Tales of Destiny

by Edmund Mitchell

"Even as I looked, methought that the eyes of the idol twinkled knowingly and entreatingly at me. After a moment I saw that this fancy was but due to the play of the flames on jewels, comprehending which, I said to myself that the little fat man might perchance be of some considerable value. So I plucked him from his resting-place, not without difficulty, for the base of the idol was fastened by iron clamps to the altar, and only just in time before a surge of fire and smoke swept through the vestibule. Then, without more ado, I carried forth this Ganapati, wrapped in a cotton cloth I had gathered from one of the slain priests, and tied it to the saddle-bow of my horse, which had been standing tethered under a tree close at hand.

"Thus did it come about that, a full month later, I was seated in my home, in a secret inner chamber that served me as a treasury, and to which the only access was through the women's quarters. And before me on a stool rested the cross-legged figure of the four-armed and elephant-headed god, fat, complacent, smiling, to all appearance recovered from the fatigues of a journey of near a hundred leagues and thoroughly contented amidst his new surroundings. The idol was of bronze, and the eyes, which at times gave it such life-like semblance, were clusters of rubies set around with white sapphires.

"And it followed that, day after day, after the siesta hour, I found myself in the company of this accursed idol—for accursed it came to be, bringing me misfortunes and ruin, as my story will unfold. No doubt it was by my own doing that the wrath of Allah was brought down upon my head. For had not I, a follower of the Prophet, and therefore a despiser of graven images in every shape or form, come to treat this monstrous and misshapen creature, half man, half beast, as a sort of familiar, even greeting him on my entry with the words with which I might have saluted a living unbeliever, 'May your days be peaceful,' spoken in goodnatured jest, of course, and without one thought at the time of the sacrilege of which I was guilty? Yea, I would pat the fat little fellow on the head, and, when the humour seized me, would show him my hoard of gold mohurs, even jingle before him a bag of silver rupees, or ask his opinion on the colour and quality of some gem, speaking words of foolishness the while, like a child playing with a toy. And when I lay back on my cushions, sometimes I fancied that the little jewelled eyes in the elephant head of bronze twinkled at me in merry and friendly understanding. All which things I have since remembered with bitter shame.

"But it happened one day that I was in angry mood—some contrary thing among the women of my household had vexed me. And when I sat brooding over my trouble, it seemed that the eyes of the Ganapati laughed at me in mockery. And, angry now at the idol himself, I arose and pressed the balls of my thumbs on the two scintillating clusters of jewels, as it were to shut out the gleam of their impertinence, even ready, in my insane access of wrath, to force them from their sockets as I might have done with the eyeballs of a slave who had offended me.

"But in a moment all passion faded from my heart. For an extraordinary thing happened.

"As I pressed with my thumbs, the clicking sound of moving wheels smote my ear, and the elephant head began slowly to raise itself and revolve backward on some concealed pivot, forming a gaping opening right across the body of the Ganapati. And, as the opening gradually widened, by some devilish contrivance the hammer of a gong concealed within the idol was set in motion, and there resulted a loud continuous clanging din that could have been heard at a far distance. Instinctively I thrust my fingers in my ears to shut out the infernal noise. But after a time the clangor ceased, and now I observed that the elephant head had moved completely back on its hinges, and lay at rest, its single tusk raised aloft. Within the body of the Ganapati a cavity was revealed.

"But before I could explore this, I was distracted by the frightened outcries of my womenfolk, and I sallied forth to pacify them, and give assurance that the bell need cause no alarm, it being one I had purchased in the bazaars with the intent some day to use it as a protection against thieves—its obvious utility, as I guessed even now. When all was again at peace I returned to the secret chamber. Everything was as I had left it a few minutes previously.

"In the hollow body of the bronze idol there lay disclosed to view a small casket of rock crystal, round and polished, and provided with a cap of gold. For me to snatch this casket from its hiding-place was the work of an instant. Straightway I removed the golden lid, and there, in the smooth, transparent nest of crystal, lay a little heap of gems that flashed and gleamed like living fire.

"Recovering from my first emotions of astonishment and delight, I poured forth the treasure into the hollow of my hand, and found it to be a necklace of diamonds, as I could tell from the dazzling sparkle of the stones despite their uncommon colour, which was blue, like the vault of the sky or the eyes of the fair-skinned women of Circassia. Each stone was cut with many facets, and all were strung together by a delicate chain of gold, a solitary large stone in the centre, then smaller ones on either side, each succeeding pair carefully matched as to size, and constantly diminishing till the last were no bigger than grains of millet. All the diamonds were of dazzling lustre and of the one uniform tint, the blue that is so rare, and, as I gazed upon my treasure trove, well could I believe that not such another necklace existed in any part of the world, not even in the jewel caskets of the Great Padishah himself, nor of the Kings of China or of Persia, nor of the Princes of the Franks, who are reputed to have untold stores of diamonds, rubies, topazes, and amethysts.

"For a time I was stricken dumb and motionless, from very fear of the great wealth that reposed in my hollowed palm. Then did I replace the necklace in its casket, and the casket in its receptacle within the body of the bronze god, and, grasping the tusk, I drew forward once again the elephant head, which, at my gentle pressure, rose easily on its pivot, winding again the clicking wheels as it moved, and finally closing at its accustomed place with a sharp snap but without any further sounding of the gong, at which I was well pleased.