A Tiger for Malgudi (20 page)

She broke down and wailed aloud. He calmly watched her.‘I wish I could help you, as I managed to help Raja and calm his turbulent soul. I can only pray for your well-being.’

‘Let me stay in that village, so that I’ll at least be near you.’

‘Why should you? You can’t. You have your own home and family.’

‘Have you no feeling or even an ordinary sense of duty?’

‘I do not understand these phrases. I have forgotten the meaning of many words. Please do not force me to talk so much about myself. Because of my sympathies and a real desire to help you, I have spoken. Otherwise I never revive the identity of the past in thought or word; it’s dead and buried.’

‘You are callous; you talk of sympathy just with the tip of your tongue. You have no real feeling, you are selfish, you are ...’She went on until sheer exhaustion overcame her.

He listened to her in stony silence. At some point he even failed to look at her; closed his eyes and went into meditation. He just said,‘I’ll take you down to the village. Let’s get there before sunset.’

‘Why should you take the trouble?’

‘You will have to pass through the jungle all alone.’

‘I can go alone, as I came ...’

‘Yes, we come into the world alone, and are alone while leaving. Your understanding is becoming deeper.’

She repeated,‘I didn’t need your help while coming. Why should you bother about a stranger? You and your tiger - if he is there in the jungle and meets me, I shall be grateful if he ends my misery then and there, or couldn’t you tell him?’

‘You will reach home safely.’

She sprang to her feet.‘Finally, is there no way I can persuade you?’

‘I need no persuasion ... God be with you.’

She wiped her eyes with the end of her sari, turned round, hurried down the hill, and disappeared into the jungle. He sat motionless in his seat and closed his eyes in meditation.

I did not wish to disturb him; I kept away until he should call me. I didn’t go out to hunt that night, preferring to go without food. I didn’t want to go prowling in the forest for fear that if that lady happened to be there and saw me, she might die of shock.

My Master never mentioned her visit again. He sat continuously in meditation for a few days, and then our normal life was resumed. He bathed in the pool, went into the forest to gather roots and leaves for his nourishment, meditated and discoursed to me in the evenings seated on his slab of stone.

Thus life went on. As I have said I have no reckoning of time. I could only measure it by my own condition. Gradually I realized that I was becoming less inclined to get up and move, preferring to spend long hours in my own corner hidden behind the shrub. I preferred to go without food rather than undergo the strain of chasing game. I could not run fast enough to catch anything. Many creatures eluded me with ease. Most of my old associates, the langur, the jackal, and others who used to watch me and annoy, were missing, perhaps dead or not frequenting this particular part of the forest. My claws sometimes stuck and most of my teeth had fallen. It was difficult for me to tear or chew. My movements were becoming so slow and clumsy that I was often outwitted; and when I succeeded in cornering some animal, I could not kill it successfully. I took a long time to consume it. The result was that in due course, I was underfeeding myself and my skin fell in folds.

My hearing was also impaired. Nowadays I could not hear when my Master summoned me. And his discourses were much reduced as he understood that I could not hear him properly. He told me, ‘Raja, old age has come on you. Beautiful old age, when faculties are dimmed one by one, so that we may be restful, very much like extinguishing lights in a home, one by one, before one goes to sleep. Listen attentively. You may live a maximum of five years; I don’t think we should risk your suffering starvation or attack from other creatures or hunters. Once they know you are old and weak, they will come for you and you are going to be alone because we are about to part. Last night I realized that the time for my attaining
samadhi
is near at hand. I must prepare for it by releasing myself from all bondage ... As a first step, I’m releasing you. Tomorrow a man will come to take charge of you. He is the head of a zoo in the town. You will spend the rest of your years in the company of animals. You will be safe in a cage, food will be brought to you, and they will open the door and let you out to move freely in an open-air enclosure, and look after you.’Never having been in the habit of questioning my Master, I accepted his plans, though with a heavy heart. He explained his philosophy:‘No relationship, human or other, or association of any kind could last for ever. Separation is the law of life right from the mother’s womb. One has to accept it if one has to live in God’s plans.’

 
Very soon we had a visitor from the town. It was noon. The visitor looked to me a kindly person; he held no whip in hand. He had a companion and down below on the forest track there was a cage on wheels. My Master and the visitor were engaged in a long talk. My Master was saying,‘Keep him well. Remember he is only a tiger in appearance ... He is a sensitive soul who understands life and its problems exactly as we do. Take him as a gift from God; only please don’t put him in rough company. He is magnificent though he is not at his best now. After a few days of regular feeding at the zoo, he will get back the shine on his coat.’

‘We’ll take care of that,’the other said.

‘Raja, come,’commanded my Master for the last time.

I came out of the shrubberies and covering. The visitor was rather startled at first and remarked,‘Oh, truly the most magnificent of his kind, regal, of grand stature, although you think he is faded. We have our own system of feeding and improving with tonic and he’ll be record-breaking. Our zoo can then claim to have the largest tiger for the whole country.’

My master assured him,‘He is quite safe.’

At first sight, I could understand that this man was fearless and used to the company of animals, and had sympathy, and was not another Captain. He asked my Master,‘May I touch him?’

‘Yes, certainly,’said my Master, and patted my back. The man came near and stroked my back, and by his touch I could see that I had a friend.

‘May we go?’he asked.

My Master said to me,‘Raja, will you come with me?’and I followed him. He opened the cage and said,‘You may get in now, Raja, a new life opens for you. Men, women, and children, particularly children, hundreds of them will come to see you. You will make them happy.’The others got into the jeep to which the cage was yoked. Before we drove off my Master thrust his hand through the bars and whispered to me,‘Both of us will shed our forms soon and perhaps we could meet again, who knows? So goodbye for the present.’

 
and masses more!

 
 
’To be recommended without reservation ... a rich and rewarding on-line experience’
- Internet Magazine

 
 
www.penguin.co.uk

In every comer of the world, on every subject under the sun, Penguin represents quality and variety - the very best in publishing today.

For complete information about books available from Penguin - including Puffins, Penguin Classics and Arkana - and how to order them, write to us at the appropriate address below. Please note that for copyright reasons the selection of books varies from country to country.

 
In the United Kingdom:
Please write to
Dept. EP, Penguin Books Ltd, Bath Road, Harmondsworth,
West
Drayton, Middlesex
UB7
ODA

In the United States:
Please write to
Consumer Sales, Penguin
USA, P.O. Box 999,
Dept. 17109, Bergenfield, New Jersey
07621-0120. VISA and MasterCard holders call 1-800-253-6476 to order Penguin titles

 
In Canada:
Please write to
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M4V,
3B2

 
In Australia:
Please write to
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, P.O. Box 257, Ringwood, Victoria 3134

 
In New Zealand:
Please write to
Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, Private Bag 102902, North Shore Mail Centre, Auckland 10

 
In India:
Please write to
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 706 Eros Apartments, 56 Nehru Place, New Delhi 110 019

 
In the Netherlands:
Please write to
Penguin Books Netherlands bv, Postbus 3507, NL-1001 AH Amsterdam

 
In Germany:
Please write to
Penguin Books Deutschland GmbH, Metzlerstrasse 26, 60594 Frankfurt am Main

 
In Spain:
Please write to
Penguin Books S. A., Bravo Murillo 19, 1°B, 28015 Madrid

 
In Italy:
Please write to
Penguin Italia s.r.l., Via Felice Casati 20, 1-20124 Milano

In France:
Please write to
Penguin France S. A., 17 rue Lejeune, F-31000 Toulouse

In Japan:
Please write to
Penguin Books Japan, Ishikiribashi Building, 2-5-4,
Suido,
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112

In South Africa:
Please write to
Longman Penguin Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd, Private Bag X08, Bertsham 2013

Here Narayan portrays an astrologer, a snake-charmer, a postman, a vendor of pies and
chappatis -
all kinds of people, simple and not so simple, drawn in full colour and endearing domestic detail. And under his magician’s touch the whole imaginary city of Malgudi springs to life, revealing the essence of India and of all human experience. ’A treat ... he is an enchanter - Hilary Spurling in the
Observer

 
The Man-Eater of Malgudi

Nataraj, owner of a small, friendly printing press in the enchanted city of Malgudi, has never been very successful at making enemies. Until, that is, he meets Vasu. Almost accidentally Vasu, a pugnacious taxidermist, moves into Nataraj’s attic, bringing an alarming stuffed jungle of hyenas, pythons and tigers and an assortment of dancing girls that clump up and down the printer’s stairs.