Tales of The Ten Princes by Dandin

Author:Dandin [Dandin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789351186755
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2007-12-31T18:30:00+00:00

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The Tale of Artha Pāla

Sire, engaged in the same tasks as these friends, I too wandered over this earth which is bounded by the sea with its garland of waves, and came at last to the city of Vārāṇasi, also known as Kasi.1 I bathed there in the crystal clear waters of Maṇikarṇika and bowed before the great god Śiva, the destroyer of the demon Andhaka. As I was circumambulating the temple, I saw a man of gigantic proportions girding on his belt with immense arms like beams of iron. His eyes were red and swollen with tears.

‘This is a hardened man,’ I told myself, ‘yet his dull eyes reveal a certain distress. From his ways he seems reckless and uncaring, even for his own life; he will certainly get into some trouble and also create problems for his dear ones. Let me ask if I can help him in any way.’ Going up to him, I then said: ‘Sir, your actions indicate that you are a man of courage. I would like to know the cause of your sorrow if it is not a secret.’

‘What is the harm,’ he said, looking at me with respect. Sitting down with me under an oleander bush, he began his story: ‘Listen, Your Honour, my name is Pūrna Bhadra, and I go where I please. My father was a village headman in the eastern country. He brought me up with great care, but due to some quirk of fate I became a professional thief.

‘Once, while I was burgling the house of a rich merchant in this city of Kāśī, I was apprehended together with the stolen goods, and sentenced to death on the orders of Kāma Pāla, the chief minister. He stood watching from the balcony on top of the palace gate as a rutting killer elephant named Mrityu Vijaya was set upon me.

‘The elephant charged, its trunk coiled and the peals of its great bell adding to the roar of the assembled crowd. As it lunged at me with its tusks, I struck them fiercely with the wooden stock in which my arms had been secured, and rebuked it in a bold voice. The beast retreated, as if frightened. Its angry mahout urged it forward once more with threatening shouts, kicks and the goad. But I rebuked and struck it with redoubled fury, and it turned tail and fled. “You wretched elephant! Are you dead?” the incensed mahout cried as I rushed forward reviling him; and repeatedly stabbing at the animal’s eye with his sharp goad, he somehow turned it round once again. “Take away this insect of an elephant,” I then shouted, “and bring a better one with whom I may sport for a moment before going wherever I have to go.” But the animal, on hearing my angry roars, disobeyed its driver’s cruel commands and ran away once more.

‘Thereafter, I was summoned by the minister. “Sir,” he said, “this killer elephant, Mrityu Vijaya, was like death itself, yet you were able to prevail over it.

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