CHAPTER V.
On the next day of public audience the bereaved parent repaired to the Dewan Aum, or Hall of Public Audience. When he entered he was dazzled by the extraordinary splendour of the scene. The musnud upon which the Emperor sat was so costly a work as to be one of the marvels of the age. It was in the form of a peacock with the tail outspread, entirely composed of diamonds and other precious stones. It was valued at seven crore of rupees.[29]The apartment was built entirely of white marble, and richly ornamented with representations of various flowers. Over the arches which supported the roof was the following inscription in Persian characters, beautifully inlaid with silver on a ground of dark, but brilliantly polished marble—“If there be a heaven upon earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.” The letters were admirably formed, and distinctly legible from the floor.In this hall, beside the throne, was an immense block of crystal, upon which the Emperor used to sit when he held private audience with his ministers. It was sufficiently broad to have formed a table. The apartment was lighted by a dome, the largest in the palace, richly inlaid with gold.
When the Pariah entered, the hall was nearly filled. As he attempted to approach the royal presence, he was stopped by one of the guards.
“Whom do you seek here?” asked the soldier.
“Your sovereign.”
“He does not hold conference with strangers, especially upon days of state ceremony.”
“Your king is reported wise, and not only wise, but just. I come to offer an appeal to his royal justice; and you do both him and me wrong by defrauding him of the opportunity of exercising his justice, and me of receiving that benefit from it which, if report do not belie him, he would be delighted to confer.”
“Are you not a Pariah?”
“What then? Are the natural rights of man less my nature’s privilege than another’s? Mahomedans do not despise Pariahs, and your sovereign least of any.”
“You cannot have audience here.”
“Why?”
“Because this place is appropriated to the ceremonies and business of state. You must send a petition.”
“Nay, soldier, I must see your king: withhold me at your peril!”
“Advance but a single step further, and I shall cut you down.”
“My blood, then, be upon your head.”
The Pariah stepped forward; the soldier did his best to put his threat into execution, but his intended victim had sprung beyond the reach of the stroke.
“Justice!” he cried, in a loud shrill voice, that rang through the hall; “justice from the Emperor of the Moguls.”
“Who is it that demands justice?” asked Humayoon, with mild dignity; “let him approach.”
The stranger immediately advanced, and prostrated himself before the King.
“Rise!” said the Emperor, “and state your cause of grievance, if you have any.”
The petitioner rose, and was instantly recognised by the sovereign.
“Vuluvir!” he cried—“do I behold him to whom I am indebted above all men in my dominions?”
The Emperor descended from the musnud, raised the Pariah and embraced him, to the surprise of his court.
“Nobles,” said he, “to this outcast from his own community I owe my life. When pursued by the emissaries of him who had usurped my throne, I cast myself into a river and was nearly drowned. This generous benefactor, although then grievously prostrated by famine, plunged into the stream, and, as I was sinking, dragged me to the bank. In his dwelling I found an asylum. He watched by my lowly couch while the paroxysms of fever were upon me, moistened my parched lips, wiped from my forehead the dews of agony, and restored me to life. My debt to him is such as my empire could not repay.”
“Nay, mighty King,” cried Vuluvir, while the big tear rolled slowly down his cheek, “that deed of common charity was abundantly requited. The two thousand rupees with which your gracious liberality honoured me, were the foundation of my present affluence. Upon them I have erected a fortune which might place me in that respect upon a level with nobility; but I am still a miserable man.”
“State your cause of grievance,” said the Emperor, leading him to the block of crystal, upon which he desired him to be seated. Humayoon having taken his place upon the musnud, Vuluvir said, touching the floor with his fingers and putting them to his forehead—
“Sovereign of the Moguls, I have a daughter, the child whom you once fondled in your royal arms, and who has since often expressed her pride in having received those caresses. That daughter I may say, without a parent’s vanity, is a creature endowed with the highest perfections of woman. She is the joyof my heart, and her loss would be a bane which I feel I could not survive. She has been stolen from me.”
“I remember thy daughter well, Vuluvir; she promised to be all thou sayest. But who has robbed thee of her?—say, and to the farthest limits of my dominions he shall be sought and visited with the chastisement he deserves.”
“I attribute her abduction to the son of your minister.”
“Son of Beiram, stand forth,” said the Emperor, solemnly; “what have you to answer to this charge?”
The young Omrah was silent.
“What construction am I to put upon your silence?” asked Humayoon, sternly.
“I plead guilty to the charge: I am at the Emperor’s mercy.”
“Vuluvir,” said Humayoon, turning to his former host, “your wrong shall be redressed, and your daughter restored.”
The offender was immediately committed to the custody of an officer; and that very night Yhahil was delivered to the arms of her anxious parents.
The next day, Vuluvir was summoned to the imperial presence. “My friend,” said the sovereign, “I know that the religion you profess is one from which you derive little consolation, and to which none of your tribe are bound by very strong attachments. It is my intention to ennoble you, provided you consent to become one of the faithful; and in your conversion I shall look for that of your family.” After a conference of some length, the Pariah embraced the Emperor’s proposal; and the next day was raised to the rank of Omrah, with a sum from the treasury sufficient to support that dignity. His wife and Yhahil became, likewise, converts to the new faith. The idea of being now naturalised among a people who welcomed her and her parents as their common kindred, poured a flood of joy upon Yhahil’s heart. She felt no longer degraded, and began to soften in her indignation towards the man who forced her from her home. He had, however, committed no violence. She had been carried to a house engaged for the purpose of securing her; but, when there, the noble only pressed his suit without offering the slightest offence to her purity.She repelled his advances with unqualified indignation; he treated her, nevertheless, with uniform respect. The recollection of this disarmed her anger, and she besought her father to solicit his release.
“My daughter,” said he, embracing her, “you have always found me ready to meet every wish of your heart, but in the present instance I have secret misgivings which deter me from compliance. To come at once to the point, I fear the violence of that young noble.”
Yhahil smiled.—“His violence, my father, was not shown when I was in his power, and I can forgive his rashness in his forbearance.”
“But, surely, the man who would forcibly tear a daughter from her parent’s roof is to be feared.”
“I do believe—nay I am sure, that he loves me; and though he sought to win me to a dishonourable intercourse while I was a Pariah, I think he might no longer hesitate to wed me as an Omrah’s daughter. I love him, father. He must be liberated for my sake. If we should ever meet in future, it will be as honourable lovers, or as strangers, but I must no longer be the cause of his captivity.”
“I will seek the Emperor and make known your wishes, but——”
“My father, listen to me: my mortal destiny has been traced. Before I quitted our dwelling in the land of my birth, I sought the abode of the jiggerkhar. Her revelations have been marvellously fulfilled—the consummation only remains. She promised me wedded happiness, and I feel I shall enjoy it.”
“Enough, my child, your desire shall be instantly accomplished;” and the converted outcast was admitted without delay to the presence of Humayoon.
“Well, Mahomed Chan,”—the name which had been bestowed upon the newly-made Omrah,—asked the Monarch, “what seek you?”
“The release of your minister’s son. It is at my child’s solicitation that I venture to ask this favour.”
“He shall never have his liberty until he makes your daughter full reparation for the insult he has offered her. It is necessary that the noble should suffer punishment for his violations of the law, else with what justice can we punish the humbler delinquent?”
“My daughter has forgiven him: he offered her no personal disrespect, save in forcing her from her home.”
“One of the greatest infractions of public decorum,” cried the sovereign, hastily; “and a most reprehensible trespass upon the sanctity of private life. His liberty shall be conditional. He has violated the obligations of honour as well as the laws of his country; he must therefore pay the penalty.”
Humayoon ordered the offender to be brought before him, and, after upbraiding him with having committed a scandalous offence, asked him if he was ready to repair the wrong he had done to the lovely Yhahil.
“If marrying her will be considered a sufficient reparation of the injury I have unadvisedly inflicted, I am prepared to offer that reparation on the instant.”
“I know not,” said Mahomed Chan, “that my child may be willing to accept the man who has offered her so serious an insult; but if you will accompany me to my home you can urge your suit.”
“Upon condition that he becomes the husband of her whom he has so grossly offended I grant him his liberty,” said the Emperor; “otherwise his captivity will be for life.”
The father returned to his home with the minister’s son, whom he presented to Yhahil. She received him with withering coldness. He flung himself at her feet.
“I acknowledge my fault,” he cried, passionately. “I have wronged you—grievously wronged the object of my soul’s adoration, and come to repair the wrong I have done by making her the partner of my life. I feel she would ennoble a diadem. Will you become mine?”
“Can you think I have reason to trust you?”
“Yes—you know that passion impelled me to act as I did; lovewas at the bottom of it, and if you have a woman’s heart you will forgive me.”
Yhahil smiled; the young Omrah rose and clasped her to his bosom.—“You are mine for ever; this day shall consummate our union. I shall receive my freedom from the sovereign only to cast over my heart the golden fetters of bliss.”
Yhahil yielded to his embrace; there was joy in the late house of mourning. On that very day the lovers were married. The Mogul Emperor honoured their union with his presence, and ratified it with his blessing. The jiggerkhar’s prophecy was accomplished, and never was there a happier union than that formed between the Pariah’s daughter and the Minister’s son.
FOOTNOTES:[29]About seven millions sterling.
[29]About seven millions sterling.
[29]About seven millions sterling.