The Field of Bones

Once on a time there lived a king who had a son. The young prince had

three friends, the son of the prime minister, the son of the prefect

of the police, and the son of the richest merchant of the city. These

four friends had great love for one another. Once on a time they

bethought themselves of seeing distant lands. They accordingly set

out one day, each one riding on a horse. They rode on and on, till

about noon they came to the outskirts of what seemed to be a dense

forest. There they rested a while, tying to the trees their horses,

which began to browse. When they had refreshed themselves, they again

mounted their horses and resumed their journey. At sunset they saw in

the depths of the forest a temple, near which they dismounted, wishing

to lodge there that night. Inside the temple there was a sannyasi,

[43] apparently absorbed in meditation, as he did not notice the four

friends. When darkness covered the forest, a light was seen inside

the temple. The four friends resolved to pass the night on the balcony

of the temple; and as the forest was infested with many wild beasts,

they deemed it safe that each of them should watch one prahara [44]

of the night, while the rest should sleep. It fell to the lot of the

merchant's son to watch during the first prahara, that is to say,

from six in the evening to nine o'clock at night. Towards the end of

his watch the merchant's son saw a wonderful sight. The hermit took

up a bone with his hand, and repeated over it some words which the

merchant's son distinctly heard. The moment the words were uttered,

a clattering sound was heard in the precincts of the temple, and

the merchant's son saw many bones moving from different parts of the

forest. The bones collected themselves inside the temple, at the foot

of the hermit, and lay there in a heap. As soon as this took place,

the watch of the merchant's son came to an end; and, rousing the son

of the prefect of the police, he laid himself down to sleep.

The prefect's son, when he began his watch, saw the hermit sitting

cross-legged, wrapped in meditation, near a heap of bones, the

history of which he, of course, did not know. For a long time nothing

happened. The dead stillness of the night was broken only by the howl

of the hyaena and the wolf, and the growl of the tiger. When his time

was nearly up he saw a wonderful sight. The hermit looked at the heap

of bones lying before him, and uttered some words which the prefect's

son distinctly heard. No sooner had the words been uttered than a

noise was heard among the bones, "and behold a shaking, and the bones

came together, bone to its bone"; and the bones which were erewhile

lying together in a heap now took the form of a skeleton. Struck with

wonder, the prefect's son would have watched longer, but his time

was over. He therefore laid himself down to sleep, after rousing the

minister's son, to whom, however, he told nothing of what he had seen,

as the merchant's son had not told him anything of what he had seen.

The minister's son got up, rubbed his eyes, and began watching. It

was the dead hour of midnight, when ghosts, hobgoblins, and spirits of

every name and description, go roaming over the wide world, and when

all creation, both animate and inanimate, is in deep repose. Even

the howl of the wolf and the hyaena and the growl of the tiger had

ceased. The minister's son looked towards the temple, and saw the

hermit sitting wrapt up in meditation; and near him lying something

which seemed to be the skeleton of some animal. He looked towards

the dense forest and the darkness all around, and his hair stood

on end through terror. In this state of fear and trembling he spent

nearly three hours, when an uncommon sight in the temple attracted

his notice. The hermit, looking at the skeleton before him, uttered

some words which the minister's son distinctly heard. As soon as

the words were uttered, "lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon

the bones, and the skin covered them above"; but there was no breath

in the skeleton. Astonished at the sight, the minister's son would

have sat up longer, but his time was up. He therefore laid himself

down to sleep, after having roused the king's son, to whom, however,

he said nothing of what he had seen and heard.

The king's son, when he began his watch, saw the hermit sitting,

completely absorbed in devotion, near a figure which looked like

some animal, but he was not a little surprised to see the animal

lying apparently lifeless, without showing any of the symptoms of

life. The prince spent his hours agreeably enough, especially as he

had had a long sleep, and as he felt none of that depression which

the dead hour of midnight sheds on the spirits; and he amused himself

with marking how the shades of darkness were becoming thinner and

paler every moment. But just as he noticed a red streak in the east,

he heard a sound from inside the temple. He turned his eyes towards

the hermit. The hermit, looking towards the inanimate figure of the

animal lying before him, uttered some words which the prince distinctly

heard. The moment the words were spoken, "breath came into the animal;

it lived, it stood up upon its feet"; and quickly rushed out of the

temple into the forest. That moment the crows cawed; the watch of the

prince came to an end; his three companions were roused; and after

a short time they mounted their horses, and resumed their journey,

each one thinking of the strange sight seen in the temple.

They rode on and on through the dense and interminable forest, and

hardly spoke to one another, till about mid-day they halted under a

tree near a pool for refreshment. After they had refreshed themselves

with eating some fruits of the forest and drinking water from the

pool, the prince said to his three companions, "Friends, did you not

see something in the temple of the devotee? I'll tell you what I saw,

but first let me hear what you all saw. Let the merchant's son first

tell us what he saw as he had the first watch; and the others will

follow in order."

Merchant's son. I'll tell you what I saw. I saw the hermit take up

a bone in his hand, and repeat some words which I well remember. The

moment those words were uttered, a clattering sound was heard in the

precincts of the temple, and I saw many bones running into the temple

from different directions. The bones collected themselves together

inside the temple at the feet of the hermit, and lay there in a heap. I

would have gladly remained longer to see the end, but my time was up,

and I had to rouse my friend, the son of the prefect of the police.

Prefect's son. Friends, this is what I saw. The hermit looked at

the heap of bones lying before him, and uttered some words which

I well remember. No sooner had the words been uttered than I heard

a noise among the bones, and, strange to say, the bones jumped up,

each bone joined itself to its fellow, and the heap became a perfect

skeleton. At that moment my watch came to an end, and I had to rouse

my respected friend the minister's son.

Minister's son. Well, when I began my watch I saw the said skeleton

lying near the hermit. After three mortal hours, during which I was

in great fear, I saw the hermit lift his eyes towards the skeleton

and utter some words which I well remember. As soon as the words were

uttered the skeleton was covered with flesh and hair, but it did not

show any symptom of life, as it lay motionless. Just then my watch

ended, and I had to rouse my royal friend the prince.

King's son. Friends, from what you yourselves saw, you can guess what

I saw. I saw the hermit turn towards the skeleton covered with skin and

hair, and repeat some words which I well remember. The moment the words

were uttered, the skeleton stood up on its feet, and it looked a fine

and lusty deer, and while I was admiring its beauty, it skipped out

of the temple, and ran into the forest. That moment the crows cawed.

The four friends, after hearing one another's story, congratulated

themselves on the possession of supernatural power, and they did not

doubt but that if they pronounced the words which they had heard the

hermit utter, the utterance would be followed by the same results. But

they resolved to verify their power by an actual experiment. Near

the foot of the tree they found a bone lying on the ground, and they

accordingly resolved to experiment upon it. The merchant's son took

up the bone, and repeated over it the formula he had heard from

the hermit. Wonderful to relate, a hundred bones immediately came

rushing from different directions, and lay in a heap at the foot of

the tree. The son of the prefect of the police then looking upon the

heap of bones, repeated the formula which he had heard from the hermit,

and forthwith there was a shaking among the bones; the several bones

joined themselves together, and formed themselves into a skeleton, and

it was the skeleton of a quadruped. The minister's son then drew near

the skeleton, and, looking intently upon it, pronounced over it the

formula which he had heard from the hermit. The skeleton immediately

was covered with flesh, skin, and hair, and, horrible to relate,

the animal proved itself to be a royal tiger of the largest size. The

four friends were filled with consternation. If the king's son were,

by the repetition of the formula he had heard from the hermit, to make

the beast alive, it might prove fatal to them all. The three friends,

therefore, tried to dissuade the prince from giving life to the

tiger. But the prince would not comply with the request. He naturally

said, "The mantras [45] which you have learned have been proved true

and efficacious. But how shall I know that the mantra which I have

learned is equally efficacious? I must have my mantra verified. Nor

is it certain that we shall lose our lives by the experiment. Here

is this high tree. You can climb into its topmost branches, and

I shall also follow you thither after pronouncing the mantra." In

vain did the three friends dwell upon the extreme danger attending

the experiment: the prince remained inexorable. The minister's son,

the prefect's son, and the merchant's son climbed up into the topmost

branches of the tree, while the king's son went up to the middle of

the tree. From there, looking intently upon the lifeless tiger, he

pronounced the words which he had learned from the hermit, and quickly

ran up the tree. In the twinkling of an eye the tiger stood upright,

gave out a terrible growl, with a tremendous spring killed all the

four horses which were browsing at a little distance, and, dragging

one of them, rushed towards the densest part of the forest. The four

friends ensconced on the branches of the tree were almost petrified

with fear at the sight of the terrible tiger; but the danger was now

over. The tiger went off at a great distance from them, and from its

growl they judged that it must be at least two miles distance from

them. After a little they came down from the tree; and as they now had

no horses on which to ride, they walked on foot through the forest,

till, coming to its end, they reached the shore of the sea. They sat

on the sea-shore hoping to see some ship sailing by. They had not sat

long, when fortunately they descried a vessel in the offing. They

waved their handkerchiefs, and made all sorts of signs to attract

the notice of the people on board the ship. The captain and the crew

noticed the men on the shore. They came towards the shore, took the

men upon board, but added that as they were short of provisions they

could not have them a long time on board, but would put them ashore

at the first port they came to. After four or five days' voyage, they

saw not far from the shore high buildings and turrets, and supposing

the place to be a large city, the four friends landed there.

The four friends, immediately after landing, walked along a long avenue

of stately trees, at the end of which was a bazaar. There were hundreds

of shops in the bazaar, but not a single human being in them. There

were sweetmeat shops in which there were heaps of confectioneries

ranged in regular rows, but no human beings to sell them. There was

the blacksmith's shop, there was the anvil, there were the bellows

and the other tools of the smithy, but there was no smith there. There

were stalls in which there were heaps of faded and dried vegetables,

but no men or women to sell them. The streets were all deserted, no

human beings, no cattle were to be seen there. There were carts, but no

bullocks; there were carriages, but no horses. The doors and windows

of the houses of the city on both sides of the streets were all open,

but no human being was visible in them. It seemed to be a deserted

city. It seemed to be a city of the dead--and all the dead taken out

and buried. The four friends were astonished--they were frightened

at the sight. As they went on, they approached a magnificent pile of

buildings, which seemed to be the palace of a king. They went to the

gate and to the porter's lodge. They saw shields, swords, spears, and

other weapons suspended in the lodge, but no porters. They entered the

premises, but saw no guards, no human beings. They went to the stables,

saw the troughs, grain, and grass lying about in profusion, but no

horses. They went inside the palace, passed the long corridors--still

no human being was visible. They went through six long courts--still

no human being. They entered the seventh court, and there and then,

for the first time, did they see living human beings. They saw

coming towards them four princesses of matchless beauty. Each of

these four princesses caught hold of the arm of each of the four

friends; and each princess called each man whom she had caught hold

of her husband. The princesses said that they had been long waiting

for the four friends, and expressed great joy at their arrival. The

princesses took the four friends into the innermost apartments, and

gave them a sumptuous feast. There were no servants attending them,

the princesses themselves bringing in the provisions and setting

them before the four friends. At the outset the four princesses

told the four friends that no questions were to be asked about the

depopulation of the city. After this, each princess went into her

private apartment along with her newly-found husband. Shortly after

the prince and princess had retired into their private apartment,

the princess began to shed tears. On the prince inquiring into the

cause, the princess said, "O prince! I pity you very much. You seem,

by your bearing, to be the son of a king, and you have, no doubt,

the heart of a king's son; I will therefore tell you my whole story,

and the story of my three companions who look like princesses. I am the

daughter of a king, whose palace this is, and those three creatures,

who are dressed like princesses, and who have called your three friends

their husbands, are Rakshasis. They came to this city some time ago;

they ate up my father, the king, my mother, the queen, my brothers,

my sisters, of whom I had a large number. They ate up the king's

ministers and servants. They ate up gradually all the people of the

city, all my father's horses and elephants, and all the cattle of the

city. You must have noticed, as you came to the palace, that there

are no human beings, no cattle, no living thing in this city. They

have all been eaten up by those three Rakshasis. They have spared me

alone--and that, I suppose, only for a time. When the Rakshasis saw

you and your friends from a distance, they were very glad, as they

mean to eat you all up after a short time."

King's son. But if this is the case, how do I know that you are not

a Rakshasi yourself? Perhaps you mean to swallow me up by throwing

me off my guard.

Princess. I'll mention one fact which proves that those three creatures

are Rakshasis, while I am not. Rakshasis, you know, eat food a hundred

times larger in quantity than men or women. What the Rakshasis eat at

table along with us is not sufficient to appease their hunger. They

therefore go out at night to distant lands in search of men or cattle,

as there are none in this city. If you ask your friends to watch and

see whether their wives remain all night in their beds, they will find

they go out and stay away a good part of the night, whereas you will

find me the whole night with you. But please see that the Rakshasis do

not get the slightest inkling of all this; for if they hear of it, they

will kill me in the first instance, and afterwards swallow you all up.

The next day the king's son called together the minister's son,

the prefect's son, and the merchant's son, and held a consultation,

enjoining the strictest secrecy on all. He told them what he had heard

from the princess, and requested them to lie awake in their beds to

watch whether their pretended princesses went out at night or not. One

presumptive argument in favour of the assertion of the princess was

that all the pretended princesses were fast asleep during the whole of

the day in consequence of their nightly wanderings, whereas the female

friend of the king's son did not sleep at all during the day. The

three friends accordingly lay in their beds at night pretending to

be asleep and manifesting all the symptoms of deep sleep. Each one

observed that his female friend at a certain hour, thinking her mate

to be in deep sleep, left the room, stayed away the whole night,

and returned to her bed only at dawn. During the following day each

female friend slept out nearly the whole day, and woke up only in the

afternoon. For two nights and days the three friends observed this. The

king's son also remained awake at night pretending to be asleep, but

the princess was not observed for a single moment to leave the room,

nor was she observed to sleep in the day. From these circumstances

the friends of the king's son began to suspect that their partners

were really Rakshasis as the princess said they were.

By way of confirmation the princess also told the king's son, that the

Rakshasis, after eating the flesh of men and animals, threw the bones

towards the north of the city, where there was an immense collection

of them. The king's son and his three friends went one day towards

that part of the city, and sure enough they saw there immense heaps

of the bones of men and animals piled up into hills. From this they

became more and more convinced that the three women were Rakshasis

in deed and truth.

The question now was how to run away from these devourers of men

and animals? There was one circumstance greatly in favour of the

four friends, and that was, that the three Rakshasis slept during

nearly the whole day; they had therefore the greater part of the

day for the maturing of their plans. The princess advised them to go

towards the sea-shore, and watch if any ships sailed that way. The

four friends accordingly used to go to the sea-shore looking for

ships. They were always accompanied by the princess, who took the

precaution of carrying with her in a bundle her most valuable jewels,

pearls and precious stones. It happened one day that they saw a ship

passing at a great distance from the shore. They made signs which

attracted the notice of the captain and crew. The ship came towards

the land, and the four friends and princess were, after much entreaty,

taken up. The princess exhorted the crew to row with all their might,

for which she promised them a handsome reward; for she knew that the

Rakshasis would awake in the afternoon, and immediately come after the

ship; and they would assuredly catch hold of the vessel and destroy

all the crew and passengers if it stood short of eighty miles from

land, for the Rakshasis had the power of distending their bodies to

the length of ten Yojanas. [46] The four friends and the princess

cheered on the crew, and the oarsmen rowed with all their might; and

the ship, favoured by the wind, shot over the deep like lightning. It

was near sun-down when a terrible yell was heard on the shore. The

Rakshasis had wakened from their sleep, and not finding either the

four friends or the princess, naturally thought they had got hold

of a ship and were escaping. They therefore ran along the shore with

lightning rapidity, and seeing the ship afar off they distended their

bodies. But fortunately the vessel was more than eighty miles off

land, though only a trifle more: indeed, the ship was so dangerously

near that the heads of the Rakshasis with their widely-distended

jaws almost touched its stern. The words which the Rakshasis uttered

in the hearing of the crew and passengers were--"O sister, so you

are going to eat them all yourself alone." The minister's son, the

prefect's son, and the merchant's son had all along a suspicion that

the pretended princess, the prince's partner, might after all also

be a Rakshasi; that suspicion was now confirmed by what they heard

the three Rakshasis say. Those words, however, produced no effect in

the mind of the king's son, as from his intimate acquaintance with

the princess he could not possibly take her to be a Rakshasi.

The captain told the four friends and princess that as he was bound

for distant regions in search of gold mines, he could not take

them along with him; he, therefore, proposed that on the next day

he should put them ashore near some port, especially as they were

now safe from the clutches of the Rakshasis. On the following day

no port was visible for a long time; towards the evening, however,

they came near a port where the four friends and the princess were

landed. After walking some distance, the princess, who had never been

accustomed to take long walks, complained of fatigue and hunger; they

all therefore sat under a tree, and the king's son sent the merchant's

son to buy some sweetmeats in the bazaar which they heard was not far

off. The merchant's son did not return, as he was fully persuaded in

his mind that the king's son's partner was as real a Rakshasi as the

three others from whose clutches he had escaped. Seeing the delay of

the merchant's son, the king's son sent the prefect's son after him;

but neither did he return, he being also convinced that the pretended

princess was a Rakshasi. The minister's son was next sent; but he also

joined the other two. The king's son then himself went to the shop

of the sweetmeat seller where he met his three friends, who made him

remain with them by main force, earnestly declaring that the woman

was no princess, but a real Rakshasi like the other three. Thus the

princess was deserted by the four friends who returned to their own

country, full of the adventures they had met with.

In the meantime the princess walked to the bazaar and found shelter

for a few days in the house of a poor woman, after which she set

out for the city of the four friends, the name and whereabouts of

which city she had learnt from the king's son. On arriving at the

city, she sold some of her costly ornaments, pearls and precious

stones, and hired a stately house for her residence with a suitable

establishment. She caused herself to be proclaimed as a heaven-born

dice-player, and challenged all the players in the city to play, the

conditions of the game being that if she lost it she would give the

winner a lakh [47] of rupees, and if she won it she should get a lakh

from him who lost the game. She also got authority from the king of

the country to imprison in her own house any one who could not pay her

the stipulated sum of money. The merchant's son, the prefect's son,

and the minister's son, who all looked upon themselves as miraculous

players, played with the princess, paid her many lakhs, but being

unable to pay her all the sums they owed her, were imprisoned in her

house. At last the king's son offered to play with her. The princess

purposely allowed him to win the first game, which emboldened him to

play many times, in all of which he was the loser; and being unable to

pay the many lakhs owing her, the prince was about to be dragged into

the dungeon, when the princess told him who she was. The merchant's

son, the prefect's son, and the minister's son were brought out of

their cells; and the joy of the four friends knew no bounds. The

king and the queen received their daughter-in-law with open arms,

and with demonstrations of great festivity.

Every one in the palace was glad except the princess. She could not

forget that her parents, her brothers and sisters had been devoured

by the Rakshasis, and that their bones, along with the bones of her

father's subjects, stood in mountain heaps on the north side of the

capital. The prince had told her that he and his three friends had

the power of giving life to bones. They could then reconstruct the

frames of her parents and other relatives; but the difficulty lay

in this--how to kill the three Rakshasis. Could not the hermit, who

taught them to give life, not teach also how to take away life? In all

likelihood he could. Reasoning in this manner, the four friends and

the princess went to the temple of the hermit in the forest, prayed

to him to give them the secret of destroying life from a distance by a

charm. The hermit became propitious, and granted the boon. A deer was

passing by at the moment. The hermit took a handful of water, repeated

over it some words which the king's son distinctly heard, and threw

it upon the deer. The deer died in a moment. He repeated other words

over the dead animal, the deer jumped up and ran away into the forest.

Armed with this killing charm, the king's son, together with

the princess and the three friends, went to his father-in-law's

capital. As they approached the city of death, the three Rakshasis

ran furiously towards them with open jaws. The king's son spilled

charmed water upon them, and they died in an instant. They all then

went to the heaps of bones. The merchant's son brought together the

proper bones of the bodies, the prefect's son constructed them into

skeletons, the minister's son clothed them with sinews, flesh, and

skin, and the king's son gave them life. The princess was entranced

at the sight of the re-animation of her parents and other relatives,

and her eyes were filled with tears of joy. After a few days which

they spent in great festivity, they left the revivified city, went

to their own country, and lived many years in great happiness.

Here my story endeth,

The Natiya-thorn withereth, etc.

1 Religious devotee.

2 Eighth part of twenty-four hours, that is, three hours.

3 Charm or incantation.

4 A yojana is nearly eight miles.

5 Ten thousand pounds sterling.