Vikram and the Vampire - Forth Story - Mocomi.com

Vikram and the Vampire
THE VAMPIRE'S FOURTH STORY
By
Sir Richard F. Burton

Stories for Kids

http://mocomi.com/fun/stories/

Volume - 5

Design © 2012 Mocomi & Anibrain Digital Technologies Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

"Listen, great king!" again began the
Baital.
An unimportant Baniya (trader), Hiranyadatt, had a daughter, whose name
was Madansena Sundari, the beautiful
army of Cupid. Her face was like the
moon; her hair like the clouds; her eyes
like those of a muskrat; her eyebrows
like a bent bow; her nose like a parrot's
bill; her neck like that of a dove; her
teeth like pomegranate grains; the red
colour of her lips like that of a gourd; her
waist lithe and bending like the pards:
her hands and feet like softest blossoms; her complexion like the jasminein fact, day by day the splendour of her
youth increased.
When she had arrived at maturity, her
father and mother began often to resolve in their minds the subject of her
marriage. And the people of all that
country side ruled by Birbar king of

A WOMAN WHO TOLD THE TRUTH
Madanpur bruited it abroad that in the
house of Hiranyadatt had been born a
daughter by whose beauty gods, men,
and munis (sages) were fascinated.
Thereupon many, causing their portraits
to be painted, sent them by messengers
to Hiranyadatt the Baniya, who showed
them all to his daughter. But she was capricious, as beauties sometimes are,
and when her father said, "Make choice
of a husband thyself," she told him that
none pleased her, and moreover she
begged of him to find her a husband
who possessed good looks, good qualities, and good sense.
At length, when some days had passed,
four suitors came from four different
countries. The father told them that he
must have from each some indication
that he possessed the required qualities; that he was pleased with their
looks, but that they must satisfy him


1

about their knowledge.
"I have," the first said, "a perfect acquaintance with the Shastras (or Scriptures); in science there is none to rival
me. As for my handsome mien, it may
plainly be seen by you."
The second exclaimed, "My attainments
are unique in the knowledge of archery.
I am acquainted with the art of discharging arrows and killing anything which
though not seen is heard, and my fine
proportions are plainly visible to you."
The third continued, "I understand the
language of land and water animals, of
birds and of beasts, and I have no equal
in strength. Of my comeliness you yourself may judge."
"I have the knowledge," quoth the
fourth, "how to make a certain cloth
which can be sold for five rubies: having

sold it I give the proceeds of one ruby to
a Brahman, of the second I make an offering to a deity, a third I wear on my
own person, a fourth I keep for my wife;
and, having sold the fifth, I spend it in
giving feasts. This is my knowledge, and
none other is acquainted with it. My
good looks are apparent."
The father hearing these speeches
began to reflect, "It is said that excess in
anything is not good. Sita was very
lovely, but the demon Ravana carried
her away; and Bali king of Mahabahpur
gave much alms, but at length he
became poor.My daughter is too fair to
remain a maiden; to which of these shall
I give her?"
So saying, Hiranyadatt went to his
daughter, explained the qualities of the
four suitors, and asked, "To which shall I
give thee?" On hearing these words she
was abashed; and, hanging down her


2

head, knew not what to reply.
Then the Baniya, having reflected, said
to himself, "He who is acquainted with
the Shastras is a Brahman, he who could
shoot an arrow at the sound was a
Kshatriya or warrior, and he who made
the cloth was a Shudra or servile. But
the youth who understands the language of birds is of our own caste. To
him, therefore, will I marry her." And accordingly he proceeded with the betrothal of his daughter.
Meanwhile Madansena went one day,
during the spring season into the garden
for a stroll. It happened, just before she
came out, that Somdatt, the son of the
merchant Dharmdatt, had gone for pleasure into the forest, and was returning
through the same garden to his home.
He was fascinated at the sight of the
maiden, and said to his friend, "Brother,

if I can obtain her my life will be prosperous, and if I do not obtain her my living
in the world will be in vain."
Having thus spoken, and becoming restless from the fear of separation, he involuntarily drew near to her, and seizing
her hand, said - "If thou wilt not form an
affection for me, I will throw away my
life on thy account."
"Be pleased not to do this," she replied;
"it will be sinful, and it will involve me in
the guilt and punishment of shedding
blood; hence I shall be miserable in this
world and in that to be."
"Thy blandishments," he replied, "have
pierced my heart, and the consuming
thought of parting from thee has burnt
up my body, and memory and understanding have been destroyed by this
pain; and from excess of love I have no
sense of right or wrong. But if thou wilt


3

make me a promise, I will live again."
She replied, "Truly the Kali Yug (iron
age) has commenced, since which time
falsehood has increased in the world
and truth has diminished; people talk
smoothly with their tongues, but nourish
deceit in their hearts; religion is destroyed, crime has increased, and the
earth has begun to give little fruit.
Kings levy fines, Brahmans have waxed
covetous, the son obeys not his sire's
commands, brother distrusts brother;
friendship has departed from amongst
friends; sincerity has left masters; servants have given up service; man has
abandoned manliness; and woman has
abandoned modesty. Five days hence,
my marriage is to be; but if thou slay not
thyself, I will visit thee first, and after
that I will remain with my husband."
Having given this promise, and having

sworn by the Ganges, she returned
home. The merchant's son also went his
way.
Presently the marriage ceremonies
came on, and Hiranyadatt the Baniya
expended a lakh of rupees in feasts and
presents to the bridegroom. The bodies
of the twain were anointed with turmeric, the bride was made to hold in her
hand the iron box for eye paint, and the
youth a pair of betel scissors. During the
night before the wedding there was loud
and shrill music, the heads and limbs of
the young couple were rubbed with an
ointment of oil, and the bridegroom's
head was duly shaved.
The wedding procession was very
grand. The streets were a blaze of flambeaux and torches carried in the hand,
fireworks by the ton were discharged as
the people passed; elephants, camels,
and horses richly caparisoned, were


4

placed in convenient situations; and
before the procession had reached the
house of the bride half a dozen wicked
boys and bad young men were killed or
wounded. After the marriage formulas
were repeated, the Baniya gave a feast
or supper, and the food was so excellent
that all sat down quietly, no one uttered
a complaint, or brought dishonour on
the bride's family, or cut with scissors
the garments of his neighbour.
The ceremony thus happily concluded,
the husband brought Madansena home
to his own house. After some days the
wife of her husband's youngest brother,
and also the wife of his eldest brother,
led her at night by force to her bridegroom, and seated her on a bed ornamented with flowers.
As her husband proceeded to take her
hand, she jerked it away, and at once
openly told him all that she had prom-

ised to Somdatt on condition of his not
killing himself.
"All things," rejoined the bridegroom,
hearing her words, "have their sense ascertained by speech; in speech they
have their basis, and from speech they
proceed; consequently a falsifier of
speech falsifies everything. If truly you
are desirous of going to him, go!
"Receiving her husband's permission,
she arose and went off to the young
merchant's house in full dress. Upon the
road a thief saw her, and in high good
humour came up and asked "Whither goest thou at midnight in such
darkness, having put on all these fine
clothes and ornaments?"
She replied that she was going to the
house of her beloved.
"And who here," said the thief, "is thy


5

protector?"
"Kama Deva," she replied, "the beautiful
youth who by his fiery arrows wounds
with love the hearts of the inhabitants of
the three worlds, Ratipati, the husband
of Rati, accompanied by the kokila bird,
the humming bee and gentle breezes."
She then told to the thief the whole
story, adding "Destroy not my jewels: I give thee a
promise before I go, that on my return
thou shalt have all these ornaments."
Hearing this the thief thought to himself
that it would be useless now to destroy
her jewels, when she had promised to
give them to him presently of her own
good will. He therefore let her go, and
sat down and thus soliloquized:
"To me it is astonishing that he who sustained me in my mother's womb should

take no care of me now that I have been
born and am able to enjoy the good
things of this world. I know not whether
he is asleep or dead.
And I would rather swallow poison than
ask man for money or favour. For these
six things tend to lower a man: — friendship with the perfidious; causeless
laughter; altercation with women; serving an unworthy master; riding an ass,
and speaking any language but Sanskrit. And these five things the deity
writes on our fate at the hour of birth:—
first, age; secondly, action; thirdly,
wealth; fourthly, science; fifthly, fame.
I have now done a good deed, and as
long as a man's virtue is in the ascendant, all people becoming his servants
obey him. But when virtuous deeds diminish, even his friends become inimical
to him."


6

Meanwhile Madansena had reached the
place where Somdatt the young trader
had fallen asleep.
She awoke him suddenly, and he springing up in alarm quickly asked her, "Art
thou the daughter of a deity? or of a
saint? or of a serpent? Tell me truly, who
art thou? And whence hast thou come?"
She replied, "I am human— Madansena,
the daughter of the Baniya Hiranyadatt.
Dost thou not remember taking my
hand in that grove, and declaring that
thou wouldst slay thyself if I did not
swear to visit thee first and after that
remain with my husband?"
"Hast thou," he inquired, "told all this to
thy husband or not?"
She replied, "I have told him everything;
and he, thoroughly understanding the
whole affair, gave me permission.""This

matter," exclaimed Somdatt in a melancholy voice, "is like pearls without a suitable dress, or food without clarified
butter, or singing without melody; they
are all alike unnatural.
In the same way, unclean clothes will
mar beauty, bad food will undermine
strength, a wicked wife will worry her
husband to death, a disreputable son
will ruin his family, an enraged demon
will kill, and a woman, whether she love
or hate, will be a source of pain. For
there are few things which a woman will
not do. She never brings to her tongue
what is in her heart, she never speaks
out what is on her tongue, and she
never tells what she is doing. Truly the
Deity has created woman a strange
creature in this world." He concluded
with these words: "Return thou home
with another man's wife I have no concern."


7

Madansena rose and departed. On her
way she met the thief, who, hearing her
tale, gave her great praise, and let her
go unplundered.
She then went to her husband, and related the whole matter to him. But he
had ceased to love her, and he said,
"Neither a king nor a minister, nor a
wife, nor a person's hair nor his nails,
look well out of their places. And the
beauty of the kokila is its note, of an
ugly man knowledge, of a devotee forgiveness, and of a woman her chastity."
The Vampire having narrated thus far,
suddenly asked the king,
"Of these three, whose virtue was the
greatest?"
Vikram, who had been greatly edified by
the tale, forgot himself, and ejaculated,
"The Thief's."

"And pray why?" asked the Baital.
"Because," the hero explained, "when
her husband saw that she loved another
man, however purely, he ceased to feel
affection for her. Somdatt let her go unharmed, for fear of being punished by
the king. But there was no reason why
the thief should fear the law and dismiss
her; therefore he was the best."
"Hi! hi! hi!" laughed the demon, spitefully. "Here, then, ends my story."
Upon which, escaping as before from
the cloth in which he was slung behind
the Raja's back, the Baital disappeared
through the darkness of the night, leaving father and son looking at each other
in dismay.
"Son Dharma Dhwaj," quoth the great
Vikram, "the next time when that villain
Vampire asks me a question, I allow
thee to take the liberty of pinching my


8


arm even before I have had time to
answer his questions. In this way we
shall never, of a truth, end our task."
"Your words be upon my head, sire," replied the young prince. But he expected
no good from his father's new plan, as,
arrived under the sires-tree, he heard
the Baital laughing with all his might."

The Vampire lost no time in opening a
fresh story.

For more interesting vikram and betaal and
other stories, visit:
http://mocomi.com/fun/stories/

Surely he is laughing at our beards,
sire," said the beardless prince, who
hated to be laughed at like a young
person.
"Let them laugh that win," fiercely cried
Raja Vikram, who hated to be laughed at
like an elderly person.

THE END
DISCLAIMER

Mocomi acknowledges that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything posted. Postings may contain fact,
speculation or rumor. We find images from the Web that are believed to belong in the public domain. If any stories or images that appear on the site
are in violation of copyright law, please email - mocomi and we will remove the offending information as soon as possible.

9

Vikram and the Vampire - Forth Story - Mocomi.com

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Vikram and the Vampire - Forth Story - Mocomi.com

Similar to Vikram and the Vampire - Forth Story - Mocomi.com (6)

More from Mocomi Kids

More from Mocomi Kids (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Vikram and the Vampire - Forth Story - Mocomi.com