Page:The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.djvu/177

Rh and with one stroke of the shining blade beheaded Kovilan. His body dropped down and the crimson blood gushed out on the earth.

Meanwhile, in the shepherd’s quarter of the city, the shepherd lasses held a sacred dance for the good of their cattle and for the amusement of Kannaki. One of the girls personated Krishna, their national hero, another represented Baladeva, his elder brother, and a third appeared as the shepherdess, who was the favourite mistress of Krishna. Seven of the shepherd lasses stood in a ring clasping each other’s bands, an danced and sang merrily for some hours. When the dance was over, one of the lasses went with flowers, incense and sandal to bathe in the Vaigai river, and to worship the feet of the God Vishnu. She heard a rumour in the city that Kovilan had been killed, and hurried back to Kannaki’s lodging. She whispered to her neighbours what she had heard, but stood mute in Kannaki’s presence, unwilling to break the sad news to her. Kannaki who had been eagerly waiting for the return of her hasband, enquired of her “what is it, friend, that my neighbours whisper? It is long since my husband went out, and I am alarmed about his safety.”

“Your husband,” replied the shepherdess, “has been killed, because he had stolen an anklet from the palace.”

Kannaki who heard these words, burst into tears and sank to the ground crying “Oh my husband! my husband!“ Wild with anguish, she stood up again and cried out “Listen to me all ye girls who danced the Kuravai! Thou Sun, who knowest all that takes place on this wide earth! be my witness. Is my husband a thief?”

“He is no thief,” said a voice in the air, “this city is doomed to be destroyed by fire.”

Taking the other anklet in her hand, she walked out of the shepherd’s quarter, with tears streaming from her eyes. She told the people that followed her that her husband was not a thief, and that he had taken for sale one of her own anklets and had been unjustly killed. As she went sobbing and crying through the