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trumpeted as if the herd was pierced through by a bullet; and from their
midst emerged an elephant with a mark on his forehead.
"That is Kari," my father whispered. He was standing beside me and
Gopal, Kari's master. Apparently my father was right.
"See," he continued, looking at Gopal. "He is an outlaw yet; that is why he
has been travelling in the rear of the herd. What is he up to?"
The Rajah had seen him too, although he was not so near, and he signaled
to us his recognition. My father, Gopal and I quickly climbed a tree and
from there watched Kari's doings. He swiftly pushed back every elephant
from the trees between which we had set the traps. The old bull was raising
his trunk to break down a branch to eat, and Kari raised his and hit it so hard
that the trunk came down instantly. With an angry grunt the master of the
herd drew back and made ready his tusks to charge at Kari. The latter
squealed gently as if to say, "Don't you see there are traps here?" The old
bull in turn trumpeted loudly and the whole herd moved back as if a black
cloud had been pushed by a steady wind. Then Kari walked to the trees,
pulled up this one, ate a twig from that one, broke another, but without
moving forward near the traps. The herd pressed forward. Kari shrilly
trumpeted in anger but they moved on just the same. Kari trumpeted again
but it had no effect on the leading bull. It seemed that the fellow's pride had
been hurt. He did not like to see this young out-law bully the herd so he
angrily stepped forward despite the warning trumpeting of Kari, and the
noose slipped round his foot and caught him as a noose of thread catches the
finger of a playful child. The old bull fiercely trumpeted; then Kari looked at
him almost with a smile. The rest of the herd ran away. There was the bull,
an elephant about a hundred years old with tusks almost seven feet long, and
he was trumpeting his head off crying for help. We did not come down from
our tree for fear he would charge at us--he was caught only by one leg.
Strange to say, Kari walked toward us. He was following up the end of the
thong which was tied round the thick tree in which we had taken shelter. No
sooner had he reached it than his old master at a sign from my father,
jumped down from his branch and landed on his neck. Kari was startled. He
almost bucked but something restrained him. We heard his master's voice
saying to him in a curious pleading tone.
"My brother, my brother, I have found thee at last. O! Kari, O! Kari, my
elephant."
Kari stopped. A shiver went through his body as if an ague had seized him.
In the distance the big bull was yet trumpeting and Kari's master said to us:
"Come down from the tree. We are safe."
But when we climbed down Kari took fright and bolted, carrying his
master with him. In an instant the jungle had swallowed them both. We did
not know what to do but my father and Parakram decided that we must
remain where we were, camping by the wild bull elephant for several weeks
until he should be tamed. It would be impossible to move the mighty
creature before he had been subdued by captivity and also there was some
hope that Gopal, gaining control of Kari, might return to us here.
A day or two later we were surprised to see the Rajah's elephant walk
quietly into our midst. Whether he had ever seen Kari or not, we did not
know but we surmised that he had followed him at the end of the herd and
had stayed about after the capture, more drawn by the thought of returning to
his master than of following Kari back into freedom. We waited for a week
without any news from Kari and his master. Then another week passed but
still there was no news from them. Rajah Parakram said:
"The elephant has killed him. What a calamity!"
"It was my fault, your highness," said my father. "But for me, it would not
have happened."
"What are we to do?" asked the Rajah.
"Nothing, O my king," said my father "There is nothing we can do. If he
does not return in another week, we must take the wild elephant with us and
go back to civilization."
We were silent for we knew this meant in all probability that our friend
was dead. Evening came. The moon rose. In the distance the beasts of the
jungle went to and fro. Near midnight I alone kept watch, sitting by the fire.
Everybody else was asleep in his tent. Suddenly a shadow fell near me, I
was almost petrified with terror but from above the shadow a whisper
reached me:
"It is Kari and I, O little friend."
I felt as though I were dreaming and I thought I was listening to the voice
of the dead but, God be thanked! it was not a dream but the truth. I heard the
Rajah's elephant trumpet with joy, and it was Gopal's own voice that
continued:
"We have come near every night and I have tried my best to attract your
attention but Kari is so suspicious of men that I could not make him stay
long near your camp. Tonight, however, he has consented to come and
stay!"
I called my father and the Rajah, who came out of their tents, and we had a
long converse. But first we gave poor Gopal food who had been living on
jungle fruit and nuts ever since he had left us. We begged him to leave the
elephant but he would not, saying, "Kari may take fright at any moment and
return to the jungle and the only thing that holds him to civilization is the
bond of his affection, which has survived everything. If I desert him nothing
will bring him back. Is it not so, Breaker of my Heart," he said to the
elephant, who trumpeted softly like one who asks forgiveness for what he
cannot help.
"It was only tonight," continued Gopal, "that he consented to remain and
let me make our presence known to you. Nothing but my love for him binds
his wild heart to my wish. Pearl of Elephants," he went on in that curious
pleading drawl he reserved for Kari, "never shalt thou regret thy submission
in this one matter."
Kari had grown bigger since the old days, the Rajah said. He was ten feet
tall and his tusks measured three. His skin gleamed with a black sheen.
Sure enough, just as the day began to break, he fretted for a while and again
charged into the jungle and disappeared with his master. But this time Gopal
had food with him and my Father said, "He will return." "As long as Gopal
stays with him," he continued, "the noose of his affection will pull tighter [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]