Climbing Chamundi Hill Read Online Free Page A

Chamundi Hill?”
    â€œNo, not at all. It is about pain, and about the trials of leading a good life while trying to stay healthy.”

THE LEPER
    Just to the west of this district was a land of luxurious mountain forests. The ruler of that paradise was an avid hunter who favored the more defenseless animals for his game.
    One day he spotted a young buck grazing at theedge of a clearing and raised his weapon for a kill. Just as he was about to release the bowstring, a strange figure appeared between the animal and his arrow. The king lowered the bow and squinted, for what he saw astounded him. He could tell it was a man, possibly old, but so badly misshapen that it was hard to be sure. The man’s skin was blotchy with large ulcerous spots, many of them oozing a yellowish-gray fluid, and large flakes were peeling off. His hair was wildly disheveled and dusty, his black teeth protruding through distorted lips. He was naked but for some filthy rags around his bony waist; his emaciated body was crooked like the branch of an old olive tree. As the king lowered his bow, the hideous creature prostrated itself in exaggerated humility.
    â€œI am so sorry for interrupting your hunt, Your Majesty. Please forgive me…”
    But the king was too bewildered to mind. “Who are you?” he asked. “And what is the matter with you? Are you sick, or are you a demonic spirit? You have the appearance of a ghoul, but your eyes look sad as only human eyes can be.”
    The man approached, lowering himself further. “I am no demon, sir, but a pathetic mortal here to protect this innocent animal.”
    â€œSo your interference with the royal hunt was not an accident?” boomed the king in a thunderous, majestic rage. “Don’t you know that I am the king and lord of all these lands? Why is this animal worth losing your life for?”
    â€œYour Majesty, I know the forest belongs to you.” The man remained low at the king’s feet. His voice, surprisingly, gave no evidence of fear. “But I am here to protect you too.”
    At this the king broke into laughter. “Protect me? What could you possibly mean by that?”
    The man hesitated briefly before speaking. “This awful condition that you see, it’s leprosy. I did not always look like this.” He sank into a sad reverie for a few moments, then continued. “It’s a moral disease. You don’t just become a leper; it finds you if you commit a sin. With Your Majesty’s indulgence, I shall tell you what happened.”
    The king nodded and dismounted, and the two men sat in the shade of a banyan tree. The leper kept a respectful distance from the king, but immediately began his story.
    â€œMany years ago I owned a farm in the foothills of the magnificent Himalayan range, far to the north. My land bordered on meadows and forests in which a variety of fruit trees and brilliant flowers grew, where bees hummed as they produced nectarlike honey. Into that heavenly wilderness one day my favorite cow wandered, so I went looking for her. For days I searched, but there were too many canyons and ravines in which the dense thicket could hide an entire herd of cows. Despair robbed me of all sense of time and direction—I soon became lost. I grew hungry and tired but kept looking for my precious cow. Then I saw a large tinduka tree rich with ripe fruits growing on the edge of a precipice overlooking a river withmajestic waterfalls. It was a frightening place, but I climbed the tree like a fool, looking to reach the ripest fruit at the very end of the overhanging branches. Suddenly the branch to which I was clinging broke, and I fell down, screaming in terror.
    â€œI plunged into the water, reaching the bottom instantly. Fortunately, I managed to push off. The current and fate then swept me onto dry land. I was shivering from the shock and the cold water, but felt lucky to find my body intact. After some time I began to