“Bitterness is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die.”   Dighavu heard his father’s dying words and witnessed his parents’ execution.

Dighavu could not leave his parents’ bodies disrespectfully discarded. As the soldiers stood watch, he went into the city and bought some strong wine. When night fell, he returned to the city’s edge and walking up to the soldiers said, “You have put in a hard day’s work. You need something to relieve the strain of your labors,” and he handed them each a bottle. The soldiers gladly accepted and soon lay drunk and sound asleep on the ground.

Dighavu collected pieces of wood and stacked them up. He dragged his parent’s bodies out of the dirt, carefully placed them on top of the pile, and set the wood on fire. With palms pressed together, he walked around the funeral pyre three times, as the flames rose high into the night sky.

Brahmadatta had received word of Dighiti’s execution. Restlessly, he paced his rooftop terrace, trying to grasp the meaning of Dighiti’s final utterance. He looked out beyond the south gate and, in the very spot where the corpses had been thrown, saw the fire.

As Brahmadatta watched the blaze, he became aware of the figure of a young man reverently performing a funeral rite. “Surely this must be a kinsman of Dighiti’s and he will seek revenge,” he thought to himself. “Is there no end to this?” he cried, trying to shake the cold fear that clutched at his heart.” I need someone who can help me make sense of all this,” he whispered aloud.

Will the feud continue?

Next time: “The Elephant Trainer”