SECOND NIGHT
THE STORY OF HATHI GANESH, THE WHITE-EARED ELEPHANT
It was very hot. The Summer moon, pushing lazily through the whisperingtracery of tall elm trees that cut the night sky, fell upon the samegroup of forest friends gathered in front of Tiger's cage that had beenthere the previous evening, when the Leopard brothers had discoursed sopleasantly of their Jungle life.
"What is the tale to-night, Sa'-zada, loved Master?" asked Magh, theOurang-Outang, standing with one hand on Mooswa's back, who was lyingdown.
"It is the talk of Hathi," answered the Keeper.
Hathi could be heard blowing softly through his trunk to clear histhroat, then he began his story:
"We were a mighty herd, all of forty, with two great Bulls in charge, Iremember; though to be sure when it came to be a matter of danger theyseemed to forget all about being in charge and cleared off as fast asthey could. I soon got to know that the herd was very proud of me."
"I should think they would be, my big beauty," cried Magh, patting hisforehead affectionately.
"You see," continued Hathi, "these white and pink spots all over myneck and ears were a sign that great luck had come to the herd. Eventhe Men-kind--but that, of course, I discovered years after atAva--even the Men-kind looked upon me as sacred, being a WhiteElephant. Besides, I had but the one tusk, the right, and that is why Iam Ganesh, the Holy One.
"We wandered about in the Jungle, and when we Babe Elephants weretired, the whole herd waited until we had rested and fed. That's whythe Bulls had nothing to do with leading the herd. They knew little ofwhat a calf could stand, so Mah, my Mother, always gave the signal whenwe were to start or stop. I think she was very proud of being themother of the lucky Calf.
"But it was a lovely land to dwell in; all hills and valleys withplenty of cover; and down in the flat lands the Men grew raji and rice,and plantains.
"I think there must be some very wise animal who arranges all thesethings--puts each one in the Jungle he likes best. Pardus was happy inhis hills, and White Chita liked the snow mountains, and Yellow Leopardthe rice fields; and Mooswa has told me when we've talked together,that on the far side of his lands are the loveliest spruce forests anyMoose could wish to live in."
"Perhaps it was Sa'-zada or one of his kind," ventured Muskwa, theBear.
"It is God who arranges it," declared the Keeper, in a soft voice.
"I don't know who that may be," muttered Hathi, "but I thought therewas someone. Such a lovely Jungle it was; tall teak trees and pinkado,and Telsapa from which the Men-kind drew oil for their fires.
"For days, and weeks, and months it would be hot and dry; and thenthree times the big flower would come out on the padouk tree, and allthe Elephants would laugh and squeal with their trunks, for they knewthe rain would surely come. Yes, when we could see for the third time abig cluster of flowers, patter, patter on the leaves we could hear therain, and soon drip, drip, drip, trickle it would come down on ourbacks, washing the dust and little sticks out of every wrinkle untileven the old Bulls would commence to play like Calves.
"We finally came to a big river early in the morning, and every onewent in for a wash. Mind, I was only a babe about the size of aBuffalo. The old ones lay down in the river, just keeping their trunksout to breathe, and I thought to do the same, of course; but when Iflopped over on my side--bad footing! there was nothing anywhere butsoft, slippery water--there was quite a thousand miles of it, and darkas the blackest night. I could see nothing, hear nothing only theangry talk of the water that ran fast. They said that I screamed like ayoung pig. Then something strong grabbed me by the hind leg, and pulledme out up on the bank--it was Mah. She scolded roundly. Then shespanked me good and hard.
"All that season I was not allowed to go in the water again. Mah washedme down with her trunk, squirting the water over me.
"The eating was sweet in those Jungles; but best of all I liked theyoung plantains when they were just beyond the blossom age, all wrappedup in a big leaf, and juicy, and sweet.
"The first happening was from an evil-minded Bagh (tiger). That eveningI had wandered a little to one side, not knowing it, and Bagh, with afierce word in his big throat, jumped full on my head. Of course Iscreamed----"
"Like a Pig," interjected Boar.
"Like a Babe Hathi," corrected Elephant. "And Mah, who had been lookingfor me, just in the nick of time threw Bagh many yards into the Junglewith her trunk. I don't know how other animals get along without atrunk; it seems just suited for every purpose.
"THEN SOMETHING STRONG GRABBED ME BY THE HIND LEG, ANDPULLED ME ..."]
"The next happening was worse, for it came from the Men-kind. It was ahot, hot day. We were all standing on a hill in the shade of trees,flapping our ears to keep the flies off, when suddenly Old Bull kinkedhis head sideways, whistled softly through his trunk, and we allstopped flapping to listen. Even Calf as I was, I knew there was somedanger near. In the wind there was nothing--nothing unusual, just thesweet scent of the tiny little white flowers that grow close to theshort grass. But Old Bull was afraid; he gave a signal for us to move,and we started.
"In a minute there was an awful cracking like the breaking of a tree,only different, and we all ran here, there, everywhere. Of course sincethat, having been taken in the hunt by the Men-kind, I know it was agun, as they call it.
"Old Bull charged straight for a little white cloud that rose fromwhere the noise had been; then crack! crack! crack! the guns trumpetedall over the Jungle--but I won't tell any more of that happening,because Old Bull was killed; and Mah, too--though the Men-kind saidafterwards, so I've heard, that it was a mistake, as they only killedBulls, being white hunters, for the sake of the feet and tusks.
"It was late in the evening before the herd gathered again, and wetraveled far, fearing the evil of the Men-kind."
"Was there no evil with your own people?" queried Wolf. "Just feeding,and nothing else?"
"Well," answered Hathi, hesitatingly, "sometimes in a herd there growsup one who is a 'Rogue.' We had one such, I remember. But that alsocame about because of the Men-kind--a yellow man. It was a Hill-man,and when this Rogue of whom I speak--he also was a Bull--was just fullgrown, a matter of perhaps twenty years, this Hill-man thrust into hishead, from a distance, too, being seated in a tree, an arrow.
"The arrow remaining there as it did, caused this Bull to become of anevil temper. Quarreling, quarreling always, butting his huge head intoa comrade because of a mere nothing; and with his tusks putting hismark on many of us without cause; sometimes it would be a kick from hisforefoot, or a slap of his trunk. When we were near to the places ofthe Men-kind he would wallow in the rice fields, and pull up the youngplantain trees by the roots, even knock the queer little houses theylived in to pieces, for they were but of bamboo and leaves. Of coursethe dwellers ran for their lives, and sometimes brought fire, and madenoise with their guns, and beat gongs to frighten him away.
"Many times we drove him forth from the herd; and sometimes he stayedaway himself for days, sulky. In the end we lost him altogether, and wewere all glad; but strange as it may appear, I saw him again in Rangoonin the timber yards. That was after I was caught."
"Tell us about that happening," pleaded Sa'-zada, "for it is even notwritten in The Book."
"I was taken in a manner full of deceit, and because I had faith inthose of my own kind. I was, perhaps, fifteen or twenty years old atthe time--but in a Hathi's life a year or two is of no moment, for weare long-lived--and what might be called second in charge of the herd,a condition of things which I resented somewhat, but the Herd Bull hadbeen leader while I was growing up, so there was no just claim on mypart really.
"And it happened in our wanderings that we came not far from thegreatest of all the Men's places in that land, Ava (Mandalay). One dayas I was pulling down the young bamboos and stripping the featheredtop, a strange _Hathni_ (female elephant) came to me and put her trunksoftly on my neck. She was all alone, and I felt sorry for her;besides, she
was nice--showed me such lovely places for good feeding. Ispent a whole day with her, and the next day, too, and as we wentthrough the jungle, suddenly we came to a sort of immense, strong_hauda_. It wasn't a bit like the Men's _haudas_ that they live in,else I should never have been deceived; great trunks of trees growingup out of the ground straight, and close together, but no branches orleaves to them; as square on top as the end of my leg. Thisqueer-looking jungle thing troubled me. 'What is it?' I asked Hathni.
"'It's my home,' she replied; 'come in, Comrade.'"
"And of course the woman had her way," remarked Sa'-zada; "you wentinto the parlor, Hathi, old chap, I suppose."
"Not by that name knew I it, Sa'-zada; they called it a Keddah, as Ifound out. But I went in."
"And was caged," laughed Black Chita.
"Inside," continued Hathi, "was a winding path, and Hathni trotted downthis so fast that I lost her. A great wooden gate dropped behind me,and I knew that I was in a trap. It was a big place, but no openings toget out.
"Then the Men-kind showed their yellow faces all over the walls, justlike _Hanumen_--the gray-whiskered Monkey of those parts.
"'A White Elephant at last, at last!' they cried; 'now will the King bepleased.'
"I was left alone that night, but the next day the Men-kind came withtwo ruffianly Bulls of my kind who bunted and bustled me about, andfought me, while the men slipped great strong ropes over my legs. In aweek I was that tired and sore from this treatment that I was ready togo any place. Then I was taken to Ava; and such doings! I dislike totell it all; it's hardly modest.
"They put a silk covering over me to keep the Flies off, and a garlandof white jasmine flowers about my neck--sweet-smelling flowers theywere; in my ears two big red stones of the ruby kind were placed; andalways as I walked a great silk umbrella was over my head. And as foreating--humpf, humpf, humpf! they just made me ill with sweets to beeaten out of gold dishes."
"TWO RUFFIANLY BULLS ... FOUGHT ME WHILE THE MEN SLIPPEDGREAT STRONG ROPES OVER MY LEGS."]
"Is this a true tale, O Sa'-zada?" queried Black Leopard. "For one ofthe jungle folk it is a strange happening."
"It is true," replied the Keeper; "that was the way with the WhiteElephant at the Burma King's court, it is written in another book Ihave read."
"And no one was allowed to ride on my back but the King," declaredHathi, "excepting, of course, the Mahout. As I walked I was afraid ofstepping on some one; the Men-kind were forever flopping down on theirknees to worship me. It was this way for years; then one season therecame war; great guns spoke with a roar louder than Bagh's; and vastherds of the white-faced Men-kind came, letting free the blood of theyellow-faced ones; and in the end I was taken away, and sent down toRangoon, and put to work in the timber yards. There was no worship, andfew sweetmeats, and for silk covering I was given a harness withleather collar and chain traces. It was like being back in the jungleagain--I was just a common Hathi, only I was called there Raj Singh.
"It was at that time I met the Bull who was a Rogue. He was alsoworking in the timber yards, but it had done him much good--his temperwas improved."
"Was it kind treatment cured him?" asked Sa'-zada.
"No," replied Hathi; "they whipped him into a gentle behavior. Two bigBulls with heavy iron chains swinging from their trunks thrashed himuntil he promised to cease making trouble. But one day he broke outbad, and smashed everything--tore the Master's dogcart to pieces,knocked the Cooly's _haudas_ down, and trumpeted like an evil junglespirit. He even killed his Mahout, which was a silly thing, though hedeclared his driver, the Mahout, sitting up on his back, one foot oneither side, had prodded viciously at his head until poor Rogue's bloodwas on fire.
"But in the end they sent me away to Sa'-zada, and I am quite content";and reaching his big trunk over to the Keeper, Hathi caressed thelatter's cheek lovingly.
"Oh, we are all content," declared Magh; "for Sa'-zada is a kind andgentle Master."
"Now, all to your cages and your pens," cried the Keeper, "for it islate. To-morrow night, perhaps, we shall have the tale of Gidar, theJackal."
Third Night
The Stories of Gidar, the Jackal, and Coyote, the Prairie Wolf
The Sa'-Zada Tales Page 5
