King Vikramaditya and Betaal

Chapter 2: Reward of life

It was a dark night and was raining from time to time.Gusts of wind shook the trees. There were strange noises and in between the thunderclaps the moaning of jackals could be heard.Flashes of lightning revealed fearsome faces and there were strange and mysterious laughter of the spirits.

But inspite of such a weird atmosphere king Vikramaditya did not swerve a bit. He climbed the ancient tree to bring the corpse down and soon he began crossing the desolate cremation ground, with the corpse lying on his shoulder.

The Betaal that possessed the corpse spoke: "O King , I pity you as you are  making untiring efforts without relaxing as if you wish to achieve something.Instead of enjoying a comfortable sleep on a cozy bed, you’re still coming after me. You seem to be quite adamant. Such arrogance may not help you keep your promise if you had given one to anybody. You’ll realize the futility of the whole thing if only you listen to my story." And the vampire began his narration.

Long long ago, Kanchannagar was being ruled by King Chandradeep . His daughter was Indumati . Being an only child, the princess was brought up like a boy, and given training in the use of arms an warfare. It was certain that whoever wed her would also become the ruler of Kanchannagar. The princes of many of the neighbouring kingdoms cherished a desire to marry Indumati,  who was, besides everything else, extremely beautiful.

Whenever the king broached the subject of marriage, Princess Indumati,   would hesitate to give him a definite answer, but one day Indumati said yes to his father, "Yes, father, but...". The king stared at her , waiting for her to complete the sentence.

" Whoever marries me must be strong and brave. And he must succeed in the tests that I give." Indumati,  then spelt out what kind of tests she was contemplating for her suitors.

The king was horrified. "Don’t insist on any such test," he advised the princess. " They’re all hazardous. No one will come forward to undergo the tests for fear their life. Just forget about them."

"Don’t worry, father," Indumati,  assured Chandradeep . " All those who profess that they love me than their life will certainly take these tests. You just watch!"

The king consulted his ministers.They came out with a suggestion. "If the princess is determined to impose the tests, let her wish be carried out," said the prime Minister. "But when we make the announcement, let us not spell out the details. They will be let known only at time of the test."

Chandradeep agreed to the suggestion. The royal announcement about the princess wedding merely stated that the suitors would have to take certain tests.. The announcement was made in all the neighbouring kingdoms, including Jayanagar, where a young man named Kurupshana heard it.

He had been born with both hands stunted. His mother died soon after he was born, and his father took a second wife. The boy was named Kurupshana, the ugly looking.

His stepmother was not at all kind- hearted, and she ill- treated him much. It was seldom that he even got a full meal. She knew that the boy, with his handicap, would not be much use to her.

Kurupshana did not utter a word in protest or by way of complaint. But he lamented within himself. ‘Mother is always scolding & harassing me under one pretext or other. Won’t there be an end to all this? They feel that I’m no good and I had better die! I must take this as a challenge and show them that I too, can face life.’

He decided to go to Kanchannagar. Quite a few princes had by then assembled at Kanchannagar. There were some young men, too, wishing to try their luck, if the princes were to fail. They all spent their time guessing what kind of tests the princess would put them through. Some of them thought it could be wrestling. Some others thought it could be their performance with the bow and arrow.