[center][h1]The Tales of Baboon[/h1]

[h2]How Baboon Found Rage a Bride[/h2][/center]

Baboon sat under a tree chewing the [i]jibaga[/i]-root and thought of what tricks he could play on the peoples of Sri Rajarata. He had crawled into the caverns and frightened the dwarves with the sounds of earthquake till it tired him; and he had snuck among the rakshasa’s homes and lit small but smoky fires till it galled him; and now he wanted something new. But much as he chewed, he could think of nothing, for he had lived for such a long time and raised so much mischief that it seemed he had done all there was to do. He crunched and licked, and then the thought did come to him that he ought to play a jibe on Rage, or [i]Manyu[/i] as he was now called by his youngers, as he had been wont to do long ago. The ancient Rakshasa, see, was mighty restless, for unlike his two siblings who had bred forth between them a great lineage, he yet had no legacy. This was because he could not find a bride for himself that could hope to match his great strength and ferocity, which he did not wish to be diluted in his children. The wisdom of the [i]jibaga[/i]-root had told Baboon that this was ripe ground for jest, but what could he do that would be grand enough? He chewed and gnashed down harder to see this.

So intent was the ape on his rumination that he did not hear the soft steps approaching him among the bushes. To be sure, perhaps he would not have even had he been listening, for his ear was a coarse one, but at this time especially he was drawn away into his thoughts and all else was like a dream to him. Thus he was mighty surprised when a great striped body came bounding out from among the trees and straight at him! A ferocious Tiger of tremendous size had crawled up to the unwary plotter, and while he would have been little more than a crusty morsel to her, it must have been that she was famished at that time.

But Baboon was a wily one, and was not surprised for longer than a fly’s wingbeat. He screeched, jumped, and kicked up a great cloud of dust. When the Tiger was done blinking and spitting, he was already swaying on the tree. The fierce beast made to gain purchase on the rough bark with her claws, but the ape leapt to another branch. He made a clever play of it, however, and staggered and hooted perilously, as if he were so weak from age and illness as to be about to tumble defenseless to the ground. Fast disappointed in its hunt, the Tiger thought her quarry was near to falling back straight into her jaws, and followed as he swayed and wobbled down the branch and to another tree that stood close.

Now, Baboon was an old and crafty fellow, and over many years he had hidden all around the wood many traps and strange tricks that he could draw out and surprise his pursuers with if he ever found himself in peril. So it was that when the Tiger heard a beastly wail and saw something dark and shaggy fall out of the tree, she pounced upon it and raked it with her claws; but great was her surprise when she found under them not Baboon’s hide, but a log of wood carved roughly like an ape, covered in pitch and tufts of hair! Her paws stuck to it, and when she furiously tried to bite it, her mouth was stuck also. Hooting triumphantly, Baboon leapt down and bound her with woven vines. He chewed on the [i]jibaga[/i]-root, thinking of what uses he could put such a fearsome captive to, and then he grinned, for he had thought of a terribly devious trick indeed.

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It was in the fields around the palace of Sri Rajarata that Rage was most often found. As there were no enemies for the kingdom to do battle with, he would amuse himself by sparring with other rakshasa who took up arms; and on days when none were found who were so bold as to fight with him, he would split great logs of wood with his bare fists to maintain his strength as he had done of old. He was busied with this on that day, and when once he turned to take another log from the pile he had set aside, he found Baboon seated on it.

“Friend Rage,” the ape said placatingly, when the rakshasa glared and coiled his fists, “We have not always been on the best of terms, so much is true. But I have thought, are we not both to live in this realm for a long time yet? Should we not end this enmity? I know your heart is not one to be poisoned with bitter grudges. Indeed I come to you with a token of friendship. Hearing that you cannot find a bride of your own stature to bear your lineage, I have taken it upon me to search the whole realm for one who could so match your strength. And so did I found one indeed! She is one such that has lived all her life in the darkest jungle, far from the softness and decadence of civility, and has a temper as hot as the sun’s tongue! When I told her there was a man as fiery and vigorous as her, she agreed to come and meet you, even though she is wild and does not like the way of living here. Come now! She waits, if you would humour my goodwill.”

Rage frowned then, for he knew Baboon for a liar and a scoundrel. Yet nonetheless the ape’s words struck a spark of wonderment in him, and he thought that while this may have been a trick, it would have been foolish to disregard a chance to fulfill his yearning out of hand. So he followed as Baboon hopped to the edge of the palace grounds. There he had erected a small pavilion with sticks and all the fanciful things he could muster and scrape together, from red carpets draped like arrased walls to brazen pots he had stood next to it.

“Her taboo is that no man may see her but the one who would court her,” Baboon explained, deftly climbing on top of the pavilion, “But do not tarry!”

Seizing the colourful curtain that hung at the entrance, Rage pulled it aside. In so doing, however, he drew open the cage that the wily Baboon had concealed within, and the Tiger leapt upon him with a roar! They tumbled to the ground in a fearsome clamour and a storm of dust, with the ape cackling wildly in amusement over them. Blood and fur alike flew out from the struggle, and its rolling and thrashing came close to collapsing the pavilion at length.

At last, however, the ferocious tangle came to a standstill - but if Baboon had expected it to be from the utter defeat of one of the combatants, he was to be disappointed. The both of them lay breathing heavily, Rage’s hands pushing back the Tiger’s clawed paws, but what opposition remained lingered merely in their limbs and not their minds. Rage’s throat rumbled with a growling laugh. The Tiger rumbled as great cats are wont to do, and then licked him on the face.

“What now!” Baboon screeched from his perch, “Where is your fight?! Where is your fury?! You cannot well end it like this!”

Without even sparing a glance, Rage threw a brazen pot at the garrulous ape and knocked him far away into the jungle.

So it was that, to Baboon’s dismay, he truly did find Rage a bride from the darkest jungle, with a temper as fierce and feral as his. Their progeny, who were known as the [i]palankasha[/i], grew to be one of the illustrious lineages of the rakshasa. In memory of their progenitors, they were born with four arms, the head and hind legs of tigers, and a rage in their veins which it took the smallest slight to inflame. Though they were never many in number, great was their strength and ferocity, and thenceforward all other rakshasa held them in great fear and awe.


[hider=The Magnificent Indias]

Over in Hot India, also known as Sri Rajarata (remember it?), Baboon is plotting new pranks to play on people, when he is attacked by a tiger. Cunning as he is, he manages to capture it, and indeed is given an idea. Rage, one of the original rakshasa siblings, has been fruitlessly looking for a worthy mate for a time. Baboon accosts him, claiming to have found someone to his taste, and leads him to be attacked by the tiger - but the treacherous monkey is the one truly surprised in the end!

By the power and virtue of Cyclone, and Rage’s virility, the palankasha, demonic ape-tiger-men, are brought into being.

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