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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11310 ***
+
+Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit
+
+
+Translated by
+S. M. Mitra
+
+Adapted by
+Mrs. Arthur Bell
+
+1919
+
+
+Contents
+
+ INTRODUCTORY NOTE
+
+ 1. The Magic Pitcher
+ 2. The Story of a Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard and an Owl
+ 3. A Royal Thief-Catcher
+ 4. The Magic Shoes and Staff
+ 5. The Jewelled Arrow
+ 6. The Beetle and the Silken Thread
+ 7. A Crow and His Three Friends
+ 8. A Clever Thief
+ 9. The Hermit’s Daughter
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
+
+
+Thanks to Mr. S. M. Mitra, the well-known Hindu psychologist and
+politician, who has done so much to draw more closely together the land
+of his birth and that of his adoption, I am able to bring within reach
+of English children a number of typical Hindu Tales, translated by him
+from the Sanskrit, some of them culled from the ancient classics of
+India, others from widely separated sources. The latter have hitherto
+been quite inaccessible to western students, as they are not yet
+embodied in literature, but have been transmitted orally from
+generation to generation for many centuries.
+
+These tales are not only of a kind to enchain the attention of
+children. They also illustrate well the close affinity between the two
+chief branches of the great Aryan race, and are of considerable ethical
+value, reflecting, as they do, the philosophy of self-realisation which
+lies at the root of Hindu culture. They have been used from time
+immemorial by the best teachers of India as a means of building up the
+personalities of the young and maintaining the efficiency of the adult.
+They serve in fact as text-books of the unique system of Mind-Training
+which has been in use in India from remote Vedic times, the root
+principle of which is as simple as it is effective.
+
+Hindu children become familiar at their mothers’ knees with these
+stories, and are trained to answer questions on them, subtly chosen to
+suit their ages and call into action their mental faculties. Appealing
+to them as an amusing game, in which they vie with each other in trying
+to solve the problems presented for their consideration, the boys and
+girls, who are educated together till they are ten or twelve years old,
+early learn to concentrate their attention; whilst the simultaneous
+development of all their powers is encouraged and they are,
+imperceptibly to themselves led to control their thoughts and emotions
+from within, instead of having to obey orders which they do not
+understand from without. They realize indeed, whilst still in the
+nursery, the ideal suggested by the sage Vidura in the Mahabharata:
+“Seek to know thyself by means of thyself, keeping thy mind, intellect
+and senses, under control; for self is thy friend as it is also thy
+foe.”
+
+Nancy Bell.
+
+Southbourne-on-Sea, 1918.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+The Magic Pitcher.
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+Long, long ago there lived far away in India a woodcutter called Subha
+Datta and his family, who were all very happy together. The father went
+every day to the forest near his home to get supplies of wood, which he
+sold to his neighbours, earning by that means quite enough to give his
+wife and children all that they needed. Sometimes he took his three
+boys with him, and now and then, as a special treat, his two little
+girls were allowed to trot along beside him. The boys longed to be
+allowed to chop wood for themselves, and their father told them that as
+soon as they were old enough he would give each of them a little axe of
+his own. The girls, he said, must be content with breaking off small
+twigs from the branches he cut down, for he did not wish them to chop
+their own fingers off. This will show you what a kind father he was,
+and you will be very sorry for him when you hear about his troubles.
+
+All went well with Subha Datta for a long time. Each of the boys had
+his own little axe at last, and each of the girls had a little pair of
+scissors to cut off twigs; and very proud they all were when they
+brought some wood home to their mother to use in the house. One day,
+however, their father told them they could none of them come with him,
+for he meant to go a very long way into the forest, to see if he could
+find better wood there than nearer home. Vainly the boys entreated him
+to take them with him. “Not to-day,” he said, “you would be too tired
+to go all the way, and would lose yourselves coming back alone. You
+must help your mother to-day and play with your sisters.” They had to
+be content, for although Hindu children are as fond of asking questions
+as English boys and girls, they are very obedient to their parents and
+do all they are told without making any fuss about it.
+
+Of course, they expected their father would come back the day he
+started for the depths of the forest, although they knew he would be
+late. What then was their surprise when darkness came and there was no
+sign of him! Again and again their mother went to the door to look for
+him, expecting every moment to see him coming along the beaten path
+which led to their door. Again and again she mistook the cry of some
+night-bird for his voice calling to her. She was obliged at last to go
+to bed with a heavy heart, fearing some wild beast had killed him and
+that she would never see him again.
+
+1. What do you think had become of Subha Datta?
+
+2. What would you have done when he did not come back?
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+When Subha Datta started for the forest, he fully intended to come back
+the same evening; but as he was busy cutting down a tree, he suddenly
+had a feeling that he was no longer alone. He looked up, and there,
+quite close to him, in a little clearing where the trees had been cut
+down by some other woodcutter, he saw four beautiful young girls
+looking like fairies in their thin summer dresses and with their long
+hair flowing down their backs, dancing round and round, holding each
+other’s hands. Subha Datta was so astonished at the sight that he let
+his axe fall, and the noise startled the dancers, who all four stood
+still and stared at him.
+
+The woodcutter could not say a word, but just gazed and gazed at them,
+till one of them said to him: “Who are you, and what are you doing in
+the very depths of the forest where we have never before seen a man?”
+
+“I am only a poor woodcutter,” he replied, “come to get some wood to
+sell, so as to give my wife and children something to eat and some
+clothes to wear.”
+
+“That is a very stupid thing to do,” said one of the girls. “You can’t
+get much money that way. If you will only stop with us we will have
+your wife and children looked after for you much better than you can do
+it yourself.”
+
+3. What would you have said if you had been the woodcutter?
+
+4. Do you think the fairies really meant that they could do as they
+offered?
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Subha Datta, though he certainly did love his wife and children, was so
+tempted at the idea of stopping in the forest with the beautiful girls
+that, after hesitating a little while, he said, “Yes, I will stop with
+you, if you are quite sure all will be well with my dear ones.”
+
+“You need not be afraid about that,” said another of the girls. “We are
+fairies, you see, and we can do all sorts of wonderful things. It isn’t
+even necessary for us to go where your dear ones are. We shall just
+wish them everything they want, and they will get it. And the first
+thing to be done is to give you some food. You must work for us in
+return, of course.”
+
+Subha Datta at once replied, “I will do anything you wish.”
+
+“Well, begin by sweeping away all the dead leaves from the clearing,
+and then we will all sit down and eat together.”
+
+Subha Datta was very glad that what he was asked to do was so easy. He
+began by cutting a branch from a tree, and with it he swept the floor
+of what was to be the dining-room. Then he looked about for the food,
+but he could see nothing but a great big pitcher standing in the shade
+of a tree, the branches of which hung over the clearing. So he said to
+one of the fairies, “Will you show me where the food is, and exactly
+where you would like me to set it out?”
+
+At these questions all the fairies began to laugh, and the sound of
+their laughter was like the tinkling of a number of bells.
+
+5. What was there to laugh at in the questions of Subha Datta?
+
+6. What is your idea of a fairy?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+When the fairies saw how astonished Subha Datta was at the way they
+laughed, it made them laugh still more, and they seized each other’s
+hands again and whirled round and round, laughing all the time.
+
+Poor Subha Datta, who was very tired and hungry, began to get unhappy
+and to wish he had gone straight home after all. He stooped down to
+pick up his axe, and was just about to turn away with it, when the
+fairies stopped their mad whirl and cried to him to stop. So he waited,
+and one of them said:
+
+“_We_ don’t have to bother about fetching this and fetching that. You
+see that big pitcher. Well, we get all our food and everything else we
+want out of it. We just have to wish as we put our hands in, and there
+it is. It’s a magic pitcher—the only one there is in the whole wide
+world. You get the food you would like to have first, and then we’ll
+tell you what _we_ want.”
+
+Subha Datta could hardly believe his ears when he heard that. Down he
+threw his axe, and hastened to put his hand in the pitcher, wishing for
+the food he was used to. He loved curried rice and milk, lentils, fruit
+and vegetables, and very soon he had a beautiful meal spread out for
+himself on the ground. Then the fairies called out, one after the
+other, what they wanted for food, things the woodcutter had never heard
+of or seen, which made him quite discontented with what he had chosen
+for himself.
+
+7. What would you have wished for if you had had a magic pitcher?
+
+8. Would it be a good thing, do you think, to be able to get food
+without working for it or paying for it?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+The next few days passed away like a dream, and at first Subha Datta
+thought he had never been so happy in his life. The fairies often went
+off together leaving him alone, only coming back to the clearing when
+they wanted something out of the pitcher. The woodcutter got all kinds
+of things he fancied for himself, but presently he began to wish he had
+his wife and children with him to share his wonderful meals. He began
+to miss them terribly, and he missed his work too. It was no good
+cutting trees down and chopping up wood when all the food was ready
+cooked. Sometimes he thought he would slip off home when the fairies
+were away, but when he looked at the pitcher he could not bear the
+thought of leaving it.
+
+9. What sort of man do you think Subha Datta was from what this story
+tells you about him?
+
+10. What do you think was the chief cause of his becoming discontented
+after he had been in the service of the fairies for a few days?
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+Soon Subha Datta could not sleep well for thinking of the wife and
+children he had deserted. Suppose they were hungry when he had plenty
+to eat! It even came into his head that he might steal the pitcher and
+take it home with him when the fairies were away. But he had not after
+all the courage to do this; for even when the beautiful girls were not
+in sight, he had a feeling that they would know if he tried to go off
+with the pitcher, and that they would be able to punish him in some
+terrible way. One night he had a dream that troubled him very much. He
+saw his wife sitting crying bitterly in the little home he used to
+love, holding the youngest child on her knee whilst the other three
+stood beside her looking at her very, very sadly. He started up from
+the ground on which he lay, determined to go home at once; but at a
+little distance off he saw the fairies dancing in the moonlight, and
+somehow he felt again he could not leave them and the pitcher. The next
+day, however, he was so miserable that the fairies noticed it, and one
+of them said to him: “Whatever is the matter? We don’t care to keep
+unhappy people here. If you can’t enjoy life as we do, you had better
+go home.”
+
+Then Subha Datta was very much frightened lest they should really send
+him away; so he told them about his dream and that he was afraid his
+dear ones were starving for want of the money he used to earn for them.
+
+“Don’t worry about them,” was the reply: “we will let your wife know
+what keeps you away. We will whisper in her ear when she is asleep, and
+she will be so glad to think of your happiness that she will forget her
+own troubles.”
+
+11. Do you think what the fairies said to the woodcutter was likely to
+comfort him about his wife and children?
+
+12. If you had been in Subha Datta’s place what would you have said to
+the fairies when they made this promise?
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+Subha Datta was very much cheered by the sympathy of the fairies, so
+much so that he decided to stop with them for a little longer at least.
+Now and then he felt restless, but on the whole the time passed
+pleasantly, and the pitcher was a daily delight to him.
+
+Meanwhile his poor wife was at her wits’ end how to feed her dear
+children. If it had not been that the two boys were brave, plucky
+little chaps, she really would have been in despair. When their father
+did not come back and all their efforts to find him were in vain, these
+boys set to work to help their mother. They could not cut down trees,
+but they could climb them and chop off small branches with their axes;
+and this they did, making up bundles of faggots and selling them to
+their neighbours. These neighbours were touched by the courage they
+showed, and not only paid them well for the wood but often gave them
+milk and rice and other little things to help them. In time they
+actually got used to being without Subha Datta, and the little girls
+nearly forgot all about him. Little did they dream of the change that
+was soon to come into their lives.
+
+13. Was it a good or a bad thing for the boys that their father did not
+come back?
+
+14. If you think it was a good thing, will you explain why? and if it
+was a bad thing, why you think it was?
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A month passed peacefully away in the depths of the forest, Subha Datta
+waiting on the fairies and becoming every day more selfish and bent on
+enjoying himself. Then he had another dream, in which he saw his wife
+and children in the old home with plenty of food, and evidently so
+happy without him that he felt quite determined to go and show them he
+was still alive. When he woke he said to the fairies, “I will not stop
+with you any longer. I have had a good time here, but I am tired of
+this life away from my own people.”
+
+The fairies saw he was really in earnest this time, so they consented
+to let him go; but they were kind-hearted people and felt they ought to
+pay him in some way for all he had done for them. They consulted
+together, and then one of them told him they wished to make him a
+present before he went away, and they would give him whatever he asked
+for.
+
+15. What do you think it was that made Subha Datta determine to go home
+when he found his wife and children could do without him?
+
+16. What would you have chosen if the fairies had told you you could
+have anything you liked?
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+Directly the woodcutter heard he could have anything he asked for, he
+cried, “I will have the magic pitcher.”
+
+You can just imagine what a shock this was to the fairies! You know, of
+course, that fairies always keep their word. If they could not persuade
+Subha Datta to choose something else, they would have to give him their
+beloved, their precious pitcher and would have to seek their food for
+themselves. They all tried all they could to persuade the woodcutter to
+choose something else. They took him to their own secret
+treasure-house, in an old, old tree with a hollow trunk, even the
+entrance to which no mortal had ever been allowed to see. They
+blindfolded him before they started, so that he could never reveal the
+way, and one of them led him by the hand, telling him where the steps
+going down from the tree began. When at last the bandage was taken from
+his eyes, he found himself in a lofty hall with an opening in the roof
+through which the light came. Piled up on the floor were sparkling
+stones worth a great deal of gold and silver money, and on the walls
+hung beautiful robes. Subha Datta was quite dazed with all he saw, but
+he was only an ignorant woodcutter and did not realize the value of the
+jewels and clothes. So when the fairies, said to him, “Choose anything
+you like here and let us keep our pitcher,” he shook his head and said:
+“No! no! no! The pitcher! I will have the pitcher!” One fairy after
+another picked up the rubies and diamonds and other precious stones and
+held them in the light, that the woodcutter might see how lovely they
+were; and when he still only shook his head, they got down the robes
+and tried to make him put one of them on. “No! the pitcher! the
+pitcher!” he said, and at last they had to give it up. They bound his
+eyes again and led him back to the clearing and the pitcher.
+
+17. Would you have been tempted to give up the pitcher when you saw the
+jewels and the robes?
+
+18. What made Subha Datta so determined to have the pitcher?
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Even when they were all back again in the clearing the fairies did not
+quite give up hope of keeping their pitcher. This time they gave other
+reasons why Subha Datta should not have it. “It will break very
+easily,” they told him, “and then it will be no good to you or any one
+else. But if you take some of the money, you can buy anything you like
+with it. If you take some of the jewels you can sell them for lots of
+money.”
+
+“No! no! no!” cried the woodcutter. “The pitcher! the pitcher! I will
+have the pitcher!”
+
+“Very well then, take, the pitcher,” they sadly answered, “and never
+let us see your face again!”
+
+So Subha Datta took the pitcher, carrying it very, very carefully, lest
+he should drop it and break it before he got home. He did not think at
+all of what a cruel thing it was to take it away from the fairies, and
+leave them either to starve or to seek for food for themselves. The
+poor fairies watched him till he was out of sight, and then they began
+to weep and wring their hands. “He might at least have waited whilst we
+got some food out for a few days,” one of them said. “He was too
+selfish to think of that,” said another. “Come, let us forget all about
+him and go and look for some fruit.”
+
+So they all left off crying and went away hand in hand. Fairies do not
+want very much to eat. They can live on fruit and dew, and they never
+let anything make them sad for long at a time. They go out of this
+story now, but you need not be unhappy about them, because you may be
+very sure that they got no real harm from their generosity to Subha
+Datta in letting him take the pitcher.
+
+19. Do you think the woodcutter was wrong to ask for the pitcher?
+
+20. What would have been the best thing for Subha Datta to ask for, if
+he had decided to let the fairies keep their pitcher?
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+You can just imagine what a surprise it was to Subha Datta’s wife and
+children when they saw him coming along the path leading to his home.
+He did not bring the pitcher with him, but had hidden it in a hollow
+tree in the wood near his cottage, for he did not mean any one to know
+that he had it. He told his wife that he had lost his way in the
+forest, and had been afraid he would never see her or his children
+again, but he said nothing about the fairies. When his wife asked him
+how he had got food, he told her a long story about the fruits he had
+found, and she believed all he said, and determined to make up to him
+now for all she thought he had suffered. When she called the little
+girls to come and help her get a nice meal for their father, Subha
+Datta said: “Oh, don’t bother about that! I’ve brought something back
+with me. I’ll go and fetch it, but no one is to come with me.”
+
+Subha Datta’s wife was sorely disappointed at this, because she loved
+her husband so much that it was a joy to her to work for him. The
+children too wanted, of course, to go with their father, but he ordered
+them to stop where they were. He seized a big basket which was fall of
+fuel for the fire, tumbled all the wood in it on the floor, and went
+off alone to the pitcher. Very soon he was back again with his basket
+full of all sorts of good things, the very names of which his wife and
+children had no idea of. “There!” he cried; “what do you think of that?
+Am I not a clever father to have found all that in the forest? Those
+are the ‘fruits’ I meant when I told Mother about them.”
+
+21. What would you have thought about this wonderful supply of food, if
+you had been one of the woodcutter’s children?
+
+22. Was it a good thing for those children to have all this food
+without working for it? If not, why was it not a good thing?
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+Life was now, of course, completely changed for the family in the
+forest. Subha Datta no longer went to cut wood to be sold, and the boys
+also left off doing so. Every day their father fetched food for them
+all, and the greatest desire of each one of the family was to find out
+where it came from. They never could do so, for Subha Datta managed to
+make them afraid to follow him when he went forth with his basket. The
+secret he kept from the wife to whom he used to tell everything soon
+began to spoil the happiness of the home. The children who had no
+longer anything to do quarrelled with each other. Their mother got
+sadder and sadder, and at last decided to tell Subha Datta that, unless
+he would let her know where the food came from, she would go away from
+him and take her little girls with her. She really did mean to do this,
+but something soon happened to change everything again. Of course, the
+neighbours in the wood, who had bought the fuel from the boys and
+helped them by giving them fruit and rice, heard of the return of their
+father and of the wonderful change in their lot. Now the whole family
+had plenty to eat every day, though none of them knew where it all came
+from. Subha Datta was very fond of showing off what he could do, and
+sometimes asked his old friends amongst the woodcutters to come and
+have a meal with him. When they arrived they would find all sorts of
+good things spread out on the ground and different kinds of wines in
+beautiful bottles.
+
+This went on for some months, Subha Datta getting prouder and prouder
+of all that he could do, and it seemed likely that his secret would
+never be discovered. Everybody tried to find it out, and many followed
+him secretly when he set forth into the woods; but he was very clever
+at dodging them, hiding his treasure constantly in a new place in the
+dead of the night. If he had only been content with getting food out of
+his pitcher and drinking pure water, all would most likely have been
+well with him. But that was just what he could not do. Till he had his
+pitcher he had never drunk anything but water, but now he often took
+too much wine. It was this which led to the misfortune of losing his
+beloved pitcher. He began to boast of his cleverness, telling his
+friends there was nothing they wanted that he could not get for them;
+and one day when he had given them a very grand feast, in which were
+several rare kinds of food they had asked for, he drank too much
+wine—so much that he no longer knew what he was saying.
+
+This was the chance his guests wanted. They began teasing him, telling
+him they believed he was really a wicked robber, who had stolen the
+food or the money to buy it. He got angry, and at last was actually
+silly enough to tell them all to come with him, and he would show them
+he was no robber. When his wife heard this, she was half pleased to
+think that now at last the secret would come out of where the food came
+from, and half afraid that something terrible would happen. The
+children too were greatly excited, and went with the rest of the party,
+who followed their father to the last hiding-place of the precious
+pitcher.
+
+When they all got very near the place, however, some idea began to come
+into Subha Datta’s head that he was doing a very foolish thing. He
+stopped suddenly, turned round facing the crowd that followed him, and
+said he would not go a step further till they all went back to the
+cottage. His wife begged him to let her at least go with him, and the
+children all clamoured not to be sent back, but it was no good. Back
+they all had to go, the woodcutter watching till they were out of
+sight.
+
+23. Would Subha Datta have been wise if he had told has wife about the
+pitcher?
+
+24. Do you think it would have been a good or a bad thing for the
+secret to be found out?
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+When the woodcutter was quite sure that every one was gone and nobody
+could see where he had hidden the pitcher, he took it from the hole in
+which it lay and carried it carefully to his home. You can imagine how
+everybody rushed out to meet him when he came in sight, and crowded
+round him, so that there was danger of the pitcher being thrown to the
+ground and broken. Subha Datta however managed to get into the cottage
+without any accident, and then he began to take things out of the
+pitcher and fling them on the ground, shouting, “Am I a robber? Am I a
+robber? Who dared to call me a robber?” Then, getting more and more
+excited, he picked up the pitcher, and holding it on his shoulder began
+to dance wildly about. His wife called out to him, “Oh, take care, take
+care! You will drop it!” But he paid no attention to her. Suddenly,
+however, he began to feel giddy and fell to the ground, dropping the
+pitcher as he did so. It was broken to pieces, and a great cry of
+sorrow went up from all who saw the accident. The woodcutter himself
+was broken-hearted, for he knew that he had done the mischief himself,
+and that if only he had resisted the temptation to drink the wine he
+would still have his treasure.
+
+He was going to pick up the pieces to see if they could be stuck
+together, but to his very great surprise he could not touch them. He
+heard a silvery laugh, and what sounded like children clapping their
+hands, and he thought he also heard the words, “Our pitcher is ours
+again!” Could it all have been a dream? No: for there on the ground
+were the fruits and cakes that had been in the pitcher, and there were
+his wife, his children and his friends, all looking sadly and angrily
+at him. One by one the friends went away, leaving Subha Datta alone
+with his family.
+
+25. If you had been Subha Datta’s wife, what would you have done when
+this misfortune came to her husband?
+
+26. What would you have done if you had been the woodcutter?
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+This is the end of the story of the Magic Pitcher, but it was the
+beginning of a new chapter in the lives of Subha Datta and his family.
+They never forgot the wonder-working pitcher, and the children were
+never tired of hearing the story of how their father came to get it.
+They often wandered about in the forest, hoping that they too would
+meet with some wonderful adventure, but they never saw the fairies or
+found a magic pitcher. By slow degrees the woodcutter returned to his
+old ways, but he had learnt one lesson. He never again kept a secret
+from his wife; because he felt sure that, if he had told her the truth
+about the pitcher when he first came home, she would have helped him to
+save the precious treasure.
+
+27. What lesson can be learnt from this story?
+
+28. Do you think it is easier for a boy or a girl to keep a secret?
+
+29. Why is it wrong to let out a secret you have been told?
+
+30. What do you think was the chief fault in the character of Subha
+Datta?
+
+
+
+
+II.
+The Story of a Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard and an Owl.
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+This is the story of four creatures, none of whom loved each other, who
+lived in the same banyan tree in a forest in India. Banyan trees are
+very beautiful and very useful, and get their name from the fact that
+“banians,” as merchants are called in India, often gather together in
+their shade to sell their goods. Banyan trees grow to a very great
+height, spreading their branches out so widely that many people can
+stand beneath them. From those branches roots spring forth, which, when
+they reach the ground, pierce it, and look like, columns holding up a
+roof. If you have never seen a banyan tree, you can easily find a
+picture of one in some dictionary; and when you have done so, you will
+understand that a great many creatures can live in one without seeing
+much of each other.
+
+In an especially fine banyan tree, outside the walls of a town called
+Vidisa, a cat, an owl, a lizard and a mouse, had all taken up their
+abode. The cat lived in a big hole in the trunk some little distance
+from the ground, where she could sleep very cosily, curled up out of
+sight with her head resting on her forepaws, feeling perfectly safe
+from harm; for no other creature, she thought, could possibly discover
+her hiding-place. The owl roosted in a mass of foliage at the top of
+the tree, near the nest in which his wife had brought up their
+children, before those children flew away to seek mates for themselves.
+He too felt pretty secure as long as he remained up there; but he had
+seen the cat prowling about below him more than once, and was very sure
+that, if she should happen to catch sight of him when he was off his
+guard seeking his prey and obliged to give all his attention to what he
+was doing, she might spring out upon him and kill him. Cats do not
+generally attack such big birds as owls, but they will sometimes kill a
+mother sitting in her nest, as well as the little ones, if the father
+is too far off to protect them.
+
+The lizard loved to lie and bask in the sunshine, catching the flies on
+which he lived, lying so still that they did not notice him, and
+darting out his long tongue suddenly to suck them into his mouth. Yet
+he hid from the owl and the cat, because he knew full well that, tough
+though he was, they would gobble him up if they happened to be hungry.
+He made his home amongst the roots on the south side of the tree where
+it was hottest, but the mouse had his hole on the other side amongst
+damp moss and dead leaves. The mouse was in constant fear of the cat
+and the owl. He knew that both of them could see in the dark, and he
+would have no chance of escape if they once caught sight of him.
+
+1. Which of these four creatures do you think was most to be pitied?
+
+2. Do you think that animals ever hate or love each as human creatures
+do?
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+The lizard and the mouse could only get food in daylight; but the
+lizard did not have to go far for the flies on which he lived, whilst
+the mouse had a very dangerous journey to take to his favourite feeding
+place. This was a barley field a short distance from the banyan tree,
+where he loved to nibble the full ears, running up the stalks to get at
+them. The mouse was the only one of the four creatures in the banyan
+tree who did not feed on others; for, like the rest of his family, he
+was a vegetarian, that is to say, he ate nothing but vegetables and
+fruit.
+
+Now the cat knew full well how fond the mouse was of the barley-field,
+and she used to keep watch amongst the tall stems, creeping stealthily
+about with her tail in the air and her green eyes glistening, expecting
+any moment to see the poor little mouse darting hastily along. The cat
+never dreamt that any danger could come to her, and she trod down the
+barley, making quite a clear path through it. She was quite wrong in
+thinking herself so safe, for that path got her into very serious
+trouble.
+
+It so happened that a hunter, whose great delight was to kill wild
+creatures, and who was very clever in finding them, noticing every
+little thing which could shew him where they had passed by, came one
+day into the barley-field. He spied the path directly and cried, “Ha!
+ha! Some wild animal has been here; not a very big one; let’s have a
+look for the footprints!” So he stooped down to the ground, and very
+soon saw the marks of pussy’s feet. “A cat, I do believe,” he said to
+himself, “spoiling the barley she doesn’t want to eat herself. I’ll
+soon pay her out.” The hunter waited until the evening lest the
+creature should see what he was going to do, and then in the twilight
+he set snares all over the barley-field. A snare, you know, is a string
+with a slip-knot at the end of it; and if an animal puts his head or
+one of his paws into this slip-knot and goes on without noticing it,
+the string is pulled tight and the poor creature cannot get free.
+
+3. Was it right or wrong of the hunter to set the snare?
+
+4. Do you think the cat was wrong to lie in wait for the mouse?
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Exactly what the hunter expected happened. The cat came as usual to
+watch for the mouse, and caught sight of him running across the end of
+the path. Puss dashed after him; and just as she thought she really had
+got him this time, she found herself caught by the neck, for she had
+put her head into one of the snares. She was nearly strangled and could
+scarcely even mew. The mouse was so close that he heard the feeble mew,
+and in a terrible fright, thinking the cat was after him, he peeped
+through the stems of the barley to make sure which way to run to get
+away from her. What was his delight when he saw his enemy in such
+trouble and quite unable to do him any harm!
+
+Now it so happened that the owl and the lizard were also in the
+barley-field, not very far away from the cat, and they too saw the
+distress their hated enemy was in. They also caught sight of the little
+mouse peeping through the barley; and the owl thought to himself, “I’ll
+have you, my little friend, now puss cannot do me any harm,” whilst the
+lizard darted away into the sunshine, feeling glad that the cat and the
+owl were neither of them now likely to trouble their heads about him.
+The owl flew quietly to a tree hard by to watch what would happen,
+feeling so sure of having the mouse for his dinner that he was in no
+hurry to catch him.
+
+5. What would you have done if you had been the mouse, when you saw the
+cat in the snare?
+
+6. Was the owl wise or foolish to wait before he caught the mouse?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+The mouse, small and helpless though he was, was a wise little
+creature. He saw the owl fly up into the tree, and knew quite well that
+if he did not take care he would serve as dinner to that great strong
+bird. He knew too that, if he went within reach of the claws of the
+cat, he would suffer for it. “How I do wish,” he thought to himself, “I
+could make friends with the cat, now she is in distress, and get her to
+promise not to hurt me if ever she gets free. As long as I am near the
+cat, the owl will not dare to come after me.” As he thought and
+thought, his eyes got brighter and brighter, and at last he decided
+what he would do. He had, you see, kept his presence of mind; that is
+to say, he did not let his fright of the cat or the owl prevent him
+from thinking clearly. He now ventured forth from amongst the barley,
+and coming near enough to the cat for her to see him quite clearly, but
+not near enough for her to reach him with her claws, or far enough away
+for the owl to get him without danger from those terrible claws, he
+said to the cat in a queer little squeaky voice: “Dear Puss, I do not
+like to see you in such a fix. It is true we have never been exactly
+friends, but I have always looked up to you as a strong and noble
+enemy. If you will promise never to do me any harm, I will do my best
+to help you. I have very sharp teeth, and I might perhaps be able to
+nibble through the string round your beautiful neck and set you free.
+What do you think about it?”
+
+7. Do you think there was any chance of a cat and a mouse becoming real
+friends?
+
+8. Can you give two or three instances you know of presence of mind in
+danger?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+When the cat heard what the mouse said, she could hardly believe her
+ears. She was of course ready to promise anything to anyone who would
+help her, so she said at once:
+
+“You dear little mouse, to wish to help me. If only you will nibble
+through that string which is killing me, I promise that I will always
+love you, always be your friend, and however hungry I may be, I will
+starve rather than hurt your tender little body.”
+
+On hearing this, the mouse, without hesitating a moment, climbed up on
+to the cat’s back, and cuddled down in the soft fur near her neck,
+feeling very safe and warm there. The owl would certainly not attack
+him there, he thought, and the cat could not possibly hurt him. It was
+one thing to pounce down on a defenceless little creature running on
+the ground amongst the barley, quite another to try and snatch him from
+the very neck of a cat.
+
+The cat of course expected the mouse to begin to nibble through the
+string at once, and became very uneasy when she felt the little
+creature nestle down as if to go to sleep, instead of helping her. Poor
+Pussy could not turn her head so as to see the mouse without drawing
+the string tighter, and she did not dare to speak angrily lest she
+should offend him. “My dear little friend,” she said, “do you not think
+it is high time to keep your promise and set me free?”
+
+Hearing this, the mouse pretended to bite the string, but took care not
+to do so really; and the cat waited and waited, getting more miserable
+every minute. All through the long night the same thing went on: the
+mouse taking a little nap now and then, the cat getting weaker and
+weaker. “Oh,” she thought to herself, “if only I could get free, the
+first thing I would do would be to gobble up that horrid little mouse.”
+The moon rose, the stars came out, the wind murmured amongst the
+branches of the banyan tree, making the unfortunate cat long to be safe
+in her cosy home in the trunk. The cries of the wild animals which
+prowl about at night seeking their food were heard, and the cat feared
+one of them might find her and kill her. A mother tiger perhaps would
+snatch her, and take her to her hungry cubs, hidden away in the deep
+forest, or a bird of prey might swoop down on her and grip her in his
+terrible claws. Again and again she entreated the mouse to be quick,
+promising that, if only he would set her at liberty, she would never,
+never, never forget it or do any harm to her beloved friend.
+
+9. What do you suppose the mouse was thinking all this time?
+
+10. If you had been the mouse, would you have trusted to what the cat
+said in her misery?
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+It was not until the moon had set and the light of the dawn had put out
+that of the stars that the mouse, made any real effort to help the cat.
+By this time the hunter who had set the snare came to see if he had
+caught the cat; and the poor cat, seeing him in the distance, became so
+wild with terror that she nearly killed herself in the struggle to get
+away. “Keep still! keep still,” cried the mouse, “and I will really
+save you.” Then with a few quick bites with his sharp teeth he cut
+through the string, and the next moment the cat was hidden amongst the
+barley, and the mouse was running off in the opposite direction,
+determined to keep well out of sight of the creature he had kept in
+such misery for so many hours. Full well he knew that all the cat’s
+promises would be forgotten, and that she would eat him up if she could
+catch him. The owl too flew away, and the lizard went off to hunt flies
+in the sunshine, and there was not a sign of any of the four
+inhabitants of the banyan tree when the hunter reached the snare. He
+was very much surprised and puzzled to find the string hanging loose in
+two pieces, and no sign of there having been anything caught in it,
+except two white hairs lying on the ground close to the trap. He had a
+good look round, and then went home without having found out anything.
+
+When the hunter was quite out of sight, the cat came forth from the
+barley, and hastened back to her beloved home in the banyan tree. On
+her way there she spied the mouse also hurrying along in the same
+direction, and at first she felt inclined to hunt him and eat him then
+and there. On second thoughts however she decided to try and keep
+friends with him, because he might help her again if she got caught a
+second time. So she took no notice of the mouse until the next day,
+when she climbed down the tree and went to the roots in which she knew
+the mouse was hidden. There she began to purr as loud as she could, to
+show the mouse she was in a good humour, and called out, “Dear good
+little mouse, come out of your hole and let me tell you how very, very
+grateful I am to you for saving my life. There is nothing in the world
+I will not do for you, if you will only be friends with me.”
+
+The mouse only squeaked in answer to this speech, and took very good
+care not to show himself, till he was quite sure the cat was gone
+beyond reach of him. He stayed quietly in his hole, and only ventured
+forth after he had heard the cat climb up into the tree again. “It is
+all very well,” thought the mouse, “to pretend to make friends with an
+enemy when that enemy is helpless, but I should indeed be a silly mouse
+to trust a cat when she is free to kill me.”
+
+The cat made a good many other efforts to be friends with the mouse,
+but they were all unsuccessful. In the end the owl caught the mouse,
+and the cat killed the lizard. The owl and the cat both lived for the
+rest of their lives in the banyan tree, and died in the end at a good
+old age.
+
+11. Do you think it is ever possible to make a real friend of an enemy?
+
+12. What do you think the mouse deserved most praise for in his
+behaviour?
+
+13. Which of the four animals in this story do you like best and which
+do you dislike most?
+
+14. Can an animal be blamed for acting according to its nature? For
+instance, can you call it cruel for a cat or an owl to kill and eat a
+mouse?
+
+15. Is it always right to forgive an injury?
+
+16. Can you give an example from history of the forgiveness of an
+injury?
+
+
+
+
+III.
+A Royal Thief-Catcher.
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+In one of the smaller cities of India called Sravasti the people
+gathered together on a very hot day to stare at and talk about a
+stranger, who had come in to the town, looking very weary and walking
+with great difficulty because his feet were sore with tramping for a
+long distance on the rough roads. He was a Brahman, that is to say, a
+man who devoted his whole life to prayer, and had promised to give up
+everything for the sake of pleasing the god in whom he believed, and to
+care nothing for comfort, for riches, or for good food.
+
+This Brahman carried nothing with him but a staff to help him along,
+and a bowl in which to receive the offerings of those who thought it
+their duty to help him and hoped by doing so to win favour in the sight
+of God. He was naked, except for a cloth worn about his loins, and his
+long hair was all matted together for want of combing and brushing. He
+made his way very slowly and painfully through the crowds, till he came
+to a shady corner, and there he sank down exhausted, holding out his
+bowl for the gifts of the people. Very soon his bowl would have been
+full of all sorts of good things, but he made it clear that he would
+accept nothing to eat except rice still in the husk, and nothing to
+drink but pure water. He was however willing to take money; and when
+the people who wished to help him found that out, they brought him a
+good many silver and gold pieces. Some who had no money to spare gave
+him jewels and other things which could be sold for money.
+
+1. Can you explain why the Brahman would only accept such food as rice
+in the husk and water?
+
+2. Do you think it was right or wrong of the Brahman to take money and
+jewels?
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+As time went on, the Brahman became very well known in Sravasti. His
+fame indeed spread far beyond the town, and people came from far away
+to consult him about all sorts of things, and he gave them good advice,
+for he was a very wise man. Those who wanted him to tell them what to
+do paid him for his advice, and as some of them had plenty of money and
+were glad to help him, he soon became quite rich. He might have done a
+great deal of good with all this money by helping the poor and
+suffering, but unfortunately he never thought of doing so. Instead of
+that, he got to love the money for its own sake. At night, when all
+those who had come to see him had gone to rest, and there was no fear
+of his being found out, he used to steal away into the forest, and
+there he dug a deep hole at the root of a great tree, to which he took
+all his money and jewels.
+
+In India everybody has a siesta, that is to say, a sleep in the middle
+of the day, because the heat is so great it is difficult to keep well
+and strong without this extra rest. So, although it is quite light at
+the time, the streets are deserted, except for the dogs who prowl
+about, trying to find something to eat. Now the Brahman loved his money
+and other treasures so much, that he used very often to do without this
+siesta and go to the forest to enjoy the pleasure of looking at them.
+When he got to the tree, he would bend down, clear away the earth and
+leaves with which he had hidden his secret hole, take out the money and
+let it slip through his fingers, and hold up the jewels to the light,
+to watch how they gleamed and glistened. He was never so happy as when
+he was alone with his riches, and it was all he could do to tear
+himself away from them when the time came to go back to his shady
+corner. In fact he was becoming a selfish miser instead of the holy man
+the people of Sravasti thought he was. By the time the siesta was over
+he was always back again in his place beneath the tree, holding out his
+bowl and looking as poor and thin as ever, so that nobody had the least
+idea of the truth.
+
+3. Why was it wrong for the Brahman to hide away his money and jewels?
+
+4. Can anyone be a miser about other things as well as money and
+jewels? If so, what other things?
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+For many months the Brahman led this double life; until one day, when
+he went as usual to his hiding-place, he saw at once that some one had
+been there before him. Eagerly he knelt down, full of fear of exactly
+what had actually happened. All his care in concealing the hole had
+been wasted, for it was quite empty. The poor man could not at first
+believe his own eyes. He rubbed them hard, thinking that there was
+something the matter with them. Then he felt round and round the hole,
+hoping that after all he was mistaken; and when at last he was obliged
+to believe the terrible truth that there really was not a sign of his
+money and jewels, he became almost mad with misery. He began to run
+from tree to tree, peering into their roots, and when there was nothing
+to be seen, he rushed back again to his empty hole, to look into it
+once more. Then he wept and tore at his hair, stamped about and cried
+aloud to all the gods he believed in, making all kinds of promises, of
+what he would do if only they would give him back his treasures. No
+answer came, and he began to wonder who could have done such a terrible
+thing. It must, he felt sure, have been one of the people of Sravasti;
+and he now remembered he had noticed that a good many of them had
+looked into his bowl with longing eyes, when they saw the money and
+precious stones in it. “What horrible, wicked people they are,” he said
+to himself. “I hate them. I should like to hurt them as they have hurt
+me.” As he thought in this way he got more and more angry, until he
+became quite worn out with giving way to his rage.
+
+5. What would you have done if you had been the Brahman when he lost
+his treasure?
+
+6. Is it wrong to be angry when any one has done you an injury?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+After roaming about in the forest for a long time, the Brahman went
+back to the house in Sravasti where some kind people had lent him a
+room, glad and proud to have such a holy man, as they thought he was,
+living under their roof. He felt sure they had had nothing to do with
+the loss of his treasure, because they had given him many proofs of
+their goodness and honesty. Soon he was pouring out all his grief to
+them, and they did all they could to comfort him, telling him that he
+would very soon have plenty more money and jewels. They let him see
+however that they thought it was mean of him to hide away his riches,
+instead of using them to help the poor and suffering; and this added
+very much to his rage. At last he lost all self-control and cried, “It
+is not worth while for me to live any longer. I will go to some holy
+place of pilgrimage by the banks of the river, and there I will starve
+myself to death.”
+
+A place of pilgrimage, you know, is one where some great event,
+generally connected with religion, has taken place, to which pilgrims
+go to pray in the hope of winning some special favour from God. The
+word pilgrim means a wanderer, but it has come in course of time to
+signify any traveller who comes from a distance to some such place.
+Benares in India is a very famous place of pilgrimage, because it is on
+the River Ganges, which the Hindus worship and love, believing that its
+waters can wash away their sins. Hundreds and thousands of Hindus go
+there every year to bathe in it, and many who know that they have not
+long to live wait on its banks to die, so that after their bodies have
+been burnt, as is the custom with the Hindus, their ashes may be thrown
+into the sacred stream.
+
+7. Can you name two other places of pilgrimage, one held sacred by
+Christians and one by Hindus?
+
+8. Will you explain exactly why the two places you have thought of are
+considered holy?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+The news of the Brahman’s loss spread very quickly through Sravasti;
+and as is so often the case, every one who told the story made it a
+little different, so that it became very difficult to know what the
+truth really was. There was great distress in the town, because the
+people thought the Brahman would go away, and they did not want him to
+do that. They were proud of having a man they thought so holy, living
+amongst them, and ashamed that he should have been robbed whilst he was
+with them. When they heard that he meant to starve himself to death,
+they were dreadfully shocked, and determined to do all they possibly
+could to prevent it. One after another of the chief men of Sravasti
+came to see him, and entreated him not to be in such a hurry to be sure
+that his treasure would never be found. They said they would all do
+everything they possibly could to get it back for him. Some of them
+thought it was very wrong of him to make such a fuss about it, and
+blamed him for being a miser. They told him it was foolish to care so
+much for what he could not take with him when he died, and one
+specially wise old man gave him a long lecture on the wickedness of
+taking away the life which had been given to him by God to prepare for
+that in the other world. “Put the idea of starving yourself out of your
+head,” he said, “and whilst we are seeking your treasure, go on as you
+did before you lost it. Next time you have any money and jewels, turn
+them to good account instead of hoarding them up.”
+
+9. Do you think the Brahman was of any real use to the people of
+Sravasti?
+
+10. In what qualities do you think the Brahman was wanting when he made
+up his mind to starve himself to death?
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+In spite of all that any one could say to him, the Brahman was quite
+determined that he would not live any longer. He set off to the place
+of pilgrimage he had chosen, taking no notice of any one he met, but
+just marching steadily on. At first a number of people followed him,
+but by degrees they left off doing so, and soon he was quite alone.
+Presently however he could not help noticing a man approaching from the
+direction in which he was going. Very tall, very handsome, very
+dignified, this man was one whom no one could fail to admire, even if
+he had been only an ordinary person. But he was the king of the whole
+country, whose name was Prasnajit; and a little distance behind him
+were a number of his attendants, waiting to obey his orders. Everybody,
+even the Brahman, loved the king, because he took such a very great
+interest in his people and was always trying to do them good. He had
+heard all about the loss of the money, and was very much vexed that
+such a thing should have happened in his land. He had also heard that
+the Brahman meant to kill himself, and this distressed him more than
+anything else, because he thought it a very wicked and terrible thing
+to do.
+
+The king stood so exactly in the path of the Brahman that it was
+impossible to pass him by without taking any notice of him, and the
+unhappy man stood still, hanging down his head and looking very
+miserable. Without waiting for a moment, Prasnajit said to the Brahman:
+“Do not grieve any more. I will find your treasure for you, and give it
+back to you; or if I fail to do so I will pay you as much as it was
+worth out of my own purse: for I cannot bear to think of your killing
+yourself. Now tell me very carefully where you hid your gold and
+jewels, and everything about the place, to help me to make sure of it.”
+
+The Brahman was greatly delighted to hear this, because he knew full
+well that the king would keep his word, and that, even if his own
+treasure was never found, he would have plenty of money given to him by
+the king. He at once told Prasnajit exactly where he had put his store,
+and offered to take him there. The king agreed to go with him at once,
+and he and the Brahman went straight away to the big hole in the
+forest, the attendants following them a little way behind.
+
+11. If you had been the king, how would you have set about finding the
+treasure?
+
+12. Was it a good or a bad thing for the Brahman to have secured the
+help of the king?
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+After the king had seen the big empty hole, and noticed exactly where
+it was, and the nearest way to it from the town, he returned to his
+palace, first telling the Brahman to go back to the house he lived in,
+and wait there till he received a message from him. He promised to see
+that he wanted for nothing, and sent one of his attendants to a rich
+merchant of Sravasti, who had already done a good deal for the Brahman,
+to order him to supply the holy man with all he needed. Very glad that
+after all he was not going to die, the Brahman obeyed willingly, and
+for the next few days he was taken care of by the merchant, who
+supplied him with plenty of food.
+
+As soon as Prasnajit was back in his palace, he pretended that he was
+taken suddenly ill. His head ached badly, he said, and he could not
+make out what was the matter with him. He ordered a proclamation to be
+sent all round the town, telling all the doctors to come to the palace
+to see him. All the doctors in the place at once hastened to obey, each
+of them hoping that he would be the one to cure the king and win a
+great reward. So many were they that the big reception room was full of
+them, and they all glared at each other so angrily that the attendants
+kept careful watch lest they should begin to fight. One at a time they
+were taken to the king’s private room, but very much to their surprise
+and disappointment he seemed quite well and in no need of help from
+them. Instead of talking about his own illness, he asked each doctor
+who his patients were in the town, and what medicines he was giving to
+them. Of course Prasnajit’s questions were carefully answered; but the
+king said nothing more, just waving his hand to shew that the interview
+was at an end. Then the attendants led the visitor out. At last however
+a doctor came, who said something which led the king to keep him longer
+than he had kept any of the others. This doctor was a very famous
+healer who had saved the lives of many of Prasnajit’s subjects. He told
+the king that a merchant named Matri-Datta was very ill, suffering
+greatly, but that he hoped to cure him by giving him the juice of a
+certain plant called nagaballa. At the time this story was written,
+doctors in India did not give their patients medicine, or write
+prescriptions for them to take to chemists to be made up, because there
+were no chemists in those days, such as there are in all the towns of
+Europe, who keep the materials in stock for making medicines. A doctor
+just said to his patient, “you must take the juice of this or that
+plant”; and the suffering person had to go into the fields or woods to
+find the plant or else to send a servant to do so.
+
+When the king heard that the doctor had ordered Matri-Datta to take the
+juice of the nagaballa plant, he cried “No more doctors need come to
+see me!” and after sending away the one who had told him what he wanted
+to know, he gave orders that Matri-Datta should be sent for at once.
+
+13. Can you guess why the king sent for the doctors?
+
+14. Do you think Matri-Datta had anything to do with stealing the
+Brahman’s treasure?
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+Ill and suffering though he was, Matri-Datta did not dare disobey the
+king: so he came at once. As soon as he appeared, Prasnajit asked him
+how he was, and said he was sorry to have to make him leave his home
+when he was ill, but the matter on which he wished to see him was of
+very great importance. Then he suddenly added: “When your doctor
+ordered you to take the juice of the nagaballa plant whom did you send
+to find it?”
+
+To this Matri-Datta replied trembling with fear: “My servant, O king,
+sought it in the forest; and having found it, brought it to me.”
+
+“Go back and send that servant to me immediately,” was the reply; and
+the merchant hurried away, wondering very much why the king wanted to
+see the man, and hoping that he himself would not get into disgrace on
+account of anything he had done to make Prasnajit angry.
+
+15. Have you any idea why the king wanted the servant sent to him?
+
+16. From what the story tells you so far, do you think Prasnajit was a
+good ruler of his kingdom?
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+When Matri-Datta told his servant that he was to go to the palace to
+see the king, the man was dreadfully frightened, and begged his master
+not to make him go. This made Matri-Datta pretty sure that he had done
+something wrong and was afraid of being found out. “Go at once,” he
+said, “and whatever you do, speak the truth to the king. That will be
+your only chance if you have offended him.” Again and again the servant
+entreated Matri-Datta not to insist, and when he found it was no good,
+he asked him at least to come with him to the palace and plead for him
+with Prasnajit. The merchant knew then for certain that something was
+seriously wrong, and he consented to go to the palace with his servant,
+partly out of curiosity and partly out of fear for himself. When the
+two got to the palace, the attendants at once led the servant to the
+presence of the king, but they would not let the master go with him.
+
+Directly the servant entered the room and saw the king sitting on his
+throne, he fell upon his face at the foot of the steps, crying, “Mercy!
+mercy!” He was right to be afraid, for Prasnajit said to him in a loud
+voice: “Where are the gold and the jewels you took from the hole in the
+roots of a tree when you went to find the nagaballa plant for your
+master?” The servant, who really had taken the money and jewels, was so
+terrified when he found that the king knew the truth, that he had not a
+word to say at first, but just remained lying on the ground, trembling
+all over. Prasnajit too was silent, and the attendants waiting for
+orders behind the throne looked on, wondering what would happen now.
+
+17. Have you guessed what the nagaballa plant had to do with finding
+out who had stolen the money and jewels?
+
+18. If you had been the king, what punishment would you have ordered
+for the thief?
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+When the silence had lasted about ten minutes, the thief raised his
+head from the ground and looked at the king, who still said not a word.
+Something in his face however made the wicked servant hope that he
+would not be punished by death in spite of the great wrong he had done.
+The king looked very stern, it is true, but not enraged against him. So
+the servant rose to his feet, and clasping his hands together as he
+held them up to Prasnajit, said in a trembling voice: “I will fetch the
+treasure, I will fetch the treasure.” “Go then at once,” said the king,
+“and bring it here”: and as he said it, there was a beautiful
+expression in his eyes, which made the thief more sorry for what he had
+done than he would have been if Prasnajit had said, “Off with his
+head!” or had ordered him to be beaten.
+
+19. What do you think is the best way to make wicked people good?
+
+20. What is the most powerful reason a man or woman or a child can have
+for trying to be good?
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+As soon as the king said, “Go at once,” the servant started to his feet
+and hastened away, as eager now to restore what he had stolen as he had
+been to hide it. He had put it in another hole in the very depths of
+the forest; and it was a long time before he got back to the palace
+with it, for it was very heavy. He had thought the king would send some
+guards with him, to see that he did not run away, and that they would
+have helped him to carry the sack full of gold and jewels; but nobody
+followed him. It was hard work to drag the heavy load all the way
+alone; but at last, quite late in the evening, he was back at the
+palace gates. The soldiers standing there let him pass without a word,
+and soon he was once more in the room in which the king had received
+him. Prasnajit still sat on his throne, and the attendants still waited
+behind him, when the thief, so tired he could hardly stand, once more
+lay prostrate at the bottom of the steps leading up to the throne, with
+the sack beside him. How his heart did beat as he waited for what the
+king would say! It seemed a very long time before Prasnajit spoke,
+though it was only two or three minutes; and when he did, this is what
+he said, “Go back to your home now, and be a thief no more.”
+
+Very, very thankfully the man obeyed, scarcely able to believe that he
+was free to go and that he was not to be terribly punished. Never again
+in the rest of his life did he take what did not belong to him, and he
+was never tired of telling his children and his friends of the goodness
+of the king who had forgiven him.
+
+21. Do you think it would have been better for the thief to have been
+punished?
+
+22. What lesson did the thief learn from what had happened to him?
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+The Brahman, who had spent the time of waiting in prayers that his
+treasure should be given back to him, and was still determined that, if
+it were not, he would starve himself to death, was full of delight when
+he heard that it had been found. He hastened to the palace and was
+taken before the king, who said to him: “There is your treasure. Take
+it away, and make a better use of it than before. If you lose it again,
+I shall not try to recover it for you.”
+
+The Brahman, glad as he was to have his money and jewels restored, did
+not like to be told by the king to make a better use of them. Besides
+this he wanted to have the thief punished; and he began talking about
+that, instead of thanking Prasnajit and promising to follow his advice.
+The king looked at him much as he had looked at the thief and said:
+“The matter is ended so far as I have anything to do with it: go in
+peace.”
+
+The Brahman, who was accustomed to be honoured by every one from the
+king on his throne to the beggars in the street, was astonished at the
+way in which Prasnajit spoke to him. He would have said more, but the
+king made a sign to his attendants, two of whom dragged the sack to the
+entrance of the palace and left it there, so that there was nothing for
+the Brahman to do but to take it away with him. Every one who has read
+this wonderful story would, of courses like to know what became of him
+after that, but nothing more is told about him.
+
+23. Do you think that the Brahman learnt anything from his loss and
+recovery of his treasure?
+
+24. Was the Brahman more wicked than, the thief or the thief than the
+Brahman?
+
+25. Do you think the Brahman continued to be a miser for the rest of
+his life?
+
+26. What were the chief characteristics of the king—that is to say,
+what sort of man do you think he was?
+
+27. Which of the people who are spoken of in this story do you like and
+admire most, and which do you dislike most?
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+The Magic Shoes and Staff.
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+Far, far away in a town of India called Chinchini, where in days long
+gone by the ancient gods in whom the people believed are said sometimes
+to have appeared to those who called upon them for help, there lived
+three brothers of noble birth, who had never known what it was to want
+for food, or clothes, or a house to live in. Each was married to a wife
+he loved, and for many years they were all as happy as the day was
+long. Presently however a great misfortune in which they all shared
+befell their native country. There was no rain for many, many weeks;
+and this is a very serious thing in a hot country like India, because,
+when it does not rain for a long time, the ground becomes so parched
+and hard that nothing can grow in it. The sun is very much stronger in
+India than it is in England; and it sent forth its burning rays, drying
+up all the water in the tanks and changing what had been a beautiful
+country, covered with green crops good for food, into a dreary desert,
+where neither men nor animals could get anything to eat. The result of
+this was that there was a terrible famine, in which hundreds of people
+and animals died, little children being the first to suffer.
+
+Now the three brothers, who had none of them any children, got
+frightened at the state of things, and thought to themselves, “If we do
+not escape from this dreadful land, we shall die.” They said to each
+other: “Let us flee away from here, and go somewhere where we are sure
+of being able to get plenty to eat and drink. We will not take our
+wives with us; they would only make things worse for us; let us leave
+them to look after themselves.”
+
+1. What do you think of the behaviour of the three brothers? Was there
+any excuse for their leaving their wives behind them?
+
+2. Do you think the wives themselves can have been to blame in any way
+in the matter?
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+So the three wives were deserted, and had to manage as best they could
+without their husbands, who did not even trouble to wish them goodbye.
+The wives were at first very sad and lonely, but presently a great joy
+came to one of them which made the other two very happy as well. This
+joy was the birth of a little boy, whose two aunts loved him almost as
+much as his mother did. The story does not tell how they all got food
+whilst the famine was going on, though it is very evident that they
+were not starved, for the baby boy grew fast and was a strong healthy
+little fellow.
+
+One night all the three wives had the same dream, a very wonderful one,
+in which the god Siva, who is very much honoured in India, appeared to
+them. He told them that, looking down from Heaven, he had noticed how
+tenderly they cared for the new-born baby, and that he wished them to
+call him Putraka. Besides this he astonished them by adding that, as a
+reward for the unselfish way in which they had behaved, they would find
+one hundred thousand gold pieces under the little child’s pillow every
+morning, and that one day that little child would be a king.
+
+3. Do you think the three women wanted to be rewarded for loving the
+baby?
+
+4. Is it a good thing to have a great deal of money?
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+The wonderful dream was fulfilled, and the mother and aunts called the
+boy Putraka. Every morning they found the gold pieces under his pillow,
+and they took care of the money for him, so that when he grew up he was
+the very richest man in the whole country. He had a happy childhood and
+boyhood, his only trouble being that he did not like having never seen
+his father. His mother told him about the famine before he was born,
+and how his father and uncles had gone away and never come back. He
+often said, “When I am a man I will find my father and bring him home
+again.” He used his money to help others, and one of the best things he
+did was to irrigate the land; that is to say, he made canals into which
+water was made to flow in times when there was plenty of rain, so that
+there was no danger of there being another famine, such as that which
+had driven his father and uncles away. The country in which he lived
+became very fruitful; everybody had enough to eat and drink; and
+Putraka was very much loved, especially by the poor and unhappy. When
+the king who ruled over the land died, everybody wanted Putraka to take
+his place, and he was chosen at once.
+
+5. Will you describe the kind of man you think Putraka was?
+
+6. Do you know of any other country besides India in which everything
+depends on irrigation?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+One of the other wise things Putraka did, when he became king, was to
+make great friends with his Brahman subjects. Brahmans are always very
+fond of travelling, and Putraka thought, if he were good and generous
+to them, they would talk about him wherever they went, and that perhaps
+through them his father and uncles would hear about him. He felt sure
+that, if they knew he was now a king ruling over their native land,
+they would want to come back. He gave the Brahmans plenty of money, and
+told them to try and find his father and uncles. If they did, they were
+to say how anxious he was to see them, and promise them everything they
+wanted, if only they would return.
+
+7. Do you think it was wise of Putraka to be so anxious to get his
+father and uncles back, when he knew how selfish they had been in
+leaving his mother and aunts behind them?
+
+8. Can you suggest anything else Putraka might have done in the matter?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+Just what the young king hoped came to pass. Wherever the Brahmans went
+they talked about the country they came from and the wonderful young
+king who ruled over it. Putraka’s father and uncles, who were after all
+not so very far off, heard the stories about him, and asked the
+Brahmans many questions. The answers made them very eager to see
+Putraka, but they did not at first realize that he was closely related
+to them. Only when they heard the name of his mother did they guess the
+truth. Putraka’s father knew, when he deserted his wife, that God was
+going to give her a child soon; which made it even more wicked of him
+to leave her. Now, however, he forgot all about that, only thinking how
+he could make as much use as possible of the son who had become a king.
+He wanted to go back at once alone, but the uncles were not going to
+allow that. They meant to get all they could out of Putraka too; and
+the three selfish men, who were now quite old, set off together for the
+land they had left so long ago.
+
+They arrived safely, and made their way to the palace, where they were
+received, with great rejoicings. None of the wives said a word of
+reproach to the husbands who had deserted them; and as for Putraka, he
+was so overjoyed at having his father back, that he gave him a
+beautiful house to live in and a great deal of money. He was very good
+to his uncles too, and felt that he had now really nothing left to wish
+for.
+
+9. Do you think Putraka showed strength or weakness of character in the
+way he received the travellers?
+
+10. How do you think the king ought to have behaved to his father and
+uncles?
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The three wives very soon had good reason to wish their husbands had
+stayed away. Instead of being grateful for all Putraka’s generosity,
+they were very unkind and exacting, never pleased with anything; and
+whatever they had given them, they were always trying to get more. In
+fact, they were silly as well as wicked; for they did not realize that
+this was not the way to make the king love them or wish to keep them
+with him. Presently they became jealous of Putraka, and began to wish
+to get rid of him. His father hated to feel that his son was king,
+whilst he was only one of that king’s subjects; and he made up his mind
+to kill him, hoping that if he could only get rid of him he might rule
+over the country in his stead. He thought and thought how best to
+manage this, and did not at first mean to tell his brothers anything
+about it; but in the end he decided he had better have them on his
+side. So he invited them to go with him to a secret place to talk the
+matter over.
+
+11. What qualities did Putraka’s father show in this plot against his
+son?
+
+12. Was there any other way in which the king’s father could have
+gained a share in governing the land?
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+After many meetings the three wicked men decided that they would pay
+some one to kill the king, first making the murderer they chose swear
+that he would never tell who had ordered him to do the terrible deed.
+It was not very difficult to find a man bad enough to take money for
+such an evil purpose, and the next thing to do was to decide where and
+when the deed was to be done. Putraka had been very well brought up by
+his mother, and he often went to a beautiful temple near his palace to
+pray alone. He would sometimes stop there a long time, winning fresh
+wisdom and strength to do the work he was trusted with, and praying not
+only for himself, but for his father, his mother, his aunts and uncles,
+and for the people he loved so much.
+
+The murderer was told to wait in this temple, and when the young king
+was absorbed in prayer, to fall suddenly upon him and kill him. Then,
+when Putraka was dead, he was to take his body and bury it far away in
+the depths of the forest where it could never be found. At first it
+seemed likely that this cruel plot would succeed. To make quite sure,
+the murderer got two other men as wicked as himself to come and help
+him, promising to give them a share in the reward. But the god who had
+taken care of Putraka ever since he was born, did not forget him now.
+As the young king prayed, forgetting everything in his earnest pleading
+for those he loved, he did not see or hear the evil men drawing
+stealthily close to him. Their arms were uplifted to slay him, and the
+gleam of the weapons in the light that was always kept burning flashed
+upon him, when suddenly the heavenly guardian of the temple, who never
+left it day or night, but was generally invisible, appeared and cast a
+spell upon the wicked men, whose hands were arrested in the very act to
+strike.
+
+What a wonderful sight that must have been, when Putraka, disturbed in
+his prayers, looked round and saw the men who had come to kill him,
+with the shadowy form of the guardian threatening them! He knew at once
+that he had been saved from a dreadful death by a messenger from the
+god he had been worshipping. As he gazed at the men, the guardian faded
+away and he was left alone with them. Slowly the spell cast on them was
+broken, and they dropped their weapons, prostrated themselves, and
+clasped their hands in an appeal for mercy to the man they had meant to
+destroy. Putraka looked at them quietly and sadly. He felt no anger
+against them, only a great thankfulness for his escape. He spoke to the
+men very sternly, asking them why they wished to harm him; and the
+chief murderer told him who had sent them.
+
+The knowledge that his father wished to kill him shocked and grieved
+the young king terribly, but he controlled himself even when he learnt
+the sad truth. He told the men that he forgave them, for they were not
+the most to blame; and he made them promise never to betray who had
+bribed them to kill him. He then gave them some money and told them to
+leave him.
+
+13. What do you think the most beautiful incident in this account of
+the scene in the temple?
+
+14. What do you suppose were the thoughts of the murderers when they
+left the temple after Putraka forgave them?
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+When Putraka was alone, he threw himself upon the ground and wept very
+bitterly. He felt that he could never be happy again, never trust
+anyone again. He had so loved his father and uncles. It had been such a
+joy to him to give them pleasure, and yet they hated him and wished to
+kill him. He wondered whether he was himself to blame for what had
+happened, and began to think he was not worthy to be king, if he could
+make such a mistake as he now feared he had made in being so generous
+to those who could have such hard thoughts of him as to want to take
+his life. Perhaps after all it would be better for his country to have
+another king. He did not feel as if he could go back to his palace and
+meet his father and uncles again. “What shall I do? What shall I do?”
+he cried, his sobs choking his voice. Never in all his life had he
+thought it possible to be so miserable as he was now. Everything seemed
+changed and he felt as if he were himself a different person. The only
+thing that comforted him at all was the thought of his mother, whose
+love had never failed him; but even that was spoiled by the remembrance
+that it was her husband who had wished to kill him. She must never know
+that, for it would break her heart: yet how could he keep it from her?
+Then the idea came to him that the best thing he could do would be to
+go away and never see his own people again.
+
+15. What do you think was wrong in Putraka’s way of looking at the
+past?
+
+16. Was his idea of leaving his country and his people a sign of
+weakness or of strength?
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+In the end the poor young king decided that he would go right away as
+his father and uncles had done; and his mind being made up, he became
+more cheerful and began to think he might meet with some interesting
+adventures in a new country, where nobody knew anything about him. As
+soon as it was light, he wandered off into the forest, feeling, it is
+true, very lonely, but at the same time taking a certain pleasure in
+being entirely his own master; which a king can never really be,
+because he has to consider so many other people and to keep so many
+rules.
+
+After all Putraka did not find the forest so very lonely; for he had
+not gone far in it before his sad thoughts were broken in upon by his
+coming suddenly to a little clearing, where the trees had been cut down
+and two strong-looking men were wrestling together. The king watched
+them for a little while, wondering what they were fighting about. Then
+he called out, “What are you doing here? What are you quarrelling
+about?”
+
+The men were greatly surprised to hear Putraka’s voice, for they
+thought that they were quite alone. They stopped fighting for a minute
+or two, and one of them said: “We are fighting for three very precious
+things which were left behind him by our father.”
+
+“What are those things?” asked Putraka.
+
+“A bowl, a stick and a pair of shoes,” was the reply. “Whoever wins the
+fight will get them all. There they lie on the ground.”
+
+“Well, I never!” cried the king, laughing as he looked at the things,
+which seemed to him worth very little. “I shouldn’t trouble to fight
+about such trifles, if I were you.”
+
+“Trifles!” exclaimed one of the men angrily. “You don’t know what you
+are talking about. They are worth more than their weight in gold.
+Whoever gets the bowl will find plenty of food in it whenever he wants
+it; the owner of the stick has only to write his wishes on the ground
+with it and he will get them; and whoever puts on the shoes can fly
+through the air in them to any distance.”
+
+17. Which of these things would you rather have had?
+
+18. What lesson do you learn from what the men said about the things on
+the ground?
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+When Putraka heard the wonders which, could be done with what he had
+thought not worth having, he determined to get possession of the three
+treasures for himself; not considering that it would be very wrong to
+take what did not belong to him. “It seems a pity to fight,” he said,
+“why don’t you race for the things, and let whichever wins the race
+have them? That banyan tree over there would make a good winning post
+and I will be the umpire.”
+
+Instead of guessing what Putraka had in his mind, the brothers, who
+were very simple fellows, said at once: “All right. We won’t fight,
+we’ll race instead, and you can give us the start.” Putraka agreed, and
+directly they were off he lost not a moment, but picked up the bowl and
+the staff, put on the shoes, and flew straight up into the air with the
+treasures. When the brothers came back, disputing about which of them
+had won, there was not a sign of Putraka, the bowl, the stick, or the
+shoes. They guessed at once what had happened; and after staring up in
+the air for a long time, they went home, feeling very much enraged with
+the man who had cheated them, and ashamed of having been so stupid as
+to trust him.
+
+19. What do you think of Putraka’s behaviour in this matter?
+
+20. If you could have had one of the three things Putraka stole, which
+would you have chosen?
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+On and on flew Putraka, full of eager delight in the new power of
+flight. How he loved rushing through the air, cleaving it like a bird
+on the wing! All he wanted to make him perfectly happy was someone to
+enjoy his new powers with him. Presently he found himself above a
+beautiful city with towers and pinnacles and minarets gleaming in the
+sunshine. “Ah!” he thought, “that is the place for me. I will go down
+there, and see if I can find a nice house to live in, and some people
+to make friends with, who will not try to kill me or to cheat me, but
+love me and be grateful to me for any kindness I show them.”
+
+As Putraka was hovering in the air above the town to which he had taken
+such a fancy, he noticed a little house which rather pleased him; for
+though it was poor-looking, there was something cheerful and home-like
+about it. Down he sped and alighted at the door. Only one poor old
+woman lived in the house, and when Putraka knocked and asked if he
+might come in, she said “Yes” at once. He gave her some money, and told
+her he would like to live with her, if she would let him do so. She was
+only too glad to consent, for she was very lonely; and the two lived
+happily together for a long time.
+
+21. Do you think that if Putraka had flown home on his wonderful shoes,
+taking his staff and bowl with him, his, father and uncles would still
+have tried to kill him?
+
+22. How could Putraka have prevented them from doing him harm if he had
+returned to his home?
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+The old woman grew very fond of Putraka, caring for him and waiting on
+him as if he had been her own son. She was so anxious that he should be
+happy that she became afraid he would become tired of living alone with
+her. So she said to him one day: “My dear adopted son, you ought to
+have a wife to keep you company. I know the very one for you, the only
+one really worthy of you. She is a princess, and her name is Patala.
+She is so very lovely that every man who sees her falls in love with
+her and wants to carry her off. So she is most carefully guarded in the
+top rooms of a great palace, as high as the summits of the loftiest
+mountains.” When Putraka heard this he was all eagerness to see the
+princess, and at once determined to go forth to seek her. He was more
+than ever glad now that he had stolen the shoes, because he knew that
+they would carry him even to the top of the highest mountains.
+
+23. What qualities did the old woman show when she told Putraka about
+the Princess?
+
+24. What faults of character did the young king show when he decided at
+once to leave the old woman who had been so good to him?
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+The very evening of the day when Putraka heard about the princess, he
+started on his journey, taking with him his bowl and staff. The old
+woman gave him very careful instructions which way to go, and begged
+him to come back to tell her how he had got on. He promised he would,
+thanked her for all she had done for him, and flew away in a great
+state of excitement. She watched him till he was quite out of sight,
+and then went sadly into her lonely home, wondering if she would ever
+see him again.
+
+It was not long before Putraka came in sight of the palace. It was a
+beautiful night, and the moon was shining full upon the room in which
+the princess was asleep. It was a very big one, with costly furniture
+and priceless tapestry hung round the walls, and there were doors
+behind the tapestry leading to other apartments, in some of which the
+attendants on Patala slept, whilst others kept watch lest anyone should
+intrude upon their mistress. No one thought of guarding the windows,
+for they were so high up that only a bird could reach them.
+
+The young king alighted on the ledge of the window of the princess’
+room, and looked in. There, on a golden bed, amongst soft cushions and
+embroidered coverings, lay the most lovely creature he had ever beheld,
+so lovely that he fell in love with her at once and gave a loud cry of
+delight. This woke the princess, who started up and was about to scream
+out aloud in her terror at seeing a man looking in at the window, when
+Putraka with the aid of his magic staff made himself invisible. Then,
+thinking she had been dreaming, Patala lay down again, and the king
+began talking to her in a low voice, telling her he had heard of her
+beauty and had flown from far away to see her. He begged her to allow
+him to show himself to her, and added: “I will go away again directly
+afterwards if you wish it.”
+
+Putraka’s voice was so gentle, and it seemed to Patala so wonderful
+that a man could fly and make himself invisible, that she was full of
+curiosity to see him and find out all about him. So she gave her
+consent, and immediately afterwards the young king stood within the
+room, looking so noble and so handsome that she too fell in love at
+first sight. Putraka told her all about his life and adventures, which
+interested her very much. She was glad, she said, that he was a king;
+but she would have loved him just as well, whoever he might have been.
+
+After a long talk, Patala begged him to leave her for fear her
+attendants should discover him and tell her father about him. “My
+father would never let me marry you,” she declared, “unless you were to
+come with many followers as a king to ask my hand; and how can you do
+that when you are only a wandering exile?”
+
+25. Was there any reason to fear that Putraka would be discovered when
+he could make himself invisible at any moment?
+
+26. What do you think would have been the right thing for Putraka and
+Patala to do when they found out that they loved each other?
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+It was very difficult to persuade Putraka to go, but at last he flew
+away. Every night after that, however, he came to see Patala, spending
+the days sometimes in one place, sometimes in another, and using his
+magic bowl to supply himself with food. Alas, he forgot all about the
+dear old woman to whom he owed all his happiness, and she slowly gave
+up hope of ever seeing him again. He might quite easily have flown to
+her cottage and cheered her with his presence; but he was so wrapped up
+in his love for Patala that everything else went out of his head. This
+selfishness on his part presently got him into serious trouble, for he
+became careless about making himself invisible when he flew up to the
+princess’ window. So that one night he was discovered by a guardian of
+the palace. The matter was at once reported to the king, who could not
+at first believe such a thing was possible. The man must have seen a
+big bird, that was all. The king, however, ordered one of his
+daughter’s ladies to keep watch every night in an ante-room, leaving
+the door open with the tapestry, in which there was a slit, drawn
+carefully over it, and to come and tell him in the morning if she had
+seen or heard anything unusual.
+
+Now the lady chosen loved the princess, and, like many of her
+fellow-attendants, thought it was very cruel of the king to punish his
+own child for being so beautiful, by shutting her up as he did. It so
+happened that the very first night she was on guard, Putraka had flown
+a very, very long way, not noticing where he was going, because he was
+thinking so earnestly of Patala. When at last he flew in at her window,
+he was so weary that he sank down on a couch and fell fast asleep. The
+princess too was tired, because she had lain awake talking to her lover
+so many nights running that she had had hardly any rest. So when the
+lady peeped through the slit in the tapestry, there, by the light of
+the night lamp, she saw the young king lying unconscious, whilst the
+princess also was asleep.
+
+Very cautiously the attendant crept to the side of Putraka, and took a
+long, long look at him. She noticed how handsome he was, and that he
+was dressed in beautiful clothes. She especially remarked the turban he
+wore, because in India the rank to which men belong is shown by the
+kind of turbans they wear. “This is no common man,” she thought, “but a
+prince or king in disguise. What shall I do now? I will not raise an
+alarm which might lead to this beautiful young lover being killed and
+the heart of my dear mistress broken.”
+
+27. If you had been the lady who found Putraka in Patala’s room, what
+would you have done?
+
+28. What could Putraka have done to guard against being discovered?
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+After hesitating a long time, the lady made up her mind that she would
+only put some mark in the turban of Putraka, so that he could be known
+again, and let him escape that night at least. So she stole back to her
+room, fetched a tiny brooch, and fastened it in the folds of the
+turban, where the wearer was not likely to notice it himself. This
+done, she went back to listen at the door.
+
+It was nearly morning when Putraka woke up, very much surprised at
+finding himself lying on the couch, for he did not remember throwing
+himself down on it. Starting up, he woke Patala, who was terribly
+frightened, for she expected her ladies to come in any minute to help
+her to dress. She entreated Putraka to make himself invisible and fly
+away at once. He did so; and, as usual, wandered about until the time
+should come to go back to the palace. But he still felt too tired to
+fly, and instead walked about in the town belonging to Patala’s father.
+
+The lady who had been on guard had half a mind to tell her mistress
+that her secret was discovered. But before she could get a chance to do
+so, she was sent for by the king, who asked her if she had seen or
+heard anything during the night. She tried very hard to escape from
+betraying Patala; but she hesitated so much in her answers that the
+king guessed there was something she wanted to hide, and told her, if
+she did not reveal the whole truth, he would have her head shaved and
+send her to prison. So she told how she had found a handsome man,
+beautifully dressed, fast asleep in Patala’s room; but she did not
+believe her mistress knew anything about it, because she too was
+asleep.
+
+The king was of course in a terrible rage, and the lady was afraid he
+would order her to be punished; but he only went on questioning her
+angrily about what the man was like, so that he might be found and
+brought before him. Then the lady confessed that she had put the brooch
+in the turban, comforting herself with the thought that, when the king
+saw Putraka and knew that Patala loved him, he might perhaps relent and
+let them be married.
+
+When the king heard about the brooch, he was greatly pleased; and
+instead of ordering the lady to be punished, he told her that, when the
+man who had dared to approach his daughter was found, he would give her
+a great reward. He then sent forth hundreds of spies to hunt for the
+man with a brooch in his turban, and Putraka was very soon found,
+strolling quietly about in the market-place. He was so taken by
+surprise that, though he had his staff in his hand and his shoes and
+bowl in the pocket of his robes, he had no time to write his wishes
+with the staff, or to put on the shoes, so he was obliged to submit to
+be dragged to the palace. He did all he could to persuade those who had
+found him to let him go, telling them he was a king and would reward
+them well. They only laughed at him and dragged him along with them to
+the palace, where he was at once taken before the king, who was sitting
+on his throne, surrounded by his court, in a great hall lined with
+soldiers. The big windows were wide open; and noticing this, Putraka
+did not feel at all afraid, for he knew he had only to slip on his
+shoes and fly out of one of the windows, if he could not persuade the
+king to let him marry Patala. So he stood quietly at the foot of the
+throne, and looked bravely into the face of his dear one’s father.
+
+This only made the king more angry, and he began calling Putraka all
+manner of names and asking him how he dared to enter the room of his
+daughter. Putraka answered quietly that he loved Patala and wished to
+marry her. He was himself a king, and would give her all she had been
+used to. But it was all no good, for it only made the king more angry.
+He rose from his throne, and stretching out his hand, he cried:
+
+“Let him be scourged and placed in close confinement!”
+
+Then Putraka with his staff wrote rapidly on the ground his wish that
+no one should be able to touch him, and stooping down slipped on his
+magic shoes. The king, the courtiers and the soldiers all remained
+exactly as they were, staring at him in astonishment, as he rose up in
+the air and flew out of one of the windows. Straight away he sped to
+the palace of Patala and into her room, where she was pacing to and fro
+in an agony of anxiety about him; for she had heard of his having been
+taken prisoner and feared that her father would order him to be killed.
+
+29. What do you think would have been the best thing for the king to do
+when Putraka was brought before him?
+
+30. If Putraka had not had his shoes with him, how could he have
+escaped from the king’s palace?
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+Great indeed was the delight of Patala when her beloved Putraka once
+more flew in at her window; but she was still trembling with fear for
+him and begged him to go away back to his own land as quickly as
+possible.
+
+“I will not go without you,” replied Putraka. “Wrap yourself up warmly,
+for it is cold flying through the air, and we will go away together,
+and your cruel father shall never see you again.”
+
+Patala wept at hearing this, for it seemed terrible to her to have to
+choose between the father she loved and Putraka. But in the end her
+lover got his own way, and just as those who were seeking him were
+heard approaching, he seized his dear one in his arms and flew off with
+her. He did not return to his own land even then, but directed his
+course to the Ganges, the grand and beautiful river which the people of
+India love and worship, calling it their Mother Ganga. By the banks of
+the sacred stream the lovers rested, and with the aid of his magic bowl
+Putraka soon had a good and delicious meal ready, which they both
+enjoyed very much. As they ate, they consulted together what they had
+better do now, and Patala, who was as clever as she was beautiful,
+said:
+
+“Would it not be a good thing to build a new city in this lovely place?
+You could do it with your marvellous staff, could you not?”
+
+“Why, of course, I could,” said Putraka laughing. “Why didn’t I think
+of it myself?” Very soon a wonderful town rose up, which the young king
+wished to be as much as possible like the home he had left, only larger
+and fuller of fine buildings than it. When the town was made, he wished
+it to be full of happy inhabitants, with temples in which they might
+worship, priests to teach them how to be good, markets in which food
+and all that was needed could be bought, tanks and rivulets full of
+pure water, soldiers and officers to defend the gates, elephants on
+which he and his wife could ride, everything in fact that the heart of
+man or woman could desire.
+
+The first thing Putraka and Patala did after the rise of their own
+town, which they named Patali-Putra[1] after themselves, was to get
+married in accordance with the rites of their religion; and for many,
+many years they reigned wisely over their people, who loved them and
+their children with all their hearts. Amongst the attendants on those
+children was the old woman who had shown kindness to Putraka in his
+loneliness and trouble. For when he told Patala the story of his life,
+she reproached him for his neglect of one to whom he owed so much. She
+made him feel quite ashamed of himself, and he flew away and brought
+the dear old lady back with him, to her very great delight.
+
+31. Which of the people in this story do you like best?
+
+32. Do you think Putraka deserved all the happiness which came to him
+through stealing the wand, the shoes and the bowl?
+
+33. Can you suggest any way in which he could have atoned for the wrong
+he did to the brothers whose property he took?
+
+34. What is the chief lesson to be learnt from this story?
+
+
+
+
+V.
+The Jewelled Arrow.
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+In the city of Vardhamana in India there lived a powerful king named
+Vira-Bhuja, who, as was the custom in his native land, had many wives,
+each of whom had several sons. Of all his wives this king loved best
+the one named Guna-Vara, and of all his sons her youngest-born, called
+Sringa-Bhuja, was his favourite. Guna-Vara was not only very beautiful
+but very good. She was so patient that nothing could make her angry, so
+unselfish that she always thought of others before herself, and so wise
+that she was able to understand how others were feeling, however
+different their natures were from her own.
+
+Sringa-Bhuja, the son of Guna-Vara, resembled his mother in her beauty
+and her unselfishness; he was also very strong and very clever, whilst
+his brothers were quite unlike him. They wanted to have everything
+their own way, and they were very jealous indeed of their father’s love
+for him. They were always trying to do him harm, and though they often
+quarrelled amongst themselves, they would band together to try and hurt
+him.
+
+It was very much the same with the king’s wives. They hated Guna-Vara,
+because their husband loved her more than he did them, and they
+constantly came to him with stories they had made up of the wicked
+things she had done. Amongst other things they told the king that
+Guna-Vara did not really love him but cared more for some one else than
+she did for him. The most bitter of all against her was the wife called
+Ayasolekha, who was cunning enough to know what sort of tale the king
+was likely to believe. The very fact that Vira-Bhuja loved Guna-Vara so
+deeply made him more ready to think that perhaps after all she did not
+return his affection, and he longed to find out the truth. So he in his
+turn made up a story, thinking by its means to find out how she felt
+for him. He therefore went one day to her private apartments, and
+having sent all her attendants away, he told her he had some very sad
+news for her which he had heard from his chief astrologer. Astrologers,
+you know, are wise men, who are supposed to be able to read the secrets
+of the stars, and learn from them things which are hidden from ordinary
+human beings. Guna-Vara therefore did not doubt that what her husband
+was about to tell her was true, and she listened eagerly, her heart
+beating very fast in her fear that some trouble was coming to those she
+loved.
+
+Great indeed was her sorrow and surprise, when Vira-Bhuja went on to
+say that the astrologer had told him that a terrible misfortune
+threatened him and his kingdom and the only way to prevent it was to
+shut Guna-Vara up in prison for the rest of her life. The poor queen
+could hardly believe that she had heard rightly. She knew she had done
+no wrong, and could not understand how putting her in prison could help
+anybody. She was quite sure that her husband loved her, and no words
+could have expressed her pain at the thought of being sent away from
+him and her dear son. Yet she made no resistance, not even asking
+Vira-Bhuja to let her see Sringa-Bhuja again. She just bowed her
+beautiful head and said: “Be it unto me as my Lord wills. If he wishes
+my death, I am ready to lay down my life.”
+
+This submission made the king feel even more unhappy than before. He
+longed to take his wife in his arms and tell her he would never let her
+go; and perhaps if she had looked at him then, he would have seen all
+her love for him in her eyes, but she remained perfectly still with
+bowed head, waiting to hear what her fate was to be. Then the thought
+entered Vira-Bhuja’s mind: “She is afraid to look at me: what
+Ayasolekha said was true.”
+
+1. Can true love suspect the loved one of evil?
+
+2. Is true love ever jealous?
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+So the king summoned his guards and ordered them to take his wife to a
+strong prison and leave her there. She went with them without making
+any resistance, only turning once to look lovingly at her husband as
+she was led away. Vira-Bhuja returned to his own palace and had not
+been there very long when he got a message from Ayasolekha, begging him
+to give her an interview, for she had something of very great
+importance to tell him. The king consented at once, thinking to
+himself, “perhaps she has found out that what she told me about my dear
+Guna-Vara is not true.”
+
+Great then was his disappointment when the wicked woman told him she
+had discovered a plot against his life. The son of Guna-Vara and some
+of the chief men of the kingdom, she said, had agreed together to kill
+him, so that Sringa-Bhuja might reign in his stead. She and some of the
+other wives had overheard conversations between them, and were
+terrified lest their beloved Lord should be hurt. The young prince, she
+declared, had had some trouble in persuading the nobles to help him,
+but he had succeeded at last.
+
+Vira-Bhuja simply could not believe this story, for he trusted his son
+as much as he loved him; and he sent the mischief maker away, telling
+her not to dare to enter his presence again. For all that he could not
+get the matter out of his head. He had Sringa-Bhuja carefully watched;
+and as nothing against him was found out, he was beginning to feel more
+easy in his mind, and even to think of going to see Guna-Vara in her
+prison to ask her to confide in him, when something happened which led
+him to fear that after all his dear son was not true to him. This was
+what made him uneasy. He had a wonderful arrow, set with precious
+jewels, which had been given to him by a magician, and had the power of
+hitting without fail whatever it was aimed at from however great a
+distance. The very day he had meant to visit his ill-treated wife, he
+missed this arrow from the place in which he kept it concealed. This
+distressed him very much; and after seeking it in vain, he summoned all
+those who were employed in the palace to his presence, and asked if any
+of them knew anything about the arrow. He promised that he would
+forgive any one who helped him to get it back, even if it were the
+thief himself; but added that, if it was not found in three days, he
+would have all the servants beaten until the one who had stolen it
+confessed.
+
+3. Do you think this was the best way to find out who had taken the
+arrow?
+
+4. How would you have set about learning the truth if you had been the
+king?
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Now the fact of the matter was that Ayasolekha, who had told the wicked
+story about Guna-Vara, knew where the king kept the arrow, had taken it
+to her private rooms, and had sent for her own sons and those of the
+other wives, all of whom hated Sringa-Bhuja, to tell them of a plot to
+get their brother into disgrace. “You know,” she said to them, “how
+much better your father loves Sringa-Bhuja than he does any of you; and
+that, when he dies, he will leave the kingdom and all his money to him.
+Now I will help you to prevent this by getting rid of Sringa-Bhuja.
+
+“You must have a great shooting match, in which your brother will be
+delighted to take part, for he is very proud of his skill with the bow
+and arrow. On the day of the match, I will send for him and give him
+the jewelled arrow belonging to your father to shoot with, telling him
+the king had said I might lend it to him. Your father will then think
+he stole it and order him to be killed.”
+
+The brothers were all delighted at what they thought a very clever
+scheme, and did just what Ayasolekha advised. When the day came, great
+crowds assembled to see the shooting at a large target set up near the
+palace. The king himself and all his court were watching the scene from
+the walls, and it was difficult for the guards to keep the course
+clear. The brothers, beginning at the eldest, all pretended to try and
+hit the target; but none of them really wished to succeed, because they
+thought that, when Sringa-Bhuja’s turn came, as their father’s youngest
+son, he would win the match with the jewelled arrow. Then the king
+would order him to be brought before him, and he would be condemned to
+death or imprisonment for life.
+
+Now, as very often happens, something no one in the least expected
+upset the carefully planned plot. Just as Sringa-Bhuja was about to
+shoot at the target, a big crane flew on to the ground between him and
+it, so that it was impossible for him to take proper aim. The brothers,
+seeing the bird and anxious to shoot it for themselves, all began to
+clamour that they should be allowed to shoot again. Nobody made any
+objection, and Sringa-Bhuja stood aside, with the jewelled arrow in the
+bow, waiting to see what they would do, but feeling sure that he would
+be the one to kill the bird. Brother after brother tried, but the great
+creature still remained untouched, when a travelling mendicant stepped
+forward and cried aloud:
+
+“That is no bird, but an evil magician who has taken that form to
+deceive you all. If he is not killed before he takes his own form
+again, he will bring misery and ruin upon this town and the surrounding
+country.”
+
+You know perhaps that mendicants or beggars in India are often holy men
+whose advice even kings are glad to listen to; so that, when everyone
+heard what this beggar said, there was great excitement and terror. For
+many were the stories told of the misfortunes Rakshas or evil magicians
+had brought on other cities. The brothers all wanted to try their luck
+once more, but the beggar checked them, saying:
+
+“No, no. Where is your youngest brother Sringa-Bhuja? He alone will be
+able to save your homes, your wives and your children, from
+destruction,”
+
+Then Sringa-Bhuja came forward; and as the sun flashed upon the jewels
+in the stolen arrow, revealing to the watching king that it was his own
+beloved son who had taken it, the young prince let it fly straight for
+the bird. It wounded but did not kill the crane, which flew off with
+the arrow sticking in its breast, the blood dripping from it in its
+flight, which became gradually slower and slower. At the sight of the
+bird going off with the precious jewelled arrow, the king was filled
+with rage, and sent orders that Sringa-Bhuja should be fetched to his
+presence immediately. But before the messengers reached him, he had
+started in pursuit of the bird, guided by the blood-drops on the
+ground.
+
+5. Did the brothers show wisdom in the plot they laid against their
+brother?
+
+6. What do you think from this story, so far as you have read it, were
+the chief qualities of Sringa-Bhuja?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+As Sringa-Bhuja sped along after the crane, the beggar made some
+strange signs in the air with the staff he used to help him along; and
+such clouds of dust arose that no one could see in which direction the
+young prince had gone. The brothers and Ayasolekha were very much
+dismayed at the way things had turned out, and greatly feared that the
+king’s anger would vent itself on them, now that Sringa-Bhuja had
+disappeared. Vira-Bhuja did send for them, and asked them many
+questions; but they all kept the secret of how Sringa-Bhuja had got the
+arrow, and promised to do all they could to help to get it back. Again
+the king thought he would go and see the mother of his dear youngest
+son; but again something held him back, and poor Guna-Vara was left
+alone, no one ever going near her except the gaoler who took her her
+daily food. After trying everything possible to find out where
+Sringa-Bhuja had gone, the king began to show special favour to another
+of his sons; and as the months passed by, it seemed as if the young
+prince and the jewelled arrow were both forgotten.
+
+Meanwhile Sringa-Bhuja travelled on and on in the track of the drops of
+blood, till he came to the outskirts of a fine forest, through which
+many beaten paths led to a very great city. He sat down to rest at the
+foot of a wide-spreading tree, and was gazing up at the towers and
+pinnacles of the town, rising far upwards towards the sky, when he had
+a feeling that he was no longer alone. He was right: for, coming slowly
+along one of the paths, was a lovely young girl, singing softly to
+herself in a beautiful voice. Her eyes were like those of a young doe,
+and her features were perfect in their form and expression, reminding
+Sringa-Bhuja of his mother, whom he was beginning to fear he would
+never see again.
+
+When the young girl was quite close to him, he startled her by saying,
+“Can you tell me what is the name of this city?”
+
+“Of course, I can,” she replied, “for I live in it. It is called
+Dhuma-Pura, and it belongs to my father: he is a great magician named
+Agni-Sikha, who loves not strangers. Now tell me who you are and whence
+you come?”
+
+Then Sringa-Bhuja told the maiden all about himself, and why he was
+wandering so far from home. The girl, whose name was Rupa-Sikha,
+listened very attentively; and when he came to the shooting of the
+crane, and how he had followed the bleeding bird in the hope of getting
+back his father’s jewelled arrow, she began to tremble.
+
+“Alas, alas!” she said. “The bird you shot was my father, who can take
+any form he chooses. He returned home but yesterday, and I drew the
+arrow from his wound and dressed the hurt myself. He gave me the
+jewelled arrow to keep, and I will never part with it. As for you, the
+sooner you depart the better; for my father never forgives, and he is
+so powerful that you would have no chance of escape if he knew you were
+here.”
+
+Hearing this, Sringa-Bhuja became very sad, not because he was afraid
+of Agni-Sikha, but because he knew that he already loved the fair
+maiden who stood beside him, and was resolved to make her his wife. She
+too felt drawn towards him and did not like to think of his going away.
+Besides this, she had much to fear from her father, who was as cruel as
+he was mighty, and had caused the death already of many lovers who had
+wished to marry her. She had never cared for any of them, and had been
+content to live without a husband, spending her life in wandering about
+near her home and winning the love of all who lived near her, even that
+of the wild creatures of the forest, who would none of them dream of
+hurting her. Often and often she stood between the wrath of her father
+and those he wished to injure; for, wicked as he was, he loved her and
+wanted her to be happy.
+
+7. Do you think that a really wicked man is able to love any one truly?
+
+8. What would have been the best thing for Sringa-Bhuja to do, when he
+found out who the bird he had shot really was?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+Rupa-Sikha did not take long to decide what was best for her to do. She
+said to the prince, “I will give you back your golden arrow, and you
+must make all possible haste out of our country before my father
+discovers you are here.”
+
+“No! no! no! a thousand times no!” cried the prince. “Now I have once
+seen you, I can never, never leave you. Can you not learn to love me
+and be my wife?” Then he fell prostrate at her feet, and looked up into
+her face so lovingly that she could not resist him. She bent down
+towards him, and the next moment they were clasped in each other’s
+arms, quite forgetting all the dangers that threatened them. Rupa-Sikha
+was the first to remember her father, and drawing herself away from her
+lover, she said to him:
+
+“Listen to me, and I will tell you what we must do. My father is a
+magician, it is true, but I am his daughter, and I inherit some of his
+powers. If only you will promise to do exactly as I tell you, I think I
+may be able to save you, and perhaps even become your wife. I am the
+youngest of a large family and my father’s favourite. I will go and
+tell him that a great and mighty prince, hearing of his wonderful
+gifts, has come to our land to ask for an interview with him. Then I
+will tell him that I have seen you, fallen in love with you, and want
+to marry you. He will be flattered to think his fame has spread so far,
+and will want to see you, even if he refuses to let me be your wife. I
+will lead you to his presence and leave you with him alone. If you
+really love me, you will find the way to win his consent; but you must
+keep out of his sight till I have prepared the way for you. Come with
+me now, and I will show you a hiding-place.”
+
+Rupa-Sikha then led the prince far away into the depths of the forest,
+and showed him a large tree, the wide-spreading branches of which
+touched the ground, completely hiding the trunk, in which there was an
+opening large enough for a man to pass through. Steps cut in the inside
+of the trunk led down to a wide space underground; and there the
+magician’s daughter told her lover to wait for her return. “Before I
+go,” she said, “I will tell you my own password, which will save you
+from death if you should be discovered. It is LOTUS FLOWER; and
+everyone to whom you say it, will know that you are under my
+protection.”
+
+When Rupa-Sikha reached the palace she found her father in a very bad
+humour, because she had not been to ask how the wound in his breast was
+getting on. She did her best to make up for her neglect; and when she
+had dressed the wound very carefully, she prepared a dainty meal for
+her father with her own hands, waiting upon him herself whilst he ate
+it. All this pleased him, and he was in quite an amiable mood when she
+said to him:
+
+“Now I must tell you that I too have had an adventure. As I was
+gathering herbs in the forest, I met a man I had never seen before, a
+tall handsome young fellow looking like a prince, who told me he was
+seeking the palace of a great and wonderful magician, of whose
+marvellous deeds he had heard. Who could that magician have been but
+you, my father?” She added, “I told him I was your daughter, and he
+entreated me to ask you to grant him an interview.”
+
+Agni-Sikha listened to all this without answering a word. He was
+pleased at this fresh proof that his fame had spread far and wide; but
+he guessed at once that Rupa-Sikha had not told him the whole truth. He
+waited for her to go on, and as she said no more, he suddenly turned
+angrily upon her and in a loud voice asked her:
+
+“And what did my daughter answer?”
+
+Then Rupa-Sikha knew that her secret had been discovered. And rising to
+her full height, she answered proudly, “I told him I would seek you and
+ask you to receive him. And now I will tell you, my father, that I have
+seen the only man I will ever marry; and if you forbid me to do so, I
+will take my own life, for I cannot live without him.”
+
+“Send for the man immediately,” cried the magician, “and you shall hear
+my answer when he appears before me.”
+
+“I cannot send,” replied Rupa-Sikha, “for none knows where I have left
+him; nor will I fetch him till you promise that no evil shall befall
+him.”
+
+At first Agni-Sikha laughed aloud and declared that he would do no such
+thing. But his daughter was as obstinate as he was; and finding that he
+could not get his own way unless he yielded to her, he said crossly:
+
+“He shall keep his fine head on his shoulders, and leave the palace
+alive; but that is all I will say.”
+
+“But that is not enough,” said Rupa-Sikha. “Say after me, _Not a hair
+of his head shall be harmed, and I will treat him as an honoured
+guest_, or your eyes will never rest on him.”
+
+At last the magician promised, thinking to himself that he would find
+some way of disposing of Sringa-Bhuja, if he did not fancy him for a
+son-in-law. The words she wanted to hear were hardly out of her
+father’s mouth before Rupa-Sikha sped away, as if on the wings of the
+wind, full of hope that all would be well. She found her lover
+anxiously awaiting her, and quickly explained how matters stood. “You
+had better say nothing about me to my father at first,” she said; “but
+only talk about him and all you have heard of him. If only you could
+get him to like you and want to keep you with him, it would help us
+very much. Then you could pretend that you must go back to your own
+land; and rather than allow you to do so, he will be anxious for us to
+be married and to live here with him.”
+
+9. Do you think the advice Rupa-Sikha gave to Sringa-Bhuja was good?
+
+10. Can you suggest anything else she might have done?
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+Sringa-Bhuja loved Rupa-Sikha so much that he was ready to obey her in
+whatever she asked. So he at once went with her to the palace. On every
+side he saw signs of the strength and power of the magician. Each gate
+was guarded by tall soldiers in shining armour, who saluted Rupa-Sikha
+but scowled fiercely at him. He knew full well that, if he had tried to
+pass alone, they would have prevented him from doing so. At last the
+two came to the great hall, where the magician was walking backwards
+and forwards, working himself into a rage at being kept waiting.
+Directly he looked at the prince, he knew him for the man who had shot
+the jewelled arrow at him when he had taken the form of a crane, and he
+determined that he would be revenged. He was too cunning to let
+Sringa-Bhuja guess that he knew him, and pretended to be very glad to
+see him. He even went so far as to say that he had long wished to find
+a prince worthy to wed his youngest and favourite daughter. “You,” he
+added, “seem to me the very man, young, handsome and—to judge from the
+richness of your dress and jewels—able to give my beloved one all she
+needs.”
+
+The prince could hardly believe his ears, and Rupa-Sikha also was very
+much surprised. She guessed however that her father had some evil
+purpose in what he said, and looked earnestly at Sringa-Bhuja in the
+hope of making him understand. But the prince was so overjoyed at the
+thought that she was to be his wife that he noticed nothing. So when
+Agni-Sikha added, “I only make one condition: you must promise that you
+will never disobey my commands, but do whatever I tell you without a
+moment’s hesitation,” Sringa-Bhuja, without waiting to think, said at
+once, “Only give me your daughter and I will serve you in any way you
+wish.”
+
+“That’s settled then!” cried the magician, and he clapped his hands
+together. In a moment a number of attendants appeared, and their master
+ordered them to lead the prince to the best apartments in the palace,
+to prepare a bath for him, and do everything he asked them.
+
+11. What great mistake did the prince make when he gave this promise?
+
+12. What answer should he have made?
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+As Sringa-Bhuja followed the servants, Rupa-Sikha managed to whisper to
+him, “Beware! await a message from me!” When he had bathed and was
+arraying himself in fresh garments provided by his host, waited on,
+hand and foot, by servants who treated him with the greatest respect, a
+messenger arrived, bearing a sealed letter which he reverently handed
+to the prince. Sringa-Bhuja guessed at once from whom it came; and
+anxious to read it alone, he hastily finished his toilette and
+dismissed the attendants.
+
+“My beloved,” said the letter—which was, of course, from Rupa-Sikha—“My
+father is plotting against you; and very foolish were you to promise
+you would obey him in all things. I have ten sisters all exactly like
+me, all wearing dresses and necklaces which are exact copies of each
+other, so that few can tell me from the others. Soon you will be sent
+for to the great Hall and we shall all be together there. My father
+will bid you choose your bride from amongst us; and if you make a
+mistake all will be over for us. But I will wear my necklace on my head
+instead of round my neck, and thus will you know your own true love.
+And remember, my dearest, to obey no future command without hearing
+from me, for I alone am able to outwit my terrible father.”
+
+Everything happened exactly as Rupa-Sikha described. The prince was
+sent for by Agni-Sikha, who, as soon as he appeared, gave him a garland
+of flowers and told him to place it round the neck of the maiden who
+was his promised bride. Without a moment’s hesitation Sringa-Bhuja
+picked out the right sister; and the magician, though inwardly enraged,
+pretended to be so delighted at this proof of a lover’s
+clear-sightedness that he cried:
+
+“You are the son-in-law for me! The wedding shall take place
+to-morrow!”
+
+13. Can you understand how it was that the magician did not notice the
+trick Rupa-Sikha had played upon him?
+
+14. What fault blinds people to the truth more than any other?
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+When Sringa-Bhuja heard what Agni-Sikha said, he was full of joy; but
+Rupa-Sikha knew well that her father did not mean a word of it. She
+waited quietly beside her lover, till the magician bade all the sisters
+but herself leave the hall. Then the magician, with a very wicked look
+on his face, said:
+
+“Before the ceremony there is just one little thing you must do for me,
+dear son-in-law that is to be. Go outside the town, and near the most
+westerly tower you will find a team of oxen and a plough awaiting you.
+Close to them is a pile of three hundred bushels of sesame seed. This
+you must sow this very day, or instead of a bridegroom you will be a
+dead man to-morrow.”
+
+Great was the dismay of Sringa-Bhuja when he heard this. But Rupa-Sikha
+whispered to him, “Fear not, for I will help you.” Sadly the prince
+left the palace alone, to seek the field outside the city; the guards,
+who knew he was the accepted lover of their favourite mistress, letting
+him pass unhindered. There, sure enough, near the western tower were
+the oxen, the plough and a great pile of seed. Never before had poor
+Sringa-Bhuja had to work for himself, but his great love for Rupa-Sikha
+made him determine to do his best. So he was about to begin to guide
+the oxen across the field, when, behold, all was suddenly changed.
+Instead of an unploughed tract of land, covered with weeds, was a field
+with rows and rows of regular furrows. The piles of seed were gone, and
+flocks of birds were gathering in the hope of securing some of it as it
+lay in the furrows.
+
+As Sringa-Bhuja was staring in amazement at this beautiful scene, he
+saw Rupa-Sikha, looking more lovely than ever, coming towards him. “Not
+in vain,” she said to him, “am I my father’s daughter. I too know how
+to compel even nature to do my will; but the danger is not over yet. Go
+quickly back to the palace, and tell Agni-Sikha that his wishes are
+fulfilled.”
+
+15. Can the laws of nature ever really be broken?
+
+16. What is the only way in which man can conquer nature?
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+The magician was very angry indeed when he heard that the field was
+ploughed and the seed sown. He knew at once that some magic had been at
+work, and suspected that Rupa-Sikha was the cause of his
+disappointment. Without a moment’s hesitation he said to the prince:
+“No sooner were you gone than I decided not to have that seed sown. Go
+back at once, and pile it up where it was before.”
+
+This time Sringa-Bhuja felt no fear or hesitation, for he was sure of
+the power and will to help him of his promised bride. So back he went
+to the field, and there he found the whole vast space covered with
+millions and millions of ants, busily collecting the seed and piling it
+up against the wall of the town. Again Rupa-Sikha came to cheer him,
+and again she warned him that their trials were not yet over. She
+feared, she said, that her father might prove stronger than herself;
+for he had many allies at neighbouring courts ready to help him in his
+evil purposes. “Whatever else he orders you to do, you _must_ see me
+before you leave the palace. I will send my faithful messenger to
+appoint a meeting in some secret place.”
+
+Agni-Sikha was not much surprised when the prince told him that his
+last order had been obeyed, and thought to himself, “I must get this
+tiresome fellow out of my domain, where that too clever child of mine
+will not be able to help him.” “Well,” he said, “I suppose the wedding
+must take place to-morrow after all, for I am a man of my word. We must
+now set about inviting the guests. You shall have the pleasure of doing
+this yourself: then my friends will know beforehand what a handsome
+young son-in-law I shall have. The first person to summon to the
+wedding is my brother Dhuma Sikha, who has taken up his abode in a
+deserted temple a few miles from here. You must ride at once to that
+temple, rein up your steed opposite it, and cry, ‘Dhuma Sikha, your
+brother Agni-Sikha has sent me hither to invite you to witness my
+marriage with his daughter Rupa-Sikha to-morrow. Come without delay!’
+Your message given, ride back to me; and I will tell you what farther
+tasks you must perform before the happy morrow dawns.”
+
+When Sringa-Bhuja left the palace, he knew not where to seek a horse to
+bear him on this new errand. But as he was nearing the gateway by which
+he had gone forth to sow the field with seed, a handsome boy approached
+him and said, “If my lord will follow me, I will tell him what to do.”
+Somehow the voice sounded familiar; and when the guards were left far
+enough behind to be out of hearing, the boy looked up at Sringa-Bhuja
+with a smile that revealed Rupa-Sikha herself. “Come with me,” she
+said; and taking his hand, she led him to a tree beneath which stood a
+noble horse, richly caparisoned, which pawed the ground and whinnied to
+its mistress, as she drew near.
+
+“You must ride this horse,” said Rupa-Sikha, “who will obey you if you
+but whisper in his ear; and you must take earth, water, wood and fire
+with you, which I will give you. You must go straight to the temple,
+and when you have called out your message, turn without a moment’s
+delay, and ride for your life as swiftly as your steed will go, looking
+behind you all the time. No guidance will be necessary; for Marut—that
+is my horse’s name—knows well what he has to do.”
+
+Then Rupa-Sikha gave Sringa-Bhuja a bowl of earth, a jar of water, a
+bundle of thorns and a brazier full of burning charcoal, hanging them
+by strong thongs upon the front of his saddle so that he could reach
+them easily. “My father,” she told him, “has given my uncle
+instructions to kill you, and he will follow you upon his swift Arab
+steed. When you hear him behind you, fling earth in his path; if that
+does not stop him, pour out some of the water; and if he still
+perseveres, scatter the burning charcoal before him.”
+
+17. Can you discover any hidden meaning in the use of earth, water,
+thorns and fire, to stop the course of the wicked magician?
+
+18. Do you think the prince loved Rupa-Sikha better than he loved
+himself?
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Away went the prince after he had received these instructions; and very
+soon he found himself opposite the temple, with the images of three of
+the gods worshipped in India to prove that it had been a sanctuary
+before the magician took up his abode in it. Directly Sringa-Bhuja
+shouted out his message to Dhuma-Sikha, the wicked dweller in the
+temple came rushing forth from the gateway, mounted on a huge horse,
+which seemed to be belching forth flames from its nostrils as it
+bounded along. For one terrible moment Sringa-Bhuja feared that he was
+lost; but Marut, putting forth all his strength, kept a little in
+advance of the enemy, giving the prince time to scatter earth behind
+him. Immediately a great mountain rose up, barring the road, and
+Sringa-Bhuja felt that he was saved. He was mistaken: for, as he looked
+back, he saw Dhuma-Sikha coming over the top of the mountain. The next
+moment the magician was close upon him. So he emptied his bowl of
+water: and, behold, a huge river with great waves hid pursuer and
+pursued from each other. Even this did not stop the mighty Arab horse,
+which swam rapidly across, the rider loudly shouting out orders to the
+prince to stop. When the prince heard the hoofs striking on the dry
+ground behind him again, he threw out the thorns, and a dense wood
+sprouted up as if by magic, which for a few moments gave fresh hope of
+safety to Sringa-Bhuja; for it seemed as if even the powerful magician
+would be unable to get through it. He did succeed however; but his
+clothes were nearly torn off his back, and his horse was bleeding from
+many wounds made by the cruel thorns. Sringa-Bhuja too was getting
+weary, and remembered that he had only one more chance of checking his
+relentless enemy. He could almost feel the breath of the panting steed
+as it drew near; and with a loud cry to his beloved Rupa-Sikha, he
+threw the burning charcoal on the road. In an instant the grass by the
+wayside, the trees overshadowing it, and the magic wood which had
+sprung from the thorns, were alight, burning so fiercely that no living
+thing could approach them safely. The wicked magician was beaten at
+last, and was soon himself fleeing away, as fast as he could, with the
+flames following after him as if they were eager to consume him.
+
+Whether his enemy ever got back to his temple, Sringa-Bhuja never knew.
+Exhausted with all he had been through, the young prince was taken back
+to the palace by the faithful Marut, and there he found his dear
+Rupa-Sikha awaiting him. She told him that her father had promised her
+that, if the prince came back, he would oppose her marriage no longer.
+“For,” he said, “if he can escape your uncle, he must be more than
+mortal, and worthy even of my daughter.” “He does not in the least
+expect to see you again,” added Rupa-Sikha; “and even if he allows us
+to marry, he will never cease to hate you; for I am quite sure he knows
+that you shot the jewelled arrow at him when he was in the form of a
+crane. If I ever am your wife, he will try to punish you through me.
+But have no fear: I shall know how to manage him. Fresh powers have
+been lately given to me by another uncle whose magic is stronger than
+that of any of my other relations.”
+
+When Sringa-Bhuja had bathed and rested, he robed himself once more in
+the garments he had worn the day he first saw Rupa-Sikha; and together
+the lovers went to the great hall to seek an interview with Agni-Sikha.
+The magician, who had made quite sure that he had now got rid of the
+unwelcome suitor for his daughter’s hand, could not contain his rage,
+at seeing him walk in with her as if the two were already wedded.
+
+He stamped about, pouring out abuse, until he had quite exhausted
+himself, the lovers looking on quietly without speaking. At last,
+coming close to them, Agni-Sikha shouted, in a loud harsh voice: “So
+you have not obeyed my orders. You have not bid my brother to the
+wedding. Your life is forfeit, and you will die to-morrow instead of
+marrying Rupa-Sikha. Describe the temple in which Dhuma Sikha lives and
+the appearance of its owner.”
+
+Then Sringa-Bhuja gave such an exact account of the temple, naming the
+gods whose images still adorned it, and of the terrible man riding the
+noble steed who had pursued him, that the magician was convinced
+against his will; and knowing that he must keep his word to Rupa-Sikha,
+he gave his consent for the preparations for the marriage on the morrow
+to begin.
+
+19. What is your opinion of the character of Agni-Sikha?
+
+20. Do you think he was at all justified in the way in which he treated
+his daughter and Sringa-Bhuja?
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+The marriage was celebrated the next day with very great pomp; and a
+beautiful suite of rooms was given to the bride and bridegroom, who
+could not in spite of this feel safe or happy, because they knew full
+well that Agni-Sikha hated them. The prince soon began to feel
+home-sick and anxious to introduce his beautiful wife to his own
+people. He remembered that he had left his dear mother in prison, and
+reproached himself for having forgotten her for so long. So he said to
+Rupa-Sikha:
+
+“Let us go, beloved, to my native city, Vardhamana. My heart yearns
+after my dear ones there, and I would fain introduce you to them.”
+
+“My lord,” replied Rupa-Sikha, “I will go with you whither you will,
+were it even to the ends of the earth. But we must not let my father
+guess we mean to go; for he would forbid us to leave the country and
+set spies to watch our every movement. We will steal away secretly,
+riding together on my faithful Marut and taking with us only what we
+can carry.” “And my jewelled arrow,” said the prince, “that I may give
+it back to my father and explain to him how I lost it. Then shall I be
+restored to his favour, and maybe he will forgive my mother also.”
+
+“Have no fear,” answered Rupa-Sikha: “all will surely go well with us.
+Forget not that new powers have been given to me, which will save us
+from my father and aid me to rescue my dear one’s mother from her evil
+fate.”
+
+Before the dawn broke on the next day, the two set forth unattended,
+Marut seeming to take pride in his double burden and bearing them along
+so swiftly that they had all but reached the bounds of the country
+under the dominion of Agni-Sikha as the sun rose. Just as they thought
+they were safe from pursuit, they heard a loud rushing noise behind;
+and looking round, they saw the father of the bride close upon them on
+his Arab steed, with sword uplifted in his hand to strike. “Fear not,”
+whispered Rupa-Sikha to her husband. “I will show you now what I can
+do.” And waving her arms to and fro, as she muttered some strange
+words, she changed herself into an old woman and Sringa-Bhuja into an
+old man, whilst Marut became a great pile of wood by the road-side.
+
+When the angry father reached the spot, the bride and bridegroom were
+busily gathering sticks to add to the pile, seemingly too absorbed in
+their work to take any notice of the angry magician, who shouted out to
+them:
+
+“Have you seen a man and a woman pass along this way?”
+
+The old woman straightened herself, and peering, up into his face,
+said:
+
+“No; we are too busy over our work to notice anything else.”
+
+“And what, pray, are you doing in my wood?” asked Agni-Sikha.
+
+“We are helping to collect the fuel for the pyre of the great magician
+Agni-Sikha,” answered Rupa-Sikha. “Do you not know that he died
+yesterday?”
+
+The Hindus of India do not bury but burn the dead; so that it was quite
+a natural thing for the people of the land over which the magician
+ruled to collect the materials for the pyre or heap of wood on which
+his body would be laid to be burnt. What surprised Agni-Sikha, and in
+fact nearly took his breath away, was to be quietly told that he was
+dead. He began to think that he was dreaming, and said to himself, “I
+cannot really be dead without knowing it, so I must be asleep.” And he
+quietly turned his horse round and rode slowly home again. This was
+just what his daughter wanted; and as soon as he was out of sight, she
+turned herself, her husband and Marut, into their natural forms again,
+laughing merrily, as she did so, at the thought of the ease with which
+she had got rid of her father.
+
+21. Do you think it was clever of Rupa-Sikha to make up this story?
+
+22. Do you think it is better to believe all that you are told or to be
+more ready to doubt when anything you hear seems to be unusual?
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+Once more the bride and bridegroom set forth on their way, and once
+more they soon heard Agni-Sikha coming after them. For when he got back
+to his palace, and the servants hastened out to take his horse, he
+guessed that a trick had been played on him. He did not even dismount,
+but just turned his horse’s head round and galloped back again. “If
+ever,” he thought to himself, “I catch those two young people, I’ll
+make them wish they had obeyed me. Yes, they shall suffer for it. I am
+not going to stand being defied like this.”
+
+This time Rupa-Sikha contented herself with making her husband and
+Marut invisible, whilst she changed herself into a letter-carrier,
+hurrying along the road as if not a moment was to be lost. She took no
+notice of her father, till he reined up his steed and shouted to her:
+
+“Have you seen a man and woman on horseback pass by?”
+
+“No, indeed,” she said: “I have a very important letter to deliver, and
+could think of nothing but making all the haste possible.”
+
+“And what is this important letter about?” asked Agni-Sikha. “Can you
+tell me that?”
+
+“Oh, yes, I can tell you that,” she said. “But where can you have been,
+not to have heard the terrible news about the ruler of this land?”
+
+“You can’t tell me anything I don’t know about him,” answered the
+magician, “for he is my greatest friend.”
+
+“Then you know that he is dying from a wound he got in a battle with
+his enemies only yesterday. I am to take this letter to his brother
+Dhuma-Sikha, bidding him come to see him before the end.”
+
+Again Agni-Sikha wondered if he were dreaming, or if he were under some
+strange spell and did not really know who he was? Being able, as he
+was, to cast spells on other people, he was ready to fancy the same
+thing had befallen him. He said nothing when he heard that he was
+wounded, and was about to turn back again when Rupa-Sikha said to him:
+
+“As you are on horseback and can get to Dhuma-Sikha’s temple quicker
+than I can, will you carry the message of his brother’s approaching
+death to him for me, and bid him make all possible haste if he would
+see him alive?”
+
+This was altogether too much for the magician, who became sure that
+there was something very wrong about him. He knew he was not wounded or
+dying, but he thought he must be ill of fever, fancying he heard what
+he did not. He stared fixedly at his daughter, and she stared up at
+him, half-afraid he might find out who she was, but he never guessed.
+
+“Do your own errands,” he said at last; and slashing his poor innocent
+horse with his whip, he wheeled round and dashed home again as fast as
+he could. Again his servants ran out to receive him, and he gloomily
+dismounted, telling them to send his chief councillor to him in his
+private apartments. Shut up with him, he poured out all his troubles,
+and the councillor advised him to see his physician without any delay,
+for he felt sure that these strange fancies were caused by illness.
+
+The doctor, when he came, was very much puzzled, but he looked as wise
+as he could, ordered perfect rest and all manner of disagreeable
+medicines. He was very much surprised at the change he noticed in his
+patient, who, instead of angrily declaring that there was nothing the
+matter with him, was evidently in a great fright about his health. He
+shut himself up for many days, and it was a long time before he got
+over the shock he had received, and then it was too late for him to be
+revenged or the lovers.
+
+23. Can you explain what casting a spell means?
+
+24. Can you give an instance of a spell being cast on any one you have
+heard of?
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Having really got rid of Agni-Sikha, Rupa-Sikha and her husband were
+very soon out of his reach and in the country belonging to
+Sringa-Bhuja’s father, who had bitterly mourned the loss of his
+favourite son. When the news was brought to him that two strangers, a
+handsome young man and a beautiful woman, who appeared to be husband
+and wife, had entered his capital, he hastened forth to meet them,
+hoping that perhaps they could give him news of Sringa-Bhuja. What was
+his joy when he recognised his dear son, holding the jewelled arrow,
+which had led him into such trouble, in his right hand, as he guided
+Marut with his left! The king flung himself from his horse, and
+Sringa-Bhuja, giving the reins to Rupa-Sikha, also dismounted. The next
+moment he was in his father’s arms, everything forgotten and forgiven
+in the happy reunion.
+
+Great was the rejoicing over Sringa-Bhuja’s return and hearty was the
+welcome given to his beautiful bride, who quickly won all hearts but
+those of the wicked wives and sons who had tried to harm her husband
+and his mother. They feared the anger of the king, when he found out
+how they had deceived him, and they were right to fear. Sringa-Bhuja’s
+very first act was to plead for his mother to be set free. He would not
+tell any of his adventures, he said, till she could hear them too; and
+the king, full of remorse for the way he had treated her, went with him
+to the prison in which she had been shut up all this time. What was
+poor Guna-Vara’s joy, when the two entered the place in which she had
+shed so many tears! She could not at first believe her eyes or ears,
+but soon she realised that her sufferings were indeed over. She could
+not be quite happy till her beloved husband said he knew she had never
+loved any one but him. She had been accused falsely, she said, and she
+wanted the woman who had told a lie about her to be made to own the
+truth.
+
+This was done in the presence of the whole court, and when judgment had
+been passed upon Ayasolekha, the brothers of Sringa-Bhuja were also
+brought before their father, who charged them with having deceived him.
+They too were condemned, and all the culprits would have been taken to
+prison and shut up for the rest of their lives, if those they had
+injured had not pleaded for their forgiveness. Guna-Vara and her son
+prostrated themselves at the foot of the throne, and would not rise
+till they had won pardon for their enemies. Ayasolekha and the brothers
+were allowed to go free; but Sringa-Bhuja, though he was the youngest
+of all the princes, was proclaimed heir to the crown after his father’s
+death. His brothers, however, never ceased to hate him; and when he
+came to the throne, they gave him a great deal of trouble. He had many
+years of happiness with his wife and parents before that, and never
+regretted the mistake about the jewelled arrow; since but for it he
+would, he knew, never have seen his beloved Rupa-Sikha.
+
+25. What is the chief lesson to be learnt from this story?
+
+26. Do you think it was good for those who had told lies about
+Guna-Vara and her son to be forgiven so easily?
+
+27. Can you give any instances of good coming out of evil and of evil
+coming out of what seemed good?
+
+28. Do you think Rupa-Sikha deserved all the happiness that came to
+her?
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+The Beetle and the Silken Thread.[2]
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+The strange adventures related in the story of the Beetle and the
+Silken Thread took place in the town of Allahabad, “the City of God,”
+so called because it is situated near the point of meeting of the two
+sacred rivers of India, the Ganges, which the Hindus lovingly call
+Mother Ganga because they believe its waters can wash away their sins,
+and the Jumna, which they consider scarcely less holy.
+
+The ruler of Allahabad was a very selfish and hot-tempered Raja named
+Surya Pratap, signifying “Powerful as the Sun,” who expected everybody
+to obey him without a moment’s delay, and was ready to punish in a very
+cruel manner those who hesitated to do so. He would never listen to a
+word of explanation, or own that he had been mistaken, even when he
+knew full well that he was in the wrong. He had a mantri, that is to
+say, a chief vizier or officer, whom he greatly trusted, and really
+seemed to be fond of, for he liked to have him always near him. The
+vizier was called Dhairya-Sila, or “the Patient One,” because he never
+lost his temper, no matter what provocation he received. He had a
+beautiful house, much money and many jewels, carriages to drive about
+in, noble horses to ride and many servants to wait upon him, all given
+to him by his master. But what he loved best of all was his faithful
+wife, Buddhi-Mati, or “the Sensible One,” whom he had chosen for
+himself, and who would have died for him.
+
+Many of the Raja’s subjects were jealous of Dhairya-Sila, and
+constantly brought accusations against him, of none of which his master
+took any notice, except to punish those who tried to set him against
+his favourite. It really seemed as if nothing would ever bring harm to
+Dhairya-Sila; but he often told his wife that such good fortune was not
+likely to last, and that she must be prepared for a change before long.
+
+It turned out that he was right. For one day Surya Pratap ordered him
+to do what he considered would be a shameful deed. He refused; telling
+his master that he was wrong to think of such a thing, and entreating
+him to give up his purpose. “All your life long,” he said, “you will
+wish you had listened to me; for your conscience will never let you
+rest!”
+
+On hearing these brave words, Surya Pratap flew into a terrible rage,
+summoned his guards, and ordered them to take Dhairya-Sila outside the
+city to a very lofty tower, and leave him at the top of it, without
+shelter from the sun and with nothing to eat or drink. The guards were
+at first afraid to touch the vizier, remembering how others had been
+punished for only speaking against him. Seeing their unwillingness, the
+Raja got more and more angry; but Dhairya-Sila himself kept quite calm,
+and said to the soldiers:
+
+“I go with you gladly. It is for the master to command and for me to
+obey.”
+
+1. What is the best way to learn to keep calm in an emergency?
+
+2. Why does too much power have a bad influence on those who have it?
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+The guards were relieved to find they need not drag the vizier away;
+for they admired his courage and felt sure that the Raja would soon
+find he could not get on without him. It might go hardly with them if
+he suffered harm at their hands. So they only closed in about him; and
+holding himself very upright, Dhairya-Sila walked to the tower as if he
+were quite glad to go. In his heart however he knew full well that it
+would need all his skill to escape with his life.
+
+When her husband did not come home at night, Buddhi-Mati was very much
+distressed. She guessed at once that something had gone wrong, and set
+forth to try and find out what had happened. This was easy enough; for
+as she crept along, with her veil closely held about her lest she
+should be recognised, she passed groups of people discussing the
+terrible fate that had befallen the favourite. She decided that she
+must wait until midnight, when the streets would be deserted and she
+could reach the tower unnoticed. It was almost dark when she got there,
+but in the dim light of the stars she made out the form of him she
+loved better than herself, leaning over the edge of the railing at the
+top.
+
+“Is my dear lord still alive?” she whispered, “and is there anything I
+can do to help him?”
+
+“You can do everything that is needed to help me,” answered
+Dhairya-Sila quietly, “if you only obey every direction I give you. Do
+not for one moment suppose that I am in despair. I am more powerful
+even now than my master, who has but shown his weakness by attempting
+to harm me. Now listen to me. Come to-morrow night at this very hour,
+bringing with you the following things: first, a beetle; secondly,
+sixty yards of the finest silk thread, as thin as a spider’s web;
+thirdly, sixty yards of cotton thread, as thin as you can get it, but
+very strong; fourthly, sixty yards of good stout twine; fifthly, sixty
+yards of rope, strong enough to carry my weight; and last, but
+certainly not least, one drop of the purest bees’ honey.”
+
+3. Do you think the vizier thought of all these things before or after
+he was taken to the tower?
+
+4. What special quality did he display in the way in which he faced his
+position on the tower?
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Buddhi-Mati listened very attentively to these strange instructions,
+and began to ask questions about them. “Why do you want the beetle? Why
+do you want the honey?” and so on. But her husband checked her. “I have
+no strength to waste in explanations,” he said. “Go home in peace,
+sleep well, and dream of me.” So the anxious wife went meekly away; and
+early the next day she set to work to obey the orders she had received.
+She had some trouble in obtaining fine enough silk, so very, very thin
+it had to be, like a spider’s web; but the cotton, twine and rope were
+easily bought; and to her surprise she was not asked what she wanted
+them for. It took her a good while to choose the beetle. For though she
+had a vague kind of idea that the silk, the cotton, twine, and rope,
+were to help her husband get down from the tower, she could not imagine
+what share the beetle and the honey were to take. In the end she chose
+a very handsome, strong-looking, brilliantly coloured fellow who lived
+in the garden of her home and whom she knew to be fond of honey.
+
+5. Can you guess how the beetle and the honey were to help in saving
+Dhairya-Sila?
+
+6. Do you think it would have been better if the vizier had told his
+wife how all the things he asked for were to be used?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+All the time Buddhi-Mati was at work for her husband, she was thinking
+of him and looking forward to the happy day of his return home. She had
+such faith in him that she did not for a moment doubt that he would
+escape; but she was anxious about the future, feeling sure that the
+Raja would never forgive Dhairya-Sila for being wiser than himself.
+Exactly at the time fixed the faithful wife appeared at the foot of the
+tower, with all the things she had been told to bring with her.
+
+“Is all well with my lord?” she whispered, as she gazed up through the
+darkness. “I have the silken thread as fine as gossamer, the cotton
+thread, the twine, the rope, the beetle and the honey.”
+
+“Yes,” answered Dhairya-Sila, “all is still well with me. I have slept
+well, feeling confident that my dear one would bring all that is needed
+for my safety; but I dread the great heat of another day, and we must
+lose no time in getting away from this terrible tower. Now attend most
+carefully to all I bid you do; and remember not to speak loud, or the
+sentries posted within hearing will take alarm and drive you away.
+First of all, tie the end of the silken thread round the middle of the
+beetle, leaving all its legs quite free. Then rub the drop of honey on
+its nose, and put the little creature on the wall, with its nose turned
+upwards towards me. It will smell the honey, but will not guess that it
+carries it itself, and it will crawl upwards in the hope of getting to
+the hive from which that honey came. Keep the rest of the silk firmly
+held, and gradually unwind it as the beetle climbs up. Mind you do not
+let it slip, for my very life depends on that slight link with you.”
+
+7. Which do you think had the harder task to perform—the husband at the
+top of the tower or the wife at the foot of it?
+
+8. Do you think the beetle was likely to imagine it was on the way to a
+hive of bees when it began to creep up the tower?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+Buddhi-Mati, though her hands shook and her heart beat fast as she
+realized all that depended on her, kept the silk from becoming
+entangled; and when it was nearly all unwound, she heard her husband’s
+voice saying to her: “Now tie the cotton thread to the end of the silk
+that you hold, and let it gradually unwind.” She obeyed, fully
+understanding now what all these preparations were for.
+
+When the little messenger of life reached the top of the tower,
+Dhairya-Sila took it up in his hand and very gently unfastened the
+silken thread from its body. Then he placed the beetle carefully in a
+fold of his turban, and began to pull the silken thread up—very, very
+slowly, for if it had broken, his wonderful scheme would have come to
+an end. Presently he had the cotton thread in his fingers, and he broke
+off the silk, wound it up, and placed it too in his turban. It had done
+its duty well, and he would not throw it away.
+
+“Half the work is done now,” he whispered to his faithful wife. “You
+have all but saved me now. Take the twine and tie it to the end of the
+cotton thread.”
+
+Very happily Buddhi-Mati obeyed once more; and soon the cotton thread
+and twine were also laid aside, and the strong rope tied to the last
+was being quickly dragged up by the clever vizier, who knew that all
+fear of death from sunstroke or hunger was over. When he had all the
+rope on the tower, he fastened one end of it to the iron railing which
+ran round the platform on which he stood, and very quickly slid down to
+the bottom, where his wife was waiting for him, trembling with joy.
+
+9. Do you see anything very improbable in the account of what the
+beetle did?
+
+10. If the beetle had not gone straight up the tower, what do you think
+would have happened?
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+After embracing his wife and thanking her for saving him, the vizier
+said to her: “Before we return home, let us give thanks to the great
+God who helped me in my need by putting into my head the device by
+which I escaped.” The happy pair then prostrated themselves on the
+ground, and in fervent words of gratitude expressed their sense of what
+the God they worshipped had done for them. “And now,” said
+Dhairya-Sila, “the next thing we have to do is to take the dear little
+beetle which was the instrument of my rescue back to the place it came
+from.” And taking off his turban, he showed his wife the tiny creature
+lying in the soft folds.
+
+Buddhi-Mati led her husband to the garden where she had found the
+beetle, and Dhairya-Sila laid it tenderly on the ground, fetched some
+food for it, such as he knew it loved, and there left it to take up its
+old way of life. The rest of the day he spent quietly in his own home
+with his wife, keeping out of sight of his servants, lest they should
+report his return to his master. “You must never breathe a word to any
+one of how I escaped,” Dhairya-Sila said, and his wife promised that
+she never would.
+
+11. When the vizier got this promise, what did he forget which could
+betray how he got down from the tower, if any one went to look at it?
+
+12. Do you think there was any need for the vizier to tell his wife to
+keep his secret?
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+All this time the Raja was feeling very unhappy, for he thought he had
+himself caused the death of the one man he could trust. He was too
+proud to let anybody know that he missed Dhairya-Sila, and was longing
+to send for him from the tower before it was too late. What then was
+his relief and surprise when a message was brought to him that the
+vizier was at the door of the palace and begged for an interview.
+
+“Bring him in at once,” cried Surya Pratap. And the next moment
+Dhairya-Sila stood before his master, his hands folded on his breast
+and his head bent in token of his submission. The attendants looked on,
+eager to know how he had got down from the tower, some of them anything
+but glad to see him back. The Raja took care not to show how delighted
+he was to see him, and pretending to be angry, he said:
+
+“How dare you come into my presence, and which of my subjects has
+ventured to help you to escape the death on the tower you so richly
+deserved?”
+
+“None of your subjects, great and just and glorious ruler,” replied
+Dhairya-Sila, “but the God who created us both, making you my master
+and me your humble servant. It was that God,” he went on, “who saved
+me, knowing that I was indeed guiltless of any crime against you. I had
+not been long on the tower when help came to me in the form of a great
+and noble eagle, which appeared above me, hovering with outspread
+wings, as if about to swoop down upon me and tear me limb from limb. I
+trembled greatly, but I need have had no fear; for instead of harming
+me, the bird suddenly lifted me up in its talons and, flying rapidly
+through the air, landed me upon the balcony of my home and disappeared.
+Great indeed was the joy of my wife at my rescue from what seemed to be
+certain death; but I tore myself away from her embraces, to come and
+tell my lord how heaven had interfered to prove my innocence.”
+
+Fully believing that a miracle had taken place, Surya Pratap asked no
+more questions, but at once restored Dhairya-Sila to his old place as
+vizier, taking care not again to ill-treat the man he now believed to
+be under the special care of God. Though he certainly did not deserve
+it, the vizier prospered greatly all the rest of his life and as time
+went on he became the real ruler of the kingdom, for the Raja depended
+on his advice in everything. He grew richer and richer, but he was
+never really happy again, remembering the lie he had told to the master
+to whom he owed so much. Buddhi-Mati could never understand why he made
+up the story about the eagle, and constantly urged him to tell the
+truth. She thought it was really far more wonderful that a little
+beetle should have been the means of rescuing him, than that a strong
+bird should have done so; and she wanted everyone to know what a very
+clever husband she had. She kept her promise never to tell anyone what
+really happened, but the secret came out for all that. By the time it
+was known, however, Dhairya-Sila was so powerful that no one could harm
+him, and when he died his son took his place as vizier.
+
+13. What lessons can be learnt from this story?
+
+14. What do you think was Dhairya-Sila’s motive for telling the Raja
+the lie about the eagle?
+
+15. What did Surya Pratap’s ready belief in the story show?
+
+16. How do you think the secret the husband and wife kept so well was
+discovered?
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+A Crow and His Three Friends
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+In the branches of a great tree, in a forest in India, lived a wise old
+crow in a very comfortable, well-built nest. His wife was dead, and all
+his children were getting their own living; so he had nothing to do but
+to look after himself. He led a very easy existence, but took a great
+interest in the affairs of his neighbours. One day, popping his head
+over the edge of his home, he saw a fierce-looking man stalking along,
+carrying a stick in one hand and a net in the other.
+
+“That fellow is up to some mischief, I’ll be bound,” thought the crow:
+“I will keep my eye on him.” The man stopped under the tree, spread the
+net on the ground; and taking a bag of rice out of his pocket, he
+scattered the grains amongst the meshes of the net. Then he hid himself
+behind the trunk of the tree from which the crow was watching,
+evidently intending to stop there and see what would happen. The crow
+felt pretty sure that the stranger had designs against birds, and that
+the stick had something to do with the matter. He was quite right; and
+it was not long before just what he expected came to pass.
+
+A flock of pigeons, led by a specially fine bird who had been chosen
+king because of his size and the beauty of his plumage, came flying
+rapidly along, and noticed the white rice, but did not see the net,
+because it was very much the same colour as the ground. Down swooped
+the king, and down swept all the other pigeons, eager to enjoy a good
+meal without any trouble to themselves. Alas, their joy was short
+lived! They were all caught in the net and began struggling to escape,
+beating the air with their wings and uttering loud cries of distress.
+
+The crow and the man behind the tree kept very quiet, watching them;
+the man with his stick ready to beat the poor helpless birds to death,
+the crow watching out of mere curiosity. Now a very strange and
+wonderful thing came to pass. The king of the pigeons, who had his wits
+about him, said to the imprisoned birds:
+
+“Take the net up in your beaks, all of you spread out your wings at
+once, and fly straight up into the air as quickly as possible.”
+
+1. What special qualities did the king display when he gave these
+orders to his subjects?
+
+2. Can you think of any other advice the king might have given?
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+In a moment all the pigeons, who were accustomed to obey their leader,
+did as they were bid; each little bird seized a separate thread of the
+net in his beak and up, up, up, they all flew, looking very beautiful
+with the sunlight gleaming on their white wings. Very soon they were
+out of sight; and the man, who thought he had hit upon a very clever
+plan, came forth from his hiding-place, very much surprised at what had
+happened. He stood gazing up after his vanished net for a little time,
+and then went away muttering to himself, whilst the wise old crow
+laughed at him.
+
+When the pigeons had flown some distance, and were beginning to get
+exhausted, for the net was heavy and they were quite unused to carrying
+loads, the king bade them rest awhile in a clearing of the forest; and
+as they all lay on the ground panting for breath, with the cruel net
+still hampering them, he said:
+
+“What we must do now is to take this horrible net to my old friend
+Hiranya the mouse, who will, I am quite sure, nibble through the
+strings for me and set us all free. He lives, as you all know, near the
+tree where the net was spread, deep underground; but there are many
+passages leading to his home, and we shall easily find one of the
+openings. Once there, we will all lift up our voices, and call to him
+at once, when he will be sure to hear us.” So the weary pigeons took up
+their burden once more, and sped back whence they had come, greatly to
+the surprise of the crow, who wondered at their coming back to the very
+place where misfortune had overtaken them. He very soon learnt the
+reason, and got so excited watching what was going on, that he hopped
+out of his nest and perched upon a branch where he could see better.
+Presently a great clamour arose, one word being repeated again and
+again: “Hiranya! Hiranya! Hiranya.”
+
+“Why, that’s the name of the mouse who lives down below there!” thought
+the crow. “Now, what good can he do? I know, I know,” he added, as he
+remembered the sharp teeth of Hiranya. “That king of the pigeons is a
+sensible fellow. I must make friends with him.”
+
+Very soon, as the pigeons lay fluttering and struggling outside one of
+the entrances to Hiranya’s retreat, the mouse came out. He didn’t even
+need to be told what was wanted, but at once began to nibble the
+string, first setting free the king, and then all the rest of the
+birds. “A friend in need is a friend indeed,” cried the king; “a
+thousand thousand thanks!” And away he flew up into the beautiful free
+air of heaven, followed by the happy pigeons, none of them ever likely
+to forget the adventure or to pick up food from the ground without a
+good look at it first.
+
+3. What was the chief virtue displayed by the mouse on this occasion?
+
+4. Do you think it is easier to obey than to command?
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+The mouse did not at once return to his hole when the birds were gone,
+but went for a little stroll, which brought him to the ground still
+strewn with rice, which he began to eat with great relish. “It’s an ill
+wind,” he said to himself, “which brings nobody any good. There’s many
+a good meal for my whole family here.”
+
+Presently he was joined by the old crow, who had flown down from his
+perch unnoticed by Hiranya, and now addressed him in his croaky voice:
+
+“Hiranya,” he said, “for that I know is your name, I am called
+Laghupatin and I would gladly have you for a friend. I have seen all
+that you did for the pigeons, and have come to the conclusion that you
+are a mouse of great wisdom, ready to help those who are in trouble,
+without any thought of yourself.”
+
+“You are quite wrong,” squeaked Hiranya. “I am not so silly as you make
+out. I have no wish to be your friend. If you were hungry, you wouldn’t
+hesitate to gobble me up. I don’t care for that sort of affection.”
+
+With that Hiranya whisked away to his hole, pausing at the entrance,
+when he knew the crow could not get at him, to cry, “You be off to your
+nest and leave me alone!”
+
+The feelings of the crow were very much hurt at this speech, the more
+that he knew full well it was not exactly love for the mouse, which had
+led him to make his offer, but self-interest: for who could tell what
+difficulties he himself might some day be in, out of which the mouse
+might help him? Instead of obeying Hiranya, and going back to his nest,
+he hopped to the mouse’s hole, and putting his head on one side in what
+he thought was a very taking manner, he said:
+
+“Pray do not misjudge me so. Never would I harm you! Even if I did not
+wish to have you for a friend, I should not dream of gobbling you up,
+as you say, however hungry I might be. Surely you are aware that I am a
+strict vegetarian, and never eat the flesh of other creatures. At least
+give me a trial. Let us share a meal together, and talk the matter
+over.”
+
+5. Can a friendship be a true one if the motive for it is
+self-interest?
+
+6. Would it have been wise or foolish for the mouse to agree to be
+friends with the crow?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+Hiranya, on hearing the last remark of Laghupatin, hesitated, and in
+the end he agreed that he would have supper with the crow that very
+evening. “There is plenty of rice here,” he said, “which we can eat on
+the spot. It would be impossible for you to get into my hole, and I am
+certainly not disposed to visit you in your nest.” So the two at once
+began their meal, and before it was over they had become good friends.
+Not a day passed without a meeting, and when all the rice was eaten up,
+each of the two would bring something to the feast. This had gone on
+for some little time, when the crow, who was fond of adventure and
+change, said one day to the mouse: “Don’t you think we might go
+somewhere else for a time? I am rather tired of this bit of the forest,
+every inch of which we both know well. I’ve got another great friend
+who lives beside a fine river a few miles away, a tortoise named
+Mandharaka; a thoroughly good, trustworthy fellow he is, though rather
+slow and cautious in his ways. I should like to introduce you to him.
+There are quantities of food suitable for us both where he lives, for
+it is a very fruitful land. What do you say to coming with me to pay
+him a visit?”
+
+“How in the world should I get there?” answered Hiranya. “It’s all very
+well for you, who can fly. I can’t walk for miles and miles. For all
+that I too am sick of this place and would like a change.”
+
+“Oh, there’s no difficulty about that,” replied Laghupatin. “I will
+carry you in my beak, and you will get there without any fatigue at
+all.” To this Hiranya consented, and very early one morning the two
+friends started off together.
+
+7. Is love of change a good or a bad thing?
+
+8. What did Hiranya’s readiness to let Laghupatin carry him show?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+After flying along for several hours, the crow began to feel very
+tired. He was seized too with a great desire to hear his own voice
+again. So he flew to the ground, laid his little companion gently down,
+and gave vent to a number of hoarse cries, which quite frightened
+Hiranya, who timidly asked him what was the matter.
+
+“Nothing whatever,” answered Laghupatin, “except that you are not quite
+so light as I thought you were, and that I need a rest; besides which,
+I am hungry and I expect you are. We had better stop here for the
+night, and start again early to-morrow morning.” Hiranya readily agreed
+to this, and after a good meal, which was easily found, the two settled
+down to sleep, the crow perched in a tree, the mouse hidden amongst its
+roots. Very early the next day they were off again, and soon arrived at
+the river, where they were warmly welcomed by the tortoise. The three
+had a long talk together, and agreed never to part again. The tortoise,
+who had lived a great deal longer than either the mouse or the crow,
+was a very pleasant companion; and even Laghupatin, who was very fond
+of talking himself, liked to listen to his stories of long ago.
+
+“I wonder,” said the tortoise, whose name was Mandharaka, to the mouse,
+“that you are not afraid to travel about as you have done, with your
+soft little body unprotected by any armour. Look how different it is
+for me; it is almost impossible for any of the wild creatures who live
+near this river to hurt me, and they know it full well. See how thick
+and strong my armour is. The claws even of a tiger, a wild cat or an
+eagle, could not penetrate it. I am very much afraid, my little friend,
+that you will be gobbled up some fine day, and Laghupatin and I will
+seek for you in vain.”
+
+“Of course,” said the mouse, “I know the truth of what you say; but I
+can very easily hide from danger—much more easily than you or
+Laghupatin. A tuft of moss or a few dead leaves are shelter enough for
+me, but big fellows like you and the crow can be quite easily seen.
+Nobody saw me when the pigeons were all caught except Laghupatin; and I
+would have kept out of his sight if I had not known that he did not
+care to eat mice.”
+
+In spite of the fears of Mandharaka, the mouse and the crow lived as
+his guests for a long time without any accident; and one day they were
+suddenly joined by a new companion, a creature as unlike any one of the
+three friends as could possibly be imagined. This was a very beautiful
+deer, who came bounding out of the forest, all eager to escape from the
+hunters, by whom he had been pursued, but too weary to reach the river,
+across which he had hoped to be able to swim to safety. Just as he
+reached the three friends, he fell to the ground, almost crushing the
+mouse, who darted away in the nick of time. Strange to say, the hunters
+did not follow the deer; and it was evident that they had not noticed
+the way he had gone.
+
+The tortoise, the crow and the mouse were all very sorry for the deer,
+and, as was always the case, the crow was the first to speak. “Whatever
+has happened to you?” he asked. And the deer made answer:
+
+“I thought my last hour had come this time, for the hunters were close
+upon me; and even now I do not feel safe.”
+
+“I’ll fly up and take a look ’round,” said Laghupatin; and off he went
+to explore, coming back soon, to say he had seen the hunters
+disappearing a long distance off, going in quite another direction from
+the river. Gradually the deer was reassured, and lay still where he had
+fallen; whilst the three friends chatted away to him, telling him of
+their adventures. “What you had better do,” said the tortoise, “is to
+join us. When you have had a good meal, and a drink from the river, you
+will feel a different creature. My old friend Laghupatin will be the
+one to keep watch for us all, and warn us of any danger approaching; I
+will give you the benefit of my long experience; and little Hiranya,
+though he is not likely to be of any use to you, will certainly never
+do you any harm.”
+
+9. Is it a good thing to make friends easily?
+
+10. What was the bond of union between the crow, the mouse, the
+tortoise and the deer?
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The deer was so touched by the kind way in which he had been received,
+that he agreed to stop with the three friends; and for some weeks after
+his arrival all went well. Each member of the party went his own way
+during the day-time, but all four met together in the evening, and took
+it in turns to tell their adventures. The crow always had the most to
+say, and was very useful to the deer in warning him of the presence of
+hunters in the forest. One beautiful moonlight night the deer did not
+come back as usual, and the other three became very anxious about him.
+The crow flew up to the highest tree near and eagerly sought for some
+sign of his lost friend, of whom he had grown very fond. Presently he
+noticed a dark mass by the river-side, just where the deer used to go
+down to drink every evening. “That must be he,” thought the crow; and
+very soon he was hovering above the deer, who had been caught in a net
+and was struggling in vain to get free.
+
+The poor deer was very glad indeed to see the crow, and cried to him in
+a piteous voice: “Be quick, be quick, and help me, before the terrible
+hunters find me and kill me.”
+
+“I can do nothing for you myself,” said the crow, “but I know who can.
+Remember who saved the pigeons!” And away he flew to fetch little
+Hiranya, who with the tortoise was anxiously awaiting his return. Very
+soon Laghupatin was back by the river-side with the little mouse in his
+beak; and it did not take long for Hiranya, who had been despised by
+the deer and the tortoise as a feeble little thing, to nibble through
+the cords and save the life of the animal a hundred times as big as
+himself.
+
+How happy the deer was when the cruel cords were loosed and he could
+stretch out his limbs again! He bounded up, but took great care not to
+crush the mouse, who had done him such a service. “Never, never,
+never,” he said, “shall I forget what you have done for me. Ask
+anything in my power, and I will do it.”
+
+“I want nothing,” said Hiranya, “except the joyful thought of having
+saved you.”
+
+By this time the tortoise had crept to the riverbank, and he too was
+glad that the deer had been saved. He praised the mouse, and declared
+that he would never again look down upon him. Then the four started to
+go back to their usual haunt in the forest; the deer, the crow, and the
+mouse soon arriving there quite safely, whilst the tortoise, who could
+only get along very slowly, lagged behind. Now came the time for him to
+find out that armour was not the only thing needed to save him from
+danger. He had not got very far from the riverbank before the cruel
+hunter who had set the net to catch the deer, came to see if he had
+succeeded. Great was his rage when he found the net lying on the
+ground, but not exactly where he had left it. He guessed at once that
+some animal had been caught in it and escaped after a long struggle. He
+looked carefully about and noticed that the cords had been bitten
+through here and there. So he suspected just what had happened, and
+began to search about for any creature who could have done the
+mischief.
+
+There was not a sign of the mouse, but the slow-moving tortoise was
+soon discovered, and pouncing down upon him, the hunter rolled him up
+in another net he had with him, and carried him off, “It’s not much of
+a prize,” said the hunter to himself, “but better than nothing. I’ll
+have my revenge on the wretched creature anyhow, as I have lost the
+prey I sought.”
+
+11. Which of the four friends concerned in this adventure do you admire
+most?
+
+12. What was the chief mistake made by the tortoise?
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+When the tortoise in his turn did not come home, the deer, the crow and
+the mouse were very much concerned. They talked the matter over
+together and decided that, however great the risk to themselves, they
+must go back and see what had become of their friend. This time the
+mouse travelled in one of the ears of the deer, from which he peeped
+forth with his bright eyes, hoping to see the tortoise toiling along in
+his usual solemn manner; whilst the crow, also on the watch, flew along
+beside them. Great was the surprise and terror of all three when, as
+they came out of the forest, they saw the hunter striding along towards
+them, with the tortoise in the net under his arm. Once more the little
+mouse showed his wisdom. Without a moment’s hesitation he said to the
+deer: “Throw yourself on the ground and pretend to be dead; and _you_,”
+he added to the crow, “perch on his head and bend over as if you were
+going to peck out his eyes.”
+
+Without any idea what Hiranya meant by these strange orders, but
+remembering how he had helped in other dangers, the two did as they
+were told; the poor deer feeling anything but happy lying still where
+his enemy was sure to see him, and thereby proving what a noble
+creature he was. The hunter did, see him very soon, and thinking to
+himself, “After all I shall get that deer,” he let the tortoise fall,
+and came striding along as fast as he could.
+
+Up jumped the deer without waiting to see what became of the tortoise,
+and sped away like the wind. The hunter rushed after him, and the two
+were soon out of sight. The tortoise, whose armour had saved him from
+being hurt by his fall, was indeed pleased when he saw little Hiranya
+running towards him. “Be quick, be quick!” he cried, “and set me free.”
+Very soon the sharp teeth of the mouse had bitten through the meshes of
+the net, and before the hunter came back, after trying in vain to catch
+the deer, the tortoise was safely swimming across the river, leaving
+the net upon the ground, whilst the crow and the mouse were back in the
+shelter of the forest.
+
+“There’s some magic at work here,” said the hunter when, expecting to
+find the tortoise where he had left him, he discovered that his
+prisoner had escaped. “The stupid beast could not have got out alone,”
+he added, as he picked up the net and walked off with it. “But he
+wasn’t worth keeping anyhow.”
+
+That evening the four friends met once more, and talked over all they
+had gone through together. The deer and the tortoise were full of
+gratitude to the mouse, and could not say enough in his praise, but the
+crow was rather sulky, and remarked: “If it had not been for me,
+neither of you would ever have seen Hiranya. He was my friend before he
+was yours.”
+
+“You are right,” said the tortoise, “and you must also remember that it
+was my armour which saved me from being killed in that terrible fall.”
+
+“Your armour would not have been of much use to you, if the hunter had
+been allowed to carry you to his home,” said the deer. “In my opinion
+you and I both owe our lives entirely to Hiranya. He is small and weak,
+it is true, but he has better brains than any of the rest of us, and I
+for one admire him with all my heart. I am glad I trusted him and
+obeyed him, when he ordered me to pretend to be dead, for I had not the
+least idea how that could help the tortoise.”
+
+“Have it your own way,” croaked the crow, “but I keep my own opinion
+all the same. But for me you would never have known my dear little
+Hiranya.”
+
+In spite of this little dispute the four friends were soon as happy
+together as before the adventure of the tortoise. They once more agreed
+never to part and lived happily together for many years, as they had
+done ever since they first met.
+
+13. What were the chief differences in the characters of the four
+friends?
+
+14. Are those who are alike or unlike in character more likely to
+remain friends?
+
+15. How would you describe a true friend?
+
+16. What fault is more likely than any other to lead to loss of
+friendship?
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+A Clever Thief.
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A certain man, named Hari-Sarman, who lived in a little village in
+India, where there were no rich people and everyone had to work hard to
+get his daily bread, got very weary of the life he had to lead. He had
+a wife whose name was Vidya, and a large family; and even if he had
+been very industrious it would have been difficult for him to get
+enough food for them all. Unfortunately he was not a bit industrious,
+but very lazy, and so was his wife. Neither of them made any attempt to
+teach their boys and girls to earn their own living; and if the other
+poor people in the village had not helped them, they would have
+starved. Hari-Sarman used to send his children out in different
+directions to beg or steal, whilst he and Vidya stayed at home doing
+nothing.
+
+One day he said to his wife: “Let us leave this stupid place, and go to
+some big city where we can pick up a living of some kind. I will
+pretend to be a wise man, able to find out secrets; and you can say
+that you know all about children, having had so many of your own.”
+Vidya gladly agreed to this, and the whole party set out, carrying the
+few possessions they had with them. In course of time they came to a
+big town, and Hari-Sarman went boldly to the chief house in it, leaving
+his wife and children outside. He asked to see the master, and was
+taken into his presence. This master was a very rich merchant, owning
+large estates in the country; but he cannot have been very clever, for
+he was at once quite taken in by the story Hari-Sarman told him. He
+said that he would find work for him and his wife, and that the
+children could be sent to a farm he had in the country, where they
+could be made very useful.
+
+Overjoyed at this, Hari-Sarman hastened out to tell his wife the good
+news; and the two were at once received into the grand residence, in
+which a small room was given to them for their own, whilst the children
+were taken away to the farm, fall of eager delight at the change from
+the wretched life they had been leading.
+
+1. Would it have been better for Hari-Sarman and Vidya if their
+neighbours had not helped them?
+
+2. Do you think Hari-Sarman was the only person to blame for his
+poverty?
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+Soon after the arrival of the husband and wife at the merchant’s house,
+a very important event took place, namely, the marriage of the eldest
+daughter. Great were the preparations beforehand, in which Vidya took
+her full share, helping in the kitchen to make all manner of delicious
+dishes, and living in great luxury herself. For there was no stint in
+the wealthy home; even the humblest servants were well cared for. Vidya
+was happier than she had ever been before, now that she had plenty to
+do and plenty of good food. She became in fact quite a different
+creature, and began to wish she had been a better mother to her
+children. “When the wedding is over,” she thought, “I will go and see
+how they are getting on.” On the other hand she forgot all about her
+husband and scarcely ever saw him.
+
+It was all very different with Hari-Sarman himself. He had no special
+duties to perform and nobody seemed to want him. If he went into the
+kitchen, the busy servants ordered him to get out of their way; and he
+was not made welcome by the owner of the house or his guests. The
+merchant too forgot all about him, and he felt very lonely and
+miserable. He had been thinking to himself how much he would enjoy all
+the delicious food he would get after the wedding; and now he began to
+grumble: “I’m starving in the midst of plenty, that’s what I am.
+Something will have to be done to change this horrible state of
+things.”
+
+Whilst the preparations for the wedding were going on, Vidya never came
+near her husband, and he lay awake a long time thinking, “What in the
+world can I do to make the master send for me?” All of a sudden an idea
+came into his head. “I’ll steal something valuable, and hide it away;
+and when everyone is being asked about the loss, the merchant will
+remember the man who can reveal secrets. Now what can I take that is
+sure to be missed? I know, I know!” And springing out of bed, he
+hastily dressed himself and crept out of the house.
+
+3. What would you have done if you had been Hari-Sarman?
+
+4. Do you think Vidya ever had any real love for her husband?
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+This was what Hari-Sarman decided to do. The merchant had a great many
+very beautiful horses, which lived in splendid stables and were taken
+the greatest possible care of. Amongst them was a lovely little Arab
+mare, the special favourite of the bride, who often went to pet it and
+give it sugar. “I’ll steal that mare and hide it away in the forest,”
+said the wicked man to himself. “Then, when every one is hunting for
+her, the master will remember the man who can reveal secrets and send
+for me. Ah! Ah! What a clever fellow I am! All the stablemen and grooms
+are feasting, I know; for I saw them myself when I tried to get hold of
+my wife. I can climb through a window that is always left open.” It
+turned out that he was right. He met no one on his way to the stables,
+which ware quite deserted. He got in easily, opened, the door from
+inside, and led out the little mare, which made no resistance; she had
+always been so kindly treated that she was not a bit afraid. He took
+the beautiful creature far into the depths of the forest, tied her up
+there, and got safely back to his own room without being seen.
+
+Early the next morning the merchant’s daughter, attended by her
+maidens, went to see her dear little mare, taking with her an extra
+supply of sugar. What was her distress when she found the stall empty!
+She guessed at once that a thief had got in during the night, and
+hurried home to tell her father, who was very, very angry with the
+stablemen who had deserted their posts, and declared they should all be
+flogged for it. “But the first thing to do is to get the mare back,” he
+said; and he ordered messengers to be sent in every direction,
+promising a big reward to anyone who brought news of the mare.
+
+Vidya of course heard all there was to hear, and at once suspected that
+Hari-Sarman had had something to do with the matter. “I expect he has
+hidden the mare,” she thought to herself, “and means to get the reward
+for finding it.” So she asked to see the master of the house, and when
+leave was granted to her she said to him:
+
+“Why do you not send for my husband, the man who can reveal secrets,
+because of the wonderful power that has been given him of seeing what
+is hidden from others? Many a time has he surprised me by what he has
+been able to do.”
+
+5. Do you think Vidya had any wish to help Hari-Sarman for his own
+sake?
+
+6. Is there anything you think she should have done before seeing the
+master?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+On hearing what Vidya said, the merchant at once told her to go and
+fetch her husband. But to her surprise Hari-Sarman refused to go back
+with her. “You can tell the master what you like,” he said, angrily.
+“You all forgot me entirely yesterday; and now you want me to help you,
+you suddenly remember my existence. I am not going to be at your beck
+and call or anyone else’s.”
+
+Vidya entreated him to listen to reason, but it was no good. She had to
+go back and tell the merchant that he would not come. Instead of being
+made angry by this, however, the master surprised her by saying: “Your
+husband is right. I have treated him badly. Go and tell him I
+apologise, and will reward him well, if only he will come and help me.”
+
+Back again went Vidya and this time she was more successful. But though
+Hari-Sarman said he would go back with her, he was very sulky and would
+not answer any of her questions. She could not understand him, and
+wished she had not left him to himself for so long. He behaved very
+strangely too when the master, who received him very kindly, asked him
+if he could tell him where the mare was. “I know,” he said, “what a
+wise and clever man you are.”
+
+“It didn’t seem much like it yesterday,” grumbled Hari-Sarman. “Nobody
+took any notice of me then, but now you want something of me, you find
+out that I am wise and clever. I am just the same person that I was
+yesterday.”
+
+“I know, I know,” said the merchant, “and I apologise for my neglect;
+but when a man’s daughter is going to be married, it’s no wonder some
+one gets neglected.”
+
+7. Do you think Hari-Sarman was wise to treat his wife and the merchant
+as he did?
+
+8. If the mare had been found whilst Hari-Sarman was talking to the
+master, what effect do you think the discovery would have had upon them
+both?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+Hari-Sarman now thought it was time to take a different tone. So he put
+his hand in his pocket, and brought out a map he had got ready whilst
+waiting to be sent for, as he had felt sure he would be. He spread it
+out before the merchant, and pointed to a dark spot in the midst of
+many lines crossing each other in a bewildering manner, which he
+explained were pathways through the forest. “Under a tree, where that
+dark spot is, you will find the mare,” he said.
+
+Overjoyed at the good news, the merchant at once sent a trusted servant
+to test the truth; and when the mare was brought back, nothing seemed
+too good for the man who had led to her recovery. At the wedding
+festivities Hari-Sarman was treated as an honoured guest, and no longer
+had he any need to complain of not having food enough. His wife of
+course thought he would forgive her now for having neglected him. But
+not a bit of it: he still sulked with her, and she could never feel
+quite sure what the truth was about the mare.
+
+All went well with Hari-Sarman for a long time. But presently something
+happened which seemed likely to get him into very great trouble. A
+quantity of gold and many valuable jewels disappeared in the palace of
+the king of the country; and when the thief could not be discovered,
+some one told the king the story of the stolen mare, and how a man
+called Hari-Sarman, living in the house of a rich merchant in the chief
+city, had found her when everyone else had failed.
+
+“Fetch that man here at once,” ordered the king, and very soon
+Hari-Sarman was brought before him. “I hear you are so wise, you can
+reveal all secrets,” said the king. “Now tell me immediately who has
+stolen the gold and jewels and where they are to be found.”
+
+Poor Hari-Sarman did not know what to say or do. “Give me till
+to-morrow,” he replied in a faltering voice; “I must have a little time
+to think.”
+
+“I will not give you a single hour,” answered the king. For seeing the
+man before him was frightened, he began to suspect he was a deceiver.
+“If you do not at once tell me where the gold and jewels are, I will
+have you flogged until you find your tongue.”
+
+Hearing this, Hari-Sarman, though more terrified than ever, saw that
+his only chance of gaining time to make up some story was to get the
+king to believe in him. So he drew himself up and answered: “The wisest
+magicians need to employ means to find out the truth. Give me
+twenty-four hours, and I will name the thieves.”
+
+“You are not much of a magician if you cannot find out such a simple
+thing as I ask of you,” said the king. And turning to the guards, he
+ordered them to take Hari-Sarman to prison, and shut him up there
+without food or drink till he came to his senses. The man was dragged
+away, and very soon he found himself alone in a dark and gloomy room
+from which he saw no hope of escape.
+
+He was in despair and walked up and down, trying in vain to think of
+some way of escape. “I shall die here of starvation, unless my wife
+finds some means of setting me free,” he said. “I wish I had treated
+her better instead of being so sulky with her.” He tried the bars of
+the window, but they were very strong: he could not hope to move them.
+And he beat against the door, but no notice was taken of that.
+
+9. What lesson does the trouble Hari-Sarman was in teach?
+
+10. Do you think it would have been better for him to tell the king he
+could not reveal secrets?
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+When it got quite dark in the prison, Hari-Sarman began to talk to
+himself aloud. “Oh,” he said, “I wish I had bitten my tongue out before
+I told that lie about the mare. It is all my foolish tongue which has
+got me into this trouble. Tongue! Tongue!” he went on, “it is all your
+fault.”
+
+Now a very strange thing happened. The money and jewels had been stolen
+by a man, who had been told where they were by a young servant girl in
+the palace whose name was Jihva, which is the Sanskrit word for tongue;
+and this girl was in a great fright when she heard that a revealer of
+secrets had been taken before the king. “He will tell of my share in
+the matter,” she thought, “and I shall get into trouble,” It so
+happened that the guard at the prison door was fond of her, as well as
+the thief who had stolen the money and jewels. So when all was quiet in
+the palace, Jihva slipped away to see if she could get that guard to
+let her see the prisoner. “If I promise to give him part of the money,”
+she thought, “he will undertake not to betray me.”
+
+The guard was glad enough when Jihva came to talk to him, and he let
+her listen at the key-hole to what Hari-Sarman was saying. Just imagine
+her astonishment when she heard him repeating her name again and again.
+“Jihva! Jihva! Thou,” he cried, “art the cause of this suffering. Why
+didst thou behave in such a foolish manner, just for the sake of the
+good things of this life? Never can I forgive thee, Jihva, thou wicked,
+wicked one!”
+
+“Oh! oh!” cried Jihva in an agony of terror, “he knows the truth; he
+knows that I helped the thief.” And she entreated the guard to let her
+into the prison that she might plead with Hari-Sarman not to tell the
+king what she had done. The man hesitated at first, but in the end she
+persuaded him to consent by promising him a large reward.
+
+When the key grated in the lock, Hari-Sarman stopped talking aloud,
+wondering whether what he had been saying had been overheard by the
+guard, and half hoping that his wife had got leave to come and see him.
+As the door opened and he saw a woman coming in by the light of a
+lantern held up by the guard, he cried, “Vidya my beloved!” But he soon
+realized that it was a stranger. He was indeed surprised and relieved,
+when Jihva suddenly threw herself at his feet and, clinging to his
+knees, began to weep and moan “Oh, most holy man,” she cried between
+her sobs, “who knowest the very secrets of the heart, I have come to
+confess that it was indeed I, Jihva, your humble servant, who aided the
+thief to take the jewels and the gold and to hide them beneath the big
+pomegranate tree behind the palace.”
+
+“Rise,” replied Hari-Sarman, overjoyed at hearing this. “You have told
+me nothing that I did not know, for no secret is hidden from me. What
+reward will you give me if I save you from the wrath of the king?”
+
+“I will give you all the money I have,” said Jihva; “and that is not a
+little.”
+
+“That also I knew,” said Hari-Sarman. “For you have good wages, and
+many a time you have stolen money that did not belong to you. Go now
+and fetch it all, and have no fear that I will betray you.”
+
+11. What mistakes do you think Jihva made in what she said to
+Hari-Sarman?
+
+12. What would have been the best thing for her to do when she thought
+she was found out?
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+Without waiting a moment Jihva hurried away to fetch the money; but
+when she got back with it, the man on guard, who had heard everything
+that had passed between her and Hari-Sarman, would not let her in to
+the prison again till she gave him ten gold pieces. Thinking that
+Hari-Sarman really knew exactly how much money she had, Jihva was
+afraid he would be angry when he missed some of it; and again she let
+out the truth, which he might never have guessed. For she began at once
+to say, “I brought all I had, but the man at the door has taken ten
+pieces.” This did vex Hari-Sarman very much, and he told her he would
+let the king know what she had done, unless she fetched the thief who
+had taken the money and jewels. “I cannot do that,” said Jihva, “for he
+is very far away. He lives with his brother, Indra Datta, in the forest
+beyond the river, more than a day’s journey from here.” “I did but try
+you,” said the clever Hari-Sarman, who now knew who the thief was; “for
+I can see him where he is at this moment. Now go home and wait there
+till I send for you.”
+
+But Jihva, who loved the thief and did not want him to be punished,
+refused to go until Hari-Sarman promised that he would not tell the
+king who the man was or where he lived. “I would rather,” she said,
+“bear all the punishment than that he should suffer.” Even Hari-Sarman
+was touched at this, and fearing that if he kept Jihva longer, she
+would be found in the prison by messengers from the king, he promised
+that no harm should come to her or the thief, and let her go.
+
+Very soon after this, messengers came to take Hari-Sarman once more
+before the king; who received him very coldly and began at once to
+threaten him with a terrible punishment, if he did not say who the
+thief was, and where the gold and jewels were. Even now Hari-Sarman
+pretended to be unwilling to speak. But when he saw that the king would
+put up with no more delay, he said, “I will lead you to the spot where
+the treasure is buried, but the name of the thief, though I know it, I
+will never betray.” The king, who did not really care much who the
+thief was, so long as he got back his money, lost not a moment, but
+ordered his attendants to get spades and follow him. Very soon
+Hari-Sarman brought them to the pomegranate tree. And there, sure
+enough, deep down in the ground, was all that had been lost.
+
+Nothing was now too good for Hari-Sarman: the king was greatly
+delighted, and heaped riches and honours upon him. But some of the wise
+men at the court suspected that he was really a deceiver, and set about
+trying to find out all they could about him. They sent for the man who
+had been on guard at the prison, and asked him many questions. He did
+not dare tell the truth, for he knew he would be terribly punished if
+he let out that Jihva had been allowed to see his prisoner; but he
+hesitated so much that the wise men knew he was not speaking the truth.
+One of them, whom the king loved, and trusted very much, whose name was
+Deva-Jnanin, said to his master: “I do not like to see that man, about
+whom we really know nothing, treated as he is. He might easily have
+found out where the treasure was hidden without any special power. Will
+you not test him in some other way in my presence and that of your
+chief advisers?”
+
+The king, who was always ready to listen to reason, agreed to this; and
+after a long consultation with Deva-Jnanin, he decided on a very clever
+puzzle with which to try Hari-Sarman. A live frog was put into a
+pitcher; the lid was shut down, and the man who pretended to know
+everything was brought into the great reception room, where all the
+wise men of the court were gathered together round the throne, on which
+sat the king in his royal robes. Deva-Jnanin had been chosen by his
+master to speak for him; and coming forward, he pointed to the small
+pitcher on the ground, and said: “Great as are the honours already
+bestowed on you, they shall be increased if you can say at once what is
+in that pitcher.”
+
+13. What kind of man do you think the king was from his behaviour to
+Hari-Sarman?
+
+14. Was it wise or foolish of Hari-Sarman to remain in the city after
+his very narrow escape?
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+Hari-Sarman thought when he looked at the pitcher: “Alas, alas, it is
+all over with me now! Never can I find out what is in it. Would that I
+had left this town with the money I had from Jihva before it was too
+late!” Then he began to mutter to himself, as it was always his habit
+to do when he was in trouble. It so happened that, when he was a little
+boy, his father used to call him frog, and now his thoughts went back
+to the time when he was a happy innocent child, and he said aloud: “Oh,
+frog, what trouble has come to you! That pitcher will be the death of
+you!”
+
+Even Deva-Jnanin was astonished when he heard that; and so were all the
+other wise men. The king was delighted to find that after all he had
+made no mistake; and all the people who had been allowed to come in to
+see the trial were greatly excited. Shouting for joy the king called
+Hari-Sarman to come to the foot of the throne, and told him he would
+never, never doubt him again. He should have yet more money, a
+beautiful house in the country as well as the one he already had in the
+town, and his children should be brought from the farm to live with him
+and their mother, who should have lovely dresses and ornaments to wear.
+
+Nobody was more surprised than Hari-Sarman himself. He guessed, of
+course, that there was a frog in the pitcher. And when the king had
+ended his speech, he said: “One thing I ask in addition to all that has
+been given me, that I may keep the pitcher in memory of this day, when
+my truth has been proved once more beyond a doubt.”
+
+His request was, of course, granted; and he went off with the pitcher
+under his arm, full of rejoicing over his narrow escape. At the same
+time he was also full of fear for the future. He knew only too well
+that it had only been by a lucky chance that he had used the word Jihva
+in his first danger and Frog in the second. He was not likely to get
+off a third time; and he made up his mind that he would skip away some
+dark night soon, with all the money and jewels he could carry, and be
+seen no more where such strange adventures had befallen him. He did not
+even tell his wife what he meant to do, but pretended to have forgiven
+her entirely for the way she had neglected him when he was poor, and to
+be glad that their children were to be restored to them. Before they
+came from the farm their father had disappeared, and nobody ever found
+out what had become of him; but the king let his family keep what had
+been given to him, and to the end believed he really had been what he
+had pretended to be. Only Deva-Jnanin had his doubts; but he kept them
+to himself, for he thought, “Now the man is gone, it really does not
+matter who or what he was.”
+
+15. What is the chief lesson to be learnt from this story?
+
+16. What do you think it was that made Hari-Sarman think of his boyhood
+when he was in trouble?
+
+17. Do you think he took the pitcher and frog with him when he left the
+city?
+
+18. Do you think there was anything good in the character of
+Hari-Sarman?
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+The Hermit’s Daughter.
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+Near a town in India called Ikshumati, on a beautiful wide river, with
+trees belonging to a great forest near its banks, there dwelt a holy
+man named Mana Kanaka, who spent a great part of his life praying to
+God. He had lost his wife when his only child, a lovely girl called
+Kadali-Garbha, was only a few months old. Kadali-Garbha was a very
+happy girl, with many friends in the woods round her home, not children
+like herself, but wild creatures, who knew she would not do them any
+harm. They loved her and she loved them. The birds were so tame that
+they would eat out of her hand, and the deer used to follow her about
+in the hope of getting the bread she carried in her pocket for them.
+Her father taught her all she knew, and that was a great deal; for she
+could read quite learned books in the ancient language of her native
+land. Better even than what she found out in those books was what Mana
+Kanaka told her about the loving God of all gods who rules the world
+and all that live in it. Kadali-Garbha also learnt a great deal through
+her friendship with wild animals. She knew where the birds built their
+nests, where the baby deer were born, where the squirrels hid their
+nuts, and what food all the dwellers in the forest liked best. She
+helped her father to work in their garden in which all their own food
+was grown; and she loved to cook the fruit and vegetables for Mana
+Kanaka and herself. Her clothes were made of the bark of the trees in
+the forest, which she herself wove into thin soft material suitable for
+wearing in a hot climate.
+
+1. What do you think it was which made the animals trust Kadali-Garbha?
+
+2. Could you have been happy in the forest with no other children to
+play with?
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+Kadali-Garbha never even thought about other children, because she had
+not been used to having them with her. She was just as happy as the day
+was long, and never wished for any change. But when she was about
+sixteen something happened which quite altered her whole life. One day
+her father had gone into the forest to cut wood, and had left her
+alone. She had finished tidying the house, and got everything ready for
+the midday meal, and was sitting at the door of her home, reading to
+herself, with birds fluttering about her head and a pet doe lying
+beside her, when she heard the noise of a horse’s feet approaching. She
+looked up, and there on the other side of the fence was a very handsome
+young man seated on a great black horse, which he had reined up when he
+caught sight of her. He looked at her without speaking, and she looked
+back at him with her big black eyes full of surprise at his sudden
+appearance. She made a beautiful picture, with the green creepers
+covering the hut behind her, and the doe, which had started up in fear
+of the horse, pressing against her.
+
+The man was the king of the country, whose name was Dridha-Varman. He
+had been hunting and had got separated from his attendants. He was very
+much surprised to find anyone living in the very depths of the forest,
+and was going to ask the young girl who she was, when Kadali-Garbha saw
+her father coming along the path leading to his home. Jumping up, she
+ran to meet him, glad that he had come; for she had never before seen a
+young man and was as shy as any of the wild creatures of the woods. Now
+that Mana Kanaka was with her, she got over her fright, and felt quite
+safe, clinging to his arm as he and the king talked together.
+
+3. Can you describe just how Kadali-Garbha felt when she saw the king?
+
+4. Do you think it would have been a good or a bad thing for her to
+live all the rest of her life in the forest?
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Mana Kanaka knew at once that the man on the horse was the king; and a
+great fear entered his heart when he saw how Dridha-Varman looked at
+his beloved only child.
+
+“Who are you, and who is that lovely girl?” asked the king. And Mana
+Kanaka answered, “I am only a humble woodcutter; and this is my only
+child, whose mother has long been dead.”
+
+“Her mother must have been a very lovely woman, if her daughter is like
+her,” said the king. “Never before have I seen such perfect beauty.”
+
+“Her mother,” replied Mana Kanaka, “was indeed what you say; and her
+soul was as beautiful as the body in which it dwelt all too short a
+time.”
+
+“I would have your daughter for my wife,” said the king; “and if you
+will give her to me, she shall have no wish ungratified. She shall have
+servants to wait on her and other young girls to be her companions;
+beautiful clothes to wear, the best of food to eat, horses and
+carriages as many as she will, and no work to do with her own hands.”
+
+5. If you had been Kadali-Garbha, what would you have said when you
+heard all these promises?
+
+6. Of all the things the king said she should have, which would you
+have liked best?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+What Kadali-Garbha did was to cling closely to her father, hiding her
+face on his arm and whispering, “I will not leave you: do not send me
+away from you, dear father.”
+
+Mana Kanaka stroked her hair, and said in a gentle voice:
+
+“But, dear child, your father is old, and must leave you soon. It is a
+great honour for his little girl to be chosen by the king for his
+bride. Do not be afraid, but look at him and see how handsome he is and
+how kind he looks.”
+
+Then Kadali-Garbha looked at the king, who smiled at her and looked so
+charming that her fear began to leave her. She still clung to her
+father, but no longer hid her face; and Mana Kanaka begged
+Kadali-Garbha to let him send her away, so that he might talk with the
+king alone about the wish he had expressed to marry her. The king
+consented to this, and Kadali-Garbha gladly ran away. But when she
+reached the door of her home, she looked back, and knew in her heart
+that she already loved the king and did not want him to go away.
+
+It did not take long for the matter of the marriage to be settled. For
+Mana Kanaka, sad though he was to lose his dear only child, was glad
+that she should be a queen, and have some one to take care of her when
+he was gone. After this first visit to the little house in the forest
+the king came every day to see Kadali-Garbha, bringing all kinds of
+presents for her. She learnt to love him so much that she became as
+eager as he was for the wedding to be soon. When the day was fixed, the
+king sent several ladies of his court to dress the bride in clothes
+more beautiful that she had ever dreamt of; and in them she looked more
+lovely even than the first day her lover had seen her.
+
+Now amongst these ladies was a very wise woman who could see what was
+going to happen; and she knew that there would be troubles for the
+young queen in the palace, because many would be jealous of her
+happiness. She was very much taken with the beautiful innocent girl,
+and wanted to help her so much that she managed to get her alone for a
+few minutes, when she said to her: “I want you to promise me something.
+It is to take this packet of mustard seeds, hide it in the bosom of
+your dress, and when you ride to the palace with your husband, strew
+the seed along the path as you go. You know how quickly mustard grows.
+Well, it will spring up soon; and if you want to come home again, you
+can easily find the way by following the green shoots. Alas, I fear
+they will not have time to wither before you need their help!”
+
+Kadali-Garbha laughed when the wise woman talked about trouble coming
+to her. She was so happy, she could not believe she would want to come
+home again so soon. “My father can come to me when I want him,” she
+said. “I need only tell my dear husband to send for him.” But for all
+that she took the packet of seeds and hid it in her dress.
+
+7. Would you have done as the wise woman told you if you had been the
+bride?
+
+8. Ought Kadali-Garbha to have told the king about the mustard seed?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+After the wedding was over, the king mounted his beautiful horse, and
+bending down, took his young wife up before him. Holding her close to
+him with his right arm, he held the reins in his left hand; and away
+they went, soon leaving all the attendants far behind them, the queen
+scattering the mustard seed as she had promised to do. When they
+arrived at the palace there were great rejoicings, and everybody seemed
+charmed with the queen, who was full of eager interest in all that she
+saw.
+
+For several weeks there was nobody in the wide world so happy and
+light-hearted as the bride. The king spent many hours a day with her,
+and was never tired of listening to all she had to tell him about her
+life in the forest with her father. Every day he gave her some fresh
+proof of his love, and he never refused to do anything she asked him to
+do. But presently a change came. Amongst the ladies of the court there
+was a beautiful woman, who had hoped to be queen herself, and hated
+Kadali-Garbha so much that she made up her mind to get her into
+disgrace with the king. She asked first one powerful person and then
+another to help her; but everybody loved the queen, and the wicked
+woman began to be afraid that those she had told about her wish to harm
+her would warn the king. So she sought about for some one who did not
+know Kadali-Garbha, and suddenly remembered a wise woman named
+Asoka-Mala, who lived in a cave not far from the town, to whom many
+people used to go for advice in their difficulties. She went to this
+woman one night, and told her a long story in which there was not one
+word of truth. The young queen, she said, did not really love the king;
+and with the help of her father, who was a magician, she meant to
+poison him. How could this terrible thing be prevented, she asked; and
+she promised that if only Asoka-Mala would help to save Dridha-Varman,
+she would give her a great deal of money.
+
+Asoka-Mala guessed at once that the story was not true, and that it was
+only because the woman was jealous of the beautiful young queen that
+she wished to hurt her. But she loved money very much. Instead
+therefore of at once refusing to have anything to do with the matter,
+she said: “Bring me fifty gold pieces now, and promise me another fifty
+when the queen is sent away from the palace, and I will tell you what
+to do.”
+
+The wicked woman promised all this at once. The very next night she
+brought the first fifty pieces of gold to the cave, and Asoka-Mala told
+her that she must get the barber, who saw the king alone every day, to
+tell him he had found out a secret about the queen. “You must tell the
+barber all you have already told me. But be very careful to give some
+proof of your story. For if you do not do so, you will only have wasted
+the fifty gold pieces you have already given to me; and, more than
+that, you will be terribly punished for trying to hurt the queen, whom
+everybody loves.”
+
+9. Do you think this plot against Kadali-Garbha was likely to succeed?
+
+10. Can you think of any way in which the wise woman might have helped
+the queen and also have gained a reward for herself?
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The wicked woman went back to the palace, thinking all the way to
+herself, “How can I get a proof of what is not true?” At last an idea
+came into her head. She knew that the queen loved to wander in the
+forest, and that she was not afraid of the wild creatures, but seemed
+to understand their language. She would tell the barber that
+Kadali-Garbha was a witch and knew the secrets of the woods; that she
+had been seen gathering wild herbs, some of them poisonous, and had
+been heard muttering strange words to herself as she did so.
+
+Early the next morning the cruel woman went to see the barber, and
+promised him a reward if he would tell the king what she had found out
+about his wife. “He won’t believe you at first,” she said; “but you
+must go on telling him till he does. You are clever, enough,” she
+added, “to make up something he will believe if what I have thought of
+is no good.”
+
+The barber, who had served the king for many years, would not at first
+agree to help to make him unhappy. But he too liked money very much,
+and in the end he promised to see what he could do if he was well paid
+for it. He was, as the wicked woman had said, clever enough; and he
+knew from long experience just how to talk to his master. He began by
+asking the king if he had heard of the lovely woman who was sometimes
+seen by the woodmen wandering about alone in the forest, with wild
+creatures following her. Remembering how he had first seen
+Kadali-Garbha, Dridha-Varman at once guessed that she was the lovely
+woman. But he did not tell the barber so; for he was so proud of his
+dear wife’s beauty that he liked to hear her praised, and wanted the
+man to go on talking about her. He just said: “What is she like? Is she
+tall or short, fair or dark?” The barber answered the questions
+readily. Then he went on to say that it was easy to see that the lady
+was as clever as she was beautiful; for she knew not only all about
+animals but also about plants. “Every day,” he said, “she gathers
+quantities of herbs, and I have been told she makes healing medicines
+of them. Some even go so far as to say she also makes poisons. But, for
+my part, I do not believe that; she is too beautiful to be wicked.”
+
+The king listened, and a tiny little doubt crept into his mind about
+his wife. She had never told him about the herbs she gathered, although
+she often chattered about her friends in the forest. Perhaps after all
+it was not Kadali-Garbha the barber was talking about. He would ask her
+if she knew anything about making medicines from herbs. He did so when
+they were alone together, and she said at once, “Oh, yes! My father
+taught me. But I have never made any since I was married.”
+
+“Are you sure?” asked the king; and she answered laughing, “Of course,
+I am: how could I be anything but sure? I have no need to think of
+medicine-making, now I am the queen.”
+
+Dridha-Varman said no more at the time. But he was troubled; and when
+the barber came again, he began at once to ask about the woman who had
+been seen in the woods. The wicked man was delighted, and made up a
+long story. He said one of the waiting women had told him of what she
+had seen. The woman, he said, had followed the lady home one day, and
+that home was not far from the palace. She had seen her bending over a
+fire above which hung a great sauce-pan full of water, into which she
+flung some of the herbs she had gathered, singing as she did so, in a
+strange language.
+
+“Could it possibly be,” thought the king, “that Kadali-Garbha had
+deceived him? Was she perhaps a witch after all?” He remembered that he
+really did not know who she was, or who her father was. He had loved
+her directly he saw her, just because she was so beautiful. What was he
+to do now? He was quite sure, from the description the barber had given
+of the woman in the forest, that she was his wife. He would watch her
+himself in future, and say nothing to her that would make her think he
+was doing so.
+
+11. What should the king have done when he heard the barber’s story?
+
+12. Can you really love anybody truly whom you do not trust?
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+Although the king said nothing to his wife about what the barber had
+told him, he could not treat her exactly as he did before he heard it,
+and she very soon began to wonder what she had done to vex him. The
+first thing she noticed was that one of the ladies of the court always
+followed her when she went into the forest. She did not like this;
+because she so dearly loved to be alone with the wild creatures, and
+they did not come to her when any one else was near. She told the lady
+to go away, and she pretended to do so; but she only kept a little
+further off. And though the queen could no longer see her, she knew she
+was there, and so did the birds and the deer. This went on for a little
+time; and then Kadali-Garbha asked her husband to tell every one that
+she was not to be disturbed when she went to see her friends in the
+forest.
+
+“I am afraid,” said the king, “that some harm will come to you. There
+are wild beasts in the depths of the wood who might hurt you. And what
+should I do if any harm came to my dear one?”
+
+Kadali-Garbha was grieved when Dridha-Varman said this, for she knew it
+was not true; and she looked at him so sadly that he felt ashamed of
+having doubted her. All would perhaps have been well even now, if he
+had told her of the story he had heard about her, because then she
+could have proved that it was not true. But he did not do that; he only
+said, “I cannot let you be alone so far from home. Why not be content
+with the lovely gardens all round the palace? If you still wish to go
+to the woods, I will send one of the game-keepers with you instead of
+the lady who has been watching you. Then he can protect you if any
+harmful creature should approach.”
+
+“If my lord does not wish me to be alone in the forest,” answered the
+queen, “I will be content with the gardens. For no birds or animals
+would come near me if one of their enemies were with me. But,” she
+added, as her eyes filled with tears, “will not my lord tell me why he
+no longer trusts his wife, who loves him with all her heart?”
+
+The king was very much touched by what Kadali-Garbha said, but still
+could not make up his mind to tell her the truth. So he only embraced
+her fondly, and said she was a good little wife to be so ready to obey
+him. The queen went away very sadly, wondering to herself what she
+could do to prove to her dear lord that she loved him as much as ever.
+She took care never to go outside the palace gardens, but she longed
+very much for her old freedom, and began to grow pale and thin.
+
+The wicked woman who had tried to do her harm was very much
+disappointed that she had only succeeded in making her unhappy; so she
+went again to Asoka-Mala, and promised her more money if only she would
+think of some plan to get the king to send his wife away. The wise
+woman considered a long time, and then she said: “You must use the
+barber again. He goes from house to house, and he must tell the king
+that the beautiful woman, who used to roam about in the forest
+collecting herbs, has been seen there again in the dead of the night,
+when she could be sure no one would find out what she was doing.”
+
+Now it so happened that Kadali-Garbha was often unable to sleep because
+of her grief that the king did not love her so much as he used to do.
+One night she got so tired of lying awake that she got up very quietly,
+so as not to disturb her husband, and putting on her sari, she went out
+into the gardens, hoping that the fresh air might help her to sleep.
+Presently the king too woke up, and finding that his wife was no longer
+beside him, he became very uneasy, and was about to go and seek her,
+when she came back. He asked her where she had been; and she told him
+exactly what had happened, but she did not explain why she could not
+sleep.
+
+13. What mistake did the queen make in her treatment of the king?
+
+14. Do you think it is more hurtful to yourself and to others to talk
+too much or too little?
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+When the barber was shaving the king the next morning, he told him he
+had heard that people were saying the beautiful woman had been seen
+again one night, gathering herbs and muttering to herself. “They talk,
+my lord,” said the man, “of your own name having been on her lips; and
+those who love and honour you are anxious for your safety. Maybe the
+woman is indeed a witch, who for some reason of her own will try to
+poison you.”
+
+Now Dridha-Varman remembered that Kadali-Garbha had left him the night
+before, “and perhaps,” he thought, “at other times when I was asleep.”
+He could scarcely wait until the barber had finished shaving him, so
+eager was he to find out the truth. He hurried to his wife’s private
+room, but she was not there; and her ladies told him she had not been
+seen by them that day. This troubled him terribly, and he roused the
+whole palace to seek her. Messengers were soon hurrying to and fro, but
+not a trace of her could be found. Dridha-Varman was now quite sure
+that the woman the barber had talked about was Kadali-Garbha, the wife
+he had so loved and trusted. “Perhaps,” he thought, “she has left
+poison in my food, and has gone away so as not to see me die.” He would
+neither eat nor drink, and he ordered all the ladies whose duty it was
+to wait on the queen to be locked up till she was found. Amongst them
+was the wicked woman who had done all the mischief because of her
+jealousy of the beautiful young queen, and very much she wished she had
+never tried to harm her.
+
+15. Where do you suppose the queen had gone?
+
+16. What mistake did the king make when he heard the queen was missing?
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+In her trouble about the loss of the king’s love Kadali-Garbha longed
+for her father, for she felt sure he would be able to help her. So she
+determined to go to him. With the aid of the wise woman who had given
+her the packet of mustard seed, and who had been her best friend at
+court, she disguised herself as a messenger, and, mounted on a strong
+little pony, she sped along the path marked out by the young shoots of
+mustard, reaching her old home in the forest before the night fell.
+Great indeed was the joy of Mana Kanaka at the sight of his beloved
+child, and very soon she had poured out all her sorrow to him. The
+hermit was at first very much enraged with his son-in-law for the way
+in which he had treated Kadali-Garbha, and declared that he would use
+all the powers he had to punish him. “Never,” he said, “shall he see
+your dear face again; but I will go to him and call down on him all
+manner of misfortunes. You know not, dear child, I have never wished
+you to know, that I am a magician and can make the very beasts of the
+field and the winds of heaven obey me. I know full well who has made
+this mischief between you and your husband, and I will see that
+punishment overtakes them.”
+
+“No, no, father,” cried Kadali-Garbha; “I will not have any harm done
+to my dear one, for I love him with all my heart. All I ask of you is
+to prove to him that I am innocent of whatever fault he thinks I have
+committed, and to make him love and trust me again.”
+
+It was hard work to persuade Mana Kanaka to promise not to harm the
+king, but in the end he yielded. Together the father and daughter rode
+back to the palace, and together they were brought before
+Dridha-Varman, who, in spite of the anger he had felt against his wife,
+was overjoyed to see her. When he looked at her clinging to Mana
+Kanaka’s arm, as she had done the first time they met, all his old love
+returned, and he would have taken her in his arms and told her so
+before the whole court, if she had not drawn back. It was Mana Kanaka
+who was the first to speak. Drawing himself up to his full height, and
+pointing to the king, he charged him with having broken his vow to love
+and protect his wife. “You have listened to lying tongues,” he said,
+“and I will tell you to whom those tongues belong, that justice may be
+done to them.”
+
+Once more Kadali-Garbha interfered. “No, father,” she said; “let their
+names be forgotten: only prove to my lord that I am his loving faithful
+wife, and I will be content.”
+
+“I need no proof,” cried Dridha-Varman; “but lest others should follow
+their evil example, I will have vengeance on the slanderers. Name them,
+and their doom shall be indeed a terrible one.”
+
+Then Mana Kanaka told the king the whole sad story; and when it was
+ended the wicked woman who had first thought of injuring the queen, and
+the barber who had helped her, were sent for to hear their doom, which
+was—to be shut up for the rest of their lives in prison. This was
+changed to two years only, because Kadali-Garbha was generous enough to
+plead for them. As for the third person in the plot, the old witch of
+the cave, not a word was said about her by anybody. Mana Kanaka knew
+well enough what her share in the matter had been; but magicians and
+witches are careful not to make enemies of each other, and so he held
+his peace.
+
+Dridha-Varman was so grateful to his father-in-law for bringing his
+wife back to him, that he wanted him to stop at court, and said he
+would give him a very high position there. But Mana Kanaka refused
+every reward, declaring that he loved his little home in the forest
+better than the grand rooms he might have had in the palace. “All I
+wish for,” he said, “is my dear child’s happiness. I hope you will
+never again listen to stories against your wife. If you do, you may be
+very sure that I shall hear of it; and next time I know that you have
+been unkind to her I will punish you as you deserve.”
+
+The king was obliged to let Mana Kanaka go, but after this he took
+Kadali-Garbha to see her father in the forest very often. Later, when
+the queen had some children of her own, their greatest treat was to go
+to the little home, in the depths of the wood. They too learnt to love
+animals, and had a great many pets, but none of those pets were kept in
+cages.
+
+17. What is the chief lesson to be learnt from this story?
+
+18. Which of all the people in this tale do you like best?
+
+19. What do you think is the greatest power in all the world?
+
+20. If you had been Kadali-Garbha would you have forgiven those who
+tried to do you harm?
+
+
+
+
+NOTES
+
+
+ [1] The city which occupied the site of present Patna was known as
+ Patali-Putra in the time of Alexander the Great.
+
+ [2] There are seventy-two versions of this tale in vogue amongst the
+ high castes of India; the one here given is taken from Raj-Yoga, the
+ highest form of Hindu ascetic philosophy.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11310 ***