U Babam Doh found his mother, on his return, in just the same condition
as when he left her; so as soon as he arrived he put the lota of milk
into her hand, and said, "Drink, oh my mother. I have obtained for you
some tigress' milk, drink and live." She made a pretence of drinking,
but as soon as her son left the house she hurried to the wooden chest,
and, handing in the lota, she said, "Drink, oh my husband. Our son hath
obtained the tigress' milk, drink and be free from the dragon's power."
U Yak Jakor was vexed to find that U Babam Doh had returned unharmed,
and began to think how he could send him on another perilous venture,
and he answered the woman plaintively, "To drink tigress' milk is only
a part of my vow; before I can be released from the dragon's power I
must anoint my body with fresh bear's grease, and he who obtains it
for me must not know for whom or for what purpose it is obtained."
The woman was very troubled to hear this, for she feared to send her
son into yet another danger, but, believing that there was no other
way to secure her husband's release, she again feigned sickness, and
when her son asked her why the tigress' milk had not effected a cure,
she replied:
"It is written in my nusip that I must die of this sickness unless
I anoint my body with fresh bear's grease."
"I will obtain the fresh bear's grease for you, oh my mother, or die,"
answered the youth impetuously; and once more he started to the forest,
taking his bow and quiver, and his father's lota, which he had filled
with honey.
As he was starting off, the tiger cub began to follow him, but U Babam
Doh commanded him to stop at home to guard the house, and went alone
to the forest. After travelling far he saw the footprints of bears,
whereupon he cut some green plaintain leaves and spread them on
the ground and poured the honey upon them, and went to hide in the
thicket. Soon a big bear came and began to eat the honey greedily,
and while it was busy feasting, U Babam Doh, from behind the thicket,
threw a thong round its throat and captured it alive. Upon this
a fierce struggle began; but the bear, finding that the more he
struggled the tighter the grip on his throat became, was soon subdued,
and was led a safe, though unwilling captive by U Babam Doh out of
the jungle. Thus once again the son brought to his mother the remedy
which was supposed to be written in her nusip.
When he came in sight of his home, leading the bear by the thong,
the tiger cub, on seeing his master, ran to meet him, with the good
news that his mother had recovered and had been cooking savoury meals
for a guest who was staying in the house. This news cheered U Babam
Doh greatly, and, fastening the bear to a tree, he hastened to the
house to greet his mother, but to his disappointment he found her ill
and seemingly in as much pain as ever. Without delay he took a knife
and went out to kill the bear, and, filling the lota with grease,
he brought it to his mother, saying:
"Anoint yourself, oh my mother, I have obtained for you the bear's
grease; anoint yourself and live."
He then went out to seek the tiger cub and punish him for deceiving
him about his mother's condition, but the cub declared on oath that
he had spoken only the truth, and that his mother had really been
entertaining a guest during her son's absence, and seemed to have
been in good health, going about her work, and cooking savoury meals.
U Babam Doh was greatly mystified; he was loth to believe his mother
could be capable of any duplicity, and yet the tiger cub seemed to
speak the truth. He determined not to say anything to his mother
about the matter, but to keep a watch on her movements for a few days.
When her son left the house after giving her the bear's grease,
the woman rose quickly, and lifting the lid of the chest, she said:
"Anoint yourself, oh my husband. Our son hath obtained the bear's
grease; anoint yourself and be free from the dragon's power."
As before, the dragon was again very chagrined to find that U Babam
Doh had come back alive and uninjured, so he thought of yet another
plan by which he could send him into a still greater danger, and he
answered the woman: "Anointing my body with bear's grease is only a
part of my vow; before I can be released from the dragon's power I
must be covered for one whole night with the undried skin of a python,
and he who obtains the skin for me must not know for what purpose or
for whom it is obtained."
The woman wept bitterly when she heard of this vow, for she feared to
send her son among the reptiles. U Yak Jakor, seeing her hesitation,
began to coax her, and to persuade her to feign sickness once
again, and she, longing to see her husband released, yielded to his
coaxing. When her son came in he found her seemingly worse than he
had seen her before, and once more he knelt by her side and begged
of her to tell him what he could do for her that would ease her pain.
She replied, "It is written in my nusip that I must die of this
sickness unless I am covered for a whole night with the undried skin
of a python"; and as before U Babam Doh answered and said that he
would obtain for her whatever was written in her nusip; but he did
not say that he would bring a python skin.
Taking his bow and quiver, he left the house, as on former occasions,
and walked in the direction of the jungle, but this time he did not
proceed far. He returned home unobserved, and, climbing to the roof
of the house, he quietly removed some of the thatch, which enabled
him to see all that was going on inside the house, while he himself
was unseen.
Very soon he saw his mother getting up, as if in her usual health,
and preparing to cook a savoury meal, which, to his amazement, when
it had been cooked, she took to the wooden chest where he knew the
dragon to be confined. As he looked, he saw the figure of a man lying
in the chest, and he knew then that U Yak Jakor had transformed himself
into another likeness in order to dupe his mother. He listened, and
soon he understood from their conversation that the dragon had taken
the form of his own dead father, and by that means had succeeded in
making his mother a tool against her own son. He now blamed himself
for not having confided to his mother the secret of the chest, and
determined to undeceive her without further delay.
He entered the house quickly, before his mother had time to close
the lid of the chest. She stood before him flustered and confused,
thinking that by her indiscretion she had irrevocably committed her
husband to the power of the dragon; but when U Babam Doh informed her
of the deception played upon her by U Yak Jakor she was overwhelmed
with terror, to think how she had been duped into sending her brave
son into such grave perils, and abetting the dragon in his evil
designs on his life.
When U Yak Jakor saw that there was no further advantage to be
gained by keeping the man's form he assumed his own shape, and,
thinking to prevent them from approaching near enough to harm him,
he emitted the most foul stench from his scaly body. But U Babam Doh,
who had borne so much, was not to be thwarted, and without any more
lingering he took the chest on his shoulders and carried it to the
place of Durbar. There, before the Siem and his ministers and the
whole populace, he recounted the strange story of his own adventures
and his parents' history. At the end of the tale he opened the wooden
chest and exhibited the great monster, who had been such a terror to
travellers for many generations, and in the presence of the Durbar,
amid loud cheers, he slew U Yak Jakor, and so avenged his father's
death and vindicated his mother's honour.
The Siem and the Durbar unanimously appointed him the Heir-apparent,
and when in the course of time he succeeded to the throne he proved
himself a wise and much-loved ruler, who befriended the poor and the
down-trodden and gave shelter to the stranger and the homeless. He
always maintained that his own high estate was bestowed upon him
in consequence of his family's generosity to a lonely and unknown
mendicant, whose blessing descended upon them and raised them from
a state of want and poverty to the highest position in the land.