THE VAMPIRE'S THIRD STORY

THE VAMPIRE'S THIRD STORY.




Of a High-minded Family.
In the venerable city of Bardwan, O warrior king! (quoth the
Vampire) during the reign of the mighty Rupsen, flourished one
Rajeshwar, a Rajput warrior of distinguished fame. By his valour
and conduct he had risen from the lowest ranks of the army to
command it as its captain. And arrived at that dignity, he did not
put a stop to all improvements, like other chiefs, who rejoice to
rest and return thanks. On the contrary, he became such a reformer
that, to some extent, he remodelled the art of war.
Instead of attending to rules and regulations, drawn up in their
studies by pandits and Brahmans, he consulted chiefly his own
experience and judgment. He threw aside the systematic plans of
campaigns laid down in the Shastras or books of the ancients, and
he acted upon the spur of the moment. He displayed a skill in the
choice of ground, in the use of light troops, and in securing his
own supplies whilst he cut off those of the enemy, which
Kartikaya himself, God of War, might have envied. Finding that
the bows of his troops were clumsy and slow to use, he had them
all changed before compelled so to do by defeat; he also gave his
attention to the sword handles, which cramped the men's grasp but
which having been used for eighteen hundred years were
considered perfect weapons. And having organized a special corps
of warriors using fire arrows, he soon brought it to such perfection
that, by using it against the elephants of his enemies, he gained
many a campaign.
One instance of his superior judgment I am about to quote to thee,
O Vikram, after which I return to my tale; for thou art truly a
warrior king, very likely to imitate the innovations of the great
general Rajeshwar.
(A grunt from the monarch was the result of the Vampire's sneer.)
He found his master's armies recruited from Northern Hindustan,
and officered by Kshatriya warriors, who grew great only because
they grew old and - fat. Thus the energy and talent of the younger
men were wasted in troubles and disorders; whilst the seniors were
often so ancient that they could not mount their chargers unaided,
nor, when they were mounted, could they see anything a dozen
yards before them. But they had served in a certain obsolete
campaign, and until Rajeshwar gave them pensions and dismissals,
they claimed a right to take first part in all campaigns present and
future. The commander-in-chief refused to use any captain who
could not stand steady on his legs, or endure the sun for a whole
day. When a soldier distinguished himself in action, he raised him
to the powers and privileges of the warrior caste. And whereas it
had been the habit to lavish circles and bars of silver and other
metals upon all those who had joined in the war, whether they had
sat behind a heap of sand or had been foremost to attack the foe, he
broke through the pernicious custom, and he rendered the honour
valuable by conferring it only upon the deserving. I need hardly
say that, in an inordinately short space of time, his army beat every
king and general that opposed it.
One day the great commander-in-chief was seated in a certain
room near the threshold of his gate, when the voices of a number
of people outside were heard. Rajeshwar asked, "Who is at the
door, and what is the meaning of the noise I hear?" The porter
replied, "It is a fine thing your honour has asked. Many persons
come sitting at the door of the rich for the purpose of obtaining a
livelihood and wealth. When they meet together they talk of
various things: it is these very people who are now making this
noise."
Rajeshwar, on hearing this, remained silent.
In the meantime a traveller, a Rajput, Birbal by name, hoping to
obtain employment, came from the southern quarter to the palace
of the chief. The porter having listened to his story, made the
circumstance known to his master, saying, "O chief! an armed man
has arrived here, hoping to obtain employment, and is standing at
the door. If I receive a command he shall be brought into your
honour's presence."
"Bring him in," cried the commander-in-chief.
The porter brought him in, and Rajeshwar inquired, "O Rajput,
who and what art thou?"
Birbal submitted that he was a person of distinguished fame for the
use of weapons, and that his name for fidelity and velour had gone
forth to the utmost ends of Bharat-Kandha.[FN#83]
The chief was well accustomed to this style of self introduction,
and its only effect upon his mind was a wish to shame the man by
showing him that he had not the least knowledge of weapons. He
therefore bade him bare his blade and perform some feat.
Birbal at once drew his good sword. Guessing the thoughts which
were hovering about the chief's mind, he put forth his left hand,
extending the forefinger upwards, waved his blade like the arm of
a demon round his head, and, with a dexterous stroke, so shaved
off a bit of nail that it fell to the ground, and not a drop of blood
appeared upon the finger-tip.
"Live for ever!" exclaimed Rajeshwar in admiration. He then
addressed to the recruit a few questions concerning the art of war,
or rather concerning his peculiar views of it. To all of which Birbal
answered with a spirit and a judgment which convinced the hearer
that he was no common sworder.
Whereupon Rajeshwar bore off the new man at arms to the palace
of the king Rupsen, and recommended that he should be engaged
without delay.
The king, being a man of few words and many ideas, after hearing
his commander-in-chief, asked, "O Rajput, what shall I give thee
for thy daily expenditure?"
"Give me a thousand ounces of gold daily," said Birbal, "and then I
shall have wherewithal to live on."
"Hast thou an army with thee?" exclaimed the king in the greatest
astonishment.
"I have not," responded the Rajput somewhat stiffly. "I have first, a
wife; second, a son; third, a daughter; fourth, myself; there is no
fifth person with me."
All the people of the court on hearing this turned aside their heads
to laugh, and even the women, who were peeping at the scene,
covered their mouths with their veils. The Rajput was then
dismissed the presence.
It is, however, noticeable amongst you humans, that the world
often takes you at your own valuation. Set a high price upon
yourselves, and each man shall say to his neighbour, "In this man
there must be something." Tell everyone that you are brave, clever,
generous, or even handsome, and after a time they will begin to
believe you. And when thus you have attained success, it will be
harder to unconvince them than it was to convince them. Thus - -
"Listen not to him, sirrah," cried Raja Vikram to Dharma Dhwaj,
the young prince, who had fallen a little way behind, and was
giving ear attentively to the Vampire's ethics. "Listen to him not.
And tell me, villain, with these ignoble principles of shine, what
will become of modesty, humility, self-sacrifice, and a host of
other Guna or good qualities which - which are good qualities?"
"I know not," rejoined the Baital, "neither do I care. But my
habitually inspiriting a succession of human bodies has taught me
one fact. The wise man knows himself, and is, therefore, neither
unduly humble nor elated, because he had no more to do with
making himself than with the cut of his cloak, or with the fitness of
his loin-cloth. But the fool either loses his head by comparing
himself with still greater fools, or is prostrated when he finds
himself inferior to other and lesser fools. This shyness he calls
modesty, humility, and so forth. Now, whenever entering a corpse,
whether it be of man, woman, or child, I feel peculiarly modest; I
know that my tenement lately belonged to some conceited ass.
And --"
"Wouldst thou have me bump thy back against the ground?" asked
Raja Vikram angrily.
(The Baital muttered some reply scarcely intelligible about his
having this time stumbled upon a metaphysical thread of ideas, and
then continued his story.)
Now Rupsen, the king, began by inquiring of himself why the
Rajput had rated his services so highly. Then he reflected that if
this recruit had asked so much money, it must have been for some
reason which would afterwards become apparent. Next, he hoped
that if he gave him so much, his generosity might some day turn
out to his own advantage. Finally, with this idea in his mind, he
summoned Birbal and the steward of his household, and said to the
latter, "Give this Rajput a thousand ounces of gold daily from our
treasury."
It is related that Birbal made the best possible use of his wealth. He
used every morning to divide it into two portions, one of which
was distributed to Brahmans and Parohitas.[FN#84] Of the
remaining moiety, having made two parts, he gave one as alms to
pilgrims, to Bairagis or Vishnu's mendicants, and to Sanyasis or
worshippers of Shiva, whose bodies, smeared with ashes, were
hardly covered with a narrow cotton cloth and a rope about their
loins, and whose heads of artificial hair, clotted like a rope,
besieged his gate. With the remaining fourth, having caused food
to be prepared, he regaled the poor, while he himself and his
family ate what was left. Every evening, arming himself with
sword and buckler, he took up his position as guard at the royal
bedside, and walked round it all night sword in hand. If the king
chanced to wake and asked who was present, Birbal immediately
gave reply that "Birbal is here; whatever command you give, that
he will obey." And oftentimes Rupsen gave him unusual
commands, for it is said, "To try thy servant, bid him do things in
season and out of season: if he obey thee willingly, know him to be
useful; if he reply, dismiss him at once. Thus is a servant tried,
even as a wife by the poverty of her husband, and brethren and
friends by asking their aid."
In such manner, through desire of money, Birbal remained on
guard all night; and whether eating, drinking, sleeping, sitting,
going or wandering about, during the twenty-four hours, he held
his master in watchful remembrance. This, indeed, is the custom; if
a man sell another the latter is sold, but a servant by doing service
sells himself, and when a man has become dependent, how can he
be happy? Certain it is that however intelligent, clever, or learned a
man may be, yet, while he is in his master's presence, he remains
silent as a dumb man, and struck with dread. Only while he is
away from his lord can he be at ease. Hence, learned men say that
to do service aright is harder than any religious study.
On one occasion it is related that there happened to be heard at
night-time the wailing of a woman in a neighbouring cemetery.
The king on hearing it called out, "Who is in waiting?"
"I am here," replied Birbal; "what command is there?"
"Go," spoke the king, "to the place whence proceeds this sound of
woman's wail, and having inquired the cause of her grief, return
quickly."
On receiving this order the Rajput went to obey it; and the king,
unseen by him, and attired in a black dress, followed for the
purpose of observing his courage.
Presently Birbal arrived at the cemetery. And what sees he there?
A beautiful woman of a light yellow colour, loaded with jewels
from head to foot, holding a horn in her right and a necklace in her
left hand. Sometimes she danced, sometimes she jumped, and
sometimes she ran about. There was not a tear in her eye, but
beating her head and making lamentable cries, she kept dashing
herself on the ground.
Seeing her condition, and not recognizing the goddess born of sea
foam, and whom all the host of heaven loved,[FN#85] Birbal
inquired, "Why art thou thus beating thyself and crying out? Who
art thou? And what grief is upon thee?"
"I am the Royal-Luck," she replied.
"For what reason," asked Birbal, "art thou weeping?"
The goddess then began to relate her position to the Rajput. She
said, with tears, "In the king's palace Shudra (or low caste acts) are
done, and hence misfortune will certainly fall upon it, and I shall
forsake it. After a month has passed, the king, having endured
excessive affliction, will die. In grief for this, I weep. I have
brought much happiness to the king's house, and hence I am full of
regret that this my prediction cannot in any way prove untrue."
"Is there," asked Birbal, "any remedy for this trouble, so that the
king may be preserved and live a hundred years?"
"Yes," said the goddess, "there is. About eight miles to the east
thou wilt find a temple dedicated to my terrible sister Devi. Offer
to her thy son's head, cut off with shine own hand, and the reign of
thy king shall endure for an age." So saying Raj-Lakshmi
disappeared.
Birbal answered not a word, but with hurried steps he turned
towards his home. The king, still in black so as not to be seen,
followed him closely, and observed and listened to everything he
did.
The Rajput went straight to his wife, awakened her, and related to
her everything that had happened. The wise have said, "she alone
deserves the name of wife who always receives her husband with
affectionate and submissive words." When she heard the
circumstances, she at once aroused her son, and her daughter also
awoke. Then Birbal told them all that they must follow him to the
temple of Devi in the wood.
On the way the Rajput said to his wife, "If thou wilt give up thy
son willingly, I will sacrifice him for our master's sake to Devi the
Destroyer."
She replied, "Father and mother, son and daughter, brother and
relative, have I now none. You are everything to me. It is written
in the scripture that a wife is not made pure by gifts to priests, nor
by performing religious rites; her virtue consists in waiting upon
her husband, in obeying him and in loving him - yea! though he be
lame, maimed in the hands, dumb, deaf, blind, one eyed, leprous,
or humpbacked. It is a true saying that 'a son under one's authority,
a body free from sickness, a desire to acquire knowledge, an
intelligent friend, and an obedient wife; whoever holds these five
will find them bestowers of happiness and dispellers of affliction.
An unwilling servant, a parsimonious king, an insincere friend, and
a wife not under control; such things are disturbers of ease and
givers of trouble.'"
Then the good wife turned to her son and said "Child by the gift of
thy head, the king's life may be spared, and the kingdom remain
unshaken."
"Mother," replied that excellent youth, "in my opinion we should
hasten this matter. Firstly, I must obey your command; secondly, I
must promote the interests of my master; thirdly, if this body be of
any use to a goddess, nothing better can be done with it in this
world."
("Excuse me, Raja Vikram," said the Baital, interrupting himself,
"if I repeat these fair discourses at full length; it is interesting to
hear a young person, whose throat is about to be cut, talk so like a
doctor of laws.")
Then the youth thus addressed his sire: "Father, whoever can be of
use to his master, the life of that man in this world has been lived
to good purpose, and by reason of his usefulness he will be
rewarded in other worlds."
His sister, however, exclaimed, "If a mother should give poison to
her daughter, and a father sell his son, and a king seize the entire
property of his subjects, where then could one look for
protection?" But they heeded her not, and continued talking as they
journeyed towards the temple of Devi - the king all the while
secretly following them.
Presently they reached the temple, a single room, surrounded by a
spacious paved area; in front was an immense building capable of
seating hundreds of people. Before the image there were pools of
blood, where victims had lately been slaughtered. In the sanctum
was Devi, a large black figure with ten arms. With a spear in one
of her right hands she pierced the giant Mahisha; and with one of
her left hands she held the tail of a serpent, and the hair of the
giant, whose breast the serpent was biting. Her other arms were all
raised above her head, and were filled with different instruments of
war; against her right leg leaned a lion.
Then Birbal joined his hands in prayer, and with Hindu mildness
thus addressed the awful goddess: "O mother, let the king's life be
prolonged for a thousand years by the sacrifice of my son. O Devi,
mother! destroy, destroy his enemies! Kill! kill! Reduce them to
ashes! Drive them away! Devour them! devour them! Cut them in
two! Drink! drink their blood! Destroy them root and branch! With
thy thunderbolt, spear, scymitar, discus, or rope, annihilate them!
Spheng! Spheng!"
The Rajput, having caused his son to kneel before the goddess,
struck him so violent a blow that his head rolled upon the ground.
He then threw the sword down, when his daughter, frantic with
grief, snatched it up and struck her neck with such force that her
head, separated from her body, fell. In her turn the mother, unable
to survive the loss of her children, seized the weapon and
succeeded in decapitating herself. Birbal, beholding all this
slaughter, thus reflected: "My children are dead why, now, should
I remain in servitude, and upon whom shall I bestow the gold I
receive from the king?" He then gave himself so deep a wound in
the neck, that his head also separated from his body.
Rupsen, the king, seeing these four heads on the ground, said in his
heart, "For my sake has the family of Birbal been destroyed.
Kingly power, for the purpose of upholding which the destruction
of a whole household is necessary, is a mere curse, and to carry on
government in this manner is not just." He then took up the sword
and was about to slay himself, when the Destroying Goddess,
probably satisfied with bloodshed, stayed his hand, bidding him at
the same time ask any boon he pleased.
The generous monarch begged, thereupon, that his faithful servant
might be restored to life, together with all his high-minded family;
and the goddess Devi in the twinkling of an eye fetched from
Patala, the regions below the earth, a vase full of Amrita, the water
of immortality, sprinkled it upon the dead, and raised them all as
before. After which the whole party walked leisurely home, and in
due time the king divided his throne with his friend Birbal.
Having stopped for a moment, the Baital proceeded to remark, in a
sententious tone, "Happy the servant who grudges not his own life
to save that of his master! And happy, thrice happy the master who
can annihilate all greedy longing for existence and worldly
prosperity. Raja, I have to ask thee one searching question - Of
these five, who was the greatest fool?"
"Demon!" exclaimed the great Vikram, all whose cherished
feelings about fidelity and family affection, obedience, and
high-mindedness, were outraged by this Vampire view of the
question; "if thou meanest by the greatest fool the noblest mind, I
reply without hesitating Rupsen, the king."
"Why, prithee?" asked the Baital.
"Because, dull demon," said the king, "Birbal was bound to offer
up his life for a master who treated him so generously; the son
could not disobey his father, and the women naturally and
instinctively killed themselves, because the example was set to
them. But Rupsen the king gave up his throne for the sake of his
retainer, and valued not a straw his life and his high inducements
to live. For this reason I think him the most meritorious."
"Surely, mighty Vikram," laughed the Vampire, "you will be tired
of ever clambering up yon tall tree, even had you the legs and arms
of Hanuman[FN#86] himself."
And so saying he disappeared from the cloth, although it had been
placed upon the ground.
But the poor Baital had little reason to congratulate himself on the
success of his escape. In a short time he was again bundled into the
cloth with the usual want of ceremony, and he revenged himself by
telling another true story.