In the dark tunnel, Vandiyathevan planted his foot firmly, walking carefully so as not to fall. The steps descended for a short distance. Then the path leveled out. Again, there were steps. Once more, a level floor. He stretched out both hands to feel for the walls, but his fingers touched nothing. So, this tunnel must be quite wide. After proceeding a little further, the steps now ascended. It seemed to curve as well. Oh, how much farther must I stumble and grope in this pitch darkness?

Ah! What is this? The darkness is lessening! A faint, very dim light is appearing! Where does this pale light come from? Is it the moonlight filtering through some opening in the roof? Or light entering through some lattice in the walls? Or is it the glow from a hidden lamp placed somewhere?

No, no! What a wonder is this? Is the scene unfolding before my eyes real, or is it an illusion conjured by a confused mind?

It was a vast hall. A treasury chamber carved out of solid stone. That is why the ceiling above was so low and flat, threatening to strike his head. The dim, silvery light filling that treasury was not coming from outside; neither through the roof nor through any lattice. Here and there, in clusters and in scattered heaps, the light shimmered across the hall. Ah! What are these objects that glimmer with such moonlight? In one corner, there were jeweled crowns—crowns encrusted with pearls, rubies, and diamonds. In another place, necklaces—strings of pearls, garlands of navaratna gems. And there, in that wide-mouthed casket—what is that? My God! All those are white pearls, like unopened jasmine buds! Round, plump, heavy pearls! And in that vessel, gold coins gleaming like the bright yellow sun. Here, stacked in heaps, were gold ingots. This must be the treasury chamber of the Thanjavur palace!

Is it any wonder that, adjoining the mansion of the Chief Pazhuvettaraiyar, there should be this secret, dark palace and within it, this treasury chamber?

Oh, what fortune! Have I truly entered the treasury hall? Surely, Lady Luck and the goddess of destiny themselves must have brought me here! What a marvelous, rare secret I have discovered—without any effort of my own! How to use this knowledge? Let that come later; for now, I feel no desire to leave this place! I feel as if I could wander here forever! If I stayed here, would hunger and thirst... I do not know! Sleep does not come near me, not even close! All the rewards of the victories won by the brave armies of Chola Nadu over the past hundred years are gathered here. The very navanidhi—the nine treasures—they speak of, all of it is here! The wealth stored here would put Kubera’s own treasury to shame. Why should I leave this behind and go elsewhere?

Vandiyathevan circled around the moonlit chamber. He touched the jeweled crowns lying in one corner. In another place, he picked up the radiant gem-studded necklaces and examined them in his hands. Putting those down, he moved to another side and plunged his hands into a bronze vessel filled with pearls, letting them flow through his fingers. In yet another vessel, he scooped up handfuls of gold coins and let them pour down in a shining cascade. In one corner, he noticed something spread across the floor, glittering with a strange brilliance. He went over to investigate. At first, he could not tell what it was; then, bending down and looking closely, he realized with a start—Oh God! It was a skeleton! The bones of a human body that, once upon a time, had flesh and blood, skin and hair, nose and face, eyes and ears!

Ah! The skeleton is moving! It is rising up, coming to life! It rattles just like the gold coins! It seems to be rising to deliver some message to me...

Every hair on Vallavarayan’s body stood on end. He thought he had gone mad. Nonsense! The skeleton had not risen! From within it, a large rat came scurrying out! It ran over his foot and darted away! Yes; now that he looked again, the skeleton still lay on the ground. But it was true that it was sending him a message. “Run away! Do not linger here! I too was once a man with flesh and blood like you. I came here and was trapped. Here I died and perished! Now I lie as a skeleton! Run away!”—thus it was warning him. If we escape from here at once, we may survive. Otherwise, the same fate that befell that man will be ours.

Vandiyathevan resolved to leave that moonlit chamber. But he could not find the way out. He could not discover the path by which he had entered. Wherever he went along the edge of the chamber, the demon called darkness opened its mouth wide. Looking down, it seemed like a bottomless abyss. The staircase he had climbed must be somewhere, but he could not find it. Vandiyathevan searched and searched, wandering about. As he wandered, he saw, at one spot along the wall, a heap of gold coins. Over that heap, something seemed to be woven like a net. Looking closely, he realized that a spider had spun its web over the pile. The spider’s web stirred his thoughts.

The elders have compared the desires for land, women, and gold to a spider’s web. The spider sits in wait, its web spread wide. From somewhere, a fly comes buzzing and gets caught in it. Then, little by little, the spider draws the fly in and devours it. These three desires are just the same. Man, losing his way, stumbles into these webs of desire and is ensnared; after that, there is no return! The nature of these three desires—land, women, and gold—we have experienced all in a single day. Nandini, the young queen of Pazhuvoor, tried to entrap us in her web. She tempted