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FOLKLORE IN SOUTHERN INDIA.
AUGUST, 1887.]
the large window of the mansion in the East King's Street, and tied them to a tree.
Meanwhile the princess had been counting every minute of the day, and as soon as it was twilight she saw the horses with a paraiya groom, and though they were a long way below her she had no hesitation in concluding that they were the finest and swiftest of horses. The Tâkkuttûkki being sure now of walking off with the princess, laid himself down to rest till the tenth ghatiká, and having been restless for the whole of the preceding week he slept soundly.
Now the emperor of Dhârâpura had in some way incurred the displeasure of a robber chief, who determined to punish him severely. The day fixed upon for this was that of the elopement. The town was to be plundered, and sixty-four petty chiefs had been told off to sack each of the sixty-four streets of Dhârâpura. Each one of these had a number of robbers under him, and the orders were that the very salt-cellars were to be taken out of the houses. One of these petty chiefs came to the East King's Street where he saw the two splendid horses and the groom sleeping beneath a tree. He thought that they must be waiting for two gentlemen, who must be very rich to own such animals. So he told one of his comrades to sit down near them and watch his opportunity. He also told him to plunder the owners and bring off the horses with all the booty thus gathered. So the thief sat down by one of the horses and waited for the owners to turn up, while the Tâkkuttükki snored away the night.
The appointed time approached. The princess had prepared everything for the journey, and had packed up all her ornaments and dresses in a small box. At the 10th ghatiká of the night she arose and found to her joy that all in the mansion were fast asleep. Thinking that her household gods were truly favouring her elopement with Ramachandra, obedient to his instructions she sawed through the window in two seconds and cast down the rope-ladder. Fortunately for her and for the snoring Tûkkuttakki it caught in a strong branch of the tree. She pulled it, and finding it tight thought that her Ramachandra was holding firmly on to it. She then began to descend. The sparkling jewels in her ears, which shone like burning fire in the dead of the night, and the height
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from which she descended were more than enough to infuse terror into the heart of the thief. He thought that no human figure could dare such an audacious thing at that hour of the night, and to imagine a woman descending through the air at such a time was to him beyond all possibility! The more he gazed at the descending princess the more his fears increased and he was almost mad by the time she neared him. Setting her down for a devil that was descending to prey upon him, he at once untied the horse he was sitting near and mounting it rode towards the South.
When the princess had nearly reached the ground she saw one of the horses being ridden off and thought that Ramachandra was riding away in advance. "Perhaps Ramachandra thinks that I may speak a word or two on seeing him and thus arouse suspicion. That must be the reason why he goes on a little in advance." Thus she thought as she reached the tree, and again thinking that Ramchandra had purposely left the ladder in the tree to go on in advance, she got down from it, untied the other horse in haste, and followed the supposed Ramachandra!
About this time Bellam, the head of the female servants, got up and finding the window cut, was much alarmed; but, as she possessed great presence of mind, she calmly searched for the princess before raising a cry. She could find the princess nowhere. The window that was cut and the ladder hanging from it showed what had happened. As she would be the first victim of the anger of the emperor, being the chief of the maid-servants, she made up her mind to escape the danger and to track the princess if possible. So she got down by the ladder with the saw in her hand, fixed the window in its place so as to prevent suspicion, for that night at least, and when she reached the tree destroyed the rope-ladder, which the princess in her hurry had left to tell its tale. She then ran with headlong speed in the track of the horses.
After Sellam had begun her race with the horses the Tukkuttükki awoke, but with his usual ingenuity, instead of losing courage at the course events had taken he was delighted at them! "Thank heaven. Paraméévara kept me sound asleep! Somehow or other the horses have got away, and I dreamt I heard the foot
