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238
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
AUGUST, 1888.
bedroom, and one of the seven robbers thrust wedding which is to take place there the day in his head. As soon as she saw the hole our after to-morrow. If you come there they heroine stood by the side of it with the powder will reward you with a karór of mohars for and knife, and with the latter she cut off the every nimisha (minute) of your performance." nose of the man who peeped in and thrust Thus spoke the servant, and Chandralekha, the powder into the wound. Unable to bear the knowing that the mission was from the thieves, burning pain he dragged himself back, uttering agreed to perform nách, and, asking the man "na, na, na, na," having now no nose to pro- to come and take her and her party the next nounce properly with. A second thief, abusing morning to the forest, sent him away. the former for having lost his nose so carelessly, In order to lose no time she went at once to went in, and the bold lady inside dealt in the the prince and told him all about the nách. same way with his nose, and he too, dragged Said she, "I know very well that this is a himself back in the same way, calling out "na, scheme of the thieves to kill me, but before they na, na, na." A third thief abused the second in can do that we must try to kill them. A way his tarn, and going in lost his nose also. Thus suggests itself to me in this wise. To make up all the seven thieves lost their noses, and, a nách girls' party more than seven persons are fearing to be discovered if they remained, ran required. One must play the drum ; & second off to the forest, where they had to take a few must sound the cymbals; a third must blow days' rest from their plundering habits to cure upon the någasvara pipe, etc., etc. So I request their mutilated noses.
you to give me seven of your strongest men Chandralekha had thus three or four times to accompany me disguised as men of my disappointed the thieves. The more she dis. party, and some of your troops must secretly appointed them the more she feared for her lie in ambush in readiness to take the robbers own safety, especially as she had now inflicted prisoners when & signal is given to them." a lifelong shame on them. "The thieves will Thus Chandralekha spoke, and all her advice surely come as soon as their noses are cured the prince received with great admiration. and kill me in some way or other. I am, after He himself offered to follow her as her drumall, only a girl," she thought to herself. So mer for the nách, and he chose six of the ableat she went at once to the palace and reported all commanders from his army, and asked them her adventures with the eight robbers to the to disguise themselves as fiddlers, pipers, etc. prince, who had been her former class-mate. and he directed an army of a thousand men The prince was astonished at the bravery to follow their footsteps at a distance of two of Chandralekha and promised the next time ghatikds' march, and to lie in ambush near the the robbers came to lend her his assistance. So place where they were going to perform the every night a spy from the palace slept in nách, ready for a call. Thus everything was Chandralekha's house to carry the news of the arranged and all were ready by the morning arrival of the robbers to the prince should they to start from Chandralekha's house. ever go there. But the robbers were terribly Before the third ghalika of the morning afraid of approaching Chandralekha's house was over, the robbers' servant came to conduct after they came to know that she had a Chandralekha with her party to the forest knife made out of the boring-rod. But they where the prince and six of his strongest men devised among themselves a plan of inviting disguised as her followers, were waiting for him. Chandralekb& to the forest on the pretence Chandralekha with all her followers accomof holding nách and sent to her house a panied him, but as soon as she left her house servant for that purpose. The servant came, a spy ran off to the army, which, as ordered and, entering Chandralekhi's house, spoke thus by the prince, began to follow her party at a to her: "My dear young lady, whoever you distance of two ghafik ds. may be, you have now a chance of enriching | After travelling a long way Chandralekha yourself. I see plainly from the situation of your and her party rer.ched the nách pavilion at house that you are one of the dancing-girls' caste. about five ghatikus before sunset. All their My masters in the forest have made a plan to hosts were without their noses, and some still give a nách to their relatives on the occasion of a had their noses bandaged up. When they saw
