King Vikramaditya and the Vetal - Part 2

'King! Just because you are determined not to talk, that would not stop me! As I already said it is a long journey and it is a rather bleak forest. So I will tell you a colourful story to brighten up the way.' The Vetal said with a grin.

King Vikramaditya had draped the corpse which was haunted by the Vetal,over his shoulder and was determined not to talk. Every time he talked, the Vetal flew back to the neem tree....

The King had a promise to keep. He had to take the corpse back to the sage who was waiting for him in Kali's temple....

King Vikramditya let out a deep breath, not saying anything. The Vetal grinned and continued.

'In the kingdom of Kanchannapur there lived a boy called Kurupshana [It means ugly looking in Sanskrit]. The reason the boy was called so was that he was born with stunted hands.

Unfortunately for Kurupshana, his troubles were far from over as his mother died soon after giving birth to him and his father remarried. His step mother did not like Kurupshana at all. His step mother would often point out to Kurupshana about how useless he was because of his stunted hands and ill-treated him.

It was at this time that the brave king of Kanchannapur, King Chandradeep announced all over the kingdom about the marriage of his daughter – Princess Indumathi.....

**************

Princess Indumathi was an only child to her father and her father had brought her up teaching her all about weapons, warfare and the administration of the kingdom.

When the time came for her to marry, Princess Indumathi realized that she could not just marry anybody...After all the person marrying her would eventually become the King of Kanchannapur. So she knew that she would have to choose a man who was very brave and strong.

'Father! I am going to conduct a test. Only a person who satisfies the test may become my husband!' She told her father one day.

'What test?' Her father asked her suspiciously.

Princess Indumathi told him. The king realized that her daughter had specifically designed this test to make sure that only a person who was brave and strong would even attempt it....Still he knew that it was dangerous....He called his minister and asked him to send a message to all the Kings and Princes from the neighbouring kingdoms stating that Princess Indumathi was conducting a test and any person who satisfied it, would be eligible to marry the princess. He then also had the message announced all around the kingdom....

Kurupshana was sitting dejected as he had just heard the sharp tongue of his step mother belittling him. Hearing to his step mother, all his life, he was cursing his fate...He just wanted to escape it.

It was at this time that he heard the announcement regarding Indumathi's marriage. Just to escape from the words of his step mother, Kurupshana followed the announcer and went back to the capital.

There on the appointed day he saw the princes and kings from the neighbouring kingdoms come. He saw the beautiful princess Indumathi in the centre.

'Welcome to all of you! Today, I have asked all of you to come for fulfilling a test. Please remember that any person who marries me would one day become the King of the Kingdom. So keeping this in mind I have devised a competition, which is meant only for the bravest people!' Princess Indumathi looked around and studied all the princes and kings and smiled.

Princess Indumathi pointed to a small wall and small cage of swords made below it on the ground near the wall. 'All of you must be wondering about the competition I have set up for you! You will have to climb the wall and jump inside the cage of swords. Any person who does so and comes out without a scratch would be eligible to marry me!'

Princess Indumathi and King Chadradeep immediately realized that not many people were willing to participate in the competition. They all felt that it was too dangerous....

Princess Indumathi was looking crestfallen when she saw an ugly looking man with stunted hands come forward. 'Princess! I am Kurupshana! I wish to try my luck at this....'

Both the princess and the king blinked. They had expected one of the kings or the princes to accept the challenge, not a common man and that too someone with stunted hands. Before the king or the princess could stop Kurupshana, he started climbing the wall. Everyone watched the scene mesmerized as Kurupshana with great difficulty climbed the wall and reached the top. Everyone watched breath stakingly as Kurupshana jumped....

Kurupshana himself was stunned when he saw that he had jumped perfectly inside the circle. Because of his stunted hands, the swords in the cage had totally missed his body. There was not even a scratch on him....

The people around clapped their hands and encouraged the brave man.

The king and the princess for their part were shocked. They definitely did not expect that Kurupshana would participate in the competition let alone win it....

Kurupshana was brought out of the cage. He smiled as he looked at the King and the Princess and bowed his head. 'My king and Princess, please listen to me, I have no intention of marrying the princess. I did not participate in the competition to marry the princess. And I have already got a reward far better than I hoped for....Thank you!'

Saying this Kurupshana walked away from there leaving the entire audience spell bound...

'King! Now tell me, was Krurupshana not being silly? He had won the competition and after that he had refused the hand of the princess! And despite this he said that he had got a greater reward. What was the prize he got?'

'Kurupshana was undoubtedly a very smart man. He had realized that if he won the competition, he would marry the princess and become the future king. As a king it was his duty to protect his subject and for that it was necessary for him to raise a sword and fight. Kurupshana was smart enough to realize that he could never fight with a sword...' King Vikramaditya spoke admiring the Krurupshana from the story. 'So refusing to marry the princess was a smart thing to do!'

'And remember the reason Kurupshana came here. He came here to escape the jibes of his step mother. He had won a competition that normal people would not even compete in. It was a proud moment for him that he could do something that others could not. He could now stand up and face his step mother because he had proved that he could do things that people could not....That was the greatest reward of his life!'

'You truly are a wise king!' The Vetal remarked with a gloating face as King Vikraditya winced realizing that he had spoken. The last King Vikramditya saw was the smirking Vetal flying back to the neem tree....