But at the first sound of happiness that reached the ears of the ass, he rushed in the midst of the youngsters and sought to destroy them, making Rāma and Krishna the special objects upon which to vent his hatred and strength. For a time both boys dodged hither and thither, trying to turn aside the anger of the ass; but seeing that it would not be appeased, Rāma caught him by the hind legs and after swinging him over the heads of the boys a few times, he dashed his head against the tree and proceeded to aid the boys in picking the fruit. The braying of the ass had brought forth the kith and kin of the Asura, who dwelt in the forests with him; but they, too, in a brief struggle were killed by Rāma and Krishna. CHAPTER XVI. In those days, when Love was predominant and held no place for that which overcame and destroyed that which could not hold sway there, because when love is strong and active, then doth evil become feeble and weak and slinketh away into darkness and deep places, where the light of love cannot reach in to reveal its blackness unto the light of the sky. In the river, on whose bank Krishna, Rāma and the cowherd boys often sat and sang the deeds of their hero, there dwelt a huge serpent monster with a thousand hoods, who by the venom of his hideous body did permeate the water of the lake with deadly poison and filled the air of the vicinity with a pestilent atmosphere that was deadly in its influence. Krishna one day led the boys and cows to this pool, and they, being athirst, drank of the deadly water that lay still and without a ripple. Ever is evil inviting in its outward calm. But lo! in an instant, the thousand-headed monster lifted its hoods, and the deadly poison having done its ghastly work, the boys and cows lay on the bank lifeless, and motionless they fell at the feet of Krishna. With a glance of life-giving Love cast upon the dead ones, Krishna walked to a tree that was close by, while the boys, alive again, in amazement and wonder gazed at each other, forgetting, in the joy of the Love in the look that Krishna had cast upon them, the moment before. On reaching the top of the tree, Krishna stood for an instant and gazed at the boys, His world and the serpent, and a light as of molten gold seemed to come from that body, more lovely than the sun to look upon. Thus it was for a moment, then into the deadly pool he plunged, while the thousand heads of the serpent darted their venomous tongues' and struck the body till the boys fell into unconsciousness and the cows groaned in pain, and the men and women, with eyes bulging with fear and tearing their hair, almost swooned at the sight of the boy, who was God, crushed in the poisonous embrace of the monster; yet, even as stricken with horror, they gazed.