The Benevolent Magician
Long, long ago in the mountain kingdom of Nepal, there lived many powerful magicians. This story is about one of them, a man named Vikram Thapa.
One day, he drove his cows to graze and, leaving them unattended, went to drink water from a well. His neighbor saw him and said, “Hey, Vikram, you’ve left your cows to graze all by themselves. They are bound to run away.”
Vikram replied, “Never fear. I can control my cows from where I stand. They’ll come at my bidding.” The neighbor and others who had gathered there laughed at this.
Incensed by their laughter, Vikram declared, “Oh! You don’t believe me? Alright, watch this!”
He began to mumble some meaningless abracadabra, and, hey presto! All his cows came running towards him. Then he instructed, “Now, go back to your grazing grounds.” As if they understood, they swished their tails and returned to grazing, leaving the villagers quite surprised.
Another time, Dil Bahadur, a wealthy man of the village, invited Vikram to the annual cattle fair where he intended to buy a milch cow. Vikram went along, and Dil Bahadur selected a fine cow. He then asked Vikram to drive it home.
Vikram looked at the cow and said, “Go on. Go to Dil Bahadur’s cowshed. I’ll be along presently, as soon as I have seen the fair.” The cow ambled away on its own.
When nightfall came, Dil Bahadur returned home and was surprised to find the milch cow snugly bedded down on heaps of straw in the shed, despite no one having driven it home because Vikram had been with him all evening.
From that day on, Vikram was put in charge of the cow. One day, the cow behaved strangely and attempted to gore Vikram. Immediately, he understood that a rival magician was casting a spell on the animal to kill him. Quickly, he went to a corner of the shed and began to sweep the ground with a broom, all the while chanting his spells.
Suddenly, there was an anguished cry, “Oh! Don’t kill me.” Puran, the milkman, came running and threw himself at Vikram’s feet, pleading, “Stop! Stop!” His back was streaming with blood from the scratches.
Vikram warned, “So, you pit your puny strength against mine. I’ll let you off this time. But mind you, the next time you try your tricks, I shan’t be so merciful.” Puran ran away from the village when he realized Vikram’s powers were superior to his.
One day, Vikram and his friends set out from their village to go to Kathmandu to sell their rice for a profit. The caravan consisted of twelve bullock carts and a dozen helpers. En route, they rested for a while under the comforting shade of a tree. The bullocks were unyoked and allowed to graze freely. Just then, a pack of fierce-looking dogs came bounding down a path. It seemed no one was chasing them, yet they were running so fast that flecks of foam dribbled from their open jaws.
Everyone was surprised to see this, but Vikram, sensing some evil, made a pass with his hand, and the dogs wheeled and began to run back the way they had come. Intrigued, Vikram’s friends looked at him inquiringly.
Vikram said, “Some man has set these dogs upon us. Let us wait and see what happens.”
A little later, a horseman came galloping towards them. He neared the group at the tree and demanded haughtily, “Who was it that sent back my dogs? Why should anyone interfere with my activities?”
Vikram stepped forward boldly and said, “It was I. Do you want to know why I sent your dogs back?”
The horseman looked at Vikram silently, and, as if reaching a decision, turned his horse around and galloped off in a cloud of dust. More mystified than ever, Vikram’s friends crowded around him, asking for an explanation.
Vikram explained, “This man is a veterinary surgeon. He treats animals but has also learned some magic. His practice is to set his dogs on all the cattle nearby, so that owners bring their wounded animals to him for treatment. That’s how he makes a lot of money. No one knows he does this deliberately. As he is the only animal doctor for miles around, cowherds and shepherds have no alternative but to go to him. Now I’ve put an end to all that.”
Sure enough, from that day on, the livestock of the village did not suffer from dog bites, and Vikram Thapa’s fame as a benevolent magician spread far and wide, until the king heard about him and appointed him to the royal court.