But the brother argued with her and persuaded her. She locked
up the house and left the key with the neighbor and said: "Please
give this key to my husband when he comes home, and tell him that
I am returning the day after tomorrow." She then went with
her brother.
It was dark
when Pandit Tularam came home. When the neighbor gave him the
key and his wife's message, he became very angry. Without his
wife the house looked bleak as a cave. Every hour his boredom
grew. He lay down but could not sleep. It was past midnight. He'
decided to go to his father-in-law's house. And he started at
once.
It was the
month of Shravana. The sky was heavily overcast with clouds. It
was dark all around. He had just stepped out of his house when
there was a heavy downpour of rain accompanied by thunder and
lightning.
But Tularam
did not change his mind. He walked on getting wet in the rain,
and came to the banks of the river Ganga. The river was in full
floods. He asked the ferryman to take him across the river.
"What? You wish to cross the flood, in this rain and wind?
Impossible," said! the ferryman.
At the sight
of the racing walkers of the Ganga in floods, Tularam's heart
sank. But the infatuation for his wife drove him on. He gathered
courage, tucked up his dhoti firmly and jumped into the river.
He swam against the current and reached the other bank.
|