I cannot subscribe--the pitiful excuse of the coward who folds his hands
in the hour of danger, or of the self-indulgent weakling who yields to
seductive temptation because his heart inclines to seize the pleasure of
the moment even when his conscience counsels otherwise. I hold that man
is the master of his own fate. Most assuredly have I been the master of
mine," he added with a proud smile, his fingers closing significantly on
the handle of a dagger at his belt.
"Be it so," answered the astrologer. "But as Allah knows everything that
is to happen, so must it happen."
"Which does not forbid the exercise of my own free will," argued the
Rajput. "The Supreme Being, the presiding power of creation, call him
Allah if you will, understanding my heart as he understands all things,
knows beforehand what choice of action I shall make at the moment of an
emergency. But that still leaves me responsible for the deed which I
elect to do. Such is my understanding of destiny. It gives
fore-knowledge to God, but leaves free will to man."
"From all of which I do not dissent," rejoined the astrologer. "It is
only the ignorant or the base that makes kismet the excuse for
helplessness or for wrongdoing. But as the stars under which a man is
born influence that man's acts, then does the reading of the stars guide
us as to what the future has in store."
"I know little about your stars," replied the Rajput. "But let us have
the story," he added, crossing his hands on his knees in an attitude of
expectancy. The astrologer, saluting his audience generally with a bow
of acquiescence, thus began:
* * * * *
"By your courtesy let me first explain, as necessary to the
understanding of the tale which is to follow, that I am from Persia,
from the city of Teheran, where for many generations my ancestors were
profound students of astrology, some of them famous men because of their
skilful divinations, with reputations that reached even to Stamboul. For
thither in my early boyhood to the court of the Sultan of the Osmanlis
was my father summoned, and him I never beheld again. It was from my
aged grandfather that I learned my first lessons in astrology--about the
twelve houses, the ruling star of each day, the coming and the going of
the planets, their conjunctions and oppositions, and the influences they
exercise on men's lives. I learned with avidity, and was an apt pupil,
for at fifteen I had begun the practice of my profession, casting
horoscopes and reading the nocturnal heavens with constant care,
understanding also the flight of birds and the cries of wild beasts of
the jungle.
"Yet at that time was my mind assailed with grievous doubts. I often
caught myself wondering whether the stars did really rule the fates of
men. And with this inward questioning a restless spirit grew upon me. I
longed to see more of the world--to enlarge the sphere of my
observations. Just then I chanced to hear some gossip in the bazaars
about a great expedition that was getting ready at Kabul to descend upon
Hindustan. The hunger of adventure seized me, and was not to be denied.
Despite the tears and implorings of my family, I set forth on foot for
Afghanistan, a stripling; in my hand the staff I used in my divinations,
in the bag slung at my side a single change of raiment. Money I had
none, but my ability to read the stars I knew well would earn me a
livelihood wherever I might wander.
"With my adventures during the next two years this story has no concern.
It is enough to say that, after many vicissitudes of fortune, I found
myself installed as astrologer in the court of a Moslem prince,
sovereign over an extensive region in Kashmir.
"My lord was a man of noble heart and of high mental gifts. He ruled
over his people not by fear of the sword, but by absolute justice, which
he himself personally administered, every day holding audience so that
grievances, even those of the most poor, might be heard and wrongs
redressed. And his royal duties were shared by his wife, who, although
she might sit behind the screen of the women's quarters, none the less
shared in the counsels of state, and contributed words of wisdom in the
direction of affairs.
"Never in my experience have I encountered such mutual love, trust, and
devotion as subsisted between this pair. For no other woman in the world
had Mirza Shah thought or regard or desire--I call him Mirza Shah, but
that was not his real name. For reasons that will presently appear, I
refrain from disclosing the identity of places and persons connected
with my story.
"Well, it was my privilege from the outset to be on relations of close
intimacy with my master. He used to come through the palace gardens to
the shrub-embowered tower which I occupied, and from the roof of which I
nightly contemplated the heavens. For long hours he would abide with me,
learning something of the stars while enjoying the cool of the night air
after the heat and fatigues of the day. And many times of an afternoon
the sultana, veiled, would come with her lord, and together they would
seek to gain from me knowledge of the heavenly bodies and of divination.
Some things I told to them, but others I withheld, which is just and
right, for skill in astrology is hereditary, descending from father to
son, and new minds are unprepared for such teachings, so that too much
knowledge conveyed to outsiders may become a source of disturbance to
themselves and perchance of danger and hurt to their fellow men. Thus,
following the rules laid down for me by my grandfather, always, even
when closely pressed with questions, did I exercise a discreet reserve.
"Gradually the friendship accorded to me by my lord and his lady waxed
stronger, and I found myself being admitted to some of their innermost
thoughts. Thus did I come to learn the passionate longing of the wife to
become a mother: for six years had she waited, but no child had blessed
her love for her husband. As for Mirza Shah, just so soon as the subject
was mentioned I could see the cloud of melancholy rest on his brow. And
when, as time went on, sadness seemed to settle upon him continuously, I
knew full well that this disappointment in his wedded life had at last
taken complete possession of his mind, to the exclusion of all other
matters.
"And from the sultana's manner I could see the trepidation that filled
her heart--the dread that her childlessness might in the end rob her of
her husband's love. It was not given to me to look upon her face--to get
more than a glimpse of her eyes as they shot an occasional glance at me
through the parted folds of her veil. But in these glances I had read
the prayers of entreaty that I should use all the spells of my art in
her favour, so as to obtain for her from God the gift of a son.
"Well, after a time an unexpected thing happened. Mirza Shah was absent
from his home--gone on a full week's journey, engaged in the settling of
some dispute on the confines of his territory. To me there came one
afternoon the sultana, attended by one of her women--the most trusted
one, I knew, for both were from the same country, near to Amritsar,
where the famous rugs are woven. So much I had learned, and this further
I also knew, that by birth the sultana was a Hindu, although on being
wed to her lord as a little girl, she had of course embraced the true
faith of Islam, in so far as it matters for a woman to have any religion
at all.
"It was the female attendant who spoke to me, her mistress listening in
silence. But the questions came so readily that it was clear the lesson
had been well rehearsed by the twain.
"'Astrologer,' she began, 'can you swear on the Koran that the stars
speak truth?'
"'That I can swear,' I replied, with due dignity and respect for myself
and my profession.
"'Can the stars bring about the wishes of man or of woman?'
"'Nay, that I do not declare. They rule the lives of men and women only
in so far as their movements forecast the future. If we can read the
stars aright, we may gain foreknowledge of events destined to happen.
For what is written in the scroll of fate cannot be changed. From kismet
there is no escape."
"'Then tell me this, O astrologer, from your stars: is my noble lady
here ever going to have a child, a son?'
"'That question I cannot answer. Unless I have the horoscope of her
highness, cast by skilled hands at the time of her birth, I cannot tell
which planet rules her destiny.'
"'Alas, we knew not these things among my people down in Amritsar,' I
heard my lady murmur.
"'Bah!' exclaimed the serving woman contemptuously. She had flung open
her veil, unashamed as are women of her station that I, not her brother
or her husband, should gaze upon her face. It was a pleasant enough face
of a woman of five-and-twenty years of age; yet, methought, as I looked
into it now, that there was unseemly boldness in her eye and even
something of wanton abandonment in her manner.
"'Bah! If your stars cannot get us what we wish, what good are they?
Better pray at a Hindu shrine to Krishna, god of love revels, than waste
time in consulting a Moslem astrologer. That is what I have said all
along, dear lady'; and with undoubtedly great affection the woman folded
to her breast her now sobbing mistress.
"I turned away, as was proper, and busied myself with a chart of the
heavens over which I had been poring when my visitors had arrived. On
again raising my eyes, I found that I was alone.
"This incident I had well nigh forgotten, and near a year had elapsed.
For some months I had not seen the sultana; she remained in the strict
seclusion of the harem. Her highness was unwell, most people said. But I
knew the truth; Mirza Shah himself had told it to me, his face beaming
with pride and pleasure. At last his dearest hopes were to be realized;
the sultana was about to become a mother.
"Meanwhile I was on the alert to cast the horoscope of the child the
very hour it should arrive. My preparations had been all made for some
time past. Now was I only studying the stars night by night, so that I
should be the better prepared to read them correctly.
"At last, almost at the midnight hour, came a messenger running to the
tower with the news that a child had been born--a son, Allah be praised.
Then I set me instantly to my task, and it was with deep thankfulness I
saw that the conjunction of the planets and stars was highly favourable.
I carefully recorded the exact position of each heavenly body, and had
already read from my rough chart strength and valour for the boy that
had just been born, beauty of figure, good endowments of mind, when once
again I lifted my eyes to the heavens. But to my horror and dismay at
that very instant a streak of fire shot from west to east across the
first house, straight toward the planet there ruling, where it
disappeared. Just the fraction of a second had passed in the passing of
that fiery star. But I knew what it meant, for my grandfather had
instructed me in this matter. The child into whose horoscope had come
this dread intruder was destined, if he lived beyond infancy, to slay
his own father. And with the heaviness of lead this foreknowledge of
destiny settled on my soul.
"My head had sunk dejectedly on my breast, when I started up at the
touch of a hand on my shoulder, and the greeting of a joyous voice--that
of Mirza Shah.
"'A son, Syed Ali, a son. Joy, joy, joy! And now, what do the stars
say?'
"Was it cowardice, was it pity, was it sympathy for him in his long
deferred happiness, that prompted me to act as I did? Even at this day I
myself cannot answer the question. Perhaps it was just unthinkingly on
the spur of the moment that I did what I did. Without a word I thrust
into Mirza Shah's hand the roughly completed horoscope. There was no
note in it of the flaming star that at the last had marred the
favourable showing.
"Mirza Shah, under my instructions, had become skilled enough to
interpret the general significance of such a diagram with its
accompanying symbols.
"'Ah, my friend,' he exclaimed in fervent delight, 'this is indeed
excellent. He will be clever and brave and handsome, everything that a
father could wish. Get ready the emblazoned scroll at once. Now I shall
go. There are others to whom to tell the glad news, and to your mistress
even now shall I try to whisper the splendid omens the stars have traced
for us here.'
"He tapped the rough chart with a forefinger, then handed it back to me,
and was gone.
"Let my story hasten on, just as the years hastened on. The boy grew up
to be a comely lad, much in my companionship, for he came to me to learn
to read and write Persian and Arabic. But although I loved him well,
never any single day did he come into my sight but my heart was smitten
with self reproach. Why had I, by suppressing the truth, allowed this
child to live even for an hour beyond the hour of his birth? The
foreordained murderer of his good and noble father!--to my eyes the
decree of fate was branded on the very brow of the boy.
"Yet did I console myself and justify myself. At times I even dared to
indulge a doubting mood as to the certainty of the celestial writing of
fate. Could a bright, open-faced child like this one seated at my knee,
book in hand, ever come to commit the most abominable of human
crimes--to slay his own dearly loving father?
"'Impossible!' I would murmur to myself, and would thus resolutely shut
the gates of my heart to the whispering of conscience.
"But in any case it was now too late to speak. The boy was endeared to
his father and to his mother, the idol of both their lives. Mirza Shah
would have gladly died, well I knew, for his son. Why then should I
interfere? Kismet! Let destiny take its course. Even I, in withholding
the truth, had been an instrument in the hand of fate. And had it not
been written that I should so act? Who, indeed, but Allah can change the
course of events?
"By such arguments I became reconciled to abide with peace of mind the
workings of destiny. And so years rolled on.
"When Prince Hasan, as the lad had been named, had attained the age of
seventeen, it befell that the Emperor Humayun, son of Baber, made a
progress through the Kashmir Valley, receiving homage from his
feudatories, among whom was Mirza Shah. And the magnificent retinue of
the mighty Mogul so impressed our young prince, that he must needs beg
the privilege of joining the imperial bodyguard. This request was
readily granted, for Humayun was trying to gather around him the best
young blood in Hindustan, Rajput as well as Moslem, so that each race
alike might be keen in the defence and proud of the glory of the great
Mogul Empire.
"Thus it came about that Prince Hasan, superbly mounted and dressed in a
suit of fine chain armour beneath his upper silken garments, rode forth
from the valley where he had been reared, accompanied by the tearful
blessings of his father and mother.
"A year passed, and then Mirza Shah himself, summoned by special
messenger, departed on a visit to the Court at Agra. When two months
later he returned, never did I know such a change to have been wrought
in so brief a time on any man. He was grey and haggard; his eyes were
sunken. And to me he came almost first of all in the palace, to consult
the stars.
"And for my better guidance he told me some things. Prince Hasan had
fallen into ways of dissipation and habits of drunkenness--most accursed
of vices--in the city of Agra. It was in the hope of reclaiming him
that an old friend had called Mirza Shah to the capital. But at the
meeting of father and son, instead of repentance on the part of the
misguided youth, there had been defiance and revilement, and at last, as
the father confessed to me, with the tremor of shame in his voice, an
insulting blow in the face. This was too much to endure. Mirza Shah had
disowned his son. He declared he was henceforth childless, for, perhaps
as I have told you, there had been no other babe born all these years to
the sultana.
"Even now did I conceal my guilty knowledge, though well I knew that the
inexorable scroll of destiny was beginning to unfold itself. In fact, I
was afraid to speak, for Mirza Shah had challenged me straightway to
show a flaw in the happy horoscope I had drawn. And flaw in the
emblazoned scroll there was none that I could lay finger on; only in my
secret heart was the one sinister line traced--surely traced, as I
remorsefully reflected.
"For months thereafter Mirza Shah kept away from me--I knew that his
faith in the stars or in my skill to interpret them aright had been
shaken. But I held my place and kept to the even tenor of my ways, for I
had resolved that, if ever Prince Hasan should return home, then
assuredly would I be on hand to warn Mirza Shah, so that, the crisis
approaching, steps might at least be tried to avert the blow of destiny.
Of this I was determined, even though death itself would come to me as
the penalty of my long silence.
"But all of a sudden the storm of impending events broke. One day there
came to Kashmir the intelligence that Prince Hasan, incensed at his
father's just rebukes, was marching against him with a mighty host
gathered together from the forces of his companions in revelry.
Preparations for defence on our side were at once made, the armed men
gathered in from the surrounding villages, and carronades mounted on the
walls and at the gateway of the citadel, which hung on sloping ground,
with a precipitous mountain guarding it in the rear.
"Too true proved to be the news. One morning the army of Prince Hasan
came into view ascending the valley, and before nightfall the
semi-circle of ground beneath the walls of the citadel, at a distance of
four or five hundred yards, was occupied by the hosts of our enemy.
Among these were both horsemen and foot soldiers, also full two score of
great elephants dragging a train of siege guns.
"Now at last were the seals of silence broken from my lips. Without
further delay I must tell everything to Mirza Shah. Just as the sun was
setting I intercepted him when making a round of the walls, and begged
of him to come with me to my tower.
"'Later,' he said, sternly, as he passed on to complete his plans for
repelling the assault expected at daybreak on the morrow.
"The night was far advanced when at last my lord came to me, and, to my
surprise, clinging to his arm, was his wife, the sultana. I placed
cushions for her close to one of the casements, where she had been wont
to sit on the occasions of her visits in days gone by. Without a word
she sank into the place thus assigned to her.
"But Mirza Shah strode into the centre of the little circular room, and
took his stand right under the lamp that illuminated it.
"'Now what have you to say, thou false astrologer?' he demanded, without
word of prelude.
"Then did I take my courage in both hands, and told him everything--that
the stars had in truth revealed to me that the son was destined to be
his father's slayer, and that in my foolish desire to give the parents
immediate joy I had suppressed the incident of the flaming star.
"As my narrative reached the end I watched the changes in the face of
Mirza Shah. I had expected anger-righteous anger against my own self,
but in place of this there came over his handsome countenance a serene
look of happiness.
"'I thank you, Syed Ali,' he said, 'for the service you have done me.
Had you told me eighteen years ago what you tell me to-night, then for a
certainty would the guilt of murder be now upon my soul. To-day I am
indeed in sore sorrow, but, Allah be praised, there is not my own
child's blood upon my hands.'
"As he spoke he spread out his palms, as if in testimony of their
stainlessness.
"But at that moment a great burst of lamentation came from beneath the
sultana's veil, and, in a shrill tone of agony, she began to reproach
herself.
"'It is I who am the cause of all this misery,' she wailed.
"Instantly Mirza Shah bent down and silenced her, then gathered her,
almost like a bundle, into his arms.
"'I shall return straightway,' he cried to me, as he disappeared down
the narrow stairway.
"Two full hours passed, however, before Mirza Shah came back. His face
was white as marble--every feature seemed set, as the sculptor's chisel
fixes each line of the carved stone. He spoke to me quite abruptly:
"'Syed Ali, ask no questions, but do my bidding immediately. Yours will
be a dangerous task, but it is right that you, who have so long
concealed the truth from me, should be called upon to take the risk. The
successful accomplishment of your mission is the only reparation I
require.'
"'Most gladly will I die for you, Mirza Shah,' I murmured, kissing the
hem of his robe.
"'I know it,' he answered, 'and that is why I trust implicitly in you,
relying both on your courage and on your discretion. Take this ring,' he
went on, handing me a finger ring set with a large turquoise, 'and hide
it among your garments. Use your best wits to evade the enemy's
outposts. Follow the mountain path. You will get a horse from Abdulla
Beg at the head of the gorge. Then ride night and day for Talakabad.
There you will go to the house of a man named Gholab Khan, overlooking
the town. You will hand to him the finger ring I have just given you.
And this you will say: 'Mirza Shah is dead. You are to come to the
person who has sent this ring.'
"'But my lord lives--Allah be praised! he will yet live many a long
day.'
"'I like not deceit, Syed Ali, but when deceit has been used, then must
deceit reply. Carry to Gholab Khan the ring and the exact words I have
spoken: "Mirza Shah is dead. You are to come with me to the person who
has sent this ring. Hasten." Gholab Khan will without delay respond to
this summons. And here will I await your return,' added my lord grimly,
'for your stars have told me beyond all peradventure that I can hold
this citadel until Gholab Khan arrives. Now go. Here is the key for the
postern in the wall.'
"I had already tied the ring into a fold of my inner garment, and,
taking only my staff, I set forth straightway.
"This is not a story about myself, but about Mirza Shah and his family,"
said the astrologer, with a glance around his circle of auditors, whose
fixed attention showed the keen interest with which they were awaiting
the unfolding of the destiny proclaimed by the stars. "So once again
will I pass over my adventures. The end of them all was that, ere the
passing of a full week, I was back in my little tower, and with me was
Gholab Khan. It was night, for we had evaded the besiegers' watchfulness
under cover of the darkness by taking the same mountain defile by which
I had travelled forth on my expedition, and gaining entrance to the
citadel by the private gateway the key of which had been entrusted to
me.
"I lighted the lamp in the tower, and then turned to Gholab Khan. He was
a petty chieftain of the mountains, a handsome man of middle age,
resolute-looking and daring. In a few words I bade him wait awhile. Then
I stole forth to apprize Mirza Shah that my mission was achieved.
"My lord had given orders to his attendants that he was to be
immediately aroused, so soon as I returned, whatever the hour of the
night might be. In a moment he strode forth from his sleeping chamber
all ready dressed. I started back with affright, for in his hand was a
naked sword.
"'Fear not, Syed Ali,' he said to me. 'Where is this Gholab Khan?'
"'In my tower,' I answered.
"'Good,' he replied. 'Come.' And at the word his bodyguard, all with
drawn blades, closed around their master.
"About fifty paces from the tower he halted his men, and we two advanced
alone.
"I entered the building first. Close behind me, up the winding stairway,
pressed Mirza Shah, and I had but crossed the threshold of the room when
he thrust me aside.
"'Surrender!' he cried, the point of his sword at Gholab Khan's neck
before the latter could utter one word or make any movement in
self-defence.
"'Bind his hands,' went on my lord, his enemy pinned helplessly against
the wall. Gholab Khan dared not move, but his bulging eyes mutely
protested.
"I did as I was told, using a turban cloth gathered from a peg on the
wall. Of my own accord I tied ankles as well as wrists. Then Mirza Shah
dropped his sword.
"'Now leave us,' he said to me. 'I wish some words with this man. Remain
on guard below. Permit no one to intrude.'
"Some time passed. At the base of the stairway I could hear the voices
from above, but could distinguish no words. Then came a call from Mirza
Shah, bidding me to ascend.
"'Syed Ali,' he said, on my entry into the room, 'this man, Gholab Khan,
has to-night had the choice between two alternatives, either to die here
now at my hands, or to set forth at dawn and fight in single combat the
leader of my beleaguering enemies. He has chosen the latter--the wise
course.'