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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(CCTOBER, 1890.
The place being new to him he was unable to sleep that night, and at about midnight he heard a voice saying, “Shall I fall down shall I fall down?” It proceeded from no person, as far as he could see, but went on and on without any break. Our hero was greatly frightened, thinking it must have proceeded from some devil or other, who had got into the house before he had warmed it. He was also afraid that if he continued to occupy it, the devil would pull the roof down over his head. Horrified at the terrors which his imagination aggravated every moment, he spent the night in the greatest anxiety. And the voice never stopped !
At last the day dawned, and at the first appearance of the light our hero thought to him. self: - “The great god, Maheśvara, has been extemely merciful to me, and has preserved me and my family from the devil throughout this terrible night just past. Surely, if I continue to live here, some day or other I shall be buried alive by the falling debris of my own house ! Let the devil enjoy my palace; my old cottage will do for me! In it I have lived comfortably till now, and in it I shall continue to live happily for many a day more."
Thus thinking, the very next morning after he had occupied his new mansion, our hero quitted it for his old cottage ! The suddenness with which he moved back to his old house was in itself more than enough to create a talk throughout the town that the mansion was haunted, and it became a most dreaded spot, and story after story was freely invented to spread its notoriety throughout the country round about.
In that same town there lived a poor beggar Brabman. Beggars are always notorious for having more children than they can support, and in obedience to the rule this Brahman had half a dozen, - three sons and three daughters. They all lived in a miserable hut, where the children were always ill from the damp. Poverty and misery pinched him in every direction, and his troubles increased day by day and hour by hour. At last he became so disgusted with his life which was a very misery to him, that he often resolved upon suicide. But such an idea is most repulsive to a Hindů, because the darkest world and dirtiest hell are the abode set apart for those who give up their lives in that way. So at last he resolved thus within himself: "What if I go to the house which is said to be haunted P If I sleep there one night, the devil in it will kill me, and there will be an end of my miseries!”
So thought be, and going to the owner, spoke thus: -"My master! I am very poor. The winter is fast approaching, and I have no house to live in. If you would kindly permit me to live in a room or two of your great unoccupied mansion, I shall be highly obliged."
The owner was at first afraid to give him leave, lest some injury should befall himself. But then it occurred to him that if all went right with the poor Brahmaņ, the evil name it bore would be removed. And wishing to use the Brahman as an experiment, he promised to let him use the house from that next day, and was so kind as to demand no rent! The Brahman received the keys, and resolved to give up his life by sleeping in the baanted house the next night. . Thought he: - "If I die to-morrow, who will protect my six children None of them are grown up, and I have no relatives or friends in this world to give me or my children a morsel of rice. So if I leave them behind me, it must be more to their misery than anything else. So I shall take them also with me to the haunted house, and there let what happens to me happen to them also."
Thus this wretched Brahman, who had at first resolved to give up his life in the haunted house, changed it into an intention of the wholesale murder of his family. His wife was the incarnation of virtue, and thongh she lived in a state of abject poverty, never gainsaid what her husband resolved upon ! And so, with his cares laid aside, the begging Brahman entered the mansion, apparently to live in it, but at heart in order to sacrifice himself and his whole family to the devil who dwelt there.
The day passed and night approached, and the little children, after partaking of the meagre repast their poor mother could spare for them, retired to rest. They had not even a
