My Words Worked A Miraculous Transformation
In The Mahout's Behavior.
He threw himself on the ground, and
rolled about like a demoniac, uttering horrible wild groans.
Sobbing and crying
He kept on repeating that the Mam-Sahib had
torn off his darling Peri's tail, that Peri was damaged for ever
in everybody's estimation, that Peri's husband, the proud Airavati,
lineal descendant of Indra's own favourite elephant, having
witnessed her shame, would renounce his spouse, and that she had
better die.... Yells and bitter tears were his only answer to all
remonstrances of our companions. In vain we tried to persuade
him that the "proud Airavati" did not show the slightest disposition
to be so cruel, in vain we pointed out to him that all this time
both elephants stood quietly together, Airavati even at this critical
moment rubbing his trunk affectionately against Peri's neck, and
Peri not looking in the least discomfited by the accident to her tail.
All this was of no avail! Our friend Narayan lost his patience at
last. He was a man of extraordinary muscular strength and took
recourse to a last original means. With one hand he threw down a
silver rupee, with the other he seized the mahout's muslin garment
and hurled him after the coin. Without giving a thought to his
bleeding nose, the mahout jumped at the rupee with the greediness
of a wild beast springing upon its prey. He prostrated himself
in the dust before us repeatedly, with endless "salaams," instantly
changing his deep sorrow into mad joy.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 131 of 357
Words from 35470 to 35726
of 96531
