CHAPTER XIII
MY PRINCESS
One day--a day that is a burning point in my memory--the littlePrincess was rather more than a year old, and was able to run and jumpfinely; it was a short distance from a pretty lake bordered with lotusblossoms of all colours; her governesses were playing checkers, seatedon rugs under the trees, while Parvati ran from flower to flower,chasing a splendid butterfly.
I followed her with my eyes, interested in the pursuit. The brilliantwings escaped her continually, fluttered on, and lighted further off;she grew impatient, and more and more eager in the chase, followingthe thousand zig-zags of the beautiful pink and blue butterfly, whichseemed like a winged flower.
To my mind the little Princess was straying too far away, andapproaching dangerously near the borders of the lake.
Why did they not call her back?
I looked over at the women. Two of them were playing checkers; all theothers were watching the game, bending over the checker-board, andarguing about it with great volubility; they were completely absorbed,and not one was giving attention to her whom they were employed towatch over.
Trembling with indignation, I was about to run to them and upset theirchecker-board, when I beheld Parvati on the very brink of the water,and still running forward--the butterfly had lighted on a lotus. I wasparalyzed with anguish, but not for long; for in an instant the littlePrincess had fallen, without a splash, or a cry that might have arousedattention.
In three bounds I was at the spot where she had disappeared among thelotus and the nenuphars. I groped and rummaged in the water with mytrunk among the matted stems.
A cloud of mud rose from the bottom, obscuring everything, and the nextfew seconds seemed to me horribly, horribly long.
All the women now rushed up, uttering deafening cries, wringing theirhands and tearing their clothing. It was high time truly!--but muchgood did it do! I would have been glad to throw them all into thelake....
At last I found and grasped the poor little Princess, and raised her,unconscious, and as if dead--dripping, and covered with black mud.
The governesses attempted to take her away from me in order to concealtheir fault; but I was resolved it should be known, and, paying noregard to their clamours, I started to run to the palace.
It was a reception day; Saphire-of-Heaven was in the great Hall of theThrone, surrounded by courtiers and the Ladies of her suite. I enteredwithout ceremony, interrupting the conversation, and the dances of theBayaderes, and going straight to the Queen, I laid on her knees thechild, all covered with mud, and without breath or motion.
Saphire-of-Heaven at first could not understand what had happened, andwas about to throw off the black mass which was saturating her dress,but suddenly _she recognized Parvati_:
"My Daughter!" exclaimed she, "and in what a condition! Dead, perhaps!"
A physician was present and advanced.
"Calm yourself, your Majesty," said he, "It is only a fainting fit."
He took the child, removed its wet clothing, gave orders, and allpresent hastened to busy themselves in services to the little Princess.
The governesses had entered all in confusion behind me. They nowundertook to explain matters, all talking together, with protestations,adjurations, and tears--it was totally incomprehensible....
"Be silent," said the Queen; "Do not speak except to answer myquestions!"
She then began to interrogate the women.
"The Princess Parvati fell into the lake," said one sobbing. A negressadded:
"It was the White Elephant who pushed her in."
I gave her on the instant such a blow on the back with my trunk thatshe fell to the floor.
"That woman has lied," said Saphire-of-Heaven. "Send all of them toprison. We shall soon learn the truth. For the present I must thinkonly of my Daughter!"
In spite of the tears and supplications of the women, their arms werebound with silk cords, and they were removed, while the Negress wascarried out on a stretcher.
Parvati, now revived, bathed, and wrapped in a veil of gold gauze lentby one of the Ladies, was replaced on the lap of the Queen.
The little darling seemed quite surprised at finding herself there, anddid not appear to remember anything that had happened. She gazed at thesmiling guests with her beautiful eyes opened wide under their long,black lashes, then shyly, she threw her arms around her mother's neckand hid her face on the Queen's breast.
She was not dead--not even hurt. What joy! I shuffled my feet, andteetered foolishly from side to side, and flapped my ears, having noother way of expressing my satisfaction.
"Iravata," said the Queen, stroking my forehead with her gentle hand,"We will find out what has happened, and you shall assist us in doingso. Never, never could I doubt thee, or believe that thou hadst beenguilty of a wicked action. Perhaps it will prove that I shall againhave to thank thee; it may be that I owe to thee the life of myDaughter, as I already owe that of my Husband!"
It was true; without me our lovely little flower would have beenlost! If I had unfortunately been away from the palace at the moment,wandering in the forest, or in the bath, or eating a meal--or evenabsent-minded, and looking in another direction, it would have beena dead little girl that would have been taken out of the water. Ishivered at the thought! and made up my mind never to lose sight of heragain, and for this purpose I determined to give up my excursions, andmy trips outside of the city.
The disturbance in the palace had attracted the notice of the King,and it had been impossible to conceal from him the accident which hadhappened to the Princess. He came in, much agitated; but Parvati ran tohim, laughing, and quite recovered, delighted with the long golden veilin which she was wrapped, and which trailed behind her, making a noiseon the carpet!
After having tenderly embraced his daughter, Alemguir asked for detailsof the accident, and as no one could furnish any, he directed that asearch be made at once of the locality where it had occurred.
"Iravata," said he, "conduct us to the spot."
I obeyed immediately. The King, who carried Parvati in his arms, theQueen, and all the guests followed me, deeply interested.
Having reached the borders of the lake, I showed the King theoverturned checker-board, and all the pieces scattered about, as whenthe game was interrupted. But they failed to understand what this hadto do with the Princess having fallen into the water.
They examined with much emotion the spot where she fell--the brokenlotus flowers, and the turf all trampled by my feet.
PARVATI RAN TO HIM, LAUGHING AND QUITE RECOVERED]
But all this explained nothing. _Who_ was the guilty one? _Who_ shouldbe punished?
The women were brought again and questioned. But they continued to lie,making statements that were contradictory, but all accusing me.
"He came past us like a hurricane, terrifying us to death! The Princesswas running on before him, and he pushed her into the lake."
"And then," inquired Alemguir, "who rescued her?"
"We did--we did: but the Elephant snatched her away from us and ran tothe palace!"
The Prince looked at me, and I made a sign that this was not so.
"Let them be beaten till they are ready to speak the truth."
At once there was a concert of shrieks, which redoubled in shrillnesswhen the slaves appeared armed with thongs of leather.
The King gave the word: the slaves seized, each one, a woman, threwher onto her knees, and administered a blow with the lash. One wassufficient to loosen their tongues and it was a race to see whichcould tell the story first.
"I am listening," said the King, and he designated the one who shouldbe spokeswoman.
"Have mercy upon us, oh Mighty King," said she: "_we are guilty_! Thisis what happened: Annanta was playing a game of checkers with Zobeide,and the game turned out very extraordinary. We were all looking on,interested in spite of ourselves, but at the same time keeping watchover the dear Princess, who was gathering flowers and bringing them tou
s. Unfortunately, we were tempted to make wagers, and at the decisivemoment our attention was entirely absorbed by the progress of the game.His Lordship, the White Elephant, had been standing for a long timelooking through the bushes. All at once with a terrific roar he rushedthrough, tearing apart the branches, trampling the flowers, and rantowards the lake, from which after a moment he lifted the Princess."
The King approached me with tears in his eyes.
"Thou art verily our Good Genius, oh Iravata!" said he; "after savingme from a shameful death, thou hast now restored to me my daughter!Certainly there is not anywhere upon earth a _man_ to whom I owe such adebt of gratitude, as to thee. Let those miserable women be sent awayin exile," added he. "So much for the punishment of the Guilty; but howto recompense worthily the Rescuer?"
I would have been glad to be able to speak, and say that no rewardcould be more to me than the happiness of seeing them all alive, and ofbeing allowed to live near them.
Saphire-of-Heaven shed floods of tears kneeling at the edge of thewatery gulf that had so nearly deprived her of her child. All at onceshe rose, took Parvati in her arms, and held her out towards me.
"Oh, thou! my unknown Ancestor! Thou who so evidently protects us,accept the guardianship of my Daughter; I confide her to thee; thouonly shalt watch over her, and in that way anxiety and dread will nolonger afflict my heart!"
The little Princess Parvati to be mine! Mine this exquisite humanflower whom I loved above all else! It was I who was to protect andwatch over her, and be always near her! It filled me with enthusiasticdelight, and I gave such a formidable blast of the trumpet that all theguests trembled.
I stopped short, ashamed and distressed, lest my beloved little onemight have been frightened, and not care to have me for a guardian.But no, quite the reverse; she laughed and clapped her little handstogether, crying:
"More--_more_!"
So to please her I trumpeted again--but this time rather lessviolently!