_The Girl who showed Great Devotion to the Thief. Did he weep or laugh?_
Then the king went back to the sissoo tree, put the goblin on his
shoulder, and started. And as he walked along, the goblin said to him:
"O King, I will tell you another story. Listen."
* * * * *
There is a city called Ayodhya, which was once the capital of Rama the
exterminator of giants. In this city lived a strong-armed king named
Hero-banner who protected the world as a wall protects a city. During
his reign a great merchant named Jewel lived in the city. His wife was
named Pleasing, and a daughter named Pearl was given to her prayers.
As the girl grew up in her father's house, her natural virtues grew
too: beauty, charm, and modesty. And thus she became a young woman.
Now in her young womanhood she was asked in marriage not only by great
merchants, but even by kings. But she was prudent and did not like men.
She would not have loved a god if he had been her husband. She was
ready to die at merely hearing talk of her marriage. So her father was
silent on the subject, though his tender love for her made him sad. And
the story was known everywhere in Ayodhya.
At this time all the citizens were being plundered by thieves, and they
petitioned King Hero-banner in these words: "O King, we are plundered
every night by thieves, and cannot catch them. Your Majesty must decide
what to do." So the king stationed night-watchmen in hiding about the
city, to search out the thieves.
When the watchmen failed to catch the thieves for all their searching,
the king himself took his sword, and wandered about alone at night. And
he saw a man creeping along a wall with noiseless steps, often casting
a fearful glance behind him. The king concluded that this was the thief
who all alone robbed the city, and went up to him. And the thief asked
him who he was. The king replied: "I am a thief."
Then the thief said joyfully: "Good! You are my friend. Come to my
house. I will treat you like a friend." So the king agreed and went
with the thief to a house hidden in a grove and guarded by a wall, full
of delightful and beautiful things, and bright with shining gems. There
the thief offered the king a seat, and went into an inner room.
At that moment a serving-maid came into the room and said to the king:
"Your Majesty, why have you come into the jaws of death? This wonderful
thief has gone out, intending to do you a mischief. He is certainly
treacherous. Go away quickly."
So the king quickly went away, returned to the city, and drew up a
company of soldiers. With these soldiers he went and surrounded the
house where the serving-maid had been.
When the thief saw that the house was surrounded, he knew that he was
betrayed, and came out to fight and die like a man. He showed more than
human valour. He cut off the trunks of elephants, the legs of horses,
and the heads of men; and he was all alone, with only his sword and
shield. When the king saw that his army was destroyed, he ran forward
himself.
The king was a scientific swordsman, so with a turn of his wrist he
sent the sword and the dagger flying from the thief's hand. Then he
threw away his own sword, wrestled with the thief, threw him, and took
him alive.
The next morning the thief was led to the place of execution to be
impaled, and the drums were beaten. And Pearl, the merchant's daughter,
saw him from her balcony. All bloody and dusty as he was, she went mad
with love, found her father, and said to him: "Father, I am going to
marry that thief who is being led to execution. You must save him from
the king. Otherwise I shall die with him."
But her father said: "What do you mean, my daughter? That thief stole
everything the citizens had, and the king's men are going to kill
him. How can I save him from the king? Besides, what nonsense are you
talking?" But the more he scolded, the more determined she became. And
as he loved his daughter, he went to the king and offered all he had
for the release of the thief.
[Illustration: With a turn of the wrist he sent the dagger flying from
the chief's hand.]
But the king would not be tempted by millions. He would not release the
thief who stole everything, whom he had captured at the risk of his
life. So the father returned home sadly. And the girl, not heeding the
arguments of her relatives, took a bath, entered a litter, and went
to the death-scene of the rogue, to die with him. Her parents and her
relatives followed her, weeping.
At that moment the executioners impaled the thief. As his life ebbed
away, he saw the girl and the people with her, and learned her story.
Then the tears rolled down his cheeks, but he died with a smile on his
lips.
The faithful girl took the thief's body from the stake, and mounted the
pyre to burn herself. But the blessed god Shiva was staying invisibly
in the cemetery, and at that moment he spoke from the sky: "O faithful
wife, I am pleased with your constancy to the husband of your choice.
Choose whatever boon you will from me."
The girl worshipped the gracious god and chose her boon: "O blessed
one, my father has no son. May he have a hundred. Otherwise his
childless life would end when I am gone."
And the god spoke again from the sky: "O faithful wife, your father
shall have a hundred sons. But choose another boon. A woman faithful as
you are deserves more than the little thing you asked."
Then she said: "O god, if I have won your favour, may this my husband
live and always be a good man."
The invisible Shiva spoke from the sky: "So be it. Your husband shall
be made alive and well. He shall be a good man, and King Hero-banner
shall be pleased with him."
Then the thief arose at once, alive and well. And the merchant Jewel
was overjoyed and astonished. He took Pearl and the thief, his
son-in-law, went home with his rejoicing relatives, and made a feast
great as his own delight, in honour of the sons he was to have.
And the king was pleased when he learned the story, and in recognition
of the stupendous courage of the thief, he appointed him general at
once. The thief reformed, married the merchant's daughter, and lived
happily with her, devoted to virtue.
* * * * *
When the goblin had told this story, he reminded the king of the
curse, and said: "O king, when the thief on the stake saw the
merchant's daughter approaching with her father, did he weep or laugh?
Tell me."
And the king answered: "He thought: 'I can make no return to this
merchant for his unselfish friendship.' Therefore he wept from grief.
And he also thought: 'Why does this girl reject kings and fall in love
with a thief like me? How strange women are!' Therefore he laughed from
astonishment."
When the goblin heard this, he immediately slipped from the king's
shoulder and escaped to his home. But the king was not discouraged. He
followed him to the sissoo tree.