Beast Read Online Free PDF

walked Kooma back and forth between two trained cows to teach him obedience.”
    â€œAnd when he did not obey . . . ?” asks Ardeshir.
    â€œKooma loves sugarcane.”
    The men laugh.
    I cannot laugh. My mind is on the camel, Jumail, who loved sugar lumps, on the image of that camel in the pool waters.
    Abdullah scrapes more vigorously with the coconut shell. He goes around to the other side of Kooma. We hear the noise of the shell on the thick, wrinkled skin. Kooma takes a step forward, a step backward, rocking his enormous weight in obvious pleasure. His eyes close.
    The power of this beast commands my attention. Kooma opens his eyes and seems to look right at me. His gaze is cold, as though he knows of my wrongdoing to the camel, as though he would do me harm. It takes all my willpower not to back away.
    Abdullah passes under Kooma’s legs and out to our side again. I realize he did that simply to impress us. He flashes stained black teeth in a grin; his gums are red from chewing betel leaves. Then he takes a flask and cloth from his bag. He walks along Kooma’s side dribbling oil. The olive smell is so rich, it cuts through the grassy scent of elephant. Abdullah swabs Kooma’s skin with the oil, moving the cloth in those circles again. “I set dogs loose to yap and run around Kooma’s legs.”
    â€œDid they dare to go under him, like you did?” I ask.
    Abdullah looks at me with bright eyes. He’s happyto have his little display of bravery—or recklessness—acknowledged. “These dogs do not think of risk. That is why they are good at the hunt. They face tigers without retreating.”
    â€œBut Kooma doesn’t have to take on the dogs, surely,” says Bahram.
    â€œKooma must work with the dogs. He needs to work well, not be disturbed. He must not flinch when they bark.”
    â€œAnd Kooma learned this easily?” asks Ardeshir.
    â€œKooma is even-mannered, though he is but twenty years old.”
    â€œTwenty,” I say. “Is that all? He’s so tall, I thought he must be twice that.”
    â€œHe will be the grand old man when he is forty,” says Abdullah. “He will retire by then.” He goes around Kooma’s other side to spread the oil and rub again.
    â€œSo the dogs don’t flinch around tigers and Kooma does not flinch around the dogs.” The Shah walks close and puts a hand on Kooma’s trunk, looking up into his eye. “But how will Kooma act around tigers?”
    Abdullah comes under Kooma’s belly again. He puts the flask and cloth away in his bag. “Kooma leads the hunt in the Gir Forest, where both tigers and lions prey. He has earned the title Kooma the Brave.”
    â€œGood. For tomorrow I fulfill my destiny as ruler ofall Persia. Tomorrow these hands kill a lion.” The Shah brushes elephant dirt from his palms. He turns to me. “We will talk later. Don’t forget. For now, let us go back and greet the guests who are still arriving.”
    â€œAnd enjoy the guests who have already arrived,” says Ardeshir.
    â€œTo be sure, my good friend.” The Shah walks toward the pavilion with Ardeshir at his side and Bahram behind him.
    I can hear Ardeshir talking about the habits of lions, and Father exclaiming in interest. I don’t want them to go off without me, especially Father, yet I am drawn to the elephant. To the skin that now glistens with oil. To the eyes that seem so small in that weighty head.
    â€œDo not be afraid,” says Abdullah, the same words he said when he ran past us before.
    This elephant is mild-mannered, well trained. But Abdullah is right: I feel danger. Life-threatening danger. It is not the curse of the pari that alarms me now, though that torment lies in wait in the back of my mind until I can speak with Father alone tonight. No, the danger I sense in this moment comes from Kooma.
    â€œTouch him.”
    I dare to put my hand on