Tara: A Mahratta Tale

by Meadows Taylor

  CHAPTER XCI.

  We need not relate how the hunchback was washed clean from his sins,how he and his companion entertained those who came to them thatnight, nor how he resisted their temptations to stay and sing toothers, who, they told him, would load him with gold. Those he wastaking to his master were more precious than gold; and the same anxietyto present them to him in safety, was shared equally by Fazil and byTara while awaiting their arrival.

  Five days,--two to go and three to return--perhaps more; never hadtime appeared so interminable to those who remained at Kurrar: neverhad journey appeared so wearisome to the Shastree. The spirit withinhim was strong and earnest, but he had suffered much; and, till rousedby the hunchback's tidings, Anunda and Radha feared that he had sunkinto that lethargic apathy which often precedes death. He could not beawakened from it. Had Tara died a Sutee, it might have been endured.Excitement and religious enthusiasm, even the glory of the voluntarysacrifice, would have deadened nature for a while, at least, in bothher parents; but the attack upon the sacred procession, though butone had died in it, by, as they supposed, lawless robbers--and thesubsequent murder, as they believed, of their child--had produced arevulsion which, to the Shastree, had wellnigh proved fatal, and formany days those about him gave up hope of life. The remains, as theysupposed, of Tara had, as we know, been brought in, and burned by theriver-side with all due ceremony; and after the period of mourning andimpurity had passed, the Shastree and his wives were to have set out ontheir return home. Still, however, they lingered; for the climate hadnot agreed with Anunda, who had, in her turn, fallen ill with fever,and they could not travel.

  During this period, they had heard from friends much of what hadbefallen Tara: and yet not all of Moro Trimmul's share in hermisfortunes. The only person who could have told them truly was Gunga,and she was dead. Radha had her own suspicions of her brother; butbeyond his wild attempt on the day of the Sutee, to induce her to putTara into his power, she had not seen him; and his violent death, whileit affected her mournfully, ended her anxieties ere the murder of Gungawas discovered.

  It was with difficulty that the impatience of the Shastree and Anundacould be restrained. They reached and passed Sattara the first day,and would fain have travelled by relays of men without resting, butthe hunchback and Bulwunt Rao, when they joined him, would not hear ofincreased exertion. "I will write by a speedy messenger that you aresafe," he said; "but if I do not bring you in well to them, my lordwill be angry, therefore submit yourselves to necessity,"--as, indeed,they were obliged to do.

  Of his master's intentions, the hunchback had said nothing. Who was he,to know anything about them? The lady Tara was in honour as a guest;that was all he knew. Yes, his master had carried her off. Could heknow that one who had been his guest, and had truly eaten of his salt,was to be burned alive, and not make an effort to save her? and she wasstill a Brahmun, and had Brahmun women attending upon her.

  But Bulwunt Rao, who waited their coming at a village on the road withan escort of the Paigah, had no such discretion, and told what hebelieved--that Fazil and Tara had been privately betrothed. The ladyLurlee, he said, had one day distributed sugar-candy and pan to all thehousehold, and to the mosque and other holy places in the town: andsome had been sent to him on a silver salver covered with a cloth ofbrocade. What did that mean? And when the Shastree remonstrated, witha natural horror, at the idea of a Brahmun girl marrying a Mussulman,Bulwunt Rao replied curtly--

  "What could you do with her, Shastree, if you had her? You see she isno longer a Brahmun, but an outcast. You could not even give her water;and the two old Brahmun women who attended her in her illness, andthe one who now waits on her, will have to be purified with plenty ofceremonies--and plenty to pay for them, too, will be needed; but do notcare for that, Shastree, my lord is very wealthy. So, you see, we mustgive her up as a Hindu, and even let her go into the other faith."

  The Shastree would groan at these home truths, but could reply nothing.As to his wife, she rejoiced heartily, and had no misgiving. Theexpression of a mother's nature would not be denied to Anunda; forthere is no mother with the experience of a life's love grown into herheart, who does not rejoice in the thought of a wife's useful happinessto her daughter, and in the expectation of its fruits! All that hadbeen done to soothe Tara, to distract her mind, to fill up the vacantplace there with other interests--learning, religious exercise, anddevotion to the service of the goddess--had been tried in turn, andwere, as Anunda felt, but a mockery.

  Possibly, most probably, indeed, under other circumstances, Tara's puremind would eventually have taken refuge in asceticism, and those severepenances, in which the woman who had persecuted her at Pertabgurh, hadgrown to take delight; but, knowing the too frequent condition of theindulgence of lawless love by women situated like her daughter, andexposed to the same temptations, Anunda had often trembled for hersafety; and yet owned to herself that, to doubt her, was profanation.

  No, she could not object. Had she been simply asked the questionpreviously, as a proud Brahmun woman, she must have refused. Now,circumstances had put that far beyond her reach. To object, would notretard the final issue, or influence it in any way; but to consentjoyfully, would add so much, and so supremely to Tara's happiness, thatopposition quickly grew to be an impossibility in the good lady'smind: and before she came to the end of the first day's journey, Fazilhimself could not have desired a warmer advocate.

  A good deal of this fell out from being left to herself. Palankeenshad been hired; and as the three travellers were carried on singlyfor hours together, each had fallen into the train of thought mostcongenial. Radha had certainly no voice in the matter, but wasdelighted. Anunda, between joy for her recovered child, and her newprospects of an honourable life, had been wellnigh beside herself atfirst, and the quiet soothing motion of the litter was of all thingsthe best, perhaps, to calm her, and bring her practical mind intoperception of the true realities of the position. "We have mourned heras dead," she said to herself, "we have performed all the ceremonies,and distributed all the charities necessary for the occasion; now sheis alive after all, and born again into a new faith; so the death whichwe believed in, was a type of what was to be fulfilled. I see it allnow," she said to herself, "and so it has been ordered for her withoutthe pain of burning. Strange, my husband does not see this, but I willtell it to him when we arrive."

  And so she did. Radha, too, caught up this tone of argument as bestsuited to her husband's mind, and the two women agreeing, left himlittle to say. It did not appear he had anything to urge or to object."This is some punishment for her sins in an earlier life," he said toAnunda; "and 'tis well it is no worse."

  Anunda and Radha could not see the punishment, except that Tara wouldhave to eat unclean things; otherwise, what was left to be desired?

  If this was their deliberate opinion at the close of the first day'smarch,--the second day, and the quiet jogging motion of the litters,the change of air and scene, and the peace which had settled graduallyinto their hearts, had much more than confirmed it. Whatever there wasof objection, was dealt with on the first evening; and on the second,as they rested for the night, impatience to see their child once more,an irrepressible yearning to place her happiness beyond doubt, orchance of mishap, had driven out all other feeling. So, on the thirdmorning, as they entered their litters for the day's journey, and knewthey would reach Kurrar before sunset, Anunda, who laughed and cried byturns in a strange manner, as she dressed their morning meal herselfbefore they set out, saw, with a thankful heart, that the heavy carewhich had sat on her husband's spirit for so long had passed away, andhis old placid, benign expression, had taken its place.

  That afternoon, as the sun's rays lengthened, and were filled withthat golden radiance which clothed the meanest objects with glory,and lighted up the town and fort, and the camp beyond,--the littleprocession of the three palankeens, and the small body of horsemen,approached the town gate. Bulwunt Rao had timed their arrival to suitthe lady Lurlee's desire, for th
e astrological tables had been oncemore consulted, and the Moollas of several mosques had been obligedto declare the most fortunate hour for the entry of the party intothe town. Messengers, too, had met them, enjoining care in thisrespect; and Bulwunt Rao and the hunchback were both relieved by theappearance of a last emissary at the gate to express approval of theirarrangements and to urge them on.

  No need of hastening now. The bearers themselves were in hurry enough;for Bulwunt Rao's promise had been liberal, and they had kept thehorsemen at a brisk canter for the last few miles of the journey. Now,therefore, shouting and hallooing to each other, the men who carriedthe litters, rushed through the gate of the town, and up the mainstreet at their utmost speed; and there was a race between the threesets, in which Anunda's were victorious, and clamoured for largesseas they set down her palankeen before the door of the kind merchant'shouse where Tara still was. Much the good lady had deliberated in hermind whether she could ever be touched by Tara without pollution, andwhether it could be avoided; and we believe we are correct in sayingthat she had determined, if it were to cost her half, or all the moneyshe had left in the banker's hands at Tooljapoor, she did not care, butshe must hold her child once more to her heart.

  Could she have repressed it? Ah no! a very outcast in shame, in misery,in misfortune--no matter had it been so--the loving mother's heartwould still have been open, as her arms, to receive her child; but inTara's renewed life, as it were, in joy and in honour, what signifiedthe temporary impurity of contact with one only impure by the hardrules of their sect? Anunda trembled very much, and scarcely knew howshe got out of the litter; but as she emerged, a figure she couldhardly see for the tears which blurred her sight, and which seemed toswim before her, bowed down and kissed her feet, was raised up, and,failing on her neck, wept aloud. Then it was strained to her heart witha face buried in her bosom which dare not look up, till her fatherand Radha entered, and Tara, prostrating herself before him, clung tohis knees sobbing. With him, too, some scruple about touching her hadremained; but his emotion on sight of her could not be resisted, andhe raised her up and blessed her as of old. I do not think any of themcould speak, and if they did say anything, it was not intelligibleenough to be recorded, and is better imagined.

  Then Anunda sat down, for she was very dizzy: and Tara saw the lovingarms stretched out, and went and lay down in them on the soft bosom inher old place, and hid her face there, and felt her mother's tears fallhot and fast upon it, while her own were wiped away by the dear bandsthat had often wiped them before. By-and-by she looked up, and hermother saw in the clear soft eye, in the ineffable expression of hercountenance, that all trouble and anxiety was past. No more excitementnow, false and mocking, even though sustained by religious fervour; andthe peaceful calm which had grown upon the face since her recovery, wasa new expression to her mother, which she felt could not change again.

  Then Lurlee came with Zyna presently, when the Shastree had been sentaway, and, putting Tara aside, Anunda arose and bowed before her,kissing her feet, and embracing her knees. "She is thy child now,lady," she said; "take a mother's thanks and gratitude for her honourand her life. In our simple Hindu fashion, we know no other salutation,else it would be given."

  "Nay, not to me, but to Alla, who hath preserved her--not we," repliedLurlee. "Noble ye are, though of another faith. Let us embrace assisters, to whom our mutual God hath given one daughter."

  "It must be done, sooner or later," said Anunda to herself, as shewithdrew from Lurlee's arms, "and better at once. Come hither, Tara:see how soon I give thee away, my child, after I have recovered thee.Wilt thou forgive me? Take her, lady," she continued, putting Tara intoLurlee's arms; "thou art more her mother now, than I. She hath beenborn to thee in a new life; be it as thou wilt unto her."

  "I take her," replied Lurlee, "as she is given, freely and truly. Ihad no child, lady, and often had prayed for one, and Alla and theProphet gave her to me long ago, before all this misery, and when mylord lived, who would have rejoiced with us to see this day had he beenspared. Yes, believing you dead, we took her to be our child, he and I.Now you have given her to me, and the gift is precious and is accepted:but I will not take it yet; we are proceeding home, and you will comewith us,--we will travel together. When we arrive, I will receive her;till then, let her remain with you; as yet she is pure from us----"

  "Yes, mother, I am pure, I have transgressed nothing," said Taragently. "I know," she continued, interrupting Anunda, "I am not asbefore; but you can give me what I need till--till ... and there is nohelp for it now." Anunda and the Shastree did not object, and so it wassettled among them.

  How much they had to learn of each other's acts! Nor was it till Taratold all, and they understood what the infamy of Moro Trimmul's conducthad been, that they felt the true honour of Fazil's character, or thedeep loving kindness of the lady Lurlee and his sister. A gratefulsubject was this, now that she could speak unreservedly with Radha andher mother, and Tara had to repeat her tale again and again to willingears. Sometimes her father, too, listened wonderingly; and there was nopart of it upon which he dwelt with more pride, even to rapture, thanTara's simple relation of the ordeal, and her devotion of herself to acruel death rather than to dishonour.

  "A true Brahmun thou," he would say, passing his hand over her head asshe read him the old lessons, "and thou wilt not forget these, nor theMother. If thou hadst failed, even to death, she had not released theefrom thy vow. As it is, see, she would not be denied a life! He used toscoff at her, and she drank his blood--not thine, my faithful child,not thine--and gave thee a new life, which will be happy. Yes, theKhanum's skill in astrology is good, for my own calculations confirmher results, and, comparing his scheme of nativity with thine, Tara,there is no discordance." But, nevertheless, the fact of Fazil's beingborn a Moslem and Tara a Hindu, often puzzled Vyas Shastree more thanhis science could explain, or than he cared to acknowledge.