Wonder Tales from Tibet/The Fortunes of Shrikantha
TALE SEVEN
THE FORTUNES OF SHRIKANTHA
There was once a lad, the son of a Brahman, who was neither very poor nor very rich, very good nor very bad, very wise nor very foolish, but who had the kindest heart in all the world. His name was Shrikantha, and he lived long ago in India. When he was old enough to do as he liked, he sold all that he had and bought three pieces of cloth goods, very fine and handsome, and with these he was minded to trade and make his fortune. He bade his parents good-by and started forth to journey to a near-by city where he thought he might trade to the best advantage.
He had not gone far before he came upon a band of cruel boys who were tormenting a little mouse.
"Stop!" said Shrikantha, in anger.
"The mouse is suffering and will die! Have you no pity in your hearts?" But the boys only laughed at him and continued their wicked play. So, seeing that words were useless, Shrikantha bargained with them, and they finally agreed to set the mouse free in return for one of his three handsome pieces of cloth. After he had seen the little creature scamper safely away, Shrikantha sighed and continued his journey, the poorer by one third of his possessions, but with a satisfied heart.
A little farther on, what should he see but another group of boys ill treating an ape and laughing to see the poor thing suffer. Shrikantha tried to hurry by without noticing it, but he could not endure to see pain and do nothing to relieve it, so in a moment he stopped and tried by reasoning with the boys to make them cease their cruelty. As in the first case, he found his words were all in vain, and only by giving up his second piece of goods could he buy relief and freedom for the ape. And now he felt poor indeed, having nothing left in the world save one handsome bit of cloth.
"Never mind," said he to himself reassuringly, "even with this, if I bargain shrewdly, I may trade and make my fortune. At any rate, the look of gratitude that poor ape gave me was worth much more than a paltry piece of merchandise." So he went on with a light step and a merry heart, but, to his dismay, he soon heard again a cry of pain and saw yet another group of boys gathered around a young bear and cruelly abusing it.
"Alas!" thought Shrikantha. "This time I must harden my heart and pass by, for well I know words will do no good, and I cannot give away my last possession!" He quickened his step and tried to think of something else as he hurried by, but at that moment the poor little bear cried out so piteously that he could not endure it. Turning about, he hastened to where the unkind lads were standing and spoke long and earnestly with them. But, as it had been in the two other cases, so it was now; Shrikantha argued in vain and finally had to offer his last treasure that the bear might go free. Then he started forth again empty-handed.
"I might as well go back to my father," he thought, "yet not so—he will but chide me for foolish kindness of heart! I will continue on my way, for surely Dame Fortune will repay me for what I have lost in so good a cause!" Fortune, however, was minded to do otherwise.
Now the road to the city led Shrikantha directly by the palace of the Khan, and just as he was passing the great gate, he heard shouts and confusion within and immediately a man dashed out.
"Run! Run for your life!" he cried, as he rushed past, and Shrikantha, without stopping to think, did as he was told.
He heard the roar of many voices and the running steps of many feet behind him, and so he ran faster than ever. On and on he sped, but his pursuers slowly gained on him until he could hear their cries and curses, and even feel the panting breath of the foremost ones.
"Stop, thief!" they cried. "Stop the wicked thief! He has stolen the Khan's jewels!"
Hearing this, Shrikantha grew more alarmed and, instead of stopping at once to reason with the men that it was not he who had stolen the jewels, but doubtless the man ahead of him, he foolishly ran on faster than ever. At last his breath gave out completely, his knees seemed to break beneath him and he fell, panting and sobbing, to the ground. In a moment his pursuers were upon him and were binding him with a tight cord, kicking and abusing him between their gasping breaths. In vain did he try now to explain himself; he was too breathless to complete a single sentence, and they were too angry and too sure of their prey to listen. He was taken at once to the Khan's court, and though of course no jewels were found on him, and though he pleaded his innocence with tears and prayers, he was condemned to die a horrible death. On the morrow, two strong, cruel men threw him into a great wooden chest, sealed the lid of it tight and cast it into the river.
Poor Shrikantha felt the lapping of the water against his air-tight box and gave himself up as one already killed by cruel fate. But Fate thought otherwise!
In a short time the great chest, bumping along with the current of the river, caught against some rocks on an island and there stuck fast. And who should be on that very spot but the little mouse whom Shrikantha had saved from the abuse of the cruel boys. Seeing the big, ungainly box come a-shore on her island, the mouse investigated the matter and soon discovered that her friend and rescuer was shut up within.
"Have courage!" she squeaked to him, through the cracks of the chest, and immediately she began to gnaw at a corner of it. When she had eaten out a hole in the wood large enough to admit some air to Shrikantha, who was already almost suffocated, she hurried off to find the ape and the bear. They soon returned with her, declaring they were only too glad to help. Together they dragged the chest a-shore, broke it open and set Shrikantha free. Then, for many days the three faithful creatures supplied the lad with nuts and fruits so that he suffered not at all for lack of food and drink.
Together they dragged the chest ashore and set Shrikantha free. Page 152.
One day the mouse came to Shrikantha, bearing in her mouth a small, blue stone.
"Take this, Master," said she, laying it in his hand. "It is a talisman, my dearest possession, and I give it to you in gratitude for what you did once upon a time for me. Take it and breathe a wish upon it, and you shall have your heart's desire."
Shrikantha looked at the little blue stone in wonder and, thinking that he would merely test its power, wished himself away from the island. No sooner thought than the island vanished beneath him, and he found himself in a meadow on the mainland. He was surprised and delighted beyond words, and he looked at the blue stone again and wished eagerly for a palace set in the midst of a beautiful park, with rare trees, birds and flowers about it and every luxury and comfort within. He closed his eyes and, opening them again in a moment, beheld a lovely garden where the meadow had been, a gorgeous palace in the distance, and all exactly as he had wished to have it, only more beautiful and wonderful than he had dared to think. With the greatest joy he walked about his park and into his palace, finding there room after room richly furnished, servants bowing before him at every turn and costly possessions strewn about in profusion. Truly, he thought to himself, a Khan might now envy him his wealth!
"But I must have my faithful friends here to enjoy all this good fortune with me!" said he to himself at length. So he wished for the mouse, the ape and the bear, and instantly they stood before him.
And now Shrikantha lived in luxury and happiness for some time, and it seemed as if he might continue to live so until the end of his days. But Fate planned otherwise. There came to the palace one day a caravan of wicked, thieving merchants, and the chief among them made friends with Shrikantha and in an evil moment persuaded him to tell the secret of his good fortune.
"Alas!" said the merchant, when Shrikantha had told him all and shown him the precious blue talisman. "How lucky some men are, how unlucky others! Here are you, scarcely more than a lad; you have never worked or traded or done anything whereby a man earns wealth, and yet you are loaded with every blessing, while I, who have toiled hard and honestly my whole life through, have nothing— nothing—nothing in all the world but a handful of cheap goods which I must bargain hard to trade off for the bare necessities of my miserable existence!" And with that he sighed so wretchedly that Shrikantha's tender heart melted within him.
"If only—" said the wicked merchant, "but I must not suggest such a thing!"
"Suggest what?" asked Shrikantha, full of sympathy.
"If only," continued the other, "if only in the kindness of your heart, you would lend me your talisman for one moment, I could wish myself a comfortable little home, and peace and quiet for the rest of my days! You would be none the poorer; indeed, you would be richer for the prayers and blessings of a happy man!"
It was such a simple way in which to help the poor fellow that Shrikantha did not hesitate an instant, but put the magic blue stone trustingly into his hands. With a scornful laugh, the wicked merchant shouted his wish aloud:
"I want all the possessions Shrikantha has, and I desire him to return to the place and state in which he was when this talisman was given to him!"
In a flash, Shrikantha found himself again on the island in the river, with not a sign of all his former wealth and glory about him. He sat down on the ground and beat his forehead with his hands.
"What a miserable fool I have been!" said he to himself, over and over again.
"Yes, you have been foolish, Master!" said a squeaky little voice in his ear, "but truly in kindness have you been so." Looking around, Shrikantha saw his friend, the little mouse.
"Of what avail is it that my heart is kind, if by that very kindness I lose everything I have in the world?" said he with a sigh, refusing to be comforted.
"You have not lost everything," corrected the mouse, "you still have three faithful friends who were won to you forever by that same kind heart of yours."
And without another word the little creature disappeared, leaving Shrikantha still lamenting on the ground.
It were too long a tale to tell how the three animal friends met and planned together, how they went at night to the palace of the wicked merchant, crept to his room, and how the ape and the bear waited breathlessly outside while the mouse climbed through the keyhole and stole the talisman from the breast of the sleeping man. They had little trouble in passing the many guards, who were on the lookout for men, not animals, to steal their master's treasure. When they reached the river, however, in sight of Shrikantha himself, a sorry adventure befell them. The bear was the only one of the three who could swim, and so, in order to cross the water, the ape got upon the bear's back, put the mouse upon his shoulder and the talisman in his mouth. Thus, with this precious, heavy load on his back, the bear started bravely on his long swim across to the island. In the very middle of the stream, a fish passed within a few feet of his nose, and he, foolish creature, made a dive for it. The ape lost his balance and cried out in fright, letting the blue talisman slip from his mouth into the water. Down it sank into the muddy depths, and the three friends, in dismay, watched it disappear.
"Alack-a-day!" wailed the little mouse. "We have spent all our time and labor for nothing, and our poor friend on the island will surely die of hunger and despair! What shall we do? Whatever shall we do?"
The bear turned and swam back to the mainland, and there the three sat down disconsolately on the shore.
"What a fool you were to jump at that fish!" said the ape to the bear crossly.
"What a fool you were not to keep your mouth shut, when you had such a treasure inside it!" growled the bear.
"Now don't waste time blaming each other!" counselled the mouse. "It doesn't matter whose fault it was; the talisman is gone, and we must get it again; that is the thing to think about."
"Get it again!" the bear was crosser than ever. "I'd like to know how that can be done! It has gone to the bottom of the river, thanks to the carelessness of the ape, and we can never recover it. Let us go to our homes; we have done enough for the man already to more than pay for his kindness to us."
"Yes, let us go home," agreed the ape. "There is no use trying to do anything if the bear has to chase every fish he meets, regardless of the importance of his mission. And we have done enough for the man as it is."
"Don't, don't talk like that!" cried the little mouse. "You both know as well as I that we can never repay the man's kindness to us! Come, let us plan! There must be a way!" She walked up and down the shore, thinking. "I have it!" she cried at last.
"What?" said both the others, interested in spite of themselves.
"You watch me and do just as I tell you," said she, and began crying in a loud voice and running to and fro upon the river bank.
At the sound of her outcry, the frogs that live at the bottom of the river came to the surface to learn what the matter was. When a great crowd of them had collected, the little mouse called out:
"Quick, friends, quick! Before it is too late! The pebbles on your river bed have been cursed, and the curse is about to fall upon you! We have come to your aid. Hand us all the pebbles at the bottom of the river, and we will throw them all away. Hurry and do as we bid you!"
The frogs, who were a silly, credulous people, hastened to do as the mouse told them. Diving down to the river bottom they fetched the pebbles, one after another, and handed them to their supposed preserver, who gave them to the ape and the bear, bidding them fling the cursed things away. More and more frogs gathered for the task and brought up stones in countless numbers. At last one came, bringing the precious, blue talisman, and when the little mouse had got hold of it, she signalled to her friends to stop their work. With a gesture, she made the frogs stand still and in a solemn voice she cried:
"It is enough! The curse is lifted from the river and its people! You have worked well and saved yourselves (and us) much sorrow. Go now and live in peace!"
The frogs murmured among themselves, being much puzzled by the whole performance, but the bear, the ape and the little mouse paused not to listen. Quickly they started across the river, the ape on the bear's back, the little mouse, still clutching the talisman, on the shoulder of the ape. In this manner they reached the island in safety and there they found
The Siddhi-kur paused and bit into a mango which he had brought with him, munching in silence for some time.
"Found what?" cried the Khan's son, standing still to wonder. "I know! He found that Shrikantha was already dead with hunger, having waited so long for his friends!"
"No, not at all!" said the Siddhi-kur. "Nothing of the sort! Shrikantha was sitting on the shore, patiently awaiting the return of his friends. As soon as the mouse had handed him the magic blue stone, he wished back all the good things he had had before and a wise and beautiful wife to enjoy it all with him. And you may be sure the lady took charge of the talisman as soon as they were married, so there was no danger of their losing their fortune again, as poor, foolish, kind-hearted Shrikantha had lost it before.
"However, if the Prince wishes my story to end otherwise, he may finish it to suit himself. Meanwhile, since he has again broken silence on the homeward way, I will leave him to meditate upon the story, his own lack of wisdom, or whatever he likes. As for me, I will hie me back to my mango tree in the cool grove beside the garden of ghost children!"
So the Siddhi-kur, with a joyful shout, leaped from the Prince's back and sped away again to the northward.
The Khan's son neither sighed nor lamented, but, setting his teeth grimly, he turned about and started forth once more after the magic creature, eating his cake which grew not less as he trudged along.
When the long journey to the north had been completed, and the Siddhi-kur had been called again from his mango tree and settled upon the back of the Prince, he began at once:
"I have a story in mind which is perhaps more strange and interesting than any I have yet told you. Listen, my friend, and I will begin it."