CHAPTER 14 The Crocodile on the River Bank
In those days, people going from Kudandhai to Thanjavur took the path along the banks of the Arisilar or the Kaveri until they reached Thiruvaiyaru. They would then turn south and go on to Thanjavur. Places where the Kudamurutti, the Vettaru, the Vennaru and the Vadavaru rivers could be crossed conveniently were situated only on this route.
Vandiyathevan therefore went along the banks of the Arisilar after he left Kudandhai. The sights he saw on the way were far more wonderful than the descriptions of Chozha Nadu that he had heard earlier. Anything pleasantly new always has great charm at first glance, doesn’t it? Green fields, ginger and turmeric plants, sugar cane fields, banana plantations, coconut groves, rivulets, streams and lakes met his eyes one after the other. The profusion of lotuses and lilies in the ponds were a delight. White cranes flew in flocks. Standing on one leg, storks seemed to be performing penance. Water gushed out of canals. The black, muddy fields, well manured, were being ploughed deeper by the farmers. Women sang folk songs as they planted seedlings in the prepared fields.
Presses to extract the juice from the previous year’s ripe Sugarcane crop had been put up near the cane fields. The aroma of the cane juice and of cooking jaggery pierced Vandiyathevan's nostrils. In the midst of the coconut groves stood both thatched and tile-roofed houses whose entrances had been swept clean and whose floors gleamed like mirrors. Paddy was laid out to dry in front of some houses. Chickens and hens pecked at the paddy and flew away. The young girls keeping watch did not bother to drive them off. Certain that the hens could not eat very much, they continued to nonchalantly play chozhi and pallankuzhi. Smoke curled up from the roofs of the huts. The mingled fragrances of parboiled paddy and roasted maize filled the vicinity, along with the aroma of frying meat. Most warriors ate meat in those days. So did Vandiyathevan. The aroma made his mouth Water.
Smithies had been set up here and there on the roadside and there were blazing fires. He could hear the sound of steel being hammered. Ploughs, hoes and other agricultural implements as well as swords, shields and lances lay in heaps all around. Soldiers and farmers vied with each other to buy them. There were small temples even in the humblest villages. He heard the sound of bells and trumpets as he went past them as well as devotional chants and thevarams.
The pujaris were dancing, carrying karagams on their heads, and playing the udukku to propitiate village deities like Mariamman, and offering them paddy. Cattle with bells around their necks were being herded by the village youngsters, some of whom played flutes. Having worked hard in the fields, weary peasants rested under the trees and watched ram fights.
Peahens called from roof tops and peacocks flew up and perched beside them, dragging their feathers with difficulty. Doves fluttered about, their beautiful necks darting this way and that. Even the caged parrots and mynahs were singing.
Enjoying all this, Vandiyathevan rode along slowly.
His eyes had enough to occupy them. His mind was equally enthralled by these varied sights. Deep within him, however, he kept seeing a girl’s face that seemed shrouded in a veil of mist. Could she not have opened her red lips and said a few words to him? What would she have lost if she had? Who could she be? Whoever she was, shouldn’t she have shown him some courtesy?
Do I look like someone who can be treated indifferently, he thought. That old josier got the better of me and evaded my question about who she was. He's clever, very clever. How well he fathoms another’s mind! He spoke as if he was so experienced. True, he did not reveal anything of significance. As for affairs of state, he got away without saying anything about them. Or he repeated what everyone already knew. But then, he also said a few pleasant words, that my stars of fortune are on the ascendant. May he prosper!
Vandiyathevan went on his way, his mind filled with these thoughts. Every now and then the sights he saw brought him back to reality.
Finally he reached the banks of the Arisilar. When he had gone a little way, he heard the sound of girls laughing and the tinkle of bangles. The girls were hidden by a dense clump of trees on the bank. Vandiyathevan peered cautiously through the foliage to find out exactly where they were. Suddenly, he heard a cry for help. “Aiyo! Aiyo! A crocodile! A crocodile! I’m frightened!”
He spurred his horse in the direction of the voice and saw a group of women through a gap between the trees. They looked very frightened. What a surprise! Among them were the two women he had seen leaving the josier's house as he entered. It took him only a second to absorb all this. But was that all he saw? Under a huge tree was a fearsome crocodile, its jaws agape, its body half outside and half inside the water. He had seen crocodiles like it recently in the Kollidam and heard how dangerous they could be. His heart lurched and panic overcame him. The crocodile was very near the women who had been laughing. It looked frightful, its mouth wide open, its ferocious teeth on display. One great leap and the women would be finished. They would never be able to escape through the dense trees.
Although Vandiyathevan was confused, his courage did not desert him. He wasted no time in deciding what to do. He aimed and hurled his spear at the crocodile, where it pierced its back and lodged at right angles to the animal’s body.
Our hero drew his sword and ran up, determined to finish the job once and for all. He heard the women laugh again.
Vandiyathevan was revolted. Why were they laughing when such danger confronted them? He hesitated for a moment. He looked at the women. There were no signs of fear or terror on their faces, all he could see was amusement. He could not believe these were the women who had shouted, “Aiyo!
Aiyo!” some time ago. One of them — the one he had seen at the josier’s house — said in a sweet and dignified voice, “Girls, girls, quiet! Why are you laughing?” He heard the words as though in a dream.
He went up to the crocodile with his sword drawn and stared at it. He looked closely at the women’s faces again. A doubt assailed him, making him feel awkward, making him want to shrink into himself.
By this time, the woman — the one he had been thinking of for some time — left the others and came towards him. She stood opposite the crocodile as though protecting it and said, “Ayya! Many thanks! You don’t have to trouble yourself.”
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