The Magic Moonlight Flower and Enchanting Stories by Satyajit Ray

Author:Satyajit Ray [Ray, Satyajit]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
ISBN: 9788129129963
Google: m5GNoAEACAAJ
Amazon: B015P6AY1I
Goodreads: 27396261
Publisher: Red Turtle
Published: 2014-01-08T05:00:00+00:00

Nor had his nails been so sharp!

A boar appeared in front him—a wild boar with pointed teeth. It had emerged from the forest into a clearing and was staring at him.

Ratan was standing beneath a gooseberry tree, its branches about ten feet above his head. Suddenly Ratan felt as though the branches were slowly coming nearer.

The boar still stood there. It emitted a muffled roar in Ratan’s direction then turned tail and fled.

Ratan found his head rising beyond the branches of the gooseberry tree. He couldn’t see his own face, but when he touched it he discovered it was covered in fur.

Ratan strode off through the jungle towards the Azingarh fortress.

~ 2 ~

The people of Shimuli were told by Ramdas the woodcutter that an ogre was now living in the fortress of Azingarh. Ramdas had been to the forest of Jhalsi to chop wood, making sure to go in the daytime so that he didn’t fall prey to tigers. When he saw a two-legged creature, twelve feet tall, near the fortress, he fled. The creature was covered in fur with large claws on his hands and feet, sharp teeth at the corners of his mouth, just like animals, red eyes, and matted locks.

After hearing Ramdas’s description, no one went anywhere near the forest of Jhalsi. The village of Shimuli began to quake in fear of the monster, although it was true that it had not yet caused any harm to human beings.

Ratan’s heart was unchanged, even his voice was just the same as before. Only his appearance and his appetite had been transformed. There was no lack of fruits in the forest, but Ratan needed the raw meat of wild animals. His physical strength had grown beyond human proportions; he could twist the neck of any animal with bare hands and then tear its flesh with his hard, sharp teeth. His vision, hearing and sense of smell had all grown impossibly powerful. The tiger padded silently though the forest, but Ratan could hear it. He could smell animals a hundred feet away and gave chase in silence. One time, Ratan caught his own reflection in the water of a pond and was terrified. The animals fled as soon as they saw him and Ratan had to run like the wind to catch them.

At night, alone in the fortress after his meal, the person he recalled the most was Lakshmi, the princess of Ujalpur. Just the thought of the smile on her face made Ratan sing; and he discovered to his surprise that even though he was an ogre now he could still sing just as well as before. But so what, he knew he could never go anywhere near the princess, not even as a human being. Being the son of an impoverished priest, what use was it thinking of the princess? There were hundreds of suitable princes, one of whom she would marry soon.

And then at once he was reminded of what Narahari-khuro had told him. His fortune was supposed to change.

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