88

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.

goat, with Azru's arrow transfixing its body. The astonished peasants at once hailed him as their

leader, but he exacted an oath of secrecy from them ; for he had come to deliver them from their

tyrant, and would keep his incognito till such time as his plans for the destruction of the monster should be matured.

“He then took leave of the hospitable people of Doyur, and went to Ghilgit. On reaching the place, which is scarcely four miles distant from Doyur, he amused himself by prowling about in the gardens adjoining the royal residence. There he met one of the female companions of Shiribadat's

daughter—(goli in Hill Panjābi, shadrój in Ghilgiti) fetching water for the princess. This lady was remarkably handsome and of a sweet disposition.

Her companion rushed back and told the young lady to look from over the ramparts of the castle at a wonderfully handsome young man whom she had

just met. The princess placed herself in a place from which she could observe any one approaching the fort.

Her maid then returned and induced

Azru to come with her to the Polo ground—the Shararan—in front of the castle; the princess was smitten with his beauty and at once fell in love with him. She then sent word to the young prince to come and see her.

When he was admitted into

her presence, he for a long time denied being any thing else than a common labourer. At last, he confessed to being a fairy's child, and the over joyed princess offered him her hand and heart. It may be mentioned here that the tyrant Shiribadat

had a wonderful horse, which could cross a mile at every jump, and which its rider had accustomed to

jump both into, and out of, the fort, over its walls. So regular were the leaps which that famous animal could take, that he invariably alighted at the distance of a mile from the fort, and at the same place. On

the very day on which the princess had admitted young Azru into the fort, King Shiribadat was out hunting, of which he was desperately fond, and to

[MARCH 1, 1872.

say, ‘Father, you often stay away from me for several days at a time, and I get distressed lest something should happen to you ; do reassure me by letting me know where your soul is, and let me feel certain that your life is safe.' This the prin cess promised to do, and when her father return

ed refused food for several days. The anxious Shiribadat made enquiries, to which she replied by making the already named request. The tyrant was for a few moments thrown into mute astonish

ment, and finally refused compliance with her pre posterous demand. The love-smitten lady went on starving herself, till at last her father, fearful for his daughter's life, told her not to fret herself about

him as his soul was [of snow?] in the snors, and that he could only perish by fire. The princess communicated this information to her lover.

Azru

went back to Doyur and the villages around and assembled his faithful peasants. Then he asked to

take twigs of the fir-tree or chi, bind them together, and light them—then to proceed in a body with torches to the castle in a circle, keep close together, and surround it on every side. He then went and dug out a very deep hole, as deep as a well, in the place where Shiribadat's horse used to alight, and covered it with green boughs. The next day he received information that the torches (talen in Ghilgiti and lººme in Astori) were ready. He at once ordered the villagers gradually to draw near the fort in the manner which he had already indicated. “ King Shiribadat was then sitting in his castle ; near him his treacherous daughter, who was so soon

to lose her parent. All at once he exclaimed, ‘I feel very close ; go out, dearest, and see what has happened.' The girl went out and saw torches approaching from a distance ; but fancying it to be something connected with the plans of her husband, she went back and said it was nothing. The torches came nearer and nearer, and the tyrant became exceedingly restless. “Air, air,’ he cried, ‘I feel very, very ill ; do see, daughter, what is the

which he used sometimes to devote a week or two at a time. We must now return to Azru, whom we

matter.

have left conversing with the princess. Azru

bearers had fairly surrounded the fort, and hiribadat, with a presentiment of impending danger, rushed out of the room, saying ‘that he felt he was dying.' He then ran to the stables and

remained silent when the lady confessed her love. Urged to declare his sentinents, he said that he would not marry her unless she bound herself to him by the most stringent oath ; this she did, and they became in the sight of God, as if they were wedded man and wife.” He then announced that he had come to destroy her father, and asked

her

to

kill

him

herself.

This

she

refused ; but as she had sworn to aid him in every way she could, he finally induced her to promise that she would ask her father where his soul was.

• Refuse food,” said Azru, “for three or four days,

and your father, who is devotedly fond of you, will ask for the reason of your strange conduct ; then

The dutiful lady went and returned with

the same answer as before.

At last the

torch

mounted his favourite charger, and with one blow

of the whip made him jump over the wall of the castle.

Faithful to its habit, the

noble animal

alighted at the same place, but alas ! only to find itself engulfed in a treacherous pit. Before the

king had time to extricate himself, the villagers had run up with their torches. ‘Throw them upon him, cried Azru. With one accord all the blazing wood was thrown upon Shiribadat, who miserably

perished. Azru was then most enthusiastically proclaimed king, celebrated his nuptials with the

• The story of the famous horse, the love-making between Azru and the Princess, the manner of their marriage, and

other incidents connected with the expulsion of the tyrant, deserve attention.