> "When the jungle is destroyed, the deer are in trouble without jungle:

When the Raja is destroyed, the ryots are in trouble without their

Raja:

When the good wife of the house is destroyed, good fortune flees away."





So thinking the Raja made a proclamation throughout all the land that

if any one could kill the Rakhas he would reward him with the hand of

one of his daughters and half his kingdom. This proclamation was read

out by the headman of a certain village to the assembled villagers

and among the crowd was a mischievous youth, named Jhalka, who when

he heard the proclamation called out that he could kill the Rakhas in

ten minutes. The villagers turned on him "Why don't you go and do so:

then you would marry the Raja's daughter and we should all bow down

to you." At the thought of this Jhalka began to skip about crying "I

will finish him off in no time." The headman heard him and took him

at his word and wrote to the Raja that in his village there was a man

who undertook to kill the Rakhas. When Jhalka heard this he hurried

to the headman and explained that he had only been joking. "I cannot

treat such things as a joke" answered the headman: "Don't you know

that this is a Raja's matter: to deal with Rajas is the same as to

deal with bongas: you may make a promise to the bongas in jest,

but they will not let you off it on that plea. You are much too fond

of playing the fool."



Ten or twelve days later sipahis came from the Raja to fetch Jhalka:

he told them that he had only spoken in jest and did not want to go

to the Raja, but they took him away all the same.



Before he started he picked out a well-tempered battle axe and begged

his father to propitiate the bongas and pray that he might be

saved from the Rakhas. When he was produced before the Raja, Jhalka

again tried to explain that there had been a mistake, but the Raja

told him that he would be taken at his word and must go and kill the

Rakhas. Then he saw that there was nothing left for him but to put

his trust in God: so he asked that he might be given two mirrors and

a large box and when these were brought he had the box taken to the

foot of a large banyan tree which grew by a ford in the river which

flowed by the hill in which the Rakhas lived: it was at this ford

that the Rakhas used to lie in wait for prey.



Left alone there Jhalka put one of the mirrors into the box and then

tightened his cloth and climbed the banyan tree with his battle axe

and the other mirror. He was not at all happy as he waited for the

Rakhas, thinking of all the people who had been killed as they passed

along the road below the tree: however he was determined to outwit

the Rakhas if he could. All night long he watched in vain but just at

dawn the Rakhas appeared. At the sight of him Jhalka shook so much

with fright that the branches of the tree swayed. The Rakhas smelt

that there was a human being about and looking up into the tree saw

the branches waving. "Ha," said he, "here is my breakfast."' Jhalka

retorted "Ha! here is another Rakhas to match those I have got"

"What are you talking about?" asked the Rakhas: "I am glad to have

met you at last" returned Jhalka. "Why?" asked the Rakhas, "and what

are you trembling for?" "I am trembling with rage: we shall now see

whether I am to eat you or you are to eat me."



"Come down and try."



"No, you come up here and try."



Jhalka would not leave the tree and the Rakhas would not climb it:

so they waited. At last the Rakhas asked "Who are you? I have seen a

thousand men like you" And Jhalka answered "Who are you? I have seen

a thousand like you." At this the Rakhas began to hesitate and wonder

whether Jhalka was really his equal in strength, so he changed the

subject and asked what the big box was. "That is the box into which

I put Rakhases like you when I catch them; I have got plenty more at

home." "How many are there in the box?" "Two or three."



The Rakhas asked to see them, but Jhalka would not leave the tree until

the Rakhas had sworn an oath to do him no harm; then he came down and

opened the box and made the Rakhas look into the mirror inside the box;

and he also held up the second mirror saying that there was another

Rakhas. The Rakhas was fascinated at the sight of his own reflection;

when he grinned or opened his mouth the reflection did the same; and

while he was amusing himself with making different grimaces Jhalka

suddenly cut him down with the battleaxe, and he fell down dead. Then

Jhalka cut off the ears and tongue and toes and hastened with them

to the Raja. When it was found that the Rakhas was really dead the

Raja assembled all his subjects and in their presence married Jhalka

to his daughter and made over to him half the kingdom and gave him

horses and elephants and half of everything in his palace.