Good One - IV

[Guest guest]

"'I challenge you to fight my newly-caught tiger,

Raja Begum.2 If you can successfully resist him, bind

him with a chain, and leave his cage in a conscious

state, you shall have this royal Bengal! Several

thousand rupees and many other gifts shall also be

bestowed. If you refuse to meet him in combat, I shall

blazon your name throughout the state as an impostor!'

<br>"His insolent words struck me like a volley of

bullets. I shot an angry acceptance. Half risen from the

chair in his excitement, the prince sank back with a

sadistic smile. I was reminded of the Roman emperors who

delighted in setting Christians in bestial arenas.<br>"'The

match will be set for a week hence. I regret that I

cannot give you permission to view the tiger in

advance.'<br>"Whether the prince feared I might seek to hypnotize the

beast, or secretly feed him opium, I know not!<br>"I

left the palace, noting with amusement that the royal

umbrella and panoplied coach were now missing.<br>"The

following week I methodically prepared my mind and body for

the coming ordeal. Through my servant I learned of

fantastic tales. The saint's direful prediction to my

father had somehow got abroad, enlarging as it ran. Many

simple villagers believed that an evil spirit, cursed by

the gods, had reincarnated as a tiger which took

various demoniac forms at night, but remained a striped

animal during the day. This demon-tiger was supposed to

be the one sent to humble me.<br>"Another

imaginative version was that animal prayers to Tiger Heaven

had achieved a response in the shape of Raja Begum.

He was to be the instrument to punish me—the

audacious biped, so insulting to the entire tiger species!

A furless, fangless man daring to challenge a

claw-armed, sturdy-limbed tiger! The concentrated venom of

all humiliated tigers—the villagers declared—had

gathered momentum sufficient to operate hidden laws and

bring about the fall of the proud tiger tamer.<br>"My

servant further apprized me that the prince was in his

element as manager of the bout between man and beast. He

had supervised the erection of a storm-proof

pavilion, designed to accommodate thousands. Its center

held Raja Begum in an enormous iron cage, surrounded

by an outer safety room. The captive emitted a

ceaseless series of blood-curdling roars. He was fed

sparingly, to kindle a wrathful appetite. Perhaps the prince

expected me to be the meal of reward!<br>"Crowds from the

city and suburbs bought tickets eagerly in response to

the beat of drums announcing the unique contest. The

day of battle saw hundreds turned away for lack of

seats. Many men broke through the tent openings, or

crowded any space below the galleries."<br>As the Tiger

Swami's story approached a climax, my excitement mounted

with it; Chandi also was raptly mute.<br>"Amidst

piercing sound-explosions from Raja Begum, and the hubbub

of the somewhat terrified crowd, I quietly made my

appearance. Scantily clad around the waist, I was otherwise

unprotected by clothing. I opened the bolt on the door of the

safety room and calmly locked it behind me. The tiger

sensed blood. Leaping with a thunderous crash on his

bars, he sent forth a fearsome welcome. The audience

was hushed with pitiful fear; I seemed a meek lamb

before the raging beast.<br>"In a trice I was within the

cage; but as I slammed the door, Raja Begum was

headlong upon me. My right hand was desperately torn.

Human blood, the greatest treat a tiger can know, fell

in appalling streams. The prophecy of the saint

seemed about to be fulfilled.<br>"I rallied instantly

from the shock of the first serious injury I had ever

received. Banishing the sight of my gory fingers by

thrusting them beneath my waist cloth, I swung my left arm

in a bone-cracking blow. The beast reeled back,

swirled around the rear of the cage, and sprang forward

convulsively. My famous fistic punishment rained on his head.