The Out-House
(A
story)
BY MUNIMANIKYAM NARASIMHA RAO B.A., B. Ed.,
The Hindu College; Musalipatnam.
(Rendered into English from the Original Telugu By
Y. S. R. CHANDRAN, M.A., LL.B.,
Lecturer, The Hindu College, Guntur.)
My wife and children left for my father-in-law’s.
She proposed to return within a fortnight. For such a short period I thought it
would be a waste to do otherwise than carry on preparing my food somehow,
though clumsily and often scalding my fingers.
The day after my wife had left my aunt arrived. I
bade her a hearty welcome, not. without a selfish motive, for I saw in her a
providential solution of my domestic inconvenience.
To my great surprise she declared that evening, “I
must be leaving by the morning train”. She brushed aside my protests that it
was hardly time yet for thinking of her departure, that her “daughter” and
children were expected in a day or two, that she ought to see them, and so on.
“I should not have moved from home but for a grave
matter. The importunities of Kamalabai! Could anybody resist them? I came here
to fetch an exorciser for her. I have already fixed up with him, and we must be
going tomorrow.”
The word ‘exorciser’ made me prick up my ears.
“Here is some game”, I thought. I wanted to chaff her on her simplicity and
plied her in a mock serious vein, “The ghost! Wherefrom? The cursed thing!” She
innocently replied, “We know next to nothing of them, the spirits, but are
painfully aware how relentlessly it has been haunting the house”.
I snapped in, “Tut, Tut! They shouldn’t have
admitted the wicked thing inside, and should not have put themselves in the
parlous situation of the Arab while the camel with its long neck was ejecting
them out of their tent. They should have been firm at the outset and turned it
out.”
“The spirit is as insubstantial as air, my boy, and
more shrewd. It may not venture in while we are standing guard.”
“Then it must be a sneaking spirit,” I commented.
My aunt, evidently annoyed at my banter, flared up, “No use talking of spirits
to the English-educated. You are hard to convince, and you treat the existence
of spirits as a hoax. They are invisible to the naked eye. But should we
believe in things vouched for by the eye only? We don’t see the air, but don’t
we feel it?”
I enquired, “What harm can a spirit do, even if it
exists?” “Good God! You talk as if butter would not melt in your mouth. Why? It
upsets every thing; opens the very hell on you. Probably you will not believe
what these eyes have seen. While I and Kamalabai were chatting together the
d……d thing stole behind us and gave a thumping blow on the back.”
“It should have adopted a gentler method of wooing.
Kamalabai is a beauty, and it should have kissed her instead.”
“She fell down unconscious like a tree shaken by a
violent wind. She is having these fits ever since.”
“The fits may be due to a distemper.”
“Distemper, indeed! She doesn’t look it. She is as
sound as a log, except for those cursed fits, which come on towards the
evening. The spirit has become both a nuisance and a menace in that house. None
can live in it. It creates such weird creeping sounds in the stillness of the
night, jangling the brass-ware…….”
“Aren’t the rats responsible for such sounds?”
“It’s fantastic to explain away things like that.
All the brass-ware in the house–one would fancy from the noise–has been lifted
up in the air and dashed to the ground. Ah! You wouldn’t believe it. While we
were all discussing together, right into our midst, without hitting any one of
us, descended with a deafening noise a huge vessel. It has, of late, been
proving a nuisance. God knows wherefrom it collects all those bricks. Its
latest freak is, it fills the house with rows of them, the bricks. If we remove
a heap of them from one corner this day, there would be another the next day.
We are straining every nerve to rid the house of this devil. The exerciser may
give us a good riddance.”
So saying, she slept. She left by an early train
the next morning.
2
I spent a sleepless night. My thoughts dwelt on the
spirits. I could not ignore an eye- witness’s account. The English there in the
western hemisphere are a highly sceptical lot. But even there some assert the
existence of spirits. I began to think of the particular spirit that possessed
Kamalabai. I was most fascinated by its ability to fetch bricks, a useful
material for the construction of dwelling houses. Bricks are now a bit too
costly. won’t it be a blessing to have such a spirit in the house? It would be
so useful.
I had long been planning to raise an out-house in
my yard. If the spirit is obliging, the house can be ready in a trice. There
won’t be much difficulty. In hardly a month it can supply the bricks necessary
for my house. If still the supply continues I can make a good business out of
it. It would be paying, I am sure. I must somehow attract the spirit to my
house. I must congratulate myself on the bright idea dawning on me. But how to
get at the spirit? That’s a problem. It’s not so impracticable as I feared. I
see a way out. Suppose I put myself in touch with the exorciser and pray him to
divert the spirit he is driving out of. Kamalabai to my own house. The
solution, good in its own way, did not appeal to me on second thoughts. After
all, it may be imprudent to divulge this matter to others. The benefit
derivable from its services is too tempting for me to sacrifice. I resolved,
therefore, to summon it by my own sincere and unaided efforts. My heart
accordingly breathed out a fervent prayer.
“Ah! Ye spirit at present settled at Kamalabai’s, I
bid thee welcome in case thou art disturbed from thy present position. Why
shouldst thou stay where thou art so unwelcome! All hail to thee!”
My heart beat fast, thinking the spirit might come.
But will it? Why not? It may come. If it comes, I will become a favourite of
fortune. The spirit which can bring bricks, if it is rightly tackled, can bring
even gold!
The story of Alladdin hovered over my mind. It was,
I thought, a funny story. But now, in the light of what my aunt had told me, it
appeared so convincing. If there exists a brick-laying spirit, there must also
be a gold-laying spirit. If the spirit live with me and yields me gold, there
would be no end to my fortune. I now remembered my wife’s long deferred wish
for a gold chain. But, in the first place, the spirit must come-hither. Next it
must fetch gold, if not in large quantities, at least in driblets. As the
intimacy between us ripens, I can suggest the place where it’s available in
large quantities, say the Kolar mines. On assuming this certainty, my mind
became a prey to a number of misgivings. There is trouble if the government
gets an inkling of it. They may levy a crushing tax which must be paid even
after the spirit leaves me in the lurch. If they are able to trace my
prosperity to its source, they might specially invite the spirit to fill their
treasuries. Therefore–hush, hush,–none should know of this spirit. I must
conceal it in my house.
Of course, all this is dependent upon the
hypothesis of the spirit coming down hither in material shape. The grace of God
must crown our desires I lifted both my hands in prayer to my favourite deity
of Mangalagiri “Ah Lord! Contrive to get me that wonderful spirit; arrange that
it may dwell with me; inspire it with wisdom to avoid its freaks and to do my
behest’s, and, if possible, recommend that it should fetch me gold.” I took
particular care to stress on the word ‘possible’, because the devil may be
frightened out of its wits if these extravagant demands are pressed preliminary
to its agreeing to serve me.
“Am I counting my chickens before they are
hatched?” I asked myself. Wherefrom can it fetch gold in these days, when all
the available hordes of it are melted down for procuring the sinews of war?”
If gold cannot be had, I must be satisfied with silver.
If that too is not available, I shall be content with iron. Iron is by no means
less costly these days. Anything is acceptable to me, say, even fuel. Even by
fighting way through ever-increasing throngs, I cannot get now a days more than
three or four logs. The chief difficulty for the nonce seems to lie in the
devil agreeing to come over to me. Then I can avail myself of its services one
way or another.
Why should it not come? I prayed to God to induce
it to come to me. What more should I do? The merciful God of Mangalagiri must
have already, “passed orders.” Just then a thought flashed across my mind. I
regretted my prayer to Him. What stupid error to ask for the help of that
extortionate Deity* who filches His half from a devotee’s offerings. I have
committed myself already. It cannot be withdrawn, I mean the prayer, nor can it
be transferred to another deity without giving offence to Him. The Lord can
easily detect that I shirked giving His dues and therefore changed my loyalty.
He may resolve to take me to task. It’s a sin to think such thoughts. I felt
duly penitent and at once begged His forgiveness. Every cloud has a silver
lining. If the devil is a gold-getter I can with a contented heart surrender a
half to Him and grow rich even with the remaining half. But if the devil is a
poor thing and gets nothing else but fuel, it complicates the situation. It’s
making two bites of a cherry. But let it come first. There’s time enough to
think of these and more.
3
The next night also I continued my soliloquy. The
devil, if at all it’s agreeable to my invitation, should accept it now and come
over straight to my residence since it will be ousted by the exorciser from
there. I was much agitated over the question whether I should keep the door
open to receive the spirit; if I didn’t the devil might retire in a huff
thinking, “How shabby the treatment he gives me! He knows I have accepted his
invitation, and yet he closes the door. I must never cross the door-sill.”
I felt I was between the devil and the deep sea. It
was doubtful if the spirit would walk in, but the possibility of my being
robbed by the thieves of all I possessed loomed in all its horror, if I opened
the door of my house, which was situated, most conveniently for thieves, on the
outskirts of the town.
My mind became a prey to several cogitation’s; and
I reached the brink of vexation when, suddenly, I fancied somebody was shouting
to me: “How can you become rich, my boy, if you are repelled by a little
effort? Effortless ease is not the way; ponder and persevere.”
Synchronising with this, a bright thought flashed
on my mind. The devil pertains to the invisible species of worms or vermin,
which freely float in the air and sometimes settle on our noses. That being the
case, it should suffice if I threw open the window and comfortably lie down to
sleep. I can combine hospitality and
prudence at one stroke.
As I solved one difficulty, a yet greater one
showed itself like the great Ravana’s head.* Is it proper to give shelter to a
spirit in a residential house? We don’t admit a fellowman if we are not
sufficiently acquainted with him. Is it wise then to harbour a devil? It may be
the spirit either of a friend or a foe.
My brain has become a playground for a tug of war
for rival thoughts. I sank down exhausted. I heard the sound of an approaching
hackney-carriage. Undoubtedly, something told me, it must be the spirit
hurrying down to me. I recollected in this connection the different varieties
among spirits; the dhobi variety raising the sounds of the palanquin-bearer,
and the priestly variety indulging in Vedic recitations. Possibily, the devil
in question specialises in riding hackney-carriages. In a moment the carriage
may stop at my door, and the spirit itself enter through the open window. An event
either for my good or ill is about to take birth. Fear shook me like an ague:
that it is the spirit and not a man; that a man is not reliable, much less a
spirit.
There was not much time for thinking; something
must be done and immediately. I took pen and paper and addressed the spirit:
“Esteemed sir! I know little, in fact nothing of you. Relying solely on the
good reports I hear of you, I extend this welcome. Your help, your services; I
covet. Fetch something valuable and throw it in, preferably gold. I leave
everything to your discretion, however. Be assured of my gratitude anyhow. Rest
you a while in the lounge chair set out in the open verandah.” I finished it in
a minute ran out and put it up on the outer gate yonder. I came back and
snuggled up in my bed. A vague indistinct foot-fall, I fancied, I heard. It
must be the spirit taking in at a glance the contents of the cold note. My
heart had almost burst with a tremor as of a high-powered bomb explosion. I
heard the shout, “How idiotic to surrender your house to a vagrant spirit, even
if it fetches gold? My first impulse was to throw myself at its feet and
abjectly pray for its immediate withdrawal, and forgiveness of my thoughtless
invitation. Will it leave me in peace even then? I wonder, But why should
it?–rose a countermanding thought. The first impulse was defeated by my natural
greed for gold. The thought was as repulsive as dashing a cup of nectar lifted
to the lips. Courage is the need of the hour. I must nerve myself to the task.
I must not run away like a coward from a rich inheritance: A trial costs
nothing. If it gives trouble, then my mind can hit upon a plan for its
dismissal. This gave a quietus to all
unfounded apprehensions.
“The day broke when I got up. I at once ran out to
see, if I could find any traces of the devil’s coming during the night. I saw
the note I had put up for it on yonder gate. It was finger-stained, though it
remained as I had fixed it. The spirit had evidently read it. So it came, it
saw and–what next? I was extremely agitated. I felt carried away by a flood
curiosity. I ran out and devoured with my eyes the open courtyard in front of
my house. No bricks,–and disappointment stared me in the face. “But what of the
thumb-marks on the letter,–no room for despair yet.” Laying this flattering
unction to my soul, I ran to the backyard. Lo! Can I belief my eyes? There was
a heap of bricks to my unspeakable astonishment. A kind of dumb surprise had
set in; I became motionless and still like a monument.
4
I commenced a bright period in my life, I thought.
But what should be my attitude, my line of action towards it? Obviously, this
devil specialises still bricks only. I cannot expect gold from it. It would be
crass folly to expect anything of the kind, in fact, as ridiculous as it would
be for me to ask for shoes in a provision depot and provisions in a shoe-mart.
These are days of specialisation. We cannot expect a miscellany of talent
anywhere. So it is better that I should be content with what it brings me. If
it multiplies the bricks, I can erect a neat tidy house after purchasing the
necessary materials like timber, from the sale proceeds of the bricks. I have
no ambition to become a millionaire. Nothing of the kind. It’s not my
disposition to build castles in the air; on the contrary, I am a realist, cold
and calculating. With my head crowded with these thoughts I scrolled out for a
while and came back to my house. The fun of it all gives me a thrill when
recall the events.
But what I admired most was my remarkable self-possession.
I have beard of a Derby sweep causing men’s minds to be unhinged; and some even
die instantaneously. I stood perfectly cool and four-square at this sudden clap
of fortune on me. I felt myself hit hard in one direction, however. If we feel the
heaviest sorrow halved by talking of it to a friend, we experience a redoubled
joy by telling our friends of our fortune. Here I had to keep all my joy to
myself to keep off envious busy-bodies. A day passed; a second and a third
followed; and on the fourth, I saw both the back and the front yard filled with
countless bricks. I became suspicious. The spirit sometimes may create
make-believe. Are these after all mere fake bricks? Is this all an illusion?
No, by these hands that touched them, no. They are bricks, hard bricks,
glistening red in the sunshine.
5
I must use up these bricks; if not, the spirit may
become lazy. Further supplies may be cut off. My wife will be coming back
shortly and I wanted to spring a pleasant surprise on her by erecting an out-house.
She would approve of it and admire. She had a poor opinion of me; she thinks I
am indiscreet and a spend-thrift. This would make her revise her opinions and
make her think that I was all along laying by something without her knowledge.
But this continuous supply of bricks may be a rift in the lute; it may betray
my secret. No fear! I can bluff that I started a ‘brick-supply business’. I
became quite sure that I could also meet her desire for a gold chain. The
spirit would never fail in its supply of bricks, and can there be a safe and
prettier investment than a gold chain round her neck? Then there are my boys!
They have each been demanding a separate room for study. One has taken the hall
for the present and the other is shoved into the kitchen. My heart now expanded
with pleasure at the prospect of my being able to gratify their desire for
separate rooms. The out-house should, therefore, consist of two rooms plus
another for the joint use of my three daughters.
All material for building a house can be had on
credit, except timber, for which I have to pay in hard cash. I resolved to
borrow money. Running into debt has no terrors for me. I can clear it off in a
few days with the money realised by the sale of bricks. And what will my wife
saw on the day she arrives!
“Ah me! When did you construct the house? How
beautiful! Where could you get the cash? No borrowing, I hope.”
Then, in a dignified, cool and nonchalant manner, I
would reply, “Fie, fie! Borrowing be hanged! In these days of war, destruction,
and crumbling empires, my friends told me it’s dangerous to keep property in
fluid state. So I withdrew my little savings and invested them on this house.”
“Well done; Well done! You have created some
property for our children. I never realised till now how shrewd you are and how
foolish I have been to take you for an improvident, indiscreet person.”
I did not like to lose further time. I repaired to
the bank; withdrew the necessary money and went direct to the best timber
depot. It’s not my nature to higgle and drive a hard bargain. I paid down half
the amount and promised to pay the rest at home, after taking delivery of the
best teak I had arranged to be sent. It was about eight in the evening by the
time I was on my way home, supremely satisfied with myself and the world.
6
A furlong more to my house. But I could see a light
beaming from the house. No mistake in this. Clear as anything, the light was
streaming forth through the open window. “Hell-fire on it! Is it the spirit?
Has it contrived to get in during my absence, and is it having a close survey
of the house? My heart well nigh broke at the very thought of it. With slow
dragging feet I came nearer and nearer; stood awhile in front of my house an
looked up for a minute. I also saw somebody moving about in the house; then the
thought dawned on me that my wife had returned with the children; I chuckled
within myself and twitted myself for thinking otherwise. I ran inside and
enquired. “O! When did you arrive, and why did you not write to me?” She
explained that she had arrived a few hours earlier; that she could get inside
even during my absence, by means of the duplicate key she had always carried
with her; and that she had hastily prepared the food; the children tired by the
journey were asleep. Then she enquired “What news?”
7
She had upset my apple-cart by arriving a trifle
too early and unexpectedly. I had thought of taking her by surprise by
employing more workmen and presenting to her the fait accompli of a nice
tidy house. But I felt robbed of half my enthusiasm by the sudden turn of
events. So I resolved not to play the spoil-sport by volunteering information
on the matter nearest to my heart. I wanted to try if a fraction of the
surprise, if not the whole of it, as, originally planned, could be roused. For
the night at least, mum is the word. Next day, the timber man may astonish her.
Then it would be time to give her information piece-meal on the relevant
points, scrupulously avoiding all reference to the spirit. Not that she would rejoice
at my securing such a helpful devil; but purely for selfish personal
reasons–that I might not command as much respect as before. Therefore, I should
say, “I don’t owe anybody anything. I thought of some work and therefore
started a business.”
I began, “Now, my dear, I mean fixing up a decent
alliance for our daughter, paying the necessary price, of course. In a day or
two I shall get you a gold chain of a design after your heart.” She flared up,
“ Phew enough of this mockery please! No more wishful thinking! You have hardly
discharged the debt on the house and what is it you say? One would think you
are expecting a gold mine to open out under your feet.” But I repeated, in a
tone of confidence, “You will be convinced by deeds.”
By the time I got up from bed next morning I
noticed my wife shouting, “Whoever wanted so much timber? It’s not for us.
Enquire at the next door.” But seeing that the depot clerk was adamant, she had
to raise her voice and repeat, “Don’t you hear? Nobody ordered timber here.” I ran
out to her and said in a coaxing voice, “ O! You don’t know. It’s for us; I
bought the timber.” She gasped, “What for?” and began observing me as though I
had been deranged. Then I told her, “This material is for our out house. The
workmen will be coming here shortly. You derided me last night by asking,
“Where’s the money? Now what do you say to it. The house will be ready in a
couple of weeks. Come along. I shall show you the bricks, lots and heaps of
them in our yard.” These words made her look blank. I caught her by the hand
and rushed out into the yard paying no heed to what she said, “What, you never
breathed a word to me!”
But, alas! I was dumbfounded. What do I see there!
Not a single brick. On the other hand, I found to my unutterable chagrin a wall
rising up between my compound and my neighbour’s and several workmen busy
there. I was so confident that the devil would never cheat me. I turned round
on her and demanded how she could remain cool as a cucumber when our neighbour
was committing daylight robbery by employing a number of workmen and removing
all this valuable material from our premises.
But my discomfiture was complete when she
explained, “Why do you break down like that? How can I prevent people taking
what’s their own? Our neighbour’s wife requested me, ‘There’s hardly any room
in our yard. Pray allow us to stock our bricks in your yard for the
construction of the wall.’ I thought we would lose nothing by obliging her.
This morning the workmen have come; they used up the bricks, and, the trifle
remaining over, shoved it into a corner of their own yard.”
I stood dazed. ‘What! What am I to do with the
timber?’ With a hang-dog face I turned to her again and entered a feeble
protest: ‘You never spoke of this matter to me.’
“No. It was not so important. I must have
forgotten. But, I left that very day.”
8
My wife is a sphinx or minx, I am not certain
which. She will not allow her prey to escape without chuckling, “What’s all
this muddle? Because they told me beforehand, I thought the bricks were theirs.
May be they are ours. I don’t know. You also must have advanced some amount to
a local dealer. Has he coolly pocketed the money? What? Tell me.” When she
proceeded in such a tantalising manner and produced that ill-fated note I had
put up for the spirit on the outer gate, I felt like a criminal caught
red-handed and told her as much of the story as I could and as briefly too. But
it may interest you to know that she has not forgiven me yet.
* The deity of Mangalagiri (Guntur district) swallows exactly half the
sweetened drink offered to Him.
*As one of Ravana’s many heads was chopped off, another came up in its
place immediately.