{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_11310/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_11310","id":"gutenberg_11310","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11310","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore","Hinduism","India","Sanskrit literature -- Translations into English","Tales -- India"],"text":"Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit\n\n\nTranslated by\nS. M. Mitra\n\nAdapted by\nMrs. Arthur Bell\n\n1919\n\n\nContents\n\n INTRODUCTORY NOTE\n\n 1. The Magic Pitcher\n 2. The Story of a Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard and an Owl\n 3. A Royal Thief-Catcher\n 4. The Magic Shoes and Staff\n 5. The Jewelled Arrow\n 6. The Beetle and the Silken Thread\n 7. A Crow and His Three Friends\n 8. A Clever Thief\n 9. The Hermit\u2019s Daughter\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY NOTE.\n\n\nThanks to Mr. S. M. Mitra, the well-known Hindu psychologist and\npolitician, who has done so much to draw more closely together the land\nof his birth and that of his adoption, I am able to bring within reach\nof English children a number of typical Hindu Tales, translated by him\nfrom the Sanskrit, some of them culled from the ancient classics of\nIndia, others from widely separated sources. The latter have hitherto\nbeen quite inaccessible to western students, as they are not yet\nembodied in literature, but have been transmitted orally from\ngeneration to generation for many centuries.\n\nThese tales are not only of a kind to enchain the attention of\nchildren. They also illustrate well the close affinity between the two\nchief branches of the great Aryan race, and are of considerable ethical\nvalue, reflecting, as they do, the philosophy of self-realisation which\nlies at the root of Hindu culture. They have been used from time\nimmemorial by the best teachers of India as a means of building up the\npersonalities of the young and maintaining the efficiency of the adult.\nThey serve in fact as text-books of the unique system of Mind-Training\nwhich has been in use in India from remote Vedic times, the root\nprinciple of which is as simple as it is effective.\n\nHindu children become familiar at their mothers\u2019 knees with these\nstories, and are trained to answer questions on them, subtly chosen to\nsuit their ages and call into action their mental faculties. Appealing\nto them as an amusing game, in which they vie with each other in trying\nto solve the problems presented for their consideration, the boys and\ngirls, who are educated together till they are ten or twelve years old,\nearly learn to concentrate their attention; whilst the simultaneous\ndevelopment of all their powers is encouraged and they are,\nimperceptibly to themselves led to control their thoughts and emotions\nfrom within, instead of having to obey orders which they do not\nunderstand from without. They realize indeed, whilst still in the\nnursery, the ideal suggested by the sage Vidura in the Mahabharata:\n\u201cSeek to know thyself by means of thyself, keeping thy mind, intellect\nand senses, under control; for self is thy friend as it is also thy\nfoe.\u201d\n\nNancy Bell.\n\nSouthbourne-on-Sea, 1918.\n\n\n\n\nI.\nThe Magic Pitcher.\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nLong, long ago there lived far away in India a woodcutter called Subha\nDatta and his family, who were all very happy together. The father went\nevery day to the forest near his home to get supplies of wood, which he\nsold to his neighbours, earning by that means quite enough to give his\nwife and children all that they needed. Sometimes he took his three\nboys with him, and now and then, as a special treat, his two little\ngirls were allowed to trot along beside him. The boys longed to be\nallowed to chop wood for themselves, and their father told them that as\nsoon as they were old enough he would give each of them a little axe of\nhis own. The girls, he said, must be content with breaking off small\ntwigs from the branches he cut down, for he did not wish them to chop\ntheir own fingers off. This will show you what a kind father he was,\nand you will be very sorry for him when you hear about his troubles.\n\nAll went well with Subha Datta for a long time. Each of the boys had\nhis own little axe at last, and each of the girls had a little pair of\nscissors to cut off twigs; and very proud they all were when they\nbrought some wood home to their mother to use in the house. One day,\nhowever, their father told them they could none of them come with him,\nfor he meant to go a very long way into the forest, to see if he could\nfind better wood there than nearer home. Vainly the boys entreated him\nto take them with him. \u201cNot to-day,\u201d he said, \u201cyou would be too tired\nto go all the way, and would lose yourselves coming back alone. You\nmust help your mother to-day and play with your sisters.\u201d They had to\nbe content, for although Hindu children are as fond of asking questions\nas English boys and girls, they are very obedient to their parents and\ndo all they are told without making any fuss about it.\n\nOf course, they expected their father would come back the day he\nstarted for the depths of the forest, although they knew he would be\nlate. What then was their surprise when darkness came and there was no\nsign of him! Again and again their mother went to the door to look for\nhim, expecting every moment to see him coming along the beaten path\nwhich led to their door. Again and again she mistook the cry of some\nnight-bird for his voice calling to her. She was obliged at last to go\nto bed with a heavy heart, fearing some wild beast had killed him and\nthat she would never see him again.\n\n1. What do you think had become of Subha Datta?\n\n2. What would you have done when he did not come back?\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nWhen Subha Datta started for the forest, he fully intended to come back\nthe same evening; but as he was busy cutting down a tree, he suddenly\nhad a feeling that he was no longer alone. He looked up, and there,\nquite close to him, in a little clearing where the trees had been cut\ndown by some other woodcutter, he saw four beautiful young girls\nlooking like fairies in their thin summer dresses and with their long\nhair flowing down their backs, dancing round and round, holding each\nother\u2019s hands. Subha Datta was so astonished at the sight that he let\nhis axe fall, and the noise startled the dancers, who all four stood\nstill and stared at him.\n\nThe woodcutter could not say a word, but just gazed and gazed at them,\ntill one of them said to him: \u201cWho are you, and what are you doing in\nthe very depths of the forest where we have never before seen a man?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am only a poor woodcutter,\u201d he replied, \u201ccome to get some wood to\nsell, so as to give my wife and children something to eat and some\nclothes to wear.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a very stupid thing to do,\u201d said one of the girls. \u201cYou can\u2019t\nget much money that way. If you will only stop with us we will have\nyour wife and children looked after for you much better than you can do\nit yourself.\u201d\n\n3. What would you have said if you had been the woodcutter?\n\n4. Do you think the fairies really meant that they could do as they\noffered?\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nSubha Datta, though he certainly did love his wife and children, was so\ntempted at the idea of stopping in the forest with the beautiful girls\nthat, after hesitating a little while, he said, \u201cYes, I will stop with\nyou, if you are quite sure all will be well with my dear ones.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou need not be afraid about that,\u201d said another of the girls. \u201cWe are\nfairies, you see, and we can do all sorts of wonderful things. It isn\u2019t\neven necessary for us to go where your dear ones are. We shall just\nwish them everything they want, and they will get it. And the first\nthing to be done is to give you some food. You must work for us in\nreturn, of course.\u201d\n\nSubha Datta at once replied, \u201cI will do anything you wish.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, begin by sweeping away all the dead leaves from the clearing,\nand then we will all sit down and eat together.\u201d\n\nSubha Datta was very glad that what he was asked to do was so easy. He\nbegan by cutting a branch from a tree, and with it he swept the floor\nof what was to be the dining-room. Then he looked about for the food,\nbut he could see nothing but a great big pitcher standing in the shade\nof a tree, the branches of which hung over the clearing. So he said to\none of the fairies, \u201cWill you show me where the food is, and exactly\nwhere you would like me to set it out?\u201d\n\nAt these questions all the fairies began to laugh, and the sound of\ntheir laughter was like the tinkling of a number of bells.\n\n5. What was there to laugh at in the questions of Subha Datta?\n\n6. What is your idea of a fairy?\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nWhen the fairies saw how astonished Subha Datta was at the way they\nlaughed, it made them laugh still more, and they seized each other\u2019s\nhands again and whirled round and round, laughing all the time.\n\nPoor Subha Datta, who was very tired and hungry, began to get unhappy\nand to wish he had gone straight home after all. He stooped down to\npick up his axe, and was just about to turn away with it, when the\nfairies stopped their mad whirl and cried to him to stop. So he waited,\nand one of them said:\n\n\u201c_We_ don\u2019t have to bother about fetching this and fetching that. You\nsee that big pitcher. Well, we get all our food and everything else we\nwant out of it. We just have to wish as we put our hands in, and there\nit is. It\u2019s a magic pitcher\u2014the only one there is in the whole wide\nworld. You get the food you would like to have first, and then we\u2019ll\ntell you what _we_ want.\u201d\n\nSubha Datta could hardly believe his ears when he heard that. Down he\nthrew his axe, and hastened to put his hand in the pitcher, wishing for\nthe food he was used to. He loved curried rice and milk, lentils, fruit\nand vegetables, and very soon he had a beautiful meal spread out for\nhimself on the ground. Then the fairies called out, one after the\nother, what they wanted for food, things the woodcutter had never heard\nof or seen, which made him quite discontented with what he had chosen\nfor himself.\n\n7. What would you have wished for if you had had a magic pitcher?\n\n8. Would it be a good thing, do you think, to be able to get food\nwithout working for it or paying for it?\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nThe next few days passed away like a dream, and at first Subha Datta\nthought he had never been so happy in his life. The fairies often went\noff together leaving him alone, only coming back to the clearing when\nthey wanted something out of the pitcher. The woodcutter got all kinds\nof things he fancied for himself, but presently he began to wish he had\nhis wife and children with him to share his wonderful meals. He began\nto miss them terribly, and he missed his work too. It was no good\ncutting trees down and chopping up wood when all the food was ready\ncooked. Sometimes he thought he would slip off home when the fairies\nwere away, but when he looked at the pitcher he could not bear the\nthought of leaving it.\n\n9. What sort of man do you think Subha Datta was from what this story\ntells you about him?\n\n10. What do you think was the chief cause of his becoming discontented\nafter he had been in the service of the fairies for a few days?\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nSoon Subha Datta could not sleep well for thinking of the wife and\nchildren he had deserted. Suppose they were hungry when he had plenty\nto eat! It even came into his head that he might steal the pitcher and\ntake it home with him when the fairies were away. But he had not after\nall the courage to do this; for even when the beautiful girls were not\nin sight, he had a feeling that they would know if he tried to go off\nwith the pitcher, and that they would be able to punish him in some\nterrible way. One night he had a dream that troubled him very much. He\nsaw his wife sitting crying bitterly in the little home he used to\nlove, holding the youngest child on her knee whilst the other three\nstood beside her looking at her very, very sadly. He started up from\nthe ground on which he lay, determined to go home at once; but at a\nlittle distance off he saw the fairies dancing in the moonlight, and\nsomehow he felt again he could not leave them and the pitcher. The next\nday, however, he was so miserable that the fairies noticed it, and one\nof them said to him: \u201cWhatever is the matter? We don\u2019t care to keep\nunhappy people here. If you can\u2019t enjoy life as we do, you had better\ngo home.\u201d\n\nThen Subha Datta was very much frightened lest they should really send\nhim away; so he told them about his dream and that he was afraid his\ndear ones were starving for want of the money he used to earn for them.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t worry about them,\u201d was the reply: \u201cwe will let your wife know\nwhat keeps you away. We will whisper in her ear when she is asleep, and\nshe will be so glad to think of your happiness that she will forget her\nown troubles.\u201d\n\n11. Do you think what the fairies said to the woodcutter was likely to\ncomfort him about his wife and children?\n\n12. If you had been in Subha Datta\u2019s place what would you have said to\nthe fairies when they made this promise?\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nSubha Datta was very much cheered by the sympathy of the fairies, so\nmuch so that he decided to stop with them for a little longer at least.\nNow and then he felt restless, but on the whole the time passed\npleasantly, and the pitcher was a daily delight to him.\n\nMeanwhile his poor wife was at her wits\u2019 end how to feed her dear\nchildren. If it had not been that the two boys were brave, plucky\nlittle chaps, she really would have been in despair. When their father\ndid not come back and all their efforts to find him were in vain, these\nboys set to work to help their mother. They could not cut down trees,\nbut they could climb them and chop off small branches with their axes;\nand this they did, making up bundles of faggots and selling them to\ntheir neighbours. These neighbours were touched by the courage they\nshowed, and not only paid them well for the wood but often gave them\nmilk and rice and other little things to help them. In time they\nactually got used to being without Subha Datta, and the little girls\nnearly forgot all about him. Little did they dream of the change that\nwas soon to come into their lives.\n\n13. Was it a good or a bad thing for the boys that their father did not\ncome back?\n\n14. If you think it was a good thing, will you explain why? and if it\nwas a bad thing, why you think it was?\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nA month passed peacefully away in the depths of the forest, Subha Datta\nwaiting on the fairies and becoming every day more selfish and bent on\nenjoying himself. Then he had another dream, in which he saw his wife\nand children in the old home with plenty of food, and evidently so\nhappy without him that he felt quite determined to go and show them he\nwas still alive. When he woke he said to the fairies, \u201cI will not stop\nwith you any longer. I have had a good time here, but I am tired of\nthis life away from my own people.\u201d\n\nThe fairies saw he was really in earnest this time, so they consented\nto let him go; but they were kind-hearted people and felt they ought to\npay him in some way for all he had done for them. They consulted\ntogether, and then one of them told him they wished to make him a\npresent before he went away, and they would give him whatever he asked\nfor.\n\n15. What do you think it was that made Subha Datta determine to go home\nwhen he found his wife and children could do without him?\n\n16. What would you have chosen if the fairies had told you you could\nhave anything you liked?\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nDirectly the woodcutter heard he could have anything he asked for, he\ncried, \u201cI will have the magic pitcher.\u201d\n\nYou can just imagine what a shock this was to the fairies! You know, of\ncourse, that fairies always keep their word. If they could not persuade\nSubha Datta to choose something else, they would have to give him their\nbeloved, their precious pitcher and would have to seek their food for\nthemselves. They all tried all they could to persuade the woodcutter to\nchoose something else. They took him to their own secret\ntreasure-house, in an old, old tree with a hollow trunk, even the\nentrance to which no mortal had ever been allowed to see. They\nblindfolded him before they started, so that he could never reveal the\nway, and one of them led him by the hand, telling him where the steps\ngoing down from the tree began. When at last the bandage was taken from\nhis eyes, he found himself in a lofty hall with an opening in the roof\nthrough which the light came. Piled up on the floor were sparkling\nstones worth a great deal of gold and silver money, and on the walls\nhung beautiful robes. Subha Datta was quite dazed with all he saw, but\nhe was only an ignorant woodcutter and did not realize the value of the\njewels and clothes. So when the fairies, said to him, \u201cChoose anything\nyou like here and let us keep our pitcher,\u201d he shook his head and said:\n\u201cNo! no! no! The pitcher! I will have the pitcher!\u201d One fairy after\nanother picked up the rubies and diamonds and other precious stones and\nheld them in the light, that the woodcutter might see how lovely they\nwere; and when he still only shook his head, they got down the robes\nand tried to make him put one of them on. \u201cNo! the pitcher! the\npitcher!\u201d he said, and at last they had to give it up. They bound his\neyes again and led him back to the clearing and the pitcher.\n\n17. Would you have been tempted to give up the pitcher when you saw the\njewels and the robes?\n\n18. What made Subha Datta so determined to have the pitcher?\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nEven when they were all back again in the clearing the fairies did not\nquite give up hope of keeping their pitcher. This time they gave other\nreasons why Subha Datta should not have it. \u201cIt will break very\neasily,\u201d they told him, \u201cand then it will be no good to you or any one\nelse. But if you take some of the money, you can buy anything you like\nwith it. If you take some of the jewels you can sell them for lots of\nmoney.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! no! no!\u201d cried the woodcutter. \u201cThe pitcher! the pitcher! I will\nhave the pitcher!\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well then, take, the pitcher,\u201d they sadly answered, \u201cand never\nlet us see your face again!\u201d\n\nSo Subha Datta took the pitcher, carrying it very, very carefully, lest\nhe should drop it and break it before he got home. He did not think at\nall of what a cruel thing it was to take it away from the fairies, and\nleave them either to starve or to seek for food for themselves. The\npoor fairies watched him till he was out of sight, and then they began\nto weep and wring their hands. \u201cHe might at least have waited whilst we\ngot some food out for a few days,\u201d one of them said. \u201cHe was too\nselfish to think of that,\u201d said another. \u201cCome, let us forget all about\nhim and go and look for some fruit.\u201d\n\nSo they all left off crying and went away hand in hand. Fairies do not\nwant very much to eat. They can live on fruit and dew, and they never\nlet anything make them sad for long at a time. They go out of this\nstory now, but you need not be unhappy about them, because you may be\nvery sure that they got no real harm from their generosity to Subha\nDatta in letting him take the pitcher.\n\n19. Do you think the woodcutter was wrong to ask for the pitcher?\n\n20. What would have been the best thing for Subha Datta to ask for, if\nhe had decided to let the fairies keep their pitcher?\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nYou can just imagine what a surprise it was to Subha Datta\u2019s wife and\nchildren when they saw him coming along the path leading to his home.\nHe did not bring the pitcher with him, but had hidden it in a hollow\ntree in the wood near his cottage, for he did not mean any one to know\nthat he had it. He told his wife that he had lost his way in the\nforest, and had been afraid he would never see her or his children\nagain, but he said nothing about the fairies. When his wife asked him\nhow he had got food, he told her a long story about the fruits he had\nfound, and she believed all he said, and determined to make up to him\nnow for all she thought he had suffered. When she called the little\ngirls to come and help her get a nice meal for their father, Subha\nDatta said: \u201cOh, don\u2019t bother about that! I\u2019ve brought something back\nwith me. I\u2019ll go and fetch it, but no one is to come with me.\u201d\n\nSubha Datta\u2019s wife was sorely disappointed at this, because she loved\nher husband so much that it was a joy to her to work for him. The\nchildren too wanted, of course, to go with their father, but he ordered\nthem to stop where they were. He seized a big basket which was fall of\nfuel for the fire, tumbled all the wood in it on the floor, and went\noff alone to the pitcher. Very soon he was back again with his basket\nfull of all sorts of good things, the very names of which his wife and\nchildren had no idea of. \u201cThere!\u201d he cried; \u201cwhat do you think of that?\nAm I not a clever father to have found all that in the forest? Those\nare the \u2018fruits\u2019 I meant when I told Mother about them.\u201d\n\n21. What would you have thought about this wonderful supply of food, if\nyou had been one of the woodcutter\u2019s children?\n\n22. Was it a good thing for those children to have all this food\nwithout working for it? If not, why was it not a good thing?\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nLife was now, of course, completely changed for the family in the\nforest. Subha Datta no longer went to cut wood to be sold, and the boys\nalso left off doing so. Every day their father fetched food for them\nall, and the greatest desire of each one of the family was to find out\nwhere it came from. They never could do so, for Subha Datta managed to\nmake them afraid to follow him when he went forth with his basket. The\nsecret he kept from the wife to whom he used to tell everything soon\nbegan to spoil the happiness of the home. The children who had no\nlonger anything to do quarrelled with each other. Their mother got\nsadder and sadder, and at last decided to tell Subha Datta that, unless\nhe would let her know where the food came from, she would go away from\nhim and take her little girls with her. She really did mean to do this,\nbut something soon happened to change everything again. Of course, the\nneighbours in the wood, who had bought the fuel from the boys and\nhelped them by giving them fruit and rice, heard of the return of their\nfather and of the wonderful change in their lot. Now the whole family\nhad plenty to eat every day, though none of them knew where it all came\nfrom. Subha Datta was very fond of showing off what he could do, and\nsometimes asked his old friends amongst the woodcutters to come and\nhave a meal with him. When they arrived they would find all sorts of\ngood things spread out on the ground and different kinds of wines in\nbeautiful bottles.\n\nThis went on for some months, Subha Datta getting prouder and prouder\nof all that he could do, and it seemed likely that his secret would\nnever be discovered. Everybody tried to find it out, and many followed\nhim secretly when he set forth into the woods; but he was very clever\nat dodging them, hiding his treasure constantly in a new place in the\ndead of the night. If he had only been content with getting food out of\nhis pitcher and drinking pure water, all would most likely have been\nwell with him. But that was just what he could not do. Till he had his\npitcher he had never drunk anything but water, but now he often took\ntoo much wine. It was this which led to the misfortune of losing his\nbeloved pitcher. He began to boast of his cleverness, telling his\nfriends there was nothing they wanted that he could not get for them;\nand one day when he had given them a very grand feast, in which were\nseveral rare kinds of food they had asked for, he drank too much\nwine\u2014so much that he no longer knew what he was saying.\n\nThis was the chance his guests wanted. They began teasing him, telling\nhim they believed he was really a wicked robber, who had stolen the\nfood or the money to buy it. He got angry, and at last was actually\nsilly enough to tell them all to come with him, and he would show them\nhe was no robber. When his wife heard this, she was half pleased to\nthink that now at last the secret would come out of where the food came\nfrom, and half afraid that something terrible would happen. The\nchildren too were greatly excited, and went with the rest of the party,\nwho followed their father to the last hiding-place of the precious\npitcher.\n\nWhen they all got very near the place, however, some idea began to come\ninto Subha Datta\u2019s head that he was doing a very foolish thing. He\nstopped suddenly, turned round facing the crowd that followed him, and\nsaid he would not go a step further till they all went back to the\ncottage. His wife begged him to let her at least go with him, and the\nchildren all clamoured not to be sent back, but it was no good. Back\nthey all had to go, the woodcutter watching till they were out of\nsight.\n\n23. Would Subha Datta have been wise if he had told has wife about the\npitcher?\n\n24. Do you think it would have been a good or a bad thing for the\nsecret to be found out?\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nWhen the woodcutter was quite sure that every one was gone and nobody\ncould see where he had hidden the pitcher, he took it from the hole in\nwhich it lay and carried it carefully to his home. You can imagine how\neverybody rushed out to meet him when he came in sight, and crowded\nround him, so that there was danger of the pitcher being thrown to the\nground and broken. Subha Datta however managed to get into the cottage\nwithout any accident, and then he began to take things out of the\npitcher and fling them on the ground, shouting, \u201cAm I a robber? Am I a\nrobber? Who dared to call me a robber?\u201d Then, getting more and more\nexcited, he picked up the pitcher, and holding it on his shoulder began\nto dance wildly about. His wife called out to him, \u201cOh, take care, take\ncare! You will drop it!\u201d But he paid no attention to her. Suddenly,\nhowever, he began to feel giddy and fell to the ground, dropping the\npitcher as he did so. It was broken to pieces, and a great cry of\nsorrow went up from all who saw the accident. The woodcutter himself\nwas broken-hearted, for he knew that he had done the mischief himself,\nand that if only he had resisted the temptation to drink the wine he\nwould still have his treasure.\n\nHe was going to pick up the pieces to see if they could be stuck\ntogether, but to his very great surprise he could not touch them. He\nheard a silvery laugh, and what sounded like children clapping their\nhands, and he thought he also heard the words, \u201cOur pitcher is ours\nagain!\u201d Could it all have been a dream? No: for there on the ground\nwere the fruits and cakes that had been in the pitcher, and there were\nhis wife, his children and his friends, all looking sadly and angrily\nat him. One by one the friends went away, leaving Subha Datta alone\nwith his family.\n\n25. If you had been Subha Datta\u2019s wife, what would you have done when\nthis misfortune came to her husband?\n\n26. What would you have done if you had been the woodcutter?\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nThis is the end of the story of the Magic Pitcher, but it was the\nbeginning of a new chapter in the lives of Subha Datta and his family.\nThey never forgot the wonder-working pitcher, and the children were\nnever tired of hearing the story of how their father came to get it.\nThey often wandered about in the forest, hoping that they too would\nmeet with some wonderful adventure, but they never saw the fairies or\nfound a magic pitcher. By slow degrees the woodcutter returned to his\nold ways, but he had learnt one lesson. He never again kept a secret\nfrom his wife; because he felt sure that, if he had told her the truth\nabout the pitcher when he first came home, she would have helped him to\nsave the precious treasure.\n\n27. What lesson can be learnt from this story?\n\n28. Do you think it is easier for a boy or a girl to keep a secret?\n\n29. Why is it wrong to let out a secret you have been told?\n\n30. What do you think was the chief fault in the character of Subha\nDatta?\n\n\n\n\nII.\nThe Story of a Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard and an Owl.\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nThis is the story of four creatures, none of whom loved each other, who\nlived in the same banyan tree in a forest in India. Banyan trees are\nvery beautiful and very useful, and get their name from the fact that\n\u201cbanians,\u201d as merchants are called in India, often gather together in\ntheir shade to sell their goods. Banyan trees grow to a very great\nheight, spreading their branches out so widely that many people can\nstand beneath them. From those branches roots spring forth, which, when\nthey reach the ground, pierce it, and look like, columns holding up a\nroof. If you have never seen a banyan tree, you can easily find a\npicture of one in some dictionary; and when you have done so, you will\nunderstand that a great many creatures can live in one without seeing\nmuch of each other.\n\nIn an especially fine banyan tree, outside the walls of a town called\nVidisa, a cat, an owl, a lizard and a mouse, had all taken up their\nabode. The cat lived in a big hole in the trunk some little distance\nfrom the ground, where she could sleep very cosily, curled up out of\nsight with her head resting on her forepaws, feeling perfectly safe\nfrom harm; for no other creature, she thought, could possibly discover\nher hiding-place. The owl roosted in a mass of foliage at the top of\nthe tree, near the nest in which his wife had brought up their\nchildren, before those children flew away to seek mates for themselves.\nHe too felt pretty secure as long as he remained up there; but he had\nseen the cat prowling about below him more than once, and was very sure\nthat, if she should happen to catch sight of him when he was off his\nguard seeking his prey and obliged to give all his attention to what he\nwas doing, she might spring out upon him and kill him. Cats do not\ngenerally attack such big birds as owls, but they will sometimes kill a\nmother sitting in her nest, as well as the little ones, if the father\nis too far off to protect them.\n\nThe lizard loved to lie and bask in the sunshine, catching the flies on\nwhich he lived, lying so still that they did not notice him, and\ndarting out his long tongue suddenly to suck them into his mouth. Yet\nhe hid from the owl and the cat, because he knew full well that, tough\nthough he was, they would gobble him up if they happened to be hungry.\nHe made his home amongst the roots on the south side of the tree where\nit was hottest, but the mouse had his hole on the other side amongst\ndamp moss and dead leaves. The mouse was in constant fear of the cat\nand the owl. He knew that both of them could see in the dark, and he\nwould have no chance of escape if they once caught sight of him.\n\n1. Which of these four creatures do you think was most to be pitied?\n\n2. Do you think that animals ever hate or love each as human creatures\ndo?\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nThe lizard and the mouse could only get food in daylight; but the\nlizard did not have to go far for the flies on which he lived, whilst\nthe mouse had a very dangerous journey to take to his favourite feeding\nplace. This was a barley field a short distance from the banyan tree,\nwhere he loved to nibble the full ears, running up the stalks to get at\nthem. The mouse was the only one of the four creatures in the banyan\ntree who did not feed on others; for, like the rest of his family, he\nwas a vegetarian, that is to say, he ate nothing but vegetables and\nfruit.\n\nNow the cat knew full well how fond the mouse was of the barley-field,\nand she used to keep watch amongst the tall stems, creeping stealthily\nabout with her tail in the air and her green eyes glistening, expecting\nany moment to see the poor little mouse darting hastily along. The cat\nnever dreamt that any danger could come to her, and she trod down the\nbarley, making quite a clear path through it. She was quite wrong in\nthinking herself so safe, for that path got her into very serious\ntrouble.\n\nIt so happened that a hunter, whose great delight was to kill wild\ncreatures, and who was very clever in finding them, noticing every\nlittle thing which could shew him where they had passed by, came one\nday into the barley-field. He spied the path directly and cried, \u201cHa!\nha! Some wild animal has been here; not a very big one; let\u2019s have a\nlook for the footprints!\u201d So he stooped down to the ground, and very\nsoon saw the marks of pussy\u2019s feet. \u201cA cat, I do believe,\u201d he said to\nhimself, \u201cspoiling the barley she doesn\u2019t want to eat herself. I\u2019ll\nsoon pay her out.\u201d The hunter waited until the evening lest the\ncreature should see what he was going to do, and then in the twilight\nhe set snares all over the barley-field. A snare, you know, is a string\nwith a slip-knot at the end of it; and if an animal puts his head or\none of his paws into this slip-knot and goes on without noticing it,\nthe string is pulled tight and the poor creature cannot get free.\n\n3. Was it right or wrong of the hunter to set the snare?\n\n4. Do you think the cat was wrong to lie in wait for the mouse?\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nExactly what the hunter expected happened. The cat came as usual to\nwatch for the mouse, and caught sight of him running across the end of\nthe path. Puss dashed after him; and just as she thought she really had\ngot him this time, she found herself caught by the neck, for she had\nput her head into one of the snares. She was nearly strangled and could\nscarcely even mew. The mouse was so close that he heard the feeble mew,\nand in a terrible fright, thinking the cat was after him, he peeped\nthrough the stems of the barley to make sure which way to run to get\naway from her. What was his delight when he saw his enemy in such\ntrouble and quite unable to do him any harm!\n\nNow it so happened that the owl and the lizard were also in the\nbarley-field, not very far away from the cat, and they too saw the\ndistress their hated enemy was in. They also caught sight of the little\nmouse peeping through the barley; and the owl thought to himself, \u201cI\u2019ll\nhave you, my little friend, now puss cannot do me any harm,\u201d whilst the\nlizard darted away into the sunshine, feeling glad that the cat and the\nowl were neither of them now likely to trouble their heads about him.\nThe owl flew quietly to a tree hard by to watch what would happen,\nfeeling so sure of having the mouse for his dinner that he was in no\nhurry to catch him.\n\n5. What would you have done if you had been the mouse, when you saw the\ncat in the snare?\n\n6. Was the owl wise or foolish to wait before he caught the mouse?\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nThe mouse, small and helpless though he was, was a wise little\ncreature. He saw the owl fly up into the tree, and knew quite well that\nif he did not take care he would serve as dinner to that great strong\nbird. He knew too that, if he went within reach of the claws of the\ncat, he would suffer for it. \u201cHow I do wish,\u201d he thought to himself, \u201cI\ncould make friends with the cat, now she is in distress, and get her to\npromise not to hurt me if ever she gets free. As long as I am near the\ncat, the owl will not dare to come after me.\u201d As he thought and\nthought, his eyes got brighter and brighter, and at last he decided\nwhat he would do. He had, you see, kept his presence of mind; that is\nto say, he did not let his fright of the cat or the owl prevent him\nfrom thinking clearly. He now ventured forth from amongst the barley,\nand coming near enough to the cat for her to see him quite clearly, but\nnot near enough for her to reach him with her claws, or far enough away\nfor the owl to get him without danger from those terrible claws, he\nsaid to the cat in a queer little squeaky voice: \u201cDear Puss, I do not\nlike to see you in such a fix. It is true we have never been exactly\nfriends, but I have always looked up to you as a strong and noble\nenemy. If you will promise never to do me any harm, I will do my best\nto help you. I have very sharp teeth, and I might perhaps be able to\nnibble through the string round your beautiful neck and set you free.\nWhat do you think about it?\u201d\n\n7. Do you think there was any chance of a cat and a mouse becoming real\nfriends?\n\n8. Can you give two or three instances you know of presence of mind in\ndanger?\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nWhen the cat heard what the mouse said, she could hardly believe her\nears. She was of course ready to promise anything to anyone who would\nhelp her, so she said at once:\n\n\u201cYou dear little mouse, to wish to help me. If only you will nibble\nthrough that string which is killing me, I promise that I will always\nlove you, always be your friend, and however hungry I may be, I will\nstarve rather than hurt your tender little body.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this, the mouse, without hesitating a moment, climbed up on\nto the cat\u2019s back, and cuddled down in the soft fur near her neck,\nfeeling very safe and warm there. The owl would certainly not attack\nhim there, he thought, and the cat could not possibly hurt him. It was\none thing to pounce down on a defenceless little creature running on\nthe ground amongst the barley, quite another to try and snatch him from\nthe very neck of a cat.\n\nThe cat of course expected the mouse to begin to nibble through the\nstring at once, and became very uneasy when she felt the little\ncreature nestle down as if to go to sleep, instead of helping her. Poor\nPussy could not turn her head so as to see the mouse without drawing\nthe string tighter, and she did not dare to speak angrily lest she\nshould offend him. \u201cMy dear little friend,\u201d she said, \u201cdo you not think\nit is high time to keep your promise and set me free?\u201d\n\nHearing this, the mouse pretended to bite the string, but took care not\nto do so really; and the cat waited and waited, getting more miserable\nevery minute. All through the long night the same thing went on: the\nmouse taking a little nap now and then, the cat getting weaker and\nweaker. \u201cOh,\u201d she thought to herself, \u201cif only I could get free, the\nfirst thing I would do would be to gobble up that horrid little mouse.\u201d\nThe moon rose, the stars came out, the wind murmured amongst the\nbranches of the banyan tree, making the unfortunate cat long to be safe\nin her cosy home in the trunk. The cries of the wild animals which\nprowl about at night seeking their food were heard, and the cat feared\none of them might find her and kill her. A mother tiger perhaps would\nsnatch her, and take her to her hungry cubs, hidden away in the deep\nforest, or a bird of prey might swoop down on her and grip her in his\nterrible claws. Again and again she entreated the mouse to be quick,\npromising that, if only he would set her at liberty, she would never,\nnever, never forget it or do any harm to her beloved friend.\n\n9. What do you suppose the mouse was thinking all this time?\n\n10. If you had been the mouse, would you have trusted to what the cat\nsaid in her misery?\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nIt was not until the moon had set and the light of the dawn had put out\nthat of the stars that the mouse, made any real effort to help the cat.\nBy this time the hunter who had set the snare came to see if he had\ncaught the cat; and the poor cat, seeing him in the distance, became so\nwild with terror that she nearly killed herself in the struggle to get\naway. \u201cKeep still! keep still,\u201d cried the mouse, \u201cand I will really\nsave you.\u201d Then with a few quick bites with his sharp teeth he cut\nthrough the string, and the next moment the cat was hidden amongst the\nbarley, and the mouse was running off in the opposite direction,\ndetermined to keep well out of sight of the creature he had kept in\nsuch misery for so many hours. Full well he knew that all the cat\u2019s\npromises would be forgotten, and that she would eat him up if she could\ncatch him. The owl too flew away, and the lizard went off to hunt flies\nin the sunshine, and there was not a sign of any of the four\ninhabitants of the banyan tree when the hunter reached the snare. He\nwas very much surprised and puzzled to find the string hanging loose in\ntwo pieces, and no sign of there having been anything caught in it,\nexcept two white hairs lying on the ground close to the trap. He had a\ngood look round, and then went home without having found out anything.\n\nWhen the hunter was quite out of sight, the cat came forth from the\nbarley, and hastened back to her beloved home in the banyan tree. On\nher way there she spied the mouse also hurrying along in the same\ndirection, and at first she felt inclined to hunt him and eat him then\nand there. On second thoughts however she decided to try and keep\nfriends with him, because he might help her again if she got caught a\nsecond time. So she took no notice of the mouse until the next day,\nwhen she climbed down the tree and went to the roots in which she knew\nthe mouse was hidden. There she began to purr as loud as she could, to\nshow the mouse she was in a good humour, and called out, \u201cDear good\nlittle mouse, come out of your hole and let me tell you how very, very\ngrateful I am to you for saving my life. There is nothing in the world\nI will not do for you, if you will only be friends with me.\u201d\n\nThe mouse only squeaked in answer to this speech, and took very good\ncare not to show himself, till he was quite sure the cat was gone\nbeyond reach of him. He stayed quietly in his hole, and only ventured\nforth after he had heard the cat climb up into the tree again. \u201cIt is\nall very well,\u201d thought the mouse, \u201cto pretend to make friends with an\nenemy when that enemy is helpless, but I should indeed be a silly mouse\nto trust a cat when she is free to kill me.\u201d\n\nThe cat made a good many other efforts to be friends with the mouse,\nbut they were all unsuccessful. In the end the owl caught the mouse,\nand the cat killed the lizard. The owl and the cat both lived for the\nrest of their lives in the banyan tree, and died in the end at a good\nold age.\n\n11. Do you think it is ever possible to make a real friend of an enemy?\n\n12. What do you think the mouse deserved most praise for in his\nbehaviour?\n\n13. Which of the four animals in this story do you like best and which\ndo you dislike most?\n\n14. Can an animal be blamed for acting according to its nature? For\ninstance, can you call it cruel for a cat or an owl to kill and eat a\nmouse?\n\n15. Is it always right to forgive an injury?\n\n16. Can you give an example from history of the forgiveness of an\ninjury?\n\n\n\n\nIII.\nA Royal Thief-Catcher.\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nIn one of the smaller cities of India called Sravasti the people\ngathered together on a very hot day to stare at and talk about a\nstranger, who had come in to the town, looking very weary and walking\nwith great difficulty because his feet were sore with tramping for a\nlong distance on the rough roads. He was a Brahman, that is to say, a\nman who devoted his whole life to prayer, and had promised to give up\neverything for the sake of pleasing the god in whom he believed, and to\ncare nothing for comfort, for riches, or for good food.\n\nThis Brahman carried nothing with him but a staff to help him along,\nand a bowl in which to receive the offerings of those who thought it\ntheir duty to help him and hoped by doing so to win favour in the sight\nof God. He was naked, except for a cloth worn about his loins, and his\nlong hair was all matted together for want of combing and brushing. He\nmade his way very slowly and painfully through the crowds, till he came\nto a shady corner, and there he sank down exhausted, holding out his\nbowl for the gifts of the people. Very soon his bowl would have been\nfull of all sorts of good things, but he made it clear that he would\naccept nothing to eat except rice still in the husk, and nothing to\ndrink but pure water. He was however willing to take money; and when\nthe people who wished to help him found that out, they brought him a\ngood many silver and gold pieces. Some who had no money to spare gave\nhim jewels and other things which could be sold for money.\n\n1. Can you explain why the Brahman would only accept such food as rice\nin the husk and water?\n\n2. Do you think it was right or wrong of the Brahman to take money and\njewels?\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nAs time went on, the Brahman became very well known in Sravasti. His\nfame indeed spread far beyond the town, and people came from far away\nto consult him about all sorts of things, and he gave them good advice,\nfor he was a very wise man. Those who wanted him to tell them what to\ndo paid him for his advice, and as some of them had plenty of money and\nwere glad to help him, he soon became quite rich. He might have done a\ngreat deal of good with all this money by helping the poor and\nsuffering, but unfortunately he never thought of doing so. Instead of\nthat, he got to love the money for its own sake. At night, when all\nthose who had come to see him had gone to rest, and there was no fear\nof his being found out, he used to steal away into the forest, and\nthere he dug a deep hole at the root of a great tree, to which he took\nall his money and jewels.\n\nIn India everybody has a siesta, that is to say, a sleep in the middle\nof the day, because the heat is so great it is difficult to keep well\nand strong without this extra rest. So, although it is quite light at\nthe time, the streets are deserted, except for the dogs who prowl\nabout, trying to find something to eat. Now the Brahman loved his money\nand other treasures so much, that he used very often to do without this\nsiesta and go to the forest to enjoy the pleasure of looking at them.\nWhen he got to the tree, he would bend down, clear away the earth and\nleaves with which he had hidden his secret hole, take out the money and\nlet it slip through his fingers, and hold up the jewels to the light,\nto watch how they gleamed and glistened. He was never so happy as when\nhe was alone with his riches, and it was all he could do to tear\nhimself away from them when the time came to go back to his shady\ncorner. In fact he was becoming a selfish miser instead of the holy man\nthe people of Sravasti thought he was. By the time the siesta was over\nhe was always back again in his place beneath the tree, holding out his\nbowl and looking as poor and thin as ever, so that nobody had the least\nidea of the truth.\n\n3. Why was it wrong for the Brahman to hide away his money and jewels?\n\n4. Can anyone be a miser about other things as well as money and\njewels? If so, what other things?\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nFor many months the Brahman led this double life; until one day, when\nhe went as usual to his hiding-place, he saw at once that some one had\nbeen there before him. Eagerly he knelt down, full of fear of exactly\nwhat had actually happened. All his care in concealing the hole had\nbeen wasted, for it was quite empty. The poor man could not at first\nbelieve his own eyes. He rubbed them hard, thinking that there was\nsomething the matter with them. Then he felt round and round the hole,\nhoping that after all he was mistaken; and when at last he was obliged\nto believe the terrible truth that there really was not a sign of his\nmoney and jewels, he became almost mad with misery. He began to run\nfrom tree to tree, peering into their roots, and when there was nothing\nto be seen, he rushed back again to his empty hole, to look into it\nonce more. Then he wept and tore at his hair, stamped about and cried\naloud to all the gods he believed in, making all kinds of promises, of\nwhat he would do if only they would give him back his treasures. No\nanswer came, and he began to wonder who could have done such a terrible\nthing. It must, he felt sure, have been one of the people of Sravasti;\nand he now remembered he had noticed that a good many of them had\nlooked into his bowl with longing eyes, when they saw the money and\nprecious stones in it. \u201cWhat horrible, wicked people they are,\u201d he said\nto himself. \u201cI hate them. I should like to hurt them as they have hurt\nme.\u201d As he thought in this way he got more and more angry, until he\nbecame quite worn out with giving way to his rage.\n\n5. What would you have done if you had been the Brahman when he lost\nhis treasure?\n\n6. Is it wrong to be angry when any one has done you an injury?\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nAfter roaming about in the forest for a long time, the Brahman went\nback to the house in Sravasti where some kind people had lent him a\nroom, glad and proud to have such a holy man, as they thought he was,\nliving under their roof. He felt sure they had had nothing to do with\nthe loss of his treasure, because they had given him many proofs of\ntheir goodness and honesty. Soon he was pouring out all his grief to\nthem, and they did all they could to comfort him, telling him that he\nwould very soon have plenty more money and jewels. They let him see\nhowever that they thought it was mean of him to hide away his riches,\ninstead of using them to help the poor and suffering; and this added\nvery much to his rage. At last he lost all self-control and cried, \u201cIt\nis not worth while for me to live any longer. I will go to some holy\nplace of pilgrimage by the banks of the river, and there I will starve\nmyself to death.\u201d\n\nA place of pilgrimage, you know, is one where some great event,\ngenerally connected with religion, has taken place, to which pilgrims\ngo to pray in the hope of winning some special favour from God. The\nword pilgrim means a wanderer, but it has come in course of time to\nsignify any traveller who comes from a distance to some such place.\nBenares in India is a very famous place of pilgrimage, because it is on\nthe River Ganges, which the Hindus worship and love, believing that its\nwaters can wash away their sins. Hundreds and thousands of Hindus go\nthere every year to bathe in it, and many who know that they have not\nlong to live wait on its banks to die, so that after their bodies have\nbeen burnt, as is the custom with the Hindus, their ashes may be thrown\ninto the sacred stream.\n\n7. Can you name two other places of pilgrimage, one held sacred by\nChristians and one by Hindus?\n\n8. Will you explain exactly why the two places you have thought of are\nconsidered holy?\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nThe news of the Brahman\u2019s loss spread very quickly through Sravasti;\nand as is so often the case, every one who told the story made it a\nlittle different, so that it became very difficult to know what the\ntruth really was. There was great distress in the town, because the\npeople thought the Brahman would go away, and they did not want him to\ndo that. They were proud of having a man they thought so holy, living\namongst them, and ashamed that he should have been robbed whilst he was\nwith them. When they heard that he meant to starve himself to death,\nthey were dreadfully shocked, and determined to do all they possibly\ncould to prevent it. One after another of the chief men of Sravasti\ncame to see him, and entreated him not to be in such a hurry to be sure\nthat his treasure would never be found. They said they would all do\neverything they possibly could to get it back for him. Some of them\nthought it was very wrong of him to make such a fuss about it, and\nblamed him for being a miser. They told him it was foolish to care so\nmuch for what he could not take with him when he died, and one\nspecially wise old man gave him a long lecture on the wickedness of\ntaking away the life which had been given to him by God to prepare for\nthat in the other world. \u201cPut the idea of starving yourself out of your\nhead,\u201d he said, \u201cand whilst we are seeking your treasure, go on as you\ndid before you lost it. Next time you have any money and jewels, turn\nthem to good account instead of hoarding them up.\u201d\n\n9. Do you think the Brahman was of any real use to the people of\nSravasti?\n\n10. In what qualities do you think the Brahman was wanting when he made\nup his mind to starve himself to death?\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nIn spite of all that any one could say to him, the Brahman was quite\ndetermined that he would not live any longer. He set off to the place\nof pilgrimage he had chosen, taking no notice of any one he met, but\njust marching steadily on. At first a number of people followed him,\nbut by degrees they left off doing so, and soon he was quite alone.\nPresently however he could not help noticing a man approaching from the\ndirection in which he was going. Very tall, very handsome, very\ndignified, this man was one whom no one could fail to admire, even if\nhe had been only an ordinary person. But he was the king of the whole\ncountry, whose name was Prasnajit; and a little distance behind him\nwere a number of his attendants, waiting to obey his orders. Everybody,\neven the Brahman, loved the king, because he took such a very great\ninterest in his people and was always trying to do them good. He had\nheard all about the loss of the money, and was very much vexed that\nsuch a thing should have happened in his land. He had also heard that\nthe Brahman meant to kill himself, and this distressed him more than\nanything else, because he thought it a very wicked and terrible thing\nto do.\n\nThe king stood so exactly in the path of the Brahman that it was\nimpossible to pass him by without taking any notice of him, and the\nunhappy man stood still, hanging down his head and looking very\nmiserable. Without waiting for a moment, Prasnajit said to the Brahman:\n\u201cDo not grieve any more. I will find your treasure for you, and give it\nback to you; or if I fail to do so I will pay you as much as it was\nworth out of my own purse: for I cannot bear to think of your killing\nyourself. Now tell me very carefully where you hid your gold and\njewels, and everything about the place, to help me to make sure of it.\u201d\n\nThe Brahman was greatly delighted to hear this, because he knew full\nwell that the king would keep his word, and that, even if his own\ntreasure was never found, he would have plenty of money given to him by\nthe king. He at once told Prasnajit exactly where he had put his store,\nand offered to take him there. The king agreed to go with him at once,\nand he and the Brahman went straight away to the big hole in the\nforest, the attendants following them a little way behind.\n\n11. If you had been the king, how would you have set about finding the\ntreasure?\n\n12. Was it a good or a bad thing for the Brahman to have secured the\nhelp of the king?\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nAfter the king had seen the big empty hole, and noticed exactly where\nit was, and the nearest way to it from the town, he returned to his\npalace, first telling the Brahman to go back to the house he lived in,\nand wait there till he received a message from him. He promised to see\nthat he wanted for nothing, and sent one of his attendants to a rich\nmerchant of Sravasti, who had already done a good deal for the Brahman,\nto order him to supply the holy man with all he needed. Very glad that\nafter all he was not going to die, the Brahman obeyed willingly, and\nfor the next few days he was taken care of by the merchant, who\nsupplied him with plenty of food.\n\nAs soon as Prasnajit was back in his palace, he pretended that he was\ntaken suddenly ill. His head ached badly, he said, and he could not\nmake out what was the matter with him. He ordered a proclamation to be\nsent all round the town, telling all the doctors to come to the palace\nto see him. All the doctors in the place at once hastened to obey, each\nof them hoping that he would be the one to cure the king and win a\ngreat reward. So many were they that the big reception room was full of\nthem, and they all glared at each other so angrily that the attendants\nkept careful watch lest they should begin to fight. One at a time they\nwere taken to the king\u2019s private room, but very much to their surprise\nand disappointment he seemed quite well and in no need of help from\nthem. Instead of talking about his own illness, he asked each doctor\nwho his patients were in the town, and what medicines he was giving to\nthem. Of course Prasnajit\u2019s questions were carefully answered; but the\nking said nothing more, just waving his hand to shew that the interview\nwas at an end. Then the attendants led the visitor out. At last however\na doctor came, who said something which led the king to keep him longer\nthan he had kept any of the others. This doctor was a very famous\nhealer who had saved the lives of many of Prasnajit\u2019s subjects. He told\nthe king that a merchant named Matri-Datta was very ill, suffering\ngreatly, but that he hoped to cure him by giving him the juice of a\ncertain plant called nagaballa. At the time this story was written,\ndoctors in India did not give their patients medicine, or write\nprescriptions for them to take to chemists to be made up, because there\nwere no chemists in those days, such as there are in all the towns of\nEurope, who keep the materials in stock for making medicines. A doctor\njust said to his patient, \u201cyou must take the juice of this or that\nplant\u201d; and the suffering person had to go into the fields or woods to\nfind the plant or else to send a servant to do so.\n\nWhen the king heard that the doctor had ordered Matri-Datta to take the\njuice of the nagaballa plant, he cried \u201cNo more doctors need come to\nsee me!\u201d and after sending away the one who had told him what he wanted\nto know, he gave orders that Matri-Datta should be sent for at once.\n\n13. Can you guess why the king sent for the doctors?\n\n14. Do you think Matri-Datta had anything to do with stealing the\nBrahman\u2019s treasure?\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nIll and suffering though he was, Matri-Datta did not dare disobey the\nking: so he came at once. As soon as he appeared, Prasnajit asked him\nhow he was, and said he was sorry to have to make him leave his home\nwhen he was ill, but the matter on which he wished to see him was of\nvery great importance. Then he suddenly added: \u201cWhen your doctor\nordered you to take the juice of the nagaballa plant whom did you send\nto find it?\u201d\n\nTo this Matri-Datta replied trembling with fear: \u201cMy servant, O king,\nsought it in the forest; and having found it, brought it to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo back and send that servant to me immediately,\u201d was the reply; and\nthe merchant hurried away, wondering very much why the king wanted to\nsee the man, and hoping that he himself would not get into disgrace on\naccount of anything he had done to make Prasnajit angry.\n\n15. Have you any idea why the king wanted the servant sent to him?\n\n16. From what the story tells you so far, do you think Prasnajit was a\ngood ruler of his kingdom?\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nWhen Matri-Datta told his servant that he was to go to the palace to\nsee the king, the man was dreadfully frightened, and begged his master\nnot to make him go. This made Matri-Datta pretty sure that he had done\nsomething wrong and was afraid of being found out. \u201cGo at once,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cand whatever you do, speak the truth to the king. That will be\nyour only chance if you have offended him.\u201d Again and again the servant\nentreated Matri-Datta not to insist, and when he found it was no good,\nhe asked him at least to come with him to the palace and plead for him\nwith Prasnajit. The merchant knew then for certain that something was\nseriously wrong, and he consented to go to the palace with his servant,\npartly out of curiosity and partly out of fear for himself. When the\ntwo got to the palace, the attendants at once led the servant to the\npresence of the king, but they would not let the master go with him.\n\nDirectly the servant entered the room and saw the king sitting on his\nthrone, he fell upon his face at the foot of the steps, crying, \u201cMercy!\nmercy!\u201d He was right to be afraid, for Prasnajit said to him in a loud\nvoice: \u201cWhere are the gold and the jewels you took from the hole in the\nroots of a tree when you went to find the nagaballa plant for your\nmaster?\u201d The servant, who really had taken the money and jewels, was so\nterrified when he found that the king knew the truth, that he had not a\nword to say at first, but just remained lying on the ground, trembling\nall over. Prasnajit too was silent, and the attendants waiting for\norders behind the throne looked on, wondering what would happen now.\n\n17. Have you guessed what the nagaballa plant had to do with finding\nout who had stolen the money and jewels?\n\n18. If you had been the king, what punishment would you have ordered\nfor the thief?\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nWhen the silence had lasted about ten minutes, the thief raised his\nhead from the ground and looked at the king, who still said not a word.\nSomething in his face however made the wicked servant hope that he\nwould not be punished by death in spite of the great wrong he had done.\nThe king looked very stern, it is true, but not enraged against him. So\nthe servant rose to his feet, and clasping his hands together as he\nheld them up to Prasnajit, said in a trembling voice: \u201cI will fetch the\ntreasure, I will fetch the treasure.\u201d \u201cGo then at once,\u201d said the king,\n\u201cand bring it here\u201d: and as he said it, there was a beautiful\nexpression in his eyes, which made the thief more sorry for what he had\ndone than he would have been if Prasnajit had said, \u201cOff with his\nhead!\u201d or had ordered him to be beaten.\n\n19. What do you think is the best way to make wicked people good?\n\n20. What is the most powerful reason a man or woman or a child can have\nfor trying to be good?\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nAs soon as the king said, \u201cGo at once,\u201d the servant started to his feet\nand hastened away, as eager now to restore what he had stolen as he had\nbeen to hide it. He had put it in another hole in the very depths of\nthe forest; and it was a long time before he got back to the palace\nwith it, for it was very heavy. He had thought the king would send some\nguards with him, to see that he did not run away, and that they would\nhave helped him to carry the sack full of gold and jewels; but nobody\nfollowed him. It was hard work to drag the heavy load all the way\nalone; but at last, quite late in the evening, he was back at the\npalace gates. The soldiers standing there let him pass without a word,\nand soon he was once more in the room in which the king had received\nhim. Prasnajit still sat on his throne, and the attendants still waited\nbehind him, when the thief, so tired he could hardly stand, once more\nlay prostrate at the bottom of the steps leading up to the throne, with\nthe sack beside him. How his heart did beat as he waited for what the\nking would say! It seemed a very long time before Prasnajit spoke,\nthough it was only two or three minutes; and when he did, this is what\nhe said, \u201cGo back to your home now, and be a thief no more.\u201d\n\nVery, very thankfully the man obeyed, scarcely able to believe that he\nwas free to go and that he was not to be terribly punished. Never again\nin the rest of his life did he take what did not belong to him, and he\nwas never tired of telling his children and his friends of the goodness\nof the king who had forgiven him.\n\n21. Do you think it would have been better for the thief to have been\npunished?\n\n22. What lesson did the thief learn from what had happened to him?\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nThe Brahman, who had spent the time of waiting in prayers that his\ntreasure should be given back to him, and was still determined that, if\nit were not, he would starve himself to death, was full of delight when\nhe heard that it had been found. He hastened to the palace and was\ntaken before the king, who said to him: \u201cThere is your treasure. Take\nit away, and make a better use of it than before. If you lose it again,\nI shall not try to recover it for you.\u201d\n\nThe Brahman, glad as he was to have his money and jewels restored, did\nnot like to be told by the king to make a better use of them. Besides\nthis he wanted to have the thief punished; and he began talking about\nthat, instead of thanking Prasnajit and promising to follow his advice.\nThe king looked at him much as he had looked at the thief and said:\n\u201cThe matter is ended so far as I have anything to do with it: go in\npeace.\u201d\n\nThe Brahman, who was accustomed to be honoured by every one from the\nking on his throne to the beggars in the street, was astonished at the\nway in which Prasnajit spoke to him. He would have said more, but the\nking made a sign to his attendants, two of whom dragged the sack to the\nentrance of the palace and left it there, so that there was nothing for\nthe Brahman to do but to take it away with him. Every one who has read\nthis wonderful story would, of courses like to know what became of him\nafter that, but nothing more is told about him.\n\n23. Do you think that the Brahman learnt anything from his loss and\nrecovery of his treasure?\n\n24. Was the Brahman more wicked than, the thief or the thief than the\nBrahman?\n\n25. Do you think the Brahman continued to be a miser for the rest of\nhis life?\n\n26. What were the chief characteristics of the king\u2014that is to say,\nwhat sort of man do you think he was?\n\n27. Which of the people who are spoken of in this story do you like and\nadmire most, and which do you dislike most?\n\n\n\n\nIV.\nThe Magic Shoes and Staff.\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nFar, far away in a town of India called Chinchini, where in days long\ngone by the ancient gods in whom the people believed are said sometimes\nto have appeared to those who called upon them for help, there lived\nthree brothers of noble birth, who had never known what it was to want\nfor food, or clothes, or a house to live in. Each was married to a wife\nhe loved, and for many years they were all as happy as the day was\nlong. Presently however a great misfortune in which they all shared\nbefell their native country. There was no rain for many, many weeks;\nand this is a very serious thing in a hot country like India, because,\nwhen it does not rain for a long time, the ground becomes so parched\nand hard that nothing can grow in it. The sun is very much stronger in\nIndia than it is in England; and it sent forth its burning rays, drying\nup all the water in the tanks and changing what had been a beautiful\ncountry, covered with green crops good for food, into a dreary desert,\nwhere neither men nor animals could get anything to eat. The result of\nthis was that there was a terrible famine, in which hundreds of people\nand animals died, little children being the first to suffer.\n\nNow the three brothers, who had none of them any children, got\nfrightened at the state of things, and thought to themselves, \u201cIf we do\nnot escape from this dreadful land, we shall die.\u201d They said to each\nother: \u201cLet us flee away from here, and go somewhere where we are sure\nof being able to get plenty to eat and drink. We will not take our\nwives with us; they would only make things worse for us; let us leave\nthem to look after themselves.\u201d\n\n1. What do you think of the behaviour of the three brothers? Was there\nany excuse for their leaving their wives behind them?\n\n2. Do you think the wives themselves can have been to blame in any way\nin the matter?\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nSo the three wives were deserted, and had to manage as best they could\nwithout their husbands, who did not even trouble to wish them goodbye.\nThe wives were at first very sad and lonely, but presently a great joy\ncame to one of them which made the other two very happy as well. This\njoy was the birth of a little boy, whose two aunts loved him almost as\nmuch as his mother did. The story does not tell how they all got food\nwhilst the famine was going on, though it is very evident that they\nwere not starved, for the baby boy grew fast and was a strong healthy\nlittle fellow.\n\nOne night all the three wives had the same dream, a very wonderful one,\nin which the god Siva, who is very much honoured in India, appeared to\nthem. He told them that, looking down from Heaven, he had noticed how\ntenderly they cared for the new-born baby, and that he wished them to\ncall him Putraka. Besides this he astonished them by adding that, as a\nreward for the unselfish way in which they had behaved, they would find\none hundred thousand gold pieces under the little child\u2019s pillow every\nmorning, and that one day that little child would be a king.\n\n3. Do you think the three women wanted to be rewarded for loving the\nbaby?\n\n4. Is it a good thing to have a great deal of money?\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nThe wonderful dream was fulfilled, and the mother and aunts called the\nboy Putraka. Every morning they found the gold pieces under his pillow,\nand they took care of the money for him, so that when he grew up he was\nthe very richest man in the whole country. He had a happy childhood and\nboyhood, his only trouble being that he did not like having never seen\nhis father. His mother told him about the famine before he was born,\nand how his father and uncles had gone away and never come back. He\noften said, \u201cWhen I am a man I will find my father and bring him home\nagain.\u201d He used his money to help others, and one of the best things he\ndid was to irrigate the land; that is to say, he made canals into which\nwater was made to flow in times when there was plenty of rain, so that\nthere was no danger of there being another famine, such as that which\nhad driven his father and uncles away. The country in which he lived\nbecame very fruitful; everybody had enough to eat and drink; and\nPutraka was very much loved, especially by the poor and unhappy. When\nthe king who ruled over the land died, everybody wanted Putraka to take\nhis place, and he was chosen at once.\n\n5. Will you describe the kind of man you think Putraka was?\n\n6. Do you know of any other country besides India in which everything\ndepends on irrigation?\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nOne of the other wise things Putraka did, when he became king, was to\nmake great friends with his Brahman subjects. Brahmans are always very\nfond of travelling, and Putraka thought, if he were good and generous\nto them, they would talk about him wherever they went, and that perhaps\nthrough them his father and uncles would hear about him. He felt sure\nthat, if they knew he was now a king ruling over their native land,\nthey would want to come back. He gave the Brahmans plenty of money, and\ntold them to try and find his father and uncles. If they did, they were\nto say how anxious he was to see them, and promise them everything they\nwanted, if only they would return.\n\n7. Do you think it was wise of Putraka to be so anxious to get his\nfather and uncles back, when he knew how selfish they had been in\nleaving his mother and aunts behind them?\n\n8. Can you suggest anything else Putraka might have done in the matter?\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nJust what the young king hoped came to pass. Wherever the Brahmans went\nthey talked about the country they came from and the wonderful young\nking who ruled over it. Putraka\u2019s father and uncles, who were after all\nnot so very far off, heard the stories about him, and asked the\nBrahmans many questions. The answers made them very eager to see\nPutraka, but they did not at first realize that he was closely related\nto them. Only when they heard the name of his mother did they guess the\ntruth. Putraka\u2019s father knew, when he deserted his wife, that God was\ngoing to give her a child soon; which made it even more wicked of him\nto leave her. Now, however, he forgot all about that, only thinking how\nhe could make as much use as possible of the son who had become a king.\nHe wanted to go back at once alone, but the uncles were not going to\nallow that. They meant to get all they could out of Putraka too; and\nthe three selfish men, who were now quite old, set off together for the\nland they had left so long ago.\n\nThey arrived safely, and made their way to the palace, where they were\nreceived, with great rejoicings. None of the wives said a word of\nreproach to the husbands who had deserted them; and as for Putraka, he\nwas so overjoyed at having his father back, that he gave him a\nbeautiful house to live in and a great deal of money. He was very good\nto his uncles too, and felt that he had now really nothing left to wish\nfor.\n\n9. Do you think Putraka showed strength or weakness of character in the\nway he received the travellers?\n\n10. How do you think the king ought to have behaved to his father and\nuncles?\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nThe three wives very soon had good reason to wish their husbands had\nstayed away. Instead of being grateful for all Putraka\u2019s generosity,\nthey were very unkind and exacting, never pleased with anything; and\nwhatever they had given them, they were always trying to get more. In\nfact, they were silly as well as wicked; for they did not realize that\nthis was not the way to make the king love them or wish to keep them\nwith him. Presently they became jealous of Putraka, and began to wish\nto get rid of him. His father hated to feel that his son was king,\nwhilst he was only one of that king\u2019s subjects; and he made up his mind\nto kill him, hoping that if he could only get rid of him he might rule\nover the country in his stead. He thought and thought how best to\nmanage this, and did not at first mean to tell his brothers anything\nabout it; but in the end he decided he had better have them on his\nside. So he invited them to go with him to a secret place to talk the\nmatter over.\n\n11. What qualities did Putraka\u2019s father show in this plot against his\nson?\n\n12. Was there any other way in which the king\u2019s father could have\ngained a share in governing the land?\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nAfter many meetings the three wicked men decided that they would pay\nsome one to kill the king, first making the murderer they chose swear\nthat he would never tell who had ordered him to do the terrible deed.\nIt was not very difficult to find a man bad enough to take money for\nsuch an evil purpose, and the next thing to do was to decide where and\nwhen the deed was to be done. Putraka had been very well brought up by\nhis mother, and he often went to a beautiful temple near his palace to\npray alone. He would sometimes stop there a long time, winning fresh\nwisdom and strength to do the work he was trusted with, and praying not\nonly for himself, but for his father, his mother, his aunts and uncles,\nand for the people he loved so much.\n\nThe murderer was told to wait in this temple, and when the young king\nwas absorbed in prayer, to fall suddenly upon him and kill him. Then,\nwhen Putraka was dead, he was to take his body and bury it far away in\nthe depths of the forest where it could never be found. At first it\nseemed likely that this cruel plot would succeed. To make quite sure,\nthe murderer got two other men as wicked as himself to come and help\nhim, promising to give them a share in the reward. But the god who had\ntaken care of Putraka ever since he was born, did not forget him now.\nAs the young king prayed, forgetting everything in his earnest pleading\nfor those he loved, he did not see or hear the evil men drawing\nstealthily close to him. Their arms were uplifted to slay him, and the\ngleam of the weapons in the light that was always kept burning flashed\nupon him, when suddenly the heavenly guardian of the temple, who never\nleft it day or night, but was generally invisible, appeared and cast a\nspell upon the wicked men, whose hands were arrested in the very act to\nstrike.\n\nWhat a wonderful sight that must have been, when Putraka, disturbed in\nhis prayers, looked round and saw the men who had come to kill him,\nwith the shadowy form of the guardian threatening them! He knew at once\nthat he had been saved from a dreadful death by a messenger from the\ngod he had been worshipping. As he gazed at the men, the guardian faded\naway and he was left alone with them. Slowly the spell cast on them was\nbroken, and they dropped their weapons, prostrated themselves, and\nclasped their hands in an appeal for mercy to the man they had meant to\ndestroy. Putraka looked at them quietly and sadly. He felt no anger\nagainst them, only a great thankfulness for his escape. He spoke to the\nmen very sternly, asking them why they wished to harm him; and the\nchief murderer told him who had sent them.\n\nThe knowledge that his father wished to kill him shocked and grieved\nthe young king terribly, but he controlled himself even when he learnt\nthe sad truth. He told the men that he forgave them, for they were not\nthe most to blame; and he made them promise never to betray who had\nbribed them to kill him. He then gave them some money and told them to\nleave him.\n\n13. What do you think the most beautiful incident in this account of\nthe scene in the temple?\n\n14. What do you suppose were the thoughts of the murderers when they\nleft the temple after Putraka forgave them?\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nWhen Putraka was alone, he threw himself upon the ground and wept very\nbitterly. He felt that he could never be happy again, never trust\nanyone again. He had so loved his father and uncles. It had been such a\njoy to him to give them pleasure, and yet they hated him and wished to\nkill him. He wondered whether he was himself to blame for what had\nhappened, and began to think he was not worthy to be king, if he could\nmake such a mistake as he now feared he had made in being so generous\nto those who could have such hard thoughts of him as to want to take\nhis life. Perhaps after all it would be better for his country to have\nanother king. He did not feel as if he could go back to his palace and\nmeet his father and uncles again. \u201cWhat shall I do? What shall I do?\u201d\nhe cried, his sobs choking his voice. Never in all his life had he\nthought it possible to be so miserable as he was now. Everything seemed\nchanged and he felt as if he were himself a different person. The only\nthing that comforted him at all was the thought of his mother, whose\nlove had never failed him; but even that was spoiled by the remembrance\nthat it was her husband who had wished to kill him. She must never know\nthat, for it would break her heart: yet how could he keep it from her?\nThen the idea came to him that the best thing he could do would be to\ngo away and never see his own people again.\n\n15. What do you think was wrong in Putraka\u2019s way of looking at the\npast?\n\n16. Was his idea of leaving his country and his people a sign of\nweakness or of strength?\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nIn the end the poor young king decided that he would go right away as\nhis father and uncles had done; and his mind being made up, he became\nmore cheerful and began to think he might meet with some interesting\nadventures in a new country, where nobody knew anything about him. As\nsoon as it was light, he wandered off into the forest, feeling, it is\ntrue, very lonely, but at the same time taking a certain pleasure in\nbeing entirely his own master; which a king can never really be,\nbecause he has to consider so many other people and to keep so many\nrules.\n\nAfter all Putraka did not find the forest so very lonely; for he had\nnot gone far in it before his sad thoughts were broken in upon by his\ncoming suddenly to a little clearing, where the trees had been cut down\nand two strong-looking men were wrestling together. The king watched\nthem for a little while, wondering what they were fighting about. Then\nhe called out, \u201cWhat are you doing here? What are you quarrelling\nabout?\u201d\n\nThe men were greatly surprised to hear Putraka\u2019s voice, for they\nthought that they were quite alone. They stopped fighting for a minute\nor two, and one of them said: \u201cWe are fighting for three very precious\nthings which were left behind him by our father.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are those things?\u201d asked Putraka.\n\n\u201cA bowl, a stick and a pair of shoes,\u201d was the reply. \u201cWhoever wins the\nfight will get them all. There they lie on the ground.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I never!\u201d cried the king, laughing as he looked at the things,\nwhich seemed to him worth very little. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t trouble to fight\nabout such trifles, if I were you.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrifles!\u201d exclaimed one of the men angrily. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\nare talking about. They are worth more than their weight in gold.\nWhoever gets the bowl will find plenty of food in it whenever he wants\nit; the owner of the stick has only to write his wishes on the ground\nwith it and he will get them; and whoever puts on the shoes can fly\nthrough the air in them to any distance.\u201d\n\n17. Which of these things would you rather have had?\n\n18. What lesson do you learn from what the men said about the things on\nthe ground?\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nWhen Putraka heard the wonders which, could be done with what he had\nthought not worth having, he determined to get possession of the three\ntreasures for himself; not considering that it would be very wrong to\ntake what did not belong to him. \u201cIt seems a pity to fight,\u201d he said,\n\u201cwhy don\u2019t you race for the things, and let whichever wins the race\nhave them? That banyan tree over there would make a good winning post\nand I will be the umpire.\u201d\n\nInstead of guessing what Putraka had in his mind, the brothers, who\nwere very simple fellows, said at once: \u201cAll right. We won\u2019t fight,\nwe\u2019ll race instead, and you can give us the start.\u201d Putraka agreed, and\ndirectly they were off he lost not a moment, but picked up the bowl and\nthe staff, put on the shoes, and flew straight up into the air with the\ntreasures. When the brothers came back, disputing about which of them\nhad won, there was not a sign of Putraka, the bowl, the stick, or the\nshoes. They guessed at once what had happened; and after staring up in\nthe air for a long time, they went home, feeling very much enraged with\nthe man who had cheated them, and ashamed of having been so stupid as\nto trust him.\n\n19. What do you think of Putraka\u2019s behaviour in this matter?\n\n20. If you could have had one of the three things Putraka stole, which\nwould you have chosen?\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nOn and on flew Putraka, full of eager delight in the new power of\nflight. How he loved rushing through the air, cleaving it like a bird\non the wing! All he wanted to make him perfectly happy was someone to\nenjoy his new powers with him. Presently he found himself above a\nbeautiful city with towers and pinnacles and minarets gleaming in the\nsunshine. \u201cAh!\u201d he thought, \u201cthat is the place for me. I will go down\nthere, and see if I can find a nice house to live in, and some people\nto make friends with, who will not try to kill me or to cheat me, but\nlove me and be grateful to me for any kindness I show them.\u201d\n\nAs Putraka was hovering in the air above the town to which he had taken\nsuch a fancy, he noticed a little house which rather pleased him; for\nthough it was poor-looking, there was something cheerful and home-like\nabout it. Down he sped and alighted at the door. Only one poor old\nwoman lived in the house, and when Putraka knocked and asked if he\nmight come in, she said \u201cYes\u201d at once. He gave her some money, and told\nher he would like to live with her, if she would let him do so. She was\nonly too glad to consent, for she was very lonely; and the two lived\nhappily together for a long time.\n\n21. Do you think that if Putraka had flown home on his wonderful shoes,\ntaking his staff and bowl with him, his, father and uncles would still\nhave tried to kill him?\n\n22. How could Putraka have prevented them from doing him harm if he had\nreturned to his home?\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nThe old woman grew very fond of Putraka, caring for him and waiting on\nhim as if he had been her own son. She was so anxious that he should be\nhappy that she became afraid he would become tired of living alone with\nher. So she said to him one day: \u201cMy dear adopted son, you ought to\nhave a wife to keep you company. I know the very one for you, the only\none really worthy of you. She is a princess, and her name is Patala.\nShe is so very lovely that every man who sees her falls in love with\nher and wants to carry her off. So she is most carefully guarded in the\ntop rooms of a great palace, as high as the summits of the loftiest\nmountains.\u201d When Putraka heard this he was all eagerness to see the\nprincess, and at once determined to go forth to seek her. He was more\nthan ever glad now that he had stolen the shoes, because he knew that\nthey would carry him even to the top of the highest mountains.\n\n23. What qualities did the old woman show when she told Putraka about\nthe Princess?\n\n24. What faults of character did the young king show when he decided at\nonce to leave the old woman who had been so good to him?\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nThe very evening of the day when Putraka heard about the princess, he\nstarted on his journey, taking with him his bowl and staff. The old\nwoman gave him very careful instructions which way to go, and begged\nhim to come back to tell her how he had got on. He promised he would,\nthanked her for all she had done for him, and flew away in a great\nstate of excitement. She watched him till he was quite out of sight,\nand then went sadly into her lonely home, wondering if she would ever\nsee him again.\n\nIt was not long before Putraka came in sight of the palace. It was a\nbeautiful night, and the moon was shining full upon the room in which\nthe princess was asleep. It was a very big one, with costly furniture\nand priceless tapestry hung round the walls, and there were doors\nbehind the tapestry leading to other apartments, in some of which the\nattendants on Patala slept, whilst others kept watch lest anyone should\nintrude upon their mistress. No one thought of guarding the windows,\nfor they were so high up that only a bird could reach them.\n\nThe young king alighted on the ledge of the window of the princess\u2019\nroom, and looked in. There, on a golden bed, amongst soft cushions and\nembroidered coverings, lay the most lovely creature he had ever beheld,\nso lovely that he fell in love with her at once and gave a loud cry of\ndelight. This woke the princess, who started up and was about to scream\nout aloud in her terror at seeing a man looking in at the window, when\nPutraka with the aid of his magic staff made himself invisible. Then,\nthinking she had been dreaming, Patala lay down again, and the king\nbegan talking to her in a low voice, telling her he had heard of her\nbeauty and had flown from far away to see her. He begged her to allow\nhim to show himself to her, and added: \u201cI will go away again directly\nafterwards if you wish it.\u201d\n\nPutraka\u2019s voice was so gentle, and it seemed to Patala so wonderful\nthat a man could fly and make himself invisible, that she was full of\ncuriosity to see him and find out all about him. So she gave her\nconsent, and immediately afterwards the young king stood within the\nroom, looking so noble and so handsome that she too fell in love at\nfirst sight. Putraka told her all about his life and adventures, which\ninterested her very much. She was glad, she said, that he was a king;\nbut she would have loved him just as well, whoever he might have been.\n\nAfter a long talk, Patala begged him to leave her for fear her\nattendants should discover him and tell her father about him. \u201cMy\nfather would never let me marry you,\u201d she declared, \u201cunless you were to\ncome with many followers as a king to ask my hand; and how can you do\nthat when you are only a wandering exile?\u201d\n\n25. Was there any reason to fear that Putraka would be discovered when\nhe could make himself invisible at any moment?\n\n26. What do you think would have been the right thing for Putraka and\nPatala to do when they found out that they loved each other?\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nIt was very difficult to persuade Putraka to go, but at last he flew\naway. Every night after that, however, he came to see Patala, spending\nthe days sometimes in one place, sometimes in another, and using his\nmagic bowl to supply himself with food. Alas, he forgot all about the\ndear old woman to whom he owed all his happiness, and she slowly gave\nup hope of ever seeing him again. He might quite easily have flown to\nher cottage and cheered her with his presence; but he was so wrapped up\nin his love for Patala that everything else went out of his head. This\nselfishness on his part presently got him into serious trouble, for he\nbecame careless about making himself invisible when he flew up to the\nprincess\u2019 window. So that one night he was discovered by a guardian of\nthe palace. The matter was at once reported to the king, who could not\nat first believe such a thing was possible. The man must have seen a\nbig bird, that was all. The king, however, ordered one of his\ndaughter\u2019s ladies to keep watch every night in an ante-room, leaving\nthe door open with the tapestry, in which there was a slit, drawn\ncarefully over it, and to come and tell him in the morning if she had\nseen or heard anything unusual.\n\nNow the lady chosen loved the princess, and, like many of her\nfellow-attendants, thought it was very cruel of the king to punish his\nown child for being so beautiful, by shutting her up as he did. It so\nhappened that the very first night she was on guard, Putraka had flown\na very, very long way, not noticing where he was going, because he was\nthinking so earnestly of Patala. When at last he flew in at her window,\nhe was so weary that he sank down on a couch and fell fast asleep. The\nprincess too was tired, because she had lain awake talking to her lover\nso many nights running that she had had hardly any rest. So when the\nlady peeped through the slit in the tapestry, there, by the light of\nthe night lamp, she saw the young king lying unconscious, whilst the\nprincess also was asleep.\n\nVery cautiously the attendant crept to the side of Putraka, and took a\nlong, long look at him. She noticed how handsome he was, and that he\nwas dressed in beautiful clothes. She especially remarked the turban he\nwore, because in India the rank to which men belong is shown by the\nkind of turbans they wear. \u201cThis is no common man,\u201d she thought, \u201cbut a\nprince or king in disguise. What shall I do now? I will not raise an\nalarm which might lead to this beautiful young lover being killed and\nthe heart of my dear mistress broken.\u201d\n\n27. If you had been the lady who found Putraka in Patala\u2019s room, what\nwould you have done?\n\n28. What could Putraka have done to guard against being discovered?\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nAfter hesitating a long time, the lady made up her mind that she would\nonly put some mark in the turban of Putraka, so that he could be known\nagain, and let him escape that night at least. So she stole back to her\nroom, fetched a tiny brooch, and fastened it in the folds of the\nturban, where the wearer was not likely to notice it himself. This\ndone, she went back to listen at the door.\n\nIt was nearly morning when Putraka woke up, very much surprised at\nfinding himself lying on the couch, for he did not remember throwing\nhimself down on it. Starting up, he woke Patala, who was terribly\nfrightened, for she expected her ladies to come in any minute to help\nher to dress. She entreated Putraka to make himself invisible and fly\naway at once. He did so; and, as usual, wandered about until the time\nshould come to go back to the palace. But he still felt too tired to\nfly, and instead walked about in the town belonging to Patala\u2019s father.\n\nThe lady who had been on guard had half a mind to tell her mistress\nthat her secret was discovered. But before she could get a chance to do\nso, she was sent for by the king, who asked her if she had seen or\nheard anything during the night. She tried very hard to escape from\nbetraying Patala; but she hesitated so much in her answers that the\nking guessed there was something she wanted to hide, and told her, if\nshe did not reveal the whole truth, he would have her head shaved and\nsend her to prison. So she told how she had found a handsome man,\nbeautifully dressed, fast asleep in Patala\u2019s room; but she did not\nbelieve her mistress knew anything about it, because she too was\nasleep.\n\nThe king was of course in a terrible rage, and the lady was afraid he\nwould order her to be punished; but he only went on questioning her\nangrily about what the man was like, so that he might be found and\nbrought before him. Then the lady confessed that she had put the brooch\nin the turban, comforting herself with the thought that, when the king\nsaw Putraka and knew that Patala loved him, he might perhaps relent and\nlet them be married.\n\nWhen the king heard about the brooch, he was greatly pleased; and\ninstead of ordering the lady to be punished, he told her that, when the\nman who had dared to approach his daughter was found, he would give her\na great reward. He then sent forth hundreds of spies to hunt for the\nman with a brooch in his turban, and Putraka was very soon found,\nstrolling quietly about in the market-place. He was so taken by\nsurprise that, though he had his staff in his hand and his shoes and\nbowl in the pocket of his robes, he had no time to write his wishes\nwith the staff, or to put on the shoes, so he was obliged to submit to\nbe dragged to the palace. He did all he could to persuade those who had\nfound him to let him go, telling them he was a king and would reward\nthem well. They only laughed at him and dragged him along with them to\nthe palace, where he was at once taken before the king, who was sitting\non his throne, surrounded by his court, in a great hall lined with\nsoldiers. The big windows were wide open; and noticing this, Putraka\ndid not feel at all afraid, for he knew he had only to slip on his\nshoes and fly out of one of the windows, if he could not persuade the\nking to let him marry Patala. So he stood quietly at the foot of the\nthrone, and looked bravely into the face of his dear one\u2019s father.\n\nThis only made the king more angry, and he began calling Putraka all\nmanner of names and asking him how he dared to enter the room of his\ndaughter. Putraka answered quietly that he loved Patala and wished to\nmarry her. He was himself a king, and would give her all she had been\nused to. But it was all no good, for it only made the king more angry.\nHe rose from his throne, and stretching out his hand, he cried:\n\n\u201cLet him be scourged and placed in close confinement!\u201d\n\nThen Putraka with his staff wrote rapidly on the ground his wish that\nno one should be able to touch him, and stooping down slipped on his\nmagic shoes. The king, the courtiers and the soldiers all remained\nexactly as they were, staring at him in astonishment, as he rose up in\nthe air and flew out of one of the windows. Straight away he sped to\nthe palace of Patala and into her room, where she was pacing to and fro\nin an agony of anxiety about him; for she had heard of his having been\ntaken prisoner and feared that her father would order him to be killed.\n\n29. What do you think would have been the best thing for the king to do\nwhen Putraka was brought before him?\n\n30. If Putraka had not had his shoes with him, how could he have\nescaped from the king\u2019s palace?\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\nGreat indeed was the delight of Patala when her beloved Putraka once\nmore flew in at her window; but she was still trembling with fear for\nhim and begged him to go away back to his own land as quickly as\npossible.\n\n\u201cI will not go without you,\u201d replied Putraka. \u201cWrap yourself up warmly,\nfor it is cold flying through the air, and we will go away together,\nand your cruel father shall never see you again.\u201d\n\nPatala wept at hearing this, for it seemed terrible to her to have to\nchoose between the father she loved and Putraka. But in the end her\nlover got his own way, and just as those who were seeking him were\nheard approaching, he seized his dear one in his arms and flew off with\nher. He did not return to his own land even then, but directed his\ncourse to the Ganges, the grand and beautiful river which the people of\nIndia love and worship, calling it their Mother Ganga. By the banks of\nthe sacred stream the lovers rested, and with the aid of his magic bowl\nPutraka soon had a good and delicious meal ready, which they both\nenjoyed very much. As they ate, they consulted together what they had\nbetter do now, and Patala, who was as clever as she was beautiful,\nsaid:\n\n\u201cWould it not be a good thing to build a new city in this lovely place?\nYou could do it with your marvellous staff, could you not?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, of course, I could,\u201d said Putraka laughing. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t I think\nof it myself?\u201d Very soon a wonderful town rose up, which the young king\nwished to be as much as possible like the home he had left, only larger\nand fuller of fine buildings than it. When the town was made, he wished\nit to be full of happy inhabitants, with temples in which they might\nworship, priests to teach them how to be good, markets in which food\nand all that was needed could be bought, tanks and rivulets full of\npure water, soldiers and officers to defend the gates, elephants on\nwhich he and his wife could ride, everything in fact that the heart of\nman or woman could desire.\n\nThe first thing Putraka and Patala did after the rise of their own\ntown, which they named Patali-Putra[1] after themselves, was to get\nmarried in accordance with the rites of their religion; and for many,\nmany years they reigned wisely over their people, who loved them and\ntheir children with all their hearts. Amongst the attendants on those\nchildren was the old woman who had shown kindness to Putraka in his\nloneliness and trouble. For when he told Patala the story of his life,\nshe reproached him for his neglect of one to whom he owed so much. She\nmade him feel quite ashamed of himself, and he flew away and brought\nthe dear old lady back with him, to her very great delight.\n\n31. Which of the people in this story do you like best?\n\n32. Do you think Putraka deserved all the happiness which came to him\nthrough stealing the wand, the shoes and the bowl?\n\n33. Can you suggest any way in which he could have atoned for the wrong\nhe did to the brothers whose property he took?\n\n34. What is the chief lesson to be learnt from this story?\n\n\n\n\nV.\nThe Jewelled Arrow.\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nIn the city of Vardhamana in India there lived a powerful king named\nVira-Bhuja, who, as was the custom in his native land, had many wives,\neach of whom had several sons. Of all his wives this king loved best\nthe one named Guna-Vara, and of all his sons her youngest-born, called\nSringa-Bhuja, was his favourite. Guna-Vara was not only very beautiful\nbut very good. She was so patient that nothing could make her angry, so\nunselfish that she always thought of others before herself, and so wise\nthat she was able to understand how others were feeling, however\ndifferent their natures were from her own.\n\nSringa-Bhuja, the son of Guna-Vara, resembled his mother in her beauty\nand her unselfishness; he was also very strong and very clever, whilst\nhis brothers were quite unlike him. They wanted to have everything\ntheir own way, and they were very jealous indeed of their father\u2019s love\nfor him. They were always trying to do him harm, and though they often\nquarrelled amongst themselves, they would band together to try and hurt\nhim.\n\nIt was very much the same with the king\u2019s wives. They hated Guna-Vara,\nbecause their husband loved her more than he did them, and they\nconstantly came to him with stories they had made up of the wicked\nthings she had done. Amongst other things they told the king that\nGuna-Vara did not really love him but cared more for some one else than\nshe did for him. The most bitter of all against her was the wife called\nAyasolekha, who was cunning enough to know what sort of tale the king\nwas likely to believe. The very fact that Vira-Bhuja loved Guna-Vara so\ndeeply made him more ready to think that perhaps after all she did not\nreturn his affection, and he longed to find out the truth. So he in his\nturn made up a story, thinking by its means to find out how she felt\nfor him. He therefore went one day to her private apartments, and\nhaving sent all her attendants away, he told her he had some very sad\nnews for her which he had heard from his chief astrologer. Astrologers,\nyou know, are wise men, who are supposed to be able to read the secrets\nof the stars, and learn from them things which are hidden from ordinary\nhuman beings. Guna-Vara therefore did not doubt that what her husband\nwas about to tell her was true, and she listened eagerly, her heart\nbeating very fast in her fear that some trouble was coming to those she\nloved.\n\nGreat indeed was her sorrow and surprise, when Vira-Bhuja went on to\nsay that the astrologer had told him that a terrible misfortune\nthreatened him and his kingdom and the only way to prevent it was to\nshut Guna-Vara up in prison for the rest of her life. The poor queen\ncould hardly believe that she had heard rightly. She knew she had done\nno wrong, and could not understand how putting her in prison could help\nanybody. She was quite sure that her husband loved her, and no words\ncould have expressed her pain at the thought of being sent away from\nhim and her dear son. Yet she made no resistance, not even asking\nVira-Bhuja to let her see Sringa-Bhuja again. She just bowed her\nbeautiful head and said: \u201cBe it unto me as my Lord wills. If he wishes\nmy death, I am ready to lay down my life.\u201d\n\nThis submission made the king feel even more unhappy than before. He\nlonged to take his wife in his arms and tell her he would never let her\ngo; and perhaps if she had looked at him then, he would have seen all\nher love for him in her eyes, but she remained perfectly still with\nbowed head, waiting to hear what her fate was to be. Then the thought\nentered Vira-Bhuja\u2019s mind: \u201cShe is afraid to look at me: what\nAyasolekha said was true.\u201d\n\n1. Can true love suspect the loved one of evil?\n\n2. Is true love ever jealous?\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nSo the king summoned his guards and ordered them to take his wife to a\nstrong prison and leave her there. She went with them without making\nany resistance, only turning once to look lovingly at her husband as\nshe was led away. Vira-Bhuja returned to his own palace and had not\nbeen there very long when he got a message from Ayasolekha, begging him\nto give her an interview, for she had something of very great\nimportance to tell him. The king consented at once, thinking to\nhimself, \u201cperhaps she has found out that what she told me about my dear\nGuna-Vara is not true.\u201d\n\nGreat then was his disappointment when the wicked woman told him she\nhad discovered a plot against his life. The son of Guna-Vara and some\nof the chief men of the kingdom, she said, had agreed together to kill\nhim, so that Sringa-Bhuja might reign in his stead. She and some of the\nother wives had overheard conversations between them, and were\nterrified lest their beloved Lord should be hurt. The young prince, she\ndeclared, had had some trouble in persuading the nobles to help him,\nbut he had succeeded at last.\n\nVira-Bhuja simply could not believe this story, for he trusted his son\nas much as he loved him; and he sent the mischief maker away, telling\nher not to dare to enter his presence again. For all that he could not\nget the matter out of his head. He had Sringa-Bhuja carefully watched;\nand as nothing against him was found out, he was beginning to feel more\neasy in his mind, and even to think of going to see Guna-Vara in her\nprison to ask her to confide in him, when something happened which led\nhim to fear that after all his dear son was not true to him. This was\nwhat made him uneasy. He had a wonderful arrow, set with precious\njewels, which had been given to him by a magician, and had the power of\nhitting without fail whatever it was aimed at from however great a\ndistance. The very day he had meant to visit his ill-treated wife, he\nmissed this arrow from the place in which he kept it concealed. This\ndistressed him very much; and after seeking it in vain, he summoned all\nthose who were employed in the palace to his presence, and asked if any\nof them knew anything about the arrow. He promised that he would\nforgive any one who helped him to get it back, even if it were the\nthief himself; but added that, if it was not found in three days, he\nwould have all the servants beaten until the one who had stolen it\nconfessed.\n\n3. Do you think this was the best way to find out who had taken the\narrow?\n\n4. How would you have set about learning the truth if you had been the\nking?\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nNow the fact of the matter was that Ayasolekha, who had told the wicked\nstory about Guna-Vara, knew where the king kept the arrow, had taken it\nto her private rooms, and had sent for her own sons and those of the\nother wives, all of whom hated Sringa-Bhuja, to tell them of a plot to\nget their brother into disgrace. \u201cYou know,\u201d she said to them, \u201chow\nmuch better your father loves Sringa-Bhuja than he does any of you; and\nthat, when he dies, he will leave the kingdom and all his money to him.\nNow I will help you to prevent this by getting rid of Sringa-Bhuja.\n\n\u201cYou must have a great shooting match, in which your brother will be\ndelighted to take part, for he is very proud of his skill with the bow\nand arrow. On the day of the match, I will send for him and give him\nthe jewelled arrow belonging to your father to shoot with, telling him\nthe king had said I might lend it to him. Your father will then think\nhe stole it and order him to be killed.\u201d\n\nThe brothers were all delighted at what they thought a very clever\nscheme, and did just what Ayasolekha advised. When the day came, great\ncrowds assembled to see the shooting at a large target set up near the\npalace. The king himself and all his court were watching the scene from\nthe walls, and it was difficult for the guards to keep the course\nclear. The brothers, beginning at the eldest, all pretended to try and\nhit the target; but none of them really wished to succeed, because they\nthought that, when Sringa-Bhuja\u2019s turn came, as their father\u2019s youngest\nson, he would win the match with the jewelled arrow. Then the king\nwould order him to be brought before him, and he would be condemned to\ndeath or imprisonment for life.\n\nNow, as very often happens, something no one in the least expected\nupset the carefully planned plot. Just as Sringa-Bhuja was about to\nshoot at the target, a big crane flew on to the ground between him and\nit, so that it was impossible for him to take proper aim. The brothers,\nseeing the bird and anxious to shoot it for themselves, all began to\nclamour that they should be allowed to shoot again. Nobody made any\nobjection, and Sringa-Bhuja stood aside, with the jewelled arrow in the\nbow, waiting to see what they would do, but feeling sure that he would\nbe the one to kill the bird. Brother after brother tried, but the great\ncreature still remained untouched, when a travelling mendicant stepped\nforward and cried aloud:\n\n\u201cThat is no bird, but an evil magician who has taken that form to\ndeceive you all. If he is not killed before he takes his own form\nagain, he will bring misery and ruin upon this town and the surrounding\ncountry.\u201d\n\nYou know perhaps that mendicants or beggars in India are often holy men\nwhose advice even kings are glad to listen to; so that, when everyone\nheard what this beggar said, there was great excitement and terror. For\nmany were the stories told of the misfortunes Rakshas or evil magicians\nhad brought on other cities. The brothers all wanted to try their luck\nonce more, but the beggar checked them, saying:\n\n\u201cNo, no. Where is your youngest brother Sringa-Bhuja? He alone will be\nable to save your homes, your wives and your children, from\ndestruction,\u201d\n\nThen Sringa-Bhuja came forward; and as the sun flashed upon the jewels\nin the stolen arrow, revealing to the watching king that it was his own\nbeloved son who had taken it, the young prince let it fly straight for\nthe bird. It wounded but did not kill the crane, which flew off with\nthe arrow sticking in its breast, the blood dripping from it in its\nflight, which became gradually slower and slower. At the sight of the\nbird going off with the precious jewelled arrow, the king was filled\nwith rage, and sent orders that Sringa-Bhuja should be fetched to his\npresence immediately. But before the messengers reached him, he had\nstarted in pursuit of the bird, guided by the blood-drops on the\nground.\n\n5. Did the brothers show wisdom in the plot they laid against their\nbrother?\n\n6. What do you think from this story, so far as you have read it, were\nthe chief qualities of Sringa-Bhuja?\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nAs Sringa-Bhuja sped along after the crane, the beggar made some\nstrange signs in the air with the staff he used to help him along; and\nsuch clouds of dust arose that no one could see in which direction the\nyoung prince had gone. The brothers and Ayasolekha were very much\ndismayed at the way things had turned out, and greatly feared that the\nking\u2019s anger would vent itself on them, now that Sringa-Bhuja had\ndisappeared. Vira-Bhuja did send for them, and asked them many\nquestions; but they all kept the secret of how Sringa-Bhuja had got the\narrow, and promised to do all they could to help to get it back. Again\nthe king thought he would go and see the mother of his dear youngest\nson; but again something held him back, and poor Guna-Vara was left\nalone, no one ever going near her except the gaoler who took her her\ndaily food. After trying everything possible to find out where\nSringa-Bhuja had gone, the king began to show special favour to another\nof his sons; and as the months passed by, it seemed as if the young\nprince and the jewelled arrow were both forgotten.\n\nMeanwhile Sringa-Bhuja travelled on and on in the track of the drops of\nblood, till he came to the outskirts of a fine forest, through which\nmany beaten paths led to a very great city. He sat down to rest at the\nfoot of a wide-spreading tree, and was gazing up at the towers and\npinnacles of the town, rising far upwards towards the sky, when he had\na feeling that he was no longer alone. He was right: for, coming slowly\nalong one of the paths, was a lovely young girl, singing softly to\nherself in a beautiful voice. Her eyes were like those of a young doe,\nand her features were perfect in their form and expression, reminding\nSringa-Bhuja of his mother, whom he was beginning to fear he would\nnever see again.\n\nWhen the young girl was quite close to him, he startled her by saying,\n\u201cCan you tell me what is the name of this city?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course, I can,\u201d she replied, \u201cfor I live in it. It is called\nDhuma-Pura, and it belongs to my father: he is a great magician named\nAgni-Sikha, who loves not strangers. Now tell me who you are and whence\nyou come?\u201d\n\nThen Sringa-Bhuja told the maiden all about himself, and why he was\nwandering so far from home. The girl, whose name was Rupa-Sikha,\nlistened very attentively; and when he came to the shooting of the\ncrane, and how he had followed the bleeding bird in the hope of getting\nback his father\u2019s jewelled arrow, she began to tremble.\n\n\u201cAlas, alas!\u201d she said. \u201cThe bird you shot was my father, who can take\nany form he chooses. He returned home but yesterday, and I drew the\narrow from his wound and dressed the hurt myself. He gave me the\njewelled arrow to keep, and I will never part with it. As for you, the\nsooner you depart the better; for my father never forgives, and he is\nso powerful that you would have no chance of escape if he knew you were\nhere.\u201d\n\nHearing this, Sringa-Bhuja became very sad, not because he was afraid\nof Agni-Sikha, but because he knew that he already loved the fair\nmaiden who stood beside him, and was resolved to make her his wife. She\ntoo felt drawn towards him and did not like to think of his going away.\nBesides this, she had much to fear from her father, who was as cruel as\nhe was mighty, and had caused the death already of many lovers who had\nwished to marry her. She had never cared for any of them, and had been\ncontent to live without a husband, spending her life in wandering about\nnear her home and winning the love of all who lived near her, even that\nof the wild creatures of the forest, who would none of them dream of\nhurting her. Often and often she stood between the wrath of her father\nand those he wished to injure; for, wicked as he was, he loved her and\nwanted her to be happy.\n\n7. Do you think that a really wicked man is able to love any one truly?\n\n8. What would have been the best thing for Sringa-Bhuja to do, when he\nfound out who the bird he had shot really was?\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nRupa-Sikha did not take long to decide what was best for her to do. She\nsaid to the prince, \u201cI will give you back your golden arrow, and you\nmust make all possible haste out of our country before my father\ndiscovers you are here.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! no! no! a thousand times no!\u201d cried the prince. \u201cNow I have once\nseen you, I can never, never leave you. Can you not learn to love me\nand be my wife?\u201d Then he fell prostrate at her feet, and looked up into\nher face so lovingly that she could not resist him. She bent down\ntowards him, and the next moment they were clasped in each other\u2019s\narms, quite forgetting all the dangers that threatened them. Rupa-Sikha\nwas the first to remember her father, and drawing herself away from her\nlover, she said to him:\n\n\u201cListen to me, and I will tell you what we must do. My father is a\nmagician, it is true, but I am his daughter, and I inherit some of his\npowers. If only you will promise to do exactly as I tell you, I think I\nmay be able to save you, and perhaps even become your wife. I am the\nyoungest of a large family and my father\u2019s favourite. I will go and\ntell him that a great and mighty prince, hearing of his wonderful\ngifts, has come to our land to ask for an interview with him. Then I\nwill tell him that I have seen you, fallen in love with you, and want\nto marry you. He will be flattered to think his fame has spread so far,\nand will want to see you, even if he refuses to let me be your wife. I\nwill lead you to his presence and leave you with him alone. If you\nreally love me, you will find the way to win his consent; but you must\nkeep out of his sight till I have prepared the way for you. Come with\nme now, and I will show you a hiding-place.\u201d\n\nRupa-Sikha then led the prince far away into the depths of the forest,\nand showed him a large tree, the wide-spreading branches of which\ntouched the ground, completely hiding the trunk, in which there was an\nopening large enough for a man to pass through. Steps cut in the inside\nof the trunk led down to a wide space underground; and there the\nmagician\u2019s daughter told her lover to wait for her return. \u201cBefore I\ngo,\u201d she said, \u201cI will tell you my own password, which will save you\nfrom death if you should be discovered. It is LOTUS FLOWER; and\neveryone to whom you say it, will know that you are under my\nprotection.\u201d\n\nWhen Rupa-Sikha reached the palace she found her father in a very bad\nhumour, because she had not been to ask how the wound in his breast was\ngetting on. She did her best to make up for her neglect; and when she\nhad dressed the wound very carefully, she prepared a dainty meal for\nher father with her own hands, waiting upon him herself whilst he ate\nit. All this pleased him, and he was in quite an amiable mood when she\nsaid to him:\n\n\u201cNow I must tell you that I too have had an adventure. As I was\ngathering herbs in the forest, I met a man I had never seen before, a\ntall handsome young fellow looking like a prince, who told me he was\nseeking the palace of a great and wonderful magician, of whose\nmarvellous deeds he had heard. Who could that magician have been but\nyou, my father?\u201d She added, \u201cI told him I was your daughter, and he\nentreated me to ask you to grant him an interview.\u201d\n\nAgni-Sikha listened to all this without answering a word. He was\npleased at this fresh proof that his fame had spread far and wide; but\nhe guessed at once that Rupa-Sikha had not told him the whole truth. He\nwaited for her to go on, and as she said no more, he suddenly turned\nangrily upon her and in a loud voice asked her:\n\n\u201cAnd what did my daughter answer?\u201d\n\nThen Rupa-Sikha knew that her secret had been discovered. And rising to\nher full height, she answered proudly, \u201cI told him I would seek you and\nask you to receive him. And now I will tell you, my father, that I have\nseen the only man I will ever marry; and if you forbid me to do so, I\nwill take my own life, for I cannot live without him.\u201d\n\n\u201cSend for the man immediately,\u201d cried the magician, \u201cand you shall hear\nmy answer when he appears before me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot send,\u201d replied Rupa-Sikha, \u201cfor none knows where I have left\nhim; nor will I fetch him till you promise that no evil shall befall\nhim.\u201d\n\nAt first Agni-Sikha laughed aloud and declared that he would do no such\nthing. But his daughter was as obstinate as he was; and finding that he\ncould not get his own way unless he yielded to her, he said crossly:\n\n\u201cHe shall keep his fine head on his shoulders, and leave the palace\nalive; but that is all I will say.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut that is not enough,\u201d said Rupa-Sikha. \u201cSay after me, _Not a hair\nof his head shall be harmed, and I will treat him as an honoured\nguest_, or your eyes will never rest on him.\u201d\n\nAt last the magician promised, thinking to himself that he would find\nsome way of disposing of Sringa-Bhuja, if he did not fancy him for a\nson-in-law. The words she wanted to hear were hardly out of her\nfather\u2019s mouth before Rupa-Sikha sped away, as if on the wings of the\nwind, full of hope that all would be well. She found her lover\nanxiously awaiting her, and quickly explained how matters stood. \u201cYou\nhad better say nothing about me to my father at first,\u201d she said; \u201cbut\nonly talk about him and all you have heard of him. If only you could\nget him to like you and want to keep you with him, it would help us\nvery much. Then you could pretend that you must go back to your own\nland; and rather than allow you to do so, he will be anxious for us to\nbe married and to live here with him.\u201d\n\n9. Do you think the advice Rupa-Sikha gave to Sringa-Bhuja was good?\n\n10. Can you suggest anything else she might have done?\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nSringa-Bhuja loved Rupa-Sikha so much that he was ready to obey her in\nwhatever she asked. So he at once went with her to the palace. On every\nside he saw signs of the strength and power of the magician. Each gate\nwas guarded by tall soldiers in shining armour, who saluted Rupa-Sikha\nbut scowled fiercely at him. He knew full well that, if he had tried to\npass alone, they would have prevented him from doing so. At last the\ntwo came to the great hall, where the magician was walking backwards\nand forwards, working himself into a rage at being kept waiting.\nDirectly he looked at the prince, he knew him for the man who had shot\nthe jewelled arrow at him when he had taken the form of a crane, and he\ndetermined that he would be revenged. He was too cunning to let\nSringa-Bhuja guess that he knew him, and pretended to be very glad to\nsee him. He even went so far as to say that he had long wished to find\na prince worthy to wed his youngest and favourite daughter. \u201cYou,\u201d he\nadded, \u201cseem to me the very man, young, handsome and\u2014to judge from the\nrichness of your dress and jewels\u2014able to give my beloved one all she\nneeds.\u201d\n\nThe prince could hardly believe his ears, and Rupa-Sikha also was very\nmuch surprised. She guessed however that her father had some evil\npurpose in what he said, and looked earnestly at Sringa-Bhuja in the\nhope of making him understand. But the prince was so overjoyed at the\nthought that she was to be his wife that he noticed nothing. So when\nAgni-Sikha added, \u201cI only make one condition: you must promise that you\nwill never disobey my commands, but do whatever I tell you without a\nmoment\u2019s hesitation,\u201d Sringa-Bhuja, without waiting to think, said at\nonce, \u201cOnly give me your daughter and I will serve you in any way you\nwish.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s settled then!\u201d cried the magician, and he clapped his hands\ntogether. In a moment a number of attendants appeared, and their master\nordered them to lead the prince to the best apartments in the palace,\nto prepare a bath for him, and do everything he asked them.\n\n11. What great mistake did the prince make when he gave this promise?\n\n12. What answer should he have made?\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nAs Sringa-Bhuja followed the servants, Rupa-Sikha managed to whisper to\nhim, \u201cBeware! await a message from me!\u201d When he had bathed and was\narraying himself in fresh garments provided by his host, waited on,\nhand and foot, by servants who treated him with the greatest respect, a\nmessenger arrived, bearing a sealed letter which he reverently handed\nto the prince. Sringa-Bhuja guessed at once from whom it came; and\nanxious to read it alone, he hastily finished his toilette and\ndismissed the attendants.\n\n\u201cMy beloved,\u201d said the letter\u2014which was, of course, from Rupa-Sikha\u2014\u201cMy\nfather is plotting against you; and very foolish were you to promise\nyou would obey him in all things. I have ten sisters all exactly like\nme, all wearing dresses and necklaces which are exact copies of each\nother, so that few can tell me from the others. Soon you will be sent\nfor to the great Hall and we shall all be together there. My father\nwill bid you choose your bride from amongst us; and if you make a\nmistake all will be over for us. But I will wear my necklace on my head\ninstead of round my neck, and thus will you know your own true love.\nAnd remember, my dearest, to obey no future command without hearing\nfrom me, for I alone am able to outwit my terrible father.\u201d\n\nEverything happened exactly as Rupa-Sikha described. The prince was\nsent for by Agni-Sikha, who, as soon as he appeared, gave him a garland\nof flowers and told him to place it round the neck of the maiden who\nwas his promised bride. Without a moment\u2019s hesitation Sringa-Bhuja\npicked out the right sister; and the magician, though inwardly enraged,\npretended to be so delighted at this proof of a lover\u2019s\nclear-sightedness that he cried:\n\n\u201cYou are the son-in-law for me! The wedding shall take place\nto-morrow!\u201d\n\n13. Can you understand how it was that the magician did not notice the\ntrick Rupa-Sikha had played upon him?\n\n14. What fault blinds people to the truth more than any other?\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nWhen Sringa-Bhuja heard what Agni-Sikha said, he was full of joy; but\nRupa-Sikha knew well that her father did not mean a word of it. She\nwaited quietly beside her lover, till the magician bade all the sisters\nbut herself leave the hall. Then the magician, with a very wicked look\non his face, said:\n\n\u201cBefore the ceremony there is just one little thing you must do for me,\ndear son-in-law that is to be. Go outside the town, and near the most\nwesterly tower you will find a team of oxen and a plough awaiting you.\nClose to them is a pile of three hundred bushels of sesame seed. This\nyou must sow this very day, or instead of a bridegroom you will be a\ndead man to-morrow.\u201d\n\nGreat was the dismay of Sringa-Bhuja when he heard this. But Rupa-Sikha\nwhispered to him, \u201cFear not, for I will help you.\u201d Sadly the prince\nleft the palace alone, to seek the field outside the city; the guards,\nwho knew he was the accepted lover of their favourite mistress, letting\nhim pass unhindered. There, sure enough, near the western tower were\nthe oxen, the plough and a great pile of seed. Never before had poor\nSringa-Bhuja had to work for himself, but his great love for Rupa-Sikha\nmade him determine to do his best. So he was about to begin to guide\nthe oxen across the field, when, behold, all was suddenly changed.\nInstead of an unploughed tract of land, covered with weeds, was a field\nwith rows and rows of regular furrows. The piles of seed were gone, and\nflocks of birds were gathering in the hope of securing some of it as it\nlay in the furrows.\n\nAs Sringa-Bhuja was staring in amazement at this beautiful scene, he\nsaw Rupa-Sikha, looking more lovely than ever, coming towards him. \u201cNot\nin vain,\u201d she said to him, \u201cam I my father\u2019s daughter. I too know how\nto compel even nature to do my will; but the danger is not over yet. Go\nquickly back to the palace, and tell Agni-Sikha that his wishes are\nfulfilled.\u201d\n\n15. Can the laws of nature ever really be broken?\n\n16. What is the only way in which man can conquer nature?\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nThe magician was very angry indeed when he heard that the field was\nploughed and the seed sown. He knew at once that some magic had been at\nwork, and suspected that Rupa-Sikha was the cause of his\ndisappointment. Without a moment\u2019s hesitation he said to the prince:\n\u201cNo sooner were you gone than I decided not to have that seed sown. Go\nback at once, and pile it up where it was before.\u201d\n\nThis time Sringa-Bhuja felt no fear or hesitation, for he was sure of\nthe power and will to help him of his promised bride. So back he went\nto the field, and there he found the whole vast space covered with\nmillions and millions of ants, busily collecting the seed and piling it\nup against the wall of the town. Again Rupa-Sikha came to cheer him,\nand again she warned him that their trials were not yet over. She\nfeared, she said, that her father might prove stronger than herself;\nfor he had many allies at neighbouring courts ready to help him in his\nevil purposes. \u201cWhatever else he orders you to do, you _must_ see me\nbefore you leave the palace. I will send my faithful messenger to\nappoint a meeting in some secret place.\u201d\n\nAgni-Sikha was not much surprised when the prince told him that his\nlast order had been obeyed, and thought to himself, \u201cI must get this\ntiresome fellow out of my domain, where that too clever child of mine\nwill not be able to help him.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201cI suppose the wedding\nmust take place to-morrow after all, for I am a man of my word. We must\nnow set about inviting the guests. You shall have the pleasure of doing\nthis yourself: then my friends will know beforehand what a handsome\nyoung son-in-law I shall have. The first person to summon to the\nwedding is my brother Dhuma Sikha, who has taken up his abode in a\ndeserted temple a few miles from here. You must ride at once to that\ntemple, rein up your steed opposite it, and cry, \u2018Dhuma Sikha, your\nbrother Agni-Sikha has sent me hither to invite you to witness my\nmarriage with his daughter Rupa-Sikha to-morrow. Come without delay!\u2019\nYour message given, ride back to me; and I will tell you what farther\ntasks you must perform before the happy morrow dawns.\u201d\n\nWhen Sringa-Bhuja left the palace, he knew not where to seek a horse to\nbear him on this new errand. But as he was nearing the gateway by which\nhe had gone forth to sow the field with seed, a handsome boy approached\nhim and said, \u201cIf my lord will follow me, I will tell him what to do.\u201d\nSomehow the voice sounded familiar; and when the guards were left far\nenough behind to be out of hearing, the boy looked up at Sringa-Bhuja\nwith a smile that revealed Rupa-Sikha herself. \u201cCome with me,\u201d she\nsaid; and taking his hand, she led him to a tree beneath which stood a\nnoble horse, richly caparisoned, which pawed the ground and whinnied to\nits mistress, as she drew near.\n\n\u201cYou must ride this horse,\u201d said Rupa-Sikha, \u201cwho will obey you if you\nbut whisper in his ear; and you must take earth, water, wood and fire\nwith you, which I will give you. You must go straight to the temple,\nand when you have called out your message, turn without a moment\u2019s\ndelay, and ride for your life as swiftly as your steed will go, looking\nbehind you all the time. No guidance will be necessary; for Marut\u2014that\nis my horse\u2019s name\u2014knows well what he has to do.\u201d\n\nThen Rupa-Sikha gave Sringa-Bhuja a bowl of earth, a jar of water, a\nbundle of thorns and a brazier full of burning charcoal, hanging them\nby strong thongs upon the front of his saddle so that he could reach\nthem easily. \u201cMy father,\u201d she told him, \u201chas given my uncle\ninstructions to kill you, and he will follow you upon his swift Arab\nsteed. When you hear him behind you, fling earth in his path; if that\ndoes not stop him, pour out some of the water; and if he still\nperseveres, scatter the burning charcoal before him.\u201d\n\n17. Can you discover any hidden meaning in the use of earth, water,\nthorns and fire, to stop the course of the wicked magician?\n\n18. Do you think the prince loved Rupa-Sikha better than he loved\nhimself?\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nAway went the prince after he had received these instructions; and very\nsoon he found himself opposite the temple, with the images of three of\nthe gods worshipped in India to prove that it had been a sanctuary\nbefore the magician took up his abode in it. Directly Sringa-Bhuja\nshouted out his message to Dhuma-Sikha, the wicked dweller in the\ntemple came rushing forth from the gateway, mounted on a huge horse,\nwhich seemed to be belching forth flames from its nostrils as it\nbounded along. For one terrible moment Sringa-Bhuja feared that he was\nlost; but Marut, putting forth all his strength, kept a little in\nadvance of the enemy, giving the prince time to scatter earth behind\nhim. Immediately a great mountain rose up, barring the road, and\nSringa-Bhuja felt that he was saved. He was mistaken: for, as he looked\nback, he saw Dhuma-Sikha coming over the top of the mountain. The next\nmoment the magician was close upon him. So he emptied his bowl of\nwater: and, behold, a huge river with great waves hid pursuer and\npursued from each other. Even this did not stop the mighty Arab horse,\nwhich swam rapidly across, the rider loudly shouting out orders to the\nprince to stop. When the prince heard the hoofs striking on the dry\nground behind him again, he threw out the thorns, and a dense wood\nsprouted up as if by magic, which for a few moments gave fresh hope of\nsafety to Sringa-Bhuja; for it seemed as if even the powerful magician\nwould be unable to get through it. He did succeed however; but his\nclothes were nearly torn off his back, and his horse was bleeding from\nmany wounds made by the cruel thorns. Sringa-Bhuja too was getting\nweary, and remembered that he had only one more chance of checking his\nrelentless enemy. He could almost feel the breath of the panting steed\nas it drew near; and with a loud cry to his beloved Rupa-Sikha, he\nthrew the burning charcoal on the road. In an instant the grass by the\nwayside, the trees overshadowing it, and the magic wood which had\nsprung from the thorns, were alight, burning so fiercely that no living\nthing could approach them safely. The wicked magician was beaten at\nlast, and was soon himself fleeing away, as fast as he could, with the\nflames following after him as if they were eager to consume him.\n\nWhether his enemy ever got back to his temple, Sringa-Bhuja never knew.\nExhausted with all he had been through, the young prince was taken back\nto the palace by the faithful Marut, and there he found his dear\nRupa-Sikha awaiting him. She told him that her father had promised her\nthat, if the prince came back, he would oppose her marriage no longer.\n\u201cFor,\u201d he said, \u201cif he can escape your uncle, he must be more than\nmortal, and worthy even of my daughter.\u201d \u201cHe does not in the least\nexpect to see you again,\u201d added Rupa-Sikha; \u201cand even if he allows us\nto marry, he will never cease to hate you; for I am quite sure he knows\nthat you shot the jewelled arrow at him when he was in the form of a\ncrane. If I ever am your wife, he will try to punish you through me.\nBut have no fear: I shall know how to manage him. Fresh powers have\nbeen lately given to me by another uncle whose magic is stronger than\nthat of any of my other relations.\u201d\n\nWhen Sringa-Bhuja had bathed and rested, he robed himself once more in\nthe garments he had worn the day he first saw Rupa-Sikha; and together\nthe lovers went to the great hall to seek an interview with Agni-Sikha.\nThe magician, who had made quite sure that he had now got rid of the\nunwelcome suitor for his daughter\u2019s hand, could not contain his rage,\nat seeing him walk in with her as if the two were already wedded.\n\nHe stamped about, pouring out abuse, until he had quite exhausted\nhimself, the lovers looking on quietly without speaking. At last,\ncoming close to them, Agni-Sikha shouted, in a loud harsh voice: \u201cSo\nyou have not obeyed my orders. You have not bid my brother to the\nwedding. Your life is forfeit, and you will die to-morrow instead of\nmarrying Rupa-Sikha. Describe the temple in which Dhuma Sikha lives and\nthe appearance of its owner.\u201d\n\nThen Sringa-Bhuja gave such an exact account of the temple, naming the\ngods whose images still adorned it, and of the terrible man riding the\nnoble steed who had pursued him, that the magician was convinced\nagainst his will; and knowing that he must keep his word to Rupa-Sikha,\nhe gave his consent for the preparations for the marriage on the morrow\nto begin.\n\n19. What is your opinion of the character of Agni-Sikha?\n\n20. Do you think he was at all justified in the way in which he treated\nhis daughter and Sringa-Bhuja?\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nThe marriage was celebrated the next day with very great pomp; and a\nbeautiful suite of rooms was given to the bride and bridegroom, who\ncould not in spite of this feel safe or happy, because they knew full\nwell that Agni-Sikha hated them. The prince soon began to feel\nhome-sick and anxious to introduce his beautiful wife to his own\npeople. He remembered that he had left his dear mother in prison, and\nreproached himself for having forgotten her for so long. So he said to\nRupa-Sikha:\n\n\u201cLet us go, beloved, to my native city, Vardhamana. My heart yearns\nafter my dear ones there, and I would fain introduce you to them.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d replied Rupa-Sikha, \u201cI will go with you whither you will,\nwere it even to the ends of the earth. But we must not let my father\nguess we mean to go; for he would forbid us to leave the country and\nset spies to watch our every movement. We will steal away secretly,\nriding together on my faithful Marut and taking with us only what we\ncan carry.\u201d \u201cAnd my jewelled arrow,\u201d said the prince, \u201cthat I may give\nit back to my father and explain to him how I lost it. Then shall I be\nrestored to his favour, and maybe he will forgive my mother also.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave no fear,\u201d answered Rupa-Sikha: \u201call will surely go well with us.\nForget not that new powers have been given to me, which will save us\nfrom my father and aid me to rescue my dear one\u2019s mother from her evil\nfate.\u201d\n\nBefore the dawn broke on the next day, the two set forth unattended,\nMarut seeming to take pride in his double burden and bearing them along\nso swiftly that they had all but reached the bounds of the country\nunder the dominion of Agni-Sikha as the sun rose. Just as they thought\nthey were safe from pursuit, they heard a loud rushing noise behind;\nand looking round, they saw the father of the bride close upon them on\nhis Arab steed, with sword uplifted in his hand to strike. \u201cFear not,\u201d\nwhispered Rupa-Sikha to her husband. \u201cI will show you now what I can\ndo.\u201d And waving her arms to and fro, as she muttered some strange\nwords, she changed herself into an old woman and Sringa-Bhuja into an\nold man, whilst Marut became a great pile of wood by the road-side.\n\nWhen the angry father reached the spot, the bride and bridegroom were\nbusily gathering sticks to add to the pile, seemingly too absorbed in\ntheir work to take any notice of the angry magician, who shouted out to\nthem:\n\n\u201cHave you seen a man and a woman pass along this way?\u201d\n\nThe old woman straightened herself, and peering, up into his face,\nsaid:\n\n\u201cNo; we are too busy over our work to notice anything else.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what, pray, are you doing in my wood?\u201d asked Agni-Sikha.\n\n\u201cWe are helping to collect the fuel for the pyre of the great magician\nAgni-Sikha,\u201d answered Rupa-Sikha. \u201cDo you not know that he died\nyesterday?\u201d\n\nThe Hindus of India do not bury but burn the dead; so that it was quite\na natural thing for the people of the land over which the magician\nruled to collect the materials for the pyre or heap of wood on which\nhis body would be laid to be burnt. What surprised Agni-Sikha, and in\nfact nearly took his breath away, was to be quietly told that he was\ndead. He began to think that he was dreaming, and said to himself, \u201cI\ncannot really be dead without knowing it, so I must be asleep.\u201d And he\nquietly turned his horse round and rode slowly home again. This was\njust what his daughter wanted; and as soon as he was out of sight, she\nturned herself, her husband and Marut, into their natural forms again,\nlaughing merrily, as she did so, at the thought of the ease with which\nshe had got rid of her father.\n\n21. Do you think it was clever of Rupa-Sikha to make up this story?\n\n22. Do you think it is better to believe all that you are told or to be\nmore ready to doubt when anything you hear seems to be unusual?\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nOnce more the bride and bridegroom set forth on their way, and once\nmore they soon heard Agni-Sikha coming after them. For when he got back\nto his palace, and the servants hastened out to take his horse, he\nguessed that a trick had been played on him. He did not even dismount,\nbut just turned his horse\u2019s head round and galloped back again. \u201cIf\never,\u201d he thought to himself, \u201cI catch those two young people, I\u2019ll\nmake them wish they had obeyed me. Yes, they shall suffer for it. I am\nnot going to stand being defied like this.\u201d\n\nThis time Rupa-Sikha contented herself with making her husband and\nMarut invisible, whilst she changed herself into a letter-carrier,\nhurrying along the road as if not a moment was to be lost. She took no\nnotice of her father, till he reined up his steed and shouted to her:\n\n\u201cHave you seen a man and woman on horseback pass by?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d she said: \u201cI have a very important letter to deliver, and\ncould think of nothing but making all the haste possible.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what is this important letter about?\u201d asked Agni-Sikha. \u201cCan you\ntell me that?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, I can tell you that,\u201d she said. \u201cBut where can you have been,\nnot to have heard the terrible news about the ruler of this land?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t tell me anything I don\u2019t know about him,\u201d answered the\nmagician, \u201cfor he is my greatest friend.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you know that he is dying from a wound he got in a battle with\nhis enemies only yesterday. I am to take this letter to his brother\nDhuma-Sikha, bidding him come to see him before the end.\u201d\n\nAgain Agni-Sikha wondered if he were dreaming, or if he were under some\nstrange spell and did not really know who he was? Being able, as he\nwas, to cast spells on other people, he was ready to fancy the same\nthing had befallen him. He said nothing when he heard that he was\nwounded, and was about to turn back again when Rupa-Sikha said to him:\n\n\u201cAs you are on horseback and can get to Dhuma-Sikha\u2019s temple quicker\nthan I can, will you carry the message of his brother\u2019s approaching\ndeath to him for me, and bid him make all possible haste if he would\nsee him alive?\u201d\n\nThis was altogether too much for the magician, who became sure that\nthere was something very wrong about him. He knew he was not wounded or\ndying, but he thought he must be ill of fever, fancying he heard what\nhe did not. He stared fixedly at his daughter, and she stared up at\nhim, half-afraid he might find out who she was, but he never guessed.\n\n\u201cDo your own errands,\u201d he said at last; and slashing his poor innocent\nhorse with his whip, he wheeled round and dashed home again as fast as\nhe could. Again his servants ran out to receive him, and he gloomily\ndismounted, telling them to send his chief councillor to him in his\nprivate apartments. Shut up with him, he poured out all his troubles,\nand the councillor advised him to see his physician without any delay,\nfor he felt sure that these strange fancies were caused by illness.\n\nThe doctor, when he came, was very much puzzled, but he looked as wise\nas he could, ordered perfect rest and all manner of disagreeable\nmedicines. He was very much surprised at the change he noticed in his\npatient, who, instead of angrily declaring that there was nothing the\nmatter with him, was evidently in a great fright about his health. He\nshut himself up for many days, and it was a long time before he got\nover the shock he had received, and then it was too late for him to be\nrevenged or the lovers.\n\n23. Can you explain what casting a spell means?\n\n24. Can you give an instance of a spell being cast on any one you have\nheard of?\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nHaving really got rid of Agni-Sikha, Rupa-Sikha and her husband were\nvery soon out of his reach and in the country belonging to\nSringa-Bhuja\u2019s father, who had bitterly mourned the loss of his\nfavourite son. When the news was brought to him that two strangers, a\nhandsome young man and a beautiful woman, who appeared to be husband\nand wife, had entered his capital, he hastened forth to meet them,\nhoping that perhaps they could give him news of Sringa-Bhuja. What was\nhis joy when he recognised his dear son, holding the jewelled arrow,\nwhich had led him into such trouble, in his right hand, as he guided\nMarut with his left! The king flung himself from his horse, and\nSringa-Bhuja, giving the reins to Rupa-Sikha, also dismounted. The next\nmoment he was in his father\u2019s arms, everything forgotten and forgiven\nin the happy reunion.\n\nGreat was the rejoicing over Sringa-Bhuja\u2019s return and hearty was the\nwelcome given to his beautiful bride, who quickly won all hearts but\nthose of the wicked wives and sons who had tried to harm her husband\nand his mother. They feared the anger of the king, when he found out\nhow they had deceived him, and they were right to fear. Sringa-Bhuja\u2019s\nvery first act was to plead for his mother to be set free. He would not\ntell any of his adventures, he said, till she could hear them too; and\nthe king, full of remorse for the way he had treated her, went with him\nto the prison in which she had been shut up all this time. What was\npoor Guna-Vara\u2019s joy, when the two entered the place in which she had\nshed so many tears! She could not at first believe her eyes or ears,\nbut soon she realised that her sufferings were indeed over. She could\nnot be quite happy till her beloved husband said he knew she had never\nloved any one but him. She had been accused falsely, she said, and she\nwanted the woman who had told a lie about her to be made to own the\ntruth.\n\nThis was done in the presence of the whole court, and when judgment had\nbeen passed upon Ayasolekha, the brothers of Sringa-Bhuja were also\nbrought before their father, who charged them with having deceived him.\nThey too were condemned, and all the culprits would have been taken to\nprison and shut up for the rest of their lives, if those they had\ninjured had not pleaded for their forgiveness. Guna-Vara and her son\nprostrated themselves at the foot of the throne, and would not rise\ntill they had won pardon for their enemies. Ayasolekha and the brothers\nwere allowed to go free; but Sringa-Bhuja, though he was the youngest\nof all the princes, was proclaimed heir to the crown after his father\u2019s\ndeath. His brothers, however, never ceased to hate him; and when he\ncame to the throne, they gave him a great deal of trouble. He had many\nyears of happiness with his wife and parents before that, and never\nregretted the mistake about the jewelled arrow; since but for it he\nwould, he knew, never have seen his beloved Rupa-Sikha.\n\n25. What is the chief lesson to be learnt from this story?\n\n26. Do you think it was good for those who had told lies about\nGuna-Vara and her son to be forgiven so easily?\n\n27. Can you give any instances of good coming out of evil and of evil\ncoming out of what seemed good?\n\n28. Do you think Rupa-Sikha deserved all the happiness that came to\nher?\n\n\n\n\nVI.\nThe Beetle and the Silken Thread.[2]\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nThe strange adventures related in the story of the Beetle and the\nSilken Thread took place in the town of Allahabad, \u201cthe City of God,\u201d\nso called because it is situated near the point of meeting of the two\nsacred rivers of India, the Ganges, which the Hindus lovingly call\nMother Ganga because they believe its waters can wash away their sins,\nand the Jumna, which they consider scarcely less holy.\n\nThe ruler of Allahabad was a very selfish and hot-tempered Raja named\nSurya Pratap, signifying \u201cPowerful as the Sun,\u201d who expected everybody\nto obey him without a moment\u2019s delay, and was ready to punish in a very\ncruel manner those who hesitated to do so. He would never listen to a\nword of explanation, or own that he had been mistaken, even when he\nknew full well that he was in the wrong. He had a mantri, that is to\nsay, a chief vizier or officer, whom he greatly trusted, and really\nseemed to be fond of, for he liked to have him always near him. The\nvizier was called Dhairya-Sila, or \u201cthe Patient One,\u201d because he never\nlost his temper, no matter what provocation he received. He had a\nbeautiful house, much money and many jewels, carriages to drive about\nin, noble horses to ride and many servants to wait upon him, all given\nto him by his master. But what he loved best of all was his faithful\nwife, Buddhi-Mati, or \u201cthe Sensible One,\u201d whom he had chosen for\nhimself, and who would have died for him.\n\nMany of the Raja\u2019s subjects were jealous of Dhairya-Sila, and\nconstantly brought accusations against him, of none of which his master\ntook any notice, except to punish those who tried to set him against\nhis favourite. It really seemed as if nothing would ever bring harm to\nDhairya-Sila; but he often told his wife that such good fortune was not\nlikely to last, and that she must be prepared for a change before long.\n\nIt turned out that he was right. For one day Surya Pratap ordered him\nto do what he considered would be a shameful deed. He refused; telling\nhis master that he was wrong to think of such a thing, and entreating\nhim to give up his purpose. \u201cAll your life long,\u201d he said, \u201cyou will\nwish you had listened to me; for your conscience will never let you\nrest!\u201d\n\nOn hearing these brave words, Surya Pratap flew into a terrible rage,\nsummoned his guards, and ordered them to take Dhairya-Sila outside the\ncity to a very lofty tower, and leave him at the top of it, without\nshelter from the sun and with nothing to eat or drink. The guards were\nat first afraid to touch the vizier, remembering how others had been\npunished for only speaking against him. Seeing their unwillingness, the\nRaja got more and more angry; but Dhairya-Sila himself kept quite calm,\nand said to the soldiers:\n\n\u201cI go with you gladly. It is for the master to command and for me to\nobey.\u201d\n\n1. What is the best way to learn to keep calm in an emergency?\n\n2. Why does too much power have a bad influence on those who have it?\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nThe guards were relieved to find they need not drag the vizier away;\nfor they admired his courage and felt sure that the Raja would soon\nfind he could not get on without him. It might go hardly with them if\nhe suffered harm at their hands. So they only closed in about him; and\nholding himself very upright, Dhairya-Sila walked to the tower as if he\nwere quite glad to go. In his heart however he knew full well that it\nwould need all his skill to escape with his life.\n\nWhen her husband did not come home at night, Buddhi-Mati was very much\ndistressed. She guessed at once that something had gone wrong, and set\nforth to try and find out what had happened. This was easy enough; for\nas she crept along, with her veil closely held about her lest she\nshould be recognised, she passed groups of people discussing the\nterrible fate that had befallen the favourite. She decided that she\nmust wait until midnight, when the streets would be deserted and she\ncould reach the tower unnoticed. It was almost dark when she got there,\nbut in the dim light of the stars she made out the form of him she\nloved better than herself, leaning over the edge of the railing at the\ntop.\n\n\u201cIs my dear lord still alive?\u201d she whispered, \u201cand is there anything I\ncan do to help him?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can do everything that is needed to help me,\u201d answered\nDhairya-Sila quietly, \u201cif you only obey every direction I give you. Do\nnot for one moment suppose that I am in despair. I am more powerful\neven now than my master, who has but shown his weakness by attempting\nto harm me. Now listen to me. Come to-morrow night at this very hour,\nbringing with you the following things: first, a beetle; secondly,\nsixty yards of the finest silk thread, as thin as a spider\u2019s web;\nthirdly, sixty yards of cotton thread, as thin as you can get it, but\nvery strong; fourthly, sixty yards of good stout twine; fifthly, sixty\nyards of rope, strong enough to carry my weight; and last, but\ncertainly not least, one drop of the purest bees\u2019 honey.\u201d\n\n3. Do you think the vizier thought of all these things before or after\nhe was taken to the tower?\n\n4. What special quality did he display in the way in which he faced his\nposition on the tower?\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nBuddhi-Mati listened very attentively to these strange instructions,\nand began to ask questions about them. \u201cWhy do you want the beetle? Why\ndo you want the honey?\u201d and so on. But her husband checked her. \u201cI have\nno strength to waste in explanations,\u201d he said. \u201cGo home in peace,\nsleep well, and dream of me.\u201d So the anxious wife went meekly away; and\nearly the next day she set to work to obey the orders she had received.\nShe had some trouble in obtaining fine enough silk, so very, very thin\nit had to be, like a spider\u2019s web; but the cotton, twine and rope were\neasily bought; and to her surprise she was not asked what she wanted\nthem for. It took her a good while to choose the beetle. For though she\nhad a vague kind of idea that the silk, the cotton, twine, and rope,\nwere to help her husband get down from the tower, she could not imagine\nwhat share the beetle and the honey were to take. In the end she chose\na very handsome, strong-looking, brilliantly coloured fellow who lived\nin the garden of her home and whom she knew to be fond of honey.\n\n5. Can you guess how the beetle and the honey were to help in saving\nDhairya-Sila?\n\n6. Do you think it would have been better if the vizier had told his\nwife how all the things he asked for were to be used?\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nAll the time Buddhi-Mati was at work for her husband, she was thinking\nof him and looking forward to the happy day of his return home. She had\nsuch faith in him that she did not for a moment doubt that he would\nescape; but she was anxious about the future, feeling sure that the\nRaja would never forgive Dhairya-Sila for being wiser than himself.\nExactly at the time fixed the faithful wife appeared at the foot of the\ntower, with all the things she had been told to bring with her.\n\n\u201cIs all well with my lord?\u201d she whispered, as she gazed up through the\ndarkness. \u201cI have the silken thread as fine as gossamer, the cotton\nthread, the twine, the rope, the beetle and the honey.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Dhairya-Sila, \u201call is still well with me. I have slept\nwell, feeling confident that my dear one would bring all that is needed\nfor my safety; but I dread the great heat of another day, and we must\nlose no time in getting away from this terrible tower. Now attend most\ncarefully to all I bid you do; and remember not to speak loud, or the\nsentries posted within hearing will take alarm and drive you away.\nFirst of all, tie the end of the silken thread round the middle of the\nbeetle, leaving all its legs quite free. Then rub the drop of honey on\nits nose, and put the little creature on the wall, with its nose turned\nupwards towards me. It will smell the honey, but will not guess that it\ncarries it itself, and it will crawl upwards in the hope of getting to\nthe hive from which that honey came. Keep the rest of the silk firmly\nheld, and gradually unwind it as the beetle climbs up. Mind you do not\nlet it slip, for my very life depends on that slight link with you.\u201d\n\n7. Which do you think had the harder task to perform\u2014the husband at the\ntop of the tower or the wife at the foot of it?\n\n8. Do you think the beetle was likely to imagine it was on the way to a\nhive of bees when it began to creep up the tower?\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nBuddhi-Mati, though her hands shook and her heart beat fast as she\nrealized all that depended on her, kept the silk from becoming\nentangled; and when it was nearly all unwound, she heard her husband\u2019s\nvoice saying to her: \u201cNow tie the cotton thread to the end of the silk\nthat you hold, and let it gradually unwind.\u201d She obeyed, fully\nunderstanding now what all these preparations were for.\n\nWhen the little messenger of life reached the top of the tower,\nDhairya-Sila took it up in his hand and very gently unfastened the\nsilken thread from its body. Then he placed the beetle carefully in a\nfold of his turban, and began to pull the silken thread up\u2014very, very\nslowly, for if it had broken, his wonderful scheme would have come to\nan end. Presently he had the cotton thread in his fingers, and he broke\noff the silk, wound it up, and placed it too in his turban. It had done\nits duty well, and he would not throw it away.\n\n\u201cHalf the work is done now,\u201d he whispered to his faithful wife. \u201cYou\nhave all but saved me now. Take the twine and tie it to the end of the\ncotton thread.\u201d\n\nVery happily Buddhi-Mati obeyed once more; and soon the cotton thread\nand twine were also laid aside, and the strong rope tied to the last\nwas being quickly dragged up by the clever vizier, who knew that all\nfear of death from sunstroke or hunger was over. When he had all the\nrope on the tower, he fastened one end of it to the iron railing which\nran round the platform on which he stood, and very quickly slid down to\nthe bottom, where his wife was waiting for him, trembling with joy.\n\n9. Do you see anything very improbable in the account of what the\nbeetle did?\n\n10. If the beetle had not gone straight up the tower, what do you think\nwould have happened?\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nAfter embracing his wife and thanking her for saving him, the vizier\nsaid to her: \u201cBefore we return home, let us give thanks to the great\nGod who helped me in my need by putting into my head the device by\nwhich I escaped.\u201d The happy pair then prostrated themselves on the\nground, and in fervent words of gratitude expressed their sense of what\nthe God they worshipped had done for them. \u201cAnd now,\u201d said\nDhairya-Sila, \u201cthe next thing we have to do is to take the dear little\nbeetle which was the instrument of my rescue back to the place it came\nfrom.\u201d And taking off his turban, he showed his wife the tiny creature\nlying in the soft folds.\n\nBuddhi-Mati led her husband to the garden where she had found the\nbeetle, and Dhairya-Sila laid it tenderly on the ground, fetched some\nfood for it, such as he knew it loved, and there left it to take up its\nold way of life. The rest of the day he spent quietly in his own home\nwith his wife, keeping out of sight of his servants, lest they should\nreport his return to his master. \u201cYou must never breathe a word to any\none of how I escaped,\u201d Dhairya-Sila said, and his wife promised that\nshe never would.\n\n11. When the vizier got this promise, what did he forget which could\nbetray how he got down from the tower, if any one went to look at it?\n\n12. Do you think there was any need for the vizier to tell his wife to\nkeep his secret?\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nAll this time the Raja was feeling very unhappy, for he thought he had\nhimself caused the death of the one man he could trust. He was too\nproud to let anybody know that he missed Dhairya-Sila, and was longing\nto send for him from the tower before it was too late. What then was\nhis relief and surprise when a message was brought to him that the\nvizier was at the door of the palace and begged for an interview.\n\n\u201cBring him in at once,\u201d cried Surya Pratap. And the next moment\nDhairya-Sila stood before his master, his hands folded on his breast\nand his head bent in token of his submission. The attendants looked on,\neager to know how he had got down from the tower, some of them anything\nbut glad to see him back. The Raja took care not to show how delighted\nhe was to see him, and pretending to be angry, he said:\n\n\u201cHow dare you come into my presence, and which of my subjects has\nventured to help you to escape the death on the tower you so richly\ndeserved?\u201d\n\n\u201cNone of your subjects, great and just and glorious ruler,\u201d replied\nDhairya-Sila, \u201cbut the God who created us both, making you my master\nand me your humble servant. It was that God,\u201d he went on, \u201cwho saved\nme, knowing that I was indeed guiltless of any crime against you. I had\nnot been long on the tower when help came to me in the form of a great\nand noble eagle, which appeared above me, hovering with outspread\nwings, as if about to swoop down upon me and tear me limb from limb. I\ntrembled greatly, but I need have had no fear; for instead of harming\nme, the bird suddenly lifted me up in its talons and, flying rapidly\nthrough the air, landed me upon the balcony of my home and disappeared.\nGreat indeed was the joy of my wife at my rescue from what seemed to be\ncertain death; but I tore myself away from her embraces, to come and\ntell my lord how heaven had interfered to prove my innocence.\u201d\n\nFully believing that a miracle had taken place, Surya Pratap asked no\nmore questions, but at once restored Dhairya-Sila to his old place as\nvizier, taking care not again to ill-treat the man he now believed to\nbe under the special care of God. Though he certainly did not deserve\nit, the vizier prospered greatly all the rest of his life and as time\nwent on he became the real ruler of the kingdom, for the Raja depended\non his advice in everything. He grew richer and richer, but he was\nnever really happy again, remembering the lie he had told to the master\nto whom he owed so much. Buddhi-Mati could never understand why he made\nup the story about the eagle, and constantly urged him to tell the\ntruth. She thought it was really far more wonderful that a little\nbeetle should have been the means of rescuing him, than that a strong\nbird should have done so; and she wanted everyone to know what a very\nclever husband she had. She kept her promise never to tell anyone what\nreally happened, but the secret came out for all that. By the time it\nwas known, however, Dhairya-Sila was so powerful that no one could harm\nhim, and when he died his son took his place as vizier.\n\n13. What lessons can be learnt from this story?\n\n14. What do you think was Dhairya-Sila\u2019s motive for telling the Raja\nthe lie about the eagle?\n\n15. What did Surya Pratap\u2019s ready belief in the story show?\n\n16. How do you think the secret the husband and wife kept so well was\ndiscovered?\n\n\n\n\nVII.\nA Crow and His Three Friends\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nIn the branches of a great tree, in a forest in India, lived a wise old\ncrow in a very comfortable, well-built nest. His wife was dead, and all\nhis children were getting their own living; so he had nothing to do but\nto look after himself. He led a very easy existence, but took a great\ninterest in the affairs of his neighbours. One day, popping his head\nover the edge of his home, he saw a fierce-looking man stalking along,\ncarrying a stick in one hand and a net in the other.\n\n\u201cThat fellow is up to some mischief, I\u2019ll be bound,\u201d thought the crow:\n\u201cI will keep my eye on him.\u201d The man stopped under the tree, spread the\nnet on the ground; and taking a bag of rice out of his pocket, he\nscattered the grains amongst the meshes of the net. Then he hid himself\nbehind the trunk of the tree from which the crow was watching,\nevidently intending to stop there and see what would happen. The crow\nfelt pretty sure that the stranger had designs against birds, and that\nthe stick had something to do with the matter. He was quite right; and\nit was not long before just what he expected came to pass.\n\nA flock of pigeons, led by a specially fine bird who had been chosen\nking because of his size and the beauty of his plumage, came flying\nrapidly along, and noticed the white rice, but did not see the net,\nbecause it was very much the same colour as the ground. Down swooped\nthe king, and down swept all the other pigeons, eager to enjoy a good\nmeal without any trouble to themselves. Alas, their joy was short\nlived! They were all caught in the net and began struggling to escape,\nbeating the air with their wings and uttering loud cries of distress.\n\nThe crow and the man behind the tree kept very quiet, watching them;\nthe man with his stick ready to beat the poor helpless birds to death,\nthe crow watching out of mere curiosity. Now a very strange and\nwonderful thing came to pass. The king of the pigeons, who had his wits\nabout him, said to the imprisoned birds:\n\n\u201cTake the net up in your beaks, all of you spread out your wings at\nonce, and fly straight up into the air as quickly as possible.\u201d\n\n1. What special qualities did the king display when he gave these\norders to his subjects?\n\n2. Can you think of any other advice the king might have given?\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nIn a moment all the pigeons, who were accustomed to obey their leader,\ndid as they were bid; each little bird seized a separate thread of the\nnet in his beak and up, up, up, they all flew, looking very beautiful\nwith the sunlight gleaming on their white wings. Very soon they were\nout of sight; and the man, who thought he had hit upon a very clever\nplan, came forth from his hiding-place, very much surprised at what had\nhappened. He stood gazing up after his vanished net for a little time,\nand then went away muttering to himself, whilst the wise old crow\nlaughed at him.\n\nWhen the pigeons had flown some distance, and were beginning to get\nexhausted, for the net was heavy and they were quite unused to carrying\nloads, the king bade them rest awhile in a clearing of the forest; and\nas they all lay on the ground panting for breath, with the cruel net\nstill hampering them, he said:\n\n\u201cWhat we must do now is to take this horrible net to my old friend\nHiranya the mouse, who will, I am quite sure, nibble through the\nstrings for me and set us all free. He lives, as you all know, near the\ntree where the net was spread, deep underground; but there are many\npassages leading to his home, and we shall easily find one of the\nopenings. Once there, we will all lift up our voices, and call to him\nat once, when he will be sure to hear us.\u201d So the weary pigeons took up\ntheir burden once more, and sped back whence they had come, greatly to\nthe surprise of the crow, who wondered at their coming back to the very\nplace where misfortune had overtaken them. He very soon learnt the\nreason, and got so excited watching what was going on, that he hopped\nout of his nest and perched upon a branch where he could see better.\nPresently a great clamour arose, one word being repeated again and\nagain: \u201cHiranya! Hiranya! Hiranya.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, that\u2019s the name of the mouse who lives down below there!\u201d thought\nthe crow. \u201cNow, what good can he do? I know, I know,\u201d he added, as he\nremembered the sharp teeth of Hiranya. \u201cThat king of the pigeons is a\nsensible fellow. I must make friends with him.\u201d\n\nVery soon, as the pigeons lay fluttering and struggling outside one of\nthe entrances to Hiranya\u2019s retreat, the mouse came out. He didn\u2019t even\nneed to be told what was wanted, but at once began to nibble the\nstring, first setting free the king, and then all the rest of the\nbirds. \u201cA friend in need is a friend indeed,\u201d cried the king; \u201ca\nthousand thousand thanks!\u201d And away he flew up into the beautiful free\nair of heaven, followed by the happy pigeons, none of them ever likely\nto forget the adventure or to pick up food from the ground without a\ngood look at it first.\n\n3. What was the chief virtue displayed by the mouse on this occasion?\n\n4. Do you think it is easier to obey than to command?\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nThe mouse did not at once return to his hole when the birds were gone,\nbut went for a little stroll, which brought him to the ground still\nstrewn with rice, which he began to eat with great relish. \u201cIt\u2019s an ill\nwind,\u201d he said to himself, \u201cwhich brings nobody any good. There\u2019s many\na good meal for my whole family here.\u201d\n\nPresently he was joined by the old crow, who had flown down from his\nperch unnoticed by Hiranya, and now addressed him in his croaky voice:\n\n\u201cHiranya,\u201d he said, \u201cfor that I know is your name, I am called\nLaghupatin and I would gladly have you for a friend. I have seen all\nthat you did for the pigeons, and have come to the conclusion that you\nare a mouse of great wisdom, ready to help those who are in trouble,\nwithout any thought of yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are quite wrong,\u201d squeaked Hiranya. \u201cI am not so silly as you make\nout. I have no wish to be your friend. If you were hungry, you wouldn\u2019t\nhesitate to gobble me up. I don\u2019t care for that sort of affection.\u201d\n\nWith that Hiranya whisked away to his hole, pausing at the entrance,\nwhen he knew the crow could not get at him, to cry, \u201cYou be off to your\nnest and leave me alone!\u201d\n\nThe feelings of the crow were very much hurt at this speech, the more\nthat he knew full well it was not exactly love for the mouse, which had\nled him to make his offer, but self-interest: for who could tell what\ndifficulties he himself might some day be in, out of which the mouse\nmight help him? Instead of obeying Hiranya, and going back to his nest,\nhe hopped to the mouse\u2019s hole, and putting his head on one side in what\nhe thought was a very taking manner, he said:\n\n\u201cPray do not misjudge me so. Never would I harm you! Even if I did not\nwish to have you for a friend, I should not dream of gobbling you up,\nas you say, however hungry I might be. Surely you are aware that I am a\nstrict vegetarian, and never eat the flesh of other creatures. At least\ngive me a trial. Let us share a meal together, and talk the matter\nover.\u201d\n\n5. Can a friendship be a true one if the motive for it is\nself-interest?\n\n6. Would it have been wise or foolish for the mouse to agree to be\nfriends with the crow?\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nHiranya, on hearing the last remark of Laghupatin, hesitated, and in\nthe end he agreed that he would have supper with the crow that very\nevening. \u201cThere is plenty of rice here,\u201d he said, \u201cwhich we can eat on\nthe spot. It would be impossible for you to get into my hole, and I am\ncertainly not disposed to visit you in your nest.\u201d So the two at once\nbegan their meal, and before it was over they had become good friends.\nNot a day passed without a meeting, and when all the rice was eaten up,\neach of the two would bring something to the feast. This had gone on\nfor some little time, when the crow, who was fond of adventure and\nchange, said one day to the mouse: \u201cDon\u2019t you think we might go\nsomewhere else for a time? I am rather tired of this bit of the forest,\nevery inch of which we both know well. I\u2019ve got another great friend\nwho lives beside a fine river a few miles away, a tortoise named\nMandharaka; a thoroughly good, trustworthy fellow he is, though rather\nslow and cautious in his ways. I should like to introduce you to him.\nThere are quantities of food suitable for us both where he lives, for\nit is a very fruitful land. What do you say to coming with me to pay\nhim a visit?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow in the world should I get there?\u201d answered Hiranya. \u201cIt\u2019s all very\nwell for you, who can fly. I can\u2019t walk for miles and miles. For all\nthat I too am sick of this place and would like a change.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, there\u2019s no difficulty about that,\u201d replied Laghupatin. \u201cI will\ncarry you in my beak, and you will get there without any fatigue at\nall.\u201d To this Hiranya consented, and very early one morning the two\nfriends started off together.\n\n7. Is love of change a good or a bad thing?\n\n8. What did Hiranya\u2019s readiness to let Laghupatin carry him show?\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nAfter flying along for several hours, the crow began to feel very\ntired. He was seized too with a great desire to hear his own voice\nagain. So he flew to the ground, laid his little companion gently down,\nand gave vent to a number of hoarse cries, which quite frightened\nHiranya, who timidly asked him what was the matter.\n\n\u201cNothing whatever,\u201d answered Laghupatin, \u201cexcept that you are not quite\nso light as I thought you were, and that I need a rest; besides which,\nI am hungry and I expect you are. We had better stop here for the\nnight, and start again early to-morrow morning.\u201d Hiranya readily agreed\nto this, and after a good meal, which was easily found, the two settled\ndown to sleep, the crow perched in a tree, the mouse hidden amongst its\nroots. Very early the next day they were off again, and soon arrived at\nthe river, where they were warmly welcomed by the tortoise. The three\nhad a long talk together, and agreed never to part again. The tortoise,\nwho had lived a great deal longer than either the mouse or the crow,\nwas a very pleasant companion; and even Laghupatin, who was very fond\nof talking himself, liked to listen to his stories of long ago.\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d said the tortoise, whose name was Mandharaka, to the mouse,\n\u201cthat you are not afraid to travel about as you have done, with your\nsoft little body unprotected by any armour. Look how different it is\nfor me; it is almost impossible for any of the wild creatures who live\nnear this river to hurt me, and they know it full well. See how thick\nand strong my armour is. The claws even of a tiger, a wild cat or an\neagle, could not penetrate it. I am very much afraid, my little friend,\nthat you will be gobbled up some fine day, and Laghupatin and I will\nseek for you in vain.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course,\u201d said the mouse, \u201cI know the truth of what you say; but I\ncan very easily hide from danger\u2014much more easily than you or\nLaghupatin. A tuft of moss or a few dead leaves are shelter enough for\nme, but big fellows like you and the crow can be quite easily seen.\nNobody saw me when the pigeons were all caught except Laghupatin; and I\nwould have kept out of his sight if I had not known that he did not\ncare to eat mice.\u201d\n\nIn spite of the fears of Mandharaka, the mouse and the crow lived as\nhis guests for a long time without any accident; and one day they were\nsuddenly joined by a new companion, a creature as unlike any one of the\nthree friends as could possibly be imagined. This was a very beautiful\ndeer, who came bounding out of the forest, all eager to escape from the\nhunters, by whom he had been pursued, but too weary to reach the river,\nacross which he had hoped to be able to swim to safety. Just as he\nreached the three friends, he fell to the ground, almost crushing the\nmouse, who darted away in the nick of time. Strange to say, the hunters\ndid not follow the deer; and it was evident that they had not noticed\nthe way he had gone.\n\nThe tortoise, the crow and the mouse were all very sorry for the deer,\nand, as was always the case, the crow was the first to speak. \u201cWhatever\nhas happened to you?\u201d he asked. And the deer made answer:\n\n\u201cI thought my last hour had come this time, for the hunters were close\nupon me; and even now I do not feel safe.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll fly up and take a look \u2019round,\u201d said Laghupatin; and off he went\nto explore, coming back soon, to say he had seen the hunters\ndisappearing a long distance off, going in quite another direction from\nthe river. Gradually the deer was reassured, and lay still where he had\nfallen; whilst the three friends chatted away to him, telling him of\ntheir adventures. \u201cWhat you had better do,\u201d said the tortoise, \u201cis to\njoin us. When you have had a good meal, and a drink from the river, you\nwill feel a different creature. My old friend Laghupatin will be the\none to keep watch for us all, and warn us of any danger approaching; I\nwill give you the benefit of my long experience; and little Hiranya,\nthough he is not likely to be of any use to you, will certainly never\ndo you any harm.\u201d\n\n9. Is it a good thing to make friends easily?\n\n10. What was the bond of union between the crow, the mouse, the\ntortoise and the deer?\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nThe deer was so touched by the kind way in which he had been received,\nthat he agreed to stop with the three friends; and for some weeks after\nhis arrival all went well. Each member of the party went his own way\nduring the day-time, but all four met together in the evening, and took\nit in turns to tell their adventures. The crow always had the most to\nsay, and was very useful to the deer in warning him of the presence of\nhunters in the forest. One beautiful moonlight night the deer did not\ncome back as usual, and the other three became very anxious about him.\nThe crow flew up to the highest tree near and eagerly sought for some\nsign of his lost friend, of whom he had grown very fond. Presently he\nnoticed a dark mass by the river-side, just where the deer used to go\ndown to drink every evening. \u201cThat must be he,\u201d thought the crow; and\nvery soon he was hovering above the deer, who had been caught in a net\nand was struggling in vain to get free.\n\nThe poor deer was very glad indeed to see the crow, and cried to him in\na piteous voice: \u201cBe quick, be quick, and help me, before the terrible\nhunters find me and kill me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can do nothing for you myself,\u201d said the crow, \u201cbut I know who can.\nRemember who saved the pigeons!\u201d And away he flew to fetch little\nHiranya, who with the tortoise was anxiously awaiting his return. Very\nsoon Laghupatin was back by the river-side with the little mouse in his\nbeak; and it did not take long for Hiranya, who had been despised by\nthe deer and the tortoise as a feeble little thing, to nibble through\nthe cords and save the life of the animal a hundred times as big as\nhimself.\n\nHow happy the deer was when the cruel cords were loosed and he could\nstretch out his limbs again! He bounded up, but took great care not to\ncrush the mouse, who had done him such a service. \u201cNever, never,\nnever,\u201d he said, \u201cshall I forget what you have done for me. Ask\nanything in my power, and I will do it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want nothing,\u201d said Hiranya, \u201cexcept the joyful thought of having\nsaved you.\u201d\n\nBy this time the tortoise had crept to the riverbank, and he too was\nglad that the deer had been saved. He praised the mouse, and declared\nthat he would never again look down upon him. Then the four started to\ngo back to their usual haunt in the forest; the deer, the crow, and the\nmouse soon arriving there quite safely, whilst the tortoise, who could\nonly get along very slowly, lagged behind. Now came the time for him to\nfind out that armour was not the only thing needed to save him from\ndanger. He had not got very far from the riverbank before the cruel\nhunter who had set the net to catch the deer, came to see if he had\nsucceeded. Great was his rage when he found the net lying on the\nground, but not exactly where he had left it. He guessed at once that\nsome animal had been caught in it and escaped after a long struggle. He\nlooked carefully about and noticed that the cords had been bitten\nthrough here and there. So he suspected just what had happened, and\nbegan to search about for any creature who could have done the\nmischief.\n\nThere was not a sign of the mouse, but the slow-moving tortoise was\nsoon discovered, and pouncing down upon him, the hunter rolled him up\nin another net he had with him, and carried him off, \u201cIt\u2019s not much of\na prize,\u201d said the hunter to himself, \u201cbut better than nothing. I\u2019ll\nhave my revenge on the wretched creature anyhow, as I have lost the\nprey I sought.\u201d\n\n11. Which of the four friends concerned in this adventure do you admire\nmost?\n\n12. What was the chief mistake made by the tortoise?\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nWhen the tortoise in his turn did not come home, the deer, the crow and\nthe mouse were very much concerned. They talked the matter over\ntogether and decided that, however great the risk to themselves, they\nmust go back and see what had become of their friend. This time the\nmouse travelled in one of the ears of the deer, from which he peeped\nforth with his bright eyes, hoping to see the tortoise toiling along in\nhis usual solemn manner; whilst the crow, also on the watch, flew along\nbeside them. Great was the surprise and terror of all three when, as\nthey came out of the forest, they saw the hunter striding along towards\nthem, with the tortoise in the net under his arm. Once more the little\nmouse showed his wisdom. Without a moment\u2019s hesitation he said to the\ndeer: \u201cThrow yourself on the ground and pretend to be dead; and _you_,\u201d\nhe added to the crow, \u201cperch on his head and bend over as if you were\ngoing to peck out his eyes.\u201d\n\nWithout any idea what Hiranya meant by these strange orders, but\nremembering how he had helped in other dangers, the two did as they\nwere told; the poor deer feeling anything but happy lying still where\nhis enemy was sure to see him, and thereby proving what a noble\ncreature he was. The hunter did, see him very soon, and thinking to\nhimself, \u201cAfter all I shall get that deer,\u201d he let the tortoise fall,\nand came striding along as fast as he could.\n\nUp jumped the deer without waiting to see what became of the tortoise,\nand sped away like the wind. The hunter rushed after him, and the two\nwere soon out of sight. The tortoise, whose armour had saved him from\nbeing hurt by his fall, was indeed pleased when he saw little Hiranya\nrunning towards him. \u201cBe quick, be quick!\u201d he cried, \u201cand set me free.\u201d\nVery soon the sharp teeth of the mouse had bitten through the meshes of\nthe net, and before the hunter came back, after trying in vain to catch\nthe deer, the tortoise was safely swimming across the river, leaving\nthe net upon the ground, whilst the crow and the mouse were back in the\nshelter of the forest.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s some magic at work here,\u201d said the hunter when, expecting to\nfind the tortoise where he had left him, he discovered that his\nprisoner had escaped. \u201cThe stupid beast could not have got out alone,\u201d\nhe added, as he picked up the net and walked off with it. \u201cBut he\nwasn\u2019t worth keeping anyhow.\u201d\n\nThat evening the four friends met once more, and talked over all they\nhad gone through together. The deer and the tortoise were full of\ngratitude to the mouse, and could not say enough in his praise, but the\ncrow was rather sulky, and remarked: \u201cIf it had not been for me,\nneither of you would ever have seen Hiranya. He was my friend before he\nwas yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are right,\u201d said the tortoise, \u201cand you must also remember that it\nwas my armour which saved me from being killed in that terrible fall.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour armour would not have been of much use to you, if the hunter had\nbeen allowed to carry you to his home,\u201d said the deer. \u201cIn my opinion\nyou and I both owe our lives entirely to Hiranya. He is small and weak,\nit is true, but he has better brains than any of the rest of us, and I\nfor one admire him with all my heart. I am glad I trusted him and\nobeyed him, when he ordered me to pretend to be dead, for I had not the\nleast idea how that could help the tortoise.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave it your own way,\u201d croaked the crow, \u201cbut I keep my own opinion\nall the same. But for me you would never have known my dear little\nHiranya.\u201d\n\nIn spite of this little dispute the four friends were soon as happy\ntogether as before the adventure of the tortoise. They once more agreed\nnever to part and lived happily together for many years, as they had\ndone ever since they first met.\n\n13. What were the chief differences in the characters of the four\nfriends?\n\n14. Are those who are alike or unlike in character more likely to\nremain friends?\n\n15. How would you describe a true friend?\n\n16. What fault is more likely than any other to lead to loss of\nfriendship?\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\nA Clever Thief.\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nA certain man, named Hari-Sarman, who lived in a little village in\nIndia, where there were no rich people and everyone had to work hard to\nget his daily bread, got very weary of the life he had to lead. He had\na wife whose name was Vidya, and a large family; and even if he had\nbeen very industrious it would have been difficult for him to get\nenough food for them all. Unfortunately he was not a bit industrious,\nbut very lazy, and so was his wife. Neither of them made any attempt to\nteach their boys and girls to earn their own living; and if the other\npoor people in the village had not helped them, they would have\nstarved. Hari-Sarman used to send his children out in different\ndirections to beg or steal, whilst he and Vidya stayed at home doing\nnothing.\n\nOne day he said to his wife: \u201cLet us leave this stupid place, and go to\nsome big city where we can pick up a living of some kind. I will\npretend to be a wise man, able to find out secrets; and you can say\nthat you know all about children, having had so many of your own.\u201d\nVidya gladly agreed to this, and the whole party set out, carrying the\nfew possessions they had with them. In course of time they came to a\nbig town, and Hari-Sarman went boldly to the chief house in it, leaving\nhis wife and children outside. He asked to see the master, and was\ntaken into his presence. This master was a very rich merchant, owning\nlarge estates in the country; but he cannot have been very clever, for\nhe was at once quite taken in by the story Hari-Sarman told him. He\nsaid that he would find work for him and his wife, and that the\nchildren could be sent to a farm he had in the country, where they\ncould be made very useful.\n\nOverjoyed at this, Hari-Sarman hastened out to tell his wife the good\nnews; and the two were at once received into the grand residence, in\nwhich a small room was given to them for their own, whilst the children\nwere taken away to the farm, fall of eager delight at the change from\nthe wretched life they had been leading.\n\n1. Would it have been better for Hari-Sarman and Vidya if their\nneighbours had not helped them?\n\n2. Do you think Hari-Sarman was the only person to blame for his\npoverty?\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nSoon after the arrival of the husband and wife at the merchant\u2019s house,\na very important event took place, namely, the marriage of the eldest\ndaughter. Great were the preparations beforehand, in which Vidya took\nher full share, helping in the kitchen to make all manner of delicious\ndishes, and living in great luxury herself. For there was no stint in\nthe wealthy home; even the humblest servants were well cared for. Vidya\nwas happier than she had ever been before, now that she had plenty to\ndo and plenty of good food. She became in fact quite a different\ncreature, and began to wish she had been a better mother to her\nchildren. \u201cWhen the wedding is over,\u201d she thought, \u201cI will go and see\nhow they are getting on.\u201d On the other hand she forgot all about her\nhusband and scarcely ever saw him.\n\nIt was all very different with Hari-Sarman himself. He had no special\nduties to perform and nobody seemed to want him. If he went into the\nkitchen, the busy servants ordered him to get out of their way; and he\nwas not made welcome by the owner of the house or his guests. The\nmerchant too forgot all about him, and he felt very lonely and\nmiserable. He had been thinking to himself how much he would enjoy all\nthe delicious food he would get after the wedding; and now he began to\ngrumble: \u201cI\u2019m starving in the midst of plenty, that\u2019s what I am.\nSomething will have to be done to change this horrible state of\nthings.\u201d\n\nWhilst the preparations for the wedding were going on, Vidya never came\nnear her husband, and he lay awake a long time thinking, \u201cWhat in the\nworld can I do to make the master send for me?\u201d All of a sudden an idea\ncame into his head. \u201cI\u2019ll steal something valuable, and hide it away;\nand when everyone is being asked about the loss, the merchant will\nremember the man who can reveal secrets. Now what can I take that is\nsure to be missed? I know, I know!\u201d And springing out of bed, he\nhastily dressed himself and crept out of the house.\n\n3. What would you have done if you had been Hari-Sarman?\n\n4. Do you think Vidya ever had any real love for her husband?\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nThis was what Hari-Sarman decided to do. The merchant had a great many\nvery beautiful horses, which lived in splendid stables and were taken\nthe greatest possible care of. Amongst them was a lovely little Arab\nmare, the special favourite of the bride, who often went to pet it and\ngive it sugar. \u201cI\u2019ll steal that mare and hide it away in the forest,\u201d\nsaid the wicked man to himself. \u201cThen, when every one is hunting for\nher, the master will remember the man who can reveal secrets and send\nfor me. Ah! Ah! What a clever fellow I am! All the stablemen and grooms\nare feasting, I know; for I saw them myself when I tried to get hold of\nmy wife. I can climb through a window that is always left open.\u201d It\nturned out that he was right. He met no one on his way to the stables,\nwhich ware quite deserted. He got in easily, opened, the door from\ninside, and led out the little mare, which made no resistance; she had\nalways been so kindly treated that she was not a bit afraid. He took\nthe beautiful creature far into the depths of the forest, tied her up\nthere, and got safely back to his own room without being seen.\n\nEarly the next morning the merchant\u2019s daughter, attended by her\nmaidens, went to see her dear little mare, taking with her an extra\nsupply of sugar. What was her distress when she found the stall empty!\nShe guessed at once that a thief had got in during the night, and\nhurried home to tell her father, who was very, very angry with the\nstablemen who had deserted their posts, and declared they should all be\nflogged for it. \u201cBut the first thing to do is to get the mare back,\u201d he\nsaid; and he ordered messengers to be sent in every direction,\npromising a big reward to anyone who brought news of the mare.\n\nVidya of course heard all there was to hear, and at once suspected that\nHari-Sarman had had something to do with the matter. \u201cI expect he has\nhidden the mare,\u201d she thought to herself, \u201cand means to get the reward\nfor finding it.\u201d So she asked to see the master of the house, and when\nleave was granted to her she said to him:\n\n\u201cWhy do you not send for my husband, the man who can reveal secrets,\nbecause of the wonderful power that has been given him of seeing what\nis hidden from others? Many a time has he surprised me by what he has\nbeen able to do.\u201d\n\n5. Do you think Vidya had any wish to help Hari-Sarman for his own\nsake?\n\n6. Is there anything you think she should have done before seeing the\nmaster?\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nOn hearing what Vidya said, the merchant at once told her to go and\nfetch her husband. But to her surprise Hari-Sarman refused to go back\nwith her. \u201cYou can tell the master what you like,\u201d he said, angrily.\n\u201cYou all forgot me entirely yesterday; and now you want me to help you,\nyou suddenly remember my existence. I am not going to be at your beck\nand call or anyone else\u2019s.\u201d\n\nVidya entreated him to listen to reason, but it was no good. She had to\ngo back and tell the merchant that he would not come. Instead of being\nmade angry by this, however, the master surprised her by saying: \u201cYour\nhusband is right. I have treated him badly. Go and tell him I\napologise, and will reward him well, if only he will come and help me.\u201d\n\nBack again went Vidya and this time she was more successful. But though\nHari-Sarman said he would go back with her, he was very sulky and would\nnot answer any of her questions. She could not understand him, and\nwished she had not left him to himself for so long. He behaved very\nstrangely too when the master, who received him very kindly, asked him\nif he could tell him where the mare was. \u201cI know,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat a\nwise and clever man you are.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt didn\u2019t seem much like it yesterday,\u201d grumbled Hari-Sarman. \u201cNobody\ntook any notice of me then, but now you want something of me, you find\nout that I am wise and clever. I am just the same person that I was\nyesterday.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know, I know,\u201d said the merchant, \u201cand I apologise for my neglect;\nbut when a man\u2019s daughter is going to be married, it\u2019s no wonder some\none gets neglected.\u201d\n\n7. Do you think Hari-Sarman was wise to treat his wife and the merchant\nas he did?\n\n8. If the mare had been found whilst Hari-Sarman was talking to the\nmaster, what effect do you think the discovery would have had upon them\nboth?\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nHari-Sarman now thought it was time to take a different tone. So he put\nhis hand in his pocket, and brought out a map he had got ready whilst\nwaiting to be sent for, as he had felt sure he would be. He spread it\nout before the merchant, and pointed to a dark spot in the midst of\nmany lines crossing each other in a bewildering manner, which he\nexplained were pathways through the forest. \u201cUnder a tree, where that\ndark spot is, you will find the mare,\u201d he said.\n\nOverjoyed at the good news, the merchant at once sent a trusted servant\nto test the truth; and when the mare was brought back, nothing seemed\ntoo good for the man who had led to her recovery. At the wedding\nfestivities Hari-Sarman was treated as an honoured guest, and no longer\nhad he any need to complain of not having food enough. His wife of\ncourse thought he would forgive her now for having neglected him. But\nnot a bit of it: he still sulked with her, and she could never feel\nquite sure what the truth was about the mare.\n\nAll went well with Hari-Sarman for a long time. But presently something\nhappened which seemed likely to get him into very great trouble. A\nquantity of gold and many valuable jewels disappeared in the palace of\nthe king of the country; and when the thief could not be discovered,\nsome one told the king the story of the stolen mare, and how a man\ncalled Hari-Sarman, living in the house of a rich merchant in the chief\ncity, had found her when everyone else had failed.\n\n\u201cFetch that man here at once,\u201d ordered the king, and very soon\nHari-Sarman was brought before him. \u201cI hear you are so wise, you can\nreveal all secrets,\u201d said the king. \u201cNow tell me immediately who has\nstolen the gold and jewels and where they are to be found.\u201d\n\nPoor Hari-Sarman did not know what to say or do. \u201cGive me till\nto-morrow,\u201d he replied in a faltering voice; \u201cI must have a little time\nto think.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not give you a single hour,\u201d answered the king. For seeing the\nman before him was frightened, he began to suspect he was a deceiver.\n\u201cIf you do not at once tell me where the gold and jewels are, I will\nhave you flogged until you find your tongue.\u201d\n\nHearing this, Hari-Sarman, though more terrified than ever, saw that\nhis only chance of gaining time to make up some story was to get the\nking to believe in him. So he drew himself up and answered: \u201cThe wisest\nmagicians need to employ means to find out the truth. Give me\ntwenty-four hours, and I will name the thieves.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are not much of a magician if you cannot find out such a simple\nthing as I ask of you,\u201d said the king. And turning to the guards, he\nordered them to take Hari-Sarman to prison, and shut him up there\nwithout food or drink till he came to his senses. The man was dragged\naway, and very soon he found himself alone in a dark and gloomy room\nfrom which he saw no hope of escape.\n\nHe was in despair and walked up and down, trying in vain to think of\nsome way of escape. \u201cI shall die here of starvation, unless my wife\nfinds some means of setting me free,\u201d he said. \u201cI wish I had treated\nher better instead of being so sulky with her.\u201d He tried the bars of\nthe window, but they were very strong: he could not hope to move them.\nAnd he beat against the door, but no notice was taken of that.\n\n9. What lesson does the trouble Hari-Sarman was in teach?\n\n10. Do you think it would have been better for him to tell the king he\ncould not reveal secrets?\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nWhen it got quite dark in the prison, Hari-Sarman began to talk to\nhimself aloud. \u201cOh,\u201d he said, \u201cI wish I had bitten my tongue out before\nI told that lie about the mare. It is all my foolish tongue which has\ngot me into this trouble. Tongue! Tongue!\u201d he went on, \u201cit is all your\nfault.\u201d\n\nNow a very strange thing happened. The money and jewels had been stolen\nby a man, who had been told where they were by a young servant girl in\nthe palace whose name was Jihva, which is the Sanskrit word for tongue;\nand this girl was in a great fright when she heard that a revealer of\nsecrets had been taken before the king. \u201cHe will tell of my share in\nthe matter,\u201d she thought, \u201cand I shall get into trouble,\u201d It so\nhappened that the guard at the prison door was fond of her, as well as\nthe thief who had stolen the money and jewels. So when all was quiet in\nthe palace, Jihva slipped away to see if she could get that guard to\nlet her see the prisoner. \u201cIf I promise to give him part of the money,\u201d\nshe thought, \u201che will undertake not to betray me.\u201d\n\nThe guard was glad enough when Jihva came to talk to him, and he let\nher listen at the key-hole to what Hari-Sarman was saying. Just imagine\nher astonishment when she heard him repeating her name again and again.\n\u201cJihva! Jihva! Thou,\u201d he cried, \u201cart the cause of this suffering. Why\ndidst thou behave in such a foolish manner, just for the sake of the\ngood things of this life? Never can I forgive thee, Jihva, thou wicked,\nwicked one!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! oh!\u201d cried Jihva in an agony of terror, \u201che knows the truth; he\nknows that I helped the thief.\u201d And she entreated the guard to let her\ninto the prison that she might plead with Hari-Sarman not to tell the\nking what she had done. The man hesitated at first, but in the end she\npersuaded him to consent by promising him a large reward.\n\nWhen the key grated in the lock, Hari-Sarman stopped talking aloud,\nwondering whether what he had been saying had been overheard by the\nguard, and half hoping that his wife had got leave to come and see him.\nAs the door opened and he saw a woman coming in by the light of a\nlantern held up by the guard, he cried, \u201cVidya my beloved!\u201d But he soon\nrealized that it was a stranger. He was indeed surprised and relieved,\nwhen Jihva suddenly threw herself at his feet and, clinging to his\nknees, began to weep and moan \u201cOh, most holy man,\u201d she cried between\nher sobs, \u201cwho knowest the very secrets of the heart, I have come to\nconfess that it was indeed I, Jihva, your humble servant, who aided the\nthief to take the jewels and the gold and to hide them beneath the big\npomegranate tree behind the palace.\u201d\n\n\u201cRise,\u201d replied Hari-Sarman, overjoyed at hearing this. \u201cYou have told\nme nothing that I did not know, for no secret is hidden from me. What\nreward will you give me if I save you from the wrath of the king?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will give you all the money I have,\u201d said Jihva; \u201cand that is not a\nlittle.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat also I knew,\u201d said Hari-Sarman. \u201cFor you have good wages, and\nmany a time you have stolen money that did not belong to you. Go now\nand fetch it all, and have no fear that I will betray you.\u201d\n\n11. What mistakes do you think Jihva made in what she said to\nHari-Sarman?\n\n12. What would have been the best thing for her to do when she thought\nshe was found out?\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nWithout waiting a moment Jihva hurried away to fetch the money; but\nwhen she got back with it, the man on guard, who had heard everything\nthat had passed between her and Hari-Sarman, would not let her in to\nthe prison again till she gave him ten gold pieces. Thinking that\nHari-Sarman really knew exactly how much money she had, Jihva was\nafraid he would be angry when he missed some of it; and again she let\nout the truth, which he might never have guessed. For she began at once\nto say, \u201cI brought all I had, but the man at the door has taken ten\npieces.\u201d This did vex Hari-Sarman very much, and he told her he would\nlet the king know what she had done, unless she fetched the thief who\nhad taken the money and jewels. \u201cI cannot do that,\u201d said Jihva, \u201cfor he\nis very far away. He lives with his brother, Indra Datta, in the forest\nbeyond the river, more than a day\u2019s journey from here.\u201d \u201cI did but try\nyou,\u201d said the clever Hari-Sarman, who now knew who the thief was; \u201cfor\nI can see him where he is at this moment. Now go home and wait there\ntill I send for you.\u201d\n\nBut Jihva, who loved the thief and did not want him to be punished,\nrefused to go until Hari-Sarman promised that he would not tell the\nking who the man was or where he lived. \u201cI would rather,\u201d she said,\n\u201cbear all the punishment than that he should suffer.\u201d Even Hari-Sarman\nwas touched at this, and fearing that if he kept Jihva longer, she\nwould be found in the prison by messengers from the king, he promised\nthat no harm should come to her or the thief, and let her go.\n\nVery soon after this, messengers came to take Hari-Sarman once more\nbefore the king; who received him very coldly and began at once to\nthreaten him with a terrible punishment, if he did not say who the\nthief was, and where the gold and jewels were. Even now Hari-Sarman\npretended to be unwilling to speak. But when he saw that the king would\nput up with no more delay, he said, \u201cI will lead you to the spot where\nthe treasure is buried, but the name of the thief, though I know it, I\nwill never betray.\u201d The king, who did not really care much who the\nthief was, so long as he got back his money, lost not a moment, but\nordered his attendants to get spades and follow him. Very soon\nHari-Sarman brought them to the pomegranate tree. And there, sure\nenough, deep down in the ground, was all that had been lost.\n\nNothing was now too good for Hari-Sarman: the king was greatly\ndelighted, and heaped riches and honours upon him. But some of the wise\nmen at the court suspected that he was really a deceiver, and set about\ntrying to find out all they could about him. They sent for the man who\nhad been on guard at the prison, and asked him many questions. He did\nnot dare tell the truth, for he knew he would be terribly punished if\nhe let out that Jihva had been allowed to see his prisoner; but he\nhesitated so much that the wise men knew he was not speaking the truth.\nOne of them, whom the king loved, and trusted very much, whose name was\nDeva-Jnanin, said to his master: \u201cI do not like to see that man, about\nwhom we really know nothing, treated as he is. He might easily have\nfound out where the treasure was hidden without any special power. Will\nyou not test him in some other way in my presence and that of your\nchief advisers?\u201d\n\nThe king, who was always ready to listen to reason, agreed to this; and\nafter a long consultation with Deva-Jnanin, he decided on a very clever\npuzzle with which to try Hari-Sarman. A live frog was put into a\npitcher; the lid was shut down, and the man who pretended to know\neverything was brought into the great reception room, where all the\nwise men of the court were gathered together round the throne, on which\nsat the king in his royal robes. Deva-Jnanin had been chosen by his\nmaster to speak for him; and coming forward, he pointed to the small\npitcher on the ground, and said: \u201cGreat as are the honours already\nbestowed on you, they shall be increased if you can say at once what is\nin that pitcher.\u201d\n\n13. What kind of man do you think the king was from his behaviour to\nHari-Sarman?\n\n14. Was it wise or foolish of Hari-Sarman to remain in the city after\nhis very narrow escape?\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nHari-Sarman thought when he looked at the pitcher: \u201cAlas, alas, it is\nall over with me now! Never can I find out what is in it. Would that I\nhad left this town with the money I had from Jihva before it was too\nlate!\u201d Then he began to mutter to himself, as it was always his habit\nto do when he was in trouble. It so happened that, when he was a little\nboy, his father used to call him frog, and now his thoughts went back\nto the time when he was a happy innocent child, and he said aloud: \u201cOh,\nfrog, what trouble has come to you! That pitcher will be the death of\nyou!\u201d\n\nEven Deva-Jnanin was astonished when he heard that; and so were all the\nother wise men. The king was delighted to find that after all he had\nmade no mistake; and all the people who had been allowed to come in to\nsee the trial were greatly excited. Shouting for joy the king called\nHari-Sarman to come to the foot of the throne, and told him he would\nnever, never doubt him again. He should have yet more money, a\nbeautiful house in the country as well as the one he already had in the\ntown, and his children should be brought from the farm to live with him\nand their mother, who should have lovely dresses and ornaments to wear.\n\nNobody was more surprised than Hari-Sarman himself. He guessed, of\ncourse, that there was a frog in the pitcher. And when the king had\nended his speech, he said: \u201cOne thing I ask in addition to all that has\nbeen given me, that I may keep the pitcher in memory of this day, when\nmy truth has been proved once more beyond a doubt.\u201d\n\nHis request was, of course, granted; and he went off with the pitcher\nunder his arm, full of rejoicing over his narrow escape. At the same\ntime he was also full of fear for the future. He knew only too well\nthat it had only been by a lucky chance that he had used the word Jihva\nin his first danger and Frog in the second. He was not likely to get\noff a third time; and he made up his mind that he would skip away some\ndark night soon, with all the money and jewels he could carry, and be\nseen no more where such strange adventures had befallen him. He did not\neven tell his wife what he meant to do, but pretended to have forgiven\nher entirely for the way she had neglected him when he was poor, and to\nbe glad that their children were to be restored to them. Before they\ncame from the farm their father had disappeared, and nobody ever found\nout what had become of him; but the king let his family keep what had\nbeen given to him, and to the end believed he really had been what he\nhad pretended to be. Only Deva-Jnanin had his doubts; but he kept them\nto himself, for he thought, \u201cNow the man is gone, it really does not\nmatter who or what he was.\u201d\n\n15. What is the chief lesson to be learnt from this story?\n\n16. What do you think it was that made Hari-Sarman think of his boyhood\nwhen he was in trouble?\n\n17. Do you think he took the pitcher and frog with him when he left the\ncity?\n\n18. Do you think there was anything good in the character of\nHari-Sarman?\n\n\n\n\nIX.\nThe Hermit\u2019s Daughter.\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nNear a town in India called Ikshumati, on a beautiful wide river, with\ntrees belonging to a great forest near its banks, there dwelt a holy\nman named Mana Kanaka, who spent a great part of his life praying to\nGod. He had lost his wife when his only child, a lovely girl called\nKadali-Garbha, was only a few months old. Kadali-Garbha was a very\nhappy girl, with many friends in the woods round her home, not children\nlike herself, but wild creatures, who knew she would not do them any\nharm. They loved her and she loved them. The birds were so tame that\nthey would eat out of her hand, and the deer used to follow her about\nin the hope of getting the bread she carried in her pocket for them.\nHer father taught her all she knew, and that was a great deal; for she\ncould read quite learned books in the ancient language of her native\nland. Better even than what she found out in those books was what Mana\nKanaka told her about the loving God of all gods who rules the world\nand all that live in it. Kadali-Garbha also learnt a great deal through\nher friendship with wild animals. She knew where the birds built their\nnests, where the baby deer were born, where the squirrels hid their\nnuts, and what food all the dwellers in the forest liked best. She\nhelped her father to work in their garden in which all their own food\nwas grown; and she loved to cook the fruit and vegetables for Mana\nKanaka and herself. Her clothes were made of the bark of the trees in\nthe forest, which she herself wove into thin soft material suitable for\nwearing in a hot climate.\n\n1. What do you think it was which made the animals trust Kadali-Garbha?\n\n2. Could you have been happy in the forest with no other children to\nplay with?\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nKadali-Garbha never even thought about other children, because she had\nnot been used to having them with her. She was just as happy as the day\nwas long, and never wished for any change. But when she was about\nsixteen something happened which quite altered her whole life. One day\nher father had gone into the forest to cut wood, and had left her\nalone. She had finished tidying the house, and got everything ready for\nthe midday meal, and was sitting at the door of her home, reading to\nherself, with birds fluttering about her head and a pet doe lying\nbeside her, when she heard the noise of a horse\u2019s feet approaching. She\nlooked up, and there on the other side of the fence was a very handsome\nyoung man seated on a great black horse, which he had reined up when he\ncaught sight of her. He looked at her without speaking, and she looked\nback at him with her big black eyes full of surprise at his sudden\nappearance. She made a beautiful picture, with the green creepers\ncovering the hut behind her, and the doe, which had started up in fear\nof the horse, pressing against her.\n\nThe man was the king of the country, whose name was Dridha-Varman. He\nhad been hunting and had got separated from his attendants. He was very\nmuch surprised to find anyone living in the very depths of the forest,\nand was going to ask the young girl who she was, when Kadali-Garbha saw\nher father coming along the path leading to his home. Jumping up, she\nran to meet him, glad that he had come; for she had never before seen a\nyoung man and was as shy as any of the wild creatures of the woods. Now\nthat Mana Kanaka was with her, she got over her fright, and felt quite\nsafe, clinging to his arm as he and the king talked together.\n\n3. Can you describe just how Kadali-Garbha felt when she saw the king?\n\n4. Do you think it would have been a good or a bad thing for her to\nlive all the rest of her life in the forest?\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nMana Kanaka knew at once that the man on the horse was the king; and a\ngreat fear entered his heart when he saw how Dridha-Varman looked at\nhis beloved only child.\n\n\u201cWho are you, and who is that lovely girl?\u201d asked the king. And Mana\nKanaka answered, \u201cI am only a humble woodcutter; and this is my only\nchild, whose mother has long been dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cHer mother must have been a very lovely woman, if her daughter is like\nher,\u201d said the king. \u201cNever before have I seen such perfect beauty.\u201d\n\n\u201cHer mother,\u201d replied Mana Kanaka, \u201cwas indeed what you say; and her\nsoul was as beautiful as the body in which it dwelt all too short a\ntime.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would have your daughter for my wife,\u201d said the king; \u201cand if you\nwill give her to me, she shall have no wish ungratified. She shall have\nservants to wait on her and other young girls to be her companions;\nbeautiful clothes to wear, the best of food to eat, horses and\ncarriages as many as she will, and no work to do with her own hands.\u201d\n\n5. If you had been Kadali-Garbha, what would you have said when you\nheard all these promises?\n\n6. Of all the things the king said she should have, which would you\nhave liked best?\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nWhat Kadali-Garbha did was to cling closely to her father, hiding her\nface on his arm and whispering, \u201cI will not leave you: do not send me\naway from you, dear father.\u201d\n\nMana Kanaka stroked her hair, and said in a gentle voice:\n\n\u201cBut, dear child, your father is old, and must leave you soon. It is a\ngreat honour for his little girl to be chosen by the king for his\nbride. Do not be afraid, but look at him and see how handsome he is and\nhow kind he looks.\u201d\n\nThen Kadali-Garbha looked at the king, who smiled at her and looked so\ncharming that her fear began to leave her. She still clung to her\nfather, but no longer hid her face; and Mana Kanaka begged\nKadali-Garbha to let him send her away, so that he might talk with the\nking alone about the wish he had expressed to marry her. The king\nconsented to this, and Kadali-Garbha gladly ran away. But when she\nreached the door of her home, she looked back, and knew in her heart\nthat she already loved the king and did not want him to go away.\n\nIt did not take long for the matter of the marriage to be settled. For\nMana Kanaka, sad though he was to lose his dear only child, was glad\nthat she should be a queen, and have some one to take care of her when\nhe was gone. After this first visit to the little house in the forest\nthe king came every day to see Kadali-Garbha, bringing all kinds of\npresents for her. She learnt to love him so much that she became as\neager as he was for the wedding to be soon. When the day was fixed, the\nking sent several ladies of his court to dress the bride in clothes\nmore beautiful that she had ever dreamt of; and in them she looked more\nlovely even than the first day her lover had seen her.\n\nNow amongst these ladies was a very wise woman who could see what was\ngoing to happen; and she knew that there would be troubles for the\nyoung queen in the palace, because many would be jealous of her\nhappiness. She was very much taken with the beautiful innocent girl,\nand wanted to help her so much that she managed to get her alone for a\nfew minutes, when she said to her: \u201cI want you to promise me something.\nIt is to take this packet of mustard seeds, hide it in the bosom of\nyour dress, and when you ride to the palace with your husband, strew\nthe seed along the path as you go. You know how quickly mustard grows.\nWell, it will spring up soon; and if you want to come home again, you\ncan easily find the way by following the green shoots. Alas, I fear\nthey will not have time to wither before you need their help!\u201d\n\nKadali-Garbha laughed when the wise woman talked about trouble coming\nto her. She was so happy, she could not believe she would want to come\nhome again so soon. \u201cMy father can come to me when I want him,\u201d she\nsaid. \u201cI need only tell my dear husband to send for him.\u201d But for all\nthat she took the packet of seeds and hid it in her dress.\n\n7. Would you have done as the wise woman told you if you had been the\nbride?\n\n8. Ought Kadali-Garbha to have told the king about the mustard seed?\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nAfter the wedding was over, the king mounted his beautiful horse, and\nbending down, took his young wife up before him. Holding her close to\nhim with his right arm, he held the reins in his left hand; and away\nthey went, soon leaving all the attendants far behind them, the queen\nscattering the mustard seed as she had promised to do. When they\narrived at the palace there were great rejoicings, and everybody seemed\ncharmed with the queen, who was full of eager interest in all that she\nsaw.\n\nFor several weeks there was nobody in the wide world so happy and\nlight-hearted as the bride. The king spent many hours a day with her,\nand was never tired of listening to all she had to tell him about her\nlife in the forest with her father. Every day he gave her some fresh\nproof of his love, and he never refused to do anything she asked him to\ndo. But presently a change came. Amongst the ladies of the court there\nwas a beautiful woman, who had hoped to be queen herself, and hated\nKadali-Garbha so much that she made up her mind to get her into\ndisgrace with the king. She asked first one powerful person and then\nanother to help her; but everybody loved the queen, and the wicked\nwoman began to be afraid that those she had told about her wish to harm\nher would warn the king. So she sought about for some one who did not\nknow Kadali-Garbha, and suddenly remembered a wise woman named\nAsoka-Mala, who lived in a cave not far from the town, to whom many\npeople used to go for advice in their difficulties. She went to this\nwoman one night, and told her a long story in which there was not one\nword of truth. The young queen, she said, did not really love the king;\nand with the help of her father, who was a magician, she meant to\npoison him. How could this terrible thing be prevented, she asked; and\nshe promised that if only Asoka-Mala would help to save Dridha-Varman,\nshe would give her a great deal of money.\n\nAsoka-Mala guessed at once that the story was not true, and that it was\nonly because the woman was jealous of the beautiful young queen that\nshe wished to hurt her. But she loved money very much. Instead\ntherefore of at once refusing to have anything to do with the matter,\nshe said: \u201cBring me fifty gold pieces now, and promise me another fifty\nwhen the queen is sent away from the palace, and I will tell you what\nto do.\u201d\n\nThe wicked woman promised all this at once. The very next night she\nbrought the first fifty pieces of gold to the cave, and Asoka-Mala told\nher that she must get the barber, who saw the king alone every day, to\ntell him he had found out a secret about the queen. \u201cYou must tell the\nbarber all you have already told me. But be very careful to give some\nproof of your story. For if you do not do so, you will only have wasted\nthe fifty gold pieces you have already given to me; and, more than\nthat, you will be terribly punished for trying to hurt the queen, whom\neverybody loves.\u201d\n\n9. Do you think this plot against Kadali-Garbha was likely to succeed?\n\n10. Can you think of any way in which the wise woman might have helped\nthe queen and also have gained a reward for herself?\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nThe wicked woman went back to the palace, thinking all the way to\nherself, \u201cHow can I get a proof of what is not true?\u201d At last an idea\ncame into her head. She knew that the queen loved to wander in the\nforest, and that she was not afraid of the wild creatures, but seemed\nto understand their language. She would tell the barber that\nKadali-Garbha was a witch and knew the secrets of the woods; that she\nhad been seen gathering wild herbs, some of them poisonous, and had\nbeen heard muttering strange words to herself as she did so.\n\nEarly the next morning the cruel woman went to see the barber, and\npromised him a reward if he would tell the king what she had found out\nabout his wife. \u201cHe won\u2019t believe you at first,\u201d she said; \u201cbut you\nmust go on telling him till he does. You are clever, enough,\u201d she\nadded, \u201cto make up something he will believe if what I have thought of\nis no good.\u201d\n\nThe barber, who had served the king for many years, would not at first\nagree to help to make him unhappy. But he too liked money very much,\nand in the end he promised to see what he could do if he was well paid\nfor it. He was, as the wicked woman had said, clever enough; and he\nknew from long experience just how to talk to his master. He began by\nasking the king if he had heard of the lovely woman who was sometimes\nseen by the woodmen wandering about alone in the forest, with wild\ncreatures following her. Remembering how he had first seen\nKadali-Garbha, Dridha-Varman at once guessed that she was the lovely\nwoman. But he did not tell the barber so; for he was so proud of his\ndear wife\u2019s beauty that he liked to hear her praised, and wanted the\nman to go on talking about her. He just said: \u201cWhat is she like? Is she\ntall or short, fair or dark?\u201d The barber answered the questions\nreadily. Then he went on to say that it was easy to see that the lady\nwas as clever as she was beautiful; for she knew not only all about\nanimals but also about plants. \u201cEvery day,\u201d he said, \u201cshe gathers\nquantities of herbs, and I have been told she makes healing medicines\nof them. Some even go so far as to say she also makes poisons. But, for\nmy part, I do not believe that; she is too beautiful to be wicked.\u201d\n\nThe king listened, and a tiny little doubt crept into his mind about\nhis wife. She had never told him about the herbs she gathered, although\nshe often chattered about her friends in the forest. Perhaps after all\nit was not Kadali-Garbha the barber was talking about. He would ask her\nif she knew anything about making medicines from herbs. He did so when\nthey were alone together, and she said at once, \u201cOh, yes! My father\ntaught me. But I have never made any since I was married.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you sure?\u201d asked the king; and she answered laughing, \u201cOf course,\nI am: how could I be anything but sure? I have no need to think of\nmedicine-making, now I am the queen.\u201d\n\nDridha-Varman said no more at the time. But he was troubled; and when\nthe barber came again, he began at once to ask about the woman who had\nbeen seen in the woods. The wicked man was delighted, and made up a\nlong story. He said one of the waiting women had told him of what she\nhad seen. The woman, he said, had followed the lady home one day, and\nthat home was not far from the palace. She had seen her bending over a\nfire above which hung a great sauce-pan full of water, into which she\nflung some of the herbs she had gathered, singing as she did so, in a\nstrange language.\n\n\u201cCould it possibly be,\u201d thought the king, \u201cthat Kadali-Garbha had\ndeceived him? Was she perhaps a witch after all?\u201d He remembered that he\nreally did not know who she was, or who her father was. He had loved\nher directly he saw her, just because she was so beautiful. What was he\nto do now? He was quite sure, from the description the barber had given\nof the woman in the forest, that she was his wife. He would watch her\nhimself in future, and say nothing to her that would make her think he\nwas doing so.\n\n11. What should the king have done when he heard the barber\u2019s story?\n\n12. Can you really love anybody truly whom you do not trust?\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nAlthough the king said nothing to his wife about what the barber had\ntold him, he could not treat her exactly as he did before he heard it,\nand she very soon began to wonder what she had done to vex him. The\nfirst thing she noticed was that one of the ladies of the court always\nfollowed her when she went into the forest. She did not like this;\nbecause she so dearly loved to be alone with the wild creatures, and\nthey did not come to her when any one else was near. She told the lady\nto go away, and she pretended to do so; but she only kept a little\nfurther off. And though the queen could no longer see her, she knew she\nwas there, and so did the birds and the deer. This went on for a little\ntime; and then Kadali-Garbha asked her husband to tell every one that\nshe was not to be disturbed when she went to see her friends in the\nforest.\n\n\u201cI am afraid,\u201d said the king, \u201cthat some harm will come to you. There\nare wild beasts in the depths of the wood who might hurt you. And what\nshould I do if any harm came to my dear one?\u201d\n\nKadali-Garbha was grieved when Dridha-Varman said this, for she knew it\nwas not true; and she looked at him so sadly that he felt ashamed of\nhaving doubted her. All would perhaps have been well even now, if he\nhad told her of the story he had heard about her, because then she\ncould have proved that it was not true. But he did not do that; he only\nsaid, \u201cI cannot let you be alone so far from home. Why not be content\nwith the lovely gardens all round the palace? If you still wish to go\nto the woods, I will send one of the game-keepers with you instead of\nthe lady who has been watching you. Then he can protect you if any\nharmful creature should approach.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf my lord does not wish me to be alone in the forest,\u201d answered the\nqueen, \u201cI will be content with the gardens. For no birds or animals\nwould come near me if one of their enemies were with me. But,\u201d she\nadded, as her eyes filled with tears, \u201cwill not my lord tell me why he\nno longer trusts his wife, who loves him with all her heart?\u201d\n\nThe king was very much touched by what Kadali-Garbha said, but still\ncould not make up his mind to tell her the truth. So he only embraced\nher fondly, and said she was a good little wife to be so ready to obey\nhim. The queen went away very sadly, wondering to herself what she\ncould do to prove to her dear lord that she loved him as much as ever.\nShe took care never to go outside the palace gardens, but she longed\nvery much for her old freedom, and began to grow pale and thin.\n\nThe wicked woman who had tried to do her harm was very much\ndisappointed that she had only succeeded in making her unhappy; so she\nwent again to Asoka-Mala, and promised her more money if only she would\nthink of some plan to get the king to send his wife away. The wise\nwoman considered a long time, and then she said: \u201cYou must use the\nbarber again. He goes from house to house, and he must tell the king\nthat the beautiful woman, who used to roam about in the forest\ncollecting herbs, has been seen there again in the dead of the night,\nwhen she could be sure no one would find out what she was doing.\u201d\n\nNow it so happened that Kadali-Garbha was often unable to sleep because\nof her grief that the king did not love her so much as he used to do.\nOne night she got so tired of lying awake that she got up very quietly,\nso as not to disturb her husband, and putting on her sari, she went out\ninto the gardens, hoping that the fresh air might help her to sleep.\nPresently the king too woke up, and finding that his wife was no longer\nbeside him, he became very uneasy, and was about to go and seek her,\nwhen she came back. He asked her where she had been; and she told him\nexactly what had happened, but she did not explain why she could not\nsleep.\n\n13. What mistake did the queen make in her treatment of the king?\n\n14. Do you think it is more hurtful to yourself and to others to talk\ntoo much or too little?\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nWhen the barber was shaving the king the next morning, he told him he\nhad heard that people were saying the beautiful woman had been seen\nagain one night, gathering herbs and muttering to herself. \u201cThey talk,\nmy lord,\u201d said the man, \u201cof your own name having been on her lips; and\nthose who love and honour you are anxious for your safety. Maybe the\nwoman is indeed a witch, who for some reason of her own will try to\npoison you.\u201d\n\nNow Dridha-Varman remembered that Kadali-Garbha had left him the night\nbefore, \u201cand perhaps,\u201d he thought, \u201cat other times when I was asleep.\u201d\nHe could scarcely wait until the barber had finished shaving him, so\neager was he to find out the truth. He hurried to his wife\u2019s private\nroom, but she was not there; and her ladies told him she had not been\nseen by them that day. This troubled him terribly, and he roused the\nwhole palace to seek her. Messengers were soon hurrying to and fro, but\nnot a trace of her could be found. Dridha-Varman was now quite sure\nthat the woman the barber had talked about was Kadali-Garbha, the wife\nhe had so loved and trusted. \u201cPerhaps,\u201d he thought, \u201cshe has left\npoison in my food, and has gone away so as not to see me die.\u201d He would\nneither eat nor drink, and he ordered all the ladies whose duty it was\nto wait on the queen to be locked up till she was found. Amongst them\nwas the wicked woman who had done all the mischief because of her\njealousy of the beautiful young queen, and very much she wished she had\nnever tried to harm her.\n\n15. Where do you suppose the queen had gone?\n\n16. What mistake did the king make when he heard the queen was missing?\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nIn her trouble about the loss of the king\u2019s love Kadali-Garbha longed\nfor her father, for she felt sure he would be able to help her. So she\ndetermined to go to him. With the aid of the wise woman who had given\nher the packet of mustard seed, and who had been her best friend at\ncourt, she disguised herself as a messenger, and, mounted on a strong\nlittle pony, she sped along the path marked out by the young shoots of\nmustard, reaching her old home in the forest before the night fell.\nGreat indeed was the joy of Mana Kanaka at the sight of his beloved\nchild, and very soon she had poured out all her sorrow to him. The\nhermit was at first very much enraged with his son-in-law for the way\nin which he had treated Kadali-Garbha, and declared that he would use\nall the powers he had to punish him. \u201cNever,\u201d he said, \u201cshall he see\nyour dear face again; but I will go to him and call down on him all\nmanner of misfortunes. You know not, dear child, I have never wished\nyou to know, that I am a magician and can make the very beasts of the\nfield and the winds of heaven obey me. I know full well who has made\nthis mischief between you and your husband, and I will see that\npunishment overtakes them.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, father,\u201d cried Kadali-Garbha; \u201cI will not have any harm done\nto my dear one, for I love him with all my heart. All I ask of you is\nto prove to him that I am innocent of whatever fault he thinks I have\ncommitted, and to make him love and trust me again.\u201d\n\nIt was hard work to persuade Mana Kanaka to promise not to harm the\nking, but in the end he yielded. Together the father and daughter rode\nback to the palace, and together they were brought before\nDridha-Varman, who, in spite of the anger he had felt against his wife,\nwas overjoyed to see her. When he looked at her clinging to Mana\nKanaka\u2019s arm, as she had done the first time they met, all his old love\nreturned, and he would have taken her in his arms and told her so\nbefore the whole court, if she had not drawn back. It was Mana Kanaka\nwho was the first to speak. Drawing himself up to his full height, and\npointing to the king, he charged him with having broken his vow to love\nand protect his wife. \u201cYou have listened to lying tongues,\u201d he said,\n\u201cand I will tell you to whom those tongues belong, that justice may be\ndone to them.\u201d\n\nOnce more Kadali-Garbha interfered. \u201cNo, father,\u201d she said; \u201clet their\nnames be forgotten: only prove to my lord that I am his loving faithful\nwife, and I will be content.\u201d\n\n\u201cI need no proof,\u201d cried Dridha-Varman; \u201cbut lest others should follow\ntheir evil example, I will have vengeance on the slanderers. Name them,\nand their doom shall be indeed a terrible one.\u201d\n\nThen Mana Kanaka told the king the whole sad story; and when it was\nended the wicked woman who had first thought of injuring the queen, and\nthe barber who had helped her, were sent for to hear their doom, which\nwas\u2014to be shut up for the rest of their lives in prison. This was\nchanged to two years only, because Kadali-Garbha was generous enough to\nplead for them. As for the third person in the plot, the old witch of\nthe cave, not a word was said about her by anybody. Mana Kanaka knew\nwell enough what her share in the matter had been; but magicians and\nwitches are careful not to make enemies of each other, and so he held\nhis peace.\n\nDridha-Varman was so grateful to his father-in-law for bringing his\nwife back to him, that he wanted him to stop at court, and said he\nwould give him a very high position there. But Mana Kanaka refused\nevery reward, declaring that he loved his little home in the forest\nbetter than the grand rooms he might have had in the palace. \u201cAll I\nwish for,\u201d he said, \u201cis my dear child\u2019s happiness. I hope you will\nnever again listen to stories against your wife. If you do, you may be\nvery sure that I shall hear of it; and next time I know that you have\nbeen unkind to her I will punish you as you deserve.\u201d\n\nThe king was obliged to let Mana Kanaka go, but after this he took\nKadali-Garbha to see her father in the forest very often. Later, when\nthe queen had some children of her own, their greatest treat was to go\nto the little home, in the depths of the wood. They too learnt to love\nanimals, and had a great many pets, but none of those pets were kept in\ncages.\n\n17. What is the chief lesson to be learnt from this story?\n\n18. Which of all the people in this tale do you like best?\n\n19. What do you think is the greatest power in all the world?\n\n20. If you had been Kadali-Garbha would you have forgiven those who\ntried to do you harm?\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n [1] The city which occupied the site of present Patna was known as\n Patali-Putra in the time of Alexander the Great.\n\n [2] There are seventy-two versions of this tale in vogue amongst the\n high castes of India; the one here given is taken from Raj-Yoga, the\n highest form of Hindu ascetic philosophy.","title":"Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":43281}