"By following after this he-goat, thus I came hither."
"Will you come with us seven brethren, and be our wife," rejoined
the brother, who had spoken first; and when she willingly agreed they
took her home with them.
But they both were evil Râkshasas (7), who had only come out to find
men whose lives to devour; the male Manggus (8), had taken the form
of a he-goat, and the female Manggus that of a beautiful maiden,
the better to deceive.
When therefore the seven took her home and the goat with her, the
two Manggus had ample scope to carry out their design, and every
year they devoured the life of one of the brothers, till now there
was only the Khan left, and they began to consume the life of him also.
When the ministers saw that all the brothers were dead, and only the
Khan left, they held a council, and they said, "Behold, all the other
Khans are dead, notwithstanding all the means we have at our command,
and despite the arts of all the physicians of this country." Now
there remains no other means for us but to send for the Pig's head
soothsayer who found the Khan's talisman, and get him to restore
the Khan to health." This counsel was found good, and they all said,
"Let us send for the Pig's head soothsayer."
Four men were sent off on horseback to call the Pig's head soothsayer,
who laid all the case before him.
When he heard it he was greatly embarrassed, and knew not what to
answer, but his vacancy passed, with them, for his being immersed in
deep contemplation, and they reverenced him the more. Meantime his
wife bid them put up their horses and stay the night.
In the night-time she asked of him what the men had come about,
and he told her all his embarrassment.
"True, last time you exerted yourself a little and had good luck," she
replied, "but now that you have been sitting here doing nothing, and
looking so stupid all this time, whether you will cut as good a figure,
who shall say? But go you must, seeing the Khan has sent for you."
The next morning he said to the messengers, "In the visions of the
night I have learned even how I may help the Khan, and presently I
will come with you."
Then he enveloped himself in a mantle, laid his hair over the crown
of his head, took a large string of beads in his left hand, bound the
silk stuff woven of five colours round his right arm, and carrying
the pigs' head set out with them.
When he arrived with this strange aspect at the Khan's dwelling
both the Manggus were much alarmed. They thought he must be some
cunning soothsayer who knew all about them; they had heard, too,
of his success in finding the Khan's talisman.
But the man continuing to support his character of soothsayer, ordered
a Baling as big as a man to be brought to the head of the Khan's bed,
and placed the pig's head on top of it, and then sat himself down
over against it, murmuring words of incantation (9).
The Manggus, thinking all these preparations showed that he was a
cunning soothsayer, went away to take counsel together, and the Khan
being thus delivered for the time from their evil arts, his pains
began to yield and he fell into a tranquil sleep. Seeing this his
attendants thought favourably of the cure, and trusting therefore
the more in the soothsayer's powers they left him in entire charge
of the patient. Being thus freed from observation he ventured to
leave his position of apparent absorption in contemplation, and to
take a stolen glance at the Khan. When he saw him in such a deep
sleep a great fear took him, thinking he must be very bad indeed,
and he did all he could to wake him, crying aloud,--
"O great Khan! O mighty Khan!"
Finding that the Khan remained speechless he thought he must be dead,
and resolved that his best part was to run away. This was not so easy,
for the first open door he found to take refuge in was that of the
Treasury, and the guard called out "Stop thief!" and when from thence
he tried to bestow himself in the store-chamber, the guard sang out
"Stop thief!" At last he went into the stable, to hide himself there,
but close by the door-way stood the he-goat, whom he feared to pass,
lest he should goad him with his horns. However, summoning up all
his courage, he got behind him, and sprang on his back, and gave
him three blows on his head; but instantly, even as the blue smoke
column is carried in a straight direction by the wind, so sped the
he-goat straight off to the Khanin leaving his rider stretched upon
the ground. As soon as he had got up again he ran after the he-goat,
to see whither he went so fast; following him, he came to the door
of the Khanin's apartment, and heard the he-goat talking to her
within. The two Manggus spoke thus:--
"The Pig's head soothsayer is a soothsayer indeed," said the he-goat;
"he divined that I was in the stable, and he came there after me,
and sprang upon my back, giving me three mighty blows, by which I
know the weight of his arm. The best thing we can do is to make good
our escape."
The Khanin made answer, "I, also, am of the same mind. I saw when
he first came in that he recognized us for what we are. We have had
good fortune hitherto, but it has forsaken us now; it were better
we got away. I know what he will do; in a day or two, when he has
cured the Khan by not letting us approach him to devour his life,
he will assemble together all the men of the place with their arms,
and all the women, telling them to bring each a faggot of wood for
burning. When all are assembled he will say, 'Let that he-goat be
brought to me,' so they will bind thee and take thee before him. Then
will he say to thee, 'Lay aside thine assumed form,' and it will be
impossible for thee not to obey. When he has shown thee thus in thine
own shape they will all fall upon thee, and put thee to death with
swords and arrows, and burn thee in the fire. And afterwards with me
will he deal after the same manner. Now, therefore, to-morrow or the
next day we will be beforehand with him, and will go where we shall
be safe from his designs."
When the man heard all this, he left off from following the goat,
and went back with good courage, to take up his place again over
against the pig's head by the side of the Khan's couch.
In the morning the Khan woke, refreshed with his slumber; and when
they inquired how he felt, the Khan replied that the soothsayer's
power had diminished the force of the malady.
"If this be even so," here interposed the soothsayer, "and if the Khan
has confidence in the word of his servant, command now thy ministers
that they call together all thy subjects--the men with their arms,
and the women each with a faggot of wood for burning." Then the Khan
ordered that it should be done according to his word. When they were
all assembled, the pretended soothsayer, having set up his pig's
head, commanded further that they should bring the he-goat out of
the stable before him; and when they had bound him and brought him,
that they should put his saddle on him. Then he sprang on to his back,
and gave him three blows with all his strength, and dismounted. Then
with all the power of voice he could command, he cried out to him,
"Lay aside thine assumed form!"
At these words the he-goat was changed before the eyes of all present
into a horrible Manggus, deformed and hideous to behold. With swords
and sticks, lances and stones, the whole people fell upon him, and
disabled him, and then burnt him with fire till he was dead.
Then said the soothsayer, "Now, bring hither the Khanin." So they
went and dragged down the Khanin to the place where he stood, with
yelling and cries of contempt.
With one hand on the pig's head, as if taking his authority from it,
the soothsayer cried out to her, in a commanding voice,--
"Resume thine own form!"
Then she too became a frightful Manggus, and they put her to death
like the other.
The soothsayer now rode back to the Khan's palace, all the people
making obeisance to him as he went along--some crying, "Hail!" some
strewing the way with barley, and some bringing him rich offerings. It
took him nearly the space of a day to make his way through such
a throng.
When at last he arrived, the Khan received him with a grateful welcome,
and asked him what present he desired of him. The soothsayer answered,
with his usual simplicity, "In our part of the country we have none
of those pieces of wood which I see you put here into the noses of
the oxen: let there be given me a quantity of them to take back with
me." The Khan then ordered there should be given him three sacks of
the pieces of wood for the oxen, and seven elephants laden with meal
and butter to boot.
When he arrived home, his wife came out to meet him with brandy, and
when she saw the seven elephants with their loads, she extolled him
highly; but when she came to learn how great was the deliverance he
had rendered to the Khan, she was indignant that he had not asked for
higher reward, and determined to go the next day herself to the Khan.
The next day she went accordingly, disguised, and sent in a letter
of the following purport to the Khan:--
"Although I, the Pig's head soothsayer, brought the Khan round from
his malady, yet some remains of it still hang about him. It was in
order to remove these that I asked for the pieces of wood for the
oxen; what guerdon has been earned by this further service it is for
the Khan to decide."
Such a letter she sent in to the Khan.
"The man has spoken the truth," said the Khan, on reading the
letter. "For his reward, let him and his wife, his parents and friends,
all come over hither and dwell with me."
When they arrived, the Khan said, "When one has to show his gratitude,
and dismisses him to whom he is indebted with presents, that does not
make an end of the matter. That I was not put to death by the Manggus
is thy doing; that the kingdom was not given over to destruction was
thy doing; that the ministers were not eaten up by the Manggus was thy
doing: it is meet, therefore, that we share between us the inheritance,
even between us two, and reign in perfect equality." With such words
he gave him half his authority over the kingdom, and to all his family
he gave rich fortunes and appointments of state. And thus his wife
became Khanin; so that while he could indulge himself in the same
idle life as before, she also enjoyed rest from her household and
pastoral cares (10).
"Though the woman despised her husband's understanding," exclaimed
the Khan, "yet was it always his doings which brought them wealth
after all!"
And as he let these words escape him, the Siddhî-kür replied,
"Forgetting his health, the Well-and-wise-walking Khan hath opened
his lips. "And with the cry, "To escape out of this world is good!" he
sped him through the air, swift out of sight.