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In a peaceful land
At the foot of the Himalayas,
Lived a sage and his wife
In a secluded hermitage.
When his students went home
When his pupils all graduated
He devoted himself
To deep meditation.
With his senses reined
With his mind quiet
He sat ten days under blazing sun
Nine nights beneath the pale cold moon.
There came an eagle
An old-one swift
On the morning of the tenth day
At the end of the ninth night
One wing touched the sea
The other the mountains
Its eyes lightning-flashing
In its claws a field-mouse.
It was no ordinary mouse
Nor extr’ordinary either;
Her father and mother were king and queen
Her betrothed the prince of another mouse-kingdom.
The shrill crier swerved at the sight of the sage,
The bird-king banked about the hermit,
At the bright band of his fame
From the aura of his penance.
From his claws he dropp’d the mouse,
From his talons she came toppling,
Landed in the sage’s hands
Where he sat in meditation.
‘What is this, my little one?
Pursued by foes, to my protection?
No man of honor can refuse,
None may, and call himself a man’.
He spoke a spell, he spent his penance,
Unleashed his power, loos’d his wisdom,
Chang’d the mouse into a baby girl
And wrapp’d and took her to his lady.
‘Wife, this day you have a child;
Wife, this girl shall be our daughter;
Let the cloud of your heart rain love upon her,
Raise her as your very own’.
She grew up like a cypress-tree,
She grew up lovelier than jasmine,
Her eyes as bright as the shining flowers
Strung like stars in her midnight hair.
‘Now my child, you are of age,
My little one is all grown up;
The time has come for you to marry;
Come up, now, and choose a bridegroom!’.
‘Why, Father, do you say so?
Why send away your dearest?
Why trade away your darling?
Why give away your only child?’.
The sage informed his daughter
The old man explain’d tradition:
‘A father is astray
A parent fails his duty
Not to see his daughter wedded
Not to see his child protected
Not to see the family growing
Not to ensure her future;
A father takes the right path
Proves himself a parent
Who sees his daughter wedded
Who sees his child protected
Who sees the family growing
Who ensures the future.
Therefore be at ease;
Therefore dry your tears, be joyful!
I shall bring you the best men;
From among them, choose your bridegroom!’.
He offered her the Sun
But she would not go to Sunland
To stately dance with the stars above
And burn the earth with blazing summer.
He offered her the Storm
But she would not go to Stormland
To thunder in the tenebrous sky
And shed fresh tears on the fields below.
He offered her the Wind
But she would not go to Windland
To wander homeless o’er the Earth
Blow hot and cold on human faces.
He offered her the Mountain
But she would not go to Mountaintop
With its lofty peaks and lonely eagles
Its steep sides and stony heart.
He offered her the Mouse
And she returned to Mouseland
To play when the cats were all away
And dig and delve in the dark soft loam.
He told the tale to all his pupils
Taught it to his foster-sons
So the world would long remember
And recall their sense of wonder.
‘For we’ he said, ‘though we work wonders,
We cannot change essential nature;
All our arts are bound by Dharm,
Truth is always the last thing standing’.
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