{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69647/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69647","id":"gutenberg_69647","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69647","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Tales -- India"],"text":"[Illustration:\n\n                                 C 797\n\n                                 NAILA\n\n                             (See page 64)]\n\n\n\n\n                             INDIAN TALES\n                           OF THE GREAT ONES\n\n                          _Among Men, Women,\n                           and Bird-people_\n\n\n                          By Cornelia Sorabji\n\n\n                 _With Illustrations by Warwick Goble_\n\n\n                        BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED\n                         WARWICK HOUSE, BOMBAY\n                          LONDON AND GLASGOW\n\n\n\n\n                                  _To\n                            my Baby-Friends\n                                  in\n                              all Worlds_\n\n\n\n\n                               CONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                    Page\n\n  THE EAGLE BROTHERS                                                   5\n\n  THE THRONE OF JUSTICE                                               10\n\n  SAMYUKTA, OR THE STORY OF THE OWN-CHOOSING                          16\n\n  THE MAN WHO MADE HIMSELF AN ARCHER                                  23\n\n  THE BLUE BIRD AND THE ARCHER                                        27\n\n  DRAUPADI AND THE GREAT GAME                                         30\n\n  THE SELF-BLINDING                                                   33\n\n  THE STORY OF THE MAIDEN-KNIGHT                                      34\n\n  THE WAY OF FRIENDSHIP                                               39\n\n  SIBI RANA AND THE GREY DOVE                                         42\n\n  THE CROW AND THE BELL OF JUSTICE                                    46\n\n  RAZIYA, QUEEN OF DELHI                                              48\n\n  BABER THE TIGER                                                     54\n\n  THE KING WHO KEPT HIS WORD                                          62\n\n  NAILA                                                               64\n\n  THE LOTUS-LADY                                                      66\n\n  THE PERFECT HOST                                                    75\n\n  THE DOVE-GIRL AND THE PRINCE                                        79\n\n  THE BOY WHO WAS ALWAYS THIRTEEN                                     85\n\n\n\n\n                             INDIAN TALES\n\n                           OF THE GREAT ONES\n\n\n\n\n                          The Eagle Brothers\n\n\nThere were once two great brother-eagles--Jattayu and Sanpati. And\nJattayu was King of all the Eagle Tribes; and among the birds of the\nair there was none more powerful than Jattayu.\n\nThe brothers lived together on a crag of the mountains called the Home\nof Snow, which stretch across the north-east boundary of India.\n\nThey lived there because there was no higher spot in all the world that\ncould be found for their home. And day after day Jattayu ranged the\nair, marshalling his bird-armies, or settling disputes, or swooping\ndown on the things which he sought for food--for all the bird-people\nbelonged to Jattayu, and owed him allegiance even with their lives, if\nso he should desire.\n\nAnd Jattayu was strong and took what he willed, without making excuse.\n\nAnd Jattayu was feared, even though there were those among the\nbird-people who could tell how Jattayu could be gentle to the weak.\n\nAnd of these was his brother Sanpati.\n\nWhen Jattayu ranged the air, he was a king; but when he flew back on\nstrong outspread wing to his home in the snow mountains, he was only\nthe big brother of Little-Eagle Sanpati.\n\nAnd together as children they shared the day\u2019s meal, and together as\nchildren they talked of the wonders of the heavens. And always and\nalways in their talk Little-Eagle Sanpati noticed one yearning in the\nbig brother whom he loved and admired.\n\n                  [Illustration: The Eagle Brothers]\n\n\u201cI want to get to the sun. Oh, as near as I can!\u201d said Big-Brother\nJattayu.\n\nAnd day after day Little-Eagle Sanpati kept wondering how this could be\nmanaged.\n\nAnd his love for Jattayu was so great that it found a way.\n\n\u201cIf one should fly between him and the sun to protect him,\u201d he said,\n\u201cit could be done.\u201d\n\nSo, one day he made the little-eagle heart of him very brave, and made\nJattayu believe that he too was wanting to see the sun; but that he was\nafraid of falling back upon the earth in terror, when he got near the\nsun\u2019s brilliance. So he begged Jattayu to fly just under him to protect\nhim.\n\nAnd Jattayu consented; and they circled, Little-Eagle Sanpati and\nBig-Brother Jattayu, higher and higher, till they got so near to the\nsun that even Jattayu had had enough, and turned to fly back to the\nsafe quiet nest in the white earth mountains, taking Little-Eagle\nSanpati with him.\n\n\u201cIt is wonderful,\u201d he kept saying, \u201cthat I got so near, and yet was\nnot struck or burnt by the Sun-God and the fierceness of his rays.\nIt is a tale of wonder for all the bird-people to hear. Well was it,\nLittle-Eagle Sanpati, that I was there when you fell on my back in\nterror.\u201d\n\nAnd in Little-Eagle Sanpati\u2019s heart was a great gladness that Jattayu\nhad had his desire. Nor did Jattayu, nor anyone in all the bird-world,\nknow the reason why Little-Eagle Sanpati from that day forward remained\nthe home-stay eagle who could not fly.\n\nIt was because in protecting Big-Brother Jattayu whom he loved, from\nthe rays of the sun, poor Little-Eagle Sanpati\u2019s wings had all been\nscorched away.\n\n\n\n\n                         The Throne of Justice\n\n\nLong before time as we count it, there lived in India a great and just\nKing whose name was Vikramaditya. When he died, his beautiful palace\nand city of marble fell into ruins: and people remembered nothing but\nhis name, and that he was great and good, and wise and gentle.\n\nOne day, some boys who were minding cows led them near a green mound\namong the ruins: and while the cows cropped the grass, the boys played.\n\nAnd one of them invented this game.\n\n\u201cI shall be the Judge,\u201d he said, \u201cand you shall bring your quarrels to\nme. I will do justice.\u201d\n\nSo he sat on the mound; and the boys ran away and whispered, and made a\ntale of wrong, and brought it to the boy on the mound, who did justice.\n\nBut the odd thing was, that the \u201cjustice\u201d was such wisdom, that even\nthrough their play, the boys felt that something wonderful had happened\nto their playfellow.\n\n\u201cHe is a real Judge, not a play Judge,\u201d was what they said.\n\nAnd they told their parents; and soon all the village got into the\nhabit of coming to the boy on the mound to settle disputes. And\neveryone was always sure that his judgment was right.\n\nNow there lived close to the ruined city, a King great and powerful:\nand to his ears also came the story of the boy doing justice on the\ngreen mound. And the King laughed and said, \u201cWhy, he is sitting on the\nseat of Vikramaditya; that is why he is wise.\u201d\n\nThen the King began to wish the throne for himself. And he sent men\nwith pickaxes and shovels, who dug away the boy\u2019s green mound. Deeper\nand deeper they went, till they came to a throne of black marble,\nresting on the backs of twenty-four beautiful carved eagles of marble.\nAnd the throne was taken to the palace of the King, and a great day of\nrejoicing was proclaimed, when the King would mount the throne.\n\nOn the great day the King came in state, with his mace bearers, and the\nmen who called his titles, and the men who carried the State jewels,\nand the men who fanned him with great fans made of the green-blue eyes\nof a peacock\u2019s tail.\n\nBut when the King would have mounted the throne, one of the carven\neagles which bore the throne on its back, came alive and spoke to\nthe King.\n\n         [Illustration: One of the carven eagles came alive]\n\n\u201cStop!\u201d he said. \u201cHave you never wanted for yourself the kingdom of\nanother?\u201d\n\nAnd the King had to own that he had.\n\n\u201cThen fast and pray for three days,\u201d said the eagle, \u201cand come back\nagain.\u201d\n\nAnd the eagle flew away.\n\nAnd after three days the King returned; but the second eagle stopped\nhim.\n\n\u201cHave you never\u201d, he said, \u201cdone harm to another, to rob him of his\nriches?\u201d\n\nAnd the King said, \u201cYes--often.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen fast and pray for three days,\u201d said the eagle, \u201cand come again.\u201d\n\nAnd so each time that the King returned to mount the throne, an eagle\nspoke and showed some evil of his life, and the King went away\nsorrowful to his three days\u2019 fasting.\n\nAnd last of all there was only one eagle left; and the King came\nwalking slowly: \u201cThis time I must sit on the throne,\u201d was his thought.\n\nBut \u201cStop!\u201d said likewise this eagle also, \u201cunless you can tell me that\nyour heart is as pure as the heart of a child.\u201d\n\nAnd the King looked within, and found his heart not as the heart of a\nchild.\n\n\u201cI am not worthy,\u201d said the King.\n\nBut he knew that the last eagle had solved the mystery of the green\nmound of grass. The throne of Vikramaditya, where the shepherd boy did\njustice, was denied to him, the great and mighty King.\n\nFor he who would be perfectly just, must have the heart of a little\nchild.\n\n\n\n\n              Samyukta, or The Story of the Own-choosing.\n\n\nSamyukta, daughter of the King of Kanauj, was the most beautiful\nPrincess in all India. And Prithi Raja, the King of Delhi, wanted to\nmarry her.\n\nHe knew that it would not be easy, because her father was his enemy.\nHowever, always and always he liked best to do what was not easy to do.\nSo he meant to try.\n\nFirst he sought out her old nurse, who lived not far from the palace.\nTouching her feet with his forehead, as is the way of saluting\nmother-people, he asked her advice. The old woman loved Prithi Raja\nvery dearly, and found a way of helping him.\n\n\u201cGive me\u201d, she said, \u201cthat picture which the great painter at Delhi\nhas made of you, on ivory, in green and gold: and the rest I will tell\nyou when I come again from my journey.\u201d\n\nAnd the nurse who loved Prithi Raja, went a long way till she came to\nthe gates of the palace of Kanauj. She asked to see the Queen. Now it\nhappened that at that moment, the Queen wanted a new waiting-woman for\nthe Princess. So she took the nurse, and gave her to the household of\nthe Princess.\n\nSamyukta, the Princess, was indeed beautiful. Good was she also, and of\na true heart. And as the old woman brushed her hair, or sat out with\nher on the roof-balcony on the still, hot nights when the Princess was\nsleepless, she told her tales of Prithi Raja, King of Delhi, and of his\ngreat love for Samyukta.\n\nAnd she showed Samyukta his picture painted on ivory in green and gold.\nAnd as the Princess looked on his face, her heart went out to meet the\nheart of the King who loved her.\n\nAnd presently the King of Kanauj said: \u201cIt is time for the\nSwayamvara\u201d--that is the choosing of her husband by a Princess-Lady.\nAnd he sent his heralds to all parts of India, to call the princes of\nIndia to the great choosing.\n\nBut to his enemy, Prithi Raja, the King of Delhi, he sent no message.\nNevertheless the King of Delhi came to the choosing, he and his friend,\ndisguised as minstrels.\n\nAnd the palace courtyard was gay and ready for the choosing. Garlands\nof roses and jasmine hung from the pillars, and garlands of yellow\nmarigolds. The King and Queen sat on golden thrones on a marble\nbalcony: and down below were the thrones of the princes who sought the\nhand of Samyukta.\n\n[Illustration: Lightly she held the garland]\n\nEach prince had his men-at-arms and his heralds; and all were dressed\nin jewels and cloth of gold. And the musicians sat in a watch-tower at\nthe gate: and all who came and went, and all that happened, they saw\nbest of all. And with the musicians sat Prithi Raja, the great prince.\n\nAnd now the bugles sounded: and Samyukta came from the inner courtyard.\nShe wore a sari that flowed about her like golden water, and the golden\nanklets on her feet and the golden bracelets on her arms tinkled music.\nHer eyes were on the ground as she walked, and lightly she held the\ngarland of fresh jasmine flowers, which she would place on the neck of\nhim whom she chose to be her husband.\n\nAs she reached the outer courtyard, she raised her eyes, and then she\nsaw a wooden figure of Prithi Raja standing in the place of the King\u2019s\ndoor-keeper. And she knew that her father had done this thing to hurt\nPrithi Raja, the true knight of her heart.\n\nFrom that moment her choice was made. Proudly she walked past one\nprince after another. Proudly and patiently she heard the long tale\nof his greatness sounded by the heralds: and silently and proudly she\npassed on.\n\nThere was but one prince left, he who sat near the door-keeper. What\nwould she do? The King and Queen leaned out of their marble balcony,\nand all the great crowd watched breathless.\n\nBut the last prince also did Samyukta reject, and turning to the wooden\nimage of Prithi Raja, who had had no invitation to the Great-Choosing,\nshe placed on its neck the garland, kept for her true knight alone.\n\nThen was there a clash of steel, as the King and all the princes rose\nin wrath. Surely for this insult Samyukta would now be bound in chains\nand sent to the deepest dungeon of the palace.\n\nBut quicker than wrath was love. Prithi Raja the Minstrel, mounted on\nPrithi Raja the King\u2019s swiftest charger, was at her side, and stooping\nlifted her to his saddle, and rode away swiftly to the gates of Delhi.\n\nAnd this was in the days long ago, when men were knights and fought for\ntheir ladies, and did with their own hand the thing which was not easy\nto do.\n\n\n\n\n                  The Man who made himself an Archer\n\n\nThere was a Master-Archer whose name was Drona: and it was he who\ntaught all the princes of India to shoot, so that none could conquer\nthem.\n\nNow he was jealous for the honour of the princes. And there came to him\none named Ekalavya, the king of a caste that was not the soldier-caste,\nwho said: \u201cTeach me to shoot.\u201d\n\nBut Drona made answer: \u201cYou are not of the knightly caste. I cannot\nteach you.\u201d For he was afraid that the low-caste man might become the\nequal of the high-born princes.\n\nThen Ekalavya went away very sadly to the forest, and built a shrine\nto Drona, the Master-Archer. And he thought about him, and fasted\nand prayed night and day for skill in shooting: and night and day he\npractised ceaselessly, shooting arrows into the distance--shooting and\nshooting. And he forgot the riches of his palace and all the pleasures\nof the world, in reaching out to his great desire.\n\nOne day Drona and the high-born princes were out shooting in the\nforest, and they had with them a dog. And the dog strayed from the\nprinces and lost his way, barking in the darkness for his masters, not\nfar from the shrine of Ekalavya.\n\nAnd Ekalavya heard, and shot an arrow in the direction of the sound;\nand the arrow went straight into the dog\u2019s mouth.\n\nAnd the dog ran howling to his masters. And they were very angry; for\nsaid they, \u201cSomeone who can shoot has sent this arrow into the dog\u2019s\nmouth.\u201d And they made the dog show them the way to the shrine, and\nthere was Ekalavya shooting ceaselessly.\n\n                [Illustration: Ekalavya at the shrine]\n\n\u201cWho are you,\u201d said the princes, \u201cwho have skill in shooting even as\nourselves?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am Ekalavya,\u201d said he, \u201ca pupil of the great Master-Archer Drona.\u201d\n\nSo the princes went and told Drona, and he came back with them to the\nshrine in the forest.\n\n\u201cHow say you,\u201d said Drona, \u201cthat you are my pupil?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I have taught myself to shoot, thinking only of you and your\ngreat skill in shooting.\u201d\n\nThen said Drona, \u201cIf you are my pupil, give me the fee due to a Master.\u201d\n\n\u201cMost gladly,\u201d said Ekalavya, a great joy in his face. \u201cAsk what you\nwill. I have nothing I would not give with all my heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that true?\u201d said Drona. \u201cWell then, I ask the thumb of your right\nhand.\u201d\n\nAnd Ekalavya, allowing no look of sadness to spoil his gift, cut\noff his thumb, without a word, and laid it at the feet of the\nMaster-Archer. But Drona spurned it, and walked away.\n\nThen Ekalavya turned again to his shooting. But he found that, with the\nloss of his thumb, his skill had gone for ever.\n\nSo were the great ones left without a rival.\n\nBut in Heaven the Gods said, \u201cEkalavya is truly of the knightly caste:\nand men knew it not.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                     The Blue Bird and the Archer\n\n\nOne day Drona, the Master-Archer, made trial of the skill of the\nprinces his pupils. He had them all out before him together.\n\n\u201cTake your bows and arrows,\u201d said he, \u201cand be ready to shoot, when I\ntell you, at the blue bird in yonder tree.\u201d\n\nPrince Yudhisthira, being the eldest, was called first.\n\n\u201cBe ready to shoot,\u201d said Drona. \u201cBut tell me first what you see. Do\nyou see the bird?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Yudhisthira.\n\n\u201cWhat else do you see? Myself, your brothers, or the tree?\u201d\n\n\u201cI see yourself, my brothers, the tree, and the bird.\u201d\n\nThree times Drona asked this question, and three times was he thus\nanswered. Then very sorrowfully he turned from Yudhisthira. Not by him\nwas the bird to be shot.\n\nPrince after prince, he questioned on this wise; and all alike made\nanswer: \u201cI see you, my brothers, the tree, and the bird.\u201d\n\nAnd now there was but one prince left, Arjun, the master\u2019s favourite\npupil.\n\n\u201cTell me, Arjun, with bow bent, what do you see?\u201d\n\n\u201cI see a bird.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you not see myself, your brothers, the tree?\u201d\n\n\u201cI see the bird alone,\u201d said Arjun, \u201cnot you, nor the tree, nor my\nbrothers.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf what colour is the bird?\u201d\n\n\u201cI see only a bird\u2019s head.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen shoot,\u201d said Drona joyfully; and even as he expected, as soon as\nthe arrow sped from the bow, the bird was headless.\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n                      Draupadi and the Great Game\n\n\nWhen Arjun grew to be a man, one of his first battles was against\na King called Drupada. He and his four brothers, the Pandavas as\nthey were called, put their soldiers in a ring round King Drupada\u2019s\nfortress, and let no one pass out or go in.\n\nIn a week all the King\u2019s servants were dead: and the brothers marched\ninto the palace and took all that they wanted of gold and emeralds,\nof horses and chariots. The lady Draupadi also, the King\u2019s daughter,\nbecame theirs by the rules of war.\n\nAnd Draupadi lived happily with her mother-in-law and the princes.\n\nAnd all went well, till an enemy of the brothers, jealous of their\nhappiness and their power, tempted Yudhisthira, the eldest of the five.\nHe challenged him to a game of chance in which he put down all he\npossessed, to lose or win. And Yudhisthira lost. He lost his palace,\nhis chariots and horses, and his whole kingdom. He lost his brothers\nand himself, and last of all he lost Draupadi also.\n\nDraupadi was the most beautiful of women, and Yudhisthira\u2019s enemy was\nglad indeed when she was brought captive before him. But he was also\nafraid; for there was something so free in the spirit of Draupadi, that\nhe knew it would not be well with the man who made her a slave.\n\nSo, thinking it were wiser to be content with the kingdom and let\nDraupadi go--\n\n\u201cAsk,\u201d he said, \u201ca boon, and it shall be granted.\u201d\n\n\u201cI ask then,\u201d said Draupadi, \u201cfor the freedom of Yudhisthira.\u201d\n\n\u201cGranted,\u201d said the enemy, for he did not dare break his word. But he\nmarvelled that she did not ask for herself; so, \u201cAsk again\u201d he said.\n\n   [Illustration: \u201cAsk\u201d, he said, \u201ca boon, and it shall be granted\u201d]\n\n\u201cAnd for the freedom of his brothers with their weapons and chariots of\nwar.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is granted: but I give you a third boon. Will you not ask for your\nown freedom?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy no means,\u201d said Draupadi. \u201cThe Pandavas, armed and free, can\nconquer the world. It is they who will rescue me. They need owe nothing\nto a boon; nor, with the Pandavas free, need I either, any longer.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                           The Self-Blinding\n\n\nEveryone knows the name of Dhritarashtra, the uncle of the five great\nsoldier-men, the Pandavas.\n\nDhritarashtra was blind; and Dhritarashtra was alone in his blindness.\n\nAnd when Gandhari, his bride, saw the hurt of his loneliness--\u201cLet me\nin to him behind his bars of darkness,\u201d she said to the gods.\n\nAnd she bound her eyes tightly; and day and night were alike to\nher for ever. But Dhritarashtra was no more lonely in his night of\nsightlessness.\n\n\n\n\n                    The Story of the Maiden-Knight\n\n\nDrupada, the King of the Panchalas, had prayed for a son, that he might\ndestroy his enemy the Master-Archer.\n\nBut his wife was childless. Then as he still prayed and prayed, Shiva\nappeared to him and told him that he should have a son who should first\nbe a daughter.\n\nAnd in due time a daughter was born to him. But the Queen said, \u201cShe is\na son;\u201d and so great was her faith that she prevailed on the King to\nproclaim the child a son, and to perform the son-ceremonies.\n\nAnd the child was called Shikhandi. And she grew strong and beautiful:\nbut was seen of none save her parents and her faithful nurse.\n\nAll too soon it was time for her to be married. And again by the advice\nof the Queen, they sought for her the most beautiful princess in all\nIndia. \u201cWe must believe the word of the gods,\u201d said the Queen.\n\nBut at last the secret was known, and the King whose daughter was\nsought in marriage was very angry. \u201cI have\u201d, he said, \u201cbeen insulted;\u201d\nand he prepared to make war on the Panchalas.\n\nAnd Shikhandi\u2019s father felt that he had done wrong, and had been\ndeceitful: and he was afraid.\n\nBut Shikhandi\u2019s mother said, \u201cWe only relied on the word of the gods.\nBe unafraid as I am unafraid: and prepare to defend the kingdom. She\nshall be a son.\u201d\n\nAnd Shikhandi, sad at heart that she was the cause of all this\ntrouble, wandered forth to lose herself. \u201cIf I am not here any longer,\nthe King and my father will make peace,\u201d was what she said in her heart.\n\nAnd, wandering, she came to a great forest, and to a great house the\ndoors of which were open. And the house smelt of smoke and incense,\nand yet no one was there: and it seemed to have a host, and yet was\nhostless.\n\nAnd Shikhandi sat down in the house, and brooded, heeding not time nor\nself, in her great desire to save her people.\n\nAnd to her presently came the kind Yakshas, whose the palace was, and\nhe asked her what she wished.\n\n\u201cMake me a man,\u201d said she, \u201ca perfect man. My father is about to be\ndestroyed: and if I were a man this would not happen. Make me, oh,\nYakshas! a man: and let me keep that manhood till my father\n                              is saved.\u201d\n\n               [Illustration: She came to a great house]\n\nAnd the Yakshas was moved with pity: and gave her his manhood and his\nmighty form, till she should fulfil her object. So she went forth a\nwarrior, in the form of Sthuna, the Yakshas.\n\nAnd the King of Wealth, coming that way, found Sthuna the woman sitting\nalone in the palace: and between laughter and disgust--\u201cYou shall\nremain a woman,\u201d he said. But later he was sorry, and he added--\u201cTill\nShikhandi\u2019s death.\u201d\n\nSo was fulfilled the promise of Shiva--\u201cShe shall be first a daughter:\nand then a son, Shikhandi, Maiden-Knight.\u201d\n\nAnd the mother of Shikhandi was full of a great gladness, that she had\nbelieved the word of the gods.\n\n\n\n\n                         The Way of Friendship\n\n\nSimple is the way of friendship.\n\nMake a fire of two sticks, or twenty, or two hundred--any number will\ndo: and if you walk round the fire sunwise, with that one whom you\nwould have for a friend, the gods themselves will not take back the\ngift.\n\nAnd this was the lesson which Drona tried to teach King Drupada.\nDrona was the Master-Archer as we know, and Drupada was King of the\nPanchalas. Now Drupada was not worthy of friendship, for he did not\nbelieve that two sticks would do for the lighting of the Fire of\nFriendship.\n\n\u201cThey must be two hundred,\u201d said Drupada, \u201cand of the most costly wood.\u201d\n\nAnd Drona was sad: for he was a poor man, and two sticks gathered in a\nwood were all that he could bring to the lighting.\n\n\u201cAnd you will bring one of the two,\u201d he had said to Drupada; \u201cfor all\nthat matters is that we should bring the same.\u201d\n\nBut Drupada shook his head.\n\nAnd Drona journeyed to a far country, and for many years the River of\nTime flowed between him and the man whom he wanted for friend.\n\nAnd at last they were once again on the same bank of the river. And\nDrona\u2019s pupils, Arjun and his brother princes, took Drupada captive and\nbrought him to Drona.\n\nAnd Drona said: \u201cI will teach Drupada the way of friendship. Since my\ntwo sticks, to one of which he is welcome, will not do for the lighting\nof the fire, he shall give me half his two hundred sticks of the\ncostliest wood.\u201d\n\n           [Illustration: Drona and the Fire of Friendship]\n\nAnd of all Drupada\u2019s riches--treasure of gold and emeralds and diamonds\nand pearls, strings of camels and horses and elephants, chariots of\nwar and houses and slaves--he made two equal parts; and one part he\ngave to Drupada and one part he kept for himself, that he might begin\nthe teaching of the way of friendship to the man who was not worthy to\nlearn the way.\n\n\n\n\n                      Sibi Rana and the Grey Dove\n\n\nLong and long ago there lived a King called Sibi Rana. He was known\nto all the world as a man who protected the weak, but who yet did not\nwithhold that which might belong to the strong.\n\nSo nearly perfect was he that the gods asked the greatest God to test\nhis goodness.\n\nAnd this was the way of the testing.\n\nOne day as the King sat in his great Hall of Justice, there came in at\nthe window a poor frightened grey dove, nearly spent with flight, and\nflew straight against the heart of the King. Looking up, the King saw\nan eagle in pursuit, and without a moment\u2019s hesitation he opened his\nwhite robes to shelter the dove.\n\nThe eagle turned its piercing eye upon the King. \u201cSo this, then,\nis your justice,\u201d he said. \u201cYou rob me of my food.\u201d\n\n                [Illustration: Sibi Rana and the Dove]\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said the King, \u201con the contrary, food equal in weight to the\nbird shall be given to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhatever food I desire?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, whatever you desire.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if I desire your own flesh?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy flesh shall be given,\u201d said the King.\n\n\u201cThen I wish the weight of the bird to be taken from your right side,\nand in the presence of the Queen and your small son,\u201d demanded the\neagle.\n\n\u201cBeseech the Queen to come hither,\u201d said the King, \u201cwith my son.\u201d\n\nAnd to the horror of all the Court, the scales were brought; and in the\npresence of the Queen they prepared to slice off the weight of the bird\nfrom the King\u2019s right side.\n\nThe King sat steadfast: but alas! the bird seemed to grow heavier, with\neach fresh gift of the King\u2019s flesh.\n\nAnd the eagle watched from the foot of the throne: and the eagle\nlaughed aloud.\n\nThen from the left eye of the King fell a single tear.\n\n\u201cStay,\u201d said the eagle, \u201cI want no unwilling sacrifice.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, but,\u201d said the King, \u201cwilling enough is this. My left eye but\nweeps because to the right side of the King alone is it given to\nprotect the weak and defenceless.\u201d\n\nUpon which, says the old story, the miracle happened. For even the\neagle saw the beauty of giving: and he flew away hungry to his\nmountains, and neither was the King really hurt, nor the dove without a\nhome.\n\n\n\n\n                   The Crow and the Bell of Justice\n\n\nThis story is told of one Anangapal, who ruled in Delhi, and who loved\njustice.\n\nHe caused two great lions of stone to be placed near his palace gates,\nwhere all could see them. A bell hung from the bar between the lions.\nWhoever struck that bell claimed justice, and got justice of Anangapal\nthe King.\n\nOne day a crow swung in the breeze on the tongue of the bell, and the\ncry for justice clanged forth, reaching the ear of the King.\n\n\u201cWho strikes the bell?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cMy lord, it is a crow.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet justice be done,\u201d said Anangapal.\n\n\u201cWhat asks the crow?\u201d\n\nBut no one could tell. So the King himself read the message.\n\n\u201cThe crow strikes my bell, between the mouths of my stone lions. See\nyou not? The crow came as is its habit, to pick morsels of food out of\nthe mouth of the lion. And the lions were not lions. I deceived the\ncrow. Let a sheep be killed: and place some meat in the lions\u2019 mouths,\nthat the crow may find its meal.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSo did even the least of his subjects get justice and bounty at the\nhands of Anangapal the Just.\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n                        Raziya, Queen of Delhi\n\n\nRaziya was the daughter of Altamish, one of the Moghul slave-kings\nof Delhi who lived in the thirteenth century. She is the only woman\nbesides our own Queen Victoria who has ruled Delhi.\n\nAltamish had sons also; but when he was dying he said: \u201cYou will find\nno one better fitted to rule the kingdom than my daughter Raziya.\u201d\n\nAnd after his nobles had suffered for some time the cruelty and\ninjustice of Raziya\u2019s half-brother, they began to see that the King was\nright.\n\nAnd Raziya herself helped them.\n\nThe King had given order that anyone who had a petition to make should\nappear at the great Mosque in Delhi, on a Friday morning, wearing a\ncoloured garment, and his petition would be heard forthwith.\n\nNow, on a Friday morning when all the men worshippers, in their\nbeautiful white garments, had assembled at the Mosque for the weekly\nprayer, Raziya made herself brave to go among them dressed in a veil of\nthe Prophet\u2019s green--a figure whom none could miss.\n\nAnd the people remembered the custom of the good King who had denied\na hearing to no one; and they said: \u201cThe King\u2019s daughter is herself\nto-day a beggar.\u201d So they listened, making it easy for Raziya to speak.\n\nAnd Raziya said: \u201cMy brother has killed his brother, and now he would\nslay me.\u201d\n\nAnd all the people, as one man, vowed to help her. And Raziya was put\nupon the throne of Delhi.\n\n                [Illustration: Raziya and the Peasant]\n\nAnd Raziya ruled as few men have ruled in Delhi. She loved justice\nand mercy, and she gave both to her people. She led them to battle,\npitching her own tent in the place of greatest danger: she was generous\nand wise, and entirely forgetful of her woman\u2019s self. All this her\npeople knew of her; and all this historians have said of her.\n\nBut one old man, who wrote the longest tale of her gifts and virtues,\ntells us the reason of her failure to rule India: \u201cShe was a great\nmonarch; but she was a woman, and she ruled as a man.\u201d\n\nThe Moslem people of those days could not forgive her that. They could\nnot forgive her that, being a woman, she came before them with face\nunveiled; that, being a woman, she did successfully the work of a man,\nand asked no woman\u2019s reward. And so, though they took her love and\nprotection for so long that they forgot the cruelty of her brother who\nhad reigned before, they turned against her in the end and dethroned\nher, and put her in prison.\n\nFrom prison later, she escaped, and led an army to regain her kingdom.\nAnd perhaps she might some day have won it back, but for a sad thing\nthat befell her.\n\nIn the battle which she waged she was defeated, and fled alone to the\njungles.\n\nPassing through a field, she saw an old peasant at work, and begged for\nsome food, for she was starving.\n\nThe man gave her a piece of bread, which she ate gladly; and then being\nworn out, she tied her horse to a tree and lay down in the field to\ntake a short rest. She wore the dress of a man; but the peasant saw\nher jewels gleaming, as she slept unprotected in that lonely spot. He\nknew that she was a woman; and no more afraid of her, he killed her\nand buried her there, in a corner of a field outside the walls of that\nDelhi which she had ruled.\n\nSo Raziya lost her kingdom because she was not enough of a woman to\nmake her people love a woman ruler; and she died, because she was a\nwoman, and without protection.\n\nAnd her story is told here, for the reason that we know now that the\nold historian was wrong; and that a woman need not fail even in the\ngreat work of a sovereign, only because she is a woman. Raziya failed\nbecause she thought that for success she must put aside her womanhood.\nOur Queen Victoria succeeded. And one of the things which we know that\nshe gave to her people was that same great heart of a woman and a\nmother, which poor Raziya believed that she must slay.\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n                            Baber the Tiger\n\n\nThere was a Moghul boy-king, who fought his first battle when he was\ntwelve years of age, and he won it, as he says himself, \u201cthanks to the\ndistinguished valour of my young soldiers\u201d.\n\nBut like the boys in fairy tales, he had wicked uncles, who made\ntrouble for him; and before he was seventeen years old, he had won and\nlost two of his kingdoms.\n\nThis is the boy whom all the world knows by his nickname of \u201cBaber the\nTiger\u201d. And the most wonderful thing we know about him is his great\nspirit, which nothing could subdue. Success could not spoil him, and\ndefeat could not make him hang his head.\n\nAlways did he find something in which to take pleasure.\n\nDriven away from one of his early attempts to take Delhi, he has a race\nwith two of his officers; and he writes of the first meal which he ate\nin hiding as of a royal banquet--\u201csuch peace and plenty, nice fat meat,\nbread of fine flour well baked, sweet melons, excellent grapes\u201d.\n\nAgain: \u201cI could not, on account of one or two defeats, sit down and\nlook idly around me\u201d, he tells us; and we find him getting to work\nagain immediately.\n\nMany years of wandering were before him. He had only two tents and\nless than three hundred followers. They had to bear thirst and hunger,\npain and poverty; but the joyous spirit of the Tiger-boy carried them\nthrough all. And his tenderness and love and thoughtfulness were as his\ncourage and good cheer.\n\nHe gave his own tent to his mother, who shared his wanderings; and for\nher, as for his followers, he gathered brightness from every smallest\nthing--from tulips and grasses, from animals and birds and insects.\n\nKabul fell to him when he was eighteen; and here for ten years he\nlived peacefully, caring for his mother and grandmother, his aunts and\nsisters, and all his people who had been faithful to him. Here also he\nmarried the lady whom he called \u201cMaham\u201d--\u201cmy Moon\u201d--of whom we know\nonly because of Baber\u2019s great love for her. It was the \u201cMoon-Lady\u201d who\nwas the mother of Humayun.\n\nBut the land beyond the hills was calling Baber; and soon there came a\nchance to try once more for the throne of Delhi.\n\nThe people of Hindustan were fighting among themselves, and asked\nBaber\u2019s help. Of the great battle that Baber won on the field of\nPaniput near Delhi, there are many stories.\n\n                      [Illustration: Baber\u2019s Vow]\n\n\u201cBattle was joined at the time of early morning prayers\u201d; and by\nmidday Baber the Tiger was lord of Delhi and Agra. There are wonderful\ntales of the presents which he sent after this victory, to his\nfamily and people in Kabul--forgetting no one. Ladies and nurses of\nthe zenana, officers, clerks, traders, even \u201call who pray for me\u201d,\nwere remembered; and so great was the list, that it was three days\nbefore the presents were divided. To his daughters and aunts and the\nprincesses of the zenana were given gold plates full of gems, trays of\ncoins, and nine different kinds of stuff chosen for each lady by Baber\nhimself--\u201cuplifting us with pride\u201d, says his daughter.\n\nHis last great campaign was against the Rajputs; and that was a fight\nworthy of the warrior who was now about forty-four years of age, and\nwho had begun fighting when he was twelve. It was before this fight\nthat he made \u201cthe Great Repentance\u201d.\n\nWhen Baber was in Kabul he had learnt to drink wine, and had grown to\nbe fond of this indulgence. Walking round his outposts, however, before\nthe Rajput battle, the thought came to Baber that it would be good to\nmend his life now in this matter, so that he might have something to\ngive in penitence to God.\n\nAnd he sent immediately for his great goblets of gold and silver\nstudded with precious stones; and there on the battle-field he had them\nbroken to pieces and given to the poor, vowing that he would never\ndrink wine again.\n\nThat night and the next, three hundred of his nobles did likewise,\npouring upon the ground the wine which they had brought with them. So,\n\u201chaving knocked on the door of Penitence\u201d, did they join battle. And\nonce more victory was theirs.\n\nThe last tale which the books tell of Baber is beautiful.\n\nHe loved Humayun, the son of his Moon-Lady, as we know, with all his\nheart. And Humayun was ill.\n\nEverything that the doctors could do, was done; but Humayun was sick\nunto death. Then a holy man said to Baber: \u201cIf some precious thing were\ngiven to God in exchange for Humayun, God might let him live.\u201d\n\nAnd the holy man talked of the Kohinor, which Baber had got from\nGwalior, and which is now in the crown of our King-Emperor of Britain.\n\nBut Baber, who more than anyone we know had loved being alive, said:\n\u201cNo, that is not the most precious thing I have to give. There is my\nlife.\u201d\n\nAnd he walked three times round Humayun\u2019s bed, saying: \u201cOh, God! if a\nlife may be given for a life, I, who am Baber, I give my life and my\nbeing for Humayun.\u201d And he went away and prayed and fasted, saying many\ntimes: \u201cI have borne it away. I have prevailed.\u201d\n\nThat night Baber fell ill, and Humayun began to get better. Then\nBaber called his nobles together, and charged them to serve Humayun\nfaithfully, for he himself would rule no more.\n\nAnd three days later he did indeed pass out from the life which he had\nloved so well, and had laid down so lovingly.\n\n\n\n\n          [Illustration: The Water-carrier claims his reward]\n\n                      The King who kept his Word\n\n\nThere is one story told of Humayun, the Moon-Lady\u2019s son, which is worth\nremembering.\n\nSher Khan, the Afghan, turned traitor, and the King was compelled to\nfly for his life. But there was no escape except across a river in\nflood; and his horse sank exhausted in mid-stream. Then the King would\nhave died; but a water-carrier on the opposite bank saw the King\u2019s\ntrouble, and brought him his own skin-bags, on which Humayun floated\nsafely to land.\n\n\u201cI have nothing to give thee now,\u201d said the King; \u201cbut come to me in\nAgra, and if I live thou shalt sit on my throne for a whole day.\u201d The\nKing did live, and got back his kingdom; and the water-carrier came to\nclaim his reward.\n\nHumayun kept his word, like the King that he was.\n\nFor one whole day the water-carrier sat on the throne; and the skin\nthat had saved the King\u2019s life was cut into little pieces and stamped\ninto money by the Royal Mint.\n\n\n\n\n                                 Naila\n\n\nGhyas-ud-din Tughlak, the Moghul, had heard of the beauty of the\ndaughters of Rana-Mal-Bhatti, the Rajput: and he wished a Rajput\nprincess for the wife of his brother Rajab.\n\nBut when he sent to ask this, Rana Mal made a haughty answer--\u201cNo\ndaughter of the Moon could wed with a slayer of cows.\u201d\n\nThen Tughlak demanded at once, and in cash, a whole year\u2019s tribute to\nbe paid to Delhi. And Rana Mal was sad, for though the people stripped\nthemselves bare, it would not be easy.\n\nAnd the sound of the people\u2019s crying reached the ears of Rana Mal\u2019s\nold mother, who came to her son\u2019s house weeping, with unbound hair,\nto plead for the people. And as she came Naila, the most beautiful of\nRana Mal\u2019s daughters, saw her and ran to open the door to her.\n\n\u201cWhy weeps my grandmother?\u201d asked Naila.\n\n\u201cBecause of you,\u201d said the old woman. \u201cThe Turk is taxing our people,\nbecause your father will not give you in marriage to the Turk as he\ndesires.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf to give me to the Turk will save our people,\u201d said Naila, \u201csend me\nat once, grandmother. Think only that the robber Turks have carried off\none of your jewels.\u201d So did Naila give herself for her country.\n\nAnd afterwards her only son Firoz Shah served his people in the same\nspirit. He was loved by them all. Cruelty gave place to kindness,\ntaking to giving, hating to loving--and for thirty-seven years there\nwas peace and prosperity and goodwill in Delhi.\n\n\n\n\n                            The Lotus-Lady\n\n\nIn the days when Ala-ud-din, the Moslem, ruled at Delhi, the beautiful\nrock-fortress Chittore was the capital of Rajputana, and brave Prince\nBhimsi was regent for his nephew the Baby-King.\n\nNow Bhimsi had a most beautiful wife, the Lotus-Lady, the fame of whose\nbeauty had gone forth all over India. And in the old days men thought\nit not wrong to try and snatch away from others anything which they\nwished to possess--be this thing what it might, rich city or lovely\nlady or priceless jewel.\n\nSo Ala-ud-din waged war on Chittore in order to capture the lovely\nLotus-Lady. But the Rajput warriors laughed him to scorn, and defeated\nhim, and kept safe their beauteous Lady of the Lotus.\n\nThen Ala-ud-din pretended to be very much ashamed that he had ever even\nimagined that Prince Bhimsi would let the Princess be taken captive by\nan enemy.\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d he added, \u201cI have come a long way and have fought hard, and you\nhave conquered. Therefore before I go, let me look, I pray, but for one\nminute on the beauty of which I have heard so much.\n\n\u201cLet me see the face of the Princess Lady, just for a breathing-space,\nnot openly, but in a mirror--so that I may have in my soul a vision of\nthe Perfectly Beautiful, to help me in the days that remain.\u201d\n\nAnd Bhimsi was so noble a knight that he was moved by these words to\ngrant his enemy his desire.\n\nAla-ud-din pretended to be very grateful, and the courteous knight\nBhimsi was sorry for the enemy whom he had defeated. Thinking him\nto be also a knight and bound by knightly courtesies and honour, he\naccompanied him alone outside the gates of the city, to set him on his\nway.\n\nBut when Ala-ud-din got Bhimsi alone and at his mercy, he carried him\ncaptive to his own camp. Only in exchange for the Lotus-Lady herself,\nhe declared, would he release the Rajput Prince-Regent.\n\nThen all the knights and warriors of Chittore took counsel with the\nPrincess as to what should be done. And the Lotus-Lady was brave: for\nshe loved her lord very dearly.\n\nSo in concert with her nobles, she arranged that word should be sent to\nAla-ud-din that she was coming, as he commanded, to release her lord:\nbut that she craved a few minutes\u2019 speech of her lord, before parting\nwith him for ever. And Ala-ud-din granted her request.\n\n         [Illustration: The Lotus-Lady at the prisoner\u2019s tent]\n\nSo, for the camp of the enemy set forth a great procession of\npalanquins and mace-bearers; and Ala-ud-din was not afraid, for he knew\nthat so great a lady might not be abroad without her waiting-women and\nher mistresses of the robes, and her mace-bearers and the slaves who\ndid her bidding--one slave for each separate little duty of the care of\nher lovely person.\n\nAnd now the Lotus-Lady was at the prisoner\u2019s tent of her lord; and now\nshe had bid him farewell, and the long line of palanquins had turned\nonce more towards Chittore.\n\nAnd Ala-ud-din said: \u201cHa! now will I have both the Prince and his\nbride!\u201d and he ordered the palanquins to stop, thinking to make an\neasy capture of the prisoner whom he had just exchanged, among the\npalanquins of the women-folk.\n\nBut the warriors of Chittore had prepared a surprise for Ala-ud-din,\nthe traitor. Forth from every palanquin streamed the bravest of\nChittore\u2019s Rajput knights--the very palanquin-bearers were warriors:\nand they fought and routed Ala-ud-din and his hosts, and carried their\nPrince and his lady safely to the palace of their fortress home.\n\nAnd Ala-ud-din fled in haste to Delhi.\n\nBut Ala-ud-din never forgot this second disgrace. Nor, it is said,\ncould he forget the face of the Lotus-Lady.\n\nHe must have been a bad man indeed, and no knight at all, in that even\nthe vision of Perfect Beauty had not the power to kill in him that\nwhich was base and self-seeking. So yet once more, he sallied forth\nagainst Chittore long years afterwards, when the Baby-King was full\ngrown, and with his twelve brave sons, and Bhimsi, and the other brave\nRajput princes, kept faithful guard over the honour of knighthood in\nRajputana.\n\nAnd Ala-ud-din took with him mighty armies and great engines of war,\nand by sheer force of numbers and deadly weapons he bore down the brave\nlittle body of knights fighting on the walls of their beloved city.\n\nThen again the knights sat in council. \u201cOur weak and defenceless ones\nshall not,\u201d they said, \u201cfall into the hands of a coward enemy.\u201d\n\nAnd they took their women down into the vaults beneath the city, where\nthe Rajput woman was wont to go through fire to meet her lord who\nhad died in battle. And they left them enough wood and fire for the\nsacrifice.\n\nAnd the women wore their most beautiful garments, to walk down to the\nvaults, a long line of beauty and courage led by the queen of beauty,\nthe Lotus-Lady herself.\n\nAnd now it was the turn of the men. And the King and his sons and\nhis brave knights all strove as to who should be first to meet\nsingle-handed the enemy at the gates. And they cast lots: and went one\nby one clad in the Rajput saffron robe of conquest: and single-handed\neach hewed his way through the gates, strewing the moat and outworks\nwith the bodies of the slain.\n\nBut Ayeshi, his beloved son, had the King sent secretly beforehand to\na place of safety, that the race of warriors might still continue.\nAnd when night fell, the last of the Rajputs had left the city, having\nlaid, each man, at the feet of the true knight and champion of the\ndefenceless, a full sheaf of the unknightly ones.\n\nAnd Ala-ud-din came walking carefully across this carpet of the dead,\ninto a fortress of which the gates were wide. But no man nor woman nor\nchild found he anywhere in Chittore. All was emptiness--palace and hut,\nand bathing-ghat, and council chamber, and garden and marble-latticed\nroof--empty, all empty.\n\nThen at last did he realize that what was in his hands was not victory\nbut defeat; and that the beauty and goodness of which we are not\nworthy, may not, in this life or the next, be taken by violence.\n\n\n\n\n                           The Perfect Host\n\n\nRasmal Rana of Marwar had three sons--Sanga, Prithi Raj, and Jismal.\nAnd Prithi Raj was ambitious, and would boast that Fate meant him to\nlead the sons of Marwar.\n\nOne day when he was boasting on this wise his eldest brother Sanga said:\n\n\u201cLet the gods decide between us, brother. Although I am the eldest, you\nare welcome to my birthright, if so it is written. At the Tiger\u2019s Mount\nlives the priestess who sees the future. Let us ask her who is to lead\nthe ten thousand towns of Marwar when our father is dead.\u201d\n\nSo they rode on together to the Tiger\u2019s Mount. The cave was empty, and\nthey sat down to await the priestess.\n\nThe cave was simply furnished--a bed, a panther\u2019s skin, a beggar\u2019s bowl\nof water. Prithi Raj made for the bed, but Sanga sought the hearth-rug.\n\nAnd the priestess entered and looked at Sanga.\n\n\u201cIn olden times,\u201d she said, \u201cthe panther\u2019s skin was the seat of\nprinces. As now you sit on this skin, so one day shall you sit on the\nthrone of Marwar.\u201d\n\nAt this Prithi Raj drew his sword and would have slain his brother, but\ntheir uncle stepped between, and Sanga escaped.\n\nHe rode hard, his horse bleeding from sword-thrusts, for Jismal, his\nyounger brother, was after him, while the uncle engaged Prithi Raj.\n\nA long way from the mount he came upon a very holy sanctuary. At its\ngates stood Rahtore Beeda, the perfect host: his horse stood beside\nhim ready for a journey.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cNay--not while he is my guest\u201d]\n\n\u201cI am Sanga, son of Rasmal Rana: my brothers seek to kill me,\u201d said\nSanga.\n\n\u201cHave no fear,\u201d said Rahtore Beeda. \u201cI will defend the sanctuary while\nyou get away. See, there is my horse.\u201d\n\nAnd even as he spoke his eyes travelled to the speck of dust on the\nhorizon.\n\nAnd now Jismal and his men had come up. But Rahtore Beeda stood alone\nat the door of the sanctuary.\n\n\u201cWe want Sanga.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is my guest.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen let us seek for him.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay--not while he is my guest,\u201d said Rahtore Beeda, the perfect host,\ndrawing his sword.\n\nAlone he stood against them. And when at last they forced their way\ninto the sanctuary over his dead body, Sanga was far away in safety.\n\nAnd the perfect host had kept his tradition of hospitality.\n\n\n\n\n                     The Dove-Girl and the Prince\n\n\nThere was once a Persian Prince of noble birth who lost all his money:\nso he left his country and came to India, bringing with him his wife\nand three children.\n\n\u201cIt will not\u201d, he said, \u201cbe so hard to be poor in a strange country.\u201d\n\nHe travelled with a great many other people, all coming through the\nsnow mountains and passes, and wild bleak places of Afghanistan. The\nwomen rode on camels, slung in cages on either side of the driver; and\nmost of their luggage also was carried in this way. The men walked, and\nthe journey took a weary long time for man and beast. The travellers\nhalted to cook their food, and they halted again to sleep by great\nwatch-fires, till the dawn-star told them that it was time to go on\nonce more.\n\nOne day a baby was born to the wife of the Persian, and he was very\ncross. \u201cIt is only a girl,\u201d he said, \u201cand no use at all.\u201d So when no\none was looking he laid it on the grass by the roadside, and meant to\ngo away and leave it there to die.\n\nNow it happened that a great man known at the Court of the Emperor\nAkbar, was also travelling with the pilgrims for safety; for there were\nmany robbers in those days, and only if a man travelled with a crowd of\npeople in what was called a Caravan, could he be safe.\n\nAnd the great man saw the poor little baby lying alone on the grass,\nand, as it seemed to belong to no one, he said he would take it for his\nown. And he looked about among the women in the Caravan for a nurse.\n\n[Illustration: The second dove also flew happily away]\n\nAnd the baby\u2019s mother came forward and said: \u201cPlease let me be nurse.\u201d\nSo the baby had its own mother after all to care for it.\n\nNow the great man from Akbar\u2019s Court was so kind that the woman told\nhim all her story, and he asked to see her husband and her sons, and\nsent them all to the Emperor himself for protection. So it came to pass\nthat the man from Persia got work and honour at the Emperor\u2019s Court.\n\nAnd the baby born by the roadside grew very beautiful, and was called\n_Mihr-un-Nisa_, which means \u201cthe Sun of Womankind\u201d. She lived\nnear the Palace, and would go with the women into the Palace gardens,\nwhenever the great Fairs took place, where the zenana women sold their\nlovely work and embroideries.\n\nAnd at one of these Fairs, Prince Salim, the Emperor\u2019s son, lost his\nway in an empty part of the garden, where he could see no one but a\nsmall girl at play. He had in his hands his two favourite doves, and,\nwanting to fly kites with the boys at the fair, he told the little\ngirl, who was our \u201cSun of Womankind\u201d, to hold the doves till he should\nreturn. \u201cTake care,\u201d he said; \u201cdon\u2019t let them fly.\u201d\n\nWhen he came back _Mihr-un-Nisa_ had only one dove in her hands.\n\n\u201cWhere is the other?\u201d said Prince Salim.\n\n\u201cI let it fly,\u201d said _Mihr-un-Nisa_.\n\nAnd, \u201cHow did you do that, stupid-one?\u201d said the Prince angrily.\n\n\u201cJust so, my Prince,\u201d said _Mihr-un-Nisa_, opening her other hand,\nfrom which the second dove also flew happily away.\n\nShe looked so beautiful in her naughtiness that the Prince fell in\nlove with her that minute. And many years afterwards, when he became\nEmperor, he married her, and changed her name to _N\u016dr Mahal_, \u201cthe\nLight of the Palace\u201d. And again, for she seemed more beautiful still\nto him every day, he changed it to _N\u016dr Jehan_, \u201cthe Light of the\nWorld\u201d.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd her lovely face is still to be seen painted on ivory and vellum\namong the treasures of the ancient city of Delhi.\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n                    The Boy who was Always Thirteen\n\n\nThere were once a man and woman so truly good that the great god said\nhe would reward them with whatever they wished to ask. \u201cWe want a son,\u201d\nsaid the man and his wife.\n\n\u201cYou shall have a son,\u201d said Shiva, the great god. \u201cBut you must now\nchoose the kind of son you want. Will you have him perfect in every\nway, beautiful and good and clever, and loved by all the world, but\ndoomed to be no older than his thirteenth year? Or will you have him\njust an ordinary boy, but living as long as the ordinary man, so that\nyou may even see his children\u2019s children? Choose: that which you wish\nshall be given.\u201d\n\nAnd the man and his wife were sorrowful; for to choose was not easy.\nHow could they bear their son to die when he was thirteen. Yet how\ncould they bear to have him just an ordinary boy, like any other that\ncame into the world, and had trouble, and made mistakes, and died at\nlast, leaving no name behind him? And the puzzle was too hard for the\nman.\n\n\u201cI cannot choose,\u201d he said to his wife. \u201cYou must decide. It is your\nbusiness.\u201d\n\nAnd the woman said: \u201cWe will have the perfect son that Shiva has\noffered us. And the rest we will leave to the gods.\u201d\n\nSo Kamil, the perfect one, was born, and grew from happy baby to happy\nboy. And he was beautiful to look upon; and clever was he, and strong,\nand gentle, and kind. Everyone loved him, and to all gave he love also,\nmaking happiness wherever he went.\n\nAnd his father and mother, and all the people of his village, alike\nforgot that there could be any end to this happiness. But the King of\nDeath did not forget. \u201cNo older than his thirteenth year,\u201d had said\nShiva, the great god. And Kamil, the perfect boy, was in his thirteenth\nyear.\n\nSo, on his birthday, the King of Death sent his messengers, to bring\nKamil away to the Kingdom of Death. \u201cIt is only another kind of life,\u201d\nsaid the messengers; \u201cdo not be afraid, come with us. The King himself\nis waiting to receive you.\u201d\n\nBut the boy said: \u201cWhy should I come? I want no other kind of life.\nThis life I love. Why should I come? I will not come with you.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo one has ever disobeyed the King of Death,\u201d said the messengers.\n\u201cCome, you must.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not come,\u201d said the boy. \u201cGo back to the King of Death and say:\n\u2018The boy who loves the life he knows, says that he cannot come to the\nnew life which he does not know.\u2019\u201d\n\nAnd the messengers went trembling back to the King with this message.\n\nNow the King of Death is very old, and very kind and gentle, and he has\nthe wisdom of Peace and of Forgetfulness. And the journey back to the\nlife which the boy loved was for him a very long journey. \u201cBut I must\nsee,\u201d he said, \u201cthe one person who has disobeyed me.\u201d So he sent for\nhis black buffalo, and he rode the long and painful journey back to\nLife and Youth in the world of the-things-that-pass.\n\nAnd it was spring-time, and the leaves of the pipal tree were shining\nafter a shower of rain, which had made all the world smell sweet with\nthe good earth-smell. And the birds were singing. And under the pipal\ntree stood the perfect boy beside the shrine of Shiva, the great god,\nplaying a little tune of the gladness of the-things-that-pass.\n\n          [Illustration: \u201cI am Death, who sent to fetch you\u201d]\n\nHe played on a slender reed of bamboo, blowing with his mouth; and he\ncalled the cattle to come home to rest, for it was the cow-dust hour,\nand the sun was setting.\n\nWhen the King of Death was close by the perfect boy stopped playing,\nand looked at him riding on the long, long back of his slow-moving\ngrey-black buffalo.\n\n\u201cWhat an old, old man you are!\u201d said the perfect boy; \u201cnever have I\nseen you before. Who are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have seen my messengers,\u201d said the King. \u201cI am Death, who sent to\nfetch you to my kingdom. Why did you not come?\u201d\n\n\u201cI told your messengers,\u201d said the boy. \u201cIt was quite true. It is very\nkind of you to want to take me to your kingdom; but I do not wish any\nother life. I love this life very much, and I am so happy. I love\nmy father and my mother, and all the men-and-women people, and the\nchildren-people, and the beast-people, and bird-people in this good\nlife that I know. You stay with us too. See, I will ask my mother to\nmake room for you in our own little hut.\u201d But the King of Death shook\nhis head.\n\n\u201cI have a kingdom, and I come to take you to it. Come, make no trouble.\nGet up behind me on the buffalo; we must be back before to-morrow\u2019s\nday.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I say again, I will not come,\u201d said the boy, standing firm. \u201cSee,\nI appeal to Shiva to protect me;\u201d and he put out his hand to the large\npebble of black stone, Shiva\u2019s symbol, which had been brought to the\nshrine from the great sacred river of the West Country.\n\nThen the King of Death was angry, and he laid hands on the boy to take\nhim by force; and he dragged him away, so that the symbol of Shiva fell\nto the ground.\n\nAnd now Shiva himself, the great god, was angered, and his voice\nthundered forth, ordering the King of Death back to the Kingdom of\nDeath. \u201cAnd you shall not return to the world of the-things-that-pass,\ntill I bid you,\u201d said Shiva.\n\nSo back went the old king on his slow-moving, grey-black buffalo. And\nthe boy was happy, and life was again full of love and goodness as\nbefore, in his world of the-things-that-pass.\n\nBut the King of Death could no more send his messengers to the Earth;\nso everything lived forever--the men and women and beasts and birds and\nflower-people all lived; and yet new men and women and beasts and birds\nand flower-people were always coming to the Earth, as before. So that\nthe Earth was fuller than it could hold.\n\nAnd the men and women and beasts and birds and flower-people went to\nthe great god and said: \u201cWe are weary, and there is no room for us on\nthe Earth; we are the things that must pass. Send the King of Death to\ntake us to the Kingdom of Peace and Forgetfulness and Quiet Sleep.\u201d\n\nAnd the great god said: \u201cI will not; I have spoken.\u201d\n\nThen the tired Earth-people went to Parvati, the wife of Shiva, and,\n\u201cPlease help us,\u201d they said. \u201cSee how full the Earth is. There is no\nroom for us all, and some of us are weary and would sleep.\u201d\n\nSo Parvati went to the great god. \u201cThe Earth is very full,\u201d she said.\n\u201cWill you not let the King of Death send his slow-moving grey-black\nbuffalo for the tired Earth-people?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Shiva; \u201che insulted my symbol: he may not return to the\nEarth. I have spoken.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you know you did say that the perfect boy was to be no older than\nhis thirteenth year,\u201d said Parvati. \u201cThat was why the King of Death\ncame to fetch him.\u201d\n\nAnd Shiva was silent, not knowing what to answer.\n\n\u201cBut when you said that, you only meant that he should never look\nolder than his thirteenth year, though he might live and live as long\nas he liked,\u201d said clever goddess Parvati.\n\nAnd Shiva waited, for surely here was a way out of a difficulty.\n\n\u201cAnd poor old King Death was not clever enough to understand this, and\nthought that you meant him to take the boy away. It was only stupidity.\nForgive him.\u201d\n\nAnd Shiva said: \u201cIt shall be as you ask.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen give the message,\u201d said Goddess Parvati.\n\nAnd, \u201cLet the old tired leaves fall from the trees,\u201d said Shiva the\ngod, and turned to other business.\n\nBut his messengers were so full of gladness that good King Death might\nreturn to the Earth once more, riding on his grey-black buffalo--for\nthat was the meaning of Shiva\u2019s message--that they were drunk with\njoy, and said the words wrongly.\n\n\u201cLet the old leaves, and the middle-aged leaves, and the little baby\nleaves fall from the trees,\u201d was what they said, when they flew back to\nthe Earth on the wings of the morning.\n\nAnd that is why to this day, old and young, boys and babies, all alike,\nride, when the great god wills, upon the grey-black buffalo, as it\nmakes its slow-moving way to the quiet Kingdom of Death.\n\nBut Kamil, the perfect boy, lived in the world that he loved, and was\nalways and always just thirteen years old, and no more.\n\nAnd, \u201cIt was well,\u201d said the man, his father, \u201cthat I left the\nSon-puzzle to you, O Mother of Kamil.\u201d","title":"Indian tales of the great ones among men, women, and bird-people","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":10629}