Chapter 9

In the morning a regular uproar broke out in Hori's house. Hori was beating Dhaniya. Dhaniya was hurling abuse at him. Both daughters clung to their father's feet, screaming, and Gobar was shielding his mother. Again and again he caught Hori's hand and pushed him back, but the moment any curse escaped Dhaniya's mouth, Hori would wrench his hands free and land two or four punches and kicks on her. His aged rage seemed to have drawn out some secretly hoarded strength. Commotion spread through the whole village. People came on the pretext of pacifying them, but really to watch the spectacle. Sobha came and stood, leaning on his staff. Datadin scolded, "What is this, Hori, have you gone mad? Does anyone raise a hand against the Lakshmi of his house? You never had this disease. Has Hira's contagion infected you too?"

Hori said, touching his feet, "Maharaj, do not speak at this moment. Today I shall break her of this habit before I rest. The more I overlook things, the more she climbs onto my head."

Dhaniya said in tearful fury, "Maharaj, you stand witness. Today I shall not drink water until I have got him and his murderer of a brother sent to jail. His brother killed the cow by feeding her poison. I'm going to the police station to lodge a report — and this murderer beats me for it! I ruined my whole life for his sake, and this is the reward he gives me."

Hori said, grinding his teeth and his eyes bulging, "There — out comes that word again. Did you see Hira feeding her poison?"

"Then swear that you did not see Hira standing by the cow's trough?"

"Yes — I did not see it, I swear it."

"Swear it with your hand on your son's head!"

Hori, placing a trembling hand on Gobar's head, said in a trembling voice, "I swear by my son that I did not see Hira near the trough."

Dhaniya spat on the ground and said, "Shame on your lie. You yourself told me that Hira was standing by the trough like a thief. And now you lie to take your brother's side. Shame! If even a hair of my son's head is touched, I'll set fire to the house. I'll set fire to the whole household. God, that a man can say something with his own mouth and then so shamelessly deny it."

Hori, stamping his foot, said, "Dhaniya, don't drive me to fury, or it'll go ill."

"You're beating me anyway — beat on. Listen, if you are your father's son, then you'll drink water only after killing me today. The sinner has thrashed me to a pulp, and still his heart isn't satisfied. By beating me he thinks he's a great hero. Before his brothers he turns into a drenched cat — sinner, murderer that he is!"

Then she burst into a wail, lamenting — what had she not endured coming into this house, in what ways had she not starved herself of food and clothing, in what ways had she pined for a single rag, in what ways had she hoarded each paisa like life itself, in what ways had she fed the whole house and then lain down having drunk only water. And today, for all those sacrifices, this is the reward. God sits watching this injustice and does not run to her protection. To save the elephant and to save Draupadi he had come running from Vaikuntha. Why is he asleep today?

Public opinion gradually began to come over to Dhaniya's side. No one any longer doubted that it was Hira who had poisoned the cow. People also became convinced that Hori had sworn an utterly false oath. The fear of his father's false oath and the calamity that would follow it turned Gobar too against Hori. And when Datadin scolded him on top of it, Hori was defeated. He slipped quietly outside. Truth had won.

Datadin asked Sobha, "Do you know anything, Sobha? What happened?"

Sobha, lying on the ground, said, "Maharaj, I haven't been out of the house for eight days. Hori Dada comes now and then and brings me something, and that's how I get by. Last night too he came to me. Who did what, I know nothing. Yes, yesterday evening Hira came to my house to borrow a hoe. He said he had a root to dig up. Then since then I haven't met him."

Dhaniya, taking this much encouragement, said, "Pandit Dada, it's his doing. He borrowed the hoe from Sobha's house, dug up some root and fed it to the cow. Ever since that quarrel that night, he'd been nursing his grudge."

Datadin said, "If this is proved, the sin of murder will cling to him. Whether the police do anything or not, dharma will not let it pass without punishment. Go now, Rupia, fetch Hira. Tell him Pandit Dada is calling. If he has not committed murder, let him take up the Ganges water and climb the sacred platform and swear an oath."

Dhaniya said, "Maharaj, his oath cannot be trusted. He'll swear it in a flash. When this one, who poses as such a saint, swore a false oath, what trust can be placed in Hira?"

Now Gobar spoke. "Let him swear false. Let the line die out. Let the old men live. What will the young do by living!"

Rupa came back in a moment and said, "Kaka is not in the house, Pandit Dada! Kaki says he's gone off somewhere."

Datadin shook out his long beard and said, "Didn't you ask where he's gone? He may be hiding in the house. Go and see, Sona — he's not sitting inside, is he?"

Dhaniya interrupted. "Don't send her, Dada! The sin of murder rides on Hira's head; there's no knowing what he might do."

Datadin himself took up his stick and brought back the news that Hira had really gone off somewhere. Punia said he had taken the brass lota and rope and the staff and gone. Punia had even asked where he was going, but he hadn't said. She had kept five rupees in a niche. The rupees are not there. Probably he took the rupees too.

Dhaniya said with a cool heart, "He must have run off somewhere with his face blackened."

Sobha said, "Where can he run off to? He hasn't gone to bathe in the Ganges, has he?"

Dhaniya doubted it. "If he'd gone to the Ganges, why would he take the rupees? And there's no festival just now either."

This doubt found no resolution. The belief grew firm.

That day no food was cooked in Hori's house. Nor did anyone give fodder and water to the bullocks. A thrill of sensation had spread through the whole village. In place after place groups of two and four men gathered and discussed this very matter. Hira had certainly run off somewhere. He must have seen that the secret was out and that now he'd have to go to jail, and a murder charge into the bargain. So he ran off somewhere. Punia was weeping by herself — said nothing, heard nothing, who knows where he's gone off to.

Whatever was left wanting, the sub-inspector of the circle came in the evening and supplied. The village watchman had reported this affair, as was his duty, and was the sub-inspector, pray, a man to fail in his duty? Now the villagers too ought to fulfil their duty by giving him service and hospitality. Datadin, Jhinguri Singh, Nokheram, his four constables, Mangaru Sah and Lala Pateshwari — all arrived and stood with folded hands before the daroga. Hori was summoned. It was the first occasion in his life that he had come before a daroga. He was as afraid as if he were to be hanged. While beating Dhaniya, every limb of him had thundered. Before the daroga he shrank inward like a tortoise. The daroga looked at him with a critic's eyes and reached down to his heart. He had good practice at reading men's natures. A blank in book psychology, but a connoisseur of practical psychology. He was convinced — today he had risen seeing the face of a lucky man. And Hori's face declared that for him a single threat was enough.

The daroga asked, "Whom do you suspect?"

Hori touched the ground and, with folded hands, said, "I suspect no one, sarkar. The cow died her own death. She had grown old."

Dhaniya had come and was standing behind. She spoke up at once, "The cow was killed by your brother Hira. Sarkar is not such a fool that he'll accept whatever you say. He has come here to make inquiry and investigation."

The daroga asked, "Who is this woman?"

Several men jostled one another for the good fortune of getting to have a word with the daroga. They spoke all at once and consoled their minds with the fancy that "I spoke first" — "She's Hori's wife, sarkar!"

"Then call her, I'll record her statement first. Where is Hira?"

The notables said with one voice, "He's gone off somewhere since morning, sarkar."

"I'll search his house."

A search! Hori's breath began to heave up and down. There would be a search of his brother Hira's house, and Hira not in the house. And then, while Hori lived, before his eyes, this search would not be allowed to happen — and as for Dhaniya, he had no connection with her now. Let her go where she pleased. When she had set herself to ruining his honour, how could she remain in his house? When she goes stumbling from lane to lane, then she'll learn.

The notables of the village began whispering to ward off this great calamity.

Datadin shook his bald head and said, "These are all ways of making money. Ask — what is there in Hira's house?"

Pateshwarilal was very tall; but though tall, he was no fool. Making his long, dark face even longer, he said, "And what has he come here for, and once he's come, when has he gone without taking something or other?"

Jhinguri Singh called Hori and said in his ear, "Bring out whatever you have to give. The throat won't be freed this way."

The daroga now said, somewhat sternly, "I'll search Hira's house."

The colour had fled from Hori's face, as if all the blood of his body had dried up. If a search were done at his house, if it were done at his brother's house, it was all one thing. Hira lived separately, true, but the world knew he was his brother. But at this moment nothing was in his power. If he had had money, he would at that very moment have brought fifty rupees and laid them at the daroga's feet and said — Sarkar, my honour is now in your hands. But he did not have even a paisa to buy poison with. Dhaniya might have two or four rupees lying by, but why would that witch give them? With bowed head, like a man under sentence of death, keenly feeling the pain of his disgrace, he stood silently.

Datadin alerted Hori, "Standing about like this won't do, Hori! Manage some money somehow."

Hori said in a humble voice, "What plea can I make now, Maharaj! There's already the bundle of the old debt loaded on my head, and with what face shall I ask for more? But save me from this crisis. If I live, I'll repay every cowrie. And if I die, Gobar is there."

Consultation began among the leaders. What should be offered to the daroga? Datadin proposed fifty. By Jhinguri Singh's reckoning, the deal would not be done for less than a hundred. Nokheram too was on the side of a hundred. And for Hori there was no difference between a hundred and fifty. Let this calamity of a search be turned aside from his head. Let the worship-offering be however much it must be. Burn the dead with a maund of wood, or with ten maunds — what does he care?

But Pateshwari could not bear this injustice. No robbery or murder had taken place. There was only a search. For that, twenty rupees were plenty.

The leaders rebuked him. "Then you go and talk with the daroga. We won't go near him. Who'll swallow the scoldings?"

Hori laid his head on Pateshwari's feet. "Brother, deliver me. As long as I live, I'll be your servant."

The daroga again said with the full power of his vast chest and vaster belly, "Where is Hira's house? I'll search his house."

Pateshwari stepped forward and said in the daroga's ear, "What will you do with a search, huzoor — his brother is present, ready for your service."

The two men went a little apart and began to talk.

"What sort of man is he?"

"Very poor, huzoor! Hasn't even a roof for his food."

"Truly?"

"Yes, huzoor, I say it on my honour."

"Hey, then can't even a fifty be raised?"

"No question of it, huzoor! If ten can be had, count it a thousand. Fifty — fifty is not possible in fifty lifetimes, and even that only if some moneylender will stand surety."

The daroga thought for a minute, then said, "Then what's the use of harassing him? I don't harass those who are dying anyway."

Pateshwari saw the shot had gone too far ahead. He said, "No, huzoor, don't do that, or then where shall we go? What other harvest do we have?"

"You are the patwari of the area, man — what kind of talk is this?"

"When such an occasion comes, then by your grace we too get a little — otherwise who heeds a patwari?"

"Very well, go, get thirty rupees handed over — twenty rupees ours, ten yours."

"There are four headmen — consider that."

"All right, settle it half and half, be quick. It's getting late for me."

Pateshwari told Jhinguri. Jhinguri beckoned Hori, took him to his own house, counted out thirty rupees and handed them over, and, weighing him down with obligation, said, "Get the paper written this very day. It's seeing your face that I'm giving the money — for your decency."

Hori took the rupees and tied them in the corner of his cloth and, with a glad face, started towards the daroga.

Suddenly Dhaniya darted forward and with one jerk snatched the cloth-bundle from his hand. The knot was not firm. The moment it got the jerk it came undone, and all the rupees scattered on the ground. Hissing like a serpent, she said, "Where are you carrying off these rupees — tell me? If you mean well, return all the rupees, or else I tell you. The souls of the household die day and night and pine for every grain, can't even get a rag to wear — and you set off with a fistful of rupees to save your honour! So great is your honour — a man in whose house the mice scamper, he too is a man of honour. The daroga will just do a search. Let him search wherever he likes. First a cow worth a hundred rupees gone, and on top of it this extra dough! Bravo to your honour!"

Hori was left swallowing a draught of blood. The whole crowd seemed to shudder. The leaders' heads bent low. The daroga's face fell a little. In all his life he had never been given such a dressing-down.

Hori stood stunned. Today, for the first time in his life, Dhaniya had thrown him in the open arena, made him see the sky. How could he raise his head now!

But the daroga was not a man to admit defeat so soon. He said in vexation, "It seems to me that this devil's aunt poisoned the cow herself in order to trap Hira."

Dhaniya, twisting her hand at him, said, "Yes, I poisoned her. It was my own cow, I killed her — I didn't kill anyone else's animal, did I? If that's what your investigation turns up, then write that. Slip the handcuffs onto my wrists. I've seen your justice and the reach of your wits. To cut the throats of the poor is one thing. To separate the milk from the milk and the water from the water is another."

Hori, raining sparks from his eyes, lunged towards Dhaniya, but Gobar came and stood in front of him and said in a fierce tone, "Enough now, Dada, it's gone far enough. Step back, or I tell you — you won't see my face again. I won't raise a hand against you. I'm not so unworthy a son. I'll hang myself by the neck right here."

Hori stepped back, and Dhaniya, grown lion-bold, said, "You stand aside, Gobar — let me see what he'll do to me. The daroga is sitting here. Let me see his courage. Doing a search of the house — that ruins his honour. Kicking his own wife about before the whole village — that doesn't ruin his honour! So this is the dharma of heroes. If you're such a hero, then fight some man. Whose arm you grabbed and dragged here — by beating her you'll be called brave. You must think it's I who feed you bread and clothe you. From today, manage your own house. See whether or not I live in this very village grinding pulse on your chest — and live eating and dressing better than this. If you wish, just watch."

Hori was beaten. He learned how weak, how helpless a man is before a woman.

The leaders had picked up the rupees and gathered them and were signalling the daroga to leave from there. Dhaniya struck one more kick. "Whoever the rupees belong to, carry them and give them back to him. We borrow from no one. And if any is to be paid, it'll be paid only from that one. I won't give a farthing, even if I have to climb up to the magistrate's bench. We asked for twenty-five rupees to clear the arrears — no one gave them. Today a fistful of rupees got pulled out and handed over jingling. I know everything. There was to be a sharing and dividing here — everyone's mouths would have been sweetened. These murderers are the headmen of the village, suckers of the poor's blood. Interest and usury, a rupee and a quarter for the rupee, gifts and offerings, bribes and pickings — by whatever means, plunder the poor. And on top of it they want self-rule. Self-rule won't come from going to jail. Self-rule will come from dharma, from justice."

The leaders' faces were as if smeared with soot. The daroga's face was as if swept with a broom. To save their honour they set off towards Hira's house.

On the way the daroga conceded, "She's a bold woman!"

Pateshwari said, "Bold she is, huzoor — a shrew. Such a woman should be shot."

"She's spoiled your scheme. You'd have got at least four apiece."

"Your honour's fifteen rupees are gone too."

"Where can mine go? She won't give it — the headmen of the village will, and instead of fifteen rupees, a full fifty. You men make the arrangement quickly."

Pateshwarilal said, laughing, "Your honour is a great joker."

Datadin said, "These are the marks of great men. Where does one ever get to set eyes on such fortunate souls?"

The daroga said in a hard voice, "Save the flattery for later. At this moment get me fifty rupees, in cash, and understand this — if you make any difficulty, I'll search the houses of all four of you. It is quite possible that you trapped Hira and Hori to wring a hundred or fifty out of them by hatching a fraud."

The leaders even now still thought the daroga was joking.

Jhinguri Singh, winking, said, "Bring out fifty rupees, Patwari Sahib!"

Nokheram supported him. "It's Patwari Sahib's area. He certainly ought to do the honours for you."

Pandit Datadin's village hall came in sight. The daroga sat down on a cot and said, "What have you decided? Do you bring out the rupees, or do you get a search done?"

Datadin objected. "But huzoor..."

"I don't want to hear any ifs and buts."

Jhinguri Singh ventured, "Sarkar, this is downright..."

"I give you fifteen minutes. If the full fifty rupees do not come within that time, the houses of all four of you will be searched. And do you know Ganda Singh? The man he strikes doesn't even ask for water."

Pateshwarilal said in a sharp voice, "It's within your authority — search them. This is a fine joke — one does the work and another gets caught."

"I've done thanedari for twenty-five years, do you know that?"

"But such an outrage has never happened before."

"You haven't seen outrage yet. Say the word and I'll show you that too. I'll have each one of you sent away for five years apiece. This is child's play for my left hand. With one robbery case I can have the whole village transported. Don't be under any illusion!"

The four gentlemen went inside the village hall to deliberate.

What happened after, no one knows. Yes, the daroga looked pleased, and rebuke rained on the faces of all four gentlemen.

When the daroga mounted his horse and rode off, the four leaders ran alongside. When the horse had got far away, the four gentlemen turned back, in a manner as though returning from the cremation ground after performing some dear one's funeral rites.

Suddenly Datadin said, "If my curse does not fall on him, may I not show my face."

Nokheram endorsed it. "I've never seen such wealth prosper."

Pateshwari prophesied, "Ill-gotten gain goes ill."

For Jhinguri Singh, doubt had entered today about the justness of God. Who knows where God is, that he watches such outrage and yet gives the sinners no punishment.

At this moment these gentlemen were worth painting.