One morning the badshah and his chief wazir, or prime minister, were just about to begin their morning’s work over the affairs of the kingdom, and the badshah had taken up a pen and was cutting it to his liking2 with a sharp knife, when the knife slipped and cut off the tip of his finger.
‘Oh-he, wazir!’ cried the king, ‘I’ve cut the tip of my finger off!’
‘That is good hearing!’ said the wazir in answer.
‘Insolent one,’ exclaimed the king. ‘Do you take pleasure in the misfortunes of others, and in mine also? Take him away, my guards, and put him in the court prison until I have time to punish him as he deserves!’
Instantly the officers in attendance seized upon the luckless wazir, and dragged him out of the king’s presence towards the narrow doorway3, through which unhappy criminals were wont4 to be led to prison or execution. As the door opened to receive him, the wazir muttered something into his great white beard which the soldiers could not hear.
‘What said the rascal5?’ shouted the angry king.
He says, ‘he thanks your majesty6,’ replied one of the gaolers. And at his words, the king stared at the closing door, in anger and amazement7.
‘He must be mad,’ he cried, ‘for he is grateful, not only for the misfortunes of others, but for his own; surely something has turned his head!’
Now the king was very fond of his old wazir, and although the court physician came and bound up his injured finger with cool and healing ointment8, and soothed10 the pain, he could not soothe9 the soreness of the king’s heart, nor could any of all his ministers and courtiers, who found his majesty very cross all the day long.
Early next morning the king ordered his horse and declared that he would go hunting. Instantly all was bustle11 and preparation in stable and hall, and by the time he was ready a score of ministers and huntsmen stood ready to mount and accompany him; but to their astonishment12 the king would have none of them. Indeed, he glared at them so fiercely that they were glad to leave him. So away and away he wandered, over field and through forest, so moody13 and thoughtful that many a fat buck14 and gaudy15 pheasant escaped without notice, and so careless was he whither he was going that he strayed without perceiving it over into the rajah’s territory, and only discovered the fact when, suddenly, men stepped from all sides out of a thicket16, and there was nothing left but surrender. Then the poor badshah was seized and bound and taken to the rajah’s prison, thinking most of the time of his wazir, who was suffering a similar fate, and wishing that, like the wazir, he could feel that there was something to give thanks for.
That night the rajah held a special council to consider what should be done to his rival who had thus given himself into his hands. All the Brahmans were sent for — fat priests who understood all about everything, and what days were lucky and what unlucky — and, whilst all the rest of the rajah’s councillors were offering him different advice until he was nearly crazy with anger and indecision, the chief Brahman was squatting17 in a corner figuring out sums and signs to himself with an admiring group of lesser18 priests around him. At last he arose, and advanced towards the throne.
‘Well,’ said the rajah anxiously, ‘what have you to advise?’
‘A very unlucky day!’ exclaimed the chief Brahman. ‘Oh, a very unlucky day! The god Devi is full of wrath19, and commands that to-morrow you must chop off this badshah’s head and offer it in to him in sacrifice.’
‘Ah, well,’ said the rajah, ‘let it be done. I leave it to you to carry out the sentence.’ And he bowed to the priests and left the room.
Before dawn great preparations were being made for a grand festival in honour of the great idol20 Devi. Hundreds of banners waved, hundreds of drummers drummed, hundreds of singers chanted chants, hundreds of priests, well washed and anointed, performed their sacred rites21, whilst the rajah sat, nervous and ill at ease, amongst hundreds of courtiers and servants, wishing it were all well over. At last the time came for the sacrifice to be offered, and the poor badshah was led out bound, to have his head chopped off.
The chief Brahman came along with a smile on his face, and a big sword in his hand, when, suddenly, he noticed that the badshah’s finger was tied up in a bit of rag. Instantly he dropped the sword, and, with his eyes starting out of his head with excitement, pounced22 upon the rag and tore it off, and there he saw that the tip of his victim’s finger was missing. At this he got very red and angry indeed, and he led the badshah up to where the rajah sat wondering.
‘Behold! O rajah,’ he said, ‘this sacrifice is useless, the tip of his finger is gone! A sacrifice is no sacrifice unless it is complete.’ And he began to weep with rage and mortification23.
But of instead of wailing24 likewise, the rajah gave a sigh of relief, and answered: ‘Well, that settles the matter. If it had been anyone else I should not have minded; but, somehow — a king and all — well, it doesn’t seem quite right to sacrifice a king.’ And with that he jumped up and with his jewelled dagger25 cut the badshah’s cords, and marched with him out of the temple back to the palace.
After having bathed and refreshed his guest, the rajah loaded him with gifts, and himself accompanied him with a large escort as far as the frontier between their kingdoms, where, amidst salutes26 and great rejoicings, they tore up the old agreement and drew up another in which each king promised welcome and safe conduct to any of the other’s people, from the least to the greatest, who came over the border on any errand whatever. And so they embraced, and each went his own way.
When the badshah got home that very evening he sent for his imprisoned27 wazir.
‘Well, O wazir!’ he said, when the old man had been brought before him, ‘what think you has been happening to me?’
‘How can a man in prison know what is happening outside it?’ answered the wazir.
Then the badshah told him all his adventures. And when he had reached the end he added:
‘I have made up my mind, as a token of gratitude28 for my escape, to pardon you freely, if you will tell me why you gave thanks when I cut off the tip of my finger.’
‘Sire,’ replied the old wazir, ‘am I not right in thinking that it was a very lucky thing for you that you did cut off the tip of your finger, for otherwise you would certainly have lost your head. And to lose a scrap29 of one’s finger is surely the least of the two evils.’
‘Very true,’ answered the king, touching30 his head as he spoke31, as if to make quite certain that it was still there, ‘but yet — why did you likewise give thanks when I put you into prison?’
‘I gave thanks,’ said the wazir, ‘because it is good always to give thanks. And had I known that my being in prison was to prevent the god Devi claiming me instead of your majesty, as a perfect offering, I should have given greater thanks still.’
(Punjabi story.)
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1
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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2
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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3
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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4
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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5
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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6
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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7
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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8
ointment
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| n.药膏，油膏，软膏 | |
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9
soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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10
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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11
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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12
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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13
moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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14
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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15
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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16
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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17
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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18
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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19
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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20
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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21
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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22
pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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23
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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24
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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25
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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26
salutes
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| n.致敬，欢迎，敬礼( salute的名词复数 )v.欢迎，致敬( salute的第三人称单数 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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27
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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29
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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30
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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31
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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