Night blooming flowers fell upon Poonguzhali’s beautiful face from atop while the divine music played in the heaven. Poonguzhali’s veins thumbed with music when she heard the Prince’s words!
“My
Prince! I am not an apsara or a
heavenly damsel. I am a poor boat girl and I didn’t feed you nectar. I gave you
the milk that I got from the temple priest of Kuzhagar temple,”
“I
will not believe that you are not a heavenly damsel. Aren’t you the daughter of
Lord Varuna himself? Samudra Kumari! How many times are you going to save my
life? How will I repay this debt?”
“Ayya! If you would allow this poor boat
girl to be with you for one more day and night…”
“How
is that possible? I have to leave for Pazhaiarai immediately?”
“No.
We have received word to take you to Nagapattinam,”
“From
whom?”
“From
Princess Kundavai”
“Who
is that other man along with Vandiya Devan, dragging the boat?”
“My
cousin Senthan Amuthan. Princess Kundavai sent him here. It was he who had
brought her message, asking us to take you to Nagapattinam Choodamani Buddha
Viharam,”
“Aha! Has my sister changed her mind
about crowning me? I have always wanted to visit Nagapattinam Choodamani
Viharam. I will join their Sangam and become a Buddha Bikshu. I will travel
around the world and go all the way to China. Aha! My fortunes have changed indeed. Poonguzhali! Come let’s go,”
said the Prince and tried to stand.
Poonguzhali
then knew that the Prince had not regained his full consciousness and was still
in the grip of the fever. Just then, they faintly heard the wail of a man.
The
Prince immediately turned around, “Poonguzhali! What was that?”
“It’s
an owl My Prince!”
“No!
That’s a man’s voice and he is in some danger. Let us go save him right away. I
want to do a good deed before joining the Buddha Sangam,” shouted the Prince
and tried to run and fainted while attempting it. Poonguzhali who was right
behind him held him in her arms.
Senthan
Amuthan and Vandiya Devan came running and helped her carry the Prince back to
the boat. Poonguzhali started to ply the boat the overloaded boat through the
canal.
“Poonguzhali!
It would be difficult to row this small boat with four of us sitting inside. I
think it would be better if I take my leave now. It is up to you two to take
the Prince to Nagapattinam safely. I don’t have to tell you anything more as
you do know the gravity of the situation,”
As
he spoke, his voice was tinged with emotion and worry and his eyes were filled
with tears.
“Why
don’t you leave after we are past the woods of Kodi Karai? I left my horse
there for you,” said Senthan Amuthan
“No.
I would rather get down here itself. I will sleep in Kuzhagar temple for a
while and find my way out of the woods before dawn breaks. It would be tough to
travel all the way to Pazhaiarai otherwise. God knows, how many obstacles are on my way back!”
Poonguzhali
took out the bundle of food that she had taken from the temple priest and held
it to him, “Here! Take this. Kuzhar temple prasadam,”
“You
both haven’t eaten anything, you should keep the food.”
“Once
we are past these woods, there are many villages on our way. Either Senthan or
I can go there and get some food for us. But you have to travel without being
spotted by anyone. Take the food,”
“Don’t
forget that you have the Prince in your boat!”
“Who
will believe that this small boat would carry the Prince of the realm? Don’t
worry about us. We will take care of him. It’s our responsibility now,”
“Alright!
I will get down here,”
Just
then they heard the wail of the man yet again. The Prince opened his eyes and
exclaimed, “Who was that?” and then slept off again.
Poonguzhali
stood up and said, “No. I can’t do this. If the Prince comes to know he would
never forgive me. Take care of the boat for a little while. I will pull that mandiravadi out of that quicksand and
come back. It is close by, I should be back soon,”
“If
you are going, I will come along with you. I will not leave you alone with that
scoundrel,” said Senthan Amuthan
“No
Amudha, you stay in the boat and take care of the Prince. I will go with
Poonguzhali. I have some unfinished business with that mandiravadi!” said Vandiya Devan and ran after Poonguzhali.
Poonguzhali
could imagine the horrific scene that would unfold at the quicksand.
Mandiravadi buried to his chest in the mud trying to fend off the wolves that
would surround him. She could almost hear the Prince’s angry voice berating
her, “Woman! You are a vile murderess!” These thoughts gave much speed to her
legs and she literally ran through the woods to the quicksand.
But
the mandiravadi was not there! Vandiya
Devan who came behind her was equally shocked.
“Maybe
it was a different quicksand. I remember you telling me that there are many
quicksands around this region,”
But
Poonguzhali shocked and silent pointed to the shrub nearby, where Senthan’s
upper cloth was still tied.
“You
think he might have drowned in this. Impossible! It is very difficult to kill
Ravidasan. He has hundred lives. He would have escaped somehow!” said Vandiya
Devan and removed Senthan’s upper cloth from the shrub. Though he had tried to
console Poonguzhali, he was sure that the Mandiravadi
was dead and felt that he deserved a nasty horrific end such as this.
They
both had realized that there was nothing more to do but to make their way back
to the canal. As they walked back, they spotted two figures behind a tree near
the canal path. One of them was a female and the other, a male.
Poonguzhali
pointed them to Vandiya Devan.
“Who
do you think it is?” whispered Vandiya Devan
“The
woman is my sister-in-law and the man is mandiravadi!
Looks like she came here and rescued him from the quicksand!”
“That’s
fine then,”
“That’s
not fine. They are looking at the canal and might spot our boat,”
As
they spoke softly the figures turned towards them and then immediately hid
behind the bushes.
“It
looks like they have spotted us!”
“Come
with me. I have an idea and don’t be surprised by anything that I say,” said
Vandiya Devan and dragged Poonguzhali near the place where Mandiravadi and Rakkammal
were hiding.
“Poonguzhali!
Listen to me. Mandiravadi is dead, which is a very good thing for us,”
“Ayyo! What a horrible death?”
“Why
this sudden compassion after committing the murder?”
“Ayyo! Are you saying that I am
responsible for his death?”
“Who
else? Who tricked him into that quicksand in the first place? Suddenly you
found some compassion in your heart and came here to rescue him but by then Mandiravadi succumbed to his fate. Now
God alone knows whether you came to rescue him or to check whether he has
drowned in the quicksand.”
“Who
asked you to come after me?”
“If
I hadn’t I wouldn’t have known about the murder that you have committed. You
are a vile murderess!”
“Am
I a ‘murderess’ now?”
“Yes.
You are. But I am not saying that I am completely innocent either. I killed the
Prince by drowning him in the sea and you killed the Mandiravadi in these
woods. If you keep mum about the murder that I committed, I will do the same
for you,”
“It
was ‘you’ who killed the Prince. Just a moment ago, you swore that you haven’t
seen him!”
“I
lied deliberately. There is no need to lie anymore. Do you agree to what I have
to say?”
“If
I refuse?”
“If
you refuse, I will immediately go to Nandini Devi and tell her about the murder
that you committed.”
“What
will Nandini do to me?”
“Nothing
much. She would just order you to be buried until neck in the ground and
command an elephant to step on your pretty little head…”
“Ayyo! How horrible?”
“If
you don’t care for such a fate, then do as I say,”
“What
should I do?”
“There,
your cousin is coming along with a boat. Get on it and go to Elangai and stay
there. You can mourn your dear dead Prince on that island,”
“Why
should I go to Elangai? Why can’t I stay here?”
“Ah!
I am not a fool to allow you stay here. You might go to Periya Pazhuvetarayar
and reveal my secrets to him. The dead prince was dear to him and he might try
to hunt me down for his murder. I have other errands to complete and wish to
live a little while longer,”
“You
scoundrel! Why did you kill the Prince? Tell me!”
“I
have no shame in telling you the truth. The Prince and his sister had conspired
against my master Aditya Karikalan. They tried to snatch the throne away from
him. I am beholden to my master and his enemies are mine to slay. That’s why I
killed the Prince,”
“You
will receive just punishment for this traitorous act!”
“You
don’t worry about that. Worry about yourself instead. Will you do as I say or
should I…”
“Alright.
Not that I have a choice in this matter anyway. The boat is coming near, I will
go in that,”
“Listen
to me, you should turn the boat towards the sea and go straight to Elangai. I
will be watching you from here. If you try to turn it back towards the shore
again, I will know. I won’t budge from here until you leave,”
“Alright.
May a hundred wolves descend upon you,” cursed Poonguzhali and got on the boat.
Vandiya Devan waited at the canal banks until the boat disappeared from his
line of sight.
 |
| Ravidasan and Vandiya Devan |
Just
then he heard the Mandiravadi’s familiar horrible laugh behind him and he
pretended to be frightened and ran away from the spot screaming, “Oh God! Ghost!
Ghost!”
