_King Shudraka and Hero's Family. Which of the five deserves the most
honour?_
Then King Triple-victory went back under the sissoo tree and caught the
goblin, who gave a horse-laugh. But the king without fear put him on
his shoulder as before and started toward the monk. And as he walked
along, the goblin on his shoulder said to him again: "O King, why do
you take such pains for that wretched monk? Have you no sense about
this fruitless task? Well, after all, I like your devotion. So, to
amuse the weary journey, I will tell you another story. Listen."
There is a city called Beautiful, and it deserves the name. There lived
a king named Shudraka, of tremendous power and mighty courage. He was
so used to victory that the fire of his courage was kept blazing by the
wind from the fans in the hands of the wives of his vanquished foes.
Under his rule the earth was rich and always good, as in the days of
old. And he was fond of brave men.
Now one day a Brahman named Hero came from Malwa to pay his homage to
this king. He had a wife named Virtue, a son named Trusty, and a
daughter named Heroic. And he had just three servants, a dagger at his
hip, a sword in his hand, and a shield in his other hand. These were
all the servants he had when he asked the king for five hundred
gold-pieces a day as his wages.
And the king thought from his appearance that he was a remarkably brave
man, so he gave him the wages he asked. But out of curiosity he put
spies on his track, to learn what he did with all the money.
Now Hero called on the king in the morning, and at noon he took his
sword and stood at the palace gate and divided his daily salary. One
hundred gold-pieces he gave to his wife for food and household
expenses. And with another hundred he bought clothes and perfumes and
nuts and such things. And another hundred he devoted to the worship of
Vishnu and Shiva, after taking the ceremonial bath. And the two hundred
which were left he gave to Brahmans and the unhappy and the poor. This
was the way he divided and spent the money every day. Then after he had
sacrificed and eaten dinner, he stood every night alone at the palace
gate with his sword and shield. All this King Shudraka learned from his
spies and was greatly pleased and forbad the spies to follow him again.
For he thought him a wonderful man, worthy of especial honour.
Then one day a veil of clouds covered the sky and poured down rain in
streams day and night, so that the highway was quite deserted. Only
Hero was at his post as usual by the palace gate. And when the sun set
and dreadful darkness was spread abroad and the rain fell in sheets,
the king wished to test Hero's behaviour. So at night he climbed to the
palace roof and cried: "Who is there at the gate?" And Hero answered:
"I am here." And the king thought: "How steadfast this man Hero is, and
how devoted to me! I must surely give him a greater post." And he
descended from the roof and entered the palace and went to bed.
The next night it rained again in sheets and the world was wrapped in
the darkness of death. And again the king thought to test his
behaviour, and climbing to the roof he called out toward the palace
gate: "Who is there?" And when Hero said: "I am here, your Majesty,"
the king was greatly astonished.
Just then he heard at a distance a sweet-voiced woman crying. And he
thought: "Who is this who laments so piteously, as if in deep despair?
In my kingdom there is no violence, no poor man and none distressed.
Who can she be?" And being merciful, he called to Hero, who stood
below: "Listen, Hero. A woman is weeping at some distance. Go and learn
why she weeps and who she is." And Hero said "Certainly," arranged his
dagger, took his sword in his hand, and started. He did not even think
of the pelting hail, the flashing lightning, or the rain and darkness.
And when the king saw him setting out alone in a night like that, he
was filled with pity and curiosity, and descending from the palace
roof, took his sword and followed all alone, without being seen.
As Hero traced the sound of crying, he came to a beautiful lake outside
the city, and there he saw a woman in the midst of the water, lamenting
in these words: "Alas for you, brave and merciful and generous! How
shall I live without you?"
And Hero was amazed, and timidly asked her: "Who are you, and why do
you weep?" And she replied: "O Hero, I am the Goddess of the Earth, and
now my lord, this virtuous King Shudraka, is going to die in three
days. How shall I find another such master? So I am distracted with
grief, and I lament."
When Hero heard this, he was frightened and said: "Goddess, is there
any remedy for this, any way in which the king might be saved?" And the
goddess answered: "There is just one remedy, my son, and it is in your
hands." And Hero said: "Goddess, tell me quickly, that I may adopt it
at once. What good would life be to us otherwise?"
Then the goddess said: "My son, there is no other man devoted to his
master as you are: so you may learn how to save him. There is a temple
to the Dreadful Goddess built by that king near his palace. If you
sacrifice your son to her at once, then the king will not die. He will
live another hundred years. If you do it this very night, then the
blessing will come, not otherwise."
And Hero, the hero, replied: "Then I will go, Goddess, and do it this
moment." And the Goddess of the Earth said: "Good fortune go with you,"
and she vanished. And the king, who had followed secretly, heard it
all. So he still followed to find out how Hero would behave.
But Hero went straight home, woke his wife Virtue, and told her all
that the Goddess of the Earth had said. And his wife said: "My dear, if
so much depends on it, wake the boy and tell him." Then Hero woke the
little boy, told him all, and said: "My boy, if you are sacrificed to
the Dreadful Goddess, our king will live. If not, he will die in three
days."
And the boy was true to his name. Without fear and without hesitation
he said: "My dear father, I am a lucky boy if the king lives at the
cost of my life. Besides, that would pay for the food we have eaten.
Why then delay? Take me quickly and sacrifice me to the goddess. May
the king's evil fate be averted by my death!" And Hero was delighted
and congratulated him, saying: "Well said! You are indeed my son."
So Hero's wife Virtue and his daughter Heroic went through the night
with Hero and Trusty to the temple of the Dreadful Goddess. The king
too followed them, disguised and unnoticed. Then the father took Trusty
from his shoulder in the presence of the goddess. And Trusty worshipped
the goddess, and bravely saluted her, and said: "O Goddess, by the
sacrifice of my head may the king live another hundred years and rule a
thornless kingdom."
And as he prayed, Hero cut off his head and offered it to the Dreadful
Goddess, saying: "May the king live at the cost of my son's life!" Then
a voice cried from heaven: "O Hero, who else is devoted to his master
as you are? You have given life and royal power to the king at the cost
of your only son, and such a son." All this the king himself saw and
heard.
Then Hero's daughter Heroic kissed the lips of her dead brother, and
was blinded with sorrow, and her heart broke, and she died.
Then Hero's wife Virtue said: "My dear, we have done our duty by the
king. And you see how my daughter died of grief. So now I say: What
good is life to me without my children? I was a fool before. I should
have given my own head to save the king. So now permit me to burn
myself at once."
And when she insisted, Hero said: "Do so. What happiness is there in a
life of constant mourning for your children? And as for your giving
your own life instead, do not grieve about that. If there had been any
other way, I should of course have given my life. So wait a moment. I
will build you a funeral pile out of these logs." So he built the pile
and lighted it.
And Virtue fell at her husband's feet, then worshipped the Dreadful
Goddess, and prayed: "O Goddess, may I have the same husband in another
life, and may this same King Shudraka be saved at the cost of my son's
life." And she died in the blazing fire.
Then Hero thought: "I have done my duty by the king, as the heavenly
voice admitted. And I have paid for the king's food which I have eaten.
So now why should I want to live alone? It is not right for a man like
me to go on living at the expense of all the family which I ought to
support. Why should I not please the goddess by sacrificing myself?"
So Hero first approached the goddess with a hymn of praise: "O
Demon-slayer! Saviour! Devil-killer! Trident-holder! Joy of the wise!
Protectress of the universe! Victory to thee, O best of mothers, whose
feet the world adores! O fearless refuge of the pious! Kali of the
dreadful ornaments! Honour and glory to thee, O kindly goddess! Be
pleased to accept the sacrifice of my head in behalf of King Shudraka."
Then he suddenly cut off his own head with his dagger.
King Shudraka beheld this from his hiding-place, and was filled with
amazement and grief and admiration. And he thought: "I have never seen
or heard the like of this. That good man and his family have done a
hard thing for me. In this strange world who else is so brave as that,
to give his son, his family, and his life for his king: If I should not
make a full return for his kindness, my kingdom would mean nothing to
me, and my life would be the life of a beast. If I lost my virtue, it
would all be a disgrace to me."
But when he started to cut off his own head, there came a voice from
heaven: "My son, do nothing rash. I am well pleased with your
character. The Brahman Hero and his children and his wife shall come
back to life." And when the voice ceased, Hero stood up alive and
uninjured with his son and his daughter and his wife. Then the king hid
himself again and looked on with eyes filled with tears of joy, and
could not see enough of them.
Now Hero, like a man awaking from a dream, gazed at his son and his
wife and his daughter, and was greatly perplexed. He spoke to each by
name, and asked them how they had come to life after being reduced to
ashes. "Is this a fancy of mine? Or a dream? Or an illusion? Or the
favour of the goddess?" And his wife and children said to him: "By the
favour of the goddess we are alive."
At last Hero believed it, and having worshipped the goddess, he went
home happy with his children and his wife. And when he had seen his son
and his wife and daughter safe at home, he went back that same night to
the palace gate.
And King Shudraka saw all this and went back without being seen
himself, and climbed to the roof, and called: "Who is there at the
gate?" And Hero replied: "Your Majesty, I, Hero, am here. At your
command I followed the woman who cried. She must have been a witch, for
she vanished the moment I saw her and spoke to her."
When the king heard this, he was astonished beyond measure, for he had
seen what really happened. And he thought: "Ah, the hearts of brave men
are deep as the sea, if they do not boast after doing an unparalleled
action." So the king descended from the roof, entered the palace, and
passed the rest of the night there.
Then when the court was held in the morning, Hero came to see the king.
And as he stood there, the delighted king told all his counsellors and
the others the story of the night. And all were amazed and confounded
at hearing of Hero's virtues, and they praised him, crying: "Well done!
Well done!"
Then the king and Hero lived happily together, sharing the power
equally.
When the goblin had told this story, he asked King Triple-victory: "O
King, which of all these was the most worthy? If you know and will not
tell, then the curse I told you of will be fulfilled."
And the king said to the goblin: "O magic creature, King Shudraka was
the most noble of them all."
But the goblin said: "Why not Hero, the like of whom as a servant is
not to be found in the whole world? Or why should not his wife receive
the most praise, who did not waver when she saw her son killed like a
beast before her eyes? Or why is not the boy Trusty the most worthy,
who showed such wonderful manhood when only a little boy? Why do you
say that King Shudraka was the best among them?"
Then the king answered the goblin: "Not Hero. He was a gentleman born,
so it was his duty to save his king at the cost of life, wife and
children. And his wife was a lady, a faithful wife who only did what
was right in following her husband. And Trusty was their son, and like
them. For the cloth is always like the threads. But the king has aright
to use his subjects' lives to save his own. So when Shudraka gave his
life for them, he proved himself the best of all."
When the goblin heard this, he jumped from the king's shoulder and went
back to his home without being seen. And the king was not disturbed by
this magic, but started back through the night to catch him.