After Ponnan left, Valli
started serving the sage with utmost care. After he finished his morning
prayers, she served him pearl millet pancakes, fresh off the skillet. The sage
relished the pancakes as he struck a conversation with her.
“Valli, do you know how
the queen is doing?”
“She is fine when the
prince is by her side. She starts crying when she is alone”, said Valli. Upon
further thought she added, “Your holiness, how is all this going to end? Is the
prince really going to become a king? If some danger befalls him, the queen
won’t be able to live with it”.
“What do I know, my
child? It will end as God wills. What do people think will happen?”.
“The people stand behind
the prince. They want to see the Pallava rule end. Even small children have
heard of King Parthiban's bravery on the battlefield. Your holiness, you told
us about the battle six years ago. The oarsman and I must have told thousands of people
that story”.
“I have told several
people the story as well. Let’s change topics. Tell me how Marappa Bhupathi is
doing. Does he still ask your grandfather to read his fortune?”
“Of course! He visits my
grandfather often”, said Valli. She thought of something and started laughing.
“What is funny Valli?
You are not laughing at me, are you?”
“Of course not your holiness!
Do you know what Marappan’s wish is? He wants to marry the Kanchi
Pallava princess! All that remains to be done is to fix a date for the wedding!”
The sage’s face darkened
for a moment, but he forced a smile, and asked, “why is that funny to you?”
“A likely match - the
princess and this coward! It’s not as if he is the last man on earth”.
“But isn’t your
grandfather fanning the flame with his false fortune-telling, and encouraging
Marappan’s crazy fantasies?”
“If he did not do that,
Marappan would have harassed me to death…. Your holiness, on the topic of the
princess, I have heard that she is beautiful. Is that true? Have you seen her?”
“I have seen her my
child, but what do I know of beauty? I am an ascetic”.
“I mean, is she prettier
than our queen?”
“Is your queen
beautiful?”
“Ok, our queen is ugly.
Your princess is the only beauty!!”
“Why does this upset you
Valli? As an ascetic, I can’t tell beauty from ugliness”.
“I can now see that you
can’t tell the difference! But if you see your Pallava emperor, you should ask
him about this. Do you know what happened before our queen married King
Parthiban? Narasimha Varman heard of her beauty and swore to marry her. He
threatened to shave his head and turn a Buddhist monk if he could not marry
her. Our queen Arulmozhi had already gotten engaged to Parthiba Chozha and wouldn’t
dream of marrying anyone else. She married our king as planned”.
The sage, smiling
brightly, asked, “What happened after that? Did Narasimha Varman shave his head
and turn a monk?”
“Men! What can we say
about their proclamations? Men in the royal families are especially fickle. He
married a Pandiya princess, and who knows how many other women? If I had been
born a princess, I would have refused to marry a king. It is better to stay in
a hut than share a palace with ten co-wives”.
“Very true, my child.
But I don’t think Narasimha Varman is as bad as you say”.
“Well then, let him be
good. It seems you know him well. Why don’t you talk to him and get his
daughter married to our prince? It will surely end all these needless fights,
won’t it?”
“That is a good idea,
but not something that I can propose. Why don’t you suggest that to the Pallava
emperor?”
“If I ever see the
emperor, I will definitely tell him. I am not afraid of him or anything!”
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