126 which they too are present, they will do everything they can until they themselves are slain, and if they are not in battle, they will leave their homes and search out the king’s slayer or the king who ordered him to be killed, and however many opponents there may be, not one nair will turn back without having done everything to kill him. If someone fears for their life, they take one or two nairs, or however many they can afford to keep, to whom they give a small sum of money to protect them; out of respect for the nairs, nobody dares to harm such a person, because the nairs and all their clan will avenge an offence committed against this person, even if it means going against the king. This is why the king often refrains from killing or punishing people who have offended him and who keep nairs as protection, because he does not want to cause the death of the nairs, for even if they were not present at the time of such punishment, the nairs will die in the attempt to avenge it. They live alone outside the town, away fromother people and surrounded by high walls; they have their palm-groves and tanks, and they do not touch or eat with anyone except for other nairs. They do not drink wine, nor do they sleep with women of low caste, since they will be sentenced to death for either of these acts; whenever they walk along a path or street, they call out to members of low castes to move away, which they do, from the places where the nair will pass. Should they not wish to, the nair may kill them without any punishment; and even if the nair is a poor and worthless young nobleman, should hefind a rich man, honoured and respected by the king, but of low caste, he orders him to move away as if he himself were the king. The nairs are quite unerring in this, and nair women do the same to others. They claim to do it in order not to stain their blood. Should someone from a low caste touch a nair woman by accident or willingly, her relatives kill her straightaway and him too, as well as any of his relatives that they can lay their hands on.
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