the child of\nhis child, let him then take refuge in a forest. Let him take up\nhis consecrated fire and all his domestic implements for making\noblations to it, and, departing from the town to the lonely wood, let\nhim dwell in it with complete power over his organs of sense and of\naction. With many sorts of pure food, such as holy sages used to eat,\nwith green herbs, roots, and fruit, let him perform the five great\nsacraments, introducing them with due ceremonies. Let him wear a\nblack antelope-hide, or a vesture of bark; let him bathe evening and\nmorning; let him suffer the hair of his head, his beard and his nails\nto grow continually. Let him slide backwards and forwards on the\nground; or let him stand a whole day on tiptoe; or let him continue\nin motion, rising and sitting alternately; but at sunrise, at noon,\nand at sunset, let him go to the waters and bathe. In the hot season\nlet him sit exposed to five fires, four blazing around him, with\nthe sun above; in the rains, let him stand uncovered, without even\na mantle, where the clouds pour the heaviest showers; in the cold\nseason let him wear damp clothes, and let him increase by degrees the\nausterity of his devotions. Then, having reposited his holy fires, as\nthe law directs, in his mind, let him live without external fire,\nwithout a mansion, wholly silent, feeding on roots and fruit.\u2019\n\n[Illustration: Meanwhile Madhusadan, the third, became a Jogi.]\n\nMeanwhile Madhusadan the third, having taken a wallet and neckband,\nbecame a Jogi, and began to wander far and wide, living on nothing\nbut chaff, and practising his devotions. In order to see Bramha he\nattended to the following duties: 1. Hearing; 2. Meditation; 3.\nFixing the Mind; 4. Absorbing the Mind. He combated the three evils,\nrestlessness, injuriousness, voluptuousness, by settling the Deity\nin his spirit, by subjecting his senses, and by destroying desire.\nThus he would do away with the illusion (Maya) which conceals all\ntrue knowledge. He repeated the name of the Deity till it appeared\nto him in the form of a Dry Light or glory. Though connected with\nthe affairs of life, that is, with affairs belonging to a body\ncontaining blood, bones, and impurities; to organs which are blind,\npalsied, and full of weakness and error; to a mind filled with\nthirst, hunger, sorrow, infatuation; to confirmed habits, and to the\nfruits of former births: still he strove not to view these things as\nrealities. He made a companion of a dog, honouring it with his own\nfood, so as the better to think on spirit. He practised all the five\noperations connected with the vital air, or air collected in the\nbody. He attended much to Pranayama, or the gradual suppression of\nbreathing, and he secured fixedness of mind as follows. By placing\nhis sight and thoughts on the tip of his nose he perceived smell; on\nthe tip of his tongue he realised taste, on the root of his tongue\nhe knew sound, and so forth. He practised the eighty-four Asana or\npostures, raising his hand to the wonders of the heavens, till he\nfelt no longer the inconveniences of heat or cold, hunger or thirst.\nHe particularly preferred the Padma or lotus-posture which consists\nof bringing the feet to the sides, holding the right in the left hand\nand the left in the right. In the work of suppressing his breath\nhe permitted its respiration to reach at furthest twelve fingers\u2019\nbreadth, and gradually diminished the distance from his nostrils till\nhe could confine it to the length of twelve fingers from his nose,\nand even after restraining it for some time he would draw it from no\ngreater distance than from his heart. As respects time, he began by\nretaining inspiration for twenty-six seconds, and he enlarged this\nperiod gradually till he became perfect. He sat cross-legged, closing\nwith his fingers all the avenues of inspiration, and he practised\nPrityahara, or the power of restraining the members of the body and\nmind, with meditation and concentration, to which there are four\nenemies, viz. a sleepy heart, human passions, a confused mind, and\nattachment to anything but the one Bramha. He also cultivated Yama,\nthat is, inoffensiveness, truth, honesty, the forsaking of all evil\nin the world, and the refusal of gifts except for sacrifice, and\nNihama, i.e. purity relative to the use of water after defilement,\npleasure in everything whether in prosperity or adversity, renouncing\nfood when hungry, and keeping down the body. Thus delivered from\nthese four enemies of the flesh, he resembled the unruffled flame of\nthe lamp, and by Bramhagnana, or meditating on the Deity, placing his\nmind on the sun, moon, fire, or any other luminous body, or within\nhis heart, or at the bottom of his throat, or in the centre of his\nskull, he was enabled to ascend from gross images of omnipotence to\nthe works and the divine wisdom of the glorious original.\n\nOne day Madhusadan, the Jogi, went to a certain house for food, and\nthe householder having seen him began to say, \u2018Be so good as to\ntake your food here this day!\u2019 The visitor sat down, and when the\nvictuals were ready, the host caused his feet and hands to be washed,\nand leading him to the Chauka, or square place upon which meals are\nserved, seated him and sat by him. And he quoted the scripture:\n\u2018No guest must be dismissed in the evening by a housekeeper: he is\nsent by the returning sun, and whether he come in fit season or\nunseasonably, he must not sojourn in the house without entertainment:\nlet me not eat any delicate food, without asking my guest to\npartake of it: the satisfaction of a guest will assuredly bring the\nhousekeeper wealth, reputation, long life, and a place in heaven.\u2019\n\n[Illustration: The householder\u2019s wife came to serve up the food, rice\nand split peas.]\n\nThe householder\u2019s wife then came to serve up the food, rice and\nsplit peas, oil, and spices, all cooked in a new earthen pot with\npure firewood. Part of the meal was served and the rest remained to\nbe served, when the woman\u2019s little child began to cry aloud and to\ncatch hold of its mother\u2019s dress. She endeavoured to release herself,\nbut the boy would not let go, and the more she coaxed the more he\ncried, and was obstinate. On this the mother became angry, took up\nthe boy and threw him upon the fire, which instantly burnt him to\nashes.\n\nMadhusadan, the Jogi, seeing this, rose up without eating. The\nmaster of the house said to him, \u2018Why eatest thou not?\u2019 He replied,\n\u2018I am \u201cAtithi,\u201d that is to say, to be entertained at your house,\nbut how can one eat under the roof of a person who has committed\nsuch a Rakshasa-like (devilish) deed? Is it not said, \u201cHe who does\nnot govern his passions, lives in vain?\u201d \u201cA foolish king, a person\npuffed up with riches, and a weak child, desire that which cannot be\nprocured.\u201d Also, \u201cA king destroys his enemies, even when flying; and\nthe touch of an elephant, as well as the breath of a serpent, are\nfatal; but the wicked destroy even while laughing.\u201d\u2019\n\nHearing this, the householder smiled; presently he arose and went\nto another part of the tenement, and brought back with him a book,\ntreating on Sanjivnividya, or the science of restoring the dead to\nlife. This he had taken from its hidden place, two beams almost\ntouching one another with the ends in the opposite wall. The\nprecious volume was in single leaves, some six inches broad by treble\nthat length, and the paper was stained with yellow orpiment and the\njuice of tamarind seeds to keep away insects.\n\nThe householder opened the cloth containing the book, untied the flat\nboards at the top and bottom, and took out from it a charm. Having\nrepeated this Mantra, with many ceremonies he at once restored the\nchild to life, saying, \u2018Of all precious things, knowledge is the most\nvaluable; other riches may be stolen, or diminished by expenditure,\nbut knowledge is immortal, and the greater the expenditure the\ngreater the increase; it can be shared with none, and it defies the\npower of the thief.\u2019\n\nThe Jogi, seeing this marvel, took thought in his heart, \u2018If I could\nobtain that book, I would restore my beloved to life, and give up\nthis course of uncomfortable postures and difficulty of breathing.\u2019\nWith this resolution he sat down to his food, and remained in the\nhouse.\n\nAt length night came, and after a time, all having eaten supper, and\ngone to their sleeping-places, lay down. The Jogi also went to rest\nin one part of the house, but did not allow sleep to close his eyes.\nWhen he thought that a fourth part of the hours of darkness had sped,\nand that all were deep in slumber, then he got up very quietly, and\ngoing into the room of the master of the house, he took down the book\nfrom the beam-ends and went his ways.\n\n[Illustration: Madhusadan proceeded to make his incantations, despite\nterrible sights in the air.]\n\nMadhusadan, the Jogi, went straight to the place where the beautiful\nSweet Jasmine had been burned. There he found his two rivals sitting\ntalking together and comparing experiences. They recognised him at\nonce, and cried aloud to him, \u2018Brother! thou also hast been wandering\nover the world; tell us this\u2014hast thou learned anything which can\nprofit us?\u2019 He replied, \u2018I have learned the science of restoring the\ndead to life;\u2019 upon which they both exclaimed, \u2018If thou hast really\nlearned such knowledge, restore our beloved to life.\u2019\n\nMadhusadan proceeded to make his incantations, despite terrible\nsights in the air, the cries of jackals, owls, crows, cats, asses,\nvultures, dogs, and lizards, and the wrath of innumerable invisible\nbeings, such as messengers of Yama (Pluto), ghosts, devils, demons,\nimps, fiends, devas, succubi, and others. All the three lovers\ndrawing blood from their own bodies offered it to the goddess Chandi,\nrepeating the following incantation, \u2018Hail! supreme delusion! Hail!\ngoddess of the universe! Hail! thou who fulfillest the desires of\nall. May I presume to offer thee the blood of my body; and wilt thou\ndeign to accept it, and be propitious towards me!\u2019\n\nThey then made a burnt-offering of their flesh, and each one prayed,\n\u2018Grant me, O goddess! to see the maiden alive again, in proportion to\nthe fervency with which I present thee with mine own flesh, invoking\nthee to be propitious to me. Salutation to thee again and again,\nunder the mysterious syllables ang! ang!\u2019\n\nThen they made a heap of the bones and the ashes, which had been\ncarefully kept by Tribikram and Baman. As the Jogi Madhusadan\nproceeded with his incantation, a white vapour arose from the ground,\nand, gradually condensing, assumed a perispiritual form\u2014the fluid\nenvelope of the soul. The three spectators felt their blood freeze\nas the bones and the ashes were gradually absorbed into the before\nshadowy shape, and they were restored to themselves only when the\nmaiden Madhuvati begged to be taken home to her mother.\n\nThen Kama, God of Love, blinded them, and they began fiercely to\nquarrel about who should have the beautiful maid. Each wanted to be\nher sole master. Tribikram declared the bones to be the great fact\nof the incantation; Baman swore by the ashes; and Madhusadan laughed\nthem both to scorn. No one could decide the dispute; the wisest\ndoctors were all nonplussed; and as for the Raja\u2014well! we do not go\nfor wit or wisdom to kings. I wonder if the great Raja Vikram could\ndecide which person the woman belonged to?\n\n\u2018To Baman, the man who kept her ashes, fellow!\u2019 exclaimed the hero,\nnot a little offended by the free remarks of the fiend.\n\n[Illustration: Vikram placed his bundle upon the ground, and seated\nhimself cross-legged before it.]\n\n\u2018Yet,\u2019 rejoined the Baital impudently, \u2018if Tribikram had not\npreserved her bones how could she have been restored to life? And\nif Madhusadan had not learned the science of restoring the dead to\nlife how could she have been revivified? At least, so it seems to me.\nBut perhaps your royal wisdom may explain.\u2019\n\n\u2018Devil!\u2019 said the king angrily, \u2018Tribikram, who preserved her bones,\nby that act placed himself in the position of her son; therefore he\ncould not marry her. Madhusadan, who, restoring her to life, gave her\nlife, was evidently a father to her; he could not, then, become her\nhusband. Therefore she was the wife of Baman, who had collected her\nashes.\u2019\n\n\u2018I am happy to see, O king,\u2019 exclaimed the Vampire, \u2018that, in spite\nof my presentiments, we are not to part company just yet. These\nlittle trips I hold to be, like lovers\u2019 quarrels, the prelude to\ncloser union. With your leave we will still practise a little\nsuspension.\u2019\n\nAnd so saying, the Baital again ascended the tree, and was suspended\nthere.\n\n\u2018Would it not be better,\u2019 thought the monarch, after recapturing and\nshouldering the fugitive, \u2018for me to sit down this time and listen\nto the fellow\u2019s story? Perhaps the double exercise of walking and\nthinking confuses me.\u2019\n\nWith this idea Vikram placed his bundle upon the ground, well tied up\nwith turban and waistband; then he seated himself cross-legged before\nit, and bade his son do the same.\n\nThe Vampire strongly objected to this measure, as it was contrary, he\nasserted, to the covenant between him and the Raja. Vikram replied\nby citing the very words of the agreement, proving that there was no\nallusion to walking or sitting.\n\nThen the Baital became sulky, and swore that he would not utter\nanother word. But he, too, was bound by the chain of destiny.\nPresently he opened his lips, with the normal prelude that he was\nabout to tell a true tale.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S SEVENTH STORY.\n\nSHOWING THE EXCEEDING FOLLY OF MANY WISE FOOLS.\n\n\nThe Baital resumed.\n\nOf all the learned Brahmans in the learnedest university of Gaur\n(Bengal) none was so celebrated as Vishnu Swami. He could write\nverse as well as prose in dead languages, not very correctly,\nbut still, better than all his fellows\u2014which constituted him a\ndistinguished writer. He had history, theosophy, and the four Vedas\nor Scriptures at his fingers\u2019 ends, he was skilled in the argute\nscience of Nyasa or Disputation, his mind was a mine of Pauranic or\ncosmogonico-traditional lore, handed down from the ancient fathers to\nthe modern fathers: and he had written bulky commentaries, exhausting\nall that tongue of man has to say, upon the obscure text of some\nold philosopher whose works upon ethics, poetry, and rhetoric were\nsupposed by the sages of Gaur to contain the germs of everything\nknowable. His fame went over all the country; yea, from country to\ncountry. He was a sea of excellent qualities, the father and mother\nof Brahmans, cows, and women, and the horror of loose persons,\ncut-throats, courtiers, and courtesans. As a benefactor he was equal\nto Karna, most liberal of heroes. In regard to truth he was equal to\nthe veracious king Yudhishtira.\n\nTrue, he was sometimes at a loss to spell a common word in his\nmother tongue, and whilst he knew to a fingerbreadth how many palms\nand paces the sun, the moon, and all the stars are distant from the\nearth, he would have been puzzled to tell you where the region called\nYavana[119] lies. Whilst he could enumerate, in strict chronological\nsuccession, every important event that happened five or six million\nyears before he was born, he was profoundly ignorant of those that\noccurred in his own day. And once he asked a friend seriously, if a\ncat let loose in the jungle would not in time become a tiger.\n\n  [119] The land of Greece.\n\nYet did all the members of alma mater Kasi, Pandits[120] as well\nas students, look with awe upon Vishnu Swami\u2019s livid cheeks, and\nlack-lustre eyes, grimed hands and soiled cottons.\n\n  [120] Savans, professors. So in the old saying, \u2018Hanta, Pandit\n  Sansara.\u2019\u2014Alas! the world is learned! This a little antedates\n  the well-known schoolmaster.\n\nNow it so happened that this wise and pious Brahmanic peer had four\nsons, whom he brought up in the strictest and most serious way. They\nwere taught to repeat their prayers long before they understood a\nword of them, and when they reached the age of four[121] they had\nread a variety of hymns and spiritual songs. Then they were set to\nlearn by heart precepts that inculcate sacred duties, and arguments\nrelating to theology, abstract and concrete.\n\n  [121] Children are commonly sent to school at the age of five.\n  Girls are not taught to read, under the common idea that they\n  will become widows if they do.\n\nTheir father, who was also their tutor, sedulously cultivated, as\nall the best works upon education advise, their implicit obedience,\nhumble respect, warm attachment, and the virtues and sentiments\ngenerally. He praised them secretly and reprehended them openly, to\nexercise their humility. He derided their looks, and dressed them\ncoarsely, to preserve them from vanity and conceit. Whenever they\nanticipated a \u2018treat,\u2019 he punctually disappointed them, to teach them\nself-denial. Often when he had promised them a present, he would\nrevoke, not break his word, in order that discipline might have a\nname and habitat in his household. And knowing by experience how much\nstronger than love is fear, he frequently threatened, browbeat, and\noverawed them with the rod and the tongue, with the terrors of this\nworld, and with the horrors of the next, that they might be kept in\nthe right way by dread of falling into the bottomless pits that bound\nit on both sides.\n\nAt the age of six they were transferred to the Chatushpati,[122] or\nschool. Every morning the teacher and his pupils assembled in the hut\nwhere the different classes were called up by turns. They laboured\ntill noon, and were allowed only two hours, a moiety of the usual\ntime, for bathing, eating, sleep, and worship, which took up half\nthe period. At 3 P.M. they resumed their labours, repeating to the\ntutor what they had learned by heart, and listening to the meaning of\nit: this lasted till twilight. They then worshipped, ate and drank\nfor an hour: after which came a return of study, repeating the day\u2019s\nlessons, till 10 P.M.\n\n  [122] Meaning the place of reading the four Shastras.\n\nIn their rare days of ease\u2014for the learned priest, mindful of\nthe words of the wise, did not wish to dull them by everlasting\nwork\u2014they were enjoined to disport themselves with the gravity\nand the decorum that befit young Samditats, not to engage in night\nfrolics, not to use free jests or light expressions, not to draw\npictures on the walls, not to eat honey, flesh, and sweet substances\nturned acid, not to talk to little girls at the well-side, on no\naccount to wear sandals, carry an umbrella, or handle a die even for\nlove, and by no means to steal their neighbours\u2019 mangos.\n\nAs they advanced in years their attention during work time was\nunremittingly directed to the Vedas. Worldly studies were almost\nexcluded, or to speak more correctly, whenever worldly studies were\nbrought upon the carpet, they were so evil entreated, that they well\nnigh lost all form and feature. History became \u2018The Annals of India\non Brahminical Principles,\u2019 opposed to the Buddhistical; geography\n\u2018The Lands of the Vedas,\u2019 none other being deemed worthy of notice;\nand law, \u2018The Institutes of Manu,\u2019 then almost obsolete, despite\ntheir exceeding sanctity.\n\nBut Jatu-harini[123] had evidently changed these children before they\nwere born; and Shani[124] must have been in the ninth mansion when\nthey came to light.\n\n  [123] A certain goddess who plays tricks with mankind. If a son\n  when grown up act differently from what his parents did, people\n  say that he has been changed in the womb.\n\n  [124] Shani is the planet Saturn, which has an exceedingly\n  baleful influence in India as elsewhere.\n\nEach youth as he attained the mature age of twelve was formally\nentered at the University of Kasi, where, without loss of time, the\nfirst became a gambler, the second a confirmed libertine, the third\na thief, and the fourth a high Buddhist, or in other words an utter\natheist.\n\nHere King Vikram frowned at his son, a hint that he had better not\nbehave himself as the children of highly moral and religious parents\nusually do. The young prince understood him, and briefly remarking\nthat such things were common in distinguished Brahman families, asked\nthe Baital what he meant by the word \u2018Atheist?\u2019\n\nOf a truth (answered the Vampire) it is most difficult to explain.\nThe sages assign to it three or four several meanings: first, one\nwho denies that the gods exist; secondly, one who owns that the gods\nexist but denies that they busy themselves with human affairs; and\nthirdly, one who believes in the gods and in their providence, but\nalso believes that they are easily to be set aside. Similarly some\natheists derive all things from dead and unintelligent matter; others\nfrom matter living and energetic but without sense or will; others\nfrom matter with forms and qualities generable and conceptible; and\nothers from a plastic and methodical nature. Thus the Vishnu Swamis\nof the world have invested the subject with some confusion. The\nsimple, that is to say, the mass of mortality, have confounded that\nconfusion by reproachfully applying the word atheist to those whose\nopinions differ materially from their own.\n\nBut I being at present, perhaps happily for myself, a Vampire, and\nhaving, just now, none of these human or inhuman ideas, meant simply\nto say that the pious priest\u2019s fourth son being great at second and\nsmall in the matter of first causes, adopted to their fullest extent\nthe doctrines of the philosophical Bauddhas.[125] Nothing according\nto him exists but the five elements, earth, water, fire, air (or\nwind), and vacuum, and from the last proceeded the penultimate,\nand so forth. With the sage Patanjali, he held the universe to\nhave the power of perpetual progression.[126] He called that Matra\n(matter), which is an eternal and infinite principle, beginningless\nand endless. Organisation, intelligence, and design, he opined are\ninherent in matter as growth is in a tree. He did not believe in\nsoul or spirit, because it could not be detected in the body, and\nbecause it was a departure from physiological analogy. The idea \u2018I\nam,\u2019 according to him, was not the identification of spirit with\nmatter, but a product of the mutation of matter in this cloud-like,\nerror-formed world. He believed in Substance (Sat) and scoffed at\nUnsubstance (Asat). He asserted the subtlety and globularity of atoms\nwhich are uncreate. He made mind and intellect a mere secretion of\nthe brain, or rather words expressing not a thing, but a state of\nthings. Reason was to him developed instinct, and life an element of\nthe atmosphere affecting certain organisms. He held good and evil to\nbe merely geographical and chronological expressions, and he opined\nthat what is called Evil is mostly an active and transitive form\nof Good. Law was his great Creator of all things, but he refused\na creator of law, because such a creator would require another\ncreator, and so on in a quasi-interminable series up to absurdity.\nThis reduced his law to a manner of haphazard. To those who, arguing\nagainst it, asked him their favourite question, How often might a man\nafter he had jumbled a set of letters in a bag fling them out upon\nthe ground before they would fall into an exact poem? he replied that\nthe calculation was beyond his arithmetic, but that the man had only\nto jumble and fling long enough inevitably to arrive at that end.\nHe rejected the necessity as well as the existence of revelation,\nand he did not credit the miracles of Krishna, because, according\nto him, nature never suspends her laws, and, moreover, he had never\nseen aught supernatural. He ridiculed the idea of Mahapralaya, or\nthe great destruction, for as the world had no beginning, so it will\nhave no end. He objected to absorption, facetiously observing with\nthe sage Jamadagni, that it was pleasant to eat sweetmeats, but that\nfor his part he did not wish to become the sweetmeat itself. He would\nnot believe that Vishnu had formed the universe out of the wax in his\nears. He positively asserted that trees are not bodies in which the\nconsequences of merit and demerit are received. Nor would he conclude\nthat to men were attached rewards and punishments from all eternity.\nHe made light of the Sanskara, or sacrament. He admitted Satwa, Raja,\nand Tama,[127] but only as properties of matter. He acknowledged\ngross matter (Sthula-sharir), and atomic matter (Shukshma-sharir),\nbut not Linga-sharir, or the archetype of bodies. To doubt all things\nwas the foundation of his theory, and to scoff at all who would not\ndoubt was the cornerstone of his practice. In debate he preferred\nlogical and mathematical grounds, requiring a categorical \u2018because\u2019\nin answer to his \u2018why?\u2019 He was full of morality and natural religion,\nwhich some say is no religion at all. He gained the name of atheist\nby declaring with Gotama that there are innumerable worlds, that the\nearth has nothing beneath it but the circumambient air, and that the\ncore of the globe is incandescent. And he was called a practical\natheist\u2014a worse form, apparently\u2014for supporting the following\ndogma: \u2018that though creation may attest that a creator has been, it\nsupplies no evidence to prove that a creator still exists.\u2019 On which\noccasion, Shiromani, a nonplussed theologian, asked him, \u2018By whom and\nfor what purpose wast thou sent on earth?\u2019 The youth scoffed at the\nword \u2018sent,\u2019 and replied, \u2018Not being thy Supreme Intelligence, or\nInfinite Nihility, I am unable to explain the phenomenon.\u2019 Upon which\nhe quoted\u2014\n\n    How sunk in darkness Gaur must be\n    Whose guide is blind Shiromani!\n\n  [125] The Eleatic or Materialistic school of Hindu philosophy,\n  which agrees to explode an intelligent separate First Cause.\n\n  [126] The writings of this school give an excellent view of the\n  \u2018progressive system,\u2019 which has popularly been asserted to be a\n  modern idea. But Hindu philosophy seems to have exhausted every\n  fancy that can spring from the brain of man.\n\n  [127] Tama is the natural state of matter, Raja is passion acting\n  upon nature, and Satwa is excellence. These are the three gunas\n  or qualities of matter.\n\nAt length it so happened that the four young men, having frequently\nbeen surprised in flagrant delict, were summoned to the dread\npresence of the university Gurus,[128] who addressed them as\nfollows:\u2014\n\n  [128] Spiritual preceptors and learned men.\n\n\u2018There are four different characters in the world: he who perfectly\nobeys the commands; he who practises the commands, but follows evil;\nhe who does neither good nor evil; and he who does nothing but evil.\nThe third character, it is observed, is also an offender, for he\nneglects that which he ought to observe. But ye all belong to the\nfourth category.\u2019\n\nThen turning to the elder they said:\n\n\u2018In works written upon the subject of government it is advised,\n\u201cCut off the gambler\u2019s nose and ears, hold up his name to public\ncontempt, and drive him out of the country, that he may thus become\nan example to others. For they who play must more often lose than\nwin; and losing, they must either pay or not pay. In the latter case\nthey forfeit caste, in the former they utterly reduce themselves.\nAnd though a gambler\u2019s wife and children are in the house, do\nnot consider them to be so, since it is not known when they will\nbe lost.[129] Thus he is left in a state of perfect not-twoness\n(solitude), and he will be reborn in hell.\u201d O young man! thou hast\nset a bad example to others, therefore shalt thou immediately\nexchange this university for a country life.\u2019\n\n  [129] Under certain limitations, gambling is allowed by Hindu\n  law, and the winner has power over the person and property of the\n  loser. No \u2018debts of honour\u2019 in Hindostan!\n\nThen they spoke to the second offender thus:\u2014\n\n\u2018The wise shun woman, who can fascinate a man in the twinkling of\nan eye; but the foolish, conceiving an affection for her, forfeit\nin the pursuit of pleasure their truthfulness, reputation, and good\ndisposition, their way of life and mode of thought, their vows and\ntheir religion. And to such the advice of their spiritual teachers\ncomes amiss, whilst they make others as bad as themselves. For it\nis said, \u201cHe who has lost all sense of shame, fears not to disgrace\nanother;\u201d and there is the proverb, \u201cA wild cat that devours its own\nyoung is not likely to let a rat escape;\u201d therefore must thou too, O\nyoung man! quit this seat of learning with all possible expedition.\u2019\n\nThe young man proceeded to justify himself by quotations from the\nLila-shastra, his text-book, by citing such lines as\u2014\n\n    Fortune favours folly and force,\n\nand by advising the elderly professors to improve their skill in the\npeace and war of love. But they drove him out with execrations.\n\nAs sagely and as solemnly did the Pandits and the Gurus reprove the\nthief and the atheist, but they did not dispense the words of wisdom\nin equal proportions. They warned the former that petty larceny\nis punishable with fine, theft on a larger scale with mutilation\nof the hand, and robbery, when detected in the act, with loss of\nlife;[130] that for cutting purses, or for snatching them out of a\nman\u2019s waistcloth,[131] the first penalty is chopping off the fingers,\nthe second is the loss of the hand, and the third is death. Then\nthey called him a dishonour to the college, and they said, \u2018Thou\nart as a woman, the greatest of plunderers; other robbers purloin\nproperty which is worthless, thou stealest the best; they plunder\nin the night, thou in the day,\u2019 and so forth. They told him that\nhe was a fellow who had read his Chauriya Vidya to more purpose\nthan his ritual.[132] And they drove him from the door as he in his\nshamelessness began to quote texts about the four approved ways of\nhousebreaking, namely, picking out burnt bricks, cutting through\nunbaked bricks, throwing water on a mud wall, and boring one of wood\nwith a centre-bit.\n\n  [130] Quotations from standard works on Hindu criminal law, which\n  in some points at least is almost as absurd as our civilised\n  codes.\n\n  [131] Hindus carry their money tied up in a kind of sheet, which\n  is wound round the waist and thrown over the shoulder.\n\n  [132] A thieves\u2019 manual in the Sanskrit tongue; it aspires to the\n  dignity of a \u2018Scripture.\u2019\n\nBut they spent six mortal hours in convicting the atheist, whose\nabominations they refuted by every possible argumentation: by\ninference, by comparison, and by sounds, by Sruti and Smriti, i.e.\nrevelational and traditional, rational and evidential, physical\nand metaphysical, analytical and synthetical, philosophical and\nphilological, historical, and so forth. But they found all their\nendeavours vain. \u2018For,\u2019 it is said, \u2018a man who has lost all shame,\nwho can talk without sense, and who tries to cheat his opponent, will\nnever get tired, and will never be put down.\u2019 He declared that a\nnon-ad was far more probable than a monad (the active principle), or\nthe duad (the passive principle or matter). He compared their faith\nwith a bubble in the water, of which we can never predicate that\nit does exist or it does not. It is, he said, unreal, as when the\nthirsty mistakes the meadow mist for a pool of water. He proved the\neternity of sound.[133] He impudently recounted and justified all the\nvillanies of the Vamachari or left-handed sects. He told them that\nthey had taken up an ass\u2019s load of religion, and had better apply to\nhonest industry. He fell foul of the gods; accused Yama of kicking\nhis own mother, Indra of tempting the wife of his spiritual guide,\nand Shiva of associating with low women. Thus, he said, no one can\nrespect them. Do not we say when it thunders awfully, \u2018the rascally\ngods are dying!\u2019 And when it is too wet, \u2018these villain gods are\nsending too much rain?\u2019 Briefly, the young Brahman replied to and\nharangued them all so impertinently, if not pertinently, that they,\nwaxing angry, fell upon him with their staves, and drove him out of\nassembly.\n\n  [133] All sounds, say the Hindus, are of similar origin, and they\n  do not die; if they did, they could not be remembered.\n\nThen the four thriftless youths returned home to their father, who\nin his just indignation had urged their disgrace upon the Pandits\nand Gurus, otherwise these dignitaries would never have resorted to\nsuch extreme measures with so distinguished a house. He took the\nopportunity of turning them out upon the world, until such time as\nthey might be able to show substantial signs of reform. \u2018For,\u2019 he\nsaid, \u2018those who have read science in their boyhood, and who in\nyouth, agitated by evil passions, have remained in the insolence of\nignorance, feel regret in their old age, and are consumed by the\nfire of avarice.\u2019 In order to supply them with a motive for the task\nproposed, he stopped their monthly allowance. But he added, if they\nwould repair to the neighbouring university of Jayasthal, and there\nshow themselves something better than a disgrace to their family,\nhe would direct their maternal uncle to supply them with all the\nnecessaries of food and raiment.\n\nIn vain the youths attempted, with sighs and tears and threats\nof suicide, to soften the paternal heart. He was inexorable, for\ntwo reasons. In the first place, after wondering away the wonder\nwith which he regarded his own failure, he felt that a stigma now\nattached to the name of the pious and learned Vishnu Swami, whose\nlectures upon \u2018Management during Teens,\u2019 and whose \u2018Brahman Young\nMan\u2019s Own Book,\u2019 had become standard works. Secondly, from a sense\nof duty, he determined to omit nothing that might tend to reclaim\nthe reprobates. As regards the monthly allowance being stopped, the\nreverend man had become every year a little fonder of his purse;\nhe had hoped that his sons would have qualified themselves to take\npupils, and thus achieve for themselves, as he phrased it, \u2018a genteel\nindependence;\u2019 whilst they openly derided the career, calling it\n\u2018an admirable provision for the more indigent members of the middle\nclasses.\u2019 For which reason he referred them to their maternal uncle,\na man of known and remarkable penuriousness.\n\n[Illustration: They tried to live without a monthly allowance, and\nnotably they failed.]\n\nThe four ne\u2019er-do-weels, foreseeing what awaited them at Jayasthal,\ndeferred it as a last resource; determining first to see a little\nlife, and to push their way in the world, before condemning\nthemselves to the tribulations of reform.\n\nThey tried to live without a monthly allowance, and notably they\nfailed; it was squeezing, as men say, oil from sand. The gambler,\nhaving no capital, and, worse still, no credit, lost two or three\nsuvernas[134] at play, and could not pay them; in consequence of\nwhich he was soundly beaten with iron-shod staves, and was nearly\ncompelled by the keeper of the hell to sell himself into slavery.\nThus he became disgusted; and telling his brethren that they would\nfind him at Jayasthal, he departed, with the intention of studying\nwisdom.\n\n  [134] Gold pieces.\n\nA month afterwards came the libertine\u2019s turn to be disappointed. He\ncould no longer afford fine new clothes; even a well-washed coat\nwas beyond his means. He had reckoned upon his handsome face, and\nhe had matured a plan for laying various elderly conquests under\ncontribution. Judge, therefore, his disgust when all the women\u2014high\nand low, rich and poor, old and young, ugly and beautiful\u2014seeing\nthe end of his waistcloth thrown empty over his shoulder, passed him\nin the streets without even deigning a look. The very shopkeepers\u2019\nwives, who once had adored his mustachio and had never ceased talking\nof his \u2018elegant\u2019 gait, despised him; and the wealthy old person who\nformerly supplied his small feet with the choicest slippers, left him\nto starve. Upon which he also, in a state of repentance, followed his\nbrother to acquire knowledge.\n\n\u2018Am I not,\u2019 quoth the thief to himself, \u2018a cat in climbing, a deer\nin running, a snake in twisting, a hawk in pouncing, a dog in\nscenting?\u2014keen as a hare, tenacious as a wolf, strong as a lion?\u2014a\nlamp in the night, a horse on a plain, a mule on a stony path, a boat\nin the water, a rock on land?\u2019[135] The reply to his own questions\nwas of course affirmative. But despite all these fine qualities,\nand notwithstanding his scrupulous strictness in invocating the\nhousebreaking tool and in devoting a due portion of his gains to\nthe gods of plunder,[136] he was caught in a store-room by the\nproprietor, who inexorably handed him over to justice. As he belonged\nto the priestly caste,[137] the fine imposed upon him was heavy. He\ncould not pay it, and therefore he was thrown into a dungeon, where\nhe remained for some time. But at last he escaped from jail, when he\nmade his parting bow to Kartikeya,[138] stole a blanket from one of\nthe guards, and set out for Jayasthal, cursing his old profession.\n\n  [135] These are the qualifications specified by Hindu classical\n  authorities as necessary to make a distinguished thief.\n\n  [136] Every Hindu is in a manner born to a certain line of life,\n  virtuous or vicious, honest or dishonest; and his Dharma, or\n  religious duty, consists in conforming to the practice and the\n  worship of his profession. The \u2018Thug,\u2019 for instance, worships\n  Bhawani, who enables him to murder successfully; and his remorse\n  would arise from neglecting to murder.\n\n  [137] Hindu law sensibly punishes, in theory at least, for the\n  same offence the priest more severely than the layman\u2014a hint for\n  him to practise what he preaches.\n\n  [138] The Hindu Mercury, god of rascals.\n\nThe atheist also found himself in a position that deprived him of\nall his pleasures. He delighted in after-dinner controversies, and\nin bringing the light troops of his wit to bear upon the unwieldy\nmasses of lore and logic opposed to him by polemical Brahmans who,\nout of respect for his father, did not lay an action against him for\noverpowering them in theological disputation.[139] In the strange\ncity to which he had removed no one knew the son of Vishnu Swami, and\nno one cared to invite him to the house. Once he attempted his usual\ntrick upon a knot of sages who, sitting round a tank, were recreating\nthemselves with quoting mystical Sanskrit shlokas[140] of abominable\nlong-windedness. The result was his being obliged to ply his heels\nvigorously in flight from the justly incensed _literati_, to whom\nhe had said \u2018tush\u2019 and \u2018pish,\u2019 at least a dozen times in as many\nminutes. He therefore also followed the example of his brethren, and\nstarted for Jayasthal with all possible expedition.\n\n  [139] A penal offence in India. How is it that we English have\n  omitted to codify it? The laws of Manu also punish severely all\n  disdainful expressions, such as \u2018tush\u2019 or \u2018pish,\u2019 addressed\n  during argument to a priest.\n\n  [140] Stanzas, generally speaking on serious subjects.\n\nArrived at the house of their maternal uncle, the young men, as by\none assent, began to attempt the unloosening of his purse-strings.\nSignally failing in this and in other notable schemes, they\ndetermined to lay in that stock of facts and useful knowledge which\nmight reconcile them with their father, and restore them to that\nhappy life at Gaur which they then despised, and which now brought\ntears into their eyes.\n\nThen they debated with one another what they should study.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThat branch of the preternatural, popularly called \u2018white magic,\u2019\nfound with them favour.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThey chose a Guru or teacher strictly according to the orders of\ntheir faith, a wise man of honourable family and affable demeanour,\nwho was not a glutton nor leprous, nor blind of one eye, nor blind of\nboth eyes, nor very short, nor suffering from whitlows,[141] asthma,\nor other disease, nor noisy and talkative, nor with any defect about\nthe fingers and toes, nor subject to his wife.\n\n  [141] Whitlows on the nails show that the sufferer, in the last\n  life, stole gold from a Brahman.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA grand discovery had been lately made by a certain\nphysiologico-philosophico-psychologico-materialist, a Jayasthalian.\nIn investigating the vestiges of creation, the cause of causes, the\neffect of effects, and the original origin of that Matra (matter)\nwhich some regard as an entity, others as a nonentity, others\nself-existent, others merely specious and therefore unexistent, he\nbecame convinced that the fundamental form of organic being is a\nglobule having another globule within itself. After inhabiting a\ngarret and diving into the depths of his self-consciousness for\na few score of years, he was able to produce such complex globule\nin triturated and roasted flint by means of\u2014I will not say what.\nHappily for creation in general, the discovery died a natural death\nsome centuries ago. An edifying spectacle, indeed, for the world to\nsee; a cross old man sitting amongst his gallipots and crucibles,\ncreating animalcul\u00e6, providing the corpses of birds, beasts, and\nfishes with what is vulgarly called life, and supplying to epigenesis\nall the latest improvements!\n\nIn those days the invention, being a novelty, engrossed the thoughts\nof the universal learned, who were in a fever of excitement about it.\nSome believed in it so implicitly that they saw in every experiment a\nhundred things which they did not see. Others were so sceptical and\ncontradictory that they would not perceive what they did see. Those\nblended with each fact their own deductions, whilst these span round\nevery reality the web of their own prejudices. Curious to say, the\nJayasthalians, amongst whom the luminous science arose, hailed it\nwith delight, whilst the Gaurians derided its claim to be considered\nan important addition to human knowledge.\n\nLet me try to remember a few of their words.\n\n[Illustration: An edifying spectacle, indeed, for the world to see: a\ncross old man sitting amongst his gallipots and crucibles.]\n\n\u2018Unfortunate human nature,\u2019 wrote the wise of Gaur against the wise\nof Jayasthal, \u2018wanted no crowning indignity but this! You had already\nproved that the body is made of the basest element\u2014earth. You\nhad argued away the immovability, the ubiquity, the permanency, the\neternity, and the divinity of the soul, for is not your favourite\naxiom, \u201cIt is the nature of limbs which thinketh in man?\u201d The\nimmortal mind is, according to you, an ignoble viscus; the god-like\ngift of reason is the instinct of a dog somewhat highly developed.\nStill you left us something to hope. Still you allowed us one boast.\nStill life was a thread connecting us with the Giver of Life. But\nnow, with an impious hand, in blasphemous rage ye have rent asunder\nthat last frail tie.\u2019 And so forth.\n\n\u2018Welcome! thrice welcome! this latest and most admirable development\nof human wisdom,\u2019 wrote the sage Jayasthalians against the sage\nGaurians, \u2018which has assigned to man his proper state and status\nand station in the magnificent scale of being. We have not created\nthe facts which we have investigated, and which we now proudly\npublish. We have proved materialism to be nature\u2019s own system. But\nour philosophy of matter cannot overturn any truth, because, if\nerroneous, it will necessarily sink into oblivion; if real, it will\ntend only to instruct and to enlighten the world. Wise are ye in your\ngeneration, O ye sages of Gaur, yet withal wondrous illogical.\u2019 And\nmuch of this kind.\n\nConcerning all which, mighty king! I, as a Vampire, have only to\nremark that those two learned bodies, like your Rajaship\u2019s Nine Gems\nof Science, were in the habit of talking most about what they least\nunderstood.\n\nThe four young men applied the whole force of their talents to\nmastering the difficulties of the life-giving process; and, in due\ntime, their industry obtained its reward.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThen they determined to return home. As with beating hearts they\napproached the old city, their birthplace, and gazed with moistened\neyes upon its tall spires and grim pagodas, its verdant meads and\nvenerable groves, they saw a Kanjar,[142] who, having tied up in a\nbundle the skin and bones of a tiger which he had found dead, was\nabout to go on his way. Then said the thief to the gambler, \u2018Take\nwe these remains with us, and by means of them prove the truth of\nour science before the people of Gaur, to the offence of their\nnoses.\u2019[143] Being now possessed of knowledge, they resolved to apply\nit to its proper purpose, namely, power over the property of others.\nAccordingly, the wencher, the gambler, and the atheist kept the\nKanjar in conversation whilst the thief vivified a shank bone; and\nthe bone thereupon stood upright, and hopped about in so grotesque\nand wonderful a way that the man, being frightened, fled as if I had\nbeen close behind him.\n\n  [142] A low caste Hindu, who catches and exhibits snakes and\n  performs other such mean offices.\n\n  [143] Meaning in spite of themselves.\n\n[Illustration: The bone thereupon stood upright, and hopped about.]\n\nVishnu Swami had lately written a very learned commentary on the\nmystical words of Lokakshi:\n\n\u2018The Scriptures are at variance\u2014the tradition is at variance. He who\ngives a meaning of his own, quoting the Vedas, is no philosopher.\n\n\u2018True philosophy, through ignorance, is concealed as in the fissures\nof a rock.\n\n\u2018But the way of the Great One\u2014that is to be followed.\u2019\n\nAnd the success of his book had quite effaced from the Brahman mind\nthe holy man\u2019s failure in bringing up his children. He followed up\nthis by adding to his essay on education a twentieth tome, containing\nrecipes for the \u2018Reformation of Prodigals.\u2019\n\nThe learned and reverend father received his sons with open arms.\nHe had heard from his brother-in-law that the youths were qualified\nto support themselves, and when informed that they wished to make a\npublic experiment of their science, he exerted himself, despite his\ndisbelief in it, to forward their views.\n\nThe Pandits and Gurus were long before they would consent to\nattend what they considered dealings with Yama (the Devil). In\nconsequence, however, of Vishnu Swami\u2019s name and importunity, at\nlength, on a certain day, all the pious, learned, and reverend\ntutors, teachers, professors, prolocutors, pastors, spiritual\nfathers, poets, philosophers, mathematicians, schoolmasters,\npedagogues, bear-leaders, institutors, gerund-grinders, preceptors,\ndominies, brushers, coryph\u00e6i, dry-nurses, coaches, mentors, monitors,\nlecturers, prelectors, fellows, and heads of houses at the university\nof Gaur, met together in a large garden, where they usually diverted\nthemselves out of hours with ball-tossing, pigeon-tumbling, and\nkite-flying.\n\nPresently the four young men, carrying their bundle of bones and the\nother requisites, stepped forward, walking slowly with eyes downcast,\nlike shrinking cattle: for it is said, the Brahman must not run, even\nwhen it rains.\n\nAfter pronouncing an impromptu speech, composed for them by their\nfather, and so stuffed with erudition that even the writer hardly\nunderstood it, they announced their wish to prove, by ocular\ndemonstration, the truth of a science upon which their short-sighted\nrivals of Jayasthal had cast cold water, but which, they remarked in\nthe eloquent peroration of their discourse, the sages of Gaur had\nwelcomed with that wise and catholic spirit of enquiry which had ever\ncharacterised their distinguished body.\n\nHuge words, involved sentences, and the high-flown compliment,\nexceedingly undeserved, obscured, I suppose, the bright wits of the\nintellectual convocation, which really began to think that their\nliberality of opinion deserved all praise.\n\nNone objected to what was being prepared, except one of the heads\nof houses; his appeal was generally scouted, because his Sanskrit\nstyle was vulgarly intelligible, and he had the bad name of being\na practical man. The metaphysician Rashik Lall sneered to Vaiswata\nthe poet, who passed on the look to the theo-philosopher Vardhaman.\nHaridatt the antiquarian whispered the metaphysician Vasudeva, who\nburst into a loud laugh; whilst Narayan, Jagasharma, and Devaswami,\nall very learned in the Vedas, opened their eyes and stared at him\nwith well-simulated astonishment. So he, being offended, said nothing\nmore, but arose and walked home.\n\nA great crowd gathered round the four young men and their father, as\nopening the bundle that contained the tiger\u2019s remains, they prepared\nfor their task.\n\nOne of the operators spread the bones upon the ground and fixed each\none into its proper socket, not forgetting even the teeth and tusks.\n\nThe second connected, by means of a marvellous unguent, the skeleton\nwith the muscles and heart of an elephant, which he had procured for\nthe purpose.\n\nThe third drew from his pouch the brain and eyes of a large tom-cat,\nwhich he carefully fitted into the animal\u2019s skull, and then covered\nthe body with the hide of a young rhinoceros.\n\n[Illustration: They prepared for their task.]\n\nThen the fourth\u2014the atheist\u2014who had been directing the operation,\nproduced a globule having another globule within itself. And as the\ncrowd pressed on them, craning their necks, breathless with anxiety,\nhe placed the Principle of Organic Life in the tiger\u2019s body with\nsuch effect that the monster immediately heaved its chest, breathed,\nagitated its limbs, opened its eyes, jumped to its feet, shook\nitself, glared around, and begun to gnash its teeth and lick its\nchops, lashing the while its ribs with its tail.\n\n[Illustration: With a roar like thunder.]\n\nThe sages sprang back, and the beast sprang forward. With a roar\nlike thunder during Elephanta-time,[144] it flew at the nearest of\nthe spectators, flung Vishnu Swami to the ground and clawed his four\nsons. Then, not even stopping to drink their blood, it hurried after\nthe flying herd of wise men. Jostling and tumbling, stumbling and\ncatching at one another\u2019s long robes, they rushed in hottest haste\ntowards the garden gate. But the beast having the muscles of an\nelephant as well as the bones of a tiger, made a few bounds of eighty\nor ninety feet each, easily distanced them, and took away all chance\nof escape. To be brief: as the monster was frightfully hungry after\nits long fast, and as the imprudent young men had furnished it with\nadmirable implements of destruction, it did not cease its work till\none hundred and twenty-one learned and highly distinguished Pandits\nand Gurus lay upon the ground chawed, clawed, sucked-dry, and in most\ncases stone-dead. Amongst them, I need hardly say, were the sage\nVishnu Swami and his four sons.\n\n  [144] When the moon is in a certain lunar mansion, at the\n  conclusion of the wet season.\n\nHaving told this story the Vampire hung silent for a time. Presently\nhe resumed\u2014\n\n\u2018Now, heed my words, Raja Vikram! I am about to ask thee, Which of\nall those learned men was the most finished fool? The answer is\neasily found, yet it must be distasteful to thee. Therefore mortify\nthy vanity, as soon as possible, or I shall be talking, and thou wilt\nbe walking through this livelong night, to scanty purpose. Remember!\nscience without understanding is of little use; indeed, understanding\nis superior to science, and those devoid of understanding perish as\ndid the persons who revivified the tiger. Before this, I warned thee\nto beware of thyself, and of thine own conceit. Here, then, is an\nopportunity for self-discipline\u2014which of all those learned men was\nthe greatest fool?\u2019\n\nThe warrior king mistook the kind of mortification imposed upon him,\nand pondered over the uncomfortable nature of the reply\u2014in the\npresence of his son.\n\nAgain the Baital taunted him.\n\n\u2018The greatest fool of all,\u2019 at last said Vikram, in slow and by no\nmeans willing accents, \u2018was the father. Is it not said, \u201cThere is no\nfool like an old fool?\u201d\u2019\n\n\u2018Gramercy!\u2019 cried the Vampire, bursting out into a discordant laugh,\n\u2018I now return to my tree. By this head! I never before heard a father\nso readily condemn a father.\u2019 With these words he disappeared,\nslipping out of the bundle.\n\nThe Raja scolded his son a little for want of obedience, and said\nthat he had always thought more highly of his acuteness\u2014never could\nhave believed that he would have been taken in by so shallow a trick.\nDharma Dhwaj answered not a word to this, but promised to be wiser\nanother time.\n\nThen they returned to the tree, and did what they had so often done\nbefore.\n\nAnd, as before, the Baital held his tongue for a time. Presently he\nbegan as follows.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S EIGHTH STORY.\n\nOF THE USE AND MISUSE OF MAGIC PILLS.\n\n\nThe lady Chandraprabha, daughter of the Raja Subichar, was a\nparticularly beautiful girl, and marriageable withal. One day as\nVasanta, the Spring, began to assert its reign over the world,\nanimate and inanimate, she went accompanied by her young friends and\ncompanions to stroll about her father\u2019s pleasure-garden.\n\nThe fair troop wandered through sombre groves, where the dark\ntamala-tree entwined its branches with the pale green foliage of the\nnim, and the pippal\u2019s domes of quivering leaves contrasted with the\ncolumnar aisles of the banyan fig. They admired the old monarchs of\nthe forest, bearded to the waist with hangings of moss, the flowing\ncreepers delicately climbing from the lower branches to the topmost\nshoots, and the cordage of llianas stretching from trunk to trunk\nlike bridges for the monkeys to pass over. Then they issued into\na clear space dotted with asokas bearing rich crimson flowers,\ncliterias of azure blue, madhavis exhibiting petals virgin white as\nthe snows on Himalaya, and jasmines raining showers of perfumed\nblossoms upon the grateful earth. They could not sufficiently praise\nthe tall and graceful stem of the arrowy areca, contrasting with\nthe solid pyramid of the cypress, and the more masculine stature of\nthe palm. Now they lingered in the trellised walks closely covered\nover with vines and creepers; then they stopped to gather the golden\nbloom weighing down the mango boughs, and to smell the highly-scented\nflowers that hung from the green fretwork of the chambela.\n\nIt was spring, I have said. The air was still except when broken by\nthe hum of the large black bramra bee, as he plied his task amidst\nthe red and orange flowers of the dak, and by the gushings of many\nwaters that made music as they coursed down their stuccoed channels\nbetween borders of many coloured poppies and beds of various flowers.\nFrom time to time the dulcet note of the kokila bird, and the hoarse\nplaint of the turtle-dove deep hid in her leafy bower, attracted\nevery ear and thrilled every heart. The south wind\u2014\u2018breeze of the\nsouth,[145] the friend of love and spring\u2019\u2014blew with a voluptuous\nwarmth, for rain clouds canopied the earth, and the breath of the\nnarcissus, the rose, and the citron, teemed with a languid fragrance.\n\n  [145] In Hindostan, it is the prevailing wind of the hot weather.\n\nThe charms of the season affected all the damsels. They amused\nthemselves in their privacy with pelting blossoms at one another,\nrunning races down the smooth broad alleys, mounting the silken\nswings that hung between the orange trees, embracing one another, and\nat times trying to push the butt of the party into the fish-pond.\nPerhaps the liveliest of all was the lady Chandraprabha, who on\naccount of her rank could pelt and push all the others, without fear\nof being pelted and pushed in return.\n\nIt so happened, before the attendants had had time to secure privacy\nfor the princess and her women, that Manaswi, a very handsome youth,\na Brahman\u2019s son, had wandered without malicious intention into the\ngarden. Fatigued with walking, and finding a cool shady place beneath\na tree, he had lain down there, and had gone to sleep, and had not\nbeen observed by any of the king\u2019s people. He was still sleeping when\nthe princess and her companions were playing together.\n\nPresently Chandraprabha, weary of sport, left her friends, and\nsinging a lively air, tripped up the stairs leading to the\nsummer-house. Aroused by the sound of her advancing footsteps,\nManaswi sat up; and the princess, seeing a strange man, started. But\ntheir eyes had met, and both were subdued by love\u2014love vulgarly\ncalled \u2018love at first sight.\u2019\n\n\u2018Nonsense!\u2019 exclaimed the warrior king, testily, \u2018I can never believe\nin that freak of Kama Deva.\u2019 He spoke feelingly, for the thing had\nhappened to himself more than once, and on no occasion had it turned\nout well.\n\n\u2018But there is such a thing, O Raja, as love at first sight,\u2019 objected\nthe Baital, speaking dogmatically.\n\n\u2018Then perhaps thou canst account for it, dead one,\u2019 growled the\nmonarch, surlily.\n\n[Illustration: But their eyes had met.]\n\n\u2018I have no reason to do so, O Vikram,\u2019 retorted the Vampire, \u2018when\nyou men have already done it. Listen, then, to the words of the\nwise. In the olden time, one of your great philosophers invented a\nfluid pervading all matter, strongly self-repulsive like the steam\nof a brass pot, and widely spreading like the breath of scandal.\nThe repulsiveness, however, according to that wise man, is greatly\nmodified by its second property, namely, an energetic attraction\nor adhesion to all material bodies. Thus every substance contains\na part, more or less, of this fluid, pervading it throughout, and\nstrongly bound to each component atom. He called it \u201cAmbericity,\u201d\nfor the best of reasons, as it has no connection with amber, and he\ndescribed it as an imponderable, which, meaning that it could not be\nweighed, gives a very accurate and satisfactory idea of its nature.\n\n\u2018Now, said that philosopher, whenever two bodies containing that\nunweighable substance in unequal proportions happen to meet, a\ncurrent of imponderable passes from one to the other, producing a\nkind of attraction, and tending to adhere. The operation takes place\ninstantaneously when the force is strong and much condensed. Thus\nthe vulgar, who call things after their effects and not from their\ncauses, term the action of this imponderable love at first sight; the\nwise define it to be a phenomenon of ambericity. As regards my own\nopinion about the matter, I have long ago told it to you, O Vikram!\nSilliness\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018Either hold your tongue, fellow, or go on with your story,\u2019 cried\nthe Raja, wearied out by so many words that had no manner of sense.\n\nWell! the effect of the first glance was that Manaswi, the Brahman\u2019s\nson, fell back in a swoon and remained senseless upon the ground\nwhere he had been sitting; and the Raja\u2019s daughter began to tremble\nupon her feet, and presently dropped unconscious upon the floor of\nthe summer-house. Shortly after this she was found by her companions\nand attendants, who, quickly taking her up in their arms and\nsupporting her into a litter, conveyed her home.\n\nManaswi, the Brahman\u2019s son, was so completely overcome, that he lay\nthere dead to everything. Just then the learned, deeply read, and\npurblind Pandits Muldev and Shashi by name, strayed into the garden,\nand stumbled upon the body.\n\n\u2018Friend,\u2019 said Muldev, \u2018how came this youth thus to fall senseless on\nthe ground?\u2019\n\n\u2018Man,\u2019 replied Shashi, \u2018doubtless some damsel has shot forth the\narrows of her glances from the bow of her eyebrows, and thence he has\nbecome insensible!\u2019\n\n\u2018We must lift him up then,\u2019 said Muldev the benevolent.\n\n\u2018What need is there to raise him?\u2019 asked Shashi the misanthrope by\nway of reply.\n\nMuldev, however, would not listen to these words. He ran to the pond\nhard by, soaked the end of his waistcloth in water, sprinkled it over\nthe young Brahman, raised him from the ground, and placed him sitting\nagainst the wall. And perceiving, when he came to himself, that his\nsickness was rather of the soul than the body, the old men asked him\nhow he came to be in that plight.\n\n\u2018We should tell our griefs,\u2019 answered Manaswi, \u2018only to those who\nwill relieve us! What is the use of communicating them to those who,\nwhen they have heard, cannot help us? What is to be gained by the\nempty pity or by the useless condolence of men in general?\u2019\n\nThe Pandits, however, by friendly looks and words, presently\npersuaded him to break silence, when he said, \u2018A certain princess\nentered this summer-house, and from the sight of her I have fallen\ninto this state. If I can obtain her, I shall live; if not, I must\ndie.\u2019\n\n\u2018Come with me, young man!\u2019 said Muldev the benevolent; \u2018I will use\nevery endeavour to obtain her, and if I do not succeed I will make\nthee wealthy and independent of the world.\u2019\n\nManaswi rejoined: \u2018The Deity in his beneficence has created many\njewels in this world, but the pearl, woman, is chiefest of all; and\nfor her sake only does man desire wealth. What are riches to one who\nhas abandoned his wife? What are they who do not possess beautiful\nwives? they are but beings inferior to the beasts! wealth is the\nfruit of virtue; ease, of wealth; a wife, of ease. And where no wife\nis, how can there be happiness?\u2019 And the enamoured youth rambled on\nin this way, curious to us, Raja Vikram, but perhaps natural enough\nin a Brahman\u2019s son suffering under that endemic malady\u2014determination\nto marry.\n\n\u2018Whatever thou mayest desire,\u2019 said Muldev, \u2018shall by the blessing of\nheaven be given to thee.\u2019\n\nManaswi implored him, saying most pathetically, \u2018O Pandit, bestow\nthen that damsel upon me!\u2019\n\nMuldev promised to do so, and having comforted the youth, led him to\nhis own house. Then he welcomed him politely, seated him upon the\ncarpet, and left him for a few minutes, promising him to return. When\nhe reappeared, he held in his hand two little balls or pills, and\nshowing them to Manaswi, he explained their virtues as follows:\n\n\u2018There is in our house an hereditary secret, by means of which I\ntry to promote the weal of humanity. But in all cases my success\ndepends mainly upon the purity and the heartwholeness of those that\nseek my aid. If thou place this in thy mouth, thou shalt be changed\ninto a damsel twelve years old, and when thou withdrawest it again,\nthou shalt again recover thine original form. Beware, however, that\nthou use the power for none but a good purpose; otherwise some great\ncalamity will befall thee. Therefore, take counsel of thyself before\nundertaking this trial!\u2019\n\nWhat lover, O warrior king Vikram, would have hesitated, under such\ncircumstances, to assure the Pandit that he was the most innocent,\nearnest, and well-intentioned being in the Three Worlds?\n\nThe Brahman\u2019s son, at least, lost no time in so doing. Hence the\nsimple-minded philosopher put one of the pills into the young man\u2019s\nmouth, warning him on no account to swallow it, and took the other\ninto his own mouth. Upon which Manaswi became a sprightly young maid,\nand Muldev was changed to a reverend and decrepid senior, not less\nthan eighty years old.\n\nThus transformed the twain walked up to the palace of the Raja\nSubichar, and stood for a while to admire the gate. Then passing\nthrough seven courts, beautiful as the Paradise of Indra, they\nentered, unannounced, as became the priestly dignity, a hall where,\nsurrounded by his courtiers, sat the ruler. The latter seeing the\nholy Brahman under his roof, rose up, made the customary humble\nsalutation, and taking their right hands, led what appeared to be the\nfather and daughter to appropriate seats. Upon which Muldev, having\nrecited a verse, bestowed upon the Raja a blessing whose beauty has\nbeen diffused over all creation.\n\n\u2018May that Deity[146] who as a mannikin deceived the great king Bali;\nwho as a hero, with a monkey-host, bridged the Salt Sea; who as a\nshepherd lifted up the mountain Gobarddhan in the palm of his hand,\nand by it saved the cowherds and cowherdesses from the thunders of\nheaven\u2014may that Deity be thy protector!\u2019\n\n  [146] Vishnu, as a dwarf, sank down into and secured in the lower\n  regions the Raja Bali, who by his piety and prayerfulness was\n  subverting the reign of the lesser gods; as Ramachandra he built\n  a bridge between Lanka (Ceylon) and the main land; and as Krishna\n  he defended, by holding up a hill as an umbrella for them, his\n  friends the shepherds and shepherdesses from the thunders of\n  Indra, whose worship they had neglected.\n\nHaving heard and marvelled at this display of eloquence, the Raja\ninquired, \u2018Whence hath your holiness come?\u2019\n\n\u2018My country,\u2019 replied Muldev, \u2018is on the northern side of the great\nmother Ganges, and there too my dwelling is. I travelled to a distant\nland, and having found in this maiden a worthy wife for my son, I\nstraightway returned homewards. Meanwhile a famine had laid waste\nour village, and my wife and my son have fled, I know not where.\nEncumbered with this damsel, how can I wander about seeking them?\nHearing the name of a pious and generous ruler, I said to myself, \u201cI\nwill leave her under his charge until my return.\u201d Be pleased to take\ngreat care of her.\u2019\n\nFor a minute the Raja sat thoughtful and silent. He was highly\npleased with the Brahman\u2019s perfect compliment. But he could not hide\nfrom himself that he was placed between two difficulties: one, the\ncharge of a beautiful young girl, with pouting lips, soft speech,\nand roguish eyes; the other, a priestly curse upon himself and his\nkingdom. He thought, however, refusal the more dangerous: so he\nraised his face and exclaimed, \u2018O produce of Brahma\u2019s head,[147] I\nwill do what your highness has desired of me.\u2019\n\n  [147] The priestly caste sprang, as has been said, from the\n  noblest part of the Demiurgus; the three others from lower\n  members.\n\nUpon which the Brahman, after delivering a benediction of adieu\nalmost as beautiful and spirit-stirring as that with which he had\npresented himself, took the betel[148] and went his ways.\n\n  [148] A chew of betel leaf and spices is offered by the master of\n  the house when dismissing a visitor.\n\nThen the Raja sent for his daughter Chandraprabha and said to her,\n\u2018This is the affianced bride of a young Brahman, and she has been\ntrusted to my protection for a time by her father-in-law. Take her\ntherefore into the inner rooms, treat her with the utmost regard, and\nnever allow her to be separated from thee, day or night, asleep or\nawake, eating or drinking, at home or abroad.\u2019\n\nChandraprabha took the hand of Sita\u2014as Manaswi had pleased to call\nhimself\u2014and led the way to her own apartment. Once the seat of joy\nand pleasure, the rooms now wore a desolate and melancholy look.\nThe windows were darkened, the attendants moved noiselessly over\nthe carpets, as if their footsteps would cause headache, and there\nwas a faint scent of some drug much used in cases of deliquium. The\napartments were handsome, but the only ornament in the room where\nthey sat was a large bunch of withered flowers in an arched recess,\nand these, though possibly interesting to some one, were not likely\nto find favour as a decoration in the eyes of everybody.\n\nThe Raja\u2019s daughter paid the greatest attention and talked with\nunusual vivacity to the Brahman\u2019s daughter-in-law, either because she\nhad roguish eyes, or from some presentiment of what was to occur,\nwhichever you please, Raja Vikram, and it is no matter which. Still,\nSita could not help perceiving that there was a shade of sorrow upon\nthe forehead of her fair new friend, and so when they retired to rest\nshe asked the cause of it.\n\nThen Chandraprabha related to her the sad tale: \u2018One day in the\nspring season, as I was strolling in the garden along with my\ncompanions, I beheld a very handsome Brahman, and our eyes having\nmet, he became unconscious, and I also was insensible. My companions\nseeing my condition, brought me home, and therefore I know neither\nhis name nor his abode. His beautiful form is impressed upon my\nmemory. I have now no desire to eat or to drink, and from this\ndistress my colour has become pale and my body is thus emaciated.\u2019\nAnd the beautiful princess sighed a sigh that was musical and\nmelancholy, and concluded by predicting for herself\u2014as persons\nsimilarly placed often do\u2014a sudden and untimely end about the\nbeginning of the next month.\n\n\u2018What wilt thou give me,\u2019 asked the Brahman\u2019s daughter-in-law\ndemurely, \u2018if I show thee thy beloved at this very moment?\u2019\n\nThe Raja\u2019s daughter answered, \u2018I will ever be the lowest of thy\nslaves, standing before thee with joined hands.\u2019\n\nUpon which Sita removed the pill from her mouth, and instantly having\nbecome Manaswi, put it carefully away in a little bag hung round his\nneck. At this sight Chandraprabha felt abashed, and hung down her\nhead in beautiful confusion. To describe\u2014\n\n\u2018I will have no descriptions, Vampire!\u2019 cried the great Vikram,\njerking the bag up and down as if he were sweating gold in it. \u2018The\nfewer of thy descriptions the better for us all.\u2019\n\nBriefly (resumed the demon), Manaswi reflected upon the eight forms\nof marriage\u2014viz. Bramhalagan, when a girl is given to a Brahman, or\nman of superior caste, without reward; Daiva, when she is presented\nas a gift or fee to the officiating priest at the close of a\nsacrifice; Arsha, when two cows are received by the girl\u2019s father\nin exchange for the bride;[149] Prajapatya, when the girl is given\nat the request of a Brahman, and the father says to his daughter\nand her betrothed, \u2018Go, fulfil the duties of religion;\u2019 Asura, when\nmoney is received by the father in exchange for the bride; Rakshasa,\nwhen she is captured in war, or when her bridegroom overcomes his\nrival; Paisacha, when the girl is taken away from her father\u2019s house\nby craft; and eighthly, Gandharva-lagan, or the marriage that takes\nplace by mutual consent.[150]\n\n  [149] Respectable Hindus say that receiving a fee for a daughter\n  is like selling flesh.\n\n  [150] A modern custom amongst the low caste is for the bride and\n  bridegroom, in the presence of friends, to place a flower garland\n  on each others necks, and thus declare themselves man and wife.\n  The old classical Gandharva-lagan has been before explained.\n\nManaswi preferred the latter, especially as by her rank and age\nthe princess was entitled to call upon her father for the Lakshmi\nSwayambara wedding, in which she would have chosen her own husband.\nAnd thus it is that Rama, Arjuna, Krishna, Nala, and others, were\nproposed to by the princesses whom they married.\n\nFor five months after these nuptials, Manaswi never stirred out of\nthe palace, but remained there by day a woman, and a man by night.\nThe consequence was that he\u2014I call him \u2018he,\u2019 for whether Manaswi or\nSita, his mind ever remained masculine\u2014presently found himself in a\nfair way to become a father.\n\nNow, one would imagine that a change of sex every twenty-four hours\nwould be variety enough to satisfy even a man. Manaswi, however,\nwas not contented. He began to pine for more liberty, and to find\nfault with his wife for not taking him out into the world. And you\nmight have supposed that a young person who, from love at first\nsight, had fallen senseless upon the steps of a summer-house, and\nwho had devoted herself to a sudden and untimely end because she was\nseparated from her lover, would have repressed her yawns and little\nirritable words even for a year after having converted him into a\nhusband. But, no! Chandraprabha soon felt as tired of seeing Manaswi\nand nothing but Manaswi, as Manaswi was weary of seeing Chandraprabha\nand nothing but Chandraprabha. Often she had been on the point\nof proposing visits and out-of-door excursions. But when at last\nthe idea was first suggested by her husband, she at once became an\ninjured woman. She hinted how foolish it was for married people to\nimprison themselves and quarrel all day. When Manaswi remonstrated,\nsaying that he wanted nothing better than to appear before the world\nwith her as his wife, but that he really did not know what her father\nmight do to him, she threw out a cutting sarcasm upon his effeminate\nappearance during the hours of light. She then told him of an\nunfortunate young woman in an old nursery tale who had unconsciously\nmarried a fiend that became a fine handsome man at night when no eye\ncould see him, and utter ugliness by day when good looks show to\nadvantage. And lastly, when inveighing against the changeableness,\nfickleness, and infidelity of mankind, she quoted the words of the\npoet\u2014\n\n    Out upon change! it tires the heart\n      And weighs the noble spirit down;\n    A vain, vain world indeed thou art\n      That can such vile condition own;\n    The veil hath fallen from my eyes,\n      I cannot love where I despise....\n\nYou can easily, O King Vikram, continue for yourself and conclude\nthis lecture, which I leave unfinished on account of its length.\n\nChandraprabha and Sita, who called each other the Zodiacal Twins and\nLaughter Light,[151] and All-consenters, easily persuaded the old\nRaja that their health would be further improved by air, exercise,\nand distractions. Subichar, being delighted with the change that\nhad taken place in a daughter whom he loved, and whom he had feared\nto lose, told them to do as they pleased. They began a new life, in\nwhich short trips and visits, baths and dances, music parties, drives\nin bullock chariots, and water excursions, succeeded one another.\n\n  [151] Meaning that the sight of each other will cause a smile,\n  and that what one purposes the other will consent to.\n\nIt so happened that one day the Raja went with his whole family to a\nwedding feast in the house of his grand treasurer, where the latter\u2019s\nson saw Manaswi in the beautiful shape of Sita. This was a third\ncase of love at first sight, for the young man immediately said to a\nparticular friend, \u2018If I obtain that girl, I shall live; if not, I\nshall abandon life.\u2019\n\nIn the meantime the king, having enjoyed the feast, came back to his\npalace with his whole family. The condition of the treasurer\u2019s son,\nhowever, became very distressing; and through separation from his\nbeloved, he gave up eating and drinking. The particular friend had\nkept the secret for some days, though burning to tell it. At length\nhe found an excuse for himself in the sad state of his friend, and\nhe immediately went and divulged all that he knew to the treasurer.\nAfter this he felt relieved.\n\nThe minister repaired to the court, and laid his case before the\nking, saying, \u2018Great Raja! through the love of that Brahman\u2019s\ndaughter-in-law, my son\u2019s state is very bad; he has given up eating\nand drinking; in fact he is consumed by the fire of separation. If\nnow your majesty could show compassion, and bestow the girl upon him,\nhis life would be saved. If not\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018Fool!\u2019 cried the Raja, who, hearing these words, had waxed very\nwroth; \u2018it is not right for kings to do injustice. Listen! when a\nperson puts any one in charge of a protector, how can the latter give\naway his trust without consulting the person that trusted him? And\nyet this is what you wish me to do.\u2019\n\nThe treasurer knew that the Raja could not govern his realm without\nhim, and he was well acquainted with his master\u2019s character. He\nsaid to himself, \u2018This will not last long;\u2019 but he remained dumb,\nsimulating hopelessness, and hanging down his head, whilst Subichar\nalternately scolded and coaxed, abused and flattered him, in order to\nopen his lips. Then, with tears in his eyes, he muttered a request to\ntake leave; and as he passed through the palace gates, he said aloud,\nwith a resolute air, \u2018It will cost me but ten days of fasting!\u2019\n\nThe treasurer, having returned home, collected all his attendants,\nand went straightway to his son\u2019s room. Seeing the youth still\nstretched upon his sleeping-mat, and very yellow for the want of\nfood, he took his hand, and said in a whisper, meant to be audible,\n\u2018Alas! poor son, I can do nothing but perish with thee.\u2019\n\nThe servants, hearing this threat, slipped one by one out of the\nroom, and each went to tell his friend that the Grand Treasurer had\nresolved to live no longer. After which, they went back to the house\nto see if their master intended to keep his word, and curious to\nknow, if he did intend to die, how, where, and when it was to be.\nAnd they were not disappointed: I do not mean that they wished their\nlord to die, as he was a good master to them, but still there was an\nexcitement in the thing\u2014\u2014\n\n(Raja Vikram could not refrain from showing his anger at the\ninsult thus cast by the Baital upon human nature; the wretch,\nhowever, pretending not to notice it, went on without interrupting\nhimself.)\n\n\u2014\u2014which somehow or other pleased them.\n\nWhen the treasurer had spent three days without touching bread\nor water, all the cabinet council met and determined to retire\nfrom business unless the Raja yielded to their solicitations. The\ntreasurer was their working man. \u2018Besides which,\u2019 said the cabinet\ncouncil, \u2018if a certain person gets into the habit of refusing us,\nwhat is to be the end of it, and what is the use of being cabinet\ncouncillors any longer?\u2019\n\nEarly on the next morning, the ministers went in a body before the\nRaja, and humbly represented that \u2018the treasurer\u2019s son is at the\npoint of death, the effect of a full heart and an empty stomach.\nShould he die, the father, who has not eaten or drunk during the\nlast three days\u2019 (the Raja trembled to hear the intelligence, though\nhe knew it), \u2018his father, we say, cannot be saved. If the father\ndies the affairs of the kingdom come to ruin,\u2014is he not the grand\ntreasurer? It is already said that half the accounts have been gnawed\nby white ants, and that some pernicious substance in the ink has\neaten jagged holes through the paper, so that the other half of the\naccounts is illegible. It were best, sire, that you agree to what we\nrepresent.\u2019\n\nThe white ants and corrosive ink were too strong for the Raja\u2019s\ndetermination. Still, wishing to save appearances, he replied, with\nmuch firmness, that he knew the value of the treasurer and his son,\nthat he would do much to save them, but that he had passed his royal\nword, and had undertaken a trust. That he would rather die a dozen\ndeaths than break his promise, or not discharge his duty faithfully.\nThat man\u2019s condition in this world is to depart from it, none\nremaining in it; that one comes and that one goes, none knowing when\nor where; but that eternity is eternity for happiness or misery. And\nmuch of the same nature, not very novel, and not perhaps quite to the\npurpose, but edifying to those who knew what lay behind the speaker\u2019s\nwords.\n\nThe ministers did not know their lord\u2019s character so well as the\ngrand treasurer, and they were more impressed by his firm demeanour\nand the number of his words than he wished them to be. After allowing\nhis speech to settle in their minds, he did away with a great\npart of its effect by declaring that such were the sentiments and\nthe principles\u2014when a man talks of his principles, O Vikram! ask\nthyself the reason why\u2014instilled into his youthful mind by the most\nhonourable of fathers and the most virtuous of mothers. At the same\ntime that he was by no means obstinate or proof against conviction.\nIn token whereof he graciously permitted the councillors to convince\nhim that it was his royal duty to break his word and betray his\ntrust, and to give away another man\u2019s wife.\n\nPray do not lose your temper, O warrior king! Subichar, although a\nRaja, was a weak man; and you know, or you ought to know, that the\nwicked may be wise in their generation, but the weak never can.\n\nWell, the ministers hearing their lord\u2019s last words, took courage,\nand proceeded to work upon his mind by the figure of speech popularly\ncalled \u2018rigmarole.\u2019 They said: \u2018Great king! that old Brahman has\nbeen gone many days, and has not returned; he is probably dead and\nburnt. It is therefore right that by giving to the grand treasurer\u2019s\nson his daughter-in-law, who is only affianced, not fairly married,\nyou should establish your government firmly. And even if he should\nreturn, bestow villages and wealth upon him; and if he be not then\ncontent, provide another and a more beautiful wife for his son, and\ndismiss him. A person should be sacrificed for the sake of a family,\na family for a city, a city for a country, and a country for a king!\u2019\n\nSubichar, having heard them, dismissed them with the remark that as\nso much was to be said on both sides, he must employ the night in\nthinking over the matter, and that he would on the next day favour\nthem with his decision. The cabinet councillors knew by this that he\nmeant that he would go and consult his wives. They retired contented,\nconvinced that every voice would be in favour of a wedding, and\nthat the young girl, with so good an offer, would not sacrifice the\npresent to the future.\n\nThat evening the treasurer and his son supped together.\n\nThe first words uttered by Raja Subichar, when he entered his\ndaughter\u2019s apartment, was an order addressed to Sita: \u2018Go thou at\nonce to the house of my treasurer\u2019s son.\u2019\n\nNow, as Chandraprabha and Manaswi were generally scolding each other,\nChandraprabha and Sita were hardly on speaking terms. When they heard\nthe Raja\u2019s order for their separation they were\u2014\n\n\u2014\u2018Delighted?\u2019 cried Dharma Dhwaj, who for some reason took the\ngreatest interest in the narrative.\n\n\u2018Overwhelmed with grief, thou most guileless Yuva Raja (young\nprince)!\u2019 ejaculated the Vampire.\n\nRaja Vikram reproved his son for talking about things of which he\nknew nothing, and the Baital resumed.\n\nThey turned pale and wept, and they wrung their hands, and they\nbegged and argued and refused obedience. In fact they did everything\nto make the king revoke his order.\n\n\u2018The virtue of a woman,\u2019 quoth Sita, \u2018is destroyed through too much\nbeauty; the religion of a Brahman is impaired by serving kings; a\ncow is spoiled by distant pasturage, wealth is lost by committing\ninjustice, and prosperity departs from the house where promises are\nnot kept.\u2019\n\nThe Raja highly applauded the sentiment, but was firm as a rock upon\nthe subject of Sita marrying the treasurer\u2019s son.\n\nChandraprabha observed that her royal father, usually so\nconscientious, must now be acting from interested motives, and that\nwhen selfishness sways a man, right becomes left and left becomes\nright, as in the reflection of a mirror.\n\nSubichar approved of the comparison; he was not quite so resolved,\nbut he showed no symptoms of changing his mind.\n\nThen the Brahman\u2019s daughter-in-law, with the view of gaining time\u2014a\nfamous stratagem amongst feminines\u2014said to the Raja: \u2018Great king,\nif you are determined upon giving me to the grand treasurer\u2019s son,\nexact from him the promise that he will do what I bid him. Only on\nthis condition will I ever enter his house!\u2019\n\n\u2018Speak, then,\u2019 asked the king; \u2018what will he have to do?\u2019\n\nShe replied, \u2018I am of the Brahman or priestly caste, he is the son of\na Kshatriya or warrior: the law directs that before we twain can wed,\nhe should perform Yatra (pilgrimage) to all the holy places.\u2019\n\n\u2018Thou has spoken Veda-truth, girl,\u2019 answered the Raja, not sorry to\nhave found so good a pretext for temporising, and at the same time to\npreserve his character for firmness, resolution, determination.\n\nThat night Manaswi and Chandraprabha, instead of scolding each\nother, congratulated themselves upon having escaped an imminent\ndanger\u2014which they did not escape.\n\nIn the morning, Subichar sent for his ministers, including his\ngrand treasurer and his love-sick son, and told them how well and\nwisely the Brahman\u2019s daughter-in-law had spoken upon the subject\nof the marriage. All of them approved of the condition; but the\nyoung man ventured to suggest, that while he was a-pilgrimaging the\nmaiden should reside under his father\u2019s roof. As he and his father\nshowed a disposition to continue their fasts in case of the small\nfavour not being granted, the Raja, though very loath to separate\nhis beloved daughter and her dear friend, was driven to do it. And\nSita was carried off, weeping bitterly, to the treasurer\u2019s palace.\nThat dignitary solemnly committed her to the charge of his third and\nyoungest wife, the lady Subhagya-Sundari, who was about her own age,\nand said, \u2018You must both live together, without any kind of wrangling\nor contention, and do not go into other people\u2019s houses.\u2019 And the\ngrand treasurer\u2019s son went off to perform his pilgrimages.\n\nIt is no less sad than true, Raja Vikram, that in less than six days\nthe disconsolate Sita waxed weary of being Sita, took the ball out of\nher mouth, and became Manaswi. Alas for the infidelity of mankind!\nBut it is gratifying to reflect that he met with the punishment with\nwhich the Pandit Muldev had threatened him. One night the magic pill\nslipped down his throat. When morning dawned, being unable to change\nhimself into Sita, Manaswi was obliged to escape through a window\nfrom the lady Subhagya-Sundari\u2019s room. He sprained his ankle with the\nleap, and he lay for a time upon the ground\u2014where I leave him whilst\nconvenient to me.\n\nWhen Muldev quitted the presence of Subichar, he resumed his old\nshape, and returning to his brother Pandit Shashi, told him what he\nhad done. Whereupon Shashi, the misanthrope, looked black, and used\nhard words and told his friend that good nature and soft-heartedness\nhad caused him to commit a very bad action\u2014a grievous sin. Incensed\nat this charge, the philanthropic Mulder became angry, and said, \u2018I\nhave warned the youth about his purity; what harm can come of it?\u2019\n\n\u2018Thou hast,\u2019 retorted Shashi, with irritating coolness, \u2018placed a\nsharp weapon in a fool\u2019s hand.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have not,\u2019 cried Muldev, indignantly.\n\n\u2018Therefore,\u2019 drawled the malevolent, \u2018you are answerable for all the\nmischief he does with it, and mischief assuredly he will do.\u2019\n\n\u2018He will not, by Brahma!\u2019 exclaimed Muldev.\n\n\u2018He will, by Vishnu!\u2019 said Shashi, with an amiability produced by\nhaving completely upset his friend\u2019s temper; \u2018and if within the\ncoming six months he does not disgrace himself, thou shalt have the\nwhole of my book-case; but if he does, the philanthropic Muldev will\nuse all his skill and ingenuity in procuring the daughter of Raja\nSubichar as a wife for his faithful friend Shashi.\u2019\n\nHaving made this covenant, they both agreed not to speak of the\nmatter till the autumn.\n\nThe appointed time drawing near, the Pandits began to make enquiries\nabout the effect of the magic pills. Presently they found out that\nSita, alias Manaswi, had one night mysteriously disappeared from the\ngrand treasurer\u2019s house, and had not been heard of since that time.\nThis, together with certain other things that transpired presently,\nconvinced Muldev, who had cooled down in six months, that his\nfriend had won the wager. He prepared to make honourable payment by\nhanding a pill to old Shashi, who at once became a stout, handsome\nyoung Brahman, some twenty years old. Next putting a pill into his\nown mouth, he resumed the shape and form under which he had first\nappeared before Raja Subichar; and, leaning upon his staff, he led\nthe way to the palace.\n\nThe king, in great confusion, at once recognised the old priest, and\nguessed the errand upon which he and the youth were come. However, he\nsaluted them, and offered them seats, and receiving their blessings,\nhe began to make enquiries about their health and welfare. At last he\nmustered courage to ask the old Brahman where he had been living for\nso long a time.\n\n\u2018Great king,\u2019 replied the priest, \u2018I went to seek after my son, and\nhaving found him, I bring him to your majesty. Give him his wife, and\nI will take them both home with me.\u2019\n\nRaja Subichar prevaricated not a little; but presently being hard\npushed, he related everything that had happened.\n\n\u2018What is this that you have done?\u2019 cried Muldev, simulating excessive\nanger and astonishment. \u2018Why have you given my son\u2019s wife in marriage\nto another man? You have done what you wished, and now, therefore,\nreceive my Shrap (curse)!\u2019\n\nThe poor Raja, in great trepidation, said, \u2018O Divinity! be not thus\nangry! I will do whatever you bid me.\u2019\n\nSaid Muldev, \u2018If through dread of my excommunication you will\nfreely give whatever I demand of you, then marry your daughter,\nChandraprabha, to this my son. On this condition I forgive you. To\nme, now a necklace of pearls and a venomous krishna (cobra capella);\nthe most powerful enemy and the kindest friend; the most precious\ngem and a clod of earth; the softest bed and the hardest stone; a\nblade of grass and the loveliest woman\u2014are precisely the same. All I\ndesire is that in some holy place, repeating the name of God, I may\nsoon end my days.\u2019\n\nSubichar, terrified by this additional show of sanctity, at once\nsummoned an astrologer, and fixed upon the auspicious moment and\nlunar influence. He did not consult the princess, and had he done so\nshe would not have resisted his wishes. Chandraprabha had heard of\nSita\u2019s escape from the treasurer\u2019s house, and she had on the subject\nher own suspicions. Besides which she looked forward to a certain\nevent, and she was by no means sure that her royal father approved of\nthe Gandharba form of marriage\u2014at least for his daughter. Thus the\nBrahman\u2019s son receiving in due time the princess and her dowry, took\nleave of the king and returned to his own village.\n\nHardly, however, had Chandraprabha been married to Shashi the\nPandit, when Manaswi went to him, and began to wrangle, and said,\n\u2018Give me my wife!\u2019 He had recovered from the effects of his fall, and\nhaving lost her he therefore loved her\u2014very dearly.\n\nBut Shashi proved by reference to the astrologers, priests, and ten\npersons as witnesses, that he had duly wedded her, and brought her to\nhis home; \u2018therefore,\u2019 said he, \u2018she is _my_ spouse.\u2019\n\nManaswi swore by all holy things that he had been legally married to\nher, and that he was the father of her child that was about to be.\n\u2018How then,\u2019 continued he, \u2018can she be _thy_ spouse?\u2019 He would have\nsummoned Muldev as a witness, but that worthy, after remonstrating\nwith him, disappeared. He called upon Chandraprabha to confirm his\nstatement, but she put on an innocent face, and indignantly denied\never having seen the man.\n\nStill, continued the Baital, many people believed Manaswi\u2019s story, as\nit was marvellous and incredible. Even to the present day, there are\nmany who decidedly think him legally married to the daughter of Raja\nSubichar.\n\n\u2018Then they are pestilent fellows!\u2019 cried the warrior king, Vikram,\nwho hated nothing more than clandestine and runaway matches. \u2018No one\nknew that the villain, Manaswi, was the father of her child; whereas,\nthe Pandit Shashi married her lawfully, before witnesses, and with\nall the ceremonies.[152] She therefore remains his wife, and the\nchild will perform the funeral obsequies for him, and offer water\nto the manes of his pitris (ancestors). At least, so say law and\njustice.\u2019\n\n  [152] This would be the verdict of a Hindu jury.\n\n\u2018Which justice is often unjust enough!\u2019 cried the Vampire; \u2018and ply\nthy legs, mighty Raja; let me see if thou canst reach the siras-tree\nbefore I do.\u2019\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\u2018The next story, O Raja Vikram, is remarkably interesting.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S NINTH STORY.\n\nSHOWING THAT A MAN\u2019S WIFE BELONGS NOT TO HIS BODY BUT TO HIS HEAD.\n\n\nFar and wide through the lovely land overrun by the Arya from\nthe Western Highlands spread the fame of Unmadini, the beautiful\ndaughter of Haridas the Brahman. In the numberless odes, sonnets,\nand acrostics addressed to her by a hundred Pandits and poets her\ncharms were sung with prodigious triteness. Her presence was compared\nto light shining in a dark house; her face to the full moon; her\ncomplexion to the yellow champaka flower; her curls to female snakes;\nher eyes to those of the deer; her eyebrows to bent bows; her teeth\nto strings of little opals; her feet to rubies and red gems,[153] and\nher gait to that of the wild goose. And none forgot to say that her\nvoice affected the author like the song of the kokila bird, sounding\nfrom the shadowy brake, when the breeze blows coolly, or that the\nfairy beings of Indra\u2019s heaven would have shrunk away abashed at her\nloveliness.\n\n  [153] Because stained with the powder of Mhendi, or the _Lawsonia\n  inermis_ shrub.\n\nBut, Raja Vikram! all the poets failed to win the fair Unmadini\u2019s\nlove. To praise the beauty of a beauty is not to praise her. Extol\nher wit and talents, which has the zest of novelty, then you may\nsucceed. For the same reason, read inversely, the plainer and\ncleverer is the bosom you would fire, the more personal you must be\nupon the subject of its grace and loveliness. Flattery, you know,\nis ever the match which kindles the flame of love. True it is that\nsome by roughness of demeanour and bluntness in speech, contrasting\nwith those whom they call the \u2018herd,\u2019 have the art to succeed in the\nservice of the bodyless god.[154] But even they must\u2014\u2014\n\n  [154] Kansa\u2019s son; so called because the god Shiva, when struck\n  by his shafts, destroyed him with a fiery glance.\n\nThe young prince Dharma Dhwaj could not help laughing at the thought\nof how this must sound in his father\u2019s ear. And the Raja hearing\nthe ill-timed merriment, sternly ordered the Baital to cease his\nimmoralities and to continue his story.\n\nThus the lovely Unmadini, conceiving an extreme contempt for poets\nand literati, one day told her father, who greatly loved her, that\nher husband must be a fine young man who never wrote verses. Withal\nshe insisted strongly on mental qualities and science, being a person\nof moderate mind and an adorer of talent\u2014when not perverted to\npoetry.\n\nAs you may imagine, Raja Vikram, all the beauty\u2019s bosom friends,\nseeing her refuse so many good offers, confidently predicted that\nshe would pass through the jungle and content herself with a bad\nstick, or that she would lead ring-tailed apes in Patala.\n\nAt length when some time had elapsed, four suitors appeared from\nfour different countries, all of them claiming equal excellence in\nyouth and beauty, strength and understanding. And after paying their\nrespects to Haridas, and telling him their wishes, they were directed\nto come early on the next morning and to enter upon the first\nordeal\u2014an intellectual conversation.\n\nThis they did.\n\n\u2018Foolish the man,\u2019 quoth the young Mahasani, \u2018that seeks permanence\nin this world\u2014frail as the stem of the plantain-tree, transient as\nthe ocean foam.\n\n\u2018All that is high shall presently fall; all that is low must finally\nperish.\n\n\u2018Unwillingly do the manes of the dead taste the tears shed by their\nkinsmen: then wail not, but perform the funeral obsequies with\ndiligence.\u2019\n\n\u2018What ill-omened fellow is this?\u2019 quoth the fair Unmadini, who was\nsitting behind her curtain; \u2018besides, he has dared to quote poetry!\u2019\nThere was little chance of success for that suitor.\n\n\u2018She is called a good woman, and a woman of pure descent,\u2019 quoth the\nsecond suitor, \u2018who serves him to whom her father and mother have\ngiven her; and it is written in the scriptures that a woman who in\nthe lifetime of her husband becoming a devotee, engages in fasting,\nand in austere devotion, shortens his days, and hereafter falls into\nthe fire. For it is said\u2014\n\n    \u2018A woman\u2019s bliss is found, not in the smile\n    Of father, mother, friend, nor in herself;\n    Her husband is her only portion here,\n    Her heaven _hereafter_.\u2019\n\nThe word \u2018serve\u2019 which might mean \u2018obey,\u2019 was peculiarly disagreeable\nto the fair one\u2019s ears, and she did not admire the check so soon\nplaced upon her devotion, or the decided language and manner of\nthe youth. She therefore mentally resolved never again to see that\nperson, whom she determined to be stupid as an elephant.\n\n\u2018A mother,\u2019 said Gunakar, the third candidate, \u2018protects her son in\nbabyhood, and a father when his offspring is growing up. But the man\nof warrior descent defends his brethren at all times. Such is the\ncustom of the world, and such is my state. I dwell on the heads of\nthe strong!\u2019\n\nTherefore those assembled together looked with great respect upon the\nman of valour.\n\nDevasharma, the fourth suitor, contented himself with listening to\nthe others, who fancied that he was overawed by their cleverness.\nAnd when it came to his turn he simply remarked, \u2018Silence is better\nthan speech.\u2019 Being further pressed, he said, \u2018A wise man will not\nproclaim his age, nor a deception practised upon himself, nor his\nriches, nor the loss of riches, nor family faults, nor incantations,\nnor conjugal love, nor medicinal prescriptions, nor religious duties,\nnor gifts, nor reproach, nor the infidelity of his wife.\u2019\n\nThus ended the first trial. The master of the house dismissed the\ntwo former speakers, with many polite expressions and some trifling\npresents. Then having given betel to them, scented their garments\nwith attar, and sprinkled rose water over their heads, he accompanied\nthem to the door, showing much regret. The two latter speakers he\nbegged to come on the next day.\n\nGunakar and Devasharma did not fail. When they entered the\nassembly-room and took the seats pointed out to them, the father\nsaid, \u2018Be ye pleased to explain and make manifest the effects of your\nmental qualities. So shall I judge of them.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have made,\u2019 said Gunakar, \u2018a four-wheeled carriage, in which the\npower resides to carry you in a moment wherever you may purpose to\ngo.\u2019\n\n\u2018I have such power over the angel of death,\u2019 said Devasharma, \u2018that\nI can at all times raise a corpse, and enable my friends to do the\nsame.\u2019\n\nNow tell me by thy brains, O warrior King Vikram, which of these two\nyouths was the fitter husband for the maid?\n\nEither the Raja could not answer the question, or perhaps he would\nnot, being determined to break the spell which had already kept\nhim walking to and fro for so many hours. Then the Baital, who had\npaused to let his royal carrier commit himself, seeing that the\nattempt had failed, proceeded without making any further comment.\n\nThe beautiful Unmadini was brought out, but she hung down her head\nand made no reply. Yet she took care to move both her eyes in the\ndirection of Devasharma. Whereupon Haridas, quoting the proverb that\n\u2018pearls string with pearls,\u2019 formally betrothed to him his daughter.\n\nThe soldier suitor twisted the ends of his mustachios into his eyes,\nwhich were red with wrath, and fumbled with his fingers about the\nhilt of his sword. But he was a man of noble birth, and presently his\nanger passed away.\n\nMahasani the poet, however, being a shameless person\u2014and when can\nwe be safe from such?\u2014forced himself into the assembly and began to\nrage and to storm, and to quote proverbs in a loud tone of voice. He\nremarked that in this world women are a mine of grief, a poisonous\nroot, the abode of solicitude, the destroyers of resolution, the\noccasioners of fascination, and the plunderers of all virtuous\nqualities. From the daughter he passed to the father, and after\nsaying hard things of him as a \u2018Maha-Brahman,\u2019[155] who took cows and\ngold and worshipped a monkey, he fell with a sweeping censure upon\nall priests and sons of priests, more especially Devasharma. As the\nbystanders remonstrated with him, he became more violent, and when\nHaridas, who was a weak man, appeared terrified by his voice, look,\nand gesture, he swore a solemn oath that despite all the betrothals\nin the world, unless Unmadini became his wife he would commit\nsuicide, and as a demon haunt the house and injure the inmates.\n\n  [155] \u2018Great Brahman;\u2019 used contemptuously to priests who\n  officiate for servile men. Brahmans lose their honour by the\n  following things: By becoming servants to the king; by pursuing\n  any secular business; by acting priests to Shudras (serviles);\n  by officiating as priests for a whole village; and by neglecting\n  any part of the three daily services. Many violate these rules;\n  yet to kill a Brahman is still one of the five great Hindu sins.\n  In the present age of the world, the Brahman may not accept\n  a gift of cows or of gold; of course he despises the law. As\n  regards monkey worship, a certain Rajah of Nadiya is said to have\n  expended 10,000_l._ in marrying two monkeys with all the parade\n  and splendour of the Hindu rite.\n\nGunakar the soldier exhorted this shameless poet to slay himself at\nonce, and to go where he pleased. But as Haridas reproved the warrior\nfor inhumanity, Mahasani nerved by spite, love, rage, and perversity\nto an heroic death, drew a noose from his bosom, rushed out of the\nhouse, and suspended himself to the nearest tree.\n\nAnd, true enough, as the midnight gong struck, he appeared in the\nform of a gigantic and malignant Rakshasa (fiend), dreadfully\nfrightened the household of Haridas, and carried off the lovely\nUnmadini, leaving word that she was to be found on the topmost peak\nof Himalaya.\n\nThe unhappy father hastened to the house where Devasharma lived.\nThere, weeping bitterly and wringing his hands in despair, he told\nthe terrible tale, and besought his intended son-in-law to be up and\ndoing.\n\nThe young Brahman at once sought his late rival, and asked his aid.\nThis the soldier granted at once, although he had been nettled at\nbeing conquered in love by a priestling.\n\nThe carriage was at once made ready, and the suitors set out, bidding\nthe father be of good cheer, and that before sunset he should embrace\nhis daughter. They then entered the vehicle; Gunakar with cabalistic\nwords caused it to rise high in the air, and Devasharma put to flight\nthe demon by reciting the sacred verse,[156] \u2018Let us meditate on the\nsupreme splendour (or adorable light) of that Divine Ruler (the sun)\nwho may illuminate our understandings. Venerable men, guided by the\nintelligence, salute the divine sun (Sarvitri) with oblations and\npraise. Om!\u2019\n\n  [156] The celebrated Gayatri, the Moslem Kalmah.\n\nThen they returned with the girl to the house, and Haridas blessed\nthem, praising the sun aloud in the joy of his heart. Lest other\naccidents might happen, he chose an auspicious planetary conjunction,\nand at a fortunate moment rubbed turmeric upon his daughter\u2019s hands.\n\nThe wedding was splendid, and broke the hearts of twenty-four rivals.\nIn due time Devasharma asked leave from his father-in-law to revisit\nhis home, and carry with him his bride. This request being granted,\nhe set out accompanied by Gunakar the soldier, who swore not to leave\nthe couple before seeing them safe under their own roof-tree.\n\nIt so happened that their road lay over the summits of the wild\nVindhya hills, where dangers of all kinds are as thick as shells\nupon the shore of the deep. Here were rocks and jagged precipices\nmaking the traveller\u2019s brain whirl when he looked into them. There\nimpetuous torrents roared and flashed down their beds of black stone,\nthreatening destruction to those who would cross them. Now the path\nwas lost in the matted thorny underwood and the pitchy shades of the\njungle, deep and dark as the valley of death. Then the thunder-cloud\nlicked the earth with its fiery tongue, and its voice shook the crags\nand filled their hollow caves. At times, the sun was so hot, that the\nwild birds fell dead from the air. And at every moment the wayfarers\nheard the trumpeting of giant elephants, the fierce howling of the\ntiger, the grisly laugh of the foul hy\u00e6na, and the whimpering of the\nwild dogs as they coursed by on the tracks of their prey.\n\nYet, sustained by the five-armed god,[157] the little party passed\nsafely through all these dangers. They had almost emerged from the\ndamp glooms of the forest into the open plains which skirt the\nsouthern base of the hills, when one night the fair Unmadini saw a\nterrible vision.\n\n  [157] Kama again.\n\nShe beheld herself wading through a sluggish pool of muddy water,\nwhich rippled, curdling as she stepped into it, and which, as she\nadvanced, darkened with the slime raised by her feet. She was\nbearing in her arms the semblance of a sick child, which struggled\nconvulsively and filled the air with dismal wails. These cries seemed\nto be answered by a multitude of other children, some bloated like\ntoads, others mere skeletons lying upon the bank, or floating upon\nthe thick brown waters of the pond. And all seemed to address their\ncries to her, as if she were the cause of their weeping; nor could\nall her efforts quiet or console them for a moment.\n\nWhen the bride awoke, she related all the particulars of her\nill-omened vision to her husband; and the latter, after a short\npause, informed her and his friend that a terrible calamity was about\nto befall them. He then drew from his travelling wallet a skein of\nthread. This he divided into three parts, one for each, and told\nhis companions that in case of grievous bodily injury, the bit of\nthread wound round the wounded part would instantly make it whole.\nAfter which he taught them the Mantra,[158] or mystical word by which\nthe lives of men are restored to their bodies, even when they have\ntaken their allotted places amongst the stars, and which for evident\nreasons I do not want to repeat. It concluded, however, with the\nthree Vyahritis, or sacred syllables\u2014Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svar!\n\n  [158] From \u2018Man,\u2019 to think; primarily meaning, what makes man\n  think.\n\nRaja Vikram was perhaps a little disappointed by this declaration. He\nmade no remark, however, and the Baital thus pursued:\n\n[Illustration: As they emerged upon the plain, they were attacked by\nthe Kiratas.]\n\nAs Devasharma foretold, an accident of a terrible nature did occur.\nOn the evening of that day, as they emerged upon the plain, they were\nattacked by the Kiratas, or savage tribes of the mountain.[159] A\nsmall, black, wiry figure, armed with a bow and little cane arrows,\nstood in their way, signifying by gestures that they must halt and\nlay down their arms. As they continued to advance, he began to speak\nwith a shrill chattering, like the note of an affrighted bird, his\nrestless red eyes glared with rage, and he waved his weapon furiously\nround his head. Then from the rocks and thickets on both sides of the\npath poured a shower of shafts upon the three strangers.\n\n  [159] The Cirrhad\u00e6 of classical writers.\n\nThe unequal combat did not last long. Gunakar, the soldier, wielded\nhis strong right arm with fatal effect and struck down some\nthreescore of the foes. But new swarms came on like angry hornets\nbuzzing round the destroyer of their nests. And when he fell,\nDevasharma, who had left him for a moment to hide his beautiful wife\nin the hollow of a tree, returned, and stood fighting over the body\nof his friend till he also, overpowered by numbers, was thrown to\nthe ground. Then the wild men, drawing their knives, cut off the\nheads of their helpless enemies, stripped their bodies of all their\nornaments, and departed, leaving the woman unharmed for good luck.\n\nWhen Unmadini, who had been more dead than alive during the affray,\nfound silence succeed to the horrid din of shrieks and shouts, she\nventured to creep out of her refuge in the hollow tree. And what does\nshe behold? her husband and his friend are lying upon the ground,\nwith their heads at a short distance from their bodies. She sat down\nand wept bitterly.\n\nPresently, remembering the lesson which she had learned that very\nmorning, she drew forth from her bosom the bit of thread and\nproceeded to use it. She approached the heads to the bodies, and tied\nsome of the magic string round each neck. But the shades of evening\nwere fast deepening, and in her agitation, confusion and terror, she\nmade a curious mistake by applying the heads to the wrong trunks.\nAfter which, she again sat down, and having recited her prayers,\nshe pronounced, as her husband had taught her, the life-giving\nincantation.\n\n[Illustration: Then a horrid thought flashed across her mind; she\nperceived her fatal mistake.]\n\nIn a moment the dead men were made alive. They opened their eyes,\nshook themselves, sat up and handled their limbs as if to feel that\nall was right. But something or other appeared to them all wrong.\nThey placed their palms upon their foreheads, and looked downwards,\nand started to their feet and began to stare at their hands and\nlegs. Upon which they scrutinised the very scanty articles of dress\nwhich the wild men had left upon them, and lastly one began to eye\nthe other with curious puzzled looks.\n\nThe wife, attributing their gestures to the confusion which one might\nexpect to find in the brains of men who have just undergone so great\na trial as amputation of the head must be, stood before them for a\nmoment or two. She then with a cry of gladness flew to the bosom of\nthe individual who was, as she supposed, her husband. He repulsed\nher, telling her that she was mistaken. Then, blushing deeply in\nspite of her other emotions, she threw both her beautiful arms round\nthe neck of the person who must be, she naturally concluded, the\nright man. To her utter confusion, he also shrank back from her\nembrace.\n\nThen a horrid thought flashed across her mind: she perceived her\nfatal mistake, and her heart almost ceased to beat.\n\n\u2018This is _thy_ wife!\u2019 cried the Brahman\u2019s head that had been fastened\nto the soldier\u2019s body.\n\n\u2018No she is _thy_ wife!\u2019 replied the soldier\u2019s head which had been\nplaced upon the Brahman\u2019s body.\n\n\u2018Then she is _my_ wife!\u2019 rejoined the first compound creature.\n\n\u2018By no means! she is _my_ wife,\u2019 cried the second.\n\n\u2018What then am I?\u2019 asked Devasharma-Gunakar.\n\n\u2018What do you think I am?\u2019 answered Gunakar-Devasharma, with another\nquestion.\n\n\u2018Unmadini shall be _mine_,\u2019 quoth the head.\n\n\u2018You lie, she shall be _mine_,\u2019 shouted the body.\n\n\u2018Holy Yama,[160] hear the villain,\u2019 exclaimed both of them at the\nsame moment.\n\n  [160] The Hindu Pluto; also called the Just King.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn short, having thus begun, they continued to quarrel violently,\neach one declaring that the beautiful Unmadini belonged to him and to\nhim only. How to settle their dispute Brahma the Lord of creatures\nonly knows. I do not, except by cutting off their heads once more,\nand by putting them in their proper places. And I am quite sure, O\nRaja Vikram! that thy wits are quite unfit to answer the question,\nTo which of these two is the beautiful Unmadini wife? It is even\nsaid\u2014amongst us Baitals\u2014that when this pair of half-husbands\nappeared in the presence of the Just King, a terrible confusion\narose, each head declaiming all the sins and peccadilloes which its\nbody had committed, and that Yama the holy ruler himself bit his\nforefinger with vexation.[161]\n\n  [161] Yama judges the dead, whose souls go to him in four hours\n  and forty minutes; therefore a corpse cannot be burned till after\n  that time. His residence is Yamalaya, and it is on the south side\n  of the earth; down South, as we say. (I Sam. xxv. 1, and xxx.\n  15.) The Hebrews, like the Hindus, held the northern parts of the\n  world to be higher than the southern. Hindus often joke a man who\n  is seen walking in that direction, and ask him where he is going.\n\nHere the young prince Dharma Dhwaj burst out laughing at the\nridiculous idea of the wrong heads. And the warrior king, who like\nsingle-minded fathers in general was ever in the idea that his son\nhad a velleity for deriding and otherwise vexing him, began a severe\ncourse of reproof. He reminded the prince of the common saying that\nmerriment without cause degrades a man in the opinion of his fellows,\nand indulged him with a quotation extensively used by grave fathers,\nnamely that the loud laugh bespeaks a vacant mind. After which he\nproceeded with much pompousness to pronounce the following opinion:\n\n\u2018It is said in the Shastras\u2014\u2014\u2019\n\n\u2018Your majesty need hardly display so much erudition! Doubtless it\ncomes from the lips of Jayudeva or some other one of your Nine Gems\nof Science, who know much more about their songs and their stanzas\nthan they do about their scriptures,\u2019 insolently interrupted the\nBaital, who never lost an opportunity of carping at those reverend\nmen.\n\n\u2018It is said in the Shastras,\u2019 continued Raja Vikram sternly, after\nhesitating whether he should or should not administer a corporeal\ncorrection to the Vampire, \u2018that Mother Ganga[162] is the queen\namongst rivers, and the mountain Sumeru[163] is the monarch among\nmountains, and the tree Kalpavriksha[164] is the king of all trees,\nand the head of man is the best and most excellent of limbs. And\nthus, according to this reason, the wife belonged to him whose\nnoblest position claimed her.\u2019\n\n  [162] The \u2018Ganges,\u2019 in heaven called Mandakini. I have no idea\n  why we still adhere to our venerable corruption of the word.\n\n  [163] The fabulous mountain supposed by Hindu geographers to\n  occupy the centre of the universe.\n\n  [164] The all-bestowing tree in Indra\u2019s Paradise, which grants\n  everything asked of it. It is the Tuba of El Islam, and is not\n  unknown to the Apocryphal New Testament.\n\n\u2018The next thing your majesty will do, I suppose,\u2019 continued the\nBaital, with a sneer, \u2018is to support the opinions of the Digambara,\nwho maintains that the soul is exceedingly rarefied, confined to\none place, and of equal dimensions with the body, or the fancies of\nthat worthy philosopher Jaimani, who conceiving soul and mind and\nmatter to be things purely synonymous, asserts outwardly and writes\nin his books that the brain is the organ of the mind which is acted\nupon by the immortal soul, but who inwardly and verily believes that\nthe brain is the mind, and consequently that the brain is the soul\nor spirit or whatever you please to call it; in fact that soul is a\nnatural faculty of the body. A pretty doctrine, indeed, for a Brahman\nto hold. You might as well agree with me at once that the soul of man\nresides, when at home, either in a vein in the breast, or in the pit\nof his stomach, or that half of it is in a man\u2019s brain and the other\nor reasoning half is in his heart, an organ of his body.\u2019\n\n\u2018What has all this string of words to do with the matter, Vampire?\u2019\nasked Raja Vikram, angrily.\n\n\u2018Only,\u2019 said the demon laughing, \u2018that in my opinion, as opposed\nto the Shastras and to Raja Vikram, that the beautiful Unmadini\nbelonged, not to the head part but to the body part. Because the\nlatter has an immortal soul in the pit of its stomach, whereas the\nformer is a box of bone, more or less thick, and contains brains\nwhich are of much the same consistence as those of a calf.\u2019\n\n\u2018Villain!\u2019 exclaimed the Raja, \u2018does not the soul or conscious\nlife enter the body through the sagittal suture and lodge in the\nbrain, thence to contemplate, through the same opening, the divine\nperfections?\u2019\n\n\u2018I must, however, bid you farewell for the moment, O warrior king,\nSakadhipati-Vikramaditya![165] I feel a sudden and ardent desire to\nchange this cramped position for one more natural to me.\u2019\n\n  [165] \u2018Vikramaditya, Lord of the Saka.\u2019 This is _pr\u00e9voyance_ on\n  the part of the Vampire; the king had not acquired the title.\n\nThe warrior monarch had so far committed himself that he could not\nprevent the Vampire from flitting. But he lost no more time in\nfollowing him than a grain of mustard, in its fall, stays on a cow\u2019s\nhorn. And when he had thrown him over his shoulder, the king desired\nhim of his own accord to begin a new tale.\n\n\u2018O my left eyelid flutters,\u2019 exclaimed the Baital in despair, \u2018my\nheart throbs, my sight is dim: surely now beginneth the end. It is as\nVidhata hath written on my forehead\u2014how can it be otherwise?[166]\nStill listen, O mighty Raja, whilst I recount to you a true story,\nand Saraswati[167] sit on my tongue.\u2019\n\n  [166] On the sixth day after the child\u2019s birth, the god Vidhata\n  writes all its fate upon its forehead. The Moslems have a similar\n  idea, and probably it passed to the Hindus.\n\n  [167] Goddess of eloquence. \u2018The waters of the Saraswati\u2019 is the\n  classical Hindu phrase for the mirage.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S TENTH STORY.[168]\n\nOF THE MARVELLOUS DELICACY OF THREE QUEENS.\n\n  [168] This story is perhaps the least interesting in the\n  collection. I have translated it literally, in order to give an\n  idea of the original. The reader will remark in it the source\n  of our own nursery tale about the princess who was so high\n  born and delicately bred, that she could discover the three\n  peas laid beneath a straw mattress and four feather beds. The\n  Hindus, however, believe that Sybaritism can be carried so far; I\n  remember my Pandit asserting the truth of the story.\n\n\nThe Baital said, O king, in the Gaur country, Varddhman by name,\nthere is a city, and one called Gunshekhar was the Raja of that land.\nHis minister was one Abhaichand, a Jain, by whose teachings the king\nalso came into the Jain faith.\n\nThe worship of Shiva and of Vishnu, gifts of cows, gifts of lands,\ngifts of rice balls, gaming and spirit drinking, all these he\nprohibited. In the city no man could get leave to do them, and as\nfor bones, into the Ganges no man was allowed to throw them, and in\nthese matters the minister, having taken orders from the king, caused\na proclamation to be made about the city saying, \u2018Whoever these acts\nshall do, the Raja having confiscated, will punish him and banish him\nfrom the city.\u2019\n\nNow one day the Diwan[169] began to say to the Raja, \u2018O great king,\nto the decisions of the Faith be pleased to give ear. Whosoever takes\nthe life of another, his life also in the future birth is taken:\nthis very sin causes him to be born again and again upon earth and\nto die. And thus he ever continues to be born and to die. Hence for\none who has found entrance into this world to cultivate religion is\nright and proper. Be pleased to behold! By love, by wrath, by pain,\nby desire, and by fascination overpowered, the gods Bramha, Vishnu,\nand Mahadeva (Shiva) in various ways upon the earth are ever becoming\nincarnate. Far better than they is the Cow, who is free from passion,\nenmity, drunkenness, anger, covetousness, and inordinate affection,\nwho supports mankind, and whose progeny in many ways give ease and\nsolace to the creatures of the world. These deities and sages (munis)\nbelieve in the Cow.[170]\n\n  [169] A minister. The word, as is the case with many in this\n  collection, is quite modern Moslem, and anachronistic.\n\n  [170] The cow is called the mother of the gods, and is declared\n  by Bramha, the first person of the triad, Vishnu and Shiva being\n  the second and the third, to be a proper object of worship. \u2018If\n  a European speak to the Hindu about eating the flesh of cows,\u2019\n  says an old missionary, \u2018they immediately raise their hands to\n  their ears; yet milkmen, carmen, and farmers beat the cow as\n  unmercifully as a carrier of coals beats his ass in England.\u2019\n\n  The Jains or Jainas (from ji, to conquer; as subduing the\n  passions) are one of the atheistical sects with whom the Brahmans\n  have of old carried on the fiercest religious controversies,\n  ending in many a sanguinary fight. Their tenets are consequently\n  exaggerated and ridiculed, as in the text. They believe that\n  there is no such God as the common notions on the subject\n  point out, and they hold that the highest act of virtue is to\n  abstain from injuring sentient creatures. Man does not possess\n  an immortal spirit: death is the same to Bramha and to a fly.\n  Therefore there is no heaven or hell separate from present\n  pleasure or pain. Hindu Epicureans:\u2014\u2018Epicuri de grege porci.\u2019\n\n\u2018For such reason to believe in the gods is not good. Upon this earth\nbe pleased to believe in the Cow. It is our duty to protect the life\nof everyone, beginning from the elephant, through ants, beasts, and\nbirds, up to man. In the world righteousness equal to that there\nis none. Those who, eating the flesh of other creatures, increase\ntheir own flesh, shall in the fulness of time assuredly obtain the\nfruition of Narak;[171] hence for a man it is proper to attend to\nthe conservation of life. They who understand not the pain of other\ncreatures, and who continue to slay and to devour them, last but few\ndays in the land, and return to mundane existence, maimed, limping,\none-eyed, blind, dwarfed, hunchbacked, and imperfect in such wise.\nJust as they consume the bodies of beasts and birds, even so they\nend by spoiling their own bodies. From drinking spirits also the\ngreat sin arises, hence the consuming of spirits and flesh is not\nadvisable.\u2019\n\n  [171] Narak is one of the multitudinous places of Hindu\n  punishment, said to adjoin the residence of Ajarna. The less\n  cultivated Jains believe in a region of torment. The illuminati,\n  however, have a sovereign contempt for the Creator, for a future\n  state, and for all religious ceremonies. As Hindus, however,\n  they believe in future births of mankind, somewhat influenced by\n  present actions. The \u2018next birth\u2019 in the mouth of a Hindu, we are\n  told, is the same as \u2018to-morrow\u2019 in the mouth of a Christian.\n  The metempsychosis is on an extensive scale: according to some,\n  a person who loses human birth must pass through eight millions\n  of successive incarnations\u2014fish, insects, worms, birds, and\n  beasts\u2014before he can reappear as a man.\n\nThe minister having in this manner explained to the king the\nsentiments of his own mind, so brought him over to the Jain faith,\nthat whatever he said, so the king did. Thus in Brahmans, in\nJogis, in Janganis, in Sevras, in Sannyasis,[172] and in religious\nmendicants, no man believed, and according to this creed the rule was\ncarried on.\n\n  [172] Jogi, or Yogi, properly applies to followers of the Yoga\n  or Patanjala school, who by ascetic practices acquire power over\n  the elements. Vulgarly, it is a general term for mountebank\n  vagrants, worshippers of Shiva. The Janganis adore the same\n  deity, and carry about a Linga. The Sevras are Jain beggars,\n  who regard their chiefs as superior to the gods of other sects.\n  The Sannyasis are mendicant followers of Shiva; they never\n  touch metals or fire, and, in religious parlance, they take\n  up the staff. They are opposed to the Viragis, worshippers of\n  Vishnu, who contend as strongly against the worshippers of gods\n  who receive bloody offerings, as a Christian could do against\n  idolatry.\n\nNow one day, being in the power of Death, Raja Gunshekhar died.\nThen his son Dharmadhwaj sat upon the carpet (throne), and began to\nrule. Presently he caused the minister Abhaichand to be seized, had\nhis head shaved all but seven locks of hair, ordered his face to be\nblackened, and mounting him on an ass, with drums beaten, had him led\nall about the city, and drove him from the kingdom. From that time he\ncarried on his rule free from all anxiety.\n\nIt so happened that in the season of spring, the king Dharmadhwaj,\ntaking his queens with him, went for a stroll in the garden, where\nthere was a large tank with lotuses blooming within it. The Raja,\nadmiring its beauty, took off his clothes and went down to bathe.\n\nAfter plucking a flower and coming to the bank, he was going to give\nit into the hands of one of his queens, when it slipped from his\nfingers, fell upon her foot, and broke it with the blow. Then the\nRaja being alarmed, at once came out of the tank, and began to apply\nremedies to her.\n\nHereupon night came on, and the moon shone brightly: the falling\nof its rays on the body of the second queen formed blisters. And\nsuddenly from a distance the sound of a wooden pestle came out of\na householder\u2019s dwelling, when the third queen fainted away with a\nsevere pain in the head.\n\nHaving spoken thus much the Baital said, \u2018O my king! of these three\nwhich is the most delicate?\u2019 The Raja answered, \u2018She indeed is the\nmost delicate who fainted in consequence of the headache.\u2019 The Baital\nhearing this speech, went and hung himself from the very same tree,\nand the Raja having gone there and taken him down and fastened him in\nthe bundle and placed him on his shoulder, carried him away.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE\u2019S ELEVENTH STORY.\n\nWHICH PUZZLES RAJA VIKRAM.\n\n\nThere is a queer time coming, O Raja Vikram!\u2014a queer time coming\n(said the Vampire), a queer time coming. Elderly people like you\ntalk abundantly about the good old days that were, and about the\ndegeneracy of the days that are. I wonder what you would say if you\ncould but look forward a few hundred years.\n\nBrahmans shall disgrace themselves by becoming soldiers, and being\nkilled, and Serviles (Shudras) shall dishonour themselves by wearing\nthe thread of the twice-born, and by refusing to be slaves; in fact,\nsociety shall be all \u2018mouth\u2019 and mixed castes.[173] The courts of\njustice shall be disused; the great works of peace shall no longer\nbe undertaken; wars shall last six weeks, and their causes shall\nbe clean forgotten; the useful arts and great sciences shall die\nstarved; there shall be no Gems of Science; there shall be a\nhospital for destitute kings, those, at least, who do not lose their\nheads, and no Vikrama\u2014\u2014\n\n  [173] The Brahman, or priest, is supposed to proceed from\n  the mouth of Bramha, the creating person of the Triad; the\n  Khshatriyas (soldiers) from his arms; the Vaishyas (enterers into\n  business) from his thighs; and the Shudras, \u2018who take refuge in\n  the Brahmans,\u2019 from his feet. Only high caste men should assume\n  the thread at the age of puberty.\n\nA severe shaking stayed for a moment the Vampire\u2019s tongue.\n\nHe presently resumed. Briefly, building tanks; feeding Brahmans;\nlying when one ought to lie; suicide; the burning of widows, and the\nburying of live children, shall become utterly unfashionable.\n\nThe consequence of this singular degeneracy, O mighty Vikram, will\nbe that strangers shall dwell beneath the roof tree in Bharat Khanda\n(India), and impure barbarians shall call the land their own. They\ncome from a wonderful country, and I am most surprised that they bear\nit. The sky which ought to be gold and blue is there grey, a kind of\ndark white; the sun looks deadly pale, and the moon as if he were\ndead.[174] The sea, when not dirty green, glistens with yellowish\nfoam, and as you approach the shore, tall ghastly cliffs, like the\nskeletons of giants, stand up to receive or ready to repel. During\nthe greater part of the sun\u2019s Dakhshanayan (southern declination) the\ncountry is covered with a sort of cold white stuff which dazzles the\neyes; and at such times the air is obscured with what appears to be a\nshower of white feathers or flocks of cotton. At other seasons there\nis a pale glare produced by the mist clouds which spread themselves\nover the lower firmament. Even the faces of the people are white;\nthe men are white when not painted blue, the women are whiter, and\nthe children are whitest: these indeed often have white hair.\n\n  [174] Soma, the moon, I have said, is masculine in India.\n\n\u2018Truly,\u2019 exclaimed Dharma Dhwaj, \u2018says the proverb, \u201cWhoso seeth the\nworld telleth many a lie.\u201d\u2019\n\nAt present (resumed the Vampire, not heeding the interruption),\nthey run about naked in the woods, being merely Hindu outcastes.\nPresently they will change\u2014the wonderful white Pariahs! They will\neat all food indifferently, domestic fowls, onions, hogs fed in the\nstreet, donkeys, horses, hares, and (most horrible!) the flesh of\nthe sacred cow. They will imbibe what resembles meat of colocynth,\nmixed with water, producing a curious frothy liquid, and a fiery\nstuff which burns the mouth, for their milk will be mostly chalk\nand pulp of brains; they will ignore the sweet juices of fruits and\nsugar-cane, and as for the pure element they will drink it, but\nonly as medicine. They will shave their beards instead of their\nheads, and stand upright when they should sit down, and squat upon a\nwooden frame instead of a carpet, and appear in red and black like\nthe children of Yama.[175] They will never offer sacrifices to the\nmanes of ancestors, leaving them after their death to fry in the\nhottest of places. Yet will they perpetually quarrel and fight about\ntheir faith; for their tempers are fierce, and they would burst if\nthey could not harm one another. Even now the children, who amuse\nthemselves with making puddings on the shore, that is to say, heaping\nup the sand, always end their little games with \u2018punching,\u2019 which\nmeans shutting the hand and striking, one another\u2019s heads, and it is\nsoon found that the children are the fathers of the men.\n\n  [175] Pluto.\n\nThese wonderful white outcastes will often be ruled by female chiefs,\nand it is likely that the habit of prostrating themselves before a\nwoman who has not the power of cutting off a single head, may account\nfor their unusual degeneracy and uncleanness. They will consider no\noccupation so noble as running after a jackal; they will dance for\nthemselves, holding on to strange women, and they will take a pride\nin playing upon instruments, like young music girls.\n\nThe women of course, relying upon the aid of the female chieftains,\nwill soon emancipate themselves from the rules of modesty. They\nwill eat with their husbands and with other men, and yawn and sit\ncarelessly before them showing the backs of their heads. They will\nimpudently quote the words, \u2018By confinement at home, even under\naffectionate and observant guardians, women are not secure, but those\nare really safe who are guarded by their own inclinations;\u2019 as the\npoet sang\u2014\n\n    Woman obeys one only word, her heart.\n\nThey will not allow their husbands to have more than one wife,\nand even the single wife will not be his slave when he needs her\nservices, busying herself in the collection of wealth, in ceremonial\npurification, and feminine duty; in the preparation of daily food\nand in the superintendence of household utensils. What said Rama of\nSita his wife? \u2018If I chanced to be angry, she bore my impatience like\nthe patient earth without a murmur; in the hour of necessity she\ncherished me as a mother does her child; in the moments of repose she\nwas a lover to me; in times of gladness she was to me as a friend.\u2019\nAnd it is said, \u2018a religious wife assists her husband in his worship\nwith a spirit as devout as his own. She gives her whole mind to make\nhim happy; she is as faithful to him as a shadow to the body, and she\nesteems him, whether poor or rich, good or bad, handsome or deformed.\nIn his absence or his sickness she renounces every gratification; at\nhis death she dies with him, and he enjoys heaven as the fruit of\nher virtuous deeds. Whereas if she be guilty of many wicked actions\nand he should die first, he must suffer much for the demerits of his\nwife.\u2019\n\nBut these women will talk aloud, and scold as the braying ass,\nand make the house a scene of variance, like the snake with the\nichneumon, the owl with the crow, for they have no fear of losing\ntheir noses or parting with their ears. They will (O my mother!)\nconverse with strange men and take their hands; they will receive\npresents from them, and, worst of all, they will show their white\nfaces openly without the least sense of shame; they will ride\npublicly in chariots and mount horses, whose points they pride\nthemselves upon knowing, and eat and drink in crowded places\u2014their\nhusbands looking on the while, and perhaps even leading them through\nthe streets. And she will be deemed the pinnacle of the pagoda of\nperfection, that most excels in wit and shamelessness, and who can\nturn to water the livers of most men. They will dance and sing\ninstead of minding their children, and when these grow up they will\nsend them out of the house to shift for themselves, and care little\nif they never see them again.[176] But the greatest sin of all will\nbe this: when widowed they will ever be on the look-out for a second\nhusband, and instances will be known of women fearlessly marrying\nthree, four, and five times.[177] You would think that all this\nlicense satisfies them. But no! The more they have the more their\nweak minds covet. The men have admitted them to an equality, they\nwill aim at an absolute superiority, and claim respect and homage;\nthey will eternally raise tempests about their rights, and if any\none should venture to chastise them as they deserve, they would call\nhim a coward and run off to the judge.\n\n  [176] Nothing astonishes Hindus so much as the apparent want of\n  affection between the European parent and child.\n\n  [177] A third marriage is held improper and baneful to a Hindu\n  woman. Hence, before the nuptials they betroth the man to a tree,\n  upon which the evil expends itself, and the tree dies.\n\nThe men will, I say, be as wonderful about their women as about\nall other matters. The sage of Bharat Khanda guards the frail sex\nstrictly, knowing its frailty, and avoids teaching it to read and\nwrite, which it will assuredly use for a bad purpose. For women are\never subject to the god[178] with the sugar-cane bow and string of\nbees, and arrows tipped with heating blossoms, and to him they will\never surrender man, dhan, tan\u2014mind, wealth, and body. When, by\nexceeding cunning, all human precautions have been made vain, the\nwise man bows to Fate, and he forgets, or he tries to forget, the\npast. Whereas this race of white Pariahs will purposely lead their\nwomen into every kind of temptation, and, when an accident occurs,\nthey will rage at and accuse them, killing ten thousand with a word,\nand cause an uproar, and talk scandal and be scandalised, and go\nbefore the magistrate, and make all the evil as public as possible.\nOne would think they had in every way done their duty to their women!\n\n  [178] Kama.\n\nAnd when all this change shall have come over them, they will feel\nrestless and take flight, and fall like locusts upon the Aryavartta\n(land of India). Starving in their own country, they will find enough\nto eat here, and to carry away also. They will be mischievous as the\nsaw with which ornament makers trim their shells, and cut ascending\nas well as descending. To cultivate their friendship will be like\nmaking a gap in the water, and their partisans will ever fare worse\nthan their foes. They will be selfish as crows, which, though they\neat every kind of flesh, will not permit other birds to devour that\nof the crow.\n\nIn the beginning they will hire a shop near the mouth of mother\nGanges, and they will sell lead and bullion, fine and coarse woollen\ncloths, and all the materials for intoxication. Then they will\nbegin to send for soldiers beyond the sea, and to enlist warriors\nin Zambudwipa (India). They will from shopkeepers become soldiers:\nthey will beat and be beaten; they will win and lose; but the power\nof their star and the enchantments of their Queen Kompani, a daina\nor witch who can draw the blood out of a man and slay him with a\nlook, will turn everything to their good. Presently the noise of\ntheir armies shall be as the roaring of the sea; the dazzling of\ntheir arms shall blind the eyes like lightning; their battle-fields\nshall be as the dissolution of the world; and the slaughter-ground\nshall resemble a garden of plantain trees after a storm. At length\nthey shall spread like the march of a host of ants over the land.\nThey will swear, \u2018Dehar Ganga!\u2019[179] that they hate nothing so much\nas being compelled to destroy an army, to take and loot a city, or\nto add a rich slip of territory to their rule. And yet they will\ngo on killing and capturing and adding region to region, till the\nAbode of Snow (Himalaya) confines them to the north, the Sindhu-naddi\n(Indus) to the west, and elsewhere the sea. Even in this, too, they\nwill demean themselves as lords and masters, scarcely allowing poor\nSamudradevta[180] to rule his own waves.\n\n  [179] An oath, meaning, \u2018From such a falsehood preserve me,\n  Ganges!\u2019\n\n  [180] The Indian Neptune.\n\nRaja Vikram was in a silent mood, otherwise he would not have allowed\nsuch ill-omened discourse to pass uninterrupted. Then the Baital, who\nin vain had often paused to give the royal carrier a chance of asking\nhim a curious question, continued his recital in a dissonant and\ndissatisfied tone of voice.\n\nBy my feet and your head,[181] O warrior king! it will fare badly in\nthose days for the Rajas of Hindusthan, when the red-coated men of\nShaka[182] shall come amongst them. Listen to my words.\n\n  [181] A highly insulting form of adjuration.\n\n  [182] The British Islands\u2014according to Wilford.\n\nIn the Vindhya Mountain there will be a city named Dharmapur, whose\nking will be called Mahabul. He will be a mighty warrior, well\nskilled in the dhanur-veda (art of war),[183] and will always lead\nhis own armies to the field. He will duly regard all the omens,\nsuch as a storm at the beginning of the march, an earthquake, the\nimplements of war dropping from the hands of the soldiery, screaming\nvultures passing over or walking near the army, the clouds and the\nsun\u2019s rays waxing red, thunder in a clear sky, the moon appearing\nsmall as a star, the dropping of blood from the clouds, the falling\nof lightning bolts, darkness filling the four quarters of the\nheavens, a corpse or a pan of water being carried to the right of the\narmy, the sight of a female beggar with dishevelled hair, dressed in\nred, and preceding the vanguard, the starting of the flesh over the\nleft ribs of the commander-in-chief, and the weeping or turning back\nof the horses when urged forward.\n\n  [183] Literally the science (veda) of the bow (dhanush). This\n  weapon, as everything amongst the Hindus, had a divine origin; it\n  was of three kinds\u2014the common bow, the pellet or stone bow, and\n  the crossbow or catapult.\n\nHe will encourage his men to single combats, and will carefully\ntrain them to gymnastics. Many of the wrestlers and boxers will\nbe so strong that they will often beat all the extremities of the\nantagonist into his body, or break his back, or rend him into two\npieces. He will promise heaven to those who shall die in the front\nof battle, and he will have them taught certain dreadful expressions\nof abuse to be interchanged with the enemy when commencing the\ncontest. Honours will be conferred on those who never turn their\nbacks in an engagement, who manifest a contempt of death, who despise\nfatigue, as well as the most formidable enemies, who shall be found\ninvincible in every combat, and who display a courage which increases\nbefore danger, like the glory of the sun advancing to his meridian\nsplendour.\n\nBut King Mahabul will be attacked by the white Pariahs, who, as\nusual, will employ against him gold, fire, and steel. With gold they\nwill win over his best men, and persuade them openly to desert when\nthe army is drawn out for battle. They will use the terrible \u2018fire\nweapon,\u2019[184] large and small tubes, which discharge flame and smoke,\nand bullets as big as those hurled by the bow of Bharata.[185] And\ninstead of using swords and shields, they will fix daggers to the end\nof their tubes, and thrust with them like lances.\n\n  [184] It is a disputed point whether the ancient Hindus did or\n  did not know the use of gunpowder.\n\n  [185] It is said to have discharged balls, each 6,400 pounds in\n  weight.\n\nMahabul, distinguished by valour and military skill, will march out\nof his city to meet the white foe. In front will be the ensigns,\nbells, cows\u2019-tails, and flags, the latter painted with the bird\nGarura,[186] the bull of Shiva, the Bauhinia tree, the monkey-god\nHanuman, the lion and the tiger, the fish, an alms-dish, and seven\npalm trees. Then will come the footmen armed with fire-tubes,\nswords and shields, spears and daggers, clubs, and bludgeons. They\nwill be followed by fighting men on horses and oxen, on camels and\nelephants. The musicians, the water-carriers, and lastly the stores\non carriages, will bring up the rear.\n\n  [186] A kind of Mercury, a god with the head and wings of a bird,\n  who is the Vahan or vehicle of the second person of the Triad,\n  Vishnu.\n\nThe white outcastes will come forward in a long thin red thread, and\nvomiting fire like the Jwalamukhi.[187] King Mahabul will receive\nthem with his troops formed in a circle; another division will be in\nthe shape of a half-moon; a third like a cloud, whilst others shall\nrepresent a lion, a tiger, a carriage, a lily, a giant, and a bull.\nBut as the elephants will all turn round when they feel the fire,\nand trample upon their own men, and as the cavalry defiling in front\nof the host will openly gallop away; Mahabul, being thus without\nresource, will enter his palanquin, and accompanied by his queen and\ntheir only daughter, will escape at night-time into the forest.\n\n  [187] The celebrated burning springs of Baku, near the Caspian,\n  are so called. There are many other \u2018fire mouths.\u2019\n\nThe unfortunate three will be deserted by their small party, and\nlive for a time on jungle food, fruits, and roots; they will even be\ncompelled to eat game. After some days they will come in sight of a\nvillage, which Mahabul will enter to obtain victuals. There the wild\nBhils, famous for long ears, will come up, and surrounding the party,\nwill bid the Raja throw down his arms. Thereupon Mahabul, skilful in\naiming, twanging and wielding the bow on all sides, so as to keep off\nthe bolts of the enemy, will discharge his bolts so rapidly, that one\nwill drive forward another, and none of the barbarians will be able\nto approach. But he will have failed to bring his quiver containing\nan inexhaustible store of arms, some of which, pointed with diamonds,\nshall have the faculty of returning again to their case after they\nhave done their duty. The conflict will continue three hours, and\nmany of the Bhils will be slain: at length a shaft will cleave the\nking\u2019s skull, he will fall dead, and one of the wild men will come up\nand cut off his head.\n\nWhen the queen and the princess shall have seen that Mahabul fell\ndead, they will return to the forest weeping and beating their\nbosoms. They will thus escape the Bhils, and after journeying on for\nfour miles, at length they will sit down wearied, and revolve many\nthoughts in their minds.\n\nThey are very lovely (continued the Vampire), as I see them with the\neye of clear-seeing. What beautiful hair! it hangs down like the tail\nof the cow of Tartary, or like the thatch of a house; it is shining\nas oil, dark as the clouds, black as blackness itself. What charming\nfaces! likest to water-lilies, with eyes as the stones in unripe\nmangos, noses resembling the beaks of parrots, teeth like pearls set\nin corals, ears like those of the red-throated vulture, and mouths\nlike the water of life. What excellent forms! breasts like boxes\ncontaining essences, the unopened fruit of plantains or a couple of\ncrabs; loins the width of a span, like the middle of the viol; legs\nlike the trunk of an elephant, and feet like the yellow lotus.\n\nAnd a fearful place is that jungle, a dense dark mass of thorny\nshrubs, and ropy creepers, and tall canes, and tangled brake, and\ngigantic gnarled trees, which groan wildly in the night wind\u2019s\nembrace. But a wilder horror urges the unhappy women on; they fear\nthe polluting touch of the Bhils; once more they rise and plunge\ndeeper into its gloomy depths.\n\nThe day dawns. The white Pariahs have done their usual work. They\nhave cut off the hands of some, the feet and heads of others, whilst\nmany they have crushed into shapeless masses, or scattered in pieces\nupon the ground. The field is strewed with corpses, the river runs\nred, so that the dogs and jackals swim in blood; the birds of prey\nsitting on the branches, drink man\u2019s life from the stream, and enjoy\nthe sickening smell of burnt flesh.\n\nSuch will be the scenes acted in the fair land of Bharat.\n\nPerchance, two white outcastes, father and son, who with a party\nof men are scouring the forest and slaying everything, fall upon\nthe path which the women have taken shortly before. Their attention\nis attracted by footprints leading towards a place full of tigers,\nleopards, bears, wolves, and wild dogs. And they are utterly\nconfounded when, after inspection, they discover the sex of the\nwanderers.\n\n\u2018How is it,\u2019 shall say the father, \u2018that the footprints of mortals\nare seen in this part of the forest?\u2019\n\nThe son shall reply, \u2018Sir, these are the marks of women\u2019s feet: a\nman\u2019s foot would not be so small.\u2019\n\n\u2018It is passing strange,\u2019 shall rejoin the elder white Pariah, \u2018but\nthou speakest truth. Certainly such a soft and delicate foot cannot\nbelong to any one but a woman.\u2019\n\n\u2018They have only just left the track,\u2019 shall continue the son, \u2018and\nlook! this is the step of a married woman. See how she treads on the\ninside of her sole, because of the bending of her ankles.\u2019 And the\nyounger white outcaste shall point to the queen\u2019s footprints.\n\n\u2018Come, let us search the forest for them,\u2019 shall cry the father,\n\u2018what an opportunity of finding wives fortune has thrown in our\nhands. But no! thou art in error,\u2019 he shall continue, after examining\nthe track pointed out by his son, \u2018in supposing this to be the sign\nof a matron. Look at the other, it is much longer; the toes have\nscarcely touched the ground, whereas the marks of the heels are deep.\nOf a truth _this_ must be the married woman.\u2019 And the elder white\noutcaste shall point to the footprints of the princess.\n\n\u2018Then,\u2019 shall reply the son, who admires the shorter foot, \u2018let us\nfirst seek them, and when we find them, give to me her who has the\nshort feet, and take the other to wife thyself.\u2019\n\nHaving made this agreement they shall proceed on their way, and\npresently they shall find the women lying on the earth, half dead\nwith fatigue and fear. Their legs and feet are scratched and torn by\nbrambles, their ornaments have fallen off, and their garments are\nin strips. The two white outcastes find little difficulty, the first\nsurprise over, in persuading the unhappy women to follow them home,\nand with great delight, conformably to their arrangement, each takes\nup his prize on his horse and rides back to the tents. The son takes\nthe queen, and the father the princess.\n\nIn due time two marriages come to pass; the father, according to\nagreement, espouses the long foot, and the son takes to wife the\nshort foot. And after the usual interval, the elder white outcaste,\nwho had married the daughter, rejoices at the birth of a boy, and the\nyounger white outcaste, who had married the mother, is gladdened by\nthe sight of a girl.\n\nNow then, by my feet and your head, O warrior king Vikram, answer me\none question. What relationship will there be between the children of\nthe two white Pariahs?\n\nVikram\u2019s brow waxed black as a charcoal-burner\u2019s, when he again heard\nthe most irreverent oath ever proposed to mortal king. The question\npresently attracted his attention, and he turned over the Baital\u2019s\nwords in his head, confusing the ties of filiality, brotherhood, and\nrelationship, and connection in general.\n\n\u2018Hem!\u2019 said the warrior king, at last perplexed, and remembering, in\nhis perplexity, that he had better hold his tongue\u2014\u2018ahem!\u2019\n\n\u2018I think your majesty spoke?\u2019 asked the Vampire, in an inquisitive\nand insinuating tone of voice.\n\n\u2018Hem!\u2019 ejaculated the monarch.\n\nThe Baital held his peace for a few minutes, coughing once or twice\nimpatiently. He suspected that the extraordinary nature of this last\ntale, combined with the use of the future tense, had given rise to a\ntaciturnity so unexpected in the warrior king. He therefore asked if\nVikram the Brave would not like to hear another little anecdote.\n\nThis time the king did not even say \u2018hem!\u2019 Having walked at an\nunusually rapid pace, he distinguished at a distance the fire kindled\nby the devotee, and he hurried towards it with an effort which left\nhim no breath wherewith to speak, even had he been so inclined.\n\n\u2018Since your majesty is so completely dumbfoundered by it, perhaps\nthis acute young prince may be able to answer my question?\u2019\ninsinuated the Baital, after a few minutes of anxious suspense.\n\nBut Dharma Dhwaj answered not a syllable.\n\n\n\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\n\nAt Raja Vikram\u2019s silence the Baital was greatly surprised, and he\npraised the royal courage and resolution to the skies. Still he did\nnot give up the contest at once.\n\n\u2018Allow me, great king,\u2019 pursued the Demon, in a dry tone of voice,\n\u2018to wish you joy. After so many failures you have at length succeeded\nin repressing your loquacity. I will not stop to inquire whether it\nwas humility and self-restraint which prevented your answering my\nlast question, or whether it was mere ignorance and inability. Of\ncourse I suspect the latter, but to say the truth your condescension\nin at last taking a Vampire\u2019s advice, flatters me so much, that I\nwill not look too narrowly into cause or motive.\u2019\n\nRaja Vikram winced, but maintained a stubborn silence, squeezing his\nlips lest they should open involuntarily.\n\n\u2018Now, however, your majesty has mortified, we will suppose, a\nsomewhat exacting vanity, I also will in my turn forego the pleasure\nwhich I had anticipated in seeing you a corpse and in entering your\nroyal body for a short time, just to know how queer it must feel to\nbe a king. And what is more, I will now perform my original promise,\nand you shall derive from me a benefit which none but myself can\nbestow. First, however, allow me to ask you, will you let me have a\nlittle more air?\u2019\n\nDharma Dhwaj pulled his father\u2019s sleeve, but this time Raja Vikram\nrequired no reminder: wild horses or the executioner\u2019s saw, beginning\nat the shoulder, would not have drawn a word from him. Observing his\nobstinate silence, the Baital, with an ominous smile, continued:\n\n\u2018Now give ear, O warrior king, to what I am about to tell thee, and\nbear in mind the giant\u2019s saying, \u201cA man is justified in killing\none who has a design to kill him.\u201d The young merchant Mal Deo, who\nplaced such magnificent presents at your royal feet, and Shanta-Shil\nthe devotee-saint, who works his spells, incantations, and magical\nrites in a cemetery on the banks of the Godavari river, are, as thou\nknowest, one person\u2014the terrible Jogi, whose wrath your father\naroused in his folly, and whose revenge your blood alone can satisfy.\nWith regard to myself, the oilman\u2019s son, the same Jogi, fearing least\nI might interfere with his projects of universal dominion, slew me by\nthe power of his penance, and has kept me suspended, a trap for you,\nhead downwards from the siras-tree.\n\n\u2018That Jogi it was, you now know, who sent you to fetch me back to\nhim on your back. And when you cast me at his feet he will return\nthanks to you and praise your valour, perseverance and resolution to\nthe skies. I warn you to beware. He will lead you to the shrine of\nDurga, and when he has finished his adoration he will say to you, \u201cO\ngreat king, salute my deity with the eight-limbed reverence.\u201d\u2019\n\nHere the Vampire whispered for a time and in a low tone, lest some\nlistening goblin might carry his words if spoken out loud to the ears\nof the devotee Shanta-Shil.\n\nAt the end of the monologue a rustling sound was heard. It proceeded\nfrom the Baital, who was disengaging himself from the dead body in\nthe bundle, and the burden became sensibly lighter upon the monarch\u2019s\nback.\n\nThe departing Baital, however, did not forget to bid farewell to the\nwarrior king and his son. He complimented the former for the last\ntime, in his own way, upon the royal humility and the prodigious\nself-mortification which he had displayed\u2014qualities, he remarked,\nwhich never failed to ensure the proprietor\u2019s success in all the\nworlds.\n\nRaja Vikram stepped out joyfully, and soon reached the\nburning-ground. There he found the Jogi, dressed in his usual habit,\na deerskin thrown over his back, and twisted reeds instead of a\ngarment hanging round his loins. The hair had fallen from his limbs\nand his skin was bleached ghastly white by exposure to the elements.\nA fire seemed to proceed from his mouth, and the matted locks\ndropping from his head to the ground were changed by the rays of the\nsun, to the colour of gold or saffron. He had the beard of a goat\nand the ornaments of a king; his shoulders were high and his arms\nlong, reaching to his knees: his nails grew to such a length as to\ncurl round the ends of his fingers, and his feet resembled those of a\ntiger. He was drumming upon a skull, and incessantly exclaiming, \u2018Ho,\nKali! ho, Durga! ho, Devi!\u2019\n\n[Illustration: There he found the Jogi.]\n\nAs before, strange beings were holding their carnival in the Jogi\u2019s\npresence. Monstrous Asuras, giant goblins, stood grimly gazing upon\nthe scene with fixed eyes and motionless features. Rakshasas and\nmessengers of Yama, fierce and hideous, assumed at pleasure the\nshapes of foul and ferocious beasts. Nagas and Bhutas, partly human\nand partly bestial, disported themselves in throngs about the upper\nair, and were dimly seen in the faint light of the dawn. Mighty\nDaityas, Bramha-daityas, and Pretas, the size of a man\u2019s thumb, or\ndried up like leaves, and Pisachas of terrible power guarded the\nplace. There were enormous goats, vivified by the spirits of those\nwho had slain Brahmans; things with the bodies of men and the faces\nof horses, camels, and monkeys; hideous worms containing the souls\nof those priests who had drunk spirituous liquors; men with one\nleg and one ear, and mischievous blood-sucking demons, who in life\nhad stolen church property. There were vultures, wretches that had\nviolated the beds of their spiritual fathers, restless ghosts that\nhad loved low-caste women, shades for whom funeral rites had not been\nperformed, and who could not cross the dread Vaitarani stream,[188]\nand vital souls fresh from the horrors of Tamisra, or utter darkness,\nand the Usipatra Vana, or the sword-leaved forest. Pale spirits,\nAlayas, Gumas, Baitals, and Yakshas,[189] beings of a base and\nvulgar order, glided over the ground, amongst corpses and skeletons\nanimated by female fiends, Dakinis, Yoginis, Hakinis, and Shankinis,\nwhich were dancing in frightful revelry. The air was filled with\nsupernatural sights and sounds, cries of owls and jackals, cats and\ncrows, dogs, asses, and vultures, high above which rose the clashing\nof the bones with which the Jogi sat drumming upon the skull before\nhim, and tending a huge cauldron of oil whose smoke was of blue fire.\nBut as he raised his long lank arm, silver-white with ashes, the\ndemons fled, and a momentary silence succeeded to their uproar. The\ntigers ceased to roar and the elephants to scream; the bears raised\ntheir snouts from their foul banquets, and the wolves dropped from\ntheir jaws the remnants of human flesh. And when they disappeared,\nthe hooting of the owl, and ghastly \u2018ha! ha!\u2019 of the curlew, and\nthe howling of the jackal died away in the far distance, leaving a\nsilence still more oppressive.\n\n  [188] The Hindu Styx.\n\n  [189] From Yaksha, to eat; as Rakshasas are from Raksha to\n  preserve. See Hardy\u2019s _Manual of Buddhism_, p. 57.\n\nAs Raja Vikram entered the burning-ground, the hollow sound of\nsolitude alone met his ear. Sadly wailed the wet autumnal blast.\nThe tall gaunt trees groaned aloud, and bowed and trembled like\nslaves bending before their masters. Huge purple clouds and patches\nand lines of glaring white mist coursed furiously across the black\nexpanse of firmament, discharging threads and chains and lozenges\nand balls of white and blue, purple and pink lightning, followed by\nthe deafening crash and roll of thunder, the dreadful roaring of the\nmighty wind, and the torrents of plashing rain. At times was heard\nin the distance the dull gurgling of the swollen river, interrupted\nby explosions, as slips of earth-bank fell headlong into the stream.\nBut once more the Jogi raised his arm and all was still: nature lay\nbreathless, as if awaiting the effect of his tremendous spells.\n\nThe warrior king drew near the terrible man, unstrung his bundle from\nhis back, untwisted the portion which he held, threw open the cloth,\nand exposed to Shanta Shil\u2019s glittering eyes the corpse, which had\nnow recovered its proper form\u2014that of a young child. Seeing it, the\ndevotee was highly pleased, and thanked Vikram the Brave, extolling\nhis courage and daring above any monarch that had yet lived. After\nwhich he repeated certain charms facing towards the south, awakened\nthe dead body, and placed it in a sitting position. He then in its\npresence sacrificed to his goddess, the White One,[190] all that\nhe had ready by his side\u2014betel leaf and flowers, sandal wood and\nunbroken rice, fruits, perfumes, and the flesh of man untouched by\nsteel. Lastly, he half filled his skull with burning embers, blew\nupon them till they shot forth tongues of crimson light, serving as a\nlamp, and motioning the Raja and his son to follow him, led the way\nto a little fane of the Destroying Deity, erected in a dark clump of\nwood, outside and close to the burning-ground.\n\n  [190] Shiva is always painted white, no one knows why. His wife\n  Gauri has also a European complexion. Hence it is generally said\n  that the sect popularly called \u2018Thugs,\u2019 who were worshippers\n  of these murderous gods, spared Englishmen, the latter being\n  supposed to have some _rapport_ with their deities.\n\nThey passed through the quadrangular outer court of the temple whose\npiazza was hung with deep shade.[191] In silence they circumambulated\nthe small central shrine, and whenever Shanta Shil directed, Raja\nVikram entered the Sabha, or vestibule, and struck three times upon\nthe gong, which gave forth a loud and warning sound.\n\n  [191] The Hindu shrine is mostly a small building, with two inner\n  compartments, the vestibule and the Garbagriha, or adytum, in\n  which stands the image.\n\nThey then passed over the threshold, and looked into the gloomy inner\ndepths. There stood Smashana-Kali,[192] the goddess, in her most\nhorrid form. She was a naked and very black woman, with half-severed\nhead, partly cut and partly painted, resting on her shoulder; and\nher tongue lolled out from her wide yawning mouth;[193] her eyes\nwere red like those of a drunkard; and her eyebrows were of the same\ncolour: her thick coarse hair hung like a mantle to her heels. She\nwas robed in an elephant\u2019s hide, dried and withered, confined at the\nwaist with a belt composed of the hands of the giants whom she had\nslain in war: two dead bodies formed her earrings, and her necklace\nwas of bleached skulls. Her four arms supported a scimitar, a noose,\na trident, and a ponderous mace. She stood with one leg on the\nbreast of her husband, Shiva, and she rested the other on his thigh.\nBefore the idol lay the utensils of worship, namely, dishes for the\nofferings, lamps, jugs, incense, copper cups, conchs and gongs; and\nall of them smelt of blood.\n\n  [192] Meaning Kali of the cemetery (Smashana); another form of\n  Durga.\n\n  [193] Not being able to find victims, this pleasant deity, to\n  satisfy her thirst for the curious juice, cut her own throat that\n  the blood might spout up into her mouth. She once found herself\n  dancing on her husband, and was so shocked that in surprise she\n  put out her tongue to a great length, and remained motionless.\n  She is often represented in this form.\n\nAs Raja Vikram and his son stood gazing upon the hideous spectacle,\nthe devotee stooped down to place his skull-lamp upon the ground, and\ndrew from out his ochre-coloured cloth a sharp sword which he hid\nbehind his back.\n\n\u2018Prosperity to thine and thy son\u2019s for ever and ever, O mighty\nVikram!\u2019 exclaimed Shanta Shil, after he had muttered a prayer before\nthe image. \u2018Verily thou hast right royally redeemed thy pledge,\nand by the virtue of thy presence all my wishes shall presently be\naccomplished. Behold! the Sun is about to drive his car over the\neastern hills, and our task now ends. Do thou reverence before this\nmy deity, worshipping the earth through thy nose, and so prostrating\nthyself that thy eight limbs may touch the ground.[194] Thus shall\nthy glory and splendour be great; the Eight Powers[195] and the Nine\nTreasures shall be thine, and prosperity shall ever remain under thy\nroof-tree.\u2019\n\n  [194] This ashtanga, the most ceremonious of the five forms of\n  Hindu salutation, consists of prostrating and of making the eight\n  parts of the body\u2014namely, the temples, nose and chin, knees and\n  hands\u2014touch the ground.\n\n  [195] \u2018Sidhis,\u2019 the personified Powers of Nature. At least, so we\n  explain them; but people do not worship abstract powers.\n\nRaja Vikram, hearing these words, recalled suddenly to mind all that\nthe Vampire had whispered to him. He brought his joined hands open\nup to his forehead, caused his two thumbs to touch his brow several\ntimes, and replied with the greatest humility,\n\n\u2018O pious person! I am a king ignorant of the way to do such\nobeisance. Thou art a spiritual preceptor: be pleased to teach me and\nI will do even as thou desirest.\u2019\n\nThen the Jogi, being a cunning man, fell into his own net. As he\nbent him down to salute the goddess, Vikram drawing his sword struck\nhim upon the neck so violent a blow, that his head rolled from his\nbody upon the ground. At the same moment Dharma Dhwaj, seizing his\nfather\u2019s arm, pulled him out of the way in time to escape being\ncrushed by the image, which fell with the sound of thunder upon the\nfloor of the temple.\n\nA small thin voice in the upper air was heard to cry, \u2018A man is\njustified in killing one who has the desire to kill him.\u2019 Then glad\nshouts of triumph and victory were heard in all directions. They\nproceeded from the celestial choristers, the heavenly dancers, the\nmistresses of the gods, and the nymphs of Indra\u2019s Paradise, who left\ntheir beds of gold and precious stones, their seats glorious as the\nmeridian sun, their canals of crystal water, their perfumed groves,\nand their gardens where the wind ever blows in softest breezes, to\napplaud the valour and good fortune of the warrior king.\n\n[Illustration: As he bent him down to salute the goddess.]\n\nAt last the brilliant god, Indra himself, with the thousand eyes,\nrising from the shade of the Parigat tree, the fragrance of whose\nflowers fills the heavens, appeared in his car drawn by yellow steeds\nand cleaving the thick vapours which surround the earth\u2014whilst his\nattendants sounded the heavenly drums and rained a shower of blossoms\nand perfumes\u2014bade the king Vikramajit the Brave ask a boon.\n\nThe Raja joined his hands and respectfully replied,\n\n\u2018O mighty ruler of the lower firmament, let this my history become\nfamous throughout the world!\u2019\n\n\u2018It is well,\u2019 rejoined the god. \u2018As long as the sun and moon endure,\nand the sky looks down upon the ground, so long shall this thy\nadventure be remembered over all the earth. Meanwhile rule thou\nmankind.\u2019\n\nThus saying Indra retired to the delicious Amrawati.[196] Vikram took\nup the corpses and threw them into the cauldron which Shanta Shil had\nbeen tending. At once two heroes started into life, and Vikram said\nto them, \u2018When I call you, come!\u2019\n\n  [196] The residence of Indra, king of heaven, built by\n  Wishwa-Karma, the architect of the gods.\n\nWith these mysterious words the king, followed by his son, returned\nto the palace unmolested. As the Vampire had predicted, everything\nwas prosperous to him, and he presently obtained the remarkable\ntitles, Sakaro, or foe of the Sakas, and Sakadhipati-Vikramaditya.\n\nAnd when, after a long and happy life spent in bringing the world\nunder the shadow of one umbrella, and in ruling it free from care,\nthe warrior king Vikram entered the gloomy realms of Yama, from\nwhom for mortals there is no escape, he left behind him a name that\nendured amongst men like the odour of the flower whose memory remains\nlong after its form has mingled with the dust.[197]\n\n  [197] In other words, to the present day, whenever a Hindu\n  novelist, romancer, or tale writer seeks a peg upon which to\n  suspend the texture of his story, he invariably pitches upon the\n  glorious, pious, and immortal memory of that Eastern King Arthur,\n  Vikramaditya, shortly called Vikram.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n    LONDON: PRINTED BY\n    SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE\n    AND PARLIAMENT STREET","title":"Vikram and the Vampire; or, Tales of Hindu Devilry","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":77762}