V.
RAMA AND LUXMAN; OR, THE LEARNED OWL.
“With a lengthened loud halloo,
Tuwhoo, tuwhit, tuwhit, tuwhoo.”
ONCE upon a time there was a Rajah whose name was Chandra Rajah,[48] and he had a learned Wuzeer or Minister, named Butti. Their mutual love was so great that they were more like brothers than master and servant. Neither the Rajah nor the Wuzeer had any children, and both were equally anxious to have a son. At last, in one day and one hour, the wife of the Rajah and the wife of the Wuzeer had each a little baby boy. They named the Rajah’s son Rama, and the son of the Wuzeer was called Luxman, and there were great rejoicings at the birth of both. The boys grew up and loved each other tenderly: they were never happy unless together; together they went to daily school, together bathed and played, and they would not eat except from off one plate. One day, when Rama Rajah was fifteen years old, his mother, the Ranee, said to Chandra Rajah: “Husband, our son associates too much with low people; for instance, he is always at play with the Wuzeer’s son, Luxman, which is not befitting his rank. I wish you would endeavor to put an end to their friendship, and find him better playmates.”
Chandra Rajah replied, “I cannot do it: Luxman’s father is my very good friend and Wuzeer, as his father’s father was to my father; let the sons be the same.” This answer annoyed the Ranee, but she said no more to her husband; she sent, however, for all the wise people, and seers, and conjurors in the land, and inquired of them whether there existed no means of dissolving the children’s affection for each other; they answered they knew of none. At last one old Nautch[49] woman came to the Ranee and said, “I can do this thing you wish, but for it you must give me a great reward.” Then the Ranee gave the old woman an enormous bag full of gold mohurs,[50] and said, “This I give you now, and if you succeed in the undertaking I will give you as much again.” So this wicked old woman disguised herself in a very rich dress, and went to a garden-house which Chandra Rajah had built for his son, and where Rama Rajah and Luxman, the young Wuzeer, used to spend the greater part of their playtime. Outside the house was a large well and a fine garden. When the old woman arrived, the two boys were playing cards together in the garden close to the well. She drew near, and began drawing water from it. Rama Rajah looking up, saw her, and said to Luxman, “Go, see who that richly-dressed woman is, and bring me word.” The Wuzeer’s son did as he was bidden, and asked the woman what she wanted. She answered, “Nothing, oh nothing,” and nodding her head went away; then, returning to the Ranee, she said, “I have done as you wished; give me the promised reward,” and the Ranee gave her the second bag of gold. On Luxman’s return, the young Rajah said to him, “What did the woman want?” Luxman answered, “She told me she wanted nothing.” “It is not true,” replied the other, angrily; “I feel certain she must have told you something. Why should she come here for no purpose? It is some secret which you are concealing from me; I insist on knowing it.” Luxman vainly protesting his innocence, they quarreled and then fought, and the young Rajah ran home very angry to his father. “What is the matter, my son?” said he. “Father,” he answered, “I am angry with the Wuzeer’s son. I hate that boy; kill him, and let his eyes be brought to me in proof of his death, or I will not eat my dinner.” Chandra Rajah was very much grieved at this, but the young Rajah would eat no dinner, and at last his father said to the Wuzeer, “Take your son away and hide him, for the boys have had a quarrel.” Then he went out and shot a deer, and showing its eyes to Rama, said to him, “See, my son, the good Wuzeer’s son has by your order been deprived of life,” and Rama Rajah was merry, and ate his dinner. But a while after he began to miss his kind playmate; there was nobody he cared for to tell him stories and amuse him. Then for four nights running he dreamed of a beautiful Glass Palace, in which dwelt a Princess white as marble, and he sent for all the wise people in the kingdom to interpret his dream, but none could do it; and, thinking upon this fair princess and his lost friend, he got more and more sad, and said to himself: “There is nobody to help me in this matter. Ah! if my Wuzeer’s son were here now, how quickly would he interpret the dream! Oh, my friend, my friend, my dear lost friend!” and when Chandra Rajah, his father, came in, he said to him: “Show me the grave of Luxman, son of the Wuzeer, that I also may die there.” His father replied, “What a foolish boy you are! You first begged that the Wuzeer’s son might be killed, and now you want to die on his grave. What is all this about?” Rama Rajah replied, “Oh, why did you give the order for him to be put to death? In him I have lost my friend and all my joy in life; show me now his grave, for thereon, I swear, will I kill myself.” When the Rajah saw that his son really grieved for the loss of Luxman, he said to him, “You have to thank me for not regarding your foolish wishes; your old playmate is living, therefore be friends again, for what you thought were his eyes were but the eyes of a deer.” So the friendship of Rama and Luxman was resumed on its former footing. Then Rama said to Luxman, “Four nights ago I dreamed a strange dream. I thought that for miles and miles I wandered through a dense jungle, after which I came upon a grove of Cocoa-nut trees, passing through which I reached one compound entirely of Guava trees, then one of Soparee[51] trees, and lastly one of Copal trees: beyond this lay a garden of flowers, of which the Malee’s wife gave me a bunch; round the garden ran a large river, and on the other side of this I saw a fair palace composed of transparent glass, and in the centre of it sat the most lovely Princess I ever saw, white as marble and covered with rich jewels; at the sight of her beauty I fainted—and so awoke. This has happened now four times, and as yet I have found no one capable of throwing any light on the vision.” Luxman answered, “I can tell you. There exists a Princess exactly like her you saw in your dreams, and, if you like, you can go and marry her.” “How can I?” said Rama; “and what is your interpretation of the dream?” The Wuzeer’s son replied, “Listen to me, and I will tell you. In a country very far away from this, in the centre of a great Rajah’s kingdom, there dwells his daughter, a most fair Princess; she lives in a glass palace. Round this palace runs a large river, and round the river is a garden of flowers. Round the garden are four thick groves of trees—one of Copal trees, one of Soparee trees, one of Guava trees, and one of Cocoa-nut trees. The Princess is twenty-four years old, but she is not married, for she has determined only to marry whoever can jump this river and greet her in her crystal palace, and though many thousand kings have essayed to do so, they have all perished miserably in the attempt, having either been drowned in the river, or broken their necks by falling; thus all that you dreamed of is perfectly true.” “Can we go to this country?” asked the young Rajah. “Oh, yes,” his friend replied. “This is what you must do. Go tell your father you wish to see the world. Ask him for neither elephants nor attendants, but beg him to lend you for the journey his old war-horse.”
Upon this Rama went to his father, and said, “Father, I pray you give me leave to go and travel with the Wuzeer’s son. I desire to see the world.” “What would you have for the journey, my son?” said Chandra Rajah; “will you have elephants and how many?—attendants, how many?” “Neither, father,” he answered, “give me rather, I pray you, your old war-horse, that I may ride him during the journey.” “So be it, my son,” he answered, and with that Rama Rajah and Luxman set forth on their travels. After going many, many thousands of miles, to their joy one day they came upon a dense grove of Cocoa-nut trees, and beyond that to a grove of Guava trees, then to one of Soparee trees, and lastly to one of Copal trees; after which they entered a beautiful garden, where the Malee’s wife presented them with a large bunch of flowers. Then they knew that they had nearly reached the place where the fair Princess dwelt. Now it happened that, because many kings and great people had been drowned in trying to jump over the river that ran round the Glass Palace where the Princess lived, the Rajah, her father, had made a law that, in future, no aspirants to her hand were to attempt the jump, except at stated times and with his knowledge and permission, and that any Rajahs or Princes found wandering there, contrary to this law, were to be imprisoned. Of this the young Rajah and the Wuzeer’s son knew nothing, and having reached the centre of the garden they found themselves on the banks of a large river, exactly opposite the wondrous Glass Palace, and were just debating what further steps to take, when they were seized by the Rajah’s guard, and hurried off to prison.
“This is a hard fate,” said Luxman. “Yes,” sighed Rama Rajah; “a dismal end, in truth, to all our fine schemes. Would it be possible, think you, to escape?” “I think so,” answered Luxman; “at all events, I will try.” With that he turned to the sentry who was guarding them, and said, “We are shut in here and can’t get out: here is money for you if you will only have the goodness to call out that the Malee’s Cow has strayed away.” The sentry thought this a very easy way of making a fortune; so he called out as he was bidden, and took the money. The result answered Luxman’s anticipations. The Malee’s wife, hearing the sentry calling out, thought to herself, “What, sentries round the guard-room again! then there must be prisoners; doubtless they are those two young Rajahs I met in the garden this morning; at least, I will endeavor to release them.” So she asked two old beggars to accompany her, and taking with her offerings of flowers and sweetmeats, started as if to go to a little temple which was built within the quadrangle where the prisoners were kept. The sentries, thinking she was only going with two old friends to visit the temple, allowed her to pass without opposition. As soon as she got within the quadrangle she unfastened the prison door, and told the two young men (Rama Rajah and Luxman) to change clothes with the two old beggars, which they instantly did. Then, leaving the beggars in the cell, she conducted Rama and Luxman safely to her house. When they had reached it she said to them, “Young Princes, you must know that you did very wrong in going down to the river before having made a salaam to our Rajah, and gained his consent; and so strict is the law on the subject that had I not assisted your escape, you might have remained a long time in prison; though, as I felt certain you only erred through ignorance, I was the more willing to help you; but to-morrow morning early you must go and pay your respects at court.”
Next day the guards brought their two prisoners to the Rajah, saying, “See, O King, here are two young Rajahs whom we caught last night wandering near the river contrary to your law and commandment.” But when they came to look at the prisoners, lo and behold! they were only two old beggars whom everybody knew and had often seen at the palace gate.