Kitabı oku: «The Memoirs of a White Elephant», sayfa 5

CHAPTER XIV
ELEPHANT GAMES

What a paradise for me were the years during which I was the Slave of that Child!

She accepted me at once, and a sympathy and understanding that was extraordinary existed between us. She was beginning to talk, and from her, with no trouble at all I learned Hindostani; till then an interpreter had been attached to my service, with no other duty than that of translating into Siamese such words as it was necessary for me to understand. I had, of course, remembered a few – but very few – and rarely an entire sentence; but with Parvati, who was, herself, slowly but surely acquiring a language– I acquired it too.

I was the one to whom she talked most, and whenever I failed to understand her she would go obstinately over and over the same words. Generally it was about some new play that she had in her mind. With a playmate like me you can imagine that the games were far from usual! "Swing me!" she would say.

Then I would bend my trunk inward a little, so as to form a sort of living arm-chair, which would support her lightly and prevent her from falling, and swing her gently back and forth. Her laughter was like a shower of pearls, but she was never satisfied.

"Harder! Harder!" she would cry, and I quickened the motion and sent her higher and higher, until, when I felt it was becoming dangerous, I stopped.

Then she would get angry and try to beat me. But her tender little hands hurt themselves on my rough skin, and she would stop, ready to cry, and say:

"Hateful thing! You prick me!"

To comfort her I would stroll towards the fountain, and she would follow clapping her hands…

"Oh, yes – yes, make the water-spout."

This consisted in drawing up an enormous quantity of water (we are capable of holding in our stomachs an incredible amount), and of raising my trunk and spouting it out in sprays, jets, and showers. The sun shining on the little drops made them sparkle with all the colours of the rainbow.

With uplifted head and with ecstatic eyes, Parvati would look on. She did not laugh nor exclaim, but said gravely:

"That is beautiful!"

Her one fixed idea was to get on my back and go for a promenade. But a fall from such a mountain as I would have been terrible for her, and I opposed a firm resistance.

At the same time I studied how I might find a way of gratifying her with safety.

After much reflection I thought of something. I pulled a number of pliant flexible reeds, and with great effort and much patience, I managed to twist them together in a manner to form a kind of basket or hammock which could hang from my neck, and in which I carefully placed my little Princess. In this way it was as if she were resting on my heart, and I could watch over her, shelter her from the sun, and protect her from any danger.

She was enchanted with my invention, and Saphire-of-Heaven was equally pleased; only the Queen ordered my shapeless work replaced by a more complete and perfect construction. The promenade now became one of our favourite pastimes.

We went all about the city, under trees that shaded fountains of porphry.

The Brahmans who passed in their shining white robes, murmured a benediction on the daughter of their king; the cavaliers whom we met riding on horses whose manes were braided and decorated with fringes, or mounted on elephants richly caparisoned, saluted her with affectionate smiles; the noble ladies stopped their litters drawn by white oxen to speak a few words with her. But what most pleased her was the People, who shouted with joy, when they saw her coming, suspended like a Pearl from my neck! The merchants, the blacks, who all greeted her with acclamations – and above all the children, the crowds of little friends, for whom she was like a Fairy Queen.

We stopped before the temple of Vichnu which rises like a great bee-hive of stone against the blue sky. And in a moment we were surrounded by a world of little children, half dressed, and running bare-footed in the dust, laughing, screaming, and making a joyous and deafening noise.

The Princess leaned forward, and, holding up her little hand, imposed silence upon her subjects. They became instantly mute, and ranged themselves in a circle about us.

"Which of you has been good?" inquired she with a majestic air.

"Me … Me …" the entire assembly replied invariably with one voice!

"If you tell lies Brahma will know it, and Allah too, and you will be whipped!"

"No! No! Very good!" was the answer on all sides.

"Well then, we will go to the Bazaar!"

At this the shouts began louder than ever, and like a cloudy of sparrows, as soon as I moved on, all the little urchins jumped and capered around us in the dust; some of the boys went so far as to turn summersaults, a performance which it must be admitted enchanted the Princess.

A purse filled with rupees was attached to one of my tusks, and we bought at the Bazaar all sorts of dainties and pretty things.

Each child, after pondering deeply – usually with its finger in its mouth – announced what it would best like to have; mangoes, bananas, oranges, sherbet, pastry-cakes, preserves, or perhaps a necklace of "vamba" beads as red as coral, bracelets of enamelled clay – a parasol – slippers; some asked for a tunic, or a veil of muslin…

I, myself was never forgotten. I also was expected to choose what I would like, and I always selected a pastry-shop, where my appetite was allowed full sway. I gobbled pies, cookies, cream-cakes, biscuits, buns – the entire stock. I was terribly ashamed of my greediness, but could not restrain myself. I was the one whose tastes were the most expensive!

The change for the last rupee I scattered in a shower, and while the little ones were engaged in picking up the bits of money we left.

Sometimes they ran after, and rejoined us. Then they formed a ring and joined hands in a gay dance, holding us captive in their happy circle.

Parvati in her basket would stir restlessly: she longed to get down and mingle in the dance, but her dignity of Princess forbade such a thing. When I suspected that her feet were getting the better of her, I broke through the circle with a stern motion, and carried her rapidly away.

CHAPTER XV
SCIENCE

The education of Parvati had begun, to her great displeasure – and to mine. For long hours she had to listen to the Brahmans, instead of playing with me, or going to harangue the happy little vagabonds of the city. Music, dancing, poetry, writing – it was all terrible! and I could hear my beloved weeping – screaming – stamping, in the midst of her respectful but stern teachers.

I stood at the door of the schoolroom, helpless, with drooping head, replying with groans to the furious outcries of the rebellious pupil.

Sometimes she escaped, all in tears, and ran towards me, encircling my trunk with her little arms, and crying:

"Take me away! Let us run to the forest, away from the wicked Brahmans!"

But the head Brahman in his white robe would appear, and hiding a kindly smile under an outward appearance of severity, take the naughty girl away from me…

At last she obtained permission to learn her lessons in the basket hanging from my neck, while I walked slowly along under the trees of the park.

I remember especially a Fable which gave us a great deal of trouble to learn, the birds and the butterflies so distracted our attention during those hours of Study! But we succeeded at last, and if I could only have spoken I could have prompted the little Princess many a time when she made mistakes in her recitations.

It was a very pretty Fable and was intended to teach us that one cannot be too cautious in this life. And, as I still remember it, I will give myself the pleasure of writing it down from beginning to end, without the least fear of making any mistake. It was called:

The Crane and the Crawfish

In a beautiful forest there was a great Pool, inhabited by all kinds of fish; on its banks a Crane had her dwelling. This Crane was old, and could no longer catch the Fish to feed on them. Therefore, with a throat contracted by hunger, she stood on the edge of the Pool and wept; she moistened the ground with her tears, which glistened like innumerable pearls.

Standing on one slender leg which looked like the stalk of a flower, and with her neck curved downwards, the sly Crane deceived the silly Fish, who took her for a Lotus.

Now, a Crawfish, accompanied by many others of the Water-people, approached, and pitying the distress of the Crane, inquired respectfully:

"Friend, why is it that you are not, as usual, seeking your dinner, and why do you utter these tearful sighs?"

"My child," said the Crane, "what you have observed is true. I do, indeed, make my dinner ordinarily of fish, but behold! I have renounced all appetite for food, and intend to let myself die of starvation; so that no matter how near they come to me I shall never eat fish again!"

When the Crawfish heard this she said:

"Friend, what is the reason for this renunciation of all appetite?"

"My child," said the Crane, "I was born and brought up on the borders of this Pool. I have learned that a terrible calamity threatens it; an absence of rain for twelve years is about to occur."

"How did you learn this?" asked the Crawfish.

"An eminent Astrologer informed me," replied the Crane. "Alas! this Pool is shallow, it holds but little water, and will soon be empty; and when it is dry all those with whom I grew up and played, will perish for lack of water. I have not the courage to witness such a catastrophe. That is why I am fasting thus, until death takes place; and I weep to think that not one of you will escape!"

When the Crawfish heard this she repeated to the other inhabitants the words of the Crane; and all the Fishes, the Tortoises, and other Water-people felt their hearts quake with fear and anguish.

They all gathered around the Crane and cried:

"Friend, is there no way of saving our lives?"

"There is," said the Crane, "not far from here, a fine Lake full of deep water, and embellished with quantities of lotus. Even if Pardjania, the God of rain, should refuse to permit showers to fall for twenty years, that Lake would not become exhausted. If, therefore, any of you care to mount up on my back, I will carry you to that Lake."

Now the Fishes had confidence in these words, and assembled from all sides, calling out:

"Take me!.. Take me!.. Me first! Me first!"…

The wicked Crane made them climb one after another onto her back, then she flew towards a great Rock situated a short distance off, and threw them all down on it – and devoured them at her ease.

"Friend," said the Crawfish, "it was with me that you had your first friendly conversation – why do you leave me behind, and take the others? Will you not save my life along with the rest?"

When the wicked Crane heard this, she thought to herself, "I am tired of eating fish, so to-day I will take this crawfish for a change!"

So she allowed the Crawfish to mount on her back, and began the journey to the Rock of sacrifice.

The Crawfish saw from a distance a great pile of bones on the Rock. She recognized them as the remains of the Fishes, and asked the Crane:

"Friend, how much further is this Lake? Are you not fatigued by my weight?"

"Crawfish," replied the Crane, "what makes you think that there is another Lake? I invented it, in order to preserve my life. Now then, call upon your tutelar Divinity – for I am going to throw you down on the Rock, and eat you!"

But no sooner had she finished speaking than her neck, which was as white and as tender as a lotus stem, was seized and pinched by the claws of the Crawfish – and her life was ended.

The Crawfish then bit off the neck of the Crane, and quietly returned to the Pool.

"Oh, Crawfish! Why have you come back?" asked all the Water-people on seeing her. "Has anything happened? And where is the Crane? Why has not she returned? We are disappointed at not seeing her!"

When they had spoken thus the Crawfish laughed, and said:

"Fools that you are! The deceitful Crane has betrayed all the Fish, and has thrown them all onto a Rock not far from here, and eaten them. Fate decreed that my life was to be spared, and I discovered her treachery, and cut her throat. You need have no further anxiety; we Water-people will now be able to live happily hereafter…"

Now, I think that was a very nice Fable.

CHAPTER XVI
FINE CLOTHES

Alas! Parvati was growing up. She was as beautiful as the Sun, and as pretty as the Moon; but she was no longer the playful child who cared for nothing so much as to be with me.

She was now a real Princess, and her mother instructed her in all the rules of etiquette and the ceremonies of the Court.

Her toilet occupied her a great deal – she, who till now had thought nothing of tearing her tunics on any bramble!

As I was privileged in every way and allowed to do as I pleased, I rarely left the neighbourhood of the pavilion in which she lived, and almost always contrived to keep my Princess in sight, through one or the other of the large windows, or else on the verandahs embowered in flowers.

It chanced very often in this way that I was permitted to watch-the labours of the dressing-maids (though I could not see why they took so much trouble to embellish a beauty which was already so perfect).

The slaves would bring water from the Ganges, in which they bathed Parvati; they showered her with "santal," and powdered her with safran, which gave her the appearance of a golden statue. Then they threw over her a "sari" (which is a thin garment, as light as a mist), and she sat down cross-legged on a purple velvet cushion. Then the hairdressers came forward; and her hair, which was as dark and shining as a river of night, was divided into two portions and combed, and perfumed, and ornamented with pearls and jasmine flowers. Next they stained the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet a beautiful reddish orange-colour with "mendhi"; she nibbled a bit of "betel" to darken the colour of her gums; her long eyes and thick eyebrows were blackened with "surmeh," and her rosy lips were tinted blue with "missi"; on her ankles were fastened little bells attached to golden rings; a golden girdle encircled her waist, and they loaded her neck and arms with necklaces and bracelets.

Arrayed in this way I could hardly recognize her; she seemed so majestic, so dignified – so different from herself, that it saddened me a little with the feeling that she was growing away from me.

And now when we went out she was no longer reclining in the basket against my heart; she was mounted on my back, installed in a sumptuous "howdah" with double bell-towers of gold and curtains of pale green silk.

Still she would not permit a servant to accompany us, nor any of her suite. Freedom, and my companionship were still what she liked best.

"Do you know, Iravata," said she, "when my slight form is carried by your colossal strength, I feel as if I were a Goddess! I feel inaccessible, like the blue God Vichnu, and invincible, like the hero Rama! I seem made so great by thy power, and devotion, and courage, that my pride is exalted, and I feel as if on a throne – like the primitive Lotus that supports Brahmah. But when I dismount how humiliated I feel at being only a poor little princess, obliged to walk on the ground!"

On hearing this I was so pleased that I had to shuffle my feet, flap my ears, and utter little grunts of satisfaction!

We no longer strolled about the city, frequenting the public places, and the fountains, as in the old times. I promenaded the streets with a solemn dignified step; but, once outside of the city gates, I quickened my pace and sought the Forest.

CHAPTER XVII
THE ABDUCTION

One day a most culpable idea came into my head. Parvati had for some time past shown herself extremely irritated by the constantly increasing demands of her position as Princess; by the Receptions, the Parades, the long dissertations of the Brahmans upon the present and the future Life, and the interminable Poems, recited in a monotonous voice by the court Poet in reference to the most insignificant events that occurred at the palace.

"Oh!" said she, "to be free! to be only a simple mortal! To do only what one likes to do! without being obliged to wear a mask, and force oneself to smile, when one feels like weeping – or to be solemn, when one wants to laugh!"…

To be free! I also thought of it during the long days when I was deprived of her companionship… Well! It was easy enough! We had but to steal away to the depths of the forest, and never return!

I refused to consider the wickedness of such a scheme. I repelled all the objections that might have suggested themselves, and one day, leaving the palace of Golconda as if for an ordinary promenade, I was firmly resolved never to return to it.

I gained the forest more quickly than usual, and pushed on to portions far beyond those where we had previously ventured.

At this distance I felt safe. I was quite sure they could not pursue us, for it had not rained for a long time, and the dry ground showed no trace of my enormous feet. Still, in order to make sure, I marched for half an hour along the bed of a shallow stream, to throw the dogs off the scent, and when I again stepped onto the ground I felt confident that I was now, indeed, to be for a long time alone with my dear little Princess Parvati.

At last I had quitted that Court where everything combined to separate me from my little friend – ceremonies, etiquette, the great festivals, and the thousand demands of the toilette, which occupied her at all hours of the day, in order that she might never appear in public twice in the same costume.

Now, there would be no more of all that. She was going to live quietly and happily in the forest, like a little Hermit, served and waited on by a great White Slave! And I would take such good care of her – serve her so devotedly – with such thoughtfulness, such affection, such love!..

She was so light on my back that I did not feel her any more than if she had been a green fly, or a little blue-bird that had lighted on my rough skin. But I could hear her singing – and her voice delighted me. She was singing a very long and very beautiful song which one of her Maids of Honour had taught her; it was called the "Gita Govinda" and I think she did not understand it very well, but she liked it all the better on that account.

From time to time I raised my trunk and she clasped the tip in her little fingers, and laughingly "shook hands" with me! She was delighted with this excursion, for it was the first of the kind she had taken. Of course, she had heard of the deep parts of the forest, filled with bright flowers, and she knew that she had not been allowed to come here for fear some heavy fruit might fall on her from a tree, or a venomous serpent dart out upon her. She was not fond of contradictions – nor of being thwarted by obstacles of any sort, and being forbidden to enter it, she was all the more desirous to do so; it was, therefore, with great glee that she permitted her good friend Iravata to conduct her to the Forbidden Forest.

At the expiration of a couple of hours we had penetrated to the very heart of the wild wood.

The trees overhead were of a prodigious height, and their tops so full of leaves that the sunlight could not pass through. No plants grew at their feet, and there were neither bushes nor vines; nothing but an endless number of tall slender trunks without branches; it was as if we had entered the colonnade of an immense temple. Parvati was a little afraid now of this vast solitude – this profound silence. She no longer sang, and when she spoke her voice sounded sad…

I hastened, therefore, to go in another direction. I remembered that a short distance from where we were the ground rose gently till it formed a little hillock, which was celebrated for its beauty; so I turned in that direction, and soon reached the spot. A perfumed breeze wafted from it the sound of birds singing in the branches, and Parvati began again her song.

This new forest was wonderfully beautiful. There were so many flowers growing here that as I walked on and crushed them, my feet were stained as red as if I had been walking in blood. The trees bore more flowers than leaves, and swarms of bees buzzed among the branches. Little blossoms of blue and yellow bloomed even on the trunks of the trees, having pierced the bark with their tiny roots. There were great beds of tall plants which bore rich and fragrant blossoms. These were the Sacred Flowers, the dwelling place of the Good Fairies, who bestow great joys, and fulfill desires and hopes.

Parvati wished to dismount and gather some of them. I wrapped my trunk around her slender waist, and placed her – like another flower – among the crimson blossoms. She picked seven of the handsomest, made an opening in the centre of each, and threaded them on a thin stem, which held them together without crushing them. Then she unfastened her hair and shook it down over her shoulders, and arranged the wreath upon her head as best she could. I had never seen her look so pretty; her royal head-dresses were too heavy and elaborate and weighed down her delicate head. I would have preferred always to see her crowned only with this wreath of flowers which she herself had made without the aid of either slaves or mirrors.

I replaced her gently on my back and resumed my march through the forest. The vines had now become so numerous and so tall that I could no longer step over them; sometimes I had to rise on my hind legs and place my forefeet upon a tangle of green creepers that barred the way. The weight of my body was barely sufficient to break through these natural barriers and open a path before us.

Often too, the trees grew so close together, and the branches hung so low that my dear little Parvati might have been struck and scratched by the twigs and briars; at such times I lifted my trunk and held up, out of her way, all that might have touched her – on whom I would not have permitted so much as a flower to rest and annoy her!

All that she saw delighted her. Great birds flew by with wonderful feathers, and she regretted not being able to catch them and make fans of their beautiful red and green tails. She longed to possess the little monkeys that chattered when they saw her, and threw down little nuts and fruits that lodged in her hair. She wanted the big insects that glittered in the sunshine, and hummed about the clustering flowers… Alas! I could not give her any of them! What is more, I would not have cared to continue the excursion with a whole menagerie on my back! To tell the truth I was rather jealous of the attention Parvati gave to all these things, so much more beautiful than I…

The sun was about to set and the forest was transfigured in the red evening rays, when we reached the borders of a lake, all surrounded by trees, and so overgrown with lotus flowers that the water could hardly be seen.

Parvati wished to dismount; I assisted her – but soon repented of my imprudence, when I saw her unfasten her long robe of silk and gold, throw it on the bank, and plunge into the shining water…

Like a careful nurse, I was alarmed lest my little mistress should catch cold, and I made desperate signals to her with my trunk to come out… But she only looked at me coaxingly, took a lotus in each of her hands, and crossed her arms on her breast, as they do before the statues of Lachmi, when asking favours or returning thanks. So I let her remain… I was weak enough to permit her to do so… She was so joyous and full of spirits! I could see just her little round head among the lotus flowers, as she pushed them aside, walking on the bottom of the lake; only her laughing mouth and brilliant eyes showed under her wet drooping hair. She left behind her a trail of perfume on which floated the blue powder and the santal that had been scattered over her to give her the colour of the skies.

And soon she might have been taken for any ordinary little girl had it not been for a look of royalty that shone in her eyes.