vikram and the vampire second story - mocomi

8/14/2019 Vikram And The Vampire Second Story - Mocomi

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By

Sir Richard F. Burton

Volume - 3

THE VAMPIRE'S SECOND STORY

Vikram and the Vampire

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In the great city of Bhogavati dwelt,once upon a time, a young prince, con-cerning whom I may say that he strik-ingly resembled this amiable son of yourmajesty.

Raja Vikram was silent, nor did he ac-knowledge the Baital's indirect compli-ment. He hated flattery, but he liked,when flattered, to be flattered in his own

person; a feature in their royal patron'scharacter which the Nine Gems of Sci-ence had turned to their own account.

Now the young prince Raja Ram(continued the tale teller) had an oldfather, concerning whom I may say that

he was exceedingly unlike your Raja-ship, both as a man and as a parent. Hewas fond of hunting, dicing, sleeping byday, drinking at night, and eating perpetual tonics, while he delighted in theidleness of watching nautch girls, andthe vanity of falling in love. But he was

adored by his children because he tookthe trouble to win their hearts. He didnot lay it down as a law of heaven that

his offspring would assuredly go toPatala if they neglected the duty of be-stowing upon him without cause all theiraffections, as your moral, virtuous, andhighly respectable fathers are only tooapt ——. Aie! Aie!

These sounds issued from the Vampire'slips as the warrior king, speechless withwrath, passed his hand behind his back,and viciously twisted up a piece of thespeaker's skin. This caused the Vampireto cry aloud, more however, it wouldappear, in derision than in real suffering,

for he presently proceeded with thesame subject.

Fathers, great king, may be divided intothree kinds; and be it said aside, thatmothers are the same. Firstly, we havethe parent of many ideas, amusing,

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THE RELATIVE VILLANY OF MEN AND WOMAN





pleasant, of course poor, and the idol ofhis children. Secondly, there is theparent with one idea and a half. This sortof man would, in your place, say to him-self, "That demon fellow speaks amanner of truth. I am not above learningfrom him, despite his position in life. Iwill carry out his theory, just to see howfar it goes"; and so saying, he wends hisway home, and treats his young ones

with prodigious kindness for a time, butit is not lasting. Thirdly, there is the realone-idea'd type of parent-yourself, Owarrior king Vikram, an admirable ex-ample. You learn in youth what you aretaught: for instance, the blessed preceptthat the green stick is of the trees of

Paradise; and in age you practice whatyou have learned. You cannot teachyourselves anything before your beardssprout, and when they grow stiff youcannot be taught by others. If any oneattempt to change your opinions youcry,

What is new is not true,What is true is not new.

and you rudely pull his hand from thesubject. Yet have you your uses likeother things of earth. In life you are goodworking camels for the mill-track, andwhen you die your ashes are not worsecompost than those of the wise.

Your Rajaship will observe (continuedthe Vampire, as Vikram began to showsymptoms of ungovernable anger) that Ihave been concise in treating this di-gression. Had I not been so, it wouldhave led me far indeed from my tale.Now to return.

When the old king became air mixedwith air, the young king, though hefound hardly ten pieces of silver in thepaternal treasury and legacies for thou-sands of golden ounces, yet mournedhis loss with the deepest grief. He easily

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explained to himself the reckless empti-ness of the royal coffers as a proof of hisdear kind parent's goodness, becausehe loved him.

But the old man had left behind him, ashe could not carry it off with him, a trea-sure more valuable than gold and silver:one Churaman, a parrot, who knew theworld, and who besides discoursed in

the most correct Sanscrit. By sage coun-sel and wise guidance this admirablebird soon repaired his young master'sshattered fortunes.

One day the prince said, "Parrot, thouknowest everything: tell me where there

is a mate fit for me. The shastras informus, respecting the choice of a wife, 'Shewho is not descended from his paternalor maternal ancestors within the sixthdegree is eligible by a high caste manfor nuptials. In taking a wife let him stu-diously avoid the following families, be

they ever so great, or ever so rich inkine, goats, sheep, gold, or grain: thefamily which has omitted prescribedacts of devotion; that which has pro-duced no male children; that in whichthe Veda (scripture) has not been read;that which has thick hair on the body;and that in which members have beensubject to hereditary disease. Let aperson choose for his wife a girl whose

person has no defect; who has an agree-able name; who walks gracefully, like ayoung elephant; whose hair and teethare moderate in quantity and in size;and whose body is of exquisite soft-ness.'"

"Great king," responded the parrotChuraman, "there is in the country ofMagadh a Raja, Magadheshwar byname, and he has a daughter calledChandravati. You will marry her; she isvery learned, and, what is better far,very fait. She is of yellow colour, with a

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nose like the flower of the sesamum; herlegs are taper, like the plantain-tree; hereyes are large, like the principal leaf ofthe lotus; her eye-brows stretch towardsher ears; her lips are red, like the youngleaves of the mango-tree; her face is likethe full moon; her voice is like the soundof the cuckoo; her arms reach to herknees; her throat is like the pigeon's;her flanks are thin, like those of the lion;

her hair hangs in curls only down to herwaist; her teeth are like the seeds of thepomegranate; and her gait is that of thedrunken elephant or the goose."

On hearing the parrot's speech, the kingsent for an astrologer, and asked him,

"Whom shall I marry?" The wise man,having consulted his art, replied, "Chan-dravati is the name of the maiden, andyour marriage with her will certainlytake place." Thereupon the young Raja,though he had never seen his futurequeen, became incontinently enam-

oured of her. He summoned a Brahman,and sent him to King Magadheshwar,saying, "If you arrange satisfactorily thisaffair of our marriage we will reward youamply"-a promise which lent wings tothe priest.

Now it so happened that this talentedand beautiful princess had a jay, whosename was Madan-manjari or Love-

garland. She also possessed encyclo-paedic knowledge after her degree, and,like the parrot, she spoke excellent San-scrit.

Be it briefly said, O warrior king-for youthink that I am talking fables—that in

the days of old, men had the art ofmaking birds discourse in human lan-guage. The invention is attributed to agreat philosopher, who split theirtongues, and after many generationsproduced a selected race born withthose members split. He altered the

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shapes of their skulls by fixing ligaturesbehind the occiput, which caused thesinciput to protrude, their eyes tobecome prominent, and their brains tomaster the art of expressing thoughts inwords.

But this wonderful discovery, like thoseof great philosophers generally, had in ita terrible practical flaw The birds begin-

ning to speak, spoke wisely and so well,they told the truth so persistently, theyrebuked their brethren of the feather-less skins so openly, they flattered themso little and they counselled them somuch, that mankind presently grewtired of hearing them discourse. Thus

the art gradually fell into desuetude,and now it is numbered with the thingsthat were.

One day the charming Princess Chan-dravati was sitting in confidential con-versation with her jay. The dialogue was

not remarkable, for maidens in all agesseldom consult their confidantes orspeculate upon the secrets of futurity, orask to have dreams interpreted, exceptupon one subject. At last the princesssaid, for perhaps the hundredth timethat month, "Where, O jay, is there ahusband worthy of me?"

"Princess," replied Madan-manjari, "I am

happy at length to be able as willing tosatisfy your just curiosity. For just it is,though the delicacy of our sex"

"Now, no preaching!" said the maiden;"or thou shalt have salt instead of sugarfor supper."

Jays, your Rajaship, are fond of sugar. Sothe confidante retained a quantity ofgood advice which she was about to pro-duce, and replied,

"I now see clearly the ways of Fortune.

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Raja Ram, king of Bhogavati, is to be thyhusband. He shall be happy in thee andthou in him, for he is young and hand-some, rich and generous, good-tempered, not too clever, and without achance of being an invalid."

Thereupon the princess, although shehad never seen her future husband, atonce began to love him. In fact, though

neither had set eyes upon the other,both were mutually in love.

"How can that be, sire?" asked theyoung Dharma Dhwaj of his father. " Ialways thought that —"

The great Vikram interrupted his son,and bade him not to ask silly questions.

Thus he expected to neutralize the evileffects of the Baital's doctrine touchingthe amiability of parents unlike himself.

Now, as both these young people

(resumed the Baital) were of princelyfamily and well to do in the world, thecourse of their love was unusuallysmooth. When the Brahman sent byRaja Ram had reached Magadh, and haddelivered his King's homage to the RajaMagadheshwar, the latter received himwith distinction, and agreed to his pro-posal. The beautiful princess's fathersent for a Brahman of his own, and

charging him with nuptial gifts and thecustomary presents, sent him back toBhogavati in company with the otherenvoy, and gave him this order, "GreetRaja Ram, on my behalf, and after plac-ing the tilak or mark upon his forehead,return here with all speed. When you

come back I will get all things ready forthe marriage."

Raja Ram, on receiving the deputation,was greatly pleased, and after gener-ously rewarding the Brahmans andmaking all the necessary preparations,

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he set out in state for the land ofMagadha, to claim his betrothed.

In due season the ceremony took placewith feasting and bands of music, fire-works and illuminations, rehearsals ofscripture, songs, entertainments, pro-cessions, and abundant noise. Andhardly had the turmeric disappearedfrom the beautiful hands and feet of the

bride, when the bridegroom took an af-fectionate leave of his new parents - hehad not lived long in the house - and re-ceiving the dowry and the bridal gifts,set out for his own country.

Chandravati was dejected by leaving

her mother, and therefore she was al-lowed to carry with her the jay, Madan-manian. She soon told her husband thewonderful way in which she had firstheard his name, and he related to herthe advantage which he had derivedfrom confabulation with Churaman, his

parrot.

"Then why do we not put these preciouscreatures into one cage, after marryingthem according to the rites of the an-gelic marriage (Gandharva-lagana)?"said the charming queen. Like mostbrides, she was highly pleased to find anopportunity of making a match.

"Ay! why not, love ? Surely they cannotlive happy in what the world calls singleblessedness," replied the young king. Asbridegrooms sometimes are for a shorttime, he was very warm upon the sub-

ject of matrimony.

Thereupon, without consulting the par-ties chiefly concerned in their scheme,the master and mistress, after beingcomfortably settled at the end of their

journey, caused a large cage to bebrought, and put into it both their favou-rites.

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Upon which Churaman the parrot leanedhis head on one side and directed a pe-culiar look at the jay. But Madan- man-

jari raised her beak high in the air,puffed through it once or twice, andturned away her face in extreme dis-dain.

"Perhaps," quoth the parrot, at length

breaking silence, "you will tell me thatyou have no desire to be married?"

"Probably," replied the jay.

"And why?" asked the male bird.

"Because I don't choose," replied thefemale.

"Truly a feminine form of resolutionthis," ejaculated the parrot. "I willborrow my master's words and call it awoman's reason, that is to say, no

reason at all. Have you any objection tobe more explicit?"

"None whatever," retorted the jay, pro-voked by the rude innuendo into tellingmore plainly than politely exactly whatshe thought; "none whatever, sir parrot.

You he-things are all of you sinful,treacherous, deceitful, selfish, devoid ofconscience, and accustomed to sacrifice

us, the weaker sex, to your smallestdesire or convenience."

"Of a truth, fair lady," quoth the youngRaja Ram to his bride, "this pet of thineis sufficiently impudent."

"Let her words be as wind in thine ear,master," interrupted the parrot. "Andpray, Mistress Jay, what are you she-things but treacherous, false, ignorant,and avaricious beings, whose only wishin this world is to prevent life being aspleasant as it might be?"

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"Verily, my love," said the beautifulChandravati to her bridegroom, "this thybird has a habit of expressing his opin-ions in a very free and easy way."

"I can prove what I assert," whisperedthe jay in the ear of the princess.

"We can confound their feminine minds

by an anecdote," whispered the parrotin the ear of the prince.

Briefly, King Vikram, it was settled be-tween the twain that each should estab-lish the truth of what it had advanced byan illustration in the form of a story.

Chandravati claimed, and soon ob-tained, precedence for the jay. Then thewonderful bird, Madan-manjari, beganto speak as follows:-

I have often told thee, O queen, that

before coming to thy feet, my mistresswas Ratnawati, the daughter of a richtrader, the dearest, the sweetest, the —-

Here the jay burst into tears, and themistress was sympathetically affected.Presently the speaker resumed—-

However, I anticipate. In the city ofIlapur there was a wealthy merchant,

who was without offspring; on this ac-count he was continually fasting andgoing on pilgrimage, and when at homehe was ever engaged in reading thePuranas and in giving alms to the Brah-mans.

At length, by favour of the Deity, a sonwas born to this merchant, who cel-ebrated his birth with great pomp andrejoicing, and gave large gifts to Brah-mans and to bards, and distributedlargely to the hungry, the thirsty, andthe poor. When the boy was five years

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old he had him taught to read, and whenolder he was sent to a guru, who had for-merly himself been a student, and whowas celebrated as teacher and lecturer.

In the course of time the merchant's songrew up. Praise be to Brahma! what awonderful youth it was, with a face like amonkey's, legs like a stork's, and a backlike a camel's. You know the old prov-

erb:— Expect thirty-two villanies from thelimping, and eighty from the one-eyedman, But when the hunchback comes,say "Lord defend us!"

Instead of going to study, he went togamble with other ne'er-do-weels, towhom he talked loosely, and whom hetaught to be bad-hearted as himself. Hemade love to every woman, and despitehis ugliness, he was not unsuccessful.For they are equally fortunate who are

very handsome or very ugly, in so far asthey are both remarkable and re-marked. But the latter bear away thepalm. Beautiful men begin well withwomen, who do all they can to attractthem, love them as the apples of theireyes, discover them to be fools, holdthem to be their equals, deceive them,and speedily despise them. It is other-wise with the ugly man, who, in conse-

quence of his homeliness, must work hiswits and take pains with himself, andbecome as pleasing as he is capable ofbeing, till women forget his ape's face,bird's legs, and bunchy back.

The hunchback, moreover, became a

Tantri, so as to complete his villanies.He was duly initiated by an apostateBrahman, made a declaration that he re-nounced all the ceremonies of his old re-ligion, and was delivered from theiryoke, and proceeded to perform intoken of joy an abominable rite. In com-

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pany with eight men and eight women-aBrahman female, a dancing girl, aweaver's daughter, a woman of ill fame,a washerwoman, a barber's wife, a milk-maid, and the daughter of a land-owner-choosing the darkest time of night andthe most secret part of the house, hedrank with them, was sprinkled andanointed, and went through many ig-noble ceremonies, such as sitting nude

upon a dead body. The teacher informedhim that he was not to indulge shame,or aversion to anything, nor to preferone thing to another, nor to regardcaste, ceremonial cleanness or unclean-ness, but freely to enjoy all the plea-sures of sense-that is, of course, wine

and us, since we are the representativesof the wife of Cupid, and wine preventsthe senses from going astray. Andwhereas holy men, holding that the sub-

jugation or annihilation of the passionsis essential to final beatitude, accom-plish this object by bodily austerities,

and by avoiding temptation, he pro-ceeded to blunt the edge of the passionswith excessive indulgence. And he

jeered at the pious, reminding them thattheir ascetics are safe only in forests,and while keeping a perpetual fast; butthat he could subdue his passions in thevery presence of what they most de-sired.

Presently this excellent youth's fatherdied, leaving him immense wealth. Heblunted his passions so piously and sovigorously, that in very few years his for-tune was dissipated. Then he turned to-wards his neighbour's goods and pros-pered for a time, till being discovered

robbing, he narrowly escaped the stake.At length he exclaimed, "Let the godsperish! the rascals send me nothing butill luck!" and so saying he arose and fledfrom his own country.

Chance led that villain hunchback to the

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city of Chandrapur, where, hearing thename of my master Hemgupt, he recol-lected that one of his father's wealthiestcorrespondents was so called. There-upon, with his usual audacity, he pre-sented himself at the house, walked in,and although he was clothed in tatters,introduced himself, told his father'sname and circumstances, and wept bit-terly.

The good man was much astonished,and not less grieved, to see the son ofhis old friend in such woful plight. Herose up, however, embraced the youth,and asked the reason of his coming.

"I freighted a vessel," said the false

hunchback, "for the purpose of tradingto a certain land. Having gone there, Idisposed of my merchandise, and,taking another cargo, I was on myvoyage home. Suddenly a great stormarose, and the vessel was wrecked, andI escaped on a plank, and after a time

arrived here. But I am ashamed, since Ihave lost all my wealth, and I cannotshow my face in this plight in my owncity. My excellent father would haveconsoled me with his pity. But now that Ihave carried him and my mother toGanges, every one will turn against me;they will rejoice in my misfortunes, theywill accuse me of folly and recklessness- alas! alas! I am truly miserable."

My dear master was deceived by thecunning of the wretch. He offered himhospitality, which was readily enoughaccepted, and he entertained him forsome time as a guest. Then, havingreason to be satisfied with his conduct,

Hemgupt admitted him to his secrets,and finally made him a partner in hisbusiness. Briefly, the villain played hiscards so well, that at last the merchantsaid to himself:

"I have had for years an anxiety and a

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calamity in my house. My neighbourswhisper things to my disadvantage, andthose who are bolder speak out with as-tonishment amongst themselves,saying, 'At seven or eight, people marrytheir daughters, and this indeed is theappointment of the law: that period islong since gone; she is now thirteen orfourteen years old, and she is very talland lusty, resembling a married woman

of thirty. How can her father eat his ricewith comfort and sleep with satisfaction,whilst such a disreputable thing exists inhis house? At present he is exposed toshame, and his deceased friends aresuffering through his retaining a girlfrom marriage beyond the period which

nature has prescribed.' And now, while Iam sitting quietly at home, the Bhagwan(Deity) removes all my uneasiness: byhis favour such an opportunity occurs. Itis not right to delay. It is best that I shallgive my daughter in marriage to him.Whatever can be done to-day is best;

who knows what may happen to-morrow?

"Thus thinking, the old man went to hiswife and said to her, "Birth, marriage,and death are all under the direction ofthe gods; can anyone say when they willbe ours? We want for our daughter ayoung man who is of good birth, rich andhandsome, clever and honourable. But

we do not find him. If the bridegroom befaulty, thou sayest, all will go wrong. Icannot put a string round the neck ofour daughter and throw her into theditch. If, however, thou think well of themerchant's son, now my partner, we willcelebrate Ratnawati's marriage with

him."

The wife, who had been won over by thehunchback's hypocrisy, was alsopleased, and replied, "My lord! when theDeity so plainly indicates his wish, weshould do it; since, though we have sat

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quietly at home, the desire of our heartsis accomplished. It is best that no delaybe made: and, having quickly sum-moned the family priest, and havingfixed upon a propitious planetary con-

junction, that the marriage be cel-ebrated."

Then they called their daughter — ah,me! what a beautiful being she was, and

worthy the love of a Gandharva(demigod). Her long hair, purple withthe light of youth, was glossy as thebramra's wing; her brow was pure andclear as the agate; the ocean-corallooked pale beside her lips, and herteeth were as two chaplets of pearls. Ev-

erything in her was formed to be loved.Who could look into her eyes withoutwishing to do it again? Who could hearher voice without hoping that suchmusic would sound once more? And shewas good as she was fair. Her fatheradored her; her mother, though a

middle-aged woman, was not envious or jealous of her; her relatives doted onher, and her friends could find no faultwith her. I should never end were I to tellher precious qualities. Alas, alas ! mypoor Ratnawati!

So saying, the jay wept abundant tears;then she resumed:

When her parents informed my mistressof their resolution, she replied, "Sadhu-itis well!" She was not like most youngwomen, who hate nothing so much as aman whom their seniors order them tolove. She bowed her head and promisedobedience, although, as she afterwards

told her mother, she could hardly look ather intended, on account of his prodi-gious ugliness. But presently the hunch-back's wit surmounted her disgust. Shewas grateful to him for his attention toher father and mother; she esteemedhim for his moral and religious conduct;

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she pitied him for his misfortunes, andshe finished with forgetting his face,legs, and back in her admiration of whatshe supposed to be his mind.

She had vowed before marriage faith-fully to perform all the duties of a wife,however distasteful to her they mightbe; but after the nuptials, which werenot long deferred, she was not surprised

to find that she loved her husband. Notonly did she omit to think of his featuresand figure; I verily believe that she lovedhim the more for his repulsiveness.Ugly, very ugly men prevail over womenfor two reasons. Firstly, we begin withrepugnance, which in the course of

nature turns to affection; and we all likethe most that which, when unaccus-tomed to it, we most disliked. Hence thepoet says, with as much truth as is in themale:

Never despair, O man! when

woman's spite Detests thy name and sickens atthy sight: Sometime her heart shall learn tolove thee more For the wild hatred which it feltbefore, &c.

Secondly, the very ugly man appears,deceitfully enough, to think little of his

appearance, and he will give himself thetrouble to pursue a heart because heknows that the heart will not follow afterhim. Moreover, we women (said the jay)are by nature pitiful, and this our en-emies term a "strange perversity." Awidow is generally disconsolate if she

loses a little, wizen-faced, shrunkenshanked, ugly, spiteful, distemperedthing that scolded her and quarrelledwith her, and beat her and made herhours bitter; whereas she will follow herhusband to Ganges with exemplary for-titude if he was brave, handsome, gen-

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erous —-

"Either hold your tongue or go on withyour story," cried the warrior king, inwhose mind these remarks awakeneddisagreeable family reflections.

"Hi! hi! hi!" laughed the demon; "I willobey your majesty, and make Madan-manjari, the misanthropical jay, pro-

ceed."

Yes, she loved the hunchback; and howwonderful is our love! quoth the jay. Alight from heaven which rains happinesson this dull, dark earth! A spell fallingupon the spirit, which reminds us of a

higher existence! A memory of bliss! Apresent delight! An earnest of future fe-licity! It makes hideousness beautifuland stupidity clever, old age young andwickedness good, moroseness amiable,and low-mindedness magnanimous,perversity pretty and vulgarity piquant.

Truly it is sovereign alchemy and excel-lent flux for blending contradictions isour love, exclaimed the jay.

And so saying, she cast a triumphantlook at the parrot, who only remarkedthat he could have desired a little moreoriginality in her remarks.

For some months (resumed Madan-

manjari), the bride and the bridegroomlived happily together in Hemgupt'shouse. But it is said:

Never yet did the tiger become a lamb;

and the hunchback felt that the edge of

his passions again wanted blunting. Hereflected, "Wisdom is exemption fromattachment, and affection for children,wife, and home." Then he thus ad-dressed my poor young mistress:

"I have been now in thy country some

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years, and I have heard no tidings of myown family, hence my mind is sad, Ihave told thee everything about myself;thou must now ask thy mother leave forme to go to my own city, and, if thouwishest, thou mayest go with me."

Ratnawati lost no time in saying to hermother, "My husband wishes to visit hisown country; will you so arrange that he

may not be pained about this matter?"

The mother went to her husband, andsaid, "Your son-in-law desires leave togo to his own country."

Hemgupt replied, " Very well; we will

grant him leave. One has no power overanother man's son. We will do what hewishes."

The parents then called their daughter,and asked her to tell them her realdesire-whether she would go to her

father-in-law's house, or would remainin her mother's home. She was abashedat this question, and could not answer;but she went back to her husband, andsaid, "As my father and mother have de-clared that you should do as you like, donot leave me behind."Presently the merchant summoned hisson-in-law, and having bestowed greatwealth upon him, allowed him to depart.

He also bade his daughter farewell, aftergiving her a palanquin and a femaleslave. And the parents took leave ofthem with wailing and bitter tears; theirhearts were like to break. And so wasmine.

For some days the hunchback travelledquietly along with his wife, in deepthought. He could not take her to hiscity, where she would find out his evillife, and the fraud which he had passedupon her father. Besides which, al-though he wanted her money, he by no

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means wanted her company for life.After turning on many projects in hisevil-begotten mind, he hit upon the fol-lowing:

He dismissed the palanquin-bearerswhen halting at a little shed in the thick

jungle through which they were travel-ling, and said to his wife, "This is a placeof danger; give me thy jewels, and I will

hide them in my waist-shawl. When thoureachest the city thou canst wear themagain." She then gave up to him all herornaments, which were of great value.

Thereupon he inveigled the slave girlinto the depths of the forest, where hemurdered her, and left her body to be

devoured by wild beasts. Lastly, return-ing to my poor mistress, he induced herto leave the hut with him, and pushedher by force into a dry well, after whichexploit he set out alone with his ill-gotten wealth, walking towards his owncity.

In the meantime, a wayfaring man, whowas passing through that jungle, hear-ing the sound of weeping, stood still,and began to say to himself, "How cameto my ears the voice of a mortal's grief inthis wild wood?" then followed the direc-tion of the noise, which led him a pit,and peeping over the side, he saw awoman crying at the bottom. The travel-

ler at once loosened his gird cloth, knot-ted it to his turband, and letting downthe line pulled out the poor bride. Heasked her who she was and how shecame to fall into that well. She replied, "Iam the daughter of Hemgupt, thewealthiest merchant in the city of Chan-

drapur; and I was journeying with myhusband to his own country, when rob-bers set upon us and surrounded us.

They slew my slave girl, the threw meinto a well, and having bound my hus-band they took him away, together withmy jewels. I have no tidings of him, nor

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he of me." And so saying, she burst intotears and lamentations.

The wayfaring man believed her tale,and conducted her to her home, whereshe gave the same account of the acci-dent which had befallen her, endingwith, "beyond this, I know not if theyhave killed my husband, or have let himgo." The father thus soothed her grief

"Daughter! have no anxiety; thy hus-band is alive, and by the will of the Deityhe will come to thee in a few days.

Thieves take men's money, not theirlives." Then the parents presented herwith ornaments more precious thanthose which she had lost; and summon-

ing their relations and friends, they com-forted her to the best of their power.

And so did I. The wicked hunchback had,meanwhile, returned to his own city,where he was excellently well received,because he brought much wealth with

him. His old associates flocked aroundhim rejoicing; and he fell into the samecourses which had beggared himbefore. Gambling and debauchery soonblunted his passions, and emptied hispurse. Again his boon companions, find-ing him without a broken cowrie, drovehim from their doors, he stole and wasflogged for theft; and lastly, half fam-ished, he fled the city. Then he said to

himself, "I must go to my father-in-law,and make the excuse that a grandsonhas been born to him, and that I havecome to offer him congratulations onthe event."

Imagine, however, his fears and aston-

ishment, when, as he entered thehouse, his wife stood before him. At firsthe thought it was a ghost, and turned torun away, but she went out to him andsaid, "Husband, be not troubled ! I havetold my father that thieves came uponus, and killed the slave girl and robbed

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me and threw me into a well, and boundthee and carried thee off. Tell the samestory, and put away all anxious feelings.Come up and change thy tatteredgarments-alas! some misfortune hathbefallen thee. But console thyself; all isnow well, since thou art returned to me,and fear not, for the house is thine, andI am thy slave."

The wretch, with all his hardness ofheart, could scarcely refrain from tears.He followed his wife to her room, whereshe washed his feet, caused him tobathe, dressed him in new clothes, andplaced food before him. When her par-ents returned, she presented him to

their embrace, saying in a glad way,"Rejoice with me, O my father andmother! the robbers have at length al-lowed him to come back to us." Ofcourse the parents were deceived, theyare mostly a purblind race; andHemgupt, showing great favour to his

worthless son-in-law, exclaimed,"Remain with us, my son, and behappy!"

For two or three months the hunchbacklived quietly with his wife, treating herkindly and even affectionately. But thisdid not last long. He made acquaintancewith a band of thieves, and arranged hisplans with them.

After a time, his wife one night came tosleep by his side, having put on all her

jewels. At midnight, when he saw thatshe was fast asleep, he struck her with aknife so that she died. Then he admittedhis accomplices, who savagely mur-

dered Hemgupt and his wife; and withtheir assistance he carried off any valu-able article upon which he could lay hishands. The ferocious wretch! As hepassed my cage he looked at it, andthought whether he had time to wringmy neck. The barking of a dog saved my

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life; but my mistress, my poor Ratnawa-ti-ah, me! ah, me!—

"Queen," said the jay, in deepest grief,"all this have I seen with mine own eyes,and have heard with mine own ears. Itaffected me in early life, and gave me adislike for the society of the other sex.With due respect to you, I have resolvedto remain an old maid. Let your majesty

reflect, what crime had my poor mis-tress committed? A male is of the samedisposition as a highway robber; andshe who forms friendship with such anone, cradles upon her bosom a blackand venomous snake."

"Sir Parrot," said the jay, turning to herwooer, "I have spoken. I have nothingmore to say, but that you he-things areall a treacherous, selfish, wicked race,created for the express purpose of work-ing our worldly woe, and—"

"When a female, O my king, asserts thatshe has nothing more to say, but," brokein Churaman, the parrot with a loud dog-matical voice, "I know that what she hassaid merely whets her tongue for whatshe is about to say. This person hassurely spoken long enough and drearilyenough."

"Tell me, then, O parrot," said the king,

"what faults there may be in the othersex."

"I will relate," quoth Churaman, "an oc-currence which in my early youth deter-mined me to live and to die an old bach-elor."

When quite a young bird, and before myschooling began, I was caught in theland of Malaya, and was sold to a veryrich merchant called Sagardati, a wid-ower with one daughter, the lady Jayas-hri. As her father spent all his days and

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half his nights in his counting-house,conning his ledgers and scolding hiswriters, that young woman had more lib-erty than is generally allowed to those ofher age, and a mighty bad use she madeof it.

O king! men commit two capital mis-takes in rearing the "domestic calam-ity," and these are over-vigilance andunder-vigilance. Some parents neverlose sight of their daughters, suspectthem of all evil intentions, and are sillyenough to show their suspicions, whichis an incentive to evil-doing. For theweak-minded things do naturally say, "Iwill be wicked at once. What do I now

but suffer all the pains and penalties ofbadness, without enjoying its plea-sures?" And so they are guilty of manyevil actions; for, however vigilant fa-thers and mothers may be, the daughtercan always blind their eyes.

On the other hand, many parents takeno trouble whatever with their charges:they allow them to sit in idleness, theorigin of badness; they permit them to

communicate with the wicked, and theygive them liberty which breeds opportu-nity. Thus they also, falling into thesnares of the unrighteous, who are evera more painstaking race than the righ-teous, are guilty of many evil actions.

What, then, must wise parents do? Thewise will study the characters of theirchildren, and modify their treatment ac-cordingly. If a daughter be naturallygood, she will be treated with a prudentconfidence. If she be vicious, an appar-

ent trust will be reposed in her; but herfather and mother will secretly ever beupon their guard. The one-idea'd —

"All this parrot-prate, I suppose, is onlyintended to vex me," cried the warriorking, who always considered himself,

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and very naturally, a person of such con-sequence as ever to be uppermost inthe thoughts and minds of others. "Ifthou must tell a tale, then tell one, Vam-pire! or else be silent, as I am sick to thedeath of thy psychics."

"It is well, O warrior king," resumed theBaital.

After that Churaman the parrot hadgiven the young Raja Ram a goldenmine full of good advice about the man-agement of daughters, he proceeded todescribe Jayashri.

She was tall, stout, and well made, of

lymphatic temperament, and yet strongpassions. Her fine large eyes had heavyand rather full eyelids, which are to beavoided. Her hands were symmetricalwithout being small, and the palms wereever warm and damp. Though her lipswere good, her mouth was somewhat

underhung; and her voice was so deep,that at times it sounded like that of aman. Her hair was smooth as thekokila's plume, and her complexion wasthat of the young jasmine; and thesewere the points at which most personslooked. Altogether, she was neitherhandsome nor ugly, which is an excel-lent thing in woman. Sita the goddesswas lovely to excess; therefore she wascarried away by a demon. Raja Bali wasexceedingly generous, and he emptiedhis treasury. In this way, exaggeration,even of good, is exceedingly bad.

Yet must I confess, continued the parrot,that, as a rule, the beautiful woman is

more virtuous than the ugly. The formeris often tempted, but her vanity andconceit enable her to resist, by the self-promise that she shall be tempted againand again. On the other hand, the uglywoman must tempt instead of beingtempted, and she must yield, because

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her vanity and conceit are gratified byyielding, not by resisting."Ho, there!" broke in the jay contemptu-ously. "What woman cannot win thehearts of the silly things called men? Is itnot said that a pig-faced female whodwells in Landanpur has a lover?"

I was about to remark, my king! said theparrot, somewhat nettled, if the aged

virgin had not interrupted me, that asugly women are more vicious thanhandsome women, so they are mostsuccessful. "We love the pretty, weadore the plain," is a true sayingamongst the worldly wise. And why dowe adore the plain? Because they seem

to think less of themselves than of us-avital condition of adoration.

Jayashri made some conquests by theportion of good looks which she pos-sessed, more by her impudence, andmost by her father's reputation for

riches. She was truly shameless, andnever allowed herself fewer than half adozen admirers at the time. Her chiefamusement was to appoint interviews

with them successively, at intervals soshort that she was obliged to hurry awayone in order to make room for another.And when a lover happened to be jeal-ous, or ventured in any way to criticizeher arrangements, she replied at onceby showing him the door. Answer unan-swerable!

When Jayashri had reached the ripe ageof thirteen, the son of a merchant, whowas her father's gossip and neighbour,returned home after a long sojourn in far

lands, whither he had travelled in thesearch of wealth. The poor wretch,whose name, by-the-bye, was Shridat(Gift of Fortune), had loved her in herchildhood; and he came back, as menare apt to do after absence from familiarscenes, painfully full of affection for

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house and home and all belonging to it.From his cross, stingy old uncle to thesnarling superannuated beast of awatchdog, he viewed all with eyes of

love and melting heart. He could not seethat his idol was greatly changed, andnowise for the better; that her nose wasbroader and more club-like, her eyelidsfatter and thicker, her under lip moreprominent, her voice harsher, and hermanner coarser. He did not notice thatshe was an adept in judging of men'sdress, and that she looked with admira-tion upon all swordsmen, especiallyupon those who fought upon horses andelephants. The charm of memory, thecurious faculty of making past time

present caused all he viewed to be en-chanting to him.

Having obtained her father's permis-sion, Shridat applied for betrothal to

Jayashri, who with peculiar boldness,had resolved that no suitor should come

to her through her parent. And she, afterleading him on by all the coquetries ofwhich she was a mistress, refused tomarry him, saying that she liked him as

a friend, but would hate him as a hus-band.

You see, my king! there are three sev-eral states of feeling with which womenregard their masters, and these arelove, hate, and indifference. Of all, loveis the weakest and the most transient,because the essentially unstable crea-tures naturally fall out of it as readily asthey fall into it. Hate being a sister ex-citement will easily become, if a manhas wit enough to effect the change,

love; and hate-love may perhaps last alittle longer than love-love. Also, manhas the occupation, the excitement, andthe pleasure of bringing about thechange. As regards the neutral state,that poet was not happy in his ideas whosang —

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Whene'er indifference appears, orscorn,

Then, man, despair! then, hapless lover,mourn!

For a man versed in the Lila Shastra cansoon turn a woman's indifference intohate, which I have shown is as easilypermuted to love. In which predicamentit is the old thing over again, and it endsin the pure Asat or nonentity.

"Which of these two birds, the jay or theparrot, had dipped deeper into humannature, mighty King Vikram?" asked the

demon in a wheedling tone of voice.

The trap was this time set too openly,even for the royal personage, to fall intoit. He hurried on, calling to his son, andnot answering a word. The Vampiretherefore resumed the thread of his

story at the place where he had brokenit off.

Shridat was in despair when he heard

the resolve of his idol. He thought ofdrowning himself, of throwing himselfdown from the summit of Mount Girnar,of becoming a religious beggar; in short,of a multitude of follies. But he refrainedfrom all such heroic remedies for de-spair, having rightly judged, when hebecame somewhat calmer, that theywould not be likely to further his suit. Hediscovered that patience is a virtue, andhe resolved impatiently enough to prac-tice it. And by perseverance he suc-ceeded. The worse for him! How vain

are men to wish! How wise is the Deity,who is deaf to their wishes!

Jayashri, for potent reasons best knownto herself, was married to Shridat sixmonths after his return home. He was inraptures. He called himself the happiest

26







man in existence. He thanked and sacri-ficed to the Bhagwan for listening to hisprayers. He recalled to mind with thrill-ing heart the long years which he had

spent in hopeless exile from all that wasdear to him, his sadness and anxiety, hishopes and joys, his toils and troubles hisloyal love and his vows to Heaven forthe happiness of his idol, and for the fur-therance of his fondest desires.

For truly he loved her, continued theparrot, and there is something holy insuch love. It becomes not only a faith,but the best of faiths-an abnegation ofself which emancipates the spirit fromits straightest and earthliest bondage,

the "I"; the first step in the regions ofheaven; a homage rendered throughthe creature to the Creator; a devotionsolid, practical, ardent, not as worshipmostly is, a cold and lifeless abstraction;a merging of human nature into one farnobler and higher the spiritual existence

of the supernal world. For perfect love isperfect happiness, and the only perfec-tion of man; and what is a demon but abeing without love? And what makes

man's love truly divine, is the fact that itis bestowed upon such a thing aswoman.

"And now, Raja Vikram," said the Vam-pire, speaking in his proper person, "Ihave given you Madanmanjari the jay'sand Churaman the parrot's definitions ofthe tender passion, or rather their de-scriptions of its effects. Kindly observethat I am far from accepting either oneor the other. Love is, according to me,somewhat akin to mania, a temporary

condition of selfishness, a transient con-fusion of identity. It enables man topredicate of others who are his otherselves, that which he is ashamed to sayabout his real self. I will suppose the be-loved object to be ugly, stupid, vicious,perverse, selfish, low minded, or the re-

27







verse; man finds it charming by thesame rule that makes his faults andfoibles dearer to him than all the virtuesand good qualities of his neighbours. Ye

call love a spell, an alchemy, a deity.Why? Because it deifies self by gratify-ing all man's pride, man's vanity, andman's conceit, under the mask of com-plete unegotism. Who is not in heavenwhen he is talking of himself? and,prithee, of what else consists all the talkof lovers?"

It is astonishing that the warrior king al-lowed this speech to last as long as itdid. He hated nothing so fiercely, nowthat he was in middle-age, as any long

mention of the "handsome god." Havingvainly endeavoured to stop by angrymutterings the course of the Baital's elo-quence, he stepped out so vigorouslyand so rudely shook that inveteratetalker, that the latter once or twicenearly bit off the tip of his tongue. Then

the Vampire became silent, and Vikramrelapsed into a walk which allowed thetale to be resumed.

Jayashri immediately conceived a strongdislike for her husband, and simultane-ously a fierce affection for a reprobatewho before had been indifferent to her.

The more lovingly Shridat behaved toher, the more vexed end annoyed shewas. When her friends talked to her, sheturned up her nose, raising her eye-brows (in token of displeasure), and re-mained silent. When her husband spokewords of affection to her, she foundthem disagreeable, and turning awayher face, reclined on the bed. Then he

brought dresses and ornaments of vari-ous kinds and presented them to her,saying, "Wear these." Whereupon shewould become more angry, knit herbrows, turn her face away, and in an au-dible whisper call him "fool." All day shestayed out of the house, saying to her

28







companions, "Sisters, my youth is pass-ing away, and I have not, up to the pres-ent time, tasted any of this world's plea-sures." Then she would ascend to the

balcony, peep through the lattice, andseeing the reprobate going along, shewould cry to her friend, "Bring thatperson to me." All night she tossed andturned from side to side, reflecting inher heart, "I am puzzled in my mindwhat I shall say, and whither I shall go. Ihave forgotten sleep, hunger, and thirst;neither heat nor cold is refreshing tome."

At last, unable any longer to support theseparation from her reprobate par-

amour, whom she adored, she resolvedto fly with him. On one occasion, whenshe thought that her husband was fastasleep, she rose up quietly, and leavinghim, made her way fearlessly in the darknight to her lover's abode. A footpad,who saw her on the way, thought to him-

self, "Where can this woman, clothed in jewels, be going alone at midnight?"And thus he followed her unseen, andwatched her.

When Jayashri reached the intendedplace, she went into the house, andfound her lover lying at the door. He wasdead, having been stabbed by the foot-pad; but she, thinking that he had, ac-cording to custom, drunk intoxicatinghemp, sat upon the floor, and raising hishead, placed it tenderly in her lap. Then,burning with the fire of separation fromhim, she began to kiss his cheeks, andto fondle and caress him with theutmost freedom and affection.

By chance a Pisach (evil spirit) wasseated in a large fig-tree opposite thehouse, and it occurred to him, when be-holding this scene, that he might amusehimself in a characteristic way. Hetherefore hopped down from his branch,

29







vivified the body, and began to returnthe woman's caresses. But as Jayashribent down to kiss his lips, he caught theend of her nose in his teeth, and bit it

clean off. He then issued from thecorpse, and returned to the branchwhere he had been sitting.

Jayashri was in despair. She did not,however, lose her presence of mind, butsat down and proceeded to takethought; and when she had matured herplan she arose, dripping with blood, andwalked straight home to her husband'shouse. On entering his room sheclapped her hand to her nose, andbegan to gnash her teeth, and to shriek

so violently, that all the members of thefamily were alarmed. The neighboursalso collected in numbers at the door,and, as it was bolted inside, they brokeit open and rushed in, carrying lights.

There they saw the wife sitting upon theground with her face mutilated, and the

husband standing over her, apparentlytrying to appease her.

"O ignorant, criminal, shameless, piti-

less wretch!" cried the people, espe-cially the women; "why hast thou cut offher nose, she not having offended in anyway?"

Poor Shridat, seeing at once the trickwhich had been played upon him,thought to himself: "One should put noconfidence in a changeful mind, a blackserpent, or an armed enemy, and oneshould dread a woman's doings. Whatcannot a poet describe? What is therethat a saint (jogi) does not know? What

nonsense will not a drunken man talk?What limit is there to a woman's guile? True it is that the gods know nothing ofthe defects of a horse, of the thunderingof clouds, of a woman's deeds, or of aman's future fortunes. How then can weknow?" He could do nothing but weep,

30







and swear by the herb basil, by hiscattle, by his grain, by a piece of gold,and by all that is holy, that he had notcommitted the crime.

In the meanwhile, the old merchant, Jayashri's father, ran off, and laid a com-plaint before the kotwal, and the foot-men of the police magistrate were im-mediately sent to apprehend the hus-band, and to carry him bound before the

judge. The latter, after due examination,laid the affair before the king. An ex-ample happening to be necessary at thetime, the king resolved to punish the of-fence with severity, and he summonedthe husband and wife to the court.

When the merchant's daughter wasasked to give an account of what hadhappened, she pointed out the state ofher nose, and said, "Maharaj! why in-quire of me concerning what is so mani-fest?" The king then turned to the hus-

band, and bade him state his defence.He said, "I know nothing of it," and in theface of the strongest evidence he per-sisted in denying his guilt.

Thereupon the king, who had vainlythreatened to cut off Shridat's righthand, infuriated by his refusing to con-fess and to beg for mercy, exclaimed,"How must I punish such a wretch asthou art?" The unfortunate man an-swered, "Whatever your majesty mayconsider just, that be pleased to do."

Thereupon the king cried, "Away withhim, and impale him"; and the people,hearing the command, prepared to obeyit.

Before Shridat had left the court, thefootpad, who had been looking on, andwho saw that an innocent man wasabout to be unjustly punished, raised acry for justice and, pushing through thecrowd, resolved to make himself heard.

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He thus addressed the throne: "Greatking, the cherishing of the good, and thepunishment of the bad, is the invariableduty of kings." The ruler having caused

him to approach, asked him who he was,and he replied boldly, " Maharaj! I am athief, and this man is innocent and hisblood is about to be shed unjustly. Yourmajesty has not done what is right inthis affair." Thereupon the king chargedhim to tell the truth according to his reli-gion; and the thief related explicitly thewhole circumstances, omitting ofcourse, the murder.

"Go ye," said the king to his messen-gers, "and look in the mouth of the

woman's lover who has fallen dead. Ifthe nose be there found, then has thisthief-witness told the truth, and the hus-band is a guiltless man."

The nose was presently produced incourt, and Shridat escaped the stake.

The king caused the wicked Jayashri'sface to be smeared with oily soot, andher head and eyebrows to be shaved;thus blackened and disfigured, she was

mounted upon a little ragged-limbed assand was led around the market and thestreets, after which she was banishedfor ever from the city. The husband andthe thief were then dismissed with beteland other gifts, together with muchsage advice which neither of themwanted.

"My king," resumed the misogyneparrot, "of such excellencies as theseare women composed. It is said that'wet cloth will extinguish fire and bad

food will destroy strength; a degenerateson ruins a family, and when a friend isin wrath he takes away life. But awoman is an inflicter of grief in love andin hate, whatever she does turns out tobe for our ill. Truly the Deity has createdwoman a strange being in this world.'

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And again, 'The beauty of the nightin-gale is its song, science is the beauty ofan ugly man, forgiveness is the beautyof a devotee, and the beauty of a

woman is virtue-but where shall we findit?' And again, 'Among the sages,Narudu; among the beasts, the jackal;among the birds, the crow; among men,the barber; and in this world woman-isthe most crafty.'

"What I have told thee, my king, I haveseen with mine own eyes, and I haveheard with mine own ears. At the time Iwas young, but the event so affected methat I have ever since held female kindto be a walking pest, a two-legged

plague, whose mission on earth, likeflies and other vermin, is only to preventour being too happy. O, why do not chil-dren and young parrots sprout in cropsfrom the ground-from budding trees orvinestocks?"

"I was thinking, sire," said the youngDharma Dhwaj to the warrior king hisfather, "what women would say of us ifthey could compose Sanskrit verses!"

"Then keep your thoughts to yourself,"replied the Raja, nettled at his sondaring to say a word in favour of the sex."You always take the part of wickednessand depravity—- "

"Permit me, your majesty," interruptedthe Baital, "to conclude my tale."

When Madan-manjari, the jay, andChuraman, the parrot, had given theseillustrations of their belief, they began to

wrangle, and words ran high. The formerinsisted that females are the salt of theearth, speaking, I presume, figuratively.

The latter went so far as to assert thatthe opposite sex have no souls, and thattheir brains are in a rudimental and in-choate state of development. There-

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upon he was tartly taken to task by hismaster's bride, the beautiful Chandra-vati, who told him that those only have abad opinion of women who have associ-

ated with none but the vicious and thelow, and that he should be ashamed toabuse feminine parrots, because hismother had been one.

This was truly logical.

On the other hand, the jay was sternlyreproved for her mutinous and treason-able assertions by the husband of hermistress, Raja Ram, who, although still abridegroom, had not forgotten the gal-lant rule of his syntax—

The masculine is more worthy than thefeminine;

till Madan-manjari burst into tears anddeclared that her life was not worthhaving. And Raja Ram looked at her as if

he could have wrung her neck.

In short, Raja Vikram, all the four losttheir tempers, and with them what little

wits they had. Two of them were butbirds, and the others seem not to havebeen much better, being young, igno-rant, inexperienced, and lately married.How then could they decide so difficult aquestion as that of the relative wicked-ness and villany of men and women?Had your majesty been there, the knotof uncertainty would soon have beenundone by the trenchant edge of yourwit and wisdom, your knowledge andexperience. You have, of course, longsince made up your mind upon the sub-

ject?

Dharma Dhwaj would have preventedhis father's reply. But the youth hadbeen twice reprehended in the course ofthis tale, and he thought it wisest to letthings take their own way.

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"Women," quoth the Raja, oracularly,"are worse than we are; a man, howeverdepraved he may be, ever retains some

notion of right and wrong, but a womandoes not. She has no such regard what-ever."

"The beautiful Bangalah Rani for in-stance?" said the Baital, with a de-monaic sneer.

At the mention of a word, the uttering ofwhich was punishable by extirpation ofthe tongue, Raja Vikram's brain whirledwith rage. He staggered in the violenceof his passion, and putting forth both

hands to break his fall, he dropped thebundle from his back. Then the Baital,disentangling himself and laughing lust-ily, ran off towards the tree as fast as histhin brown legs would carry him. But hisactivity availed him little.

The king, puffing with fury, followed himat the top of his speed, and caught himby his tail before he reached the siras-tree, hurled him backwards with force,

put foot upon his chest, and after shak-ing out the cloth, rolled him up in it withextreme violence, bumped his back halfa dozen times against the stony ground,and finally, with a jerk, threw him on hisshoulder, as he had done before.

The young prince, afraid to accompanyhis father whilst he was pursuing thefiend, followed slowly in the rear, anddid not join him for some minutes.

But when matters were in their normal

state, the Vampire, who had enduredwith exemplary patience the penalty ofhis impudence, began in honeyed ac-cents,"Listen, O warrior king, whilst thy ser-vant recounts unto thee another truetale."

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k d h THE RELATIVE VILLANY OF MEN AND WOMAN




THE END



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vikram and the vampire second story - mocomi

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