After a lot of walking Vikramaditya stood near the tree. He stared at the corpse that thung upside down by a branch like a bat. He detached Betal from the branch and slouched it over his shoulder.
Raja Vikramaditya had heard that Betal ghosts were friends of humans and enemies as well. One needed to be careful of them. So, he was very alert not to allow Betal play any tricks.
“Raja! Tell me a story to pass the time. You have a long distance to cover,” spoke Betal in ghostly voice.
Vikramaditya kept walking silently.
“All right,” Betal said, “You are afraid to talk. Never mind. I will tell you a story.”
Vikramaditya did not speak.
“There is a rider. At the and of the story I will ask you a riddle related to the story,” spoke Betal mysteriously and added, “If you know the answer and don’t speak it out your head will shatter into million pieces.”
Raja Vikramaditya kept up his silence.
Betal began a story—”Once there ruled a king who had a son. The prince was very arrogant.”
Once he went to the forest on a hunting trip.
In the course of the chase of a deer the prince lost his way in the forest. He felt thirsty. Then, he happend to come upon a pond where a brahmin was conducting a fire ritual.
The prince rudely called out to the brahmin with his regal arrogance, “Hey brahmin! Listen!!”
The brahmin ignored the call of the prince and continued with his fire ritual. It angered the prince.
He whipped the air creating a rapping sound and screamed, “O stupid brahmin! Are you dumb as well or can’t you hear?”
Still the brahmin ignored him and continued with his fire ritual exercise. The prince again whipped the air and shouted for attention.
The brahmin now realised he could no more ignore the arrogant prince. He turned his head towards the intruder and said, “Why should you scream like a crazy person, O prince?”
“Mind what you say, beggarly brahmin. I had been calling out to you and you put on a dumb and deaf act!?” The prince hissed.
“Prince,” the brahmin exercised remarkable control and asked, “Alright alright. What do you want?”
“Come to me and hold reins of my horse! I have to drink water?”
“Prince,” the brahmin remarked, “You should know as a defender of faith that a brahmin can’t abandon his fire ritual midway. It is sacrilege of the holy rite.”
“Don’t preach me, you hoax player!” screamed the irate prince and barked, “To hell with your ritual nonsense! Do you know what crime is it to disobey a real prince?”
The prince waved his whip in the air. The brahmin did not respond verbally or by getting up. The prince blew his top. He cracked down a few whip lashes on the back of the brahmin who contiuned to perform his holy rite bearing with the pain.
Taking him for an incorrigible idiot, the prince spurred his horse and went away without drinking water. After completing his fire ritual the brahmin examined the blue and black whiplash lines his aching body bore. Now he felt the excruciating pain. He went straight to the court of the king. He showed the blue-black marks and narrated the cruel act of the prince. He demanded justice.
The misdeed of prince shocked the king. He at once summoned the prince to the court. The king asked, “Prince! Do you recognise this brahmin?”
“I don’t know him,” the prince replied but admitted, “He does look like the person whom I met yesterday on the bank of a forest pond.”
“You may also tell us what dastardly act you did with this brahmin?” the king said sarcastically.
“The dastardly act this brahmin did with me.” The prince looked accusingly at the brahmin.
“What was that?” the king asked sharply.
“I turned up there dying with thirst. This man refused to hold the reins of my horse to help me drink water. Instead he engaged himself in some stupid rite. So, I had to punish him,” the prince claimed.
“That was not a stupid act, prince. Mind your language. The fire ritual he was performing was a sacred religious act. You committed a grave crime in whipping this innocent brahmin,” the king said grimly.
“But this brahmin committed the crime of disobeying the orders of prince of this land.” The prince looked unrepentent which shocked the king.
The king thundered, “For your royal arrogance and tyrannical behaviour you deserve exemplary punishment.”
The prince looked a bit scared. He realised he had overplayed his hand but it was too late to mend. He could have gotten away with a simple apology. The king proclaimed the punishment, “Cut off the hand of the prince that whipped an innocent person who was engaged in a religious ritual!”
The soldiers moved forward and held the prince. A butcher arrived with a pickaxe to sever the hand of the prince. The prince trembled in fear. His pitiable state made the brahmin feel sorry for the prince. Afterall the prince was immature and ignorant of the rules and laws. He deserved mercy. The brahmin pleaded to the king that he had forgiven the prince and his hand may not be cut.
The brahmin withdrew his complaint on oath. The prince was let off by the soldiers.
After relating the story Betal asked, “Raja! You heard the story. Tell me who between the king and the brahmin was more credit worthy?” After putting the question Betal warned, “Remember, if you have worked out the correct answer but do not reveal it, your head will shatter into a million pieces.”
Vikramaditya knew the Betal was not bluffing and the silence could cost him dear. So, he gave a straight answer, “According to the grain of the story the king was more credit worthy because he was sacrificing his son for the justice but the brahmin in the mercy act was trying to save himself from sin and infamy of making the prince lose his hand.”
“Right you are!” squealed Betal and flew back to the tree branch to hang upside down. It giggled and said, “Tee hee! You opened your mouth and lost me!” Vikramaditya stared at it. He patiently walked back to the tree branch to reload Betal on his shoulder to carry it to Tantrik.
