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JUNE, 1886.]
PRIDE ÁBASED.
PRIDE ABASED. A KASMIRI TALE.' BY THE REV. J. HINTON KNOWLES, F.R.G.S., M.R.A.S. &c.
IN times long past there lived a certain king,
who was so occupied with, and so proud of, his own thoughts and words and actions, that his name became a proverb in the land. "As selfish as our king," "As proud as our king," the people used to say. As will be supposed, the courtiers and Wazirs of this king were thoroughly tired of hearing him and of having to add fuel to the fire by assent and flattery:
"Ah! where is there such another country as this, such soil, so well irrigated, and so fertile ?" he would ask.
rode forth at their head, and sent messengers in every direction to challenge the people to fight.
For a considerable time he would seem to have inspired all countries and all peoples with awe, because nobody accepted the challenge, there being no pretext for such slaughter as there would be in a big battle, unless it was to satisfy this selfish and proud king. But at last another king appeared with his army and defeated the selfish and proud king; and took away all his kingdom and all his glory and all his power.
Here was an end to his pride. Crushed in spirit he disguised himself and escaped with his queen and two sons to some place by the side of the sea, where he found a ship ready to sail. He asked the captain to take him and his little family on board, and land them at the place whither he was sailing. The captain agreed; but when he got a glimpse of the
"Nowhere anything to be compared with it, beautiful queen he changed his mind, and deO king!" termined to fulfil only a part of the agreement --and to take the woman only. "What a beantiful mistress she would make !" he thought, "and what a lot of money I could get if I wished to sell her!" So when the moment for starting arrived the queen first embarked; and then, just as the king and his two sons were about to follow, some strong, rough men, who had been suborned by the captain, prevented them and held them tight, till the ship was well out to sea.
"Ah! yes;" and then His Majesty would stroke his beard and draw a long, breath, as though overburdened with a sense of his own greatness.
Nearly every audience of the king was disturbed by such performances as these. It was becoming very wearisome; and the more so as the king was a man of moderate attainments, and his country and people, also, were of an ordinary character. At length some of the Wasirs determined to answer him truthfully the next time he put such questions to them. They had not long to wait for an opportunity. "Think you," said his Majesty," that there is another king greater than I, or another kingdom more powerful and glorious than mine."
Loudly wept the queen when she saw that her husband and two boys were being left behind. She smote her forehead, tore her clothes and threw herself upon the deck in great distress; and finally swooned away. It was a long swoon, and although the captain used several kinds of restoratives yet for more than an hour she remained as one dead. At last she revived. The captain was very attentive. He' arranged a nice bed for her, brought her the best of food, and spoke very kindly; but it was all to no purpose, for the queen refused to look at him or speak to him. This continued for several days, till the captain despaired of ever getting her love and therefore determined to sell her.
"Nowhere, O king!" the Wazirs and courtiers would reply.
"Where are there such just and clever laws, and such a prosperous people ?"
"Nowhere else, O king!"
"Where is there such a splendid palace as mine ?"
"Yes, O king, there are," they replied.
On hearing this unusual answer, his Majesty got very angry. "Where is this king? Tell me quickly," he said, "that I may take my army and go to fight with him."
Be not hasty, O king," they replied. "Consider, we pray you, before you act, lest you be defeated and your country ruined." But the king became more angry than before. He ordered his whole army to be assembled, and as soon as they were ready, he
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Told me by Brahman named Mukund Bayd, who resides at Sutha, Srinagar,
Now there was in the same ship a great merchant, who seeing the queen's exceeding beauty,
[Why are the Kasmiris so fond of ship' stories ? It is a point worth investigating.-ED.]
