CHAPTER XIX
THE HERMIT
The night had fallen rapidly; it was very dark under the thick branchesof the trees, which even at midday cast a dense shadow.
What was to be done? How was I to obtain succour for the Princess, whomI could now barely see, as she lay motionless on the ground?
I raised the upper part of her body very gently with my trunk, andswayed her softly back and forth, and fanned her with my ears--but shedid not stir. The thought that she might be dead so horrified me that,without waiting to take breath, I poured forth groans and screams sopiercing that they were mistaken for those of a human being--and it wasthis that finally extricated us from our misfortunes.
All at once I saw, far off under the leaves, a little red light thatseemed to be advancing. It surely was a lantern, and that meant thathere, in the wilderness, there was a human being. I redoubled my criesof distress, and the light approached more rapidly. It was turned inour direction, and I could not see the person who was carrying it.
At some distance it stopped, and a feeble, and somewhat tremulous voicecalled:
"Who is it that is moaning? Who is it that disturbs the quiet of theforest by these cries? Can it be this elephant? How happens it that hiscries are like those of a man?"
I lifted the Princess on my tusks and laid her in the rays of thelantern.
"Oh, the poor child!" exclaimed the Voice, and an old man came forwardand placed his brown and withered hand over the heart of Parvati.
"She has swooned," said he. "Come, follow me. We must lose no time; doyou not see that a storm is impending? We must not remain an instantlonger under the trees."
He began to walk rapidly on, holding the lantern in a way to light thepath, on which I followed, carefully carrying the unconscious Princess.
We soon reached a great clearing, in the centre of which, leaningagainst a rock, was a little hut built of wooden planks.
"Here we are, this is my dwelling," said the man; "I am only a poorhermit, who has retired in disgust from the world, in order to liveand meditate in solitude. I am denuded of all; I possess nothing. Butthe forest provides me with plants which nourish me. Some of them havewonderful virtues, which I trust will enable me to restore to life thislovely young girl."
The hut was so small that I could only thrust my head inside. I placedParvati on the Hermit's bed of leaves, and he hung up the lantern. Hethen crushed between his hands an herb that had a pungent odour, whichhe caused the Princess to inhale, while he rubbed her temples and herwrists. To my great joy Parvati revived; she passed her hands acrossher eyes, and then, seeing me, she smiled.
"Oh! my dear Iravata," exclaimed she: "the terrible serpent did notstrangle you! I was so terrified I thought I was dying!"
She then related to the Hermit all that had befallen us, and what afriend I had always been to her. He in his turn told how he had heardmy cries and hastened to our assistance.
He was able to offer the Princess some delicate fruits, which sheaccepted gladly, as she had eaten nothing all day.
"Oh, Holy Man," said she, "is it possible that you live all alone inthe depths of this forest? How sad and lonely you must find it!"
"No, child," replied he: "those who live in company with their ownthoughts are never lonely. Instead of looking only at the life thatis now passing, or has passed away--as you do--I look forward to themystery of the hereafter, to what is to be after death. And I find thisenough to occupy every minute of the day and the night!"
"Oh, Holy Man," said she: "why do you despise life? To me it seemssweet and full of joy, and my heart sinks at the thought that it cannotlast forever!"...
A vivid flash of lightning startled the Princess, who shrieked, andhid her face in her hands.
I pushed my head further into the door of the hut so as to close theopening and shut out the glare.
"Poor little thing!" said the Hermit. "Here I am talking about deathand oblivion to this lovely flower that blooms and delights all aroundher!"
He gently removed the hands which she still held clenched before hereyes:
"Fear nothing," said he. "We are safe and sheltered here from theviolence of the storm." Then, in order to reassure her, and to distracther attention, he added:
"If you like, I will tell you a Story, and it will show you why I nolonger care for a world where good fortune often attends a thief or aliar, and brings them to honour."
"Oh, yes!" said Parvati. "By all means tell me this Story!"
"Listen, then," said the Hermit.
* * * * *
"Once upon a time there was a humble Brahman named Harisarman. Hewas very poor and ignorant, and possessed a numerous family. Afterbeing compelled for a long time to make his living by begging, heand his family were received into the household of a rich man namedSthuladatta. The children of Harisarman were employed to drive thecows, herd the sheep, and tend the poultry; his wife worked in thehouse, and he, himself, was attached to the service of the Master.
"One day Sthuladatta gave an entertainment to celebrate the marriage ofhis daughter, but he omitted to invite Harisarman to the festival.
"'Behold!' said Harisarman to his wife: 'I am despised because of mypoverty and ignorance. But I shall pretend to be a learned man, inorder that Sthuladatta will have respect for me hereafter; and when anopportunity occurs you must say that I am an accomplished Soothsayer.'
"Then he took the Bridegroom's horse out of the stable, and went to adistant part of the forest, and hid it.
"When the feast was over, and the Bridegroom prepared to return homewith his young Bride, his horse was nowhere to be found. The forest wassearched, the thickets ransacked; the guests all dispersed in differentdirections to assist in finding the animal--but no trace of him couldbe discovered.
"Then the wife of Harisarman came forward, and said:
"'My husband could have found the horse very easily; he is a learnedSoothsayer, and understands the language of the stars. Why do you notinquire of him?'
Sthuladatta sent for Harisarman, and said:
"'Canst thou tell me where to look for the lost horse?'
"Harisarman replied:
"'Master, thou hast bidden a host of guests to be present at themarriage of thy daughter; but thou didst not deign to invite me becauseI am poor. Behold I among all those whom thou hast honoured not onecan tell thee where to look for thy son-in-law's horse, and thou artobliged to have recourse to me, whom thou hast treated with contempt!Nevertheless, I am not revengeful; and thanks to my learning, I will beable to inform thee where thou wilt find the horse whom thou seekest.'
"He then drew cabalistic signs, and magic circles, and ended by tellingthe place where he had hidden the horse.
"From this moment he was held in great esteem in the household ofSthuladatta.
"Not long afterwards a robbery was committed in the Palace of the King;jewels and gems were stolen, and gold carried away.
"The King, having heard of Harisarman, ordered him brought to thePalace, and said to him:
"'I have heard of thy powers of divination; canst thou reveal to me thenames of the wretches who have dared to enter my palace, and steal mytreasures?'
"Harisarman was very much confused. He bowed low before the King andreplied thus:
"'Great King, All-powerful Master, thou hast taken me somewhatunawares. But thanks to my great learning, no secret is hidden frommy discerning eyes; I discover that which is invisible, and bring tolight what others would desire concealed forever. Give me only tillto-morrow, in order that I may place myself under the influence of theStars."
"The King had him conducted to a chamber in the Palace, with ordersthat he was to be permitted to pass the night alone.
"Now, the theft had been committed by a Maidservant of the Palace named_Dschiva_ (the _Tongue_) and by her brother.
"Full of uneasiness, and fearing that the supposed Soothsayer woulddenounce her to the King, Dschiva crept on tiptoe to the chamberoccupied by Harisarman,
in the hope of overhearing something he mightsay. The false Soothsayer was as much frightened as she, and utteredloud imprecations on his _tongue_ (_dschiva_) which had brought suchtrouble upon him.
"He cried out:
"Oh, _dschiva_! (_tongue_) what have you done through your stupidcovetousness!"
"Dschiva imagined that these words were addressed to her; she enteredthe chamber and threw herself at the feet of Harisarman, confessed tohim that she had stolen the jewels, implored him not to betray her,promising if he would be silent to bestow on him all the gold which hadbeen taken, and to inform him where she had hidden the jewels.
"The next day Harisarman led the King to where the jewels wereconcealed, but the gold he kept for himself, and said to the King:
"'Sire, the thieves in escaping carried with them the gold.'
"The King, well-pleased to have recovered his jewels, would haverecompensed Harisarman, but was withheld by one of his Councillors, whosaid:
"'All this does not look natural to me, oh, King. How can such learningbe possessed by one who has never studied the holy texts? This affairhas doubtless been arranged by Harisarman and the robbers. In order toconvince _me_ this pretended Soothsayer would have to be put to thetest!'
"The King consulted for a few minutes with his Councillor, who thenwent out, and soon returned with a new earthen pot, which was coveredby a lid, under which he had placed a live frog.
"The King, addressing Harisarman, said:
"'If thou canst tell me what this vessel contains all honours shall bepaid to thee, if not, thou shalt be put to death for having dared todeceive me!'
"Harisarman now gave himself up for lost. Memories, as vivid aslightning-flashes, passed through his mind. He remembered his happychildhood, and his kind father, and how the latter had a pet-name forhim, and often would call him "little Frog!" and, not thinking of whathe was saying, but speaking to himself (with sufficient distinctness,however, to be heard), he exclaimed:
"'Alas! alas!... this pot has caught thee, little Frog! Once thou wertfree and happy, but now, how wilt thou escape?'
"All those who stood by and heard him supposed that his words wereaddressed to the frog in the basin.
"The test seemed conclusive.
"From that day the King honoured Harisarman, loaded him with benefits,and made him a Prince....
"This," said the Hermit, "is a story that shows how there is no justicein the world, and that we should be glad to leave it and seek a betterone--even at the price of one's existence!"
"Oh, Holy Man," said Parvati, "the history of Harisarman is notfinished; and who knows what may have happened to him afterwards?Perhaps he may have experienced a punishment all the more severe fromhaving been delayed. And then he must have suffered from knowinghimself to be other than he seemed! from knowing himself to be a liarand a thief, while he was saluted as a scholar and an honest man....It seems to me that in this world we are always punished for ourfaults. Behold, what has happened to us to-day! Iravata, the wisest ofelephants, for the first time acted without his usual prudence; hewent too far into the forest, and I, instead of restraining him, wasdelighted with the adventure, and encouraged Him to go still further.We have both come near to losing our lives; then the storm overwhelmedus, and here we are, at the dead hour of the night, in the midst ofthis forest, fearfully far from the palace of Golconda--where, nodoubt, my dear parents, distracted with anxiety, are lamenting theabsence of their disobedient daughter!"
In saying this Parvati's beautiful eyes were full of tears, and as Ilistened I bent my head in shame, and wept, too.
"Do not despair," said the Hermit, who was looking closely at me; "thedangers you have encountered may perhaps have saved you from stillgreater perils. This Elephant, who has acquired the moral intelligenceof humanity, knows very well to what I allude, and _he alone is toblame"._
I trembled in all my members under the searching look he cast upon me,and understanding full well the meaning of his accusing words, my headsank lower and lower.
"Let this Elephant take warning," said he: "in approaching mankindthrough his sentiments and intelligence, he may also become liable tothe errors of mankind. I foresee his future. I foresee that he will beunhappy, and that he will be the maker of his own misfortunes, througha sentiment far too human!"...
A long silence followed these prophetic words. Parvati was deeplymoved, and as for me, I dared not raise my head.
I withdrew from the doorway which I had obstructed. And now a lovelymoonlight, soft and bright, the colour of emeralds and turquoises,shone into the hut. The storm was over. The full moon had risen andbeamed in the sky, where a few clouds still floated. The trees and theflowers, refreshed by the rain, filled the air with fragrance.
"Go now, my friends," said the Hermit; "the storm has been of serviceto you. Those who are waiting for you are not as anxious as they wouldotherwise have been; believing in the wisdom of the Elephant, in whomthey have entire confidence, they will suppose that he sought shelterfrom the storm, and that it alone has caused your delay. Go, then, themoon shines as bright as day. May the King and Queen of Golconda neverlearn the truth!"...