Page:Tales from the Indian Epics.djvu/56

50 Ruru's heart leapt with joy when he heard the words of the messenger of the Immortals. "O herald of the gods," he cried, "gladly will I give half my allotted span of life that Pramadvara may live again and be my bride." When the messenger of the Immortals heard Ruru's reply he vanished into the skies that he might tell it to the gods who had sent him. Ruru left the spot and hastened to where Pramadvara's body lay, to see if she lived or was dead. As he came close to her he saw that she still lay without motion. But a faint colour seemed to grow in her cheeks and on her pale lips. Her eyelashes began faintly to quiver. At last, waking up as if from a deep sleep, she opened her eyes and, seeing Ruru near her, smiled softly at him. Then Ruru told Sthulokesha and Pramati that Pramadvara had come back to life. And Sthulokesha and Pramati were overjoyed, and when the appointed day came, they joined the youth and maiden together in wedlock.

But because a snake had bitten the lovely maiden whom Ruru loved better than life itself, he hated from that day the whole race of snakes. And whenever he saw a snake in the grass or the woods he either struck it with his staff or cut it in pieces with his sword. One day, when Ruru was wandering through a dense part of the forest, he saw an old rock snake lying on the ground. Instantly he raised his staff to strike it. But the rock snake cried to him with a human voice, "Great sage, I have done you no hurt. Why are you angry with me and why do you seek my life?"

"My beloved wife," answered Ruru, "was once killed by a snake. I vowed, therefore, in my anger that I would slay every snake I saw. Therefore, O snake, prepare yourself for death, for I shall surely kill you."