Читать бесплатно онлайн книгу Adventures of Indi, the Little Princess. Part 1 «Yoly»автор Danil Dzha
Danil Dzha
Adventures of Indi, the Little Princess
Part 1 «Yoly»
Fonts by «ParaType»
Illustrator Alena Abzhalilova
Translator Danil Dzha
© Danil Dzha, 2018
© Alena Abzhalilova, illustrations, 2018
© Danil Dzha, translation, 2018
The events of this story unfold in India in the middle ages. A little Princess from a noble Kingdom is kidnapped by a mysterious forest creature. Her father, King Raja, and his faithful commander Sikh go in search of her. Impassable jungles, mangroves, mountain rivers, wild animals and magic await them on the way to the mysterious Spruce Forest. In the role of antagonists are the well-known archetypes of Slavic mythology, the history of which, according to one version, began in India.
ISBN 978-5-4493-2178-7
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
Contents
- Adventures of Indi, the Little Princess
As light and darkness one planet divides
So good and evil, one coin with two sides.
And in this fairytale’s florid story
Is revealed, dear reader, the mystery
That in truth there’s no darkness and light
Just our illusions, and not a clear sight.
• • •
It was an unusual evening… The sun had become red, heralding the approach of the rainy season. Wild beasts hid from the heat in the most secluded corners of the jungle, stray dogs wandered through the nooks, and fish lay still in the river creek. Then the wind died down, the cicadas fell silent, the birds stopped singing and the Kingdom of Hindustan plunged into dark, silent night.
Every year at this very time, a mysterious creature emerged from the forest and abducted girls, for unknown reasons, and what’s more, only girls of the age of seven. The King knew this well, and therefore put his bravest guards near the chamber of his daughter, Princess Indi.
The sound of a curved ivory horn reverberated across Jagannath – the capital of the great kingdom. Parents rushed to lock their homes and hide their young daughters in windowless rooms, safe from the sonorous chimes of the magic bells that the creepy forest creature used to lull people into a dream, as it pursued its next victim.
The sky was cloudy and tense, the moon and stars hidden from sight. At midnight, the thunderstorm broke. The first lightning bolt hit a huge old banyan, and the tree was quickly covered in orange flames.
The little Princess was scared and called to her mother, beautiful Queen Rani. The chamber of her parents was next to hers, and the Queen immediately came and comforted her daughter. As she went to the window to shut the blinds, she saw the blazing tree, and before it the flash of a strange silhouette. But the villain escaped the Queen’s attention, and she never even suspected that it was sneaking towards its prey. There was another thunderclap, and the rain fell in a torrent such as hadn’t been seen for over a century. As the downpour extinguished the fire, the river swelled over its banks, and the streams of water swiftly turned everything around into an impassable swamp.
As Indi dozed in her room, the guards stood at the entrance and did not sleep a wink. The rain did not abate, and the thunder was getting stronger and stronger. Suddenly, at the end of the hallway, came the sound of steps. The warriors thrust their spears forward, ready for battle, but the crafty creature was not going to fight – it simply bewitched them with captivating sounds of its bells and then laid them down with the spell:
Branches, cones, moss and bark,
Fir, cedar, spruce and pine…
The time has come to fall asleep,
Dive into the whirlpool of dark!
The creature snuck into the girl’s room, grabbed her, and left in her place an ominous token. No one stood in its way, as all who heard its forest song fell asleep, and the monster freely left the kingdom, sailing a self-made boat along the river.
In the morning, the storm passed and the rain ceased. King Raja woke up before everyone else and went to visit his daughter. But as soon as he came out of his chamber, he saw the sleeping guards at her door. He cried out in rage and ran into the room of the little Princess. Her bed was empty apart from a strange wooden doll. The Queen rushed in, and seeing that their only child was gone, fell into a faint.
That very day, the furious Raja selected the strongest warriors and ordered them to find and rescue the Princess, and that the forest monster be mercilessly put to death!
• • •
Meanwhile, little Princess awakened from the spell. She lay on soft moss under a huge spruce tree, and, covered by a veil, did not even feel that she was far away from home in a mysterious forest. Cuckoos were cuckooing, green parrots were flying from branch to branch, spotted deer were grazing not far off in a meadow, and egrets walked by the river. She was not scared and did not even think to call to her guards… she was terribly curious about what happened while she slept!
A rustle in the bushes attracted her attention. Indi got up and peered from behind a tree. A furry hare nibbled berries from all over a bush. The little girl had never seen a wild hare, so she tried to get a closer look, but it scampered away. Indi ran after it, forgetting about her strange situation. Just as they reached the top of a hill, the hare suddenly disappeared into a hole. But Indi beheld a wonderful view of a vast plain, in the fields of which some girls were at work. The Princess descended the hill and approached them. The girls immediately surrounded her.
“Are you new here?!” the first girl asked her.
“What’s your name?” said another one.
“I am Princess Indi. I am seven years old.”
Indi was different to the other girls. Her skin was lighter, her brown eyes bigger, and her long hair shone and bore the sweet incomparable scent of rose oil. And her royal upbringing had taught her to always be polite and attentive.
“And my name is Kavita. All of us here are seven years old,” the third girl said. “And princesses don’t belong here. We all work equally, and now you will have to. Put on some gloves and start weeding the beds. You will meet other girls later.”
The princess was not accustomed to being told what to do, but there was no one to complain to, so she obediently put on gloves and began to work.
“Why do you plant all of these trees? Already, there’s forest all around,” Indi asked.
“Once the fir forest was very dense, but people, through negligence, almost destroyed it. Now we need to help it recover.”
Indi ran a hand over the prickly spruce branches and immediately smelled the soft coniferous aroma. She had never seen trees like that, and she very much wanted to plant just such a sapling in the royal garden.
“And what about your parents?” she asked, thinking about her own mother and father. “Don’t you miss them?”
“We have no time for that here. We are all busy with work,” the girls replied. “Now this is our common home, where we feel good and comfortable together. You’ll love it here too.”
After finishing with the seedlings, the girls went to sort through the cones and put them in baskets. Indi went with them. The valley was covered with various new plants and trees, and beautiful red flowers with an exotic and alluring aroma surrounded it. All responsibilities were fairly divided between the little workers. While some worked in the field, others cooked meals and cleaned up. They slept in small huts, carved like nests, hanging from huge century-old spruces. During their rest time, the girls played in the meadow, looked after the forest animals, watered flowers, and studied botany.
The girls busied themselves tirelessly until evening, but as soon as the sun went below the horizon, Indi heard a familiar melody and felt her eyes closing…
The next morning, Indi woke up with a strange feeling that someone was watching her. Opening her eyes, she squealed with surprise. Before her, there stood an old dwarf dressed in rough canvas clothes, staring at her with huge green eyes. On his head was a hat overgrown with grass and sprouting whimsical form mushrooms, and under a nose like a long twisted twig there hung a beard of silver moss; his feet were bound in plaited shoes and a huge owl perched on his staff.
“Well, hello, Indi!” he said in a kind voice. “I am Yoly, the keeper of this forest. And this is my old friend, owl Ullu.”
Indi was not frightened at all, but rather curious!
“How old are you? And what’s this thing in your hand, like a wreath with bells?”
“I am more than two hundred years old,” Yoly answered. “These bells are magical and made from cones of special spruce tree.”
He handed her the wreath, but the silver bells immediately changed into ordinary spruce cones in her hands.
“You see,” Yoly said, “these bells have power only in my hands. I use their soporific chime when I need to go quietly amongst the people.”
“So that’s how you managed to drag me out,” Indi said thoughtfully, “but why?”
“I need you!” the forest dwarf exclaimed. “Now let’s go, I’ll show you to your new dwelling.”
• • •
The rainy season was already over. Every day the king’s men returned to the city, bringing the disappointing news that the little princess still had not been found. Neither the bravest of the brave warriors, nor the hunters with their hounds, nor the people of neighboring cities were able to point to the trail of the kidnapper. Even magicians and sorcerers were powerless.
But then an old man appeared in the city. His long hair was wrapped tightly around his head and bound in a scarf, and a wide piece of white jute fabric, twisted at the waist, served as his only clothes. On his neck, under a grey beard, there could be seen rosaries made from dried fruits of rudraksha, and he had a ragged bag over his shoulder. Leaning on a stick, he slowly walked barefoot on the beaten road leading to the royal palace.
Majestic and enduring Jagannath, about which people composed songs, had been the capital city of the prosperous kingdom for many centuries. On all sides it was surrounded by high walls with watchtowers that neither robbers nor wild beasts could get past, and all its gates were heavily guarded. At the vast market square, camel caravans with exotic foreign goods were offloaded, and there were shops of artisans and craftsmen. The old man had never seen so many people. All were bustling and busy with something. Some traded, others bought, one cleaned the fish while another cooked them and offered them to taste. Around the square, elephants dragged huge logs for house-builders, magicians and snake charmers entertained bystanders, children flew kites, and buffaloes rested and grazed in the shade of spreading acacias. And on the hill at the heart of the city was the magnificent palace of Raja, the flag on its stone tower set at half-mast as a reminder about the missing Princess.
The palace guards blocked the old man’s way.
“I have news about the Princess,” he said.
Two guards immediately opened the gate and told the old man to follow them. The royal palace was made of pale white marble and gleamed faintly with precious stones. In the menagerie yard, the antelopes wandered dejectedly, the mynas flapped around restlessly, the nightingales perched in silence in their golden cages, the turtles stood still on the bank of the pond, and even the peacocks had ceased to flaunt their colorful tails – it seemed that everything pointed to the sorrow of the kingdom. In the throne room, the huge portrait of the Great Ruler, father of the current King, covered the whole wall. Raja appeared almost immediately.
“Who are you, old man? What brings you here?”
“My name is Sadhu. As soon as I heard about your distress, I immediately came to you. I think I know who kidnapped the Princess and where you can find her.”
Raja immediately invited the old man to take a seat and ordered that water and food be brought for him.
Raja said sternly, ‘I have been waiting for three months for some news about my daughter. My people have worn down more than one pair of shoes in their search. If you can really help me, I’ll give you as much gold as you can carry! But if you try to fool me, I’ll throw you in the dungeon!”
“I don’t need your gold,” Sadhu replied humbly, “and I always have to carry my own dungeon with me. I will tell you everything I know.”
Sadhu took a sip of water and began.
“Many years ago, when I was a little boy, my grandmother told me the story of a mysterious dwarf named Yoly, about whom she knew firsthand. Yoly was the Keeper of the Forest and cared about all forest inhabitants, and particularly about the small shoot of a Great Spruce, brought especially from the far North.” The old man took out from his bag antique manuscripts with drawings, handed them to the King, and continued. “One day the people were celebrating the approach of the rainy season. They set a huge fire, and when the firewood ran out, they went to the forest to collect more. It was a gloomy moonless night… having stumbled in the dark on they cut the dry remnants of branches and with them the little sapling and threw them into the fire. There was a burst of blue flames, and a strange squeaking sound was heard. The people were afraid and ran away, but the fire burned on. Soon, it spread to the bushes, and then onto the trees. The forest, still dry, quickly broke out in flames, and only a sudden downpour of rain saved it from burning out completely. Many animals and birds suffered that night. But the forest dwarf mourned most of all that he could not save the precious offshoot of the Great Spruce, and thus the forest was doomed to destruction. And then the dwarf swore that once a year – on this night – he would kidnap a girl of the same age as his little sapling, of those whose parents had caused this great harm to the plants and creatures. And he would raise these girls in the Spruce Forest, instilling in them concern and love for nature. So they would redeem the guilt of their ancestors. To keep the girls always young, he planted magic azaleas, bred by his own method. The miraculous aroma of these flowers stopped the girls from ageing. And the dwarf mixed a special potion of magical herbs to make them feel calm, so they did not miss their homes.”
Raja listened carefully to the old man. He guessed that only a captive could have told Sadhu all this, and if one had managed to save herself, there was a chance for his daughter too. And now King understood what he was being punished for; the chopping down of trees to build houses and ships! – and that was only half of it, because he had burned so many forests during wars! And his palace was decorated with his many hunting trophies: on the floor, there were tiger skins, on the walls, there hung the heads of the wild animals that he had killed; there were decorations made from tusks and fans made from peacock feathers; he had given the beautiful Queen Rani luxurious furs of rare animals and songbirds in cages. The King looked around, thought that his house was like a graveyard of nature, and got angry! But he didn’t know whom to blame.
“I am the King of Hindustan! I am the great Raja!” he cried. “How dare some forest dwarf attack me and kidnap my daughter?! I swear that I will find him and sentence him to fire!
“Oh no, great Raja,” Sadhu sobbed, “you cannot do this. You must redeem the guilt. And if you burn him…”
“No!” King interrupted. “Nobody can tell Raja what to do! I declare a reward: anyone who brings this dwarf to me shall receive a bag of gold equal to his own weight!
Sadhu thought that if they caught Yoly and threw him into the fire, something terrible would happen, but King would not listen.
“And I’ll find this Spruce Forest myself!” Raja cried and ordered a search squad to be gathered immediately. “We are leaving!”
• • •
All day, never sparing the horses, the King galloped with his warriors in search of the kidnapper’s lair. He had some ideas about where the mysterious forest could be located, but not how to find the way there. By early evening, with his path blocked by mangroves, Raja decided to make a halt while some of his men explored the area and try to find a way through. Four warriors dismounted and waded into the muddy thickets, while a huntsmen set off to catch a wild boar.
It was getting very dark, his messengers still had not returned and the King became indignant. Uncertainty tormented him, and the salvation of his daughter and revenge against the kidnapper had to be postponed. He ordered sardar Sikh, his brave commander, to take some more men and go in search of the missing ones. After a while, they came back with bad news.
“Only one was able to escape the swamp, he must have found some path. Our huntsmen died in a fight with a boar,” Sikh reported and presented the captured beast.
While the warriors were eating roasted meat, Raja reflected. It was strange to lose some of his best men not in a battle with the enemy, but in a mangrove. He must not lose vigilance! But fatigue was taking its toll and, with a watch mounted, the King and his men went to sleep.
Suddenly, in the middle of the night, there was a loud cry:
“Snakes, snakes! Snakes are everywhere!”
The King’s guard immediately lit torches. They were surrounded by poisonous snakes, creeping out of the mangroves. Several guards were already writhing in pain, as they succumbed to venomous bites.
“Saddle up! All saddle up!” Sikh cried.
They spent the rest of the night making their way along an overflowing river through the mangrove. The path was arduous, as the hooves of horses got bogged down in the swampy mire.
Finally, the morning sun lit up the valley. With the sonorous singing of colorful birds, the travelers beheld the beauty of these far-flung lands. Near a picturesque lake, set before mountains with snow-capped peaks, they decided to stop.
To ease their aches after a tough journey, several of the warriors jumped into the lake. Another two waded with nets, and it did not take long to make a catch. Satisfied by the fish served for dinner, Raja took out a drawn map that the old man gave him in the palace and began to compare the route. Suddenly, he heard screams from the water, though the calm lake had not foreshadowed any danger.
“Crocodiles!” Sikh shouted suddenly. “Get out of the water!”
But men began to go under, leaving red bloody clouds on the surface. Giant angry jaws grabbed at the royal warriors struggling to get to the shore. Sikh took up a gun and began firing at the bloodthirsty monsters until they retreated.
“It’s time to move on!” the King shouted.
His diminished squad followed him. The route skirted the lake and went upwards sharply at the end of the valley. The mountains towered in front of the horsemen. This would be, perhaps, the most difficult part of the route. The mountain path narrowed and became more and more dangerous. Horses could go no further, and Sikh ordered to tether and feed them. The men continued their way on foot.
By the evening, it began getting cold, and the air smelled of an approaching storm. It was decided that they shelter in the cave for the night. The guards lit bright torches, disturbing the bats, which flew outside. Having provided the King with a place to sleep, the warriors built a bonfire in the center of the cave and, somehow refreshed, sat down regaling the stories of their battles and boasting about the unprecedented feats. As the fire died down, everyone fell asleep. Only Sikh stayed awake, guarding the King.
The rains passed, and Sikh went out of the cave. A huge moon amidst a starry sky lit up the narrow footpath leading along the cliffs to the pass. Hearing some rustling, Sikh peered ahead and saw two glinting eyes, and behind them – more and more eyes. Sikh realized that the smell of meat had attracted a pack of jackals and hurried to the cave to wake the warriors. Grabbing their weapons, they rushed outside. There were sounds of battle, then screams… but no one returned. Maybe, some died in the fight, fell into the gorge in the darkness, took to their heels from fear, or simply did not find the path back to the cave in the night – all that the King and his loyal commander knew was that they were left alone with hungry beasts. Raja remembered that animals were afraid of fire and lit a torch. Sikh snatched up his sabre, and they rushed out into battle. Hacking at a dozen jackals and scorching the same number, they managed to drive them off.
“It’s not for long,” the wounded Sikh groaned. “They can come back in even more force.”
“It’s strange, jackals are scavengers and usually do not attack humans.” the King wondered once again, and realized that he and Sikh were now alone.
As they moved on, the moon lit up the route, and the howling of the jackals subsided. Having reached the pass, the travelers finally managed to take a breather, bandage their wounds and finish the last of the food stocks. Although King had lost his search squad, the presence of the valiant sardar, Sikh, gave him confidence. At this time of the year, the mountain pass would not be so difficult. As the route went down, it became easier for them to go further. By noon, they approached a deep gorge, the mountain river flowing far below. The King knew that there was a hanging bridge somewhere near, crossing this gorge. They soon found the bridge and got ready to gently step across to the other side. It was ancient, and the hemp ropes, which held the half-rotten planks aloft, seemed about to burst. The King went first. When he reached the middle, Raja looked down and saw black bear cubs trying to catch fish in the river, and at that moment, they heard a terrible roar. Sikh turned around – and there was a huge she-bear with a white spot on its chest. It was futile to run to King, as the beast would catch them in a second and tear them to pieces. So, Sikh drew his sabre and bellowed.
“Run, my King! I will hold it back!”
The King had almost reached the other side of the gorge, when the bear opened its jaws, stood up on its hind legs and lunged towards Sikh. The huge fangs of the wild beast loomed over Sikh, and its breath was hot and bloodthirsty. Making sure that the King was safe, Sikh severed one rope of the hanging structure with a stroke of his sabre. The bridge twisted heavily to one side. The bear lost its balance and dropped on all four paws. Sikh slashed at the second rope, and the bridge fell into the gorge, and Sikh and the beast plunging with it. The rapid flow of the icy river caught them and in a moment they disappeared from sight. The poor King was left all alone. He was proud of the feat of the loyal warrior, but it was impossible now to help him. There was no alternative, Raja had to go on alone to the Spruce Forest. He set off down the trail.
The next day, hungry and exhausted, the King descended into the lowlands and struggled through the jungle. Having sheltered in the shade of a large tree with huge white flowers, he smelled the familiar scent of jasmine and lifted his head. Over him, like an unexpected lifeline, hung green mangoes. Raja pounced on the fruit, ignoring the strange bitterness. The poison acted immediately. The exhausted King fell deadly still upon the ground.
• • •
The rains passed, and there were the first shoots appearing from the seeds that the girls had sown. Indi was already well versed in knowledge of plants and herbs, was able to provide first aid to wounded animals and birds, and had mastered the healing recipes. She was generally well received and made friends with all the girls. A day later, Yoly appeared and taught them botany. Time passed, but it did not affect the girls – they lived in their idyllic world in harmony with nature and cared for their environment.
One morning, Yoly visited Indi.
“Good morning, Indi! Come with me, I want you to meet someone.
Indi crawled from the hanging hut down a rope ladder and ran after him. Yoly only looked old and clumsy, but in fact, he was very nimble. Indi barely kept pace with him. The unfamiliar path they took led to a thicket in the spruce forest. The huge trees seemed to part before Yoly, and bowed their barbed and mossy branches, as if teasing the Princess with mystery. Passed the fallen trees, streams and ravines, they finally reached the desired place. In a meadow, among dead wood, there was the stump of a huge old withered spruce.
“Indi, this is the Foremother of all our spruces!” Yoly said proudly. “Once it was the ancestor of this unique forest. Only its seeds can germinate on this ground and give life to new trees. Therefore, I carefully store its cones, and when the time comes, I will take out the seeds and plant them in favorable places. And the girls help care for the shoots.”
“What happened with this spruce?” the girl asked. “Why is it withered?”
“Many years ago a terrible drought befell our land. For almost a year, there was not a drop of rain, all the rivers dried, and the ground cracked from the heat. Many trees perished, and only the long roots of this spruce deep under the ground managed to reach water. But eventually the groundwater springs dried up, and the tree began to die. I ran to people for help, but they were scared and hid from me. So I grabbed a bucket, took water from the well, and ran back. When I returned, our spruce had already died. I poured on it all the water, that I could, but it was too late. Its roots withered, needles fell off, and branches drooped. I cried, hugged it, and fell asleep. Waking up the next morning, I saw the little shoot from the dead spruce. It was incredible! Dying, it left a little hope. I cared for the little shoot, like my own child. Every night, I ran to the well for water and watered it. The drought passed and the forest began to revive. By the age of seven, my tree had become a beautiful sapling the like of which could not be found elsewhere in the forest. But then people came here in search of firewood and cut it down. In the dark of night, they did not understand that this was not an ordinary tree, but the little spruce that held the Spirit of the Forest. I heard a shrill squeak and ran to it, but the fire had already consumed it. Since then, I have remained solely responsible for this forest. But I have aged and now I cannot cope with everything without your help.”
Indi reached for her new friend and hugged him.
“Isn’t there any way to revive this tree?” she asked with hope in her voice.
“There is one. And this requires a girl of Royal Blood.” Yoly replied before swiftly disappearing under the canopy of his dear trees.
The little Princess lingered, staring at the dry stump of the once-majestic tree. She had many questions and only time would bring answers to them.
• • •
Tireless cries of wild monkeys awakened the King from his long sleep. He opened his eyes and saw a little boy sitting on a huge rock with his legs crossed, amidst stone ruins.
“Where am I?! What happened to me?” the King groaned.
The boy did not pay any attention to him.
“Hey, boy, I’m talking to you!” the King said, raising his voice then immediately beginning to cough. He realized how starved and exhausted he felt.
“Don’t bother me, uncle!” the boy replied. “Don’t you see I am busy?”
“How dare you talk like that to the king, you little rascal?!” Raja retorted. “I’ll throw you in prison!”
The boy laughed and deftly jumped off the rock.
“You must have hit your head pretty hard! Kings live in a Kingdom, and you look like a pathetic beggar who is lost in the jungle and, by the way, not well-versed in poisonous fruits.”
The King looked over himself. His clothes were stained and torn, his tangled hair was covered with cobwebs, his buffalo leather boots were worn out, and he really did look like a beggar.
Raja grabbed a stick and swung at the boy, but then he heard a menacing growl. He turned around and saw a red leopard with bright black spots. The fierce grimace of the graceful animal immediately cooled the hot temper of the King.
“Her name is Chita!” the boy introduced his menacing friend.
“Names are for people,” King snorted, “animals have nicknames.”
“She’s not just an animal, and she saved your life, dragging you here when you were half-dead! Once she saved my life too!”
“How could this wild cat save your life, boy?” Raja inquired incredulously, peering through a hole in his caftan from her fangs.
“I was not even three years old when a brutal conqueror attacked our village and imposed a heavy tribute on the poor people. His face was covered with a black mask, and he himself suffered an incurable illness, but knew no fear in battle. We had nothing with which to pay and so his army burned down the whole village… my parents died. At that time, Chita was hunting in the jungle near the village. Seeing a little boy surrounded by fire, she rushed to his aid as if she was saving her own child. I even looked like a little kitten! So, after finding a shelter for me here in this old abandoned town, she protected and took care of me. It’s already five years that I’ve been living here, in the wild jungle, among the apes, hunting alongside the leopard and equal with the other animals.”
The King reflected that the inhabitants of his Kingdom also paid him tributes and that it could be a burden for some of them too. And a special squad also punished those who did not pay. Raja felt guilty before his new acquaintances.
“What’s your name, boy?” he asked.
“Damian!”
“I am King Raja!”
Damian looked at him, trying not to laugh, and the King immediately corrected:
“Raja, call me simply Raja.”
The King knew about the existence of this ancient town, overgrown with jungle and inhabited by wild monkeys, but had never been here. Many legends told of the unmatched power of the former empire and its great riches, hidden securely in underground labyrinths, protected by royal cobras and even the Ghost of the Empress trapped in a dried well. But Raja now thought only of his daughter.
“I need your help, Damian!” King said. “Do you know how to get to the Spruce Forest?”
“I’ve never been there,” the boy replied, “it is protected by the Spirit of the Forest. But I can find the way anywhere.”
“Good,” Raja said and tried to get up. “Let’s go!”
“No, you’re too weak! Besides, I have one important thing to do today.”
“And what’s that?” Raja asked.
“Not far from here, a little elephant fell into a deep pit. I need to pull it out before dark. Otherwise, wolves will kill it.”
King had repeatedly witnessed how his people pulled out of such scrapes horses and even working elephants, so he knew what to do.
“If I help you, will you show me the way to the Spruce Forest?”
The boy happily nodded to the King and ran off to chase monkeys.
Raja could barely stand up. The boy had saved his life, and the King wanted to thank him but did not know how. Leaning heavily on the stick, he walked to look at the ruins of the stone town. Long-tailed langurs watched him from giant trees, peacocks pecked some seeds in the gardens, and the spotted leopard lay in the shade. In the ruins of a castle, Raja found an old poleaxe and started chopping at the vines that had grown into the stone walls. He used them to twine two sturdy ropes with loops on the ends. This was sufficient to save the animal.
“Boy!” Raja shouted. “I need you to bring two strong buffaloes to the pit.”
Without a word, Damian leaped up to the hanging vines and, swinging from one to another, headed towards the meadow where the buffaloes grazed. By the time Raja had reached the little trapped elephant, a couple of towering humpback buffaloes already stood at the pit. The King threw the vine loops over the powerful necks of the bulls, and used the other ends of ropes to wrap around the little elephant’s padded feet, then ordered the bulls to pull. The cords stretched, steam burst from the nostrils of the great beasts, and the little elephant slid up the sloping wall of the pit and was safely released from its captivity. Damian rejoiced and pranced with happiness as the clumsy little elephant hurried to its parents. Although Raja was pleased to participate in the rescue of the animal, his royal position obliged him to be always act disciplined and lordly, so in his Kingdom he was deprived of the opportunity to commit mischief and do as he pleased. For a moment, he felt like a child, having tasted complete freedom.
For a few days after, Damian took care of the King, giving him brews of medicinal herbs to drink, which soon drew the remains of the poison out. Raja gained strength and felt ready to continue the search for his daughter.
The next day, the King was awakened by the cry of a huge elephant, on the back of which Damian stood grandly.
“Get up here!” the boy shouted. “We’re leaving!”
Raja climbed onto the elephant, and they went in search of the Princess.
“Why do you need to find the Spruce Forest?” Damian asked.
“My daughter is there. She was kidnapped.”
“But there lives the Forest Spirit!” Damian protested.
“Yes, he was the one who kidnapped her from my kingdom!”
“From your kingdom?! And what are you going to do with him?” the boy asked nervously.
But then they were interrupted by the plaintive cry of a wounded animal. They climbed down from the elephant and saw in the bushes a fox, whimpering in pain, with two long needles in its nose.
“Poor fox!” the boy lamented. “It shouldn’t attack porcupines. But we must help it!”
Raja took off his caftan and covered the fox.
“Pull!” he commanded. “I’ll hold it.”
Damian pulled out one needle after another, then the fox, squealing, escaped and fled into the jungle.
“This is the second time, Raja!” Damian said jokingly.
“What second time?” the King asked in surprise.
“The second time that you saved an animal. Any more effort and you will become the keeper of the forest!”
Raja pondered…
“So, what did you say you were going to do with the Spirit of the Forest?” the boy asked again, helping the King back onto the elephant.
“It’s not exactly a spirit. This is an evil forest dwarf, looking like a decrepit old man with a long nose,” said Raja as he showed Damian drawings. “He kidnaps and enslaves children. I’m going to release them and burn him at the stake!”
Then the elephant stood stock still. It was clear that it would not go any further.
They thanked the elephant with a bundle of bananas and continued through the jungle on foot. Damian began to realize that this was a real king, whose intentions were very serious. The boy did not want anyone to come to harm, but he understood how important it was for the parents to find their little girls. He decided to delay the King so that he could figure it all out first. He chose a narrow trail that led them into the most impenetrable jungle. Soon, Raja was stuck among thickets of giant bamboo and lianas. He tried to cut his way through with the axe, but the more he struggled, the more his feet became entangled in the lianas, and eventually, he gave up.
“That’s it, I can`t go on!” Raja said. “I need to rest here. You go ahead and if you find the way come back for me.”
Damian was delighted that his plan had worked and, squeezing under the vines, the nimble little boy disappeared from sight. Through thickets of fern and sugar cane, he made his way to the river, where he found a wooden boat at the bank. He slipped into it and started paddling for the opposite bank, where he could see the coniferous forest. The boy could not swim and was very afraid of it turning over. But the boat proved to be reliable – for the forest dwarf himself sailed it.
• • •
Yoly was giving the girls another botany lesson when the wind suddenly rose and the trees began to sway alarmingly. Feeling that something was wrong, he rushed to make sure that the precious spruce stump was safe. The other girls gathered their notebooks and went to their shelters, but Indi decided to take a walk. She climbed the hill and saw a dark-skinned boy running towards her half skipping, half on all fours.
“Hey! I’m Indi,” she introduced herself. “Who are you?”
“Hey! And I’m Damian,” the boy replied, a little embarrassed. “You must be the Princess! I saw this immediately. You don’t look like a normal girl.”
“You don’t look like a normal boy either, Damian!” Indi said, smiling. “You ran like a wild cat, skipped like a monkey, and you have claws like an eagle’s.”
“That’s because I grew up in the jungle. And I have a wild heart!” Damian answered proudly.
“Is this your tooth hanging on your neck?”
“Yes… I mean, no, this is the fang of the leopard Chita! She lost it in a fight with a wild boar, so I kept it. I’ll be sure to introduce you to her!”
“I will hold you to that! I always dreamed of having a kitten, but my dad…”
“Oh yes, your father, King Raja, is looking for you! He’s going to catch the dwarf and burn him at the stake!”
“Oh, no!” Indi cried. “Hurry up, we must warn Yoly!”
She grabbed Damian by the hand, and they ran deep into the spruce forest.
Meanwhile, Raja had cleared his way through the jungle and reached the river. The boat was on the other side, so he began to cut bamboo to build a raft. Suddenly, he heard the crunch of twigs and heavy breathing from the thickets. The King became very anxious, as he did not want to die by the fangs of a beast when he was so close to his goal. One axe was not enough to protect himself, but the King stood up, swinging the blade in the shape of a crescent moon. Then, he saw the familiar sabre and turban emerge from the foliage.
“Sikh!” the King cried out. “You are alive!”
He embraced his faithful sardar. And then he asked:
“How did you manage to survive?”
“I was flung into the water. When I regained my senses, I found my way to the end of the hanging bridge and climbed up like a ladder to the top of the cliff. Then, I wove the rope into a net to catch the dwarf and followed your footsteps. I saw traces of a predatory beast at a tree with poisonous fruits. Your footprints ended, and I realized that the beast had dragged you to some lair. I was very surprised when I found your footsteps again a few days later. However, now there were other, smaller ones.”
“Yes, those are imprints of an eight-year-old boy,” Raja answered. “He lives in an abandoned town, where he tamed a leopard, and they both saved my life. Now Damian has run ahead to find the way.”
“And judging by the fact that the boat is on the other side, he found the way,” Sikh said, frowning. “We must hurry!”
They re-examined the map, and Sikh agreed that they could take a short cut by crossing the river in a raft, so that’s what they did. While Indi and Damian were still looking for Yoly, Raja and Sikh had already arrived in his realm. The King saw the magic azaleas that the old man had told him about, and ordered Sikh to hack them all down while he ran to look for his daughter.
“Where’s Indi? Where’s my daughter?” the King cried, seeing the girls.
But none of the girls had any idea where she was.
“Run away, hurry! Run to the river!”
The girls did not understand what was happening, but obeyed the King and began to run.
Having destroyed all the flowers of the magical aroma, Sikh caught up with the King and rushed into the spruce forest, beckoning him to follow. The King hurried after him, but the century-old trees seemed to not want to let them enter, twisting and blocking the path and enveloping them with prickly branches.
“I feel him! He’s somewhere here!” Sikh shouted and readied his net. A strong gust swirled through the foliage, and Yoly appeared in front of them.
“Shoot him before he bewitches us!” the King commanded.
Sikh drew his musket from over his shoulder and aimed at Yoly, but just as he lit the wick some frenzied force snatched the gun out of his hands and tossed it high and away… it was the owl Ullu! Then, Sikh drew his sabre and thrust forward to strike their opponent a blow. Yoly swung his staff to block him, and the sabre broke in half. Raja ran at him from behind and tried to use his axe, but Yoly dodged the blow and, hooking the King with his staff, sent him sprawling on the ground.
“I do not wish you harm. Go back to your homes!” Yoly said, towering over him. Then he took out his hypnotic bells and began to sing his song:
Branches, cones, moss and bark,
Fir, cedar, spruce and pine…
The time has come to fall asleep,
Dive into the whirlpool of dark!
But the King knew about this spell, and he quickly plugged his ears with moss to resist the soporific sounds. Sikh grabbed for the net and flung it around Yoly. Yoly fell on his side, and as he dropped the bells, he weakened and lost consciousness. They bound him firmly and dragged him towards the river. When they reached the bank, the King and Sikh saw that something terrible was happening to the girls. With the miracle of the aromatic flowers no longer working, many of the little girls began to turn into big girls, and some even became women, then old women, and after barely a moment, they sat on the ground, exhausted and crippled by the old age. The King realized the mistake he had made, bursting into their little magical world, but it was too late. Now he had to find his daughter. He left Sikh to guard Yoly and headed back towards the forest. Indi and Damian ran out to him.
“My Princess!” Raja cried joyfully, embracing his beloved daughter after so many months.
“Dad!” said Indi, so glad to see him. “But where is Yoly? What are you going to do with him?”
“I caught him!” the King declared. “He is our prisoner, and we will take him to Jagannath!”
“Please don’t kill him!” Indi begged. “He’s my friend, he’s good!”
“Well, maybe I’ll be merciful but first, we’ll put him on trial,” the overwhelmed father promised, then turned to Damian. “And I invite you, my young savior, to come to the palace with us. You deserved to attend the royal feast!”
Damian looked at the forest dwarf, entangled in the net, then at Indi, and shrugged.
“Yes, come with us!” Indi squealed excitedly. “And bring your leopard with you! You promised to introduce me to her.”
“Ok!” Damian agreed. “Only we need to find Chita on the other bank! I know where this gluttonous cat hunts.”
They hooked the raft to the boat, seated all the rescued girls, raised the sail, and cast away immediately. The way home was long, but the word went about that the great Raja had caught the evil dwarf and people helped them in every possible way – giving them horses, wagons, lodging, and meals. Those parents who had long ago lost daughters and who had lived to this happy day searched among the grown-up girls in hope of find their own.
• • •
The residents of Jagannath greeted their returning King with a real feast. In the main square, musicians staged a gala performance, clowns entertained the crowds, and on the tables were served exquisite delicacies. Everyone cheered and celebrated the defeaters of the evil dwarf as heroes. Next to the King and the Princess, Sikh solemnly rode on the camel with the prisoner in an iron cage, exposed for all to see. The rescued girls and women received the full attention of the royal healers. Upon entering the palace, Indi rushed to embrace her mom, then she introduced her new friend – Damian.
Under the shady canopy of a banyan, the old man sadly watched everything. He knew that something awful was happening, something that he could not prevent. He had sent the King to the Spruce Forest to rescue the Princess and now it was his fault that Yoly suffered.
Unloading the cage with the captive enemy at the palace square, Sikh ordered the guards to keep a close eye on him. Surprised residents crowded around the cage, calling for immediate execution.
“He must be stopped once and for all!” Queen demanded.
“But I promised our daughter to keep him alive,” Raja replied.
“Indi is still little and does not understand what danger can come from him. He kidnapped little girls and forced them to work for his own benefit,” Rani cried. “He must be burnt immediately!”
Raja went out onto the balcony and heard the frenzied cries of his people.
“Burn! Burn! Burn!”
“Order, my King, and I will put him to the flame!” Sikh said firmly.
The King pondered, it was a difficult choice for him.
“At sunset, before the night of the full moon, there will be a trial!” the King declared and retired to his chamber.
Indi ran out with Damian. The raging crowd was ready to tear Yoly to pieces but the guards held them back. The Princess realized that under this pressure from the people the King could not keep his word to her and would burn the poor dwarf at the stake. She managed to squeeze through the crowd to the cage.
“Forgive me, Yoly!” Indi whispered.
“You are not to blame, little girl. Keep the doll that I put into your bed, it will protect you from evil spells.”
Yoly looked at Indi as if for the last time and wept. Damian took her by the hand and led away from the madding crowd.
With the onset of darkness, the people began to pile up dry branches and logs near the prisoner’s cage, exulting at his coming execution, but Yoly just sat quietly in his cage, waiting. Then he saw an old woman with a lame girl in the crowd.
“What happened to your granddaughter?” he called out. “Why is she limping?”
“She was like this from birth,” the old woman said. “We tried everything, every possible treatment, but nothing helps.”
Then, Yoly tore a mushroom off his hat, cut a splinter from his shoes, and threw it at the poor girl’s feet.
“Here, take this. Brew the essence from this and drink it.”
At the dawn, the joyous shout of the girl, running to Yoly, silenced the roar of the hysterical crowd of onlookers near the cage.
“I can run! He healed me!”
“Is that the lame girl who could barely walk?!” people asked amazed. “But what happened? How is that possible?”
The old woman, following the girl with tears of joy in her eyes, started telling everyone about the wondrous healing of her granddaughter. The people stood in stunned silence until one blind woman dared to tell Yoly about her illness:
“If it’s true, if you have the power of healing, help me to regain my sight! I was poisoned in the forest by bitter berries and began to lose sight. Now I am completely blind.”
Yoly plucked a few mushrooms from the back of his hat and handed them to her.
“Boil these mushrooms for three hours, then tear off the caps, put them on your eyes, and your sight will return.”
“And I have back pain, I can’t straighten up!” an old man groaned.
Yoly peeled some bark from his staff and told him to press it where it hurt.
Some parents pushed forward with a plea to cure their children. Elderly people, beggars and cripples approached Yoly with requests. Then even some of the guards asked:
“We spend days and nights watching the city, our feet are burning with fatigue. Help us too!”
Yoly pulled out a handful of peas from his pocket and passed them over.
“Put these in your boots, and your feet will be strong again.”
Having heard about this wonderful healer, people from the nobility and even the King’s entourage began to visit Yoly.
“We are tortured with insomnia!” “We can’t sleep!” the court circle cried in chorus.
Yoly tore a piece of moss from his beard and handed over to them.
“Grind it into powder and drink it with water before bedtime.”
“And we’ve had no harvest for years!” “We have a drought!” “We have a flood…” the peasants called from all around.
The poor forest dwarf did his best to help everyone. By the end of the day, an endless queue had formed of the hapless, the needy and the simply curious. Everyone asked for something, everyone needed something. Only late at night, having been satisfied, the people began to disperse and return to their homes, leaving the wretched doctor in his iron cage. Then the old man Sadhu came to him and held out a jug of water.