There is no one who is rich beyond temptation.
When the front teeth fall away, the beauty of the mouth falls.
Tiger looks at the skylark in vain. (He cannot fly to him.)
I sat on this rock till the daybreak. This day was the “Day of Immortality” which was Sunday and I was very lucky indeed as this day was so. When I saw every part of this rock clearly then I walk on it to the forest which was near this river and I began to travel along in it at the same time. I was looking for food or fruits to eat because I was badly hungry this time. My intention was that when I satisfied my hunger then I would come back to this river, I would find my way at all costs to go back to the Jungle of the Pigmies and then to see that I killed that boa constrictor (snake of snakes) and after that to take all my things and then to go round the jungle and if I saw that there was no more any harmful creature in it, then I would find my way to go back to my town.
But to my surprise, I did not see anything which I could eat until when I was entirely lost in this forest, except those minute birds which were perching on top of every high tree, but I had nothing with me with which to kill them, and I was simply looking at them in vain as when the tigers were looking at the skylarks in vain. When I tried my best to find the way to come back to that river but all my efforts were in vain, then I left myself to the death’s hand and then I began to wander about hopelessly perhaps before I would die I might reach a town or a village.
Within two days that I was wandering about in this thick forest, the thorns had torn my clothes to rags, burrs were so covered my head that my hairs were not seen again except these burrs. The skin of my legs and arms were nearly finished for the thorns which were scratching them as I was going along. Because this forest was so thick that it was hardly for a person to travel even one mile in it for twenty hours. And the worst of it was that I had no cutlass with which to be clearing my way as I was going along in it.
When it was fourth day that I had started to wander about in this forest, I came to a part of it where there was a fruit-tree. The fruits of this tree were very long and very fleshy. Of course I was not quite sure whether they were not poisonous for eating but anyhow, as I was already powerless in respect of hunger before I travelled to this tree. So I did not mind whether the fruits were poisonous or not before I began to eat those which had fallen down. After I ate them to my satisfaction, then I looked at my body but I saw that I was already half naked for the thorns which had torn my clothes to rags. Again when I touched my head the burrs were so covered it that except the whole hairs of it were cleared away before these burrs could come out.
But as I was still checking every part of my body, which was so rough and dirty that if somebody saw me that time would fear that I was insane, I heard that several cocks were crowing loudly from a long distance. When I heard like that I stood up and I began to travel to that direction at the same moment, for I believed that a town or a village must be near there.
Within one hour I travelled to one big town unexpectedly. And to my surprise was that immediately I came to this town thousands of young and old men rushed to me when they saw that I was a lady. I was first ashamed of my rough and dirty appearance when these people embraced me. But when each of them held me in a lovely way and wanted to take me to his house, then I was not ashamed again. But when I began to shout greatly for pain when my arms were about to tear away as they were scrambling me very greedily, so those old men who were scrambling me as well told the young men that the whole of them must leave me alone and the whole of them did so at the same time. After that they were arguing between themselves who would take me among them as his wife.
But when I heard the word of wife from them it revealed to me that each of them wanted me to be his wife. And as they were still arguing between themselves many young men ran back to their houses, they brought food and they gave it to me to eat it. Each of them gave the food to me in such a charming way so that I might agree to choose him as my husband. Having argued for a few minutes then they arranged between themselves that they must give me chance to choose one of them for myself whom I wished to be my husband, and then they set themselves in a single line. So after I finished with the food, I started to inspect them. But as my intention was only to find my way back to the Jungle of the Pigmies at all costs. So with a trick, I simply chose an old man who was among them. This old man was so old and weary that he could not even distinguish man from woman.
It was a great disappointment and surprise for the rest people when I chose this old man instead of a young man. Of course, when the rest did not allow me to follow him to his house, his family held my arm. But as they were about to be taking me along to his house the rest started to beat them. After a while a very serious fight started. They were beating themselves with whatever they picked from the ground. At last when several people were wounded and several fell down helplessly, then they stopped to beat one another, but they took me to the palace of their king who had just died a few months ago before I came there.
After this palace was beautifully redecorated and after their king-makers cleared the whole hairs of my head together with the burrs, they took all the rags which were on my body away and after I bathed. They gave me many costly big clothes to wear. After I dressed in these costly clothes, they put the throne at the outside of the palace. They told me to sit on it and many costly clothes were also spread on the ground on which I rested my feet. Having done that and in the presence of the whole people of this town, these king-makers put the crown on my head and then they pronounced loudly that as from this day I became their queen and that I was their ruler and to be punished one who disobeyed me.
After this ceremony was performed, the king-makers took me to the palace while the rest people were beating drums and drinking all kinds of drinks which were specially provided in respect of this ceremony.
When I sat in the palace I could not talk for two hours because when I looked at my surroundings and saw how they were beautifully decorated I wondered greatly how I came to this luxurious position unexpectedly.
When it was eight o’clock in the night, these king-makers wrapped the hairs and burrs which they had cleared away from my head before they installed me their queen, with the rags (my clothes which were torn to rags by thorns) which they had removed from my body. They wrapped the hairs and the burrs with these rags in form of a round parcel. Having done that before me then they took this parcel to a certain part of this palace. But when they returned after a few minutes, I did not see the parcel with them except one big key which one of them held. When they came back with only this key they bowed down before me and then told me to stand up and I did so at the same moment. And with a soft voice the most senior of them told me that they would be very happy if her majesty would allow them to show me the whole parts of the palace so that they might hand over the palace to me.
So when I stood up they came to my back and then I was following one of them who held a powerful light which reflected to every part of the ground on which I was smashing. They showed me every part of this palace and they repeated it that it blonged to me as from that night. But when they took me to a separate house, which had only one very big room, they showed me this key. After they warned me very seriously, that although this one roomed house blonged to me as well but I must not attempt to open the door of it because it was forbidden for me to see what was inside it. Then they gave me the key and told me to keep it with me. After that they took me back to the throne. After we dined and drank together they went back to their houses while the servants, etc., were with me in the palace.
I wondered greatly when they warned me that I must not open this room and they gave me the key of it to be kept in my possession. And I did not know what they did with my hairs, burrs and my rags which they took away from my body but all I could say was that I only saw them when they wrapped the hairs and the burrs with my rags in form of a round parcel and then took this parcel to the direction of this one roomed house. It was like that I became the queen of these bachelors.
It was after two weeks that I was in this palace as a queen before I noticed that there was not a single woman or female in this town except men or males. And it was this time it revealed to me that no wonder, immediately I came there everyone of them had wanted to marry me. I noticed as well that more than ninety per cent of the people of this ‘Bachelors’ town’ were very rich but yet none of the ladies agreed to marry any one of them. And it was a great wonder to me when I found out later, that it was their first generation who had offended their creator who had cursed them that none of the females who would agree to marry either one of them for ever.
Of course a lot of them were musicians and for this, mighty beautiful halls were seen everywhere in the town. But I was very surprised too that as they had no wives they were still happy always. They were always dancing, drinking, beating drums and joking with one another. They were not quarrelling with each other so much. But the noises of their drums and the cheerful noises of the merrymakers were too much in this town. And for the whole period that I spent there as their queen, the merrymakers and drummers did not let me enjoy my life as luxuriously as it must be. Because they used to visit me several times a day. Whenever these visitors saw me several of them would not aware when they would open mouths widely and utter—“Ah! this is a lady whom we are longing for to marry!” Whenever they uttered carelessly like that those valets or servants were warning them at the same time not to say so and that they must remember that I was their queen.
Within a few months that I was in this happiness my mind was about to change not to go back to the Jungle of the Pigmies or my town again. It was even coming to my mind once a while that I had been a huntress before or in my life, because I was not suffered for anything and I was so much admired by these bachelors that several special concerts and many other amusements were performing each week in respect of me. But I was always afraid greatly that I was only a lady among several thousands of these bachelors whenever I was at the concerts, etc.
But when I completed about six months in this “Bachelors’ town” one fine morning, after I ate nice breakfast, I drank and I wore several costly garments and after I put costly gold beads in my neck, wrists and I put earrings on my ears. Then I thought within myself that why should I not open this one roomed house which these king-makers had warned me for not to open, when the key of it was given to me and again I was the ruler of this town. After I sat down and thought in my mind like that for a few minutes, I stood up, I went to where I kept the key of this room since the day that they had given it to me. I took it and I came back to my seat. When I sat down I continued to think over about this locked room. As I was thinking about it, it was so I was throwing this key up and catching it again as if I was simply playing with it.
At last I said within myself that the more I was the ruler of this town there was no reason why I should not know the whole secrets which were in this palace. And then without hesitation, I stood up and I went direct to this locked room. As I stood before the door I reminded myself that the king-makers had already warned me seriously the other night that I must not attempt to open the room because it was forbidden to me to see what was inside it. When I reminded myself like that I feared greatly and I moved my body just to go back to my seat. But as I was about to go back it came to my mind again this moment that as I was the ruler I supposed to know all the secrets which were in the palace. So without hesitation I put this key in the lock of this room and I hardly turned it round when the door opened.
When I entered this room with great fear, I travelled slowly to a part of it where there was darkness and then I stopped when I did not see anything in it. But as I began to scorn those king-makers that why had they warned me not to open this room when there was nothing in it, there I saw one bird which held the parcel (my hairs, burrs and my rags with which the king-makers wrapped the two things) with its beak. As I was still looking at this bird in the darkness with embarrassment. It flew suddenly to me and put this parcel on my head and at the same moment it flew back to the darkness and vanished immediately.
But immediately I touched this parcel with my hands with hatred just to push it away from my head, it was in the heart of big thick forest I found myself again. And when I opened my eyes and I looked at my body, I saw that I was in my usual rags. When I touched my head it was full of long dirty hairs which were twisted with the burrs and my body was as rough and as scratch as before I had been a queen.
As this was still just a dream for me, so I went to a tree which was near by. I leaned my back on it and I began to think over and over whether it was not myself who came back to this poor condition unexpectedly. And as it was a great sorrow to me immediately I found out my mistake, of course “there is no one Who is rich beyond temptation”. So I blamed myself that if I had not opened that room as the king-makers had warned me not to do, I should had not come back to this my former poor condition.
As I was still blaming myself like that I did not know when I cast down under this tree and I was weeping bitterly. After a few minutes a number of pigmies heard my voice and they came to that spot just to see who was weeping there. And I wondered greatly that immediately they saw me there that I was the very huntress who had ruined their town, they wanted to catch me for killing. But before they could do so, and immediately I saw them that they were pigmies I sprang up and I was running furiously along in this endless forest. Because I believed that they were those pigmies who had escaped when I ruined their town and nearly killed the whole of them some time ago, and they wanted to revenge of what I had done to the rest of them.
As I was running away for my life it was so they were chasing me to catch and kill. They were still chasing me along until when I saw a small hut which was in the heart of this forest. Immediately I saw this hut, I was running to it. But when they about to catch me I shouted greatly to the inhabitant of this hut to help me. And to my surprise, I hardly shouted when a very old and weary man ran out from the hut and he was asking me—“What is that! What is that!” until when he saw these pigmies at my back. Immediately he saw them that they wanted to kill me, he gave me chance to run to his hut, but he hastily expanded both his hands to left and right which were disturbed them, he did not allow them to enter his hut.
When he stopped them he asked from them what was the matter. And they explained to him with great anger that I was the huntress who had driven them out of their town after I had killed the rest of them. They told him as well that as they saw me this day they were prepared to kill me as a revenge. And they did not let this old man say anything when they forced their way in and he followed them at the same time. But I had passed to the forest through the back door of the hut as they were still explaining to him all what I had done to them some time ago.
When they searched this hut and they did not see me from there. They told this old man to find me out at all costs. But when he refused to do so, because he wanted to safe me, then they began to beat him with the sticks which were in their hands. At last when he felt much pain he took his cutlass and he was cutting everyone of them without mercy. And when he nearly killed all of them then the rest who were not more than two or three in number, escaped. After the rest were escaped I came back to the hut, I thanked greatly from this old man. After that both of us buried those whom he killed. And that was how I came out from the “Bachelors’ town”.
After we buried them near his hut he gave me food and I ate the whole of it within a few seconds because I was very hungry before I came there. Although this food was not as nice as the kind which I had been eating when I was the queen of the “Bachelors’ town”. Having finished the food and I rested to my satisfaction, I told him that I would be living with him for some days before I would continue to find my way to go back to the Jungle of the Pigmies and he agreed.
This old man was so quiet and wise that I followed all the advices which he used to give everyday. But I was unable to look at his face or mouth whenever he was advising me, it was a great fear for me, because “When the front teeth fall away, the beauty of the mouth falls” and that was so for this old man, all his front teeth had fallen away and it made his face so ugly that it was very fearful to see always.
The fifth day, which was “The Day of three Resolutions” which was Saturday, that I was living with him and as we were discussing together how he came to live in the forest, there entered the hut a wonderful man. Immediately he entered the hut we raised up our heads and then we were expecting what he was going to say. But instead to tell us what he wanted he simply took one stool, he sat on it and then he asked for food without hesitation. Of course as this old man was quiet and wise he gave him food and water without any question.
As this wonderful man was eating he began to tell the old man that he would be living with him and he would be working for him. He told him further that his mother had wilfully thrown him in the jungle since when he was about nine years old, because he had troubled her too much. After he explained to this old man like that he (old man) asked from him his age and he replied that he was about fifty years of age. The reason why this old man asked for his age was that his voice was sharper or older than his appearance.
Both of us bursted into a great laughter when he said that he was about fifty years of age. Because we wondered greatly when we saw his height which was not more than two feet and he was so thin that I could compare him with a stick which its diameter was not more than four inches.
He was a talkative because he could talk throughout the day and night without a break and he was talking very fastly yet his voice was very sharp. He was so troublesome that he could not live with anyone but we did not aware of that at first. Whenever he was talking fastly thus he would be closing and opening his small eyes and thus he would be turning his head here and there and also sniffing the smell of that place. However, this old man pitied his condition and he agreed to him to be living with us. But when he asked for his name the following day that he came to live with us, for he (old man) had forgotten to ask for it before this time. He told us that his name was Ajantala, but the old man chuckled suspiciously and he did not say anything.
In the following morning, when this old man was preparing to go to his farm to fetch for our food, Ajantala told him that he would follow him and he agreed. But when he put some yams and some edible fruits in the basket and he asked Ajantala to carry it to the hut. To his fear, Ajantala shouted on him without hesitation—“What do you tell me to carry, old man?” and the old man repeated what he had told him to do. Again Ajantala shouted on him—“Oh, is that how you want to treat me? All right, I will teach you a sense now!” So without hesitation, Ajantala threw a handful dust into the old man’s eyes unexpectedly, and as he was staggering about for help, Ajantala hit his head again with a heavy stone and then he fell down helplessly at the same time. But when Ajantala saw him in this condition he let him there and he ran back to the hut, for he thought he would die after a few minutes.
Immediately Ajantala entered the hut and met me as I was still preparing our food. With his usual sharp voice, he told me that the old man sent him to come and collect all his (old man’s property) property and bring them to him, because the old man did not want to come back to his hut any more. When I first heard like that from him, I was greatly shocked at the same moment. I thought within myself that which meant this old man wanted to leave I alone in this hut and again I thought that perhaps the rest pigmies had made arrangement with him and he had agreed to them to come and kill me and perhaps that was the reason why he wanted to leave his hut without me.
As I was still suggesting in mind like that, Ajantala had put the whole of this old man’s property at the front of the hut. Not knowing that when the old man lay down in the pool of blood for a few minutes he got up and then he was coming back to his hut when the blood stopped. But when he met Ajantala as he was just tieing all his property into one bundle and after that to carry them away, he challenged him at the same time that what was he doing with his property. Of course Ajantala did not deny at all, he explained to him that he was going to sell them. When he heard like that from him he began to struggle with him to take them back from him while I stood near the hut and I was looking at them.
But at last when I believed that Ajantala wanted to overpower him and if it was so, he would run away with the property. So I ran to them and I helped the old man to take his property back from him. But Ajantala held the property so tightly that we could not take it from him till this old man became dizzy and then fell down, because too much of blood had run down from his forehead when Ajantala hit the forehead with a stone in the farm.
Now it remained I alone who was ingrafting Ajantala not to take this bundle (the old man’s property) away. Although I was a brave huntress but I was unable to conquer Ajantala at all. Because as he was so small and thin he was very strong like a giant. After a while he flung me away as if I were a grain of maize, but I hastily gripped his thin legs when he was about to run away with this bundle. But as he was trying to take his legs back from me he fell down. Now both of us held ourselves and we were beating ourselves mercilessly while he still held the bundle with his left hand. Luckily when he was about to overpower me the old man stood up. He came to us, he ran to Ajantala’s back, he snatched the bundle from him unexpectedly and then he ran to the hut with it while Ajantala was still beating me and I was beating him as well.
This old man hardly kept the bundle in the hut when he ran back to us when he believed that Ajantala would beat me to death soon. Then both of us were now beating Ajantala until when we were tired. When Ajantala stood up he ran to the hut, he searched it but he could not trace out this bundle because the old man, the owner of it, hid it under a big pot but Ajantala did not remember to open it. When he failed to trace it out, we thought he would go away. But when he did not go away, this old man told him frankly that he did not want to see him in his hut any more. But to our fear, Ajantala replied that he would not go away except when he got the bundle back. At last when the old man failed to drive him away from his hut he left him. But he was still troubling us badly to take this bundle away and whenever we were eating he would eat it along with us without asking him to do so.
It was when Ajantala was trying to steal this old man’s property (bundle) away it revealed to him that Ajantala was one of “The forest burglars”. As he was living with us without the wish of this old man, it was so he was searching everywhere perhaps he would be able to trace out the bundle.
At last when he failed to trace it out he began to pull the roof of this hut down little by little. When the old man believed that he would pull the whole hut down in a few days time and again if we did not keep ourselves away from him this time he would kill us when we fell asleep if he could not get the bundle back. So one night, when Ajantala lay down roughly as if he had slept. This old man first suggested that the better thing to do now which could safe us from him was to pack all our blongings and leave this hut this night so that we would travel far away before he would wake in the morning.
When this old man suggested like that I supported him, I told him that it would be better now to pack our food and the rest of our blongings in a big basket and then to leave there at once. Of course I had no any blongings which I could pack except this old man. Because this time I was just as a “bird who has no property to take along with himself whenever going to somewhere except his feathers”. All of my blongings were in the Jungle of the Pigmies. So at the same time I helped this old man to pack all his blongings together. I tied them together into a bundle. I put this bundle in a big basket, after that we put our food, basins, pots, etc., on top of the bundle. Having done that we hid this basket in a corner of the hut, then we went to the stream which was not so far away from there, to bathe. But not knowing that Ajantala never fall asleep when we began to make this arrangement and he heard how we were going to do.
So after we left for the stream he stood up cautiously and as he was very short and thin, he simply put all the things which were in the basket down. He went inside it, after that he put all these things on top of himself. Ajantala arranged these things so perfectly that we did not suspect that he was at the bottom of the basket when we returned from the stream.
Immediately we returned this old man helped me to put this basket on my head, after that he put the bundle (his property) on his head, after that we left this hut cautiously so that Ajantala might not wake, for we thought that he was still sleeping, although we did not put on the light and the hut was so dark that we hardly saw even ourselves. It was this bundle Ajantala was trying to steal away.
As we were travelling along very hastily and having travelled about one mile away from this hut. And as we believed that we had already freed from Ajantala who was inside the basket, we began to scold and curse Ajantala badly and he was hearing all, but we did not know at all. When we travelled till daybreak, then we stopped when we felt to eat. Without fear, this old man helped me to put this basket down. After we put it down and as I was taking some plates from the basket, Ajantala jumped out from it suddenly. When we saw him jumped out this old man and I scattered to different direction unexpectedly with great fear. Because this fear was so much that we could not hesitate to see who jumped out from the basket. And it was after a few minutes before we came back to the basket and unfortunately, Ajantala had carried all of this old man’s property away.
When we came back but we met only empty basket then it revealed to us that Ajantala was inside the basket as I had been carrying it about. So we took this empty basket and then we began to find him about at the same time, perhaps if we could find him out we would be able to take the property (bundle) back from him. It was like that Ajantala, the noxious burglar of the forest, stole all of this old man’s property away.
But we could not travel so far when this old man became very seriously ill for his property which Ajantala had stolen away. When he could not walk again, I put him on my back and then I continued to travel along. And when I travelled until my back was paining me I put him down under a tree. I built a booth and I lay him under it, after that I covered him with broad leaves because there was no cloth to be used. After this, I went round there and luckily I did not travel so far when I came to a farm. Yams and corn were planted on one halve of this farm while a lot of big guords were planted on the rest halve part of it.
When I came to this farm the first thing which I did was that I went round it just to make sure whether the owner of it was there or not. But when I did not see anybody there, then I took some yams and corn and I took one big guord. After that I went back to the old man. When I made fire and put two yams and corn in it, then I went to the river with that guord. After I cut its head away and washed inside of it thoroughly, then I drew water with it and I brought it to the booth. After the old man and I ate the yams and the corn to our satisfaction we drank from this water to our satisfaction as well.
It was like that I was doing everyday until when this old man became well and then we continued to find Ajantala about. One morning, as we were roaming about we came to a tree in which there was a hole. Not knowing that Ajantala had foreseen us while we were still far away. And he entered the hole of this tree, he hid himself inside it and he was waiting for us perhaps we would travel to that spot. After a while we travelled to this tree. But as it had plenty of leaves which threw cool shadow on the ground and again as we were very hungry and thirsty, so we stopped under this tree. After we put our yams and corn down, I made fire at once, I roasted them. After I peeled away the backs of these yams we began to eat them. But as this old man leaned his back on this tree and as we were eating the yams greedily Ajantala stretched his hand from the hole of this tree and he pulled up the hairs of this old man’s head. When he first did like that the old man was greatly shocked with fear when he felt much pain. He raised his head up, he looked at this tree but he did not see anybody there. Because Ajantala had hastily put his hand back into the hole of the tree. After a while he knocked this old man’s forehead again with a stick and when he raised his head up again he did not see anything and this was a great wonder and fear to him.
It was like this Ajantala was illtreating him until when I put the water in my mouth. As I was drinking it, Ajantala stretched his hand out from the hole of this tree again and as he was still pulling up the hairs of this old man’s head as before, I saw his shadow in this water. Immediately I saw the shadow of his hand in the water, I hastily looked at the tree and I saw plainly that it was his hand. Without hesitation, I gripped it and I began to pull it but he could not come out. He was only shouting for pain. As I pulled his hand but he could not come out from this hole, then this old man ran to the other side of the tree and he saw the entrance of the hole there. Then I left his hand this side and I went to the other side as well.
When I joined the old man, willing or not we pulled him out. After that we beat him until when he confessed to us where he hid the old man’s property which he had stolen from us when he hid inside the basket the other day. And we went there, we collected them, but he had sold all the household utensils and some clothes. After that we continued to roam about while Ajantala still lay helplessly on the ground because we beat him too much and we believed before we left him that he would die after a few minutes. That was how we got some of this old man’s property back from Ajantala.
But we did not aware that after a few days Ajantala became well and then he started to look for us just to take this old man’s property from us at all costs. Of course, we did not believe that if even he became alive again he would be ever attempted to do so again.