Tara: A Mahratta Tale

by Meadows Taylor

  CHAPTER LXXIII.

  We need not describe them. After the sacrifice of several sheep beforethe altar, to propitiate the goddess in the form of worship peculiar tolower castes, the Brahmuns continued the rest of the ceremonies. Herewere the same recitations of religious books, the Shastras and Poorans;the same processions sweeping round the altar with offerings, andhymns chanted by the priests at stated periods; the same invocationsof the deity to be present, as we have already seen in the templeat Tooljapoor; and as they proceeded, shadows lengthened, the sundisappeared behind the mountains, and gloom fell rapidly on the glenand its people.

  Very soon, however, it was lighted up; men bearing huge copper vesselsof oil on their shoulders, went round the area pouring cans full uponthe cotton-seed in the iron cressets, and then lighting them, and ablaze arose from each which illuminated a large space around. Graduallythe whole were lit; and the effect was as strange as beautiful.

  Tier upon tier of closely-wedged human beings, whose white dresses andgay turbans and scarves appeared even brighter by night than by day,arose on all sides, those nearest the light being clearly seen, whilethe others, rising gradually to the top, were less and less distinct,till they seemed to blend with the fringe of wood above, and disappearin the gloom. Below, about the place of performance, and around theRajah's seat, the illumination was brightest; and the thick smoke ofincense rising from the altar hung over all like a canopy, diffusingits fragrance to the farthest edges of the assembly. Above, the grimmountain precipices hung threateningly over all, fringed at the top bywalls and towers, hardly perceptible in the distance, except where theyprojected against the sky; and on which, and on the woods, as the nightadvanced, the bright light of the moon fell with a silvery lustre whichour northern climate does not know.

  To act a Hindu play is by no means so simple a matter as to act anEnglish one. It frequently lasts several days. On this present occasionit would occupy three nights. There was the introduction, the middle,and the catastrophe. There would be pleasant witty interludes of broadfarce between the scenes, acted by the clowns in various characters;satires upon Brahmuns, and priests generally, being a favouritesubject: upon landlords and tenants: upon servants and masters: uponlovers--merchants--in short, upon all social topics. There would bepolitical satires also; and the Rajah would see himself representedaccording to the popular belief, whatever it might be, flatteringly orthe contrary, and would take the joke good-humouredly.

  So the entertainment proceeded. We, who sit for an hour or two with alanguid indifference, or real approbation, as it may be, of theatricalrepresentation here, can hardly appreciate the intense absorption ofa Mahratta audience at one of their religious plays, where gods anddemigods, represented by clever players and singers, engage in earthlystruggles of love or war, and evince human sympathies and passions. Sohour after hour passed, and Rajah and people alike sat and listenedand watched; now to a grand scene from the Mahabarut or Ramayun; nowto a merry farce, or description by the "chorus" of what was to comenext; now to a plaintive mountain ballad introduced into the generalperformance.

  It was near midnight, perhaps, when a single horseman suddenly turnedthe corner of the mound, and, entering the area unperceived, where itwas not crowded, rode slowly up the centre. His noble horse seemedjaded and weary, for it moved languidly, yet, when it saw the lightsand people, raised its head and gave a shrill and prolonged neigh. Itsflanks were smoking, and its coat a mass of foam, proving that it hadbeen ridden hard and fast.

  The rider's face was tied up, as is customary with Mahratta horsemen;but as he advanced he unwound the scarf about it, and the sternfeatures and flashing eyes of Tannajee Maloosray appeared to all. Foran instant he was not recognized, and his advance, indeed, had hardlybeen noticed at the upper end of the assembly; but some one who saw himcried "Tannajee!" and the name spread from mouth to mouth, rising intoa roar of welcome among the people, as the rider struggled on throughthe crowd which now pressed about him. Dismounting near the altar,Tannajee gave his horse to a servant; and as Sivaji and all about himrose to meet him, he ascended to the royal seat, and was embraced byhis prince in a loving greeting. He had been long absent, and wasexpected; but his sudden arrival alone, and at that time of night,boded strange tidings; and while his arms were yet around his friend,Sivaji anxiously asked what news he had brought.

  "Of sorrow, yet of joy, my prince," replied Maloosray, disengaginghimself. "I heard the news at Jutt, and I made a vow which only thataltar can clear me of, that I would not sit or rest till I had told itto you and to the people.--Rise, all of ye!" he shouted to the assemblyin that voice which, clear and sonorous, they had often heard above thewildest din of battle, "and listen to my words!"

  They rose to a man instantly, and with a rustling sound: after which,there was perfect silence. Every face of those thousands was turnedtowards the speaker. Every form, from the highest tiers to the lowest,bent forward in eager expectation of what should follow.

  "Listen," he continued, "O beloved prince and people: we have fallenupon evil days, for the goddess, our Mother, has been insulted, andher temple at Tooljapoor desecrated. Yes," he continued, lifting up hishand to stay the cry which was about to break out, "Afzool Khan hascast down the image of Toolja Mata, plundered the temple of its wealth,slain the Brahmuns, and sprinkled the blood of sacred cows over theshrine; and now the altar there, and the Mother, are my witness that Ihave told this grief to ye truly!"

  Then burst forth that strange wild cry which the lady mother had heardabove in the fort. Some wept, others shrieked and beat their mouths, orcast their turbans on the ground. Individual cries, no matter whetherof grief or revenge, were blended into one common roar from thosethousands, which ascended to the sky, and, reverberating from side toside of the glen, went out through the woods,--up the mountain-sidesand precipices of the fort,--softened by distance,--yet uniting toproduce that unearthly yell or wail which had arrested her as she leftthe shrine, and caused the watching priests to shudder.

  Apparently, the people waited to hear from their prince a confirmationof the news, or intimation of what was to be done; for, at a motion ofhis hand, they were once more silent, and listening with rapt attention.

  "I thought the Holy Mother was in sorrow," he said, "for she has hiddenher face from me these many days, and my mother too sought her, but invain. And now we know the reason. O friends! O people! shall it be so?Shall the Mother's temples be desolate? Not while Sivaji Bhoslay lives,and ye live! Better we died in honour than lived to be pointed at ascowards, while she is unrevenged! Listen," he continued, using the samegestures as Tannajee to keep the people quiet, as he took up the swordlying at his feet. "This, ye all know, is named after the Mother; see!"and he drew it slowly from the scabbard, "she hath a bright and lovelyface, but it must be dimmed in Moslem blood: let her drink it freely!So I swear, and so ye will answer to my cry--Hur, Hur, Mahadeo!"

  As he spoke he flung the scabbard passionately on the ground, andwaved the glittering blade high in the air. Already was men's bloodfiercely stirred by his words, and the Rajah's action rendered themalmost uncontrollable. Not one of all that assembly who wore a swordwas there, that did not draw and wave it as his chieftain had done; andthe light flashing from polished weapons, and the frantic shouts ofthe old war-cry, as men swayed to and fro, still more excited the rudesoldiery--"Hur, Hur, Mahadeo! Donguras-lavile Deva!"

  No wonder that the sound had gone up the lofty mountain, and was themore clearly heard as the Ranee, looking from the tower above, saw farbelow the heaving masses in the glen, and caught the bright glitter oftheir weapons.

  But there was silence at last. It seemed as if the men expected to beled there and then against their hereditary foes. That, however, wasnot to be yet. During the clamour, Maloosray had told his chieftainthat Afzool Khan's army was on its march, and that means must be takento oppose it. So the Rajah once again spoke out in those clear ringingtones which were heard by all.

  "Not now, my people," he cried--"not now. If we hav
e sworn to revengethe Mother, she will wait her time, and herself deliver this arrogantMoslem into our hands. Then, O my friends, shall she drink infidelblood, and be satisfied to the full. So fear not: if this news isterrible, it is yet good; so let us rejoice that we have the more causeto be united in avenging it. And now sit down once more; and play on, Oplayers! Who shall say that Sivaji Bhoslay and his people were scaredfrom their Kutha by Afzool Khan?"

  "That means, my friends," cried Pundree, one of the clowns, afterturning a preliminary somersault in the air, then resting his hands onhis knees, and wagging his head with mock gravity, "that the masterintends to kill the old Khan himself, and that the Mother will eat him.Now, as I am going to eat the sheep that have been killed there, justto save her the trouble, she will be very hungry--very hungry indeed;and if her belly is not filled by Afzool Khan, ye are to kill all hispeople and satisfy it. Else beware!--No one likes to be hungry, goodfolks; and I, for one, am always ill-tempered and beat my wife whenthere is no dinner, or it is badly cooked. I dare say the Mother ismuch the same, and if she be so, nothing goes right in the world; sosee that ye strike hard, my sons, and get plenty of food for her whenthe master bids ye. Do ye hear? Do ye understand? As for the cooking ofit, ye may leave that to the devil; and remember that I, Pundrinath,the son of Boodhenath, have told ye all this, and will bear witnessagainst ye and Tannajee Maloosray if ye do it not; and so--beware,beware!"

  And then, amidst the laughter caused by the quaint speech and actionsof the privileged jester, the play proceeded, while Sivaji heard fromhis friend Maloosray the tale of the Wuzeer's death, the Kotwal'sexecution, and the sack of Tooljapoor.

  It was more than ever evident to Sivaji, that to attempt to opposeAfzool Khan in the field with the men about him, would be madness; buthe might be drawn on, by specious promises of submission, into wildswhere his cavalry and artillery would be useless, and in those junglesthe men then present would be ample against ten thousand Mahomedaninfantry.

  Then it was determined to send those agents to Afzool Khan's camp withwhose arrival there we are already acquainted.