Page:Dumas - Tales of Strange adventure (Methuen, 1907).djvu/118

106 hand on her father's, Nachor sprinkled some drops of water in the palm, laid two or three pieces of money there, and presented Amaru to me, addressing her thus:

"'I have nothing more henceforth to do with you. I give you over to the power of another.'

"Thereupon the Brahmin drew from a little case the veritable marriage tie, that is to say, the tali, a knot of ribbon from which is suspended a little gold skull. This he showed to the company, afterwards handing it to me that I might tie; it about my wife's neck. This done, we! were married. But the custom of the country decrees that the marriage festivities last five days, till the expiration of which period the husband cannot claim his wife. Accordingly for the first four days I was so well watched by the young men and maidens among the guests that I was barely allowed so much as to kiss the bride's little finger. I tried to tell her by my looks how tedious I found the interval, while she gazed at me in a way that seemed to say, ' True, it is long, but you must be patient! ' and with this promise I had to be content.

"At length the fifth day came and passed and ended; at night-fall we were led in procession to my house. In the outer room a collation was spread; I did the honours to my friends, while they were undressing my wife and putting her to bed. Then after a while, when I thought nobody was looking at me I slipped away towards the bedroom door, quite willing to abandon the rest of the house to my guests, provided they left me the little room where the lovely Amaru was awaiting me. But at the door to my surprise I stumbled over something; I felt the obstacle with my hand and found it was a pair of slippers.

"A pair of slippers at Amaru's door! What could it mean? The circumstance gave me pause for a moment, but next minute I kicked the slippers to one side and tried to open the door.

"The door was locked. I called in my softest voice, * Amaru! Amaru! Amaru! ' expecting her every moment to come and open it; but though I could hear quite plainly that there was someone, or rather two people, in the room, I received no answer. You may imagine my feelings. But for those confounded slippers I might have doubted still; but as things were, I was just beginning to thump the door with all my might when I felt my arm seized. Turning round I saw it was Nachor.

'"By the Lord!' I cried, 'I am glad to see you. You must help me to punish your infamous daughter.'

"'What do you mean?' asked Nachor.

"'I mean to say she is locked up there with a man, neither more nor less.'

"'With a man?' cried Nachor. 'In that case she is no daughter of mine; if it is true, you may put her in prison, or kill her, if you will; you have every right.'

"'So much the better! If I have the right I will use it, I promise you that.'

"'But what makes you think so? '

"'Why, by God! the noise I can hear in the room and besides, the slippers,'—and so saying I kicked over the incriminating articles towards Nachor, The latter picked up one slipper and then the other, and examining" them carefully:

"'Oh! happy Olifus!' he cried. 'Oh! twice blessed husband! How highly privileged is our family amongst all others! My son, thank Vishnu and his wife Lackemi, thank Siva and his wife Parvati, thank Brahma and his wife Sarasvati, thank Indra and his wife Aviti, thank the tree Kalpa, the cow Kamaderu and the bird Garruda. A holy man deigns to do for you what as a rule he does only for the King of the country; he spares you the trouble you were about to take and in nine months, if the eight great Gods of Hindustan turn not away their looks of favour from us and from your wife, we shall have a Brahmin in our family.'

"'Pardon me!' I exclaimed, 'but I have no sort of wish to have a Brahmin in my family. I am no laggard, and the trouble the holy man takes I would gladly have taken myself. I am not King of the country, and therefore I do not regard this as an honour. I will thank neither the bird Garruda, nor the cow Kamaderu, nor the tree Kalpa, nor Indra nor Brahma, nor Siva, nor Vishnu, but I will break the back of your rascally Brahmin, who burnt his niece alive after swearing by the waters of the Ganges that he would take her home again.'

"So saying, I seized a stout bamboo, fully determined to put my threat into execution. But at Nachor's cries all the crowd of guests came running up; seeing which, I threw away my bamboo and