"Let them be beaten till they are ready to speak the truth."
At once there was a concert of shrieks, which redoubled in shrillness when the slaves appeared armed with thongs of leather.
The King gave the word: the slaves seized, each one, a woman, threw her onto her knees, and administered a blow with the lash. One was sufficient to loosen their tongues and it was a race to see which could tell the story first.
"I am listening," said the King, and he designated the one who should be spokeswoman.
"Have mercy upon us, oh Mighty King," said she: "we are guilty! This is what happened: Annanta was playing a game of checkers with Zobeide, and the game turned out very extraordinary. We were all looking on, interested in spite of ourselves, but at the same time keeping watch over the dear Princess, who was gathering flowers and bringing them to us. Unfortunately, we were tempted to make wagers, and at the decisive moment our attention was entirely absorbed by the progress of the game. His Lordship, the White Elephant, had been standing for a long time looking through the bushes. All at once with a terrific roar he rushed through, tearing apart the branches, trampling the flowers, and ran towards the lake, from which after a moment he lifted the Princess."
The King approached me with tears in his eyes.
"Thou art verily our Good Genius, oh Iravata!" said he; "after saving me from a shameful death, thou hast now restored to me my daughter! Certainly there is not anywhere upon earth a man to whom I owe such a debt of gratitude, as to thee. Let those miserable women be sent away in exile," added he. "So much for the punishment of the Guilty; but how to recompense worthily the Rescuer?"
I would have been glad to be able to speak, and say that no reward could be more to me than the happiness of seeing them all alive, and of being allowed to live near them.
Saphire-of-Heaven shed floods of tears kneeling at the edge of the watery gulf that had so nearly deprived her of her child. All at once she rose, took Parvati in her arms, and held her out towards me.
"Oh, thou! my unknown Ancestor! Thou who so evidently protects us, accept the guardianship of my Daughter; I confide her to thee; thou only shalt watch over her, and in that way anxiety and dread will no longer afflict my heart!"