(Based on a Nepali Hearsay)
TGT Desk
Naren was expected home last Friday from his expedition, far away in the hills to look for roots that someone told would heal his daughter’s jaundice. But he was not back even by Wednesday. His wife and children were worried, and suspected that his friends had played foul with him, and possibly killed him. They went to their relatives, the village elders, and everyone they knew. But none had any idea about where he was, or what was to be done.
The hill had the Hill-men as the most dominant people. People of other communities had no rights or say. There was therefore no question of going to the chief, who was a hill-man himself. They shed tears, and expressed their sorrows among their friends and relatives.
They had given up hopes. They thought that all was over now, and it would be wise to get along with the preparations for death rituals. There was no question of sleeping. Every night, they would lit an oil lamp and keep looking out of their window, hoping that Naren would come home with his ever present grin, and loving voice.
It was Thursday, the tenth night after his disappearance. The villagers sat with his bereaved family till late, and went their way. The children —two boys and a baby girl with jaundice — fell asleep, even as the mother waited for her husband.
At around 2 o’ clock at night, Naren made a sudden entry. The wife rose with surprise, and took him in her arms. He was breathing so heavily and his heart pounded so fast that someone passing nearby would surely have heard it. Both of them could speak no word for a long time. Silently tears rolled from their eyes, and met on the ground.
After around half an hour, Naren lifted his head, and looked at his wife. There she was, pale and tired, as pale and tired as he himself was.
“Where had you been all these days?” she asked.
“O, no! I don’t even want to remember what happened with me.”
“What on earth are you talking about? Did they really harm you?”
Naren thrust fingers into his ear holes, and looked vacantly at the ceiling. His wife could easily make out; he was highly nervous and disturbed. She waited till he could gather the energy to tell the story.
“We were three. At midnight, it started raining heavily, and we ran about in the forest for shelter. A huge stone cave was our refuge.”
The wife listened with her breath held, and heart on her hand. He continued in a nervous tone.
“No sooner had we entered than the door of the cave closed on its own. A boulder as heavy as this home of ours had been placed. What a pitch-dark cave it turned to be!
“Fear gripped us so much so that no word would escape our mouths. We held one another very tight, and gathered into a lump. Our hearts were beating so frantically that it seemed, the cave stone would burst and crumble upon us. This way, we sat for around half an hour.
“We thought that we should get out of it immediately by all means. We fixed our eyes at the gate, only to see a dark silhouette of a man, as big as mountain. We didn’t dare to move an inch.
“Soon, we could feel the smell of a strange being, very near. Heavy were its footsteps, and abominable was its smell. We concluded; our end had come.
“I felt a heavy foot placed upon my heart. It slowly pressed me hard, and almost smothered me to death. I wanted to shout, but my throat would not help. I pressed myself harder against my friends. They were cold, almost frozen with terror.
“’You did the right thing by coming here, men. I had been starving for such a long time. Today, I can eat to my fill,’ it said.
“We knew our end was now imminent. We thought it better to try a fight rather than meekly surrendering to it.
“Harjit lit his lighter, and we all turned our eyes upward to see our enemy. O, what a ghastly spectacle! Its eyes were as big as a cauldron and the hair matted into locks hanging like snakes from his demonic head. On seeing the light, the eyes spewed fire, and anger dropped down his cheeks.
“Somehow we sensed that he knew of our plan. He extended his long hands to one corner of his cave, and pulled an iron chain. He then chained all of us, and displayed an impish laughter that shook the entire cave. We were chilled at our cores, as death was laughing so near to us.
“We gave up hopes. For the last time, we remembered everything we had to remember. I don’t know what came to their minds, but I just thought of you, our boys and Sweety, ill and dying. “
At this, the wife drew the husband closer, and felt his heart. It was beating even faster. Tears had turned their directions; they had flown down to his elbow, and were cutting across his wrist.
“When he was sure that we would not run, he went to his fireplace and made fire. Then he placed a pan as big as our bathing tub, and started heating oil.”
The wife quickly placed her hand on his lips, and admonished him to stop. But he chose to continue.
“Wait till I end. When the oil boiled, and we could hear the bubbles sizzle, he came and unchained us. He then caught hold of me first, and lifted me as though I were a fish ready to fry. I closed my eyes, bound the jaws together, and tried to imagine that I was dead and senseless.
“But to his own wonder, he could not move his feet. My sensible friends had used his own chain to shackle his feet. How quickly they did it was simply amazing. Angry, he hurled me from a distance into the pan. Because his feet were shackled, he could not properly stand and target correctly. As a result, I fell a little further, outside the boiling pan.
“My friends held him tighter, and admonished me to carry the pan thither. I did as they said. We then poured the boiling oil upon his feet. The terrible burn could not let him stand anymore, and jumping and hoping, he fell on the ground. We poured the remaining oil upon his body, and left him writhing, awaiting his death.
“When we were sure he was dead, Harjit showed his lighter and we came to the gate. The boulder there was not an ordinary one. However, our hopes of life that had just returned to us, gave us the necessary courage and energy. We pushed it with all of our might, and it had to move. The bright daylight outside was the dearest sight we saw since our imprisonment, some twenty-four hours ago.
“When we came out, the world seemed the most beautiful place in the universe. We hugged one another, shed tears of joy, and ran homeward. Here I am with you, and with the kids.”
The husband ended the story. The wife wiped his tears and fanned his face. Then she said, “Do not tell the story to children for God’s sake. Just tell that you reached farther this time, and were late.”