"Gladly would we go," said the other boys, "but we fear Dhenuka, of the demon family, who dwelleth close thereby. It is said that he hath taken the form of an ass and though he seemeth harmless, yet hath he much power for evil, which he wieldeth mightily, when he hath a chance to do so. So, though we would gladly partake of the fallen fruit, yet do we fear him. But what sayest Thou, Krishna? Thou canst, if Thou wilt, destroy all who are filled with hate and evil. Wilt Thou and Rāma use your strength to protect us?"
"Let us away," quoth Krishna, and in a few moments, heated and full of laughter, the boys were shaking the trees for the golden-sided fruit, which seemed to smile upon them in its beauty of ripeness.
But at the first sound of happiness that reached the ears of the ass, he rushed in the midst of the youngsters and sought to destroy them, making Rāma and Krishna the special objects upon which to vent his hatred and strength.
For a time both boys dodged hither and thither, trying to turn aside the anger of the ass; but seeing that it would not be appeased, Rāma caught him by the hind legs and after swinging him over the heads of the boys a few times, he dashed his head against the tree and proceeded to aid the boys in picking the fruit.
The braying of the ass had brought forth the kith and kin of the Asura, who dwelt in the forests with him; but they, too, in a brief struggle were killed by Rāma and Krishna.
CHAPTER XVI.
In those days, when Love was predominant and held no place for that which overcame and destroyed that which could not hold sway there, because when love is strong and active, then doth evil become feeble and weak and slinketh away into darkness and deep places, where the light of love cannot reach in to reveal its blackness unto the light of the sky.
In the river, on whose bank Krishna, Rāma and the cowherd boys often sat and sang the deeds of their hero, there dwelt a huge serpent monster with a thousand hoods, who by the venom of his hideous body did permeate the water of the lake with deadly poison and filled the air of the vicinity with a pestilent atmosphere that was deadly in its influence.
Krishna one day led the boys and cows to this pool, and they, being athirst, drank of the deadly water that lay still and without a ripple. Ever is evil inviting in its outward calm.
But lo! in an instant, the thousand-headed monster lifted its hoods, and the deadly poison having done its ghastly work, the boys and cows lay on the bank lifeless, and motionless they fell at the feet of Krishna.