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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Twenty-Two Goblins, from Sanskrit
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+Twenty-Two Goblins
+
+Translated from the Sanskrit by Arthur W. Ryder
+
+August, 2000  [Etext #2290]
+
+
+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Twenty-Two Goblins, from Sanskrit
+******This file should be named 22gbl10.txt or 22gbl10.zip******
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, 22gbl11.txt
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+Transcribed by "Batsy" Bybell, cgale@turbonet.com
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+
+
+
+
+Transcribed by "Batsy" Bybell, cgale@turbonet.com
+
+
+
+
+
+TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS
+
+
+
+
+Translated from the Sanskrit by Arthur W. Ryder
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+
+Introduction
+
+Goblin-story
+
+1.  The Prince's Elopement. Whose fault was the resulting death of
+his parents-in-law?
+
+2.  The Three Lovers who brought the Dead Girl to Life. Whose
+wife should she be?
+
+3.  The Parrot and the Thrush. Which are worse, men or women?
+
+4.  King Shudraka and Hero's Family. Which of the five deserves
+the most honour?
+
+5.  The Brave Man, the Wise Man, and the Clever Man. To which
+should the girl be given?
+
+6.  The Girl who transposed the Heads of her Husband and
+Brother. Which combination of head and body is her husband?
+
+7.  The Mutual Services of King Fierce-lion and Prince Good.
+Which is the more deserving?
+
+8.  The Specialist in Food, the Specialist in Women, and the
+Specialist in Cotton. Which is the cleverest?
+
+9.  The Four Scientific Suitors. To which should the girl be given?
+
+10. The Three Delicate Wives of King Virtue-banner. Which is the
+most delicate?
+
+11. The King who won a Fairy as his Wife. Why did his
+counsellor's heart break?
+
+12. The Brahman who died because Poison from a Snake in the
+Claws of a Hawk fell into a Dish of Food given him by a
+Charitable Woman. Who is to blame for his death?
+
+13. The Girl who showed Great Devotion to the Thief. Did he
+weep or laugh?
+
+14. The Man who changed into a Woman at Will. Was his wife his
+or the other man's?
+
+15. The Fairy Prince Cloud-chariot and the Serpent
+Shell-crest. Which is the more self-sacrificing?
+
+16. The King who died for Love of his General's Wife; the General
+follows him in Death. Which is the more worthy?
+
+17. The Youth who went through the Proper Ceremonies. Why did
+he fail to win the magic spell?
+
+18. The Boy whom his Parents, the King, and the Giant conspired
+to Kill. Why did he laugh at the moment of death?
+
+19. The Man, his Wife, and her Lover, who all died for Love.
+Which was the most foolish?
+
+20. The Four Brothers who brought a Dead Lion to Life. Which is
+to blame when he kills them all?
+
+21. The Old Hermit who exchanged his Body for that of the Dead
+Boy. Why did he weep and dance?
+
+22. The Father and Son who married Daughter and Mother. What
+relation were their children?
+
+Conclusion
+
+
+
+
+TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+On the bank of the Godavari River is a kingdom called the Abiding
+Kingdom. There lived the son of King Victory, the famous King
+Triple-victory, mighty as the king of the gods. As this king sat in
+judgment, a monk called Patience brought him every day one piece
+of fruit as an expression of homage. And the king took it and gave
+it each day to the treasurer who stood near. Thus twelve years
+passed.
+
+Now one day the monk came to court, gave the king a piece of
+fruit as usual, and went away. But on this day the king gave the
+fruit to a pet baby monkey that had escaped from his keepers, and
+happened to wander in. And as the monkey ate the fruit, he split it
+open, and a priceless, magnificent gem came out.
+
+When the king saw this, he took it and asked the treasurer: "Where
+have you been keeping the fruits which the monk brought? I gave
+them to you." When the treasurer heard this, he was frightened and
+said: "Your Majesty, I have thrown them all through the window.
+If your Majesty desires, I will look for them now." And when the
+king had dismissed him, he went, but returned in a moment, and
+said again: "Your Majesty, they were all smashed in the treasury,
+and in them I see heaps of dazzling gems."
+
+When he heard this, the king was delighted, and gave the jewels to
+the treasurer. And when the monk came the next day, he asked
+him: "Monk, why do you keep honouring me in such an expensive
+way? Unless I know the reason, I will not take your fruit."
+
+Then the monk took the king aside and said: "O hero, there is a
+business in which I need help. So I ask for your help in it, because
+you are a brave man." And the king promised his assistance.
+
+Then the monk was pleased, and said again: "O King, on the last
+night of the waning moon, you must go to the great cemetery at
+nightfall, and come to me under the fig-tree." Then the king said
+"Certainly," and Patience, the monk, went home well pleased.
+
+So when the night came, the mighty king remembered his promise
+to the monk, and at dusk he wrapped his head in a black veil, took
+his sword in his hand, and went to the great cemetery without
+being seen. When he got there, he looked about, and saw the monk
+standing under the fig-tree and making a magic circle. So he went
+up and said: "Monk, here I am. Tell me what I am to do for you."
+
+And when the monk saw the king, he was delighted and said: "O
+King, if you wish to do me a favour, go south from here some
+distance all alone, and you will see a sissoo tree and a dead body
+hanging from it. Be so kind as to bring that here."
+
+When the brave king heard this, he agreed, and, true to his
+promise, turned south and started. And as he walked with
+difficulty along the cemetery road, he came upon the sissoo tree at
+some distance, and saw a body hanging on it. So he climbed the
+tree, cut the rope, and let it fall to the ground. And as it fell, it
+unexpectedly cried aloud, as if alive. Then the king climbed down,
+and thinking it was alive, he mercifully rubbed its limbs. Then the
+body gave a loud laugh.
+
+So the king knew that a goblin lived in it, and said without fear:
+"What are you laughing about? Come, let us be off." But then he
+did not see the goblin on the ground any longer. And when he
+looked up, there he was, hanging in the tree as before. So the king
+climbed the tree again, and carefully carried the body down. A
+brave man's heart is harder than a diamond, and nothing makes it
+tremble.
+
+Then he put the body with the goblin in it on his shoulder, and
+started off in silence. And as he walked along, the goblin in the
+body said: "O King, to amuse the journey, I will tell you a story.
+Listen."
+
+
+FIRST GOBLIN
+
+The Prince's Elopement. Whose fault was the resulting death of
+his parents-in-law?
+
+There is a city called Benares where Shiva lives. It is loved by
+pious people like the soil of Mount Kailasa. The river of heaven
+shines there like a pearl necklace. And in the city lived a king
+called Valour who burned up all his enemies by his valour, as a
+fire burns a forest. He had a son named Thunderbolt who broke the
+pride of the love-god by his beauty, and the pride of men by his
+bravery. This prince had a clever friend, the son of a counsellor.
+
+One day the prince was enjoying himself with his friend hunting,
+and went a long distance. And so he came to a great forest. There
+he saw a beautiful lake, and being tired, he drank from it with his
+friend the counsellor's son, washed his hands and feet, and sat
+down under a tree on the bank.
+
+And then he saw a beautiful maiden who had come there with her
+servants to bathe. She seemed to fill the lake with the stream of her
+beauty, and seemed to make lilies grow there with her eyes, and
+seemed to shame the lotuses with a face more lovely than the
+moon. She captured the prince's heart the moment that he saw her.
+And the prince took her eyes captive.
+
+The girl had a strange feeling when she saw him, but was too
+modest to say a word. So she gave a hint of the feeling in her heart.
+She put a lotus on her ear, laid a lily on her head after she had
+made the edge look like a row of teeth, and placed her hand on her
+heart. But the prince did not understand her signs, only the clever
+counsellor's son understood them all.
+
+A moment later the girl went away, led by her servants. She went
+home and sat on the sofa and stayed there. But her thoughts were
+with the prince.
+
+The prince went slowly back to his city, and was terribly lonely
+without her, and grew thinner every day. Then his friend the son of
+ the counsellor took him aside and told him that she was not hard
+to find. But he had lost all courage and said: "My friend, I don't
+know her name, nor her home, nor her family. How can I find her?
+Why do you vainly try to comfort me?"
+
+Then the counsellor's son said: "Did you not see all that she hinted
+with her signs? When she put the lotus on her ear, she meant that
+she lived in the kingdom of a king named Ear-lotus. And when she
+made the row of teeth, she meant that she was the daughter of a
+man named Bite there. And when she laid the lily on her head, she
+meant that her name was Lily. And when she placed her hand on
+her heart, she meant that she loved you. And there is a king named
+Ear-lotus in the Kalinga country. There is a very rich man there
+whom the king likes. His real name is Battler, but they call him
+Bite. He has a pearl of a girl whom he loves more than his life, and
+her name is Lily. This is true, because people told me. So I
+understood her signs about her country and the other things."
+When the counsellor's son had said this, the prince was delighted
+to find him so clever, and pleased because he knew what to do.
+
+Then he formed a plan with the counsellor's son, and started for
+the lake again, pretending that he was going to hunt, but really to
+find the girl that he loved. On the way he rode like the wind away
+from his soldiers, and started for the Kalinga country with the
+counsellor's son.
+
+When they reached the city of King Ear-lotus, they looked about
+and found the house of the man called Bite, and they went to a
+house near by to live with an old woman. And the counsellor's son
+said to the old woman: "Old woman, do you know anybody named
+Bite in this city?"
+
+Then the old woman answered him respectfully: "My son, I know
+him well. I was his nurse. And I am a servant of his daughter Lily.
+But I do not go there now because my dress is stolen. My naughty
+son is a gambler and steals my clothes."
+
+Then the counsellor's son was pleased and satisfied her with his
+own cloak and other presents. And he said: "Mother, you must do
+very secretly what we tell you. Go to Bite's daughter Lily, and tell
+her that the prince whom she saw on the bank of the lake is here,
+and sent you with a love-message to her."
+
+The old woman was pleased with the gifts and went to Lily at
+once. And when she got a chance, she said: "My child, the prince
+and the counsellor's son have come to take you. Tell me what to
+do now." But the girl scolded her and struck her cheeks with both
+hands smeared with camphor.
+
+The old woman was hurt by this treatment, and came home
+weeping, and said to the two men: "My sons, see how she left the
+marks of her fingers on my face."
+
+And the prince was hopeless and sad, but the very clever
+counsellor's son took him aside and said, "My friend, do not be
+sad. She was only keeping the secret when she scolded the old
+woman, and put ten fingers white with camphor on her face. She
+meant that you must wait before seeing her, for the next ten nights
+are bright with moonlight."
+
+So the counsellor's son comforted the prince, took a little gold
+ornament and sold it in the market, and bought a great dinner for
+the old woman. So they two took dinner with the old woman. They
+did this for ten days, and then the counsellor's son sent her to Lily
+again, to find out something more.
+
+And the old woman was eager for dainty food and drink. So to
+please him she went to Lily's house, and then came back and said:
+"My children, I went there and stayed with her for some time
+without speaking. But she spoke herself of my naughtiness in
+mentioning you, and struck me again on the chest with three
+fingers stained red. So I came back in disgrace."
+
+Then the counsellor's son whispered to the prince: "Don't be
+alarmed, my friend. When she left the marks of three red fingers
+on the old woman's heart, she meant to say very cleverly that there
+were three dangerous days coming." So the counsellor's son
+comforted the prince.
+
+And when three days were gone, he sent the old woman to Lily
+again. And this time she went and was very respectfully
+entertained, and treated to wine and other things the whole day.
+But when she was ready to go back in the evening, a terrible
+shouting was heard outside. They heard people running and crying:
+"Oh, oh! A mad elephant has escaped from his stable and is
+running around and stamping on people."
+
+Then Lily said to the old woman: "Mother, you must not go
+through the street now where the elephant is. I will put you in a
+swing and let you down with ropes through this great window into
+the garden. Then you can climb into a tree and jump on the wall,
+and go home by way of another tree." So she had her servants let
+the old woman down from the window into the garden by a
+rope-swing. And the old woman went home and told the prince
+and the counsellor's son all about it.
+
+Then the counsellor's son said to the prince: "My friend, your
+wishes are fulfilled. She has been clever enough to show you the
+road. So you must follow that same road this very evening to the
+room of your darling."
+
+So the prince went to the garden with the counsellor's son by the
+road that the old woman had shown them. And there he saw the
+rope-swing hanging down, and servants above keeping an eye on
+the road. And when he got into the swing, the servants at the
+window pulled at the rope and he came to his darling. And when
+he had gone in, the counsellor's son went back to the old woman's
+house.
+
+But the prince saw Lily, and her face was beautiful like the full
+moon, and the moonlight of her beauty shone forth, like the night
+when the moon shines in secret because of the dark. And when she
+saw him, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. So
+he married her and stayed hidden with her for some days.
+
+One day he said to his wife: "My dear, my friend the counsellor's
+son came with me, and he is staying all alone at the old woman's
+house. I must go and see him, then I will come back."
+
+But Lily was shrewd and said: "My dear, I must ask you
+something. Did you understand the signs I made, or was it the
+counsellor's son?" And the prince said to her: "My dear, I did not
+understand them all, but my friend has wonderful wisdom. He
+understood everything and told me." Then the sweet girl thought,
+and said: "My dear, you did wrong not to tell me before. Your
+friend is a real brother to me. I ought to have sent him some nuts
+and other nice things at the very first."
+
+Then she let him go, and he went to his friend by night by the same
+road, and told all that his wife had said. But the counsellor's son
+said: "That is foolish," and did not think much of it. So they spent
+the night talking.
+
+Then when the time for the twilight sacrifice came, a friend of
+Lily's came there with cooked rice and nuts in her hand. She came
+and asked the counsellor's son about his health and gave him the
+present. And she cleverly tried to keep the prince from eating.
+"Your wife is expecting you to dinner," she said, and a moment
+later she went away.
+
+Then the counsellor's son said to the prince: "Look, your Majesty.
+I will show you something curious." So he took a little of the
+cooked rice and gave it to a dog that was there. And the moment
+he ate it, the dog died. And the prince asked the counsellor's son
+what this strange thing could mean.
+
+And he replied: "Your Majesty, she knew that I was clever because
+I understood her signs, and she wanted to kill me out of love for
+you. For she thought the prince would not be all her own while I
+was alive, but would leave her for my sake and go back to his own
+city. So she sent me poisoned food to eat. But you must not be
+angry with her. I will think up some scheme."
+
+Then the prince praised the counsellor's son, and said: "You are
+truly the body of wisdom." And then suddenly a great wailing of
+grief-stricken people was heard: "Alas! Alas! The king's little son
+is dead."
+
+When he heard this, the counsellor's son was delighted, and said:
+"Your Majesty, go to-night to Lily's house, and make her drink
+wine until she loses her senses and seems to be dead. Then as she
+lies there, make a mark on her hip with a red-hot fork, steal her
+jewels, and come back the old way through the window. After that
+I will do the right thing."
+
+Then he made a three-pronged fork and gave it to the prince. And
+the prince took the crooked, cruel thing, hard as the weapon of
+Death, and went by night as before to Lily's house. "A king," he
+thought, "ought not to disregard the words of a high-
+minded counsellor." So when he had stupefied her with wine, he
+branded her hip with the fork, stole her jewels, returned to his
+friend, and told him everything, showing him the jewels.
+
+Then the counsellor's son felt sure his scheme was successful. He
+went to the cemetery in the morning, and disguised himself as a
+hermit, and the prince as his pupil. And he said: "Take this pearl
+necklace from among the jewels. Go and sell it in the
+market-place. And if the policemen arrest you, say this:  It was
+given to me to sell by my teacher.'"
+
+So the prince went to the market-place and stood there offering the
+pearl necklace for sale, and he was arrested while doing it by the
+policemen. And as they were eager to find out about the theft of
+the jewels from Bite's daughter, they took the prince at once to the
+chief of police. And when he saw that the culprit was dressed like
+a hermit, he asked him very gently: "Holy sir, where did you get
+this pearl necklace? It belongs to Bite's daughter and was stolen."
+Then the prince said to them: "Gentlemen, my teacher gave it to
+me to sell. You had better go and ask him."
+
+Then the chief of police went and asked him: "Holy sir, how did
+this pearl necklace come into your pupil's hand?"
+
+And the shrewd counsellor's son whispered to him: "Sir, as I am a
+hermit, I wander about all the time in this region. And as I
+happened to be here in this cemetery, I saw a whole company of
+witches who came here at night. And one of the witches split open
+the heart of a king's son, and offered it to her master. She was mad
+with wine, and screwed up her face most horribly. But when she
+impudently tried to snatch my rosary as I prayed, I became angry,
+and branded her on the hip with a three-pronged fork which I had
+made red-hot with a magic spell. And I took this pearl necklace
+from her neck. Then, as it was not a thing for a hermit, I sent it to
+be sold."
+
+When he heard this, the chief of police went and told the whole
+story to the king. And when the king heard and saw the evidence,
+he sent the old woman, who was reliable, to identify the pearl
+necklace. And he heard from her that Lily was branded on the hip.
+
+Then he was convinced that she was really a witch and had
+devoured his son. So he went himself to the counsellor's son, who
+was disguised as a hermit, and asked how Lily should be punished.
+And by his advice, she was banished from the city, though her
+parents wept. So she was banished naked to the forest and knew
+that the counsellor's son had done it all, but she did not die.
+
+And at nightfall the prince and the counsellor's son put off their
+hermit disguise, mounted on horseback, and found her weeping.
+They put her on a horse and took her to their own country. And
+when they got there, the prince lived most happily with her.
+
+But Bite thought that his daughter was eaten by wild beasts in the
+wood, and he died of grief. And his wife died with him.
+
+
+When he had told this story, the goblin asked the king: "O King,
+who was to blame for the death of the parents: the prince, or the
+counsellor's son, or Lily? You seem like a very wise man, so
+resolve my doubts on this point. If you know and do not tell me the
+truth, then your head will surely fly into a hundred pieces. And if
+you give a good answer, then I will jump from your shoulder and
+go back to the sissoo tree."
+
+Then King Triple-victory said to the goblin: "You are a master of
+magic. You surely know yourself, but I will tell you. It was not the
+fault of any of the three you mentioned. It was entirely the fault of
+King Ear-lotus."
+
+But the goblin said: "How could it be the king's fault? The other
+three did it. Are the crows to blame when the geese eat up the
+rice?"
+
+Then the king said: "But those three are not to blame. It was right
+for the counsellor's son to do his master's business. So he is not to
+blame. And Lily and the prince were madly in love and could not
+stop to think. They only looked after their own affairs. They are
+not to blame.
+
+"But the king knew the law-books very well, and he had spies to
+find out the facts among the people. And he knew about the doings
+of rascals. So he acted without thinking. He is to blame."
+
+When the goblin heard this, he wanted to test the king's constancy.
+So he went back by magic in a moment to the sissoo tree. And the
+king went back fearlessly to get him.
+
+
+SECOND GOBLIN
+
+The Three Lovers who brought the Dead Girl to Life. Whose wife
+should she be?
+
+Then King Triple-victory went back under the sissoo tree to fetch
+the goblin. And when he got there and looked about, he saw the
+goblin fallen on the ground and moaning. Then, when the king put
+the body with the goblin in it on his shoulder and started to carry
+him off quickly and silently, the goblin on his shoulder said to
+him: "Oh King, you have fallen into a very disagreeable task which
+you do not deserve. So to amuse you I will tell another story.
+Listen."
+
+
+On the bank of Kalindi River is a farm where a very learned
+Brahman lived. And he had a very beautiful daughter named Coral.
+When the Creator fashioned her fresh and peerless loveliness,
+surely he must have despised the cleverness he showed before in
+fashioning the nymphs of heaven.
+
+When she had grown out of childhood, there came from the city of
+Kanauj three Brahman youths, endowed with all the virtues. And
+each of them asked her father for her, that she might be his own.
+And though her father would rather have died than give her up to
+anyone, he made up his mind to give her to one of them. But the
+girl would not marry any one of them for some time, because she
+was afraid of hurting the feelings of the other two. So they stayed
+there all three of them day and night, feasting on the beauty of her
+face, like the birds that live on moonbeams.
+
+Then all at once Coral fell sick of a burning fever and died. And
+when the Brahman youths saw that she was dead, they were
+smitten with grief. But they adorned her body, took it to the
+cemetery, and burned it.
+
+And one of them built a hut there, slept on a bed made of her
+ashes, and got his food by begging. The second took her bones and
+went to dip them in the sacred Ganges river. And the third became
+a monk and wandered in other countries.
+
+And as he wandered, the monk came to a village called
+Thunderbolt, and was entertained in the house of a Brahman. But
+when he had been honoured by the master of the house and had
+begun to eat dinner there, the little boy began to cry and would not
+stop even when they petted him. So his mother took him on her
+arm, and angrily threw him into the blazing fire. And being tender,
+he was reduced to ashes in a moment.
+
+When the monk saw this, his hair stood on end, and he said: "Alas!
+I have come into the house of a devil. I will not eat this food. It
+would be like eating sin." But the master of the house said to him:
+"Brahman, I have studied to good purpose. See my skill in
+bringing the dead to life." So he opened a book, took out a magic
+spell, read it, and sprinkled water on the ashes. And the moment
+the water was sprinkled, the boy stood up alive just as before.
+Then the monk was highly delighted and finished his dinner with
+pleasure.
+
+And the master of the house hung the book on an ivory peg, took
+dinner with the monk, and went to bed. When he was asleep, the
+monk got up quietly, and tremblingly took the book, hoping to
+bring his darling Coral back to life. He went away and travelled
+night and day, until he finally reached the cemetery. And he caught
+sight of the second youth, who had come back after dipping the
+bones in the Ganges. And he also found the third youth, who had
+made a hut and lived there, sleeping on the girl's ashes.
+
+Then the monk cried: "Brother, leave your hut. I will bring the
+dear girl back to life." And while they eagerly questioned him, he
+opened the book, and read the magic spell, and sprinkled holy
+water on the ashes. And Coral immediately stood up, alive. And
+the girl was more beautiful than ever. She looked as if she were
+made of gold.
+
+When the three youths saw her come back to life like that, they
+went mad with love, and fought with one another to possess her.
+
+One said: "I brought her to life by my magic spell. She is my
+wife."
+
+The second said: "She came to life because of my journey to the
+sacred river. She is my wife."
+
+The third said: "I kept her ashes. That is why she came to life. She
+is my dear wife."
+
+O King, you are able to decide their dispute. Tell me. Whose wife
+should she be? If you know and say what is false, then your head
+will split.
+
+When the king heard this, he said to the goblin: "The man who
+painfully found the magic spell and brought her back to life, he did
+only what a father ought to do. He is not her husband. And the man
+who went to dip her bones in the sacred river, he did only what a
+son ought to do. He is not her husband. But the man who slept with
+her ashes and lived a hard life in the cemetery, he did what a lover
+ought to do. He deserves to be her husband."
+
+When the goblin heard this answer of King Triple-victory, he
+suddenly escaped from his shoulder and went back. And the king
+wished to do as the monk had asked him; so he decided to go back
+and get him. Great-minded people do not waver until they have
+kept their promises, even at the cost of life.
+
+
+THIRD GOBLIN
+
+The Parrot and the Thrush. Which are worse, men or women?
+
+Then the king went back to the sissoo tree to fetch the goblin.
+When he got there, he took the body with the goblin in it on his
+shoulder, and started off in silence. And as he walked along, the
+goblin said to him again: "O King, you must be very tired, coming
+and going in the night. So to amuse you I will tell another story.
+Listen."
+
+
+There is a city called Patna, the gem of the earth. And long ago a
+king lived there whose name was Lion-of-Victory. Fate had made
+him the owner of all virtues and all wealth. And he had a parrot
+called Jewel-of-Wisdom, that had divine intelligence and knew all
+the sciences, but lived as a parrot because of a curse.
+
+This king had a son called Moon, and by the advice of the parrot
+this prince married the daughter of the king of the Magadha
+country; and her name was Moonlight. Now this princess had a
+thrush named Moony, who was like the parrot, because she had
+learning and intelligence. And the parrot and the thrush lived in
+one cage in the palace.
+
+One day the parrot eagerly said to the thrush: "My darling, love
+me, and share my bed and my chair and my food and my
+amusements."
+
+But the thrush said: "I will have nothing to do with men. Men are
+bad and ungrateful."
+
+Then the parrot said: "Men are not bad. It is only women who are
+bad and cruel-hearted." And they quarrelled.
+
+Then the two birds wagered their freedom with each other and
+went to the prince to have their quarrel decided. And the prince
+mounted his father's judgment throne, and when he had heard the
+cause of the quarrel, he asked the thrush: "How are men
+ungrateful? Tell the truth." Then she said, "Listen, O Prince," and
+to prove her point she started to tell this story illustrating the faults
+of men.
+
+There is a famous city called Kamandaki, where a wealthy
+merchant lived named Fortune. And in time a son was born to him
+and named Treasure. Then when the father went to heaven, the
+young man became very unruly because of gambling and other
+vices. And the rascals came together, and ruined him. Association
+with scoundrels is the root from which springs the tree of calamity.
+
+So in no long time he lost all he had through his vices, and being
+ashamed of his poverty, he left his own country and went to
+wander in other places. And during his travels he came to a city
+called Sandal City, and entered the house of a merchant, seeking
+something to eat. When the merchant saw the youth, he asked him
+about his family, and finding that he was a gentleman, he
+entertained him. And thinking that Gate had sent the young man,
+he gave him his own daughter Pearl, together with some money.
+And when Treasure was married, he lived in his
+father-in-law's house.
+
+As time passed, he forgot his former miseries in the comforts of
+his life, and longed for the old vices, and wanted to go home. So
+the rascal managed to persuade his father-in-law, who had no other
+children, took his wife Pearl with her beautiful ornaments, and an
+old woman, and started for his own country. Presently he came to a
+wood where he said he was afraid of thieves, so he took all his
+wife's ornaments. Perceive, O Prince, how cruel and hard are the
+ungrateful hearts of those who indulge in gambling and other
+vices. And the scoundrel was ready, just for money, to kill his
+good wife. He threw her and the old woman into a pit. Then the
+rascal went away and the old woman perished there.
+
+But Pearl, with the little life she had left, managed to get out by
+clinging to the grass and bushes, and weeping bitterly, and
+bleeding, she asked the way step by step, and painfully reached her
+father's house by the way she had come. And her mother and
+father were surprised and asked her: "Why did you come back so
+soon, and in this condition?"
+
+And that good wife said: "On the road we were robbed, and my
+husband was forcibly carried off. And the old woman fell into a pit
+and died, but I escaped. And a kind-hearted traveller pulled me
+from the pit." Then her father and mother were saddened, but they
+comforted her, and Pearl stayed there, true to her husband.
+
+Then in time Treasure lost all his money in gambling, and he
+reflected: "I will get more money from the house of my
+father-in-law. I will go there and tell my father-in-law that his
+daughter is well and is at my house."
+
+So he went again to his father-in-law. And as he went, his
+ever-faithful wife saw him afar off. She ran and fell at the rascal's
+feet and told him all the story that she had invented for her parents.
+For the heart of a faithful wife does not change even when she
+learns that her husband is a rogue.
+
+Then that rascal went without fear into the house of his
+father-in-law and bowed low before his feet. And his
+father-in-law rejoiced when he saw him and made a great feast
+with his relatives, for he said: "My son is delivered alive from the
+robbers. Heaven be praised!" Then Treasure enjoyed the wealth of
+his father-in-law and lived with his wife Pearl.
+
+Now one night this worst of scoundrels did what I ought not to
+repeat, but I will tell it, or my story would be spoiled. Listen, O
+Prince. While Pearl lay asleep trusting him, that wretch killed her
+in the night, stole all her jewels, and escaped to his own country.
+This shows how bad and ungrateful men are.
+
+When the thrush had told her story, the prince smiled and said to
+the parrot: "It is your turn now."
+
+Then the parrot said: "Your Majesty, women are cruel and reckless
+and bad. To prove it, I will tell you a story. Listen."
+
+There is a city called Joyful, where lived a prince of merchants
+named Virtue, who owned millions of money. He had a daughter
+named Fortune, peerless in beauty, dearer to him than life. And she
+was given in marriage to a merchant's son from Copper City,
+whose name was Ocean. He was her equal in wealth, beauty, and
+family; a delight to the eyes of men.
+
+One day when her husband was away from home, she saw from
+the window a handsome young man. And the moment she saw
+him, the fickle girl went mad with love, and secretly sent a
+messenger to invite him in, and made love to him in secret. Thus
+her heart was fixed on him alone, and she was happy with him.
+
+But at last her husband came home and delighted the hearts of his
+parents-in-law. And when the day had been spent in feasting,
+Fortune was adorned by her mother, and sent to her husband's
+room. But she was cold toward him and pretended to sleep. And
+her husband went to sleep, too, for he was weary with his journey,
+and had been drinking wine.
+
+When everyone in the house had gone to sleep after their dinner, a
+thief made a hole in the wall and came into that very room. And
+just then the merchant's daughter got up without seeing him, and
+went out secretly to a meeting with her lover. And the thief was
+disappointed, and thought: "She has gone out into the night
+wearing the very jewels that I came to steal. I must see where she
+goes." So the thief went out and followed her.
+
+But she met a woman friend who had flowers in her hand, and
+went to a park not very far away. And there she saw the man
+whom she came to meet hanging on a tree. For the policeman had
+thought he was a thief, had put a rope around his neck and hanged
+him.
+
+And at the sight she went distracted, and lamented pitifully: "Oh,
+oh! I am undone," and fell on the ground and wept. Then she took
+her lover down from the tree and made him sit up, though he was
+dead, and adorned him with perfumes and jewels and flowers.
+
+But when in her love-madness she lifted his face and kissed him, a
+goblin who had come to live in her dead lover, bit off her nose.
+And she was startled and ran in pain from the spot. But then she
+came back to see if perhaps he was alive after all. But the goblin
+had gone, and she saw that he was motionless and dead. So she
+slowly went back home, frightened and disgraced and weeping.
+
+And the concealed thief saw it all and thought: "What has the
+wicked woman done? Alas! Can women be so dreadful as this?
+What might she not do next?" So out of curiosity the thief still
+followed her from afar.
+
+And the wretched woman entered the house and cried aloud, and
+said: "Save me from my cruel enemy, my own husband. He cut off
+my nose and I had done nothing." And her servants heard her cries
+and all arose in excitement. Her husband too awoke. Then her
+father came and saw that her nose was cut off, and in his anger he
+had his son-in-law arrested.
+
+And the poor man did not know what to do. Even when he was
+being bound, he remained silent and said nothing. Then they all
+woke up and heard the story, but the thief who knew the whole
+truth, ran away. And when day came, the merchant's son was
+haled before the king by his father-in-law. And Fortune went there
+without her nose, and the king heard the whole story and
+condemned the merchant's son to death for mistreating his wife.
+
+So the innocent, bewildered man was led to the place of execution
+and the drums were beaten. Just then the thief came up and said to
+the king's men: "Why do you kill this man without any good
+reason? I know how the whole thing happened. Take me to the
+king, and I will tell all."
+
+So all the king's men took him to the king. And the thief told the
+king all the adventures of the night, and said: "Your Majesty, if
+you cannot trust my word, you may find the nose at this moment
+between the teeth of the dead body."
+
+Then the king sent men to investigate, and when he found it was
+true, he released the merchant's son from the punishment of death.
+As for wretched Fortune, he cut off her ears, too, and banished her
+from the country. And he took from her father, the merchant, all
+his money, and made the thief the chief of police. He was pleased
+with him.
+
+O Prince, this shows how cruel and false women are by nature.
+
+As he spoke these words, the parrot changed into a god, for the
+curse was fulfilled, and went to heaven like a god. And the thrush
+suddenly became a goddess, for her curse was at an end, and flew
+up likewise to heaven. So their dispute was never settled at that
+court.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he asked the king: "O King,
+tell me. Are men bad, or women? If you know and do not tell, your
+head will fly to pieces." And when the king heard these words of
+the goblin on his shoulder, he said to that magic goblin: "O goblin!
+Here and there, now and then, there is an occasional bad man like
+that. But women are usually bad. We hear about many of them."
+
+Then the goblin disappeared from the king's shoulder as before.
+And the king tried again to catch him.
+
+
+FOURTH GOBLIN
+
+King Shudraka and Hero's Family. Which of the five deserves the
+most honour?
+
+Then King Triple-victory went back under the sissoo tree and
+caught the goblin, who gave a horse-laugh. But the king without
+fear put him on his shoulder as before and started toward the
+monk. And as he walked along, the goblin on his shoulder said to
+him again: "O King, why do you take such pains for that wretched
+monk? Have you no sense about this fruitless task? Well, after all,
+I like your devotion. So, to amuse the weary journey, I will tell you
+another story. Listen."
+
+
+There is a city called Beautiful, and it deserves the name. There
+lived a king named Shudraka, of tremendous power and mighty
+courage. He was so used to victory that the fire of his courage was
+kept blazing by the wind from the fans in the hands of the wives of
+his vanquished foes. Under his rule the earth was rich and always
+good, as in the days of old. And he was fond of brave men.
+
+Now one day a Brahman named Hero came from Malwa to pay his
+homage to this king. He had a wife named Virtue, a son named
+Trusty, and a daughter named Heroic. And he had just three
+servants, a dagger at his hip, a sword in his hand, and a shield in
+his other hand. These were all the servants he had when he asked
+the king for five hundred gold-pieces a day as his wages.
+
+And the king thought from his appearance that he was a
+remarkably brave man, so he gave him the wages he asked. But out
+of curiosity he put spies on his track, to learn what he did with all
+the money.
+
+Now Hero called on the king in the morning, and at noon he took
+his sword and stood at the palace gate and divided his daily salary.
+One hundred gold-pieces he gave to his wife for food and
+household expenses. And with another hundred he bought clothes
+and perfumes and nuts and such things. And another hundred he
+devoted to the worship of Vishnu and Shiva, after taking the
+ceremonial bath. And the two hundred which were left he gave to
+Brahmans and the unhappy and the poor. This was the way he
+divided and spent the money every day. Then after he had
+sacrificed and eaten dinner, he stood every night alone at the
+palace gate with his sword and shield. All this King Shudraka
+learned from his spies and was greatly pleased and forbad the spies
+to follow him again. For he thought him a wonderful man, worthy
+of especial honour.
+
+Then one day a veil of clouds covered the sky and poured down
+rain in streams day and night, so that the highway was quite
+deserted. Only Hero was at his post as usual by the palace gate.
+And when the sun set and dreadful darkness was spread abroad
+and the rain fell in sheets, the king wished to test Hero's
+behaviour. So at night he climbed to the palace roof and cried:
+"Who is there at the gate?" And Hero answered: "I am here." And
+the king thought: "How steadfast this man Hero is, and how
+devoted to me! I must surely give him a greater post." And he
+descended from the roof and entered the palace and went to bed.
+
+The next night it rained again in sheets and the world was wrapped
+in the darkness of death. And again the king thought to test his
+behaviour, and climbing to the roof he called out toward the palace
+gate: "Who is there?" And when Hero said: "I am here, your
+Majesty," the king was greatly astonished.
+
+Just then he heard at a distance a sweet-voiced woman crying. And
+he thought: "Who is this who laments so piteously, as if in deep
+despair? In my kingdom there is no violence, no poor man and
+none distressed. Who can she be?" And being merciful, he called
+to Hero, who stood below: "Listen, Hero. A woman is weeping at
+some distance. Go and learn why she weeps and who she is." And
+Hero said "Certainly," arranged his dagger, took his sword in his
+hand, and started. He did not even think of the pelting hail, the
+flashing lightning, or the rain and darkness. And when the king
+saw him setting out alone in a night like that, he was filled with
+pity and curiosity, and descending from the palace roof, took his
+sword and followed all alone, without being seen.
+
+As Hero traced the sound of crying, he came to a beautiful lake
+outside the city, and there he saw a woman in the midst of the
+water, lamenting in these words: "Alas for you, brave and merciful
+and generous! How shall I live without you?"
+
+And Hero was amazed, and timidly asked her: "Who are you, and
+why do you weep?" And she replied: "O Hero, I am the Goddess of
+the Earth, and now my lord, this virtuous King Shudraka, is going
+to die in three days. How shall I find another such master? So I am
+distracted with grief, and I lament."
+
+When Hero heard this, he was frightened and said: "Goddess, is
+there any remedy for this, any way in which the king might be
+saved?" And the goddess answered: "There is just one remedy, my
+son, and it is in your hands." And Hero said: "Goddess, tell me
+quickly, that I may adopt it at once. What good would life be to us
+otherwise?"
+
+Then the goddess said: "My son, there is no other man devoted to
+his master as you are: so you may learn how to save him. There is
+a temple to the Dreadful Goddess built by that king near his
+palace. If you sacrifice your son to her at once, then the king will
+not die. He will live another hundred years. If you do it this very
+night, then the blessing will come, not otherwise."
+
+And Hero, the hero, replied: "Then I will go, Goddess, and do it
+this moment." And the Goddess of the Earth said: "Good fortune
+go with you," and she vanished. And the king, who had followed
+secretly, heard it all. So he still followed to find out how Hero
+would behave.
+
+But Hero went straight home, woke his wife Virtue, and told her
+all that the Goddess of the Earth had said. And his wife said: "My
+dear, if so much depends on it, wake the boy and tell him." Then
+Hero woke the little boy, told him all, and said: "My boy, if you
+are sacrificed to the Dreadful Goddess, our king will live. If not, he
+will die in three days."
+
+And the boy was true to his name. Without fear and without
+hesitation he said: "My dear father, I am a lucky boy if the king
+lives at the cost of my life. Besides, that would pay for the food we
+have eaten. Why then delay? Take me quickly and sacrifice me to
+the goddess. May the king's evil fate be averted by my death!"
+And Hero was delighted and congratulated him, saying: "Well
+said! You are indeed my son."
+
+So Hero's wife Virtue and his daughter Heroic went through the
+night with Hero and Trusty to the temple of the Dreadful Goddess.
+The king too followed them, disguised and unnoticed. Then the
+father took Trusty from his shoulder in the presence of the
+goddess. And Trusty worshipped the goddess, and bravely saluted
+her, and said: "O Goddess, by the sacrifice of my head may the
+king live another hundred years and rule a thornless kingdom."
+
+And as he prayed, Hero cut off his head and offered it to the
+Dreadful Goddess, saying: "May the king live at the cost of my
+son's life!" Then a voice cried from heaven: "O Hero, who else is
+devoted to his master as you are? You have given life and royal
+power to the king at the cost of your only son, and such a son." All
+this the king himself saw and heard.
+
+Then Hero's daughter Heroic kissed the lips of her dead brother,
+and was blinded with sorrow, and her heart broke, and she died.
+
+Then Hero's wife Virtue said: "My dear, we have done our duty by
+the king. And you see how my daughter died of grief. So now I
+say: What good is life to me without my children? I was a fool
+before. I should have given my own head to save the king. So now
+permit me to burn myself at once."
+
+And when she insisted, Hero said: "Do so. What happiness is there
+in a life of constant mourning for your children? And as for your
+giving your own life instead, do not grieve about that. If there had
+been any other way, I should of course have given my life. So wait
+a moment. I will build you a funeral pile out of these logs." So he
+built the pile and lighted it.
+
+And Virtue fell at her husband's feet, then worshipped the
+Dreadful Goddess, and prayed: "O Goddess, may I have the same
+husband in another life, and may this same King Shudraka be
+saved at the cost of my son's life." And she died in the blazing fire.
+
+Then Hero thought: "I have done my duty by the king, as the
+heavenly voice admitted. And I have paid for the king's food
+which I have eaten. So now why should I want to live alone? It is
+not right for a man like me to go on living at the expense of all the
+family which I ought to support. Why should I not please the
+goddess by sacrificing myself?"
+
+So Hero first approached the goddess with a hymn of praise: "O
+Demon-slayer! Saviour! Devil-killer! Trident-holder! Joy of the
+wise! Protectress of the universe! Victory to thee, O best of
+mothers, whose feet the world adores! O fearless refuge of the
+pious! Kali of the dreadful ornaments! Honour and glory to thee, O
+kindly goddess! Be pleased to accept the sacrifice of my head in
+behalf of King Shudraka." Then he suddenly cut off his own head
+with his dagger.
+
+King Shudraka beheld this from his hiding-place, and was filled
+with amazement and grief and admiration. And he thought: "I have
+never seen or heard the like of this. That good man and his family
+have done a hard thing for me. In this strange world who else is so
+brave as that, to give his son, his family, and his life for his king: If
+I should not make a full return for his kindness, my kingdom
+would mean nothing to me, and my life would be the life of a
+beast. If I lost my virtue, it would all be a disgrace to me."
+
+But when he started to cut off his own head, there came a voice
+from heaven: "My son, do nothing rash. I am well pleased with
+your character. The Brahman Hero and his children and his wife
+shall come back to life." And when the voice ceased, Hero stood
+up alive and uninjured with his son and his daughter and his wife.
+Then the king hid himself again and looked on with eyes filled
+with tears of joy, and could not see enough of them.
+
+Now Hero, like a man awaking from a dream, gazed at his son and
+his wife and his daughter, and was greatly perplexed. He spoke to
+each by name, and asked them how they had come to life after
+being reduced to ashes. "Is this a fancy of mine? Or a dream? Or
+an illusion? Or the favour of the goddess?" And his wife and
+children said to him: "By the favour of the goddess we are alive."
+
+At last Hero believed it, and having worshipped the goddess, he
+went home happy with his children and his wife. And when he had
+seen his son and his wife and daughter safe at home, he went back
+that same night to the palace gate.
+
+And King Shudraka saw all this and went back without being seen
+himself, and climbed to the roof, and called: "Who is there at the
+gate?" And Hero replied: "Your Majesty, I, Hero, am here. At your
+command I followed the woman who cried. She must have been a
+witch, for she vanished the moment I saw her and spoke to her."
+
+When the king heard this, he was astonished beyond measure, for
+he had seen what really happened. And he thought: "Ah, the hearts
+of brave men are deep as the sea, if they do not boast after doing
+an unparalleled action." So the king descended from the roof,
+entered the palace, and passed the rest of the night there.
+
+Then when the court was held in the morning, Hero came to see
+the king. And as he stood there, the delighted king told all his
+counsellors and the others the story of the night. And all were
+amazed and confounded at hearing of Hero's virtues, and they
+praised him, crying: "Well done! Well done!"
+
+Then the king and Hero lived happily together, sharing the power
+equally.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he asked King
+Triple-victory: "O King, which of all these was the most worthy? If
+you know and will not tell, then the curse I told you of will be
+fulfilled."
+
+And the king said to the goblin: "O magic creature, King Shudraka
+was the most noble of them all."
+
+But the goblin said: "Why not Hero, the like of whom as a servant
+is not to be found in the whole world? Or why should not his wife
+receive the most praise, who did not waver when she saw her son
+killed like a beast before her eyes? Or why is not the boy Trusty
+the most worthy, who showed such wonderful manhood when only
+a little boy? Why do you say that King Shudraka was the best
+among them?"
+
+Then the king answered the goblin: "Not Hero. He was a
+gentleman born, so it was his duty to save his king at the cost of
+life, wife and children. And his wife was a lady, a faithful wife
+who only did what was right in following her husband. And Trusty
+was their son, and like them. For the cloth is always like the
+threads. But the king has aright to use his subjects' lives to save his
+own. So when Shudraka gave his life for them, he proved himself
+the best of all."
+
+When the goblin heard this, he jumped from the king's shoulder
+and went back to his home without being seen. And the king was
+not disturbed by this magic, but started back through the night to
+catch him.
+
+
+FIFTH GOBLIN
+
+The Brave Man, the Wise Man, and the Clever Man. To which
+should the girl be given?
+
+Then King Triple-victory went back to the sissoo tree and saw the
+body with the goblin in it hanging there just as before. He took it
+down without being frightened by all its twistings and writhings,
+and quickly set out again. And as he walked along in silence as
+before, the goblin said: "O King, you are obstinate, and you are
+pleasing to look at. So to amuse you, I will tell another story.
+Listen."
+
+
+There is a city called Ujjain, famous throughout the world. There
+lived a king named Merit, who had as counsellor a Brahman
+named Hariswami, adorned with all noble virtues. The counsellor
+had a worthy wife, and a son named Devaswami was born to her,
+and was as good as she. And they had one daughter named
+Moonlight, who was worthy of her name, for she was famous for
+her matchless beauty and charm.
+
+When the girl had grown out of childhood, she was proud of her
+wonderful beauty, and she told her mother, her father, and her
+brother: "I will marry a brave man or a wise man or a clever man. I
+should die if I were married to anyone else."
+
+Now while her father was busy looking for such a husband for her,
+he was sent by King Merit to another king in the southern country
+to make a treaty for war and peace. When he had finished his
+business, a Brahman youth, who had heard of his daughter's
+beauty, came and asked him for her.
+
+And he said: "My daughter will not marry anyone unless he is a
+clever man or a wise man or a brave man. Which of these are you?
+Tell me." And the Brahman said: "I am a clever man." "Show
+me," said the father, and the clever man made a flying chariot by
+his skill. Then he took Hariswami in this magic chariot, and
+carried him to the sky. And he took the delighted father to the
+camp of the king of the southern country where he had been on
+business. Then Hariswami appointed the marriage for the seventh
+day.
+
+At this time another Brahman youth in Ujjain came to the girl's
+brother and asked him for her. And when he was told that she
+would marry only a wise man or a clever man or a brave man, he
+said he was a brave man. Then when he had shown his skill with
+weapons, the brother promised his sister to the brave man. And
+without telling his mother, he consulted the star-gazers and
+appointed the marriage for the seventh day.
+
+At the same time a third Brahman youth came to the girl's mother
+and asked for the girl. And the mother said: "My son, a wise man
+or a clever man or a brave man shall marry my daughter but no one
+else. Which of these are you? Tell me." And he said: "I am a wise
+man." So she asked him about the past and the future, and found
+that he was a wise man. Then she promised to give him her
+daughter on the seventh day.
+
+The next day Hariswami came home and told his wife and his son
+all that he had done. And she and he each told him all that she or
+he had done. So Hariswami was greatly perplexed, because three
+bridegrooms had been invited. Then the seventh day came and the
+three bridegrooms came to Hariswami's house.
+
+Strange to say, at that moment Moonlight disappeared. Then the
+wise man said: "A giant named Smoke-tail has carried her to his
+den in the Vindhya forest."
+
+When Hariswami heard this from the wise man, he was frightened
+and asked the clever man to find a remedy for the trouble. And the
+clever man made a chariot as before, full of all kinds of weapons,
+and brought Hariswami with the wise man and the brave man in a
+moment to the Vindhya forest. And the wise man showed them the
+giant's den.
+
+When the giant saw what had happened, he came out in anger, and
+the brave man fought with him. Then came a famous duel with
+strange weapons between a man and a giant for the sake of a
+woman, like the ancient fight between Rama and Ravana. Though
+the giant was a terrible fighter, the brave man presently cut off his
+head with an arrow shaped like a half-moon. When the giant was
+killed, they found Moonlight in the den and all went back to Ujjain
+in the clever man's chariot.
+
+Then when the proper time for wedding came, there arose a great
+dispute among the three in Hariswami's house.
+
+The wise man said: "If I had not discovered her by my wisdom,
+how could you have found her hiding-place? She should be given
+to me."
+
+The clever man said: "If I had not made a flying chariot, how
+could you have gone there in a moment and come back like the
+gods, or how could you have had a chariot-fight with him? She
+should be given to me."
+
+The brave man said: "If I had not killed the giant in the fight, who
+would have saved her in spite of all your pains? The girl should be
+given to me."
+
+And as they quarrelled, Hariswami stood silent, confused, and
+perplexed.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he said to the king: "O King,
+do you say to which of them she should be given. If you know and
+will not tell, then your head will split into a hundred pieces."
+
+Then the king broke silence and said: "She should be given to the
+brave man, who risked his life and killed the giant and saved the
+girl. The wise man and the clever man were only helpers whom
+Fate gave him. A star-gazer and a chariot-maker work for other
+people, do they not?"
+
+When the goblin heard this answer, he suddenly escaped from the
+king's shoulder and went back. And the king determined to get
+him, and went again to the sissoo tree.
+
+
+SIXTH GOBLIN
+
+The Girl who transposed the Heads of her Husband and Brother.
+Which combination of head and body is her husband?
+
+Then the king went back to the sissoo tree, put the goblin on his
+shoulder as before, and started in silence toward the monk. And
+the goblin said to him: "O King, you are wise and good, so I am
+pleased with you. To amuse you, therefore, I will tell you another
+story with a puzzle in it. Listen."
+
+
+Long ago there was a king named Glory-banner in the world. His
+city was named Beautiful. And in this city was a splendid temple
+to the goddess Gauri. And to the right of the temple was a lake
+called Bath of Gauri. And on a certain day in each year a great
+crowd of people came there on a pilgrimage from all directions to
+bathe.
+
+One day a laundryman named White came there from another
+village to bathe. And the youth saw a maiden who had also come
+there to bathe. Her name was Lovely, and her father's name was
+Clean-cloth. She robbed the moon of its beauty and White of his
+heart. So he inquired about her name and family and went home
+lovesick.
+
+When he got there, he was ill and could not eat without her. And
+when his mother asked him, he told her what was in his heart, but
+did not change his habits. But she went and told her husband,
+whose name was Spotless.
+
+So Spotless went and saw how his son was acting, and said: "My
+son, why should you be downcast? Your desire is not hard to
+obtain. For if I ask Clean-cloth, he will surely give you his
+daughter. We are not inferior to him in birth, wealth, or social
+position. I know him and he knows me. So there is no difficulty
+about it." Thus Spotless comforted his son, made him eat and take
+care of himself, went with him the next day to
+Clean-cloth's house, and asked that the girl might be given to his
+son White. And Clean-cloth graciously promised to give her to
+him.
+
+Then when the time came, Clean-cloth gave White his charming
+daughter, a wife worthy of him. And when he was married, White
+went happily to his father's house with his sweet bride.
+
+Now as he lived there happily, Lovely's brother came to visit. And
+when they had all asked him about his health and his sister had
+greeted him with a kiss, and after he had rested, he said: "My
+father sent me to invite Lovely and White to a festival in our
+house." And all the relatives said it was a good plan and
+entertained him that day with appropriate things to drink and eat.
+
+The next morning White set out for his father-in-law's house,
+together with his brother-in-law and Lovely. And when he came to
+the city Beautiful, he saw the great temple of Gauri. And he said to
+Lovely and her brother: "We will see this goddess. I will go first
+and you two stay here." So White went in to see the goddess. He
+entered the temple and bowed before the goddess whose eighteen
+arms had killed the horrible demons, whose lotus-feet were set
+upon a giant that she had crushed.
+
+And when he had worshipped her, an idea suddenly came to him.
+"People honour this goddess with all kinds of living sacrifices.
+Why should I not win her favour by sacrificing myself?" And he
+fetched a sword from a deserted inner room, cut off his own head,
+and let it fall on the floor.
+
+Presently his brother-in-law entered the temple to see why he
+delayed so long. And when he saw his brother-in-law with his head
+cut off, he went mad with grief, and cut off his own head in the
+same way with the same sword.
+
+Then when he failed to come out, Lovely was alarmed and entered
+the temple. And when she saw her husband and her brother in that
+condition, she cried: "Alas! This is the end of me!" and fell
+weeping to the floor. But presently she rose, lamenting for the pair
+so unexpectantly dead, and thought: "What is my life good for
+now?"
+
+Before killing herself, she prayed to the goddess: "O Goddess! One
+only deity of happiness and character! Partaker of the life of Shiva!
+Refuge of all women-folk! Destroyer of grief! Why have you killed
+my husband and my brother at one fell swoop? It was not right, for
+I was always devoted to you. Then be my refuge when I pray to
+you, and hear my one pitiful prayer. I shall leave this wretched
+body of mine on this spot, but in every future life of mine, O
+Goddess, may I have the same husband and brother." Thus she
+prayed, praised, and worshipped the goddess, then tied a rope to an
+ashoka tree which grew there.
+
+But while she was arranging the rope about her neck, a voice from
+heaven cried: "Do nothing rash, my daughter. Leave the rope
+alone. Though you are young, I am pleased with your unusual
+goodness. Place the two heads on the two bodies and they shall
+rise up again and live through my favour."
+
+So Lovely left the rope alone and joyfully went to the bodies. But
+in her great hurry and confusion she made a mistake. She put her
+husband's head on her brother's body and her brother's head on
+her husband's body. Then they arose, sound and well, like men
+awaking from a dream. And they were all delighted to hear one
+another's adventures, worshipped the goddess, and went on their
+way.
+
+Now as she walked along, Lovely noticed that she had made a
+mistake in their heads. And she was troubled and did not know
+what to do.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he asked the king: "O King,
+when they were mingled in this way, which should be her
+husband? If you know and do not tell, then the curse I spoke of
+will be fulfilled."
+
+And the king said to the goblin: "The body with the husband's
+head on it is her husband. For the head is the most important
+member. It is by the head that we recognize people."
+
+Then the goblin slipped from the king's shoulder as before, and
+quickly disappeared. And the king went back, determined to catch
+him.
+
+
+SEVENTH GOBLIN
+
+The Mutual Services of King Fierce-lion and Prince Good. Which
+is the more deserving?
+
+Then the king went back to the sissoo tree, put the goblin on his
+shoulder as before, and started. And as he walked along, the goblin
+said: "O King, I will tell you a story to amuse your weariness.
+Listen."
+
+
+On the shore of the Eastern Ocean is Copper City. There a king
+named Fierce-lion lived. He turned his back to other men's wives,
+but not to fighting men. He destroyed his enemies, but not other
+men's wealth.
+
+One day a popular prince named Good came from the south to the
+king's gate. He introduced himself, but did not get what he wanted
+from the king. And he thought: "If I am born a prince, why am I so
+poor? And if I am to be poor, why did God give me so many
+desires? For this king pays no attention to me, though I wait upon
+him and grow weary and faint with hunger."
+
+While he was thinking, the king went hunting. He went with many
+horsemen and footmen, and the prince ran along in the dress of a
+pilgrim with a club in his hand. And during the hunt the king
+chased a great boar a long distance, and so came into another
+forest. There he lost sight of the boar, for the trail was covered
+with leaves and grass. And the king was tired and lost his way in
+the forest. Only the pilgrim-prince thought nothing of his life, and
+hungry and thirsty as he was, he followed on foot the king who
+rode a swift horse.
+
+And when the king saw him following, he spoke lovingly: "My
+good man, do you perhaps know the way we came?"
+
+And the pilgrim bowed low and said: "I know, your Majesty. But
+first rest yourself a moment. The blazing sun, the middle jewel in
+the girdle of heaven's bride, is terribly hot." Then the king said
+eagerly: "See if there is water anywhere."
+
+And the pilgrim agreed and climbed a high tree and looked around.
+And he saw a river and climbed down and took the king to it. He
+unsaddled the horse, gave him water and grass, and let him rest.
+And when the king had bathed, the pilgrim took two fine mangoes
+from his skirt, washed them and gave them to the king.
+
+"Where did you get these?" asked the king, and the pilgrim bowed
+and said: "Your Majesty, I have lived on such food for ten years.
+While I was serving your Majesty, I had to live like a monk." And
+the king said: "What can I say? You deserve your name of Good."
+And he was filled with pity and shame, and thought: "A curse on
+kings, who do not know whether their servants are happy or not!
+And a curse of their attendants, who do not tell them this and
+that!" And when the pilgrim insisted, the king was prevailed on to
+take the two mangoes. He rested there with the pilgrim and ate the
+mangoes and drank water with the pilgrim, who was accustomed
+to eat mangoes and drink water.
+
+Then the pilgrim saddled the horse and went ahead to show the
+way, and at last, at the king's command, mounted behind on the
+horse; so the king found his soldiers and went safely home. And
+when he got there, he proclaimed the devotion of the pilgrim, and
+made him a rich man, but could not feel that he had paid his debt.
+So Good stayed there happily with King Fierce-lion and stopped
+living as a pilgrim.
+
+One day the king sent Good to Ceylon to ask for the hand of the
+daughter of the King of Ceylon. So he set out after sacrificing to
+the proper god, and entered a ship with some Brahmans chosen by
+the king. And when the ship had safely reached the middle of the
+ocean, there suddenly arose from the waves a very large
+flag-pole made of gold, with a top that touched the sky. It was
+adorned with waving banners of various colours and was quite
+astonishing.
+
+At the same moment the clouds gathered, it began to rain
+violently, and a mighty wind blew. And the ship was driven by the
+storm winds and caught on the flag-pole. Then the pole began to
+sink, dragging the ship with it into the raging waves. And the
+Brahmans who were there were overcome with fear and cursed the
+name of their king Fierce-lion.
+
+But Good could not endure that because of his devotion to his
+king. He took his sword in his hand, girt up his garment, and threw
+himself after the flag-pole into the sea. He had no fear of the pole
+which seemed a refuge from the ocean. Then as he sank, the ship
+was battered by the winds and waves and broke up. And all in it
+fell into the mouths of sharks.
+
+But Good sank into the ocean, and when he looked about he saw a
+wonderful city. There he entered a shrine to Gauri, tall as the
+heavenly mountain, with great gem-sprinkled banners on walls
+made of different kinds of jewels, in a golden temple blazing with
+jewelled pillars, with a garden that had a pool, the stairs to which
+were made of splendid gems. After he had bowed low and praised
+and worshipped the goddess there, he sat down before her in
+amazement, wondering if it was all a conjuror's trick.
+
+Just then the door was suddenly opened by a heavenly maiden. Her
+eyes were like lotuses, her face like the moon. She had a smile like
+a flower and a body soft as lotus-stems. And a thousand women
+waited upon her. She entered the shrine of the goddess and the
+heart of Good at the same moment. And when she had worshipped
+the goddess there, she went out from the shrine, but not from the
+heart of Good.
+
+She entered a circle of light, and Good followed her. And he saw
+another splendid house, that seemed like a place of meeting for all
+riches and all enjoyments. And he saw the girl sitting on a jewelled
+couch, and he approached and sat beside her. He was like a man
+painted in a picture, for his eyes were fastened on her face.
+
+Now a servant of the maiden saw that his body was thrilled, that he
+was intent upon the maiden, that he was in love. She understood
+his feelings and said to him: "Sir, you are our guest. Enjoy the
+hospitality of my mistress. Arise. Bathe. Eat." And he felt a little
+hope at her words and went to a pool in the garden which she
+showed him.
+
+He plunged into the pool, and when he rose to the surface, he
+found himself in the pool of King Fierce-lion in Copper City. And
+when he saw that he had come there so suddenly, he thought: "Oh,
+what does it mean? Where is that heavenly garden? What a
+difference between the sight of that girl which was like nectar to
+me, and this immediate separation from her which is like terrible
+poison! It was no dream. I was awake when the
+serving-maid deceived me and made a fool of me."
+
+He was like a madman without the girl. He wandered in the garden
+and mourned in a lovelorn way. He was surrounded by
+wind-blown flower-pollen which seemed to him the yellow flames
+of separation. And when the gardener saw him in this state, he
+went and told the king.
+
+And the king was troubled. He went himself to see Good, and
+asked him soothingly: "What does this mean? Tell me, my friend.
+Where did you go? And where did you come? And where did you
+stay? And what did you fall into?"
+
+Then Good told him the whole adventure. And the king thought:
+"Ah, it is fortunate for me that this brave man is lovelorn. For now
+I have a chance to pay my debt to him." So the king said to him:
+"My friend, give over this vain grief. I will go with you by the
+same road, and bring you to the heavenly maiden." So he
+comforted Good, and made him take a bath.
+
+The next day he transferred his royal duties to his counsellors and
+entered a ship with Good. Good showed the way through the sea
+and they saw the flag-pole with its banners rising as before in the
+middle of the ocean. Then Good said to the king: "Your Majesty,
+here is the magic flag-pole standing up. When I sink down there,
+you must sink too along the flag-pole." So when they came near
+the sinking pole, Good jumped first, and the king followed him.
+
+They sank down and came to the heavenly city. And the king was
+astonished, and after he had worshipped the goddess, he sat down
+with Good. Then the girl, like Beauty personified, came out of the
+circle of light with her friends. "There she is, the lovely creature,"
+said Good, and the king thought: "He is quite right to love her."
+But when she saw the king looking like a god, she wondered who
+the strange and wonderful man might be, and entered the shrine to
+worship the goddess.
+
+But the king took Good and went into the garden to show how
+little he cared about her. A moment later the girl came from the
+shrine; she had been praying for a good husband. And she said to a
+girl friend: "My friend, I wonder where I could see the man who
+was here. Where is the great man? You girls must hunt for him and
+ask him to be good enough to come and accept our hospitality. For
+he is a wonderful man, and we must be polite to him."
+
+So the girl found him in the garden and gave him her mistress'
+message very respectfully. But the brave king spoke loftily to her:
+"Your words are hospitality enough. Nothing else is necessary."
+
+Now when her mistress had heard what he said, she thought he
+was a noble character, better than anybody else. She was attracted
+by the courage of the king in refusing a sort of hospitality which
+was almost too much to offer a mere man, and thought about the
+fulfilment of her prayer for a husband. So she went into the garden
+herself. She drew near to the king and lovingly begged him to
+accept her hospitality.
+
+But the king pointed to Good and said: "My dear girl, he told me
+of the goddess here, and I came to see her. And by following the
+flag-pole I saw the goddess and her very marvellous temple. It was
+only afterwards that I happened to see you."
+
+Then the girl said: "O King, you may be interested in seeing a city
+which is the wonder of the three worlds." And the king laughed
+and said: "He told me about that, too. I believe there is a pool for
+bathing there." And the girl said: "O King, do not say that. I am not
+a deceitful girl. Why should I deceive an honourable man,
+especially as your noble character has made me feel like a servant?
+Pray do not refuse me."
+
+So the king agreed and went with Good and the girl to the edge of
+the circle of light. There a door opened and he entered and saw
+another heavenly city like a second hill of heaven; for it was built
+of gems and gold, and the flowers and fruits of every season grew
+there at the same time.
+
+And the princess seated the king on a splendid throne and brought
+him gifts and said: "Your Majesty, I am the daughter of the great
+god Black-wheel. But Vishnu sent my father to heaven. And I
+inherited these two magic cities where one has everything he
+wants. There is no old age or death to trouble us here. And now
+you are in the place of my father to rule over the cities and over
+me." So she offered him herself and all she had. But the king said:
+"In that case you are my daughter and I give you in marriage to my
+brave friend good."
+
+In the king's words she saw the fulfilment of her prayer, and being
+sensible and modest, she agreed. So the king married them and
+gave all the magic wealth to happy Good, and said: "My friend, I
+have paid you now for one of the two mangoes which I ate. But I
+remain in your debt for the second."
+
+Then he asked the princess how he could get back to his city. And
+she gave the king a sword called Invincible, and the magic fruit
+which wards off birth, old age, and death. And the king took the
+sword and the fruit, plunged into the pool which she showed him,
+and came up in his own country, feeling completely successful.
+But Good ruled happily over the kingdom of the princess.
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he asked the king: "O King,
+which of these two deserves more credit for plunging into the
+sea?"
+
+And the king was afraid of the curse, so he gave a true answer:
+"Good seems to me the more deserving, for he did not know the
+truth beforehand, but plunged without hope into the sea, while the
+king knew the truth when he jumped."
+
+And as soon as the king broke silence, the goblin slipped from his
+shoulder as before without being seen and went to the sissoo tree.
+And the king tried as before to catch him. Brave men do not waver
+until they have finished what they have begun.
+
+
+EIGHTH GOBLIN
+
+The Specialist in Food, the Specialist in Women, and the
+Specialist in Cotton. Which is the cleverest?
+
+So the king went back under the sissoo tree, caught the goblin just
+as before, put him on his shoulder, and started toward the monk.
+And as he walked along, the goblin on his shoulder spoke and said:
+"O King, listen once more to the following story to beguile your
+weariness."
+
+
+In the Anga country there is a great region called Forest. There
+lived a great Brahman, pious and wealthy, whose name was
+Vishnu-swami. To his worthy wife three sons were born, one after
+another. When they had grown to be young men, specialists in
+matters of luxury, they were sent one day by their father to find a
+turtle for a sacrifice which he had begun.
+
+So the brothers went to the ocean and there they found a turtle.
+Then the eldest said to the two younger: "One of you take this
+turtle for Father's sacrifice. I cannot carry a slimy thing that smells
+raw."
+
+But when the eldest said this, the two younger said: "Sir, if you
+feel disgust, why shouldn't we?"
+
+When the eldest heard this, he said: "You take the turtle, otherwise
+Father's sacrifice will be ruined on your account. Then you and
+Father too will surely go to hell."
+
+When they heard him, the two younger brothers laughed and said:
+"Sir, you seem to know our common duty, but not your own."
+
+Then the eldest said: "What? Are you not aware that I am a
+connoisseur in food? For I am a specialists in foods. How can I
+touch this loathsome thing?"
+
+When he heard these words, the second brother said: "But I am
+even more of a connoisseur. I am a specialist in women. So how
+can I touch it?"
+
+After this speech, the eldest said to the youngest: "Do you then,
+being younger than we, carry the turtle."
+
+Then the youngest frowned and said to them: "Fools! I am a great
+specialist in cotton."
+
+So the three brothers quarrelled, and arrogantly leaving the turtle
+behind them, they went to have the matter decided at Pinnacle, the
+capital of a king called Conqueror. When they came there, and had
+been announced and introduced by the door-keeper, they told their
+story to the king. And when the king had heard all, he said: "Stay
+here. I will examine you one after another." So they agreed and all
+stayed there.
+
+Then the king invited them in at his own dinner hour, seated them
+on magnificent seats, and set before them sweet dishes of six
+flavours, fit for a king. While all the rest ate, one of the Brahmans,
+the specialist in food, disgustedly shook his head and refused to
+eat. And when the king himself asked him why he would not eat
+food that was sweet and savoury, he respectfully replied: "Your
+Majesty, in this food there is the odour of smoke from a burning
+corpse. Therefore, I do not wish to eat it, however sweet it may
+be."
+
+Then at the king's command all the rest smelt of it and declared it
+the best of winter rice, and perfectly sweet. But the food-critic
+held his nose and would not touch it. Now when the king reflected
+and made a careful investigation, he learned from the
+commissioners that the dish was made of rice grown near a village
+crematory. Then he was greatly astonished and pleased, and said:
+"Brahman, you are certainly a judge of food. Pray take something
+else."
+
+After dinner the king dismissed them to their rooms, and sent for
+the most beautiful woman of his court. And at night he sent this
+lovely creature, all adorned, to the second brother, the specialist in
+women. She came with a servant of the king to his chamber, and
+when she entered, she seemed to illuminate the room. But the
+judge of women almost fainted, and stopping his nose with his left
+hand, he said to his servants: "Take her away! If not, I shall die. A
+goaty smell issues from her."
+
+So the servants, in distress and astonishment, conducted her to the
+king and told him what had happened. Then the king sent for the
+specialist in women, and said: "Brahman, she has anointed herself
+with sandal, camphor, and aloes, so that a delightful perfume
+pervades her neighbourhood. How could this woman have a goaty
+smell?" But in spite of this the specialist in women would not
+yield. And when the king endeavoured to learn the truth, he heard
+from her own lips that in her infancy she had been separated from
+her mother and had been brought up on goat's milk. Then the king
+was greatly astonished and loudly praised the critical judgment of
+the specialist in women.
+
+Quickly he had a couch prepared for the third brother, the
+specialist in cotton. So the critic of cotton went to sleep on a bed
+with seven quilts over the frame and covered with a pure, soft
+coverlet. When only a half of the first watch of the night was gone,
+he suddenly started from the bed, shouting and writhing with pain,
+his hand pressed to his side. And the king's men who were
+stationed there saw the curly red outline of a hair deeply imprinted
+on his side.
+
+They went at once and informed the king, who said to them: "See
+whether there is anything under the quilts or not." So they went
+and searched under each quilt, and under the last they found one
+hair, which they immediately took and showed to the king. And
+the king summoned the specialist in cotton, and finding the mark
+exactly corresponding to the hair, was filled with extreme
+astonishment. And he spent that night wondering how the hair
+could sink into his body through seven quilts.
+
+Now when the king arose in the morning, he was delighted with
+their marvellous critical judgment and sensitiveness, so that he
+gave each of the three specialists a hundred thousand
+gold-pieces. And they were contented and stayed there, forgetting
+all about the turtle, and thus incurring a crime through the failure
+of their father's sacrifice.
+
+
+When he had told this remarkable story, the goblin on the king's
+shoulder said: "O King, remember the curse I spoke of and declare
+which of these three was the
+cleverest."
+
+When he heard this, the wise king answered the goblin: "Without
+doubt I regard the specialist in cotton as the cleverest, on whose
+body the imprint of the hair was seen to appear visibly. The other
+two might possibly have found out beforehand."
+
+When the king had said this, the goblin slipped from his shoulder
+as before. And the king went back under the sissoo tree again to
+fetch him.
+
+
+ NINTH GOBLIN
+
+The Four Scientific Suitors. To which should the girl be given?
+
+Then the king went back to the sissoo tree, put the goblin on his
+shoulder, and started. And the goblin spoke to him again: "O King,
+why do you go to such pains in this cemetery at night? Do you not
+see the home of the ghosts, full of dreadful creatures, terrible in
+the night, wrapped in darkness as in smoke? Why do you work so
+hard and grow weary for the sake of that monk? Well, to amuse the
+journey, listen to a puzzle which I will tell you."
+
+
+In the Avanti country is a city built by the gods at the beginning of
+time, adorned with wonderful wealth and opportunities for
+enjoyment. In the earliest age it was called Lotus City, then
+Pleasure City, then Golden City, and now it is called Ujjain. There
+lived a king named Heroic. And his queen was named Lotus.
+
+One day the king went with her to the sacred Ganges river and
+prayed to Shiva that he might have children. And after long prayer
+he heard a voice from heaven, for Shiva was at last pleased with
+his devotion: "O King, there shall be born to you a brave son to
+continue your dynasty, and a daughter more beautiful than the
+nymphs of heaven."
+
+When he heard the heavenly voice, the king was delighted at the
+fulfilment of his wishes, and went back to his city with the queen.
+And first Queen Lotus bore a son called Brave, and then a daughter
+named Grace who put the god of love to shame.
+
+When the girl grew up, the king sought for a suitable husband for
+her, and invited all the neighbouring princes by letter, but not one
+of them seemed good enough for her. So the king tenderly said to
+his daughter: "My dear, I do not see a husband worthy of you, so I
+will summon all the kings hither, and you shall choose." But the
+princess said: "My dear father, such a choice would be very
+embarrassing. I would rather not. Just marry me to any
+good-looking young man, who understands a single science from
+beginning to end. I wish nothing more nor less than that."
+
+Now while the king was looking for such a husband, four brave,
+good-looking, scientific men from the south heard of the matter
+and came to him. And when they had been hospitably received,
+each explained his own science to the king.
+
+The first said: "I am a working-man, and my name is
+Five-cloth. I make five splendid suits of clothes a day. One I give
+to some god and one to a Brahman. One I wear myself, and one I
+shall give to my wife when I have one. The fifth I sell, to buy food
+and things. This is my science. Pray give me Grace."
+
+The second said: "I am a farmer, and my name is Linguist. I
+understand the cries of all beasts and birds. Pray give me the
+princess."
+
+The third said: "I am a strong-armed soldier, and my name is
+Swordsman. I have no rival on earth in the science of
+swordsmanship. O King, pray give me your daughter."
+
+The fourth said: "O King, I am a Brahman, and my name is Life. I
+possess a wonderful science. For if dead creatures are brought to
+me, I can quickly restore them to life. Let your daughter find a
+husband in a man who has such heroic skill."
+
+When they had spoken, and the king had seen that they all had
+wonderful garments and personal beauty, he and his daughter
+swung in doubt.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he said to the king:
+"Remember the curse I mentioned, and tell me to which of them
+the girl should be given."
+
+And the king said to the goblin: "Sir, you are merely trying to gain
+time by making me break silence. There is no puzzle about that.
+How could a warrior's daughter be given to a working-
+man, a weaver? Or to a farmer, either? And as to his knowledge of
+the speech of beasts and birds, of what practical use is it? And
+what good is a Brahman who neglects his own affairs and turns
+magician, despising real courage? Of course she should be given to
+the warrior Swordsman who had some manhood with his science."
+
+When the goblin heard this, he escaped by magic from the king's
+shoulder, and disappeared. And the king followed him as before.
+Discouragement never enters the brave heart of a resolute man.
+
+
+TENTH GOBLIN
+
+The Three Delicate Wives of King Virtue-banner. Which is the
+most delicate?
+
+Then the king went to the sissoo tree, put the goblin on his
+shoulder once more, and started toward the monk. And as he
+walked along, the goblin on his shoulder said: "O King, I will tell
+you a strange story to relieve your weariness. Listen."
+
+
+There once was a king in Ujjain, whose name was
+Virtue-banner. He had three princesses as wives, and loved them
+dearly. One of them was named Crescent, the second Star, and the
+third Moon. While the king lived happily with his wives, he
+conquered all his enemies, and was content.
+
+One day at the time of the spring festival, the king went to the
+garden to play with his three wives. There he looked at the
+flower-laden vines with black rows of bees on them; they seemed
+like the bow of the god of love, all ready for service. He heard the
+songs of nightingales in the trees; they sounded like commands of
+Love. And with his wives he drank wine which seemed like Love's
+very life-blood.
+
+Then the king playfully pulled the hair of Queen Crescent, and a
+lotus-petal fell from her hair into her lap. And the queen was so
+delicate that it wounded her, and she screamed and fainted. And
+the king was distracted, but when servants sprinkled her with cool
+water and fanned her, she gradually recovered consciousness. And
+the king took her to the palace and waited upon his dear wife with
+a hundred remedies which the physicians brought.
+
+And when the king saw that she was made comfortable for the
+night, he went to the palace balcony with his second wife Star.
+Now while she slept on the king's breast, the moonbeams found
+their way through the window and fell upon her. And she awoke in
+a moment, and started up, crying "I am burned!" Then the king
+awoke and anxiously asked what the matter was, and he saw great
+blisters on her body. When he asked her about it, Queen Star said:
+"The moonbeams that fell on me did it." And the king was
+distracted when he saw how she wept and suffered. He called the
+servants and they made a couch of moist lotus-leaves, and dressed
+her wounds with damp sandal-paste.
+
+At that moment the third queen, Moon, left her room to go to the
+king. And as she moved through the noiseless night, she clearly
+heard in a distant part of the palace the sound of pestles grinding
+grain. And she cried: "Oh, oh! It will kill me!" She wrung her
+hands and sat down in agony in the hall. But her servants returned
+and led her to her room, where she took to her bed and wept. And
+when the servants asked what the matter was, she tearfully showed
+her hands with bruises on them, like two lilies with black bees
+clinging to them. So they went and told the king. And he came in
+great distress, and asked his dear wife about it. She showed her
+hands and spoke, though she suffered: "My dear, when I heard the
+sound of the pestles, these bruises came." Then the king made
+them give her a cooling plaster of sandal-paste and other things.
+
+And the king thought: "One of them was wounded by a falling
+lotus-petal. The second was burned by the moonbeams. The third
+had her hands terribly bruised by the sound of pestles. I love them
+dearly, but alas! The very delicacy which is so great a virtue, is
+positively inconvenient."
+
+And he wandered about in the palace, and it seemed as if the night
+had three hundred hours. But in the morning the king and his
+skilful physicians took such measures that before long his wives
+were well and he was happy.
+
+
+When he had told this story, the goblin asked: "O King, which of
+them was the most delicate?" And the king said: "The one who
+was bruised by the mere sound of the pestles, when nothing
+touched her. The other two who were wounded or blistered by
+actual contact with lotus-petals or moonbeams, are not equal to
+her."
+
+When the goblin heard this, he went back, and the king resolutely
+hastened to catch him again.
+
+
+ELEVENTH GOBLIN
+
+The King who won a Fairy as his Wife. Why did his counsellor's
+heart break?
+
+Then the king went as before to the sissoo tree, put the goblin on
+his shoulder, and started back. And the goblin said once more: "O
+King, I like you wonderfully well because you are not discouraged.
+So I will tell you a delightful little story to relieve your weariness.
+Listen."
+
+
+In the Anga country was a young king named Glory-
+banner, so beautiful that he seemed an incarnation of the god of
+love. He had conquered all his enemies by his strength of arm, and
+he had a counsellor named Farsight.
+
+At last the king, proud of his youth and beauty, entrusted all the
+power in his quiet kingdom to his counsellor, and gradually
+devoted himself entirely to pleasure. He spent all his time with the
+ladies of the court, and listened more attentively to their
+love-songs than to the advice of statesmen. He took greater
+pleasure in peeping into their windows than into the holes in his
+administration. But Farsight bore the whole burden of public
+business, and never wearied day or night.
+
+Then the people began to murmur: "The counsellor Farsight has
+seduced the king, and now he alone has all the kingly glory." And
+the counsellor said to his wife, whose name was Prudence: "My
+dear, the king is devoted to his pleasures, and great infamy is
+heaped upon me by the people. They say I have devoured the
+kingdom, though in fact I support the burden of it. Now popular
+gossip damages the greatest man. Was not Rama forced to
+abandon his good wife by popular clamour? So what shall I do
+now?"
+
+Then his clever wife Prudence showed that she deserved her name.
+She said: "My dear, leave the king and go on a pilgrimage. Tell
+him that you are an old man now, and should be permitted to travel
+in foreign countries for a time. Then the gossip will cease, when
+they see that you are unselfish. And when you are gone, the king
+will bear his own burdens. And thus his levity will gradually
+disappear. And when you come back, you can assume your office
+without reproach."
+
+To this advice the counsellor assented, and said to the king in the
+course of conversation: "Your Majesty, permit me to go on a
+pilgrimage for a few days. Virtue seems of supreme importance to
+me."
+
+But the king said: "No, no, counsellor. Is there no other kind of
+virtue except in pilgrimages? How about generosity and that kind
+of thing? Isn't it possible to prepare for heaven in your own
+house?"
+
+Then the counsellor said: "Your Majesty, one gets worldly
+prosperity from generosity and that kind of thing. But a pilgrimage
+gives eternal life. A prudent man should attend to it while he has
+strength. The chance may be lost, for no one can be sure of his
+health."
+
+But the king was still arguing against it when the doorkeeper came
+in and said: "Your Majesty, the glorious sun is diving beneath the
+pool of heaven. Arise. The hour for your bath is slipping away."
+And the king went immediately to bathe.
+
+The counsellor went home, still determined on his pilgrimage. He
+would not let his wife go with him, but started secretly. Not even
+his servants knew.
+
+He wandered alone through many countries to many holy places,
+and finally came to the Odra country. There he saw a city near the
+ocean, where he entered a temple to Shiva and sat down in the
+court. There he sat, hot and dusty from long travel, when he was
+seen by a merchant named Treasure who had come to worship the
+god. The merchant gathered from his dress and appearance that he
+was a high-born Brahman, and invited him home, and entertained
+him with food, bathing, and the like.
+
+When the counsellor was rested, the merchant asked him: "Who
+are you? Whence do you come? And where are you going?" And
+the other replied: "I am a Brahman named Farsight. I came here on
+a pilgrimage from the Anga country."
+
+Then the merchant Treasure said to him: "I am preparing for a
+trading voyage to Golden Island. Do you stay in my house. And
+when I come back, and you are wearied from your pilgrimage, rest
+here for a time before going home." But Farsight said: "I do not
+want to stay here. I would rather go with you." And the good
+merchant agreed. And the counsellor slept in the first bed he had
+lain in for many nights.
+
+The next day he went to the seashore with the merchant, and
+entered the ship loaded with the merchant's goods. He sailed
+along, admiring the wonders and terrors of the sea, till at last he
+reached Golden Island. There he stayed for a time until the
+merchant had finished his buying and selling. Now on the way
+back, he saw a magic tree suddenly rising from the ocean. It had
+beautiful branches, boughs of gold, fruits of jewels, and splendid
+blossoms. And sitting on a jewelled couch in the branches was a
+lovely maiden of heavenly beauty. And while the counsellor
+wondered what it all meant, the maiden took her lute in her hand,
+and began to sing:
+
+   Whatever seed of fate is sown,
+      The fruit appears--'tis strange!
+   Whatever deed a man has done,
+       Not God himself can change.
+
+And when she had made her meaning clear, the heavenly maiden
+straightway sank with the magic tree and the couch. And Farsight
+thought: "What a wonderful thing I have seen to-day! What a
+strange place the ocean is for the appearance of a tree with a fairy
+in it! And if this is a usual occurrence at sea, why do not other
+goddesses arise?"
+
+The pilot and other sailors saw that he was astonished, and they
+said: "Sir, this wonderful maiden appears here regularly, and sinks
+a moment after, but the sight is new to you." Then the counsellor,
+filled with amazement, came to the shore with Treasure, and
+disembarked. And when the merchant had unloaded his goods and
+caused his servants to rejoice, the counsellor went home with him
+and spent many happy days there.
+
+At last he said to Treasure: "Merchant, I have rested happily for a
+long time in your house. Now I wish to go to my own country.
+Peace be with you!" And in spite of urging from the merchant,
+Farsight took his leave, and started with no companion except his
+own courage. He went through many countries and at last reached
+the Anga country. And scouts who had been sent by King
+Glory-banner saw him before he reached the city. When the king
+learned of it, he went himself out of the city to meet him, for he
+had been terribly grieved by the separation. He drew near,
+embraced and greeted the counsellor and took him, all worn and
+dusty with the weary journey, into an inner room.
+
+And as soon as the counsellor was refreshed, the king said:
+"Counsellor, why did you leave us? How could you bring yourself
+to do so harsh and loveless a thing? But after all, who can
+understand the strange workings of stern necessity? To think that
+you should decide all at once to wander off on a pilgrimage! Well,
+tell me what countries you visited, and what new things you saw."
+
+Then the counsellor told him the whole story truthfully and in
+order, the journey to Golden Island and the fairy who rose singing
+from the sea, her wonderful beauty and the magic tree.
+
+But the king immediately fell in love so hopelessly that his
+kingdom and his life seemed worthless to him without her. He
+took the counsellor aside and said: "Counsellor, I simply must see
+her. Remember that I shall die if I do not. I bow to my fate. I will
+take the journey which you took. You must not refuse me nor
+accompany me. I shall go alone and in disguise. You must rule the
+kingdom, and not dispute my words. Swear to do it on your life."
+
+So he spoke, and would not listen to advice, but dismissed the
+counsellor. Then Farsight was unhappy though a great festival was
+made for him. How can a good counsellor be happy when his
+master devotes himself to a vice?
+
+The next night King Glory-banner threw the burden of government
+on that excellent counsellor, assumed the dress of a hermit, and
+left his city. And as he travelled, he saw a monk named Grass, who
+said when the king bowed before him as a holy man: "My son, if
+you sail with a merchant named Fortune, you will obtain the
+maiden you desire. Go on fearlessly."
+
+So the king bowed again and went on rejoicing. After crossing
+rivers and mountains he came to the ocean. And on the shore he
+met at once the merchant Fortune whom the monk had mentioned,
+bound for Golden Island. And when the merchant saw the king's
+appearance and his signet ring, he bowed low, took him on the
+ship, and set sail.
+
+When the ship reached the middle of the sea, the maiden suddenly
+arose, sitting in the branches of the magic tree. And as the king
+gazed eagerly at her, she sang as before to her lute:
+
+   Whatever seed of fate is sown
+        The fruit appears--'tis strange!
+    Whatever deed a man has done,
+         Not God himself can change.
+
+     Whatever, how, for whom, and where
+           Tis fated so to be,
+     That thing, just so, for him, and there
+           Must happen fatally.
+
+This song she sang, hinting at what was to happen. And the king
+gazed at her smitten by love, and could not move. Then he cried:
+"O Sea, in hiding her, you deceive those who think they have your
+treasures. Honour and glory to you! I seek your protection. Grant
+me my desire!" And as the king prayed, the maiden sank with the
+tree. Then the king jumped after her into the sea.
+
+The good merchant Fortune thought he was lost and was ready to
+die of grief. But he was comforted by a voice from heaven which
+said: "Do nothing rash. There is no danger when he sinks in the
+sea. For he is the king Glory-banner, disguised as a hermit. He
+came here for the sake of the maiden; she was his wife in a former
+life. And he will win her and return to his kingdom in the Anga
+country." So the merchant sailed on to complete his business.
+
+But King Glory-banner sank in the sea, and all at once he saw a
+heavenly city. He looked in amazement at the balconies with their
+splendid jewelled pillars, their walls bright with gold, and the
+network of pearls in their windows. And he saw gardens with
+pools that had stairways of various gems, and magic trees that
+yielded all desires. But rich as it was, the city was deserted.
+
+He entered house after house, but did not find the maiden
+anywhere. Then he climbed a high balcony built of gems, opened a
+door, and entered. And there he saw her all alone, lying on a
+jewelled couch, and clad in splendid garments. He eagerly raised
+her face to see if it was really she, and saw that it was indeed the
+maiden he sought. At the sight of her he had the strange feeling of
+the traveller in a desert in summer at the sight of a river.
+
+And she opened her eyes, saw that he was handsome and loveable,
+and left her couch in confusion. But she welcomed him and with
+downcast eyes that seemed like full-blown lotuses she did honour
+to his feet. Then she slowly spoke: "Who are you, sir? How did
+you come to this inaccessible under-world? And what is this
+hermit garb? For I see that you are a king. Oh, sir, if you would do
+me a kindness, tell me this."
+
+And the king answered her: "Beautiful maiden, I am King
+Glory-banner of the Anga country, and I heard from a reliable
+person that you were to be seen on the sea. To see you I assumed
+this garb, left my kingdom, and followed you hither. Oh, tell me
+who you are."
+
+Then she said to him with bashful love: "Sir, there is a king of the
+fairies named Moonshine. I am his daughter, and my name is
+Moonlight. Now my father has left me alone in this city. I do not
+know where he went with the rest of the people, or why.
+Therefore, as my home is lonely, I rise through the ocean, sit on a
+magic tree, and song about fate."
+
+Then the king remembered the words of the monk, and urged her
+with such gentle, tender words that she confessed her love and
+agreed to marry him. But she made a condition: "My dear, on four
+set days in each month you must let me go somewhere unhindered
+and unseen. There is a reason." And the king agreed, married her,
+and lived in heavenly happiness with her.
+
+While he was living in heavenly bliss, Moonlight said to him one
+day: "My dear, you must wait here. I am going somewhere on an
+errand. For this is one of the set days. While you stay here,
+sweetheart, you must not go into that crystal room, nor plunge into
+this pool. If you do, you will find yourself at that very moment in
+the world again." So she said good-bye and left the city.
+
+But the king took his sword and followed, to learn her secret. And
+he saw a giant approaching with a great black cave of a mouth that
+yawned like the pit. The giant fell down and howled horribly, then
+took Moonlight into his mouth and swallowed her.
+
+And the king's anger blazed forth. He took his great sword, black
+as a snake that has sloughed its skin, ran up wrathfully, and cut off
+the giant's head. He was blinded by his madness, he did not know
+what to do, he was afflicted by the loss of his darling. But
+Moonlight split open the stomach of the giant, and came out alive
+and unhurt, like the brilliant, spotless moon coming out from a
+black cloud.
+
+When he saw that she was saved, the king cried: "Come, come to
+me!" and ran forward and embraced her. And he asked her: "What
+does it mean, dearest? Is this a dream, or an illusion?" And the
+fairy answered: "My dear, listen to me. It is not a dream, nor an
+illusion. My father, the king of the fairies, laid this curse upon me.
+My father had many sons, but he loved me so that he could not eat
+without me. And I used to come to this deserted spot twice a
+month to worship Shiva.
+
+"One day I came here and it happened that I spent the whole day in
+worship. That day my father waited for me and would not eat or
+drink anything, though he was hungry and angry with me. At night
+I stood before him with downcast eyes, for I had done wrong. And
+he forgot his love and cursed me--so strong is fate.  Because you
+have despised me and left me hungry a whole day, a giant named
+Terror-of-Fate will swallow you four times a month when you
+leave the city. And each time you will split him open and come
+out. And you shall not remember the curse afterwards, nor the pain
+of being swallowed alive. And you must live here alone.'
+
+"But when I begged him, he thought awhile and softened his curse.
+ When Glory-banner, King of the Angas, shall become your
+husband, and shall see you swallowed by the giant, and shall kill
+the giant, then the curse shall end, and you shall remember all your
+magic arts.' Then he left me here, and went with his people to the
+Nishadha mountain. But I stayed here because of the curse. And
+now the curse is ended, and I remember everything. So now I shall
+go to the Nishadha mountain to see my father. Of course now I
+remember how to fly. And you are at liberty to stay here, or to go
+back to your own kingdom."
+
+Then the king was sad, and he begged her thus: "My beautiful
+wife, do not go for seven days. Be as kind as you are beautiful. Let
+me be happy with you in the garden, and forget my longings. Then
+you may go to your father, and I will go home." So he persuaded
+her, and was happy with her for six days in the garden. And the
+lilies in the ponds looked like longing eyes, and the ripples like
+hands raised to detain them, and the cries of swans and cranes
+seemed to say: "Do not leave us and go away."
+
+On the seventh day the king cleverly led his wife to the pool from
+which one could get back to the world. There he threw his arms
+about her and plunged into the pool, and came up with her in the
+pool in the garden of his own palace.
+
+The gardeners saw that the king had come back with a wife, and
+they joyfully ran and told the counsellor Farsight. He came and fell
+at the king's feet, and then led the king and the fairy into the
+palace. And the counsellor and the people thought: "Wonderful!
+The king has won the fairy whom others could see only for a
+moment like the lightning in the sky. Whatever is written in one's
+fate, that comes true, however impossible it may be."
+
+But when Moonlight saw that the king was in his own country, and
+the seven days were over, she thought she would fly away like
+other fairies. But she could not remember how. Then she became
+very sad, like a woman who has been robbed.
+
+And the king said: "Why are you so sad, my dear? Tell me." And
+the fairy said: "The curse is over. Yet because I have been bound
+so long in the fetters of your love, I have lost my magic arts. I
+cannot fly." Then the king thought: "The fairy is really mine," and
+he was happy and made a great feast.
+
+When the counsellor Farsight saw this, he went home, and lay
+down on his bed, and his heart broke, and he died. Then the king
+governed the kingdom himself, and lived for a long time in
+heavenly happiness with Moonlight.
+
+
+When he had told this story, the goblin said: "O King, when the
+king was so happy, why should the counsellor's heart break? Was
+it from grief because he did not win the fairy himself? Or from
+sorrow because the king came back, and he could no longer act as
+king? If you know and will not tell me, then you will lose your
+virtue, and your head will go flying into a hundred pieces."
+
+And the king said to the goblin: "O magic creature, neither of these
+reasons would be possible for a high-minded counsellor. But he
+thought:  The king used to neglect his duties for the sake of
+ordinary women. What will happen now, when he loves a fairy? In
+spite of all my efforts, a terrible misfortune has happened.' I think
+that was why his heart broke."
+
+Then the magic goblin went back to his tree in a moment. And the
+king was still determined to catch him, and went once more to the
+sissoo tree.
+
+
+TWELFTH GOBLIN
+
+The Brahman who died because Poison from a Snake in the Claws
+of a Hawk fell into a Dish of Food given him by a Charitable
+Woman. Who is to blame for his death?
+
+Then the King went back under the sissoo tree, put the goblin on
+his shoulder, and started as before. And as he walked along, the
+goblin said to him again: "O King, listen to a very condensed
+story."
+
+
+There is a city called Benares. In it lived a Brahman named
+Devaswami, whom the king honoured. He was very rich, and he
+had a son named Hariswami. This son had a wonderful wife, and
+her name was Beautiful. No doubt the Creator put together in her
+the priceless elements of charm and loveliness after his practice in
+making the nymphs of heaven.
+
+One night Hariswami was sleeping on a balcony cooled by the rays
+of the moon. And a fairy prince named Love-speed was flying
+through the air, and as he passed he saw Beautiful asleep beside
+her husband. He took her, still asleep, and carried her off through
+the air.
+
+Presently Hariswami awoke, and not seeing the mistress of his life,
+he rose in anxiety. And he wondered: "Oh, where has my wife
+gone? Is she angry with me? Or is she playing hide-and-
+seek with me, to see how I will take it?" So he roamed anxiously
+all over the balcony during the rest of the night. But he did not find
+her, though he searched as far as the garden.
+
+Then he was overcome by his sorrow and sobbed convulsively.
+"Oh, Beautiful, my darling! Fair as the moon! White as the
+moonlight! Was the night jealous of your beauty; did she carry you
+away? Your loveliness shamed the moon who refreshed me with
+beams cool as sandal; but now that you are gone, the same beams
+torment me like blazing coals, like poisoned arrows!"
+
+And as Hariswami lamented thus, the night came to an end, but his
+anguish did not end. The pleasant sun scattered the darkness, but
+could not scatter the blind darkness of Hariswami's madness. His
+pitiful lamentations increased a hundredfold, when the nightly
+cries of the birds ended. His relatives tried to comfort him, but he
+could not pluck up courage while his loved one was lost. He went
+here and there, sobbing out: "Here she stood. And here she bathed.
+And here she adorned herself. And here she played."
+
+His relatives and friends gave him good advice. "She is not dead,"
+they said. "Why should you make way with yourself? You will
+surely find her. Pluck up courage and hunt for her. Nothing is
+impossible to the brave and determined man." And when they
+urged him, Hariswami after some days plucked up heart.
+
+He thought: "I will give all my fortune to the Brahmans, and then
+wander to holy places. Thus I will wear away my sins, and when
+my sins are gone, perhaps I shall find my darling in my
+wanderings." So he arose and bathed.
+
+On the next day he provided food and drink, and made a great
+feast for the Brahmans, and gave them all he had except his piety.
+Then he started to wander to holy places, hoping to find his wife.
+
+As he wandered, the summer came on him like a lion, the blazing
+sun its mouth, and the sunbeams its mane. And the hot wind blew,
+made hotter yet by the sighs of travellers separated from their
+wives. And the yellow mud dried and cracked, as if the lakes were
+broken-hearted at the loss of their lotuses. And the trees, filled
+with chirping birds, seemed to lament the absence of the spring,
+and their withering leaves seemed like lips that grow dry in the
+heat.
+
+At this time Hariswami was distressed by the heat and the loss of
+his wife, by hunger, thirst, and weariness. And as he sought for
+food, he came to a village. There he saw many Brahmans eating in
+the house of a Brahman named Lotus-belly, and he leaned against
+the doorpost, speechless and motionless.
+
+Then the good wife of that pious Brahman pitied him, and she
+thought: "Hunger is a heavy burden. It makes anyone light. Look at
+this hungry man standing with bowed head at the door. He looks
+like a pious man who has come from a far country, and he is tired.
+Therefore he is a proper person for me to feed."
+
+So the good woman took in her hands a dish filled with excellent
+rice, melted butter, and candied sugar, and courteously gave it to
+him. And she said: "Go to the edge of our pond, and eat it."
+
+He thanked her, took the dish, went a little way, and set it down
+under a fig-tree on the edge of the pond. Then he washed his hands
+and feet in the pond, rinsed his mouth, and joyfully drew near to
+eat the good food.
+
+At that moment a hawk settled on the tree, carrying a black snake
+in his beak and claws. And the snake died in the grasp of the hawk,
+and his mouth opened, and a stream of poison came out. This
+poison fell into the dish of food.
+
+But Hariswami did not see it. He came up hungry, and ate it all.
+And immediately he felt the terrible effects of the poison. He
+stammered out: "Oh, when fate goes wrong, everything goes
+wrong. Even this rice and the milk and the melted butter and the
+candied sugar is poison to me." And he staggered up to the
+Brahman's wife and said: "Oh, Brahman's wife, I have been
+poisoned by the food you gave me. Bring a poison-doctor at once.
+Otherwise you will be the murderer of a Brahman."
+
+And the good woman was terribly agitated. But while she was
+running about to find a poison-doctor, Hariswami turned up his
+eyes and died. Thus, though she was not to blame, though she was
+really charitable, the poor wife was reproached by the angry
+Brahman who thought she had murdered her guest. She was falsely
+accused for a really good action. So she was dejected and went on
+a pilgrimage.
+
+
+When he had told this story, the goblin said: "O King, who
+murdered the Brahman? the snake, or the hawk, or the woman who
+gave him the food, or her husband? This was discussed in the
+presence of the god of death, but they could not decide. Therefore,
+O King, do you say. Who killed the Brahman? Remember the
+curse, if you know and do not tell the truth."
+
+Then the king broke silence and said: "Who did the murder? The
+snake cannot be blamed, because he was being eaten by his enemy
+and could not help himself. The hawk was hungry and saw
+nothing. He was not to blame. And how can you blame either or
+both of the charitable people who gave food to a guest who arrived
+unexpectedly? They were quite virtuous, and cannot be blamed. I
+should say that the dead man himself was to blame, for he dared to
+accuse one of the others."
+
+When the goblin heard this, he jumped from the king's shoulder
+and escaped to the sissoo tree. And the king ran after him again,
+determined to catch him.
+
+
+THIRTEENTH GOBLIN
+
+The Girl who showed Great Devotion to the Thief. Did he weep or
+laugh?
+
+Then the king went back to the sissoo tree, put the goblin on his
+shoulder, and started. And as he walked along, the goblin said to
+him: "O King, I will tell you another story. Listen."
+
+
+There is a city called Ayodhya, which was once the capital of
+Rama the exterminator of giants. In this city lived a
+strong-armed king named Hero-banner who protected the world as
+a wall protects a city. During his reign a great merchant named
+Jewel lived in the city. His wife was named Pleasing, and a
+daughter named Pearl was given to her prayers.
+
+As the girl grew up in her father's house, her natural virtues grew
+too: beauty, charm, and modesty. And thus she became a young
+woman. Now in her young womanhood she was asked in marriage
+not only by great merchants, but even by kings. But she was
+prudent and did not like men. She would not have loved a god if he
+had been her husband. She was ready to die at merely hearing talk
+of her marriage. So her father was silent on the subject, though his
+tender love for her made him sad. And the story was known
+everywhere in Ayodhya.
+
+At this time all the citizens were being plundered by thieves, and
+they petitioned King Hero-banner in these words: "O King, we are
+plundered every night by thieves, and cannot catch them. Your
+Majesty must decide what to do." So the king stationed
+night-watchmen in hiding about the city, to search out the thieves.
+
+When the watchmen failed to catch the thieves for all their
+searching, the king himself took his sword, and wandered about
+alone at night. And he saw a man creeping along a wall with
+noiseless steps, often casting a fearful glance behind him. The king
+concluded that this was the thief who all alone robbed the city, and
+went up to him. And the thief asked him who he was. The king
+replied: "I am a thief."
+
+Then the thief said joyfully: "Good! You are my friend. Come to
+my house. I will treat you like a friend." So the king agreed and
+went with the thief to a house hidden in a grove and guarded by a
+wall, full of delightful and beautiful things, and bright with shining
+gems. There the thief offered the king a seat, and went into an
+inner room.
+
+At that moment a serving-maid came into the room and said to the
+king: "Your Majesty, why have you come into the jaws of death?
+This wonderful thief has gone out, intending to do you a mischief.
+He is certainly treacherous. Go away quickly."
+
+So the king quickly went away, returned to the city, and drew up a
+company of soldiers. With these soldiers he went and surrounded
+the house where the serving-maid had been.
+
+When the thief saw that the house was surrounded, he knew that
+he was betrayed, and came out to fight and die like a man. He
+showed more than human valour. He cut off the trunks of
+elephants, the legs of horses, and the heads of men; and he was all
+alone, with only his sword and shield. When the king saw that his
+army was destroyed, he ran forward himself.
+
+The king was a scientific swordsman, so with a turn of his wrist he
+sent the sword and the dagger flying from the thief's hand. Then
+he threw away his own sword, wrestled with the thief, threw him,
+and took him alive.
+
+The next morning the thief was led to the place of execution to be
+impaled, and the drums were beaten. And Pearl, the merchant's
+daughter, saw him from her balcony. All bloody and dusty as he
+was, she went mad with love, found her father, and said to him:
+"Father, I am going to marry that thief who is being led to
+execution. You must save him from the king. Otherwise I shall die
+with him."
+
+But her father said: "What do you mean, my daughter? That thief
+stole everything the citizens had, and the king's men are going to
+kill him. How can I save him from the king? Besides, what
+nonsense are you talking?" But the more he scolded, the more
+determined she became. And as he loved his daughter, he went to
+the king and offered all he had for the release of the thief.
+
+But the king would not be tempted by millions. He would not
+release the thief who stole everything, whom he had captured at
+the risk of his life. So the father returned home sadly. And the girl,
+not heeding the arguments of her relatives, took a bath, entered a
+litter, and went to the death-scene of the rogue, to die with him.
+Her parents and her relatives followed her, weeping.
+
+At that moment the executioners impaled the thief. As his life
+ebbed away, he saw the girl and the people with her, and learned
+her story. Then the tears rolled down his cheeks, but he died with a
+smile on his lips.
+
+The faithful girl took the thief's body from the stake, and mounted
+the pyre to burn herself. But the blessed god Shiva was staying
+invisibly in the cemetery, and at that moment he spoke from the
+sky: "O faithful wife, I am pleased with your constancy to the
+husband of your choice. Choose whatever boon you will from me."
+
+The girl worshipped the gracious god and chose her boon: "O
+blessed one, my father has no son. May he have a hundred.
+Otherwise his childless life would end when I am gone."
+
+And the god spoke again from the sky: "O faithful wife, your
+father shall have a hundred sons. But choose another boon. A
+woman faithful as you are deserves more than the little thing you
+asked."
+
+Then she said: "O god, if I have won your favour, may this my
+husband live and always be a good man."
+
+The invisible Shiva spoke from the sky: "So be it. Your husband
+shall be made alive and well. He shall be a good man, and King
+Hero-banner shall be pleased with him."
+
+Then the thief arose at once, alive and well. And the merchant
+Jewel was overjoyed and astonished. He took Pearl and the thief,
+his son-in-law, went home with his rejoicing relatives, and made a
+feast great as his own delight, in honour of the sons he was to
+have.
+
+And the king was pleased when he learned the story, and in
+recognition of the stupendous courage of the thief, he appointed
+him general at once. The thief reformed, married the merchant's
+daughter, and lived happily with her, devoted to virtue.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he reminded the king of the
+curse, and said: "O king, when the thief on the stake saw the
+merchant's daughter approaching with her father, did he weep or
+laugh? Tell me."
+
+And the king answered: "He thought:  I can make no return to this
+merchant for his unselfish friendship.' Therefore he wept from
+grief. And he also thought:  Why does this girl reject kings and fall
+in love with a thief like me? How strange women are!' Therefore
+he laughed from astonishment."
+
+When the goblin heard this, he immediately slipped from the
+king's shoulder and escaped to his home. But the king was not
+discouraged. He followed him to the sissoo tree.
+
+
+FOURTEENTH GOBLIN
+
+The Man who changed into a Woman at Will. Was his wife his or
+the other man's?
+
+So the king went back as before under the sissoo tree, put the
+goblin on his shoulder, and started toward the monk. And as he
+walked along, the goblin told the king a story.
+
+
+There was a city called Shivapur in Nepal. Long ago a king named
+Glory-banner lived there, and he deserved the name. He laid the
+burden of government on his counsellor named Ocean-
+of-Wisdom, and devoted himself to a life of pleasure with his wife
+Moonbright.
+
+In course of time a daughter named Moonlight was born to them,
+pleasing as the moonlight to the eyes of men. When she grew up,
+she went one day in spring with her servants to a festival in the
+garden.
+
+There she was seen by a Brahman youth named Master-
+mind, the son of Rich, who had come there to the festival. When
+he saw her plucking flowers with one arm uplifted, he went mad
+with love. His heart was taken captive by the gay maiden, and he
+was no longer master of his mind.
+
+He thought: "Is she the goddess of love, plucking the spring
+flowers in person? Or is she a forest goddess, come here to
+worship the spring-time?"
+
+Then the princess saw him, like a new god of love incarnate. The
+moment her eyes fell on him, she fell in love, forgetting her
+flowers and even her own limbs. While they looked at each other,
+lost in love like people in a picture, a great wail of anguish arose.
+They lifted their heads to learn what the matter was, and just then
+an elephant that had broken his chain, maddened by the scent of
+another mad elephant, came by, crushing the people in his path. He
+had thrown off his driver and the ankus hung from him as he ran.
+And everyone fled in terror.
+
+But the youth Master-mind ran up in a hurry and took the princess
+in his arms. And with a mixture of fear and love and modesty she
+half embraced him as he carried her far out of the elephant's path.
+Then her people gradually gathered, and she went to the palace,
+looking at the youth, and burning over the flame of love.
+
+And the youth went home from the garden, and thought: "I cannot
+live, I cannot exist a moment without her. I must seek help from
+my teacher Root, who is a thorough rogue." And so the day slowly
+passed.
+
+The next morning he went to his teacher Root, and found him with
+his constant friend Moon. He drew near, bowed, and told his
+desire. And the teacher laughed and promised to help him.
+
+So that wonderful rogue put a magic pill in his mouth, and thus
+changed himself into an old Brahman. He put a second pill into
+Master-mind's mouth, which changed him into a lovely girl. Then
+that prince of rogues took him to the king and said: "O King, this
+maiden has come a long distance to marry my only son. But my
+son has gone away, and I am going to look for him. Please keep
+the girl. For you are a protector to be trusted while I am looking for
+my son."
+
+The king was afraid of a curse, so he promised to do it. And
+summoning his daughter, he said: "Daughter, keep this maiden in
+your chamber, and let her live with you." So the girl took the
+Brahman youth Master-mind in his girl form to her own
+apartments.
+
+When Root had gone away, Master-mind in his girl form lived
+with his beloved, and in a few days came to know her in an
+intimate and loving way, as girl friends do. Then when he saw that
+she was pining away and tossing on her couch, he asked the
+princess one evening: "My dear girl, why do you grow pale and
+thin day by day, grieving as if separated from your love? Tell me.
+Why not trust a loving, innocent girl like me? If you will not tell
+me, I shall starve myself."
+
+And the princess trusted him and said after a little hesitation: "My
+dear girl, why should I not trust you? Listen. I will tell you. One
+day I went to the spring festival in the garden. There I saw a
+handsome Brahman youth, fair as the moon but not so cold, the
+sight of whom kindled my love. For he adorned the garden as the
+spring-time does. While my eager eyes were feasting on his face, a
+great mad elephant that had broken his chain came charging and
+thundering past like a black cloud in the dry season. My servants
+scattered in terror, and I was helpless. But the Brahman youth took
+me in his arms and carried me far away. I seemed to be in a sandal
+bath, in a stream of nectar. I cannot tell how I felt as I touched
+him. Presently my servants gathered around, and I was brought
+here helpless. I felt as if I had fallen from heaven to earth. From
+that day I see in my thoughts my dear preserver beside me. I
+embrace him in my dreams. What need of more words? I wear
+away the time, thinking constantly of him and only him. The fire
+of separation from the lord of my life devours me day and night."
+
+When Master-mind heard these welcome words, he rejoiced and
+counted himself happy. And thinking the time to reveal himself
+had come, he took the pill from his mouth, and disclosed his
+natural form. And he said: "Beautiful maiden, I am he whom you
+bought and enslaved with a kindly glance in the garden. I was sick
+at the separation from you; so I took the form of a girl, and came
+here. So now bring heaven in a loving glance to my love-tortured
+heart."
+
+When the princess saw that the lord of her life was beside her, she
+was torn between love and wonder and modesty, and did not know
+what she ought to do. So they were secretly married and lived
+there in supreme happiness. Master-mind lived in a double form.
+By day he was a girl with the pill in his mouth, by night a man
+without the pill.
+
+After a time the brother-in-law of King Glory-banner gave his
+daughter with great pomp to a Brahman, the son of the counsellor
+Ocean-of-Wisdom. And the princess Moonlight was invited to her
+cousin's wedding and went to her uncle's house. And
+Master-mind went with her in his girl form.
+
+When the counsellor's son saw Master-mind in his lovely girl
+form, he was terribly smitten with the arrows of love. His heart
+was stolen by the sham girl, and he went home feeling lonely even
+with his wife. It made him crazy to think of that lovely face. When
+his father tried to soothe him, he woke from his madness and
+stammered out his insane desire. And his father was terribly
+distressed, knowing that all this depended on another.
+
+Then the king learned the story and came there. When the king
+saw his condition and perceived that he was seven parts gone in
+love, he said: "How can I give him the girl who was intrusted to
+me by the Brahman? Yet without her he will be ten parts gone in
+love, and will die. And if he dies, then his father, the counsellor,
+will die too. And if the counsellor perishes, my kingdom will
+perish. What shall I do?"
+
+He consulted his counsellors, and they said: "Your Majesty, the
+first duty of a king is the preservation of the virtue of his people.
+This is the fundamental principle, and is established as such
+among counsellors. If the counsellor is lost, the fundamental
+principle is lost; how then can virtue be preserved? So in this case
+it would be sinful to destroy the counsellor through his son. You
+must by all means avoid the loss of virtue which would ensue.
+Give the Brahman's girl to the counsellor's son. And when the
+Brahman returns, further measures will suggest themselves."
+
+To this the king agreed, and promised to give the sham girl to the
+counsellor's son. So Master-mind in his girl form was brought
+from the chamber of the princess, and he said to the king: "Your
+Majesty, I was brought here by somebody for a given purpose. If
+you give me to somebody else, well and good. You are the king.
+Right and wrong depend on you. I will marry him to-day, but only
+on one condition. My husband shall go away immediately after the
+marriage and not return until he has been on a pilgrimage for six
+months. Otherwise I shall bite out my tongue."
+
+So the counsellor's son was summoned, and he joyfully assented.
+He made the man his wife at once, put the sham wife in a guarded
+room and started on a pilgrimage. So Master-mind lived there in
+his woman form.
+
+When he realized that the counsellor's son would soon return,
+Master-mind fled by night. And Root heard the story, and again
+assumed the form of an old Brahman. He took his friend Moon,
+went to Glory-banner, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have
+brought my son. Pray give me my daughter-in-law."
+
+The king was afraid of a curse, so he said: "Brahman, I do not
+know where your daughter-in-law has gone. Be merciful. To atone
+for my carelessness, I will give your son my own daughter."
+
+The prince of rogues in the form of an old Brahman angrily
+refused. But the king finally persuaded him, and with all due form
+married his daughter Moonlight to Moon, who pretended to be the
+old Brahman's son. Then Root went home with the bride and
+bridegroom.
+
+But then Master-mind came, and in the presence of Root, a great
+dispute arose between him and Moon.
+
+Master-mind said: "Moonlight should be given to me. I married
+the girl first with my teacher's permission."
+
+Moon said: "Fool! What rights have you in my wife? Her father
+gave her to me in regular marriage."
+
+So they disputed about the princess whom one had won by fraud
+and the other by force. But they could reach no decision.
+
+
+O King, tell me. Whose wife is she? Resolve my doubts, and
+remember the agreement about your head.
+
+Then the king said: "I think she is the rightful wife of Moon. For
+she was married to him in the regular way by her father in the
+presence of her relatives. Master-mind married her secretly, like a
+thief. And when a thief takes things from other people, it is never
+right."
+
+When the goblin heard this, he went back home as before. And the
+king stuck to his purpose. He went back again, put the goblin on
+his shoulder, and started from the sissoo tree.
+
+
+FIFTEENTH GOBLIN
+
+The Fairy Prince Cloud-chariot and the Serpent Shell-crest.
+Which is the more self-sacrificing?
+
+
+So the king walked along with the goblin. And the goblin said: "O
+king, listen to a story the like of which was never heard."
+
+
+There is a mountain called Himalaya where all gems are found. It
+is the king of mountains. Its proud loftiness is everywhere the
+theme of song. The sun himself has not seen its top.
+
+On its summit is a city called Golden City, brilliant like a heap of
+sunbeams left in trust by the sun. There lived a glorious
+fairy-king named Cloud-banner. In the garden of his palace was a
+wishing-tree which had come down to him from his ancestors.
+
+King Cloud-banner had worshipped the tree which was really a
+god, and by its grace had obtained a son named
+Cloud-chariot. This son remembered his former lives. He was
+destined to be a Buddha in a future life. He was generous, noble,
+merciful to all creatures, and obedient to his parents.
+
+When he grew up, the king anointed him crown prince, persuaded
+thereto by his counsellors as well as by the remarkable virtues of
+the youth. While Cloud-chariot was crown prince, his father's
+counsellors came to him one day and kindly said: "Crown prince,
+you must always honour this wishing-tree in your garden; for it
+yields all desires, and cannot be taken away by anybody. As long
+as it is favourably disposed to us, the king of the gods could not
+conquer us, and of course nobody else could."
+
+Then Cloud-chariot thought: "Alas! The men of old had this
+heavenly tree, yet they did not pluck from it any worthy fruit. They
+were mean-spirited. They simply begged it for some kind of
+wealth. And so they degraded themselves and the great tree too.
+But I will get from it the wish which is in my heart."
+
+With this thought the noble creature went to his father. He showed
+such complete deference as to delight his father, then when his
+father was comfortably seated, he whispered: "Father, you know
+yourself that in this sea of life all possessions, including our own
+bodies, are uncertain as a rippling wave. Especially is money
+fleeting, uncertain, fickle as the twilight lightning. The only thing
+in life which does not perish is service. This gives birth to virtue
+and glory, twin witnesses through all the ages to come. Father!
+Why do we keep such a wishing-tree for the sake of transient
+blessings? Our ancestors clung to it, saying:  It is mine, it is mine.'
+And where are they now? What is it to them, or they to it? Then, if
+you bid me, I will beg this generous wishing-tree for the one fruit
+that counts, the fruit of service to others."
+
+His father graciously assented, and Cloud-chariot went to the
+wishing-tree, and said: "O god, you have fulfilled the wishes of our
+fathers. Fulfil now my one single wish. Remove poverty from the
+world. A blessing be with you. Go. I give you to the needy world."
+And as Cloud-chariot bowed reverently, there came a voice from
+the tree: "I go, since you give me up." And the
+wishing-tree immediately flew from heaven and rained so much
+money on the earth that nobody was poor. And
+Cloud-chariot's reputation for universal benevolence was spread
+about.
+
+But all the relatives were jealous and envious. They thought that
+they could easily conquer Cloud-chariot and his father without the
+wishing-tree, and they prepared to fight to take away his kingdom.
+But Cloud-chariot said to his father: "Father, how can you take
+your weapons and fight? What high-minded man would want a
+kingdom after killing his relatives just for the sake of this
+wretched, perishable body? Let us abandon the kingdom, and go
+away somewhere to devote ourselves entirely to virtue. Then we
+shall be blessed in both worlds. And let these wretched relatives
+enjoy the kingdom which they hanker after."
+
+And Cloud-banner said: "My son, I only want the kingdom for you,
+and if you give it up from benevolent motives, what good is it to
+me? I am an old man."
+
+So Cloud-chariot left the kingdom and went with his father and
+mother to the Malabar hills. There he built a hermit's retreat, and
+waited on his parents.
+
+One day, as he wandered about, he met Friend-wealth, the son of
+All-wealth, who lived there as king of the Siddhas. And
+Cloud-chariot spoke to him and made friends with him.
+
+Then one day Cloud-chariot saw a shrine to the goddess Gauri in
+the grove, and entered there. And he saw a slender, lovely maiden
+surrounded by her girl friends and playing on a lute, in honour of
+Gauri. The deer listened to her music and her song, motionless as
+if ashamed because her eyes were lovelier than their own. When
+Cloud-chariot saw the slender maiden, his heart was ravished.
+
+And he seemed to her to make the garden beautiful like the
+spring-time. A strange longing came over her. She became so
+helpless that her friends were alarmed.
+
+Then Cloud-chariot asked one of her friends: "My good girl, what
+is your friend's sweet name? What family does she adorn?"
+
+And the friend said: "This is Sandal, sister of Friend-wealth, and
+daughter of the king of the Siddhas." Then she earnestly asked for
+the name and family of Cloud-Chariot from a hermit's son who
+had come with him. And then she spoke to Sandal with words
+punctuated by smiles: "My dear, why do you not show hospitality
+to the fairy prince? He is a guest whom all the world would be glad
+to honour."
+
+But the bashful princess remained silent with downcast eyes. Then
+the friend said: "She is bashful. Accept a hospitable greeting from
+me." And she gave him a garland.
+
+Cloud-chariot, far gone in love, took the garland and put it around
+Sandal's neck. And the loving, sidelong glance which she gave
+him seemed like another garland of blue lotuses. So they pledged
+themselves without speaking a word.
+
+Then a serving-maid came and said to the princess: "Princess, your
+mother remembers you. Come at once." And she went slowly,
+after drawing from her lover's face a passionate glance, for which
+Love's arrow had wedged a path. And Cloud-chariot went to the
+hermitage, thinking of her; while she, sick with the separation
+from the lord of her life, saw her mother, then tottered to her bed
+and fell upon it. Her eyes were blinded as if by smoke from the fire
+of love within her, her limbs tossed in fever, she shed tears. And
+though her friends anointed her with sandal and fanned her with
+lotus-leaves, she found no rest on her bed or in the lap of a friend
+or on the ground.
+
+Then when the day fled away with the passionate red twilight, and
+the moon drew near to kiss the face of the laughing East, she
+despaired of life, and her modesty would not let her send a
+message in spite of all her love. But somehow she lived through
+the night. And Cloud-chariot too was in anguish at the separation.
+Even in his bed he was fallen into the hand of Love. Though his
+passion was so recent, he had already grown pale. Though shame
+kept him silent, his looks told of the pangs of love. And so he
+passed the night.
+
+In the morning he arose and went to the shrine of Gauri. And his
+friend, the hermit's son, followed him and tried to comfort him. At
+that moment the lovelorn Sandal came out of her house alone, for
+she could not endure the separation, and crept to that lonely spot to
+end her life there.
+
+She did not see her lover behind a tree, and with eyes brimming
+with tears she prayed to the goddess Gauri: "O goddess, since I
+could not in this life have Cloud-chariot as my husband, grant that
+in another life at last he may be my husband."
+
+Then she tied her garment to the limb of an ashoka tree before the
+goddess and cried: "Alas, my lord! Alas, Cloud-chariot! They say
+your benevolence is universal. Why did you not save me?"
+
+But as she fastened the garment about her neck, a voice from the
+sky was heard in the air: "My daughter, do nothing rash.
+Cloud-chariot, the future king of the fairies, shall be your
+husband."
+
+And Cloud-chariot heard the heavenly voice, and with his friend
+approached his rejoicing sweetheart. The friend said to the girl:
+"Here is the gift which the goddess grants you." And
+Cloud-chariot spoke more than one tender word and loosed the
+garment from her neck with his own hand.
+
+Then a girl friend who had been gathering flowers there and had
+seen what was happening, came up joyfully and said, while
+Sandal's modest eyes seemed to be tracing a figure on the ground:
+"My dear, I congratulate you. Your wish is granted. This very day
+Prince Friend-wealth said in my presence to King
+All-wealth, your father:  Father, the fairy prince
+, who deserves honour from all the world, who gave away the
+wishing-tree, is here, and we should treat him as an honoured
+guest. We could not find another bridegroom like him. So let us
+welcome him with the gift of Sandal who is a pearl of a girl.' And
+the king agreed, and your brother Friend-wealth has this moment
+gone to the hermitage of the noble prince. I think your marriage
+will soon take place. So go to your chamber, and let the noble
+prince go to his hermitage."
+
+So she went slowly and happily and lovingly. And
+Cloud-chariot hastened to the hermitage. There he greeted
+Friend-wealth and heard his message, and told him about his own
+birth and former life. Then Friend-wealth was delighted and told
+Cloud-chariot's parents who were also delighted. Then he went
+home and made his own parents happy with the news.
+
+That very day he invited Cloud-chariot to his home. And they
+made a great feast as was proper, and married the fairy prince and
+Sandal on the spot. Then Cloud-chariot was completely happy and
+spent some time there with his bride Sandal.
+
+One day he took a walk for pleasure about the hills with
+Friend-wealth, and came to the seashore. There he saw great heaps
+of bones, and he asked Friend-wealth: "What creatures did these
+heaps of bones belong to?" His brother-in-law Friend-wealth said
+to the merciful prince: "Listen, my friend. I will tell you the story
+briefly."
+
+Long ago Kadru, the mother of the serpents, made a wager with
+her rival Vinata, the mother of the great bird Garuda. She won the
+wager and enslaved her rival. Now Garuda's anger continued even
+after he had freed his mother from slavery. He kept going into the
+underworld where Kadru's offspring, the serpents, live, to eat
+them. Some he killed, others he crushed.
+
+Then Vasuki, king of the serpents, feared that in time all would be
+lost if the serpents were all to be slain thus. So he made an
+agreement with Garuda. He said: "O king of birds, I will send one
+serpent every day to the shore of the southern sea for you to eat.
+But you are never to enter the underworld again. What advantage
+would it be to you if all the serpents were slain at once?" And
+Garuda agreed, with an eye to his own advantage.
+
+Since that time Garuda every day eats the snake sent by Vasuki
+here on the seashore. And these heaps of bones from the serpents
+that have been eaten, have in time formed a regular mountain.
+
+When Cloud-chariot heard this story from the lips of
+Friend-wealth, he was deeply grieved and said: "My friend,
+wretched indeed is that king Vasuki who deliberately sacrifices his
+own subjects to their enemy. He is a coward. He has a thousand
+heads, yet could not find a single mouth to say:  O Garuda, eat me
+first.' How could he be so mean as to beg Garuda to destroy his
+own race? Or how can Garuda, the heavenly bird, do such a crime?
+Oh, insolent madness!"
+
+So the noble Cloud-chariot made up his mind that he would use his
+poor body that day to save the life of one serpent at least. At that
+moment a door-keeper, sent by Friend-wealth's father, came to
+summon them home. And Cloud-Chariot said: "Do you go first. I
+will follow." So he dismissed Friend-wealth, and remained there
+himself.
+
+As he walked about waiting for the thing he hoped for, he heard a
+pitiful sound of weeping at a distance. He went a little way and
+saw near a lofty rock a sorrowful, handsome youth. He was at that
+moment abandoned by a creature that seemed to be a policeman,
+and was gently persuading his old, weeping mother to return. And
+Cloud-chariot wished to know who it might be. So he hid himself
+and listened, his heart melting with pity.
+
+The old mother was bowed down by anguish, and started to lament
+over the youth. "Oh, Shell-crest! Oh, my virtuous son, whom I
+fondled, not counting the labour and the pain! Oh, my son, my only
+son! Where shall I see you again? Oh, my darling! When your
+bright face is gone, your old father will fall into black despair.
+How can he live then? Your tender form is hurt by the rays of the
+sun. How can it bear the pangs of being eaten by Garuda? Oh, my
+unhappy fate! Why did the Creator and the serpent-king choose my
+only son from the broad serpent-world, and seize upon him?"
+
+And as she lamented, the youth, her son, said: "Mother, I am
+unhappy enough. Why torture me yet more? Return home. For the
+last time I bow before you. It is time for Garuda to come."
+
+And the mother cried: "Alas, alas for me! Who will save my son?"
+And she gazed about wildly and wept aloud.
+
+All this Cloud-chariot, the future Buddha, saw and heard. And
+with deep pity he thought: "Alas! This is a serpent named
+Shell-crest, sent here by Vasuki for Garuda to eat. And this is his
+mother, following him out of her great love. He is her only son,
+and she is mourning in pain and bitter anguish. I should forever
+curse my useless life if I did not save one in such agony at the cost
+of a body which must perish anyway some day."
+
+So Cloud-chariot joyfully approached and said to the old mother:
+"Serpent-mother, I will save your son. Do not weep."
+
+But the old mother thought that this was Garuda, and she
+screamed: "O Garuda, eat me! Eat me!"
+
+Then Shell-crest said: "Mother, this is not Garuda. Do not be
+alarmed. What a difference between one who soothes our feelings
+like the moon, and the fearful Garuda."
+
+And Cloud-chariot said: "Mother, I am a fairy, come to save your
+son. I will put on his garment and offer my own body to the hungry
+bird. Do you take your son and go home."
+
+But the old mother said: "No, no. You are more than a son to me.
+To think that such as you should feel pity for such as we!"
+
+And Cloud-chariot answered: "Mother, I beg you not to disappoint
+me." But when he insisted, Shell-crest said: "Noble being, you
+have certainly shown compassion, but I do not wish to save my
+body at the expense of yours. Who would save a common stone at
+the cost of a pearl? The world is full of creatures like me, who are
+merciful only to themselves. But creatures like you, who are
+merciful to all the world, are very rare. Oh, pious being, I could
+not stain the pure family of Shell-guard, as the dark spot stains the
+disk on the moon."
+
+Then Shell-crest said to his mother: "Mother, return from this
+desolate place. Do you not see the rock of sacrifice wet with the
+blood of serpents, the terrible plaything of Death? I will go for a
+moment to the shore and worship the god Shiva there. And I will
+return quickly before Garuda comes."
+
+So Shell-crest took leave of his mother and went to worship Shiva.
+And Cloud-chariot thought: "If Garuda should come in this
+interval, I should be happy."
+
+Then he saw the trees stiffening themselves against the wind made
+by the sweeping wings of the king of birds. "Garuda is coming," he
+thought, and climbed the rock of sacrifice, eager to give his life for
+another.
+
+And Garuda straightway pounced upon the noble creature and
+lifted him from the rock in his beak. While Cloud-chariot's blood
+flowed in streams and the gem fell from his forehead, Garuda
+carried him off and began to eat him on the summit of the Malabar
+hills. And while he was being eaten, Cloud-chariot thought: "In
+every future life of mine may my body do some good to somebody.
+I would not attain heaven and salvation without doing some good
+first." Then a shower of flowers fell from heaven on the fairy
+prince.
+
+
+At that moment the blood-stained gem from his forehead fell in
+front of his wife Sandal. She was in anguish at the sight, and as her
+parents-in-law were near, she tearfully showed it to them. And
+they were alarmed at the sight of their son's gem and wondered
+what it meant. Then King Cloud-banner discovered the truth by his
+magic arts, and he and his queen started to run with
+Cloud-chariot's wife Sandal.
+
+At that moment Shell-crest returned from his worship of Shiva. He
+saw the rock stained with blood, and cried: "Alas for me, poor
+sinner! Surely that noble, merciful creature has given his body to
+Garuda in place of mine. I must find him. Where has the great
+being been carried by my enemy? If I find him alive, then I shall
+not sink into the slough of infamy." So he followed weeping the
+broad trail of blood.
+
+Now Garuda noticed that Cloud-chariot was happy while being
+eaten, and he thought: "This must be some strange, great being, for
+he is happy while I am eating him. He does not die, and what
+remains of him is thrilled with delight. And he turns a gracious,
+benevolent look upon me. Surely, he is no serpent, but some great
+spirit. I will stop eating him and ask him."
+
+But while he reflected, Cloud-chariot said: "O king of birds, why
+do you stop? There is still some flesh and blood on me, and I see
+that you are not satisfied. Pray continue to eat."
+
+When the king of birds heard these remarkable words, he said:
+"You are no serpent. Tell me who you are."
+
+But Cloud-chariot continued to urge him: "Certainly I am a
+serpent. What does the question mean? Continue your meal. What
+fool would begin a thing and then stop?"
+
+At that moment Shell-crest shouted from afar: "O Garuda, do not
+commit a great and reckless crime. What madness is this? He is
+not a serpent. I am the serpent."
+
+And he ran between them and spoke again to the agitated bird: "O
+Garuda, what madness is this? Do you not see that I have the hood
+and the forked tongue? Do you not see how gentle his appearance
+is?"
+
+While he was speaking, Cloud-chariot's wife Sandal and his
+parents hurried up. And when his parents saw how he was
+lacerated, they wept aloud and lamented: "Alas, my son! Alas,
+Cloud-chariot! Alas for my merciful darling, who gave his life for
+others!"
+
+But when they cried: "Alas, Garuda! How could you do this
+thoughtless thing?" then Garuda was filled with remorse and
+thought: "Alas! How could I be mad enough to eat a future
+Buddha? This must be Cloud-chariot, who gives his life for others,
+whose fame is trumpeted abroad through all the world. If he is
+dead, I am a sinner, and ought to burn myself alive. Why does the
+fruit of the poison-tree of sin taste sweet?"
+
+While Garuda was thus deep in anxious thought,
+Cloud-chariot saw his relatives gathered, fell down, and died from
+the pain of his wounds. Then, while his grief-stricken parents were
+loudly lamenting, while Shell-crest was accusing himself, Sandal
+looked up to heaven and, in a voice stammering with tears,
+reproached the goddess Gauri who had graciously given her this
+husband: "Oh, Mother! You told me that the fairy prince should be
+my husband, but it is my fate that you spoke falsely."
+
+Then Gauri appeared in a visible form, and said: "Daughter, my
+words are not false." And she sprinkled Cloud-chariot with nectar
+from a jar. And straightway he stood up alive, unhurt and more
+beautiful than before.
+
+As they all bent low in worship, and Cloud-chariot rose only to
+bend again, the goddess said: "My son, I am pleased with your gift
+of your own body. With my own hand I anoint you king of the
+fairies." And she anointed Cloud-chariot with liquor from the jar,
+and then disappeared, followed by the worship of the company.
+And showers of heavenly blossoms fell from the sky, and the
+drums of the gods were joyfully beaten in heaven.
+
+Then Garuda reverently said to Cloud-chariot: "O King, I am
+pleased with your more than human character. For you have done a
+strange thing of unparalleled nobility, to be marvelled at
+throughout the universe, to be written upon the walls of heaven.
+Therefore I am at your service. Choose from me what boon you
+will."
+
+The noble creature said to Garuda: "O Garuda, you must repent
+and eat no more serpents. And you must restore to life those that
+you ate before, who now are nothing but bones."
+
+And Garuda said: "So be it. I will eat no serpents hereafter. And
+those that I have eaten shall come to life."
+
+Then all the serpents who had been eaten down to the bones,
+suddenly stood up. And through the grace of Gauri all the leading
+fairies learned immediately the wonderful deed of
+Cloud-chariot. So they all came and bowed at his feet and took
+him, freshly anointed by the very hand of Gauri, with his rejoicing
+relatives and friends to the Himalaya mountain. There
+Cloud-chariot lived happily with his father and his mother and his
+wife Sandal and Friend-wealth and the generous
+Shell-crest. And he ruled the fairy world radiant with gems.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this long, strange story, he said to the
+king: "O King, tell me. Which was the more
+self-sacrificing, Cloud-chariot or Shell-crest? If you know and do
+not tell, then the curse I mentioned before will be fulfilled."
+
+And the king said: "There was nothing remarkable in what
+Cloud-chariot did. He was prepared for it by the experiences of
+many past lives. But Shell-crest deserves praise. He was saved
+from death. His enemy had another victim, and was far away. Yet
+he ran after and offered his body to Garuda."
+
+When the goblin heard this, he went back to the sissoo tree. And
+the king returned to catch him again.
+
+
+SIXTEENTH GOBLIN
+
+The King who died for Love of his General's Wife; the General
+follows him in Death. Which is the more worthy?
+
+Then the king went back under the sissoo tree, put the goblin on
+his shoulder as before, and started. And the goblin said to him: "O
+King, I will tell you another little story to relieve your weariness.
+Listen."
+
+
+Long ago there was a city named Golden City on the bank of the
+Ganges, where a quarter of the old perfect virtue still lingers in
+these evil days. There was a king named Glorious, and he deserved
+the name. His bravery kept the world from being overflowed, like
+the shore of the sea.
+
+In this king's city lived a great merchant, who had a daughter
+named Passion. Everyone who saw her fell in love and went mad
+with passion.
+
+When she grew to be a young woman, the virtuous merchant went
+to King Glorious and said: "Your Majesty, I have a daughter, the
+gem of the three worlds, and she is old enough to marry. I could
+not give her to anyone without consulting your Majesty. For you
+are the master of all gems in the world. Pray marry her and thus lay
+me under obligations."
+
+So the king sent his own Brahmans to examine her qualities. But
+when the Brahmans saw her supreme loveliness, they were
+troubled and thought: "If the king should marry her, his kingdom
+would be ruined. He would think only of her, and would doubtless
+neglect his kingdom. Therefore we must not report her good
+qualities to the king."
+
+So they returned to the king and said: "Your Majesty, she has bad
+qualities." So the king did not marry the merchant's daughter. But
+he bade the merchant give his daughter to a general named Force.
+And she lived happily with her husband in his house.
+
+After a time the lion of spring came dancing through the forest and
+slew the elephant of winter. And King Glorious went forth on the
+back of an elephant to see the spring festival. And the drum was
+beaten to warn virtuous women to stay within doors. Otherwise
+they would have fallen in love with his beauty, and
+love-sickness might be expected.
+
+But when Passion heard the drum, she did not like to be left alone.
+She went out on the balcony, that the king might see her. She
+seemed like the flame of love which the spring-time was fanning
+with southern breezes. And the king saw her, and his whole being
+was shaken. He felt her beauty sinking deep in his heart like a
+victorious arrow of Love, and he fainted.
+
+His servants brought him back to consciousness, and he returned to
+the city. There he made inquiries and learned that this was Passion
+whom he had rejected before. So he banished from the country the
+Brahmans who had said that she had bad qualities, and he thought
+longingly of her every day.
+
+And as he thought of her, he burned over the flame of love, and
+wasted away day and night. And though from shame he tried to
+conceal it, he finally told the reason of his anguish to responsible
+people who asked him.
+
+They said: "Do not suffer. Why do you not seize her?" But the
+virtuous king would not do it.
+
+Then General Force heard the story. He came and bowed at the
+feet of the king and said: "Your Majesty, she is the wife of your
+slave, therefore she is your slave. I give her to you of my own
+accord. Pray take my wife. Or better yet, I will leave her here in
+the palace. Then you cannot be blamed if you marry her." And the
+general begged and insisted.
+
+But the king became angry and said: "I am a king. How can I do
+such a wicked thing? If I should transgress, who would be
+virtuous? You are devoted to me. Why do you urge me to a sin
+which is pleasant for the moment, but causes great sorrow in the
+next world? If you abandon your wedded wife, I shall not pardon
+you. How could a man in my position overlook such a
+transgression? It is better to die." Thus the king argued against it.
+For the truly great throw away life rather than virtue. And when all
+the citizens came together and urged him, he was steadfast and
+refused.
+
+So he slowly shrivelled away over the fever-flame of love and
+died. There was nothing left of King Glorious except his glory.
+And the general could not endure the death of his king. He burned
+himself alive. The actions of devoted men are blameless.
+
+
+When the goblin on the king's shoulder had told this story, he
+asked the king: "O King, which of these two, the king and the
+general, was the more deserving? Remember the curse before you
+answer."
+
+The king said: "I think the king was the more deserving."
+
+And the goblin said reproachfully: "O King, why was not the
+general better? He offered the king a wife like that, whose charms
+he knew from a long married life. And when his king died, he
+burned himself like a faithful man. But the king gave her up
+without really knowing her attractions."
+
+Then the king laughed and said: "True enough, but not surprising.
+The general was a gentleman born, and acted as he did from
+devotion to his superior. For servants must protect their masters
+even at the cost of their own lives. But kings are like mad
+elephants who cannot be goaded into obedience, who break the
+binding-chain of virtue. They are insolent, and their judgment
+trickles from them with the holy water of consecration. Their eyes
+are blinded by the hurricane of power, and they do not see the
+road. From the most ancient times, even the kings who conquered
+the world have been maddened by love and have fallen into
+misfortune. But this king, though he ruled the whole world, though
+he was maddened by the girl Passion, preferred to die rather than
+set his foot on the path of iniquity. He was a hero. He was the
+better of the two."
+
+Then the goblin escaped by magic from the king's shoulder and
+went back. And the king pursued him, undiscouraged. No great
+man stops in the middle of the hardest undertaking.
+
+
+SEVENTEENTH GOBLIN
+
+The Youth who went through the Proper Ceremonies. Why did he
+fail to win the magic spell?
+
+Then the king went back through the night to the cemetery filled
+with ghouls, terrible with funeral piles that seemed like ghosts
+with wagging tongues of flame. But when he came to the sissoo
+tree, he was surprised to see a great many bodies hanging on the
+tree. They were all alike, and in each was a goblin twitching its
+limbs.
+
+And the king thought: "Ah, what does this mean? Why does that
+magic goblin keep wasting my time? For I do not know which of
+all these I ought to take. If I should not succeed in this night's
+endeavour, then I would burn myself alive rather than become a
+laughing-stock."
+
+But the goblin understood the king's purpose, and was pleased
+with his character. So he gave up his magic arts. Then the king saw
+only one goblin in one body. He took him down as before, put him
+on his shoulder, and started once more.
+
+And as he walked along, the goblin said: "O King, if you have no
+objections, I will tell you a story. Listen."
+
+
+There is a city called Ujjain, whose people delight in noble
+happiness, and feel no longing for heaven. In that city there is real
+darkness at night, real intelligence in poetry, real madness in
+elephants, real coolness in pearls, sandal, and moonlight.
+
+There lived a king named Moonshine. He had as counsellor a
+famous Brahman named Heaven-lord, rich in money, rich in piety,
+rich in learning. And the counsellor had a son named
+Moon-lord.
+
+This son went one day to a great resort of gamblers to play. There
+the dice, beautiful as the eyes of gazelles, were being thrown
+constantly. And Calamity seemed to be looking on, thinking:
+"Whom shall I embrace?" And the loud shouts of angry gamblers
+seemed to suggest the question: "Who is there that would not be
+fleeced here, were he the god of wealth himself?"
+
+This hall the youth entered, and played with dice. He staked his
+clothes and everything else, and the gamblers won it all. Then he
+wagered money he did not have, and lost that. And when they
+asked him to pay, he could not. So the gambling-master caught
+him and beat him with clubs.
+
+When he was bruised all over by the clubs, the Brahman youth
+became motionless like a stone, and pretended to be dead, and
+waited. After he had lain thus for two or three days, the heartless
+gambling-master said to the gamblers: "He lies like a stone. Take
+him somewhere and throw him into a blind well. I will pay you the
+money he owes."
+
+So the gamblers picked Moon-lord up and went far into the forest,
+looking for a well. Then one old gambler said to the others: "He is
+as good as dead. What is the use of throwing him into a well now?
+We will leave him here and go back and say we have left him in a
+well." And all the rest agreed, and left him there, and went back.
+
+When they were gone, Moon-lord rose and entered a deserted
+temple to Shiva. When he had rested a little there, he thought in
+great anguish: "Ah, I trusted the rascally gamblers, and they
+cheated me. Where shall I go now, naked and dusty as I am? What
+would my father say if he saw me now, or any relative, or any
+friend? I will stay here for the present, and at night I will go out
+and try to find food somehow to appease my hunger."
+
+While he reflected in weariness and nakedness, the sun grew less
+hot and disappeared. Then a terrible hermit named Stake came
+there, and he had smeared his body with ashes. When he had seen
+Moon-lord and asked who he was and heard his story, he said, as
+the youth bent low before him: "Sir, you have come to my
+hermitage, a guest fainting with hunger. Rise, bathe, and partake of
+the meal I have gained by begging."
+
+Then Moon-lord said to him: "Holy sir, I am a Brahman. How can
+I partake of such a meal?"
+
+Then the hermit-magician went into his hut and out of tenderness
+to his guest he thought of a magic spell which grants all desires.
+And the spell appeared in bodily form, and said: "What shall I
+do?" And the hermit said: "Treat that man as an honoured guest."
+
+Then Moon-lord was astonished to see a golden palace rise before
+him and a grove with women in it. They came to him from the
+palace and said: "Sir, rise, come, bathe, eat, and meet our
+mistress." So they led him in and gave him a chance to bathe and
+anoint himself and dress. Then they led him to another room.
+
+There the youth saw a woman of wonderful beauty, whom the
+Creator must have made to see what he could do. She rose and
+offered him half of her seat. And he ate heavenly food and various
+fruits and chewed betel leaves and sat happily with her on the
+couch.
+
+In the morning he awoke and saw the temple to Shiva, but the
+heavenly creature was gone, and the palace, and the women in it.
+So he went out in distress, and the hermit in his hut smiled and
+asked him how he had spent the night. And he said: "Holy sir,
+through your kindness I spent a happy night, but I shall die without
+that heavenly creature."
+
+Then the hermit laughed and said: "Stay here. You shall have the
+same happiness again to-night." So Moon-lord enjoyed those
+delights every night through the favour of the hermit.
+
+Finally Moon-lord came to see what a mighty spell that was. So,
+driven on by his fate, he respectfully begged the hermit: "Holy sir,
+if you really feel pity for a poor suppliant like me, teach me that
+spell which has such power."
+
+And when he insisted, the hermit said: "You could never win the
+spell. One has to stand in the water to win it. And it weaves a net
+of magic to bewilder the man who is repeating the words, so that
+he cannot win it. For as he mumbles it, he seems to lead another
+life, first a baby, then a boy, then a youth, then a husband, then a
+father. And he falsely imagines that such and such people are his
+friends, such and such his enemies. He forgets his real life and his
+desire to win the spell. But if a man mumbles it constantly for
+twenty-four years, and remembers his own life, and is not deceived
+by the network of magic, and then at the end burns himself alive,
+he comes out of the water, and has real magic power. It comes
+only to a good pupil, and if a teacher tries to teach it to a bad pupil,
+the teacher loses it too. Now you have the real benefit through my
+magic power. Why insist on more? If I lost my powers, then your
+happiness would go too."
+
+But Moon-lord said: "I can do anything. Do not fear, holy sir." And
+the hermit promised to teach him the spell. What will holy men
+not do out of regard to those who seek aid?
+
+So the hermit went to the river bank, and said: "My son, mumble
+the words of the spell. And while you are leading an imaginary
+life, you will at last be awakened by my magic. Then plunge into
+the magic fire which you will see. I will stand here on the bank
+while you mumble it."
+
+So he purified himself and purified Moon-lord and made him sip
+water, and then he taught him the magic spell. And
+Moon-lord bowed to his teacher on the bank, and plunged into the
+river.
+
+And as he mumbled the words of the spell in the water, he was
+bewildered by its magic. He forgot all about his past life, and went
+through another life. He was born in another city as the son of a
+Brahman. Then he grew up, was consecrated, and went to school.
+Then he took a wife, and after many experiences half pleasant, half
+painful, he found himself the father of a family. Then he lived for
+some years with his parents and his relatives, devoted to wife and
+children, and interested in many things.
+
+While he was experiencing all these labours of another life, the
+hermit took pity on him and repeated magic words to enlighten
+him. And Moon-lord was enlightened in the midst of his new life.
+He remembered himself and his teacher, and saw that the other life
+was a network of magic. So he prepared to enter the fire in order to
+win magic power.
+
+But older people and reliable people and his parents and his
+relatives tried to prevent him. In spite of them he hankered after
+heavenly pleasures, and went to the bank of a river where a funeral
+pile had been made ready. And his relatives went with him. But
+when he got there he saw that his old parents and his wife and his
+little children were weeping.
+
+And he was perplexed, and thought: "Alas! If I enter the fire, all
+these my own people will die. And I do not know whether my
+teacher's promise will come true or not. Shall I go into the fire, or
+go home? No, no. How could a teacher with such powers promise
+falsely? Indeed, I must enter the fire." And he did.
+
+And he was astonished the feel the fire as cool as snow, and lost
+his fear of it. Then he came out of the water of the river, and found
+himself on the bank. He saw his teacher standing there, and fell at
+his feet, and told him the whole story, ending with the blazing
+funeral pile.
+
+Then his teacher said: "My son, I think you must have made some
+mistake. Otherwise, why did the fire seem cool to you? That never
+happens in the winning of this magic spell."
+
+And Moon-lord said: "Holy sir, I do not remember making any
+mistake." Then his teacher was eager to know about it, so he tried
+to remember the spell himself. But it would not come to him or to
+his pupil. So they went away sad, having lost their magic.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he asked the king: "O King,
+explain the matter to me. Why did they lose their magic, when
+everything had been done according to precept?"
+
+Then the king said: "O magic creature, I see that you are only
+trying to waste my time. Still, I will tell you. Magic powers do not
+come to a man because he does things that are hard, but because
+he does things with a pure heart. The Brahman youth was defective
+at that point. He hesitated even when his mind was enlightened.
+Therefore he failed to win the magic. And the teacher lost his
+magic because he taught it to an unworthy pupil."
+
+Then the goblin went back to his home. And the king ran to find
+him, never hesitating.
+
+
+ EIGHTEENTH GOBLIN
+
+The Boy whom his Parents, the King, and the Giant conspired to
+Kill. Why did he laugh at the moment of death?
+
+Then the king went to the sissoo tree, put the goblin on his
+shoulder as before, and started in silence. And the goblin on his
+shoulder saw that he was silent and said: "O King, why are you so
+obstinate? Go home. Spend the night in rest. You ought not to take
+me to that rascally monk. But if you insist, then I will tell you
+another story. Listen."
+
+
+There is a city called Brilliant-peak. There lived a glorious king
+named Moon, who delighted the eyes of his subjects. Wise men
+said that he was brave, generous, and the very home of beauty. But
+in spite of all his wealth, he was very sad at heart. For he found no
+wife worthy of him.
+
+One day this king went with soldiers on horseback into a great
+wood, to hunt there and forget his sorrow. There he split open
+many boars with his arrows as the sun splits the black darkness,
+and made fierce lions into cushions for his arrows, and slew
+mountainous monsters with his terrible darts.
+
+As he hunted, he spurred his horse and beat him terribly. And the
+horse was so hurt by the spur and the whip that he could not tell
+rough from smooth. He dashed off quicker than the wind, and in a
+moment carried the king into another forest a hundred miles away.
+
+There the king lost his way, and as he wandered about wearily, he
+saw a great lake. He stopped there, unsaddled his horse, let him
+bathe and drink, and found him some grass in the shade of the
+trees. Then he bathed and drank himself, and when he had rested,
+he looked all about him.
+
+And he saw a hermit's daughter of marvellous beauty under an
+ashoka tree with another girl. She had no ornaments but flowers.
+She was charming even in a dress of bark. She was particularly
+attractive because of her thick masses of hair arranged in a girlish
+way.
+
+And the king fell in love with her and thought: "Who is she? Is she
+a goddess come to bathe in these waters? Or Gauri, separated from
+her husband Shiva, leading a hard life to win him again? Or the
+lovely moon, taking a human form, and trying to be attractive in
+the daytime? I will go to her and find out."
+
+So he drew near to her. And when she saw him coming, she was
+astonished at his beauty and dropped her hands, which had been
+weaving a garland of flowers. And she thought: "Who can he be in
+this forest? Some fairy perhaps. Blessed are my eyes this day."
+
+So she rose, modestly looking another way, and started to go away,
+though her limbs failed her. Then the king approached and said:
+"Beautiful maiden, I have come a long distance, and you never
+saw me before. I ask only to look at you, and you should welcome
+me. Is this hermit manners, to run away?"
+
+Then her clever friend made the king sit down and treated him as
+an honoured guest. And the king respectfully asked her: "My good
+girl, what happy family does your friend adorn? What are the
+syllables of her name, which must be a delight to the ear? Or why
+at her age does she torture a body as delicate as a flower with a
+hermit's life in a lonely wood?"
+
+And the friend answered: "Your Majesty, she is the daughter of the
+hermit Kanva and the heavenly nymph Menaka. She grew up here
+in the hermitage, and her name is Lotus-bloom. With her father's
+permission she came here to the lake to bathe. And her father's
+hermitage is not far from here."
+
+Then the king was delighted. He mounted his horse and rode to the
+hermitage of holy Kanva, to ask for the girl. And he entered the
+hermitage in modest garb, leaving his horse outside. Then he was
+surrounded by hermits with hoary crowns and bark garments like
+the trees, and saw the sage Kanva radiant and cool like the moon.
+And he drew near and fell at his feet.
+
+And the wise hermit greeted him and let him rest, then said: "My
+son Moon, I will tell you something to your advantage. Listen. I
+know what fear of death there is in mortal creatures. Why then do
+you uselessly kill the wild beasts? Warriors were made by the
+Creator to protect the timid. Therefore protect your subjects in
+righteousness, and root out evil. As Happiness flees before you,
+strive to overtake her with all your means, elephants and horses
+and things. Enjoy your kingship. Be generous. Become glorious.
+Abandon this vice of hunting, this sport of Death. For slayer and
+slain are equally deceived. Why spend your time in such an evil
+pursuit?"
+
+The sensible king was pleased and said: "Holy sir, I am instructed.
+And great is my gratitude for this instruction. From now on I hunt
+no more. Let the wild animals live without fear."
+
+Then the hermit said: "I am pleased with your protection of the
+animals. Choose any boon you will."
+
+Then the quick-witted king said: "Holy sir, if you are kindly
+disposed, give me your daughter Lotus-bloom."
+
+So the hermit gave him his daughter, the child of the nymph, who
+then came up after her bath. So they were married, and the king
+wore cheerful garments, and Lotus-bloom was adorned by the
+hermits' wives. And the weeping hermits accompanied them in
+procession to the edge of the hermitage. Then the king took his
+wife Lotus-bloom, mounted his horse, and started for his city.
+
+At last the sun, seeing the king tired with his long journeying, sank
+wearily behind the western mountain. And fawn-eyed
+night appeared, clad in the garment of darkness, like a woman
+going to meet her lover. And the king saw an ashvattha tree on the
+shore of a pond in a spot covered with grass and twigs, and he
+decided to spend the night there.
+
+So he dismounted, fed and watered his horse, brought water from
+the pond, and rested with his beloved. And they passed the night
+there.
+
+In the morning he arose, performed his devotions, and prepared to
+set out with his wife to rejoin his soldiers. Then, like a cloud black
+as soot with tawny lightning-hair, there appeared a great giant. He
+wore a chaplet of human entrails, a cord of human hair, he was
+chewing the head of a man, and drinking blood from a skull.
+
+The giant laughed aloud, spit fire in his wrath, and showed his
+dreadful fangs. And he scolded the king and said: "Scoundrel! I am
+a giant named Flame-face. This tree is my home; even the gods do
+not dare to trespass here. But you and your wife have trespassed
+and enjoyed yourselves. Now swallow your own impudence, you
+rascal! You are lovesick, so I will split open your heart and eat it,
+and I will drink your blood."
+
+The king was frightened when he saw that the giant was
+invincible, and his wife was trembling, so he said respectfully: "I
+trespassed ignorantly. Forgive me. I am your guest, seeking
+protection in your hermitage. And I will give you a human
+sacrifice, so that you will be satisfied. Be merciful then and forget
+your anger."
+
+Then the giant forgot his anger, and thought: "Very well. Why
+not?" And he said: "O King, I want a noble, intelligent Brahman
+boy seven years old, who shall give himself up of his own accord
+for your sake. And when he is killed, his mother must hold his
+hands tightly to the ground, and his father must hold his feet, and
+you must cut off his head with your own sword. If you do this
+within seven days, then I will forgive the insult you have offered
+me. If not, I will kill you and all your people."
+
+And the king was so frightened that he consented. Then the giant
+disappeared.
+
+Then King Moon mounted his horse with his wife
+Lotus-bloom and rode away sad at heart, seeking for his soldiers.
+And he thought: "Alas! I was bewildered by hunting and by love,
+and I find myself ruined. Where can I find such a sacrifice for the
+giant? Well, I will go to my own city now, and see what happens."
+
+So he continued his search, and found his soldiers and his city
+Brilliant-peak. There his subjects were delighted because he had
+found a wife worthy of him, and they made a great feast. But it
+was a day of despondency and dreadful agony for the king.
+
+On the next day he told his counsellors the whole story. And one
+counsellor named Wise said: "Your Majesty, do not despair. I will
+find a victim for the sacrifice. The world is a strange place."
+
+Thus the counsellor comforted the king, and made a statue of a
+boy out of gold. And he sent the statue about the land, with
+constant beating of drums and this proclamation: "We want a
+noble Brahman boy seven years old who will offer himself as a
+sacrifice to a giant with the permission of his parents. And when
+he is killed, his mother must hold his hands, and his father must
+hold his feet. And as a reward, the king will give his parents a
+hundred villages and this statue of gold and gems."
+
+Now there was a Brahman boy on a farm, who was only seven
+years old, but wonderfully brave. He was of great beauty, and even
+in childhood he was always thinking about others. He said to the
+heralds: "Gentlemen, I will give you my body. Wait a moment. I
+will hurry back after telling my parents."
+
+So they told the boy to go. And he went into the house, bowed
+before his parents, and said: "Mother! Father! I am going to give
+this wretched body of mine in order to win lasting happiness. Pray
+permit me. And I will take the king's gift, this statue of myself
+made of gold and gems, and give it to you together with the
+hundred villages. Thus I will pay my debt to you, and do some real
+good. And you will never be poor again, and will have plenty more
+sons."
+
+But his parents immediately said: "Son, what are you saying? Have
+you the rheumatism? Or are you possessed by a devil? If not, why
+do you talk nonsense? Who would sacrifice his child for money?
+And what child would give his body?"
+
+But the boy said: "I am not mad. Listen. My words are full of
+sense. The body is the seat of unnameable impurities, it is
+loathsome and full of pain. It perishes in no long time at best. If
+some good can be done with the worthless thing, that is a great
+advantage in this weary life, so wise men say. And what good is
+there except helping others? If anyone can serve his parents so
+easily, then how lightly should the body be esteemed!"
+
+Thus the boy, with his bold words and his firm purpose, persuaded
+his grieving parents. And he went and got from the king's men the
+golden statue and the hundred villages, and gave them to his
+parents.
+
+So the boy with his parents followed the king's men to the city
+Brilliant-peak. And the king looked upon the brave boy as a magic
+jewel for his own preservation, and rejoiced greatly. He adorned
+the boy with garlands and perfumes, put him on an elephant, and
+took him with his parents to the home of the giant.
+
+There the priest traced a magic circle beside the tree, and
+reverently lit the holy fire. Then the horrible giant
+Flame-face appeared, mumbling words of his own. He staggered,
+for he was drunk with blood, and snorted and yawned. His eyes
+flashed fire and his shadow made the whole world dark.
+
+And the king said respectfully: "Great being, here is the human
+sacrifice you asked for, and this is the seventh day since I promised
+it. Be merciful. Accept this sacrifice."
+
+And the giant licked his chops, and looked the boy over, who was
+to be the sacrifice. Then the noble boy thought: "I have done some
+good with this body of mine. May I never rest in heaven or in
+eternal salvation, but may I have many lives in which to do some
+good with my body." And the air was filled with the chariots of
+gods who rained down flowers.
+
+Then the boy was laid before the giant. His mother held his hands,
+and his father held his feet. When the king drew his sword and was
+ready to strike, the boy laughed so heartily that all of them, even
+the giant, forgot what they were doing, looked at the boy's face,
+and bowed low before him.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this strange story, he asked the king: "O
+King, why did the boy laugh at the moment of death? I have a great
+curiosity about this point. If you know and will not tell, then your
+head will fly into a hundred pieces."
+
+And the king said: "Listen. I will tell you why the boy laughed.
+When danger comes to any weak creature, he cries for life to his
+mother and father. If they are not there, he begs protection from
+the king, whom heaven made his protector. Failing the king, he
+cries to a god. Some one of these should be his protector. But in
+the case of this boy everything was contrary. His parents held his
+hands and feet because they wanted money. And the king was
+ready to kill him with his own hand, to save his own life. And the
+giant, who is a kind of a god, had come there especially to eat him.
+So the boy thought:  They are ridiculously fooled about their
+bodies, which are fragile, worthless, the seat of pain and suffering.
+The bodies of the greatest gods perish. And such creatures as these
+imagine that their bodies will endure!' So when he saw their
+strange madness, and felt that his own wishes were fulfilled, the
+Brahman boy laughed in astonishment and delight."
+
+Then the goblin slipped from the king's shoulder and went back to
+his home. And the king followed with determination. The heart of
+a good man is like the heart of the ocean. It cannot be shaken.
+
+
+NINETEENTH GOBLIN
+
+The Man, his Wife, and her Lover, who all died for Love. Which
+was the most foolish?
+
+Then the king went back under the sissoo tree, took the goblin on
+his shoulder, and set out in haste. And as he walked along, the
+goblin on his shoulder said: "O King, I will tell you a story about a
+great love. Listen."
+
+
+There is a city called Ujjain, which seems like a divine city made
+by the Creator for the pious who have fallen from heaven. In this
+city there was a famous king named Lotus-belly. He delighted the
+good, and defeated the king of the demons.
+
+While he was king, a merchant named Fortune, richer than the god
+of wealth, lived in the city. He had one daughter named
+Love-cluster, who seemed the model from whom the Creator had
+made the nymphs of heaven. This merchant gave his daughter to a
+merchant named Jewel-guard from Copper City.
+
+As he was a tender father and had no other children, the merchant
+stayed with his daughter Love-cluster and her husband. Now
+Love-cluster came to hate Jewel-guard as a sick man hates a
+pungent, biting medicine. But the beautiful woman was dearer
+than life to her husband, dear as long-fathered wealth to a miser.
+
+One day Jewel-guard started for Copper City to pay a loving visit
+to his parents. Then the hot summer came, and the roads were
+blocked for travellers by the sharp arrows of the sun. The winds
+blew soft with the fragrance of jasmine and trumpet-flower, like
+sighs from the mouths of mountains separated from the springtime.
+And wind-swept dust-clouds flew to the sky like messengers from
+the burning earth begging for clouds. And the feverish days moved
+slowly like wayfarers who cling to the shade of trees. And the
+nights clad in pale yellow moonlight became very feeble without
+the invigorating embrace of winter.
+
+At this time Love-cluster, anointed with cooling sandal, and clad in
+thin garments stood at her lattice-window. And she saw a
+handsome youth with a friend whom he trusted. He seemed the
+god of love born anew and seeking his bride. He was the son of the
+king's priest, and his name was Lotus-lake.
+
+And when Lotus-lake saw the lovely girl, he expanded with delight
+as lotuses in a lake expand at the sight of the moon. When the two
+young people saw each other, their hearts embraced each other at
+the bidding of Love, their teacher.
+
+So Lotus-lake was smitten with love, and was led home with
+difficulty by his friend. And Love-cluster was equally maddened
+by love. First she learned from her friend his name and home, then
+slowly withdrew to her room. There she thought of him and
+became feverish with love, simply tossing on her couch, seeing
+nothing and hearing nothing.
+
+After two or three days spent in this way, she felt bashful and
+fearful, pale and thin from the separation, and hopeless of union
+with her lover. So, as if drawn on by the moonbeam which shone
+through her window, she went out at night when her people were
+asleep, determined to die. And she came to a pool under a tree in
+her garden.
+
+There stood a family image of the goddess Gauri, set up by her
+father. She drew near to this image, bowed before the goddess,
+praised her, and said: "O Goddess, since I could not have
+Lotus-lake as my husband in this life, may he be my husband in
+some other life!" And she made a noose of her garment, and tied it
+to the ashoka tree before the goddess.
+
+At that moment her trusty friend awoke, and not finding her in the
+room, hunted about and came luckily into the garden. There she
+saw the girl fastening the noose about her neck, and she cried,
+"No, no!" And running up, she cut the noose.
+
+When Love-cluster saw that it was her own friend who had run up
+and taken the noose away, she fell to the ground in great agony.
+But her friend comforted her and asked the reason of her sorrow.
+Then she arose and said: "Jasmine, my friend, I cannot be united
+with him I love. I am dependent on my father and other people.
+Death is the happiest thing for me."
+
+And as she spoke, she was terribly scorched by the fiery darts of
+love, and determined to feel no more hope, and fainted. And her
+friend Jasmine lamented: "Alas! Love is a hard master. It has
+reduced her to this condition." But she gradually brought her back
+to life with cool water and fans and things. She made an easy bed
+of lotus-leaves. She put pearls cool as snow on her heart.
+
+Then Love-cluster came to herself and slowly said to her weeping
+friend: "My dear, the fire within me cannot be quenched by such
+things as pearls. If you want to save my life, be clever enough to
+bring my lover to me."
+
+And the loving Jasmine said: "My dear, the night is almost over. In
+the morning I will bring your lover here to meet you. Be brave and
+go now to your room."
+
+Love-cluster was contented. She took the pearls from her neck and
+gave them to her friend as a present. And she said: "Let us go now.
+Then in the morning you must keep your promise." So she went to
+her room.
+
+In the morning Jasmine crept out without being seen to hunt for
+the house of Lotus-lake. When she got there, she found
+Lotus-lake under a tree in the garden. He was lying on a couch of
+lotus-leaves moistened with sandal, and the friend who knew his
+secret was fanning him with plantain-leaf fans, for he was tortured
+by the flames of love. And Jasmine hid, to find out whether this
+was lovesickness for her friend or not.
+
+Then the friend said to Lotus-lake: "My friend, comfort your heart
+by glancing a moment at this charming garden. Do not be so
+troubled."
+
+But he said to his friend: "My heart has been stolen by
+Love-cluster. It is no longer in my body. How can I comfort it?
+Love has made an empty quiver of me. So invent some plan by
+which I may meet the thief of my heart."
+
+Then Jasmine came out joyfully and without fear and showed
+herself. And she said: "Sir, Love-cluster has sent me to you, and I
+am the bearer of a message to you. Is it good manners to enter the
+heart of an innocent girl by force, steal her thoughts, and run
+away? It is strange, but the sweet girl is ready to give her person
+and her life to you, her charmer. For day and night she heaves
+sighs hot as the smoke from the fire of love that burns in her heart.
+And teardrops carry her rouge away and fall, like bees longing for
+the honey of her lotus-face. So, if you wish it, I will tell you what
+is good for both of you."
+
+And Lotus-lake said: "My good girl, the words which tell me that
+my love is lonely and longing, frighten me and comfort me. You
+are our only refuge. Devise a plan."
+
+And Jasmine answered: "This very night I will bring
+Love-cluster secretly to the garden. You must be outside. Then I
+will cleverly let you in, and so you two will be united." Thus
+Jasmine delighted the Brahman's son, and went away successful to
+please Love-cluster with the news.
+
+Then the sun and the daylight fled away, pursuing the twilight.
+And the East adorned her face with the moon. And the white
+night-blooming lotuses laughed, their faces expanding at the
+thought of the glory that was coming to them. At that hour the
+lover Lotus-lake came secretly, adorned and filled with longing, to
+the garden-gate of his beloved. And Jasmine led
+Love-cluster secretly into the garden, for she had lived through the
+day somehow.
+
+Then Jasmine made her sit down under the mango trees, while she
+went and let Lotus-lake in. So he entered and looked upon
+Love-cluster as the traveller looks upon the shade of trees with
+thick foliage. And as he drew near, she saw him and ran to him, for
+love took away her modesty, and she fell on his neck. "Where
+would you go? I have caught you, thief of my heart!" she cried.
+Then excessive joy stopped her breathing and she died. She fell on
+the ground like a vine broken by the wind. Strange are the
+mysterious ways of Love.
+
+When Lotus-lake saw that terrible fall, he cried: "Oh, what does it
+mean?" And he fainted and fell down. Presently he came to
+himself, and took his darling on his lap. He embraced her and
+kissed her and wept terribly. He was so borne down by the terrible
+burden of grief that his own heart broke. And when they were both
+dead, the night seemed to die away in shame and fear.
+
+In the morning the relatives heard the story from the gardeners,
+and came there filled with timidity and wonder and grief and
+madness. They did not know what to do, but stood a long time
+with downcast eyes. Unfaithful women disgrace a family.
+
+Presently the husband Jewel-guard came back from his father's
+house in Copper City, filled with love for Love-cluster. When he
+came to his father-in-law's house and saw the business, he was
+blinded by tears and went thoughtfully into the garden. There he
+saw his wife dead in another man's arms, and his body was
+scorched by flames of grief, and he died immediately.
+
+Then the whole household shouted and screamed so that all the
+citizens heard the story and came there. The demi-gods themselves
+were filled with pity and prayed to the goddess Gauri whose image
+had been set up there before by Love-cluster's father: "Oh, Mother,
+the merchant who set up this statue was always devoted to you.
+Show mercy to him in his affliction."
+
+And the gracious goddess heard their prayer. She said: "All three
+shall live again, and shall forget their love." Then through her
+grace they all arose like people waking from sleep. They were
+alive, and their love was gone. While all the people there rejoiced
+at what had happened. Lotus-lake went home, bending his head in
+shame. And the merchant took his shamefaced daughter and her
+husband and went into the house and made a feast.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story on the road in the night, he
+said: "O King, which was the most foolish among those who died
+for love? If you know and do not tell, you must remember the
+curse I spoke of before."
+
+Then the king answered: "O magic creature, Jewel-guard was the
+most foolish of them. When he saw that his wife had died for love
+of another man, he should have been angry. Instead, he was loving,
+and died of grief."
+
+Then the goblin slipped from the king's shoulder and quickly set
+out for his home. And the king ran after him again, eager as
+before.
+
+
+TWENTIETH GOBLIN
+
+The Four Brothers who brought a Dead Lion to Life. Which is to
+blame when he kills them all?
+
+Then the king went back to the sissoo tree, took the goblin, put
+him on his shoulder, and started for the place he wished to reach.
+And as he walked along the road, the goblin began to talk again:
+"Bravo, King! You are a remarkable character. So I will tell you
+another story, and a strange one. Listen."
+
+
+There is a city called Flower-city. There lived a king named
+Earth-boar. In his kingdom was a farm where a Brahman lived
+whose name was Vishnuswami. His wife was named Swaha. And
+four sons were born to them.
+
+After a time the father died, and the relatives took all the money.
+So the four brothers consulted together: "There is nothing for us to
+do here. Suppose we go somewhere." And after a long journey
+they came to the house of their maternal grandfather in a village
+called Sacrifice. The grandfather was dead, but their uncles
+sheltered them, and they continued their studies.
+
+But they did not amount to much, so in time their uncles became
+scornful in such matters as food and clothing. And they were
+troubled.
+
+Then the eldest took the others aside and said: "Brothers, no man
+can do anything anywhere on earth. Now I was wandering about
+discouraged, and I came to a wood. There I saw to-day a dead man
+whose limbs lay relaxed on the ground. And I wished for the same
+fate, and I thought:  He is happy. He is free from the burden of
+woe.' So I made up my mind to die, and hanged myself with a rope
+from a tree. I lost consciousness, but before the breath of life was
+gone, the cord was cut and I fell to the ground. And when I came
+to myself, I saw a compassionate man who had happened by at that
+moment, and he was fanning me with his garment. And he said to
+me:  My friend, you are an educated man. Tell me why you are so
+despondent. The righteous man finds happiness, the unrighteous
+man finds unhappiness because of his unrighteousness, and for no
+other reason. If you made up your mind to this because of
+unhappiness, practice righteousness instead. Why seek the pains of
+hell by suicide?' Thus the man comforted me and went away. And
+I gave up the idea of suicide and came here. You see I could not
+even die when fate was unwilling. Now I shall burn my body at
+some holy place, that I may not again feel the woes of poverty."
+
+Then the younger brothers said to him: "Sir, why is an intelligent
+man sad for lack of money? Do you not know that money is
+uncertain as an autumn cloud? No matter how carefully won and
+guarded, three things are fickle and bring sorrow at the last: evil
+friendships, a flirt, and money. The resolute and sensible man
+should by all means acquire that virtue which brings him
+Happiness a captive in bonds."
+
+So the eldest brother straightway plucked up heart, and said:
+"What virtue is it which we should acquire?"
+
+Then they all reflected, and took counsel together: "We will
+wander over the earth, and each of us will learn some one
+science." So they appointed a place for meeting, and the four
+brothers started in four different directions.
+
+After a time they all gathered at the meeting-place, and asked one
+another what they had learned. The first said: "I have learned a
+science by which I can take the skeleton of any animal whatever
+and put the proper kind of flesh on it."
+
+The second said: "I have learned a science by which I can put on
+the flesh-covered skeleton the proper hair and skin."
+
+The third said: "My science is this. When the skin and the flesh
+and the hair are there, I can put in the eyes and the other organs of
+sense."
+
+The fourth said: "When the organs are there, I can give the
+creature the breath of life."
+
+So all four went into the forest to find a skeleton and test their
+various sciences. As fate would have it, they found the skeleton of
+a lion there. And they took that, not knowing the difference.
+
+The first fitted out the skeleton with appropriate flesh. The second
+added the skin and hair. The third provided all the organs. The
+fourth gave life to the thing, and it was a lion. The lion arose with
+terrible massive mane, dreadful teeth in his mouth, and curving
+claws in his paws. He arose and killed his four creators, then ran
+into the forest.
+
+Thus the Brahman youths all perished because they did wrong to
+make a lion. Who could expect a good result from creating a
+bad-tempered creature? Thus, if fate opposed, even a virtue that
+has been painfully acquired does not profit, but rather injures. But
+the tree of manhood, with the water of intelligence poured into its
+watering-trench of conduct about the vigorous root of fate,
+generally bears good fruit.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he asked the king who was
+walking through the night: "O King, remember the curse I
+mentioned, and tell me which of them was most to blame for
+creating the lion?"
+
+And the king reflected in silence: "He wants to escape again. Very
+well. I will catch him again." So he said: "The one who gave life
+to the lion, is the sinner. The others did not know what kind of an
+animal it was, and just showed their skill in creating flesh and skin
+and hair and organs. They were not to blame because they were
+ignorant. But the one who saw that it was a lion and gave it life
+just to exhibit his skill, he was guilty of the murder of Brahmans."
+
+Then the goblin went home. And the king followed him again, and
+came to the sissoo tree.
+
+
+TWENTY-FIRST GOBLIN
+
+The Old Hermit who exchanged his Body for that of the Dead Boy.
+Why did he weep and dance?
+
+Then the king went back to the sissoo tree, put the goblin on his
+shoulder in spite of all its writhings, and set out in silence. And the
+goblin on his shoulder said: "O king of kings, you are terribly
+obstinate about this impossible task. So to amuse the weary
+journey I will tell a story. Listen."
+
+
+In the Kalinga country was a city called Beautiful, where people
+lived as happily as in heaven. There ruled a famous king named
+Pradyumna. And in a part of this city was a region set apart by the
+king, where many Brahmans lived. Among them was a learned,
+wealthy, pious, hospitable Brahman named Sacrifice.
+
+In his old age a single son was born to him and his worthy wife.
+The boy grew under the fostering care of his father, and showed
+signs of excellence. He was called Devasoma by his father, and his
+parents were entirely devoted to him.
+
+In his sixteenth year the boy attracted everyone by his learning and
+modesty. Then he suddenly fell ill of a fever and died. When his
+father and mother saw that he was really dead, they embraced the
+body and wept aloud. But their love for him would not permit
+them to burn the body.
+
+So the old relatives gathered, and said to the father: "Brahman, life
+is imaginary like a city in the sky. Do you not know this, you who
+know things above and things below? The kings who enjoyed
+themselves like gods upon the earth, they have gone one by one to
+cemeteries filled with processions of weeping ghosts. Their bodies
+were burned by the flesh-devouring fire and eaten by jackals. No
+one could prevent it in their case. How much less in the case of
+others? Therefore, as you are a wise man, tell us what you mean by
+embracing this dead body?"
+
+So at last the relatives persuaded him to let his son go, and they
+put the body in a litter and brought it to the cemetery with weeping
+and wailing.
+
+At that time a hermit was fulfilling a hard vow, and was living in a
+hut in the cemetery. He was very thin because of his age and his
+hard life. His veins stuck out like cords to bind him, as if afraid
+that he would break in pieces. His hair was tawny like the
+lightning.
+
+This hermit heard the wailing of the people, and turned to his pupil
+who begged food for him. Now this pupil was proud and arrogant.
+And the hermit said: "My boy, what is this wailing we hear? Go
+outside and find out, then return and tell me why this
+ unheard-of commotion is taking place."
+
+But the pupil said: "I will not go. Go yourself. My hour for begging
+is passing by."
+
+Then the teacher said: "Fool! Glutton! What do you mean by your
+hour for begging? Only one half of the first watch of the day is
+gone."
+
+Then the bad pupil became angry and said: "Decrepit old man! I
+am not your pupil. And you are not my teacher. I am going away.
+Do your begging yourself." And he angrily threw down his staff
+and bowl before the old man, and got up, and went away.
+
+Then the hermit laughed. He left his hut and went to the place
+where the dead Brahman boy had been brought to be burned. He
+saw how the people mourned over such youthful freshness dead,
+and felt his own age and weakness. So he made up his mind to
+exchange his body for the other by magic.
+
+He went aside and wept at the top of his voice. Then he danced
+with all the proper gestures.
+
+After that, full of the longing to enjoy the happiness of youth, he
+left his own withered body by magic and entered the body of the
+Brahman youth. So the Brahman youth came to life on the funeral
+pyre and stood up. And a cry of joy arose from all the relatives:
+"See! The boy is alive! He is alive!"
+
+Then the magician in the body of the Brahman boy said to the
+relatives: "I went to the other world, and Shiva gave me life and
+directed me to perform a great vow. So now I am going off to
+perform the vow. If I do not, my life will not last. Do you then go
+home, and I will come later."
+
+So he spoke to those gathered there, having made up his mind
+what to do, and sent them home full of joy and grief. He went
+himself and threw his old body into a pit, and then went off, a
+young man.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he said to King
+Triple-victory, who was walking through the night: "O King, when
+the magician entered another person's body, why did he weep
+before doing it, or why did he dance? I have a great curiosity about
+this point."
+
+And the king was afraid of the curse, so he broke silence and said:
+"Listen, goblin. He thought:  I am leaving to-day this body with
+which I won magic powers, the body which my parents petted
+when I was a child.' So first he wept from grief, and from love of
+his body which he found it hard to leave. Then he thought:  With a
+new body I can learn more magic.' So he danced from joy at
+getting youth."
+
+When the goblin heard this answer, he returned quickly to the
+sissoo tree. And the king pursued him, undismayed.
+
+
+TWENTY-SECOND GOBLIN
+
+The Father and Son who married Daughter and Mother. What
+relation were their children?
+
+The king paid no attention to the terrible witch of night, clad in
+black darkness, with the funeral piles as flaming eyes. He bravely
+went through the dreadful cemetery to the sissoo tree, put the
+goblin on his shoulder, and started as before. And as he walked
+along, the goblin said to him: "O King, I am very tired with these
+comings and goings, but you do not seem to be. So I will tell you
+my Great Puzzle. Listen."
+
+
+Long ago there was a king named Virtue in the southern country.
+He was the best of righteous men, and was born in a great family.
+His wife came from the Malwa country, and her name was
+Moonlight. And they had one daughter, whom they named Beauty.
+
+When this daughter was grown up, the relatives conspired to wreck
+the kingdom and drive King Virtue out. But he escaped by night,
+took a great many jewels, and fled from his kingdom with his
+beautiful wife and his daughter. He started for his
+father-in-law's house in Malwa, and came with his wife and
+daughter to the Vindhya forest. There they spent a weary night.
+
+In the morning the blessed sun arose in the east, stretching out his
+rays like hands to warn the king not to go into the forest where
+robbers lived. The king went on foot with his trembling daughter
+and his wife, and their feet were wounded by the thorny grass. So
+they came to a fortified village. It was like the city of Death; for
+there were no righteous people there, and it was filled with
+robber-men who killed and robbed other people.
+
+As the king drew near with his fine garments and his gems, many
+robbers saw him from a distance, and ran out armed to rob him.
+When the king saw them coming, he said to his wife and daughter:
+"These are wild men. They must not touch you. Go into the thick
+woods." So the queen with her daughter Beauty fled in fear into
+the middle of the forest.
+
+But the brave king took his sword and shield and killed many of
+the wild men as they charged down, raining arrows on him. Then
+their leader gave an order, and all the robbers fell on the king at
+once, wounded every limb in his body, and killed him; for he was
+all alone. So the robbers took the jewels and went away.
+
+Now the queen had hidden in a thicket, and had seen her husband
+killed. Then she fled a long distance in fear and came with her
+daughter into another thick wood. The rays of the midday sun were
+so fierce that travellers had to sit in the shade. So Queen
+Moonlight and Princess Beauty sat down under an ashoka tree near
+a lotus-pond in terrible weariness and fear and grief.
+
+Now a gentleman named Fierce-lion who lived near came on
+horseback with his son into that wood to hunt. The son's name was
+Strong-lion. And the father saw the footprints of the queen and the
+princess, and he said to his son: "My son, these footprints are
+clean-cut and ladylike. Let us follow them. And if we find two
+women, you shall marry one of them, whichever you choose."
+
+And the son Strong-lion said: "Father, the one who has the little
+feet in this line of footprints, seems to be the wife for me. The one
+with the bigger feet must be older. She is the wife for you."
+
+But Fierce-lion said: "My son, what do you mean? Your mother
+went to heaven before your eyes. When so good a wife is gone,
+how could I think of another?"
+
+But his son said: "Not so, Father. A householder's house is an
+empty place without a wife. Besides, you have surely heard what
+the poet says:
+
+      What fool would go into a house?
+            Tis a prisoner's abode,
+     Unless a buxom wife is there,
+           Looking down the road.'
+
+So, Father, I beg you on my life to marry the second one, whom I
+have chosen for you."
+
+Then Fierce-lion said "Very well," and went on slowly with his
+son, following the footprints. And when he came to the pond, he
+saw Queen Moonlight, radiant with beauty and charm. And with
+his son he eagerly approached her. But when she saw him, she rose
+in terror, fearing that he was a robber.
+
+But her sensible daughter said: "There is no reason to fear. These
+two men are not robbers. They are two well-dressed gentlemen,
+who probably came here to hunt." Still the queen swung in doubt.
+
+Then Fierce-lion dismounted and stood before her. And he said:
+"Beautiful lady, do not be frightened. We came here to hunt. Pluck
+up heart and tell me without fear who you are. Why have you come
+into this lonely wood? For your appearance is that of ladies who
+wear gems and sit on pleasant balconies. And why should feet fit
+to saunter in a court, press this thorny ground? It is a strange sight.
+For the wind-blown dust settles on your faces and robs them of
+beauty. It hurts us to see the fierce rays of the sun fall upon such
+figures. Tell us your story. For our hearts are sadly grieved to see
+you in such a plight. And we cannot see how you could live in a
+forest filled with wild beasts."
+
+Then the queen sighed, and between shame and grief she
+stammered out her story. And Fierce-lion saw that she had no
+husband to care for her. So he comforted her and soothed her with
+tender words, and took care of her and her daughter. His son
+helped the two ladies on horseback and led them to his own city,
+rich as the city of the god of wealth. And the queen seemed to be
+in another life. She was helpless and widowed and miserable. So
+she consented. What could she do, poor woman?
+
+Then, because the queen had smaller feet, the son Strong-lion
+married Queen Moonlight. And Fierce-lion, the father, married her
+daughter, the princess Beauty, because of the bigness of her feet.
+Who would break a promise that had been made solemnly?
+
+Thus, because of their inconsistent feet, the daughter became the
+wife of the father and the mother-in-law of her own mother. And
+the mother became the wife of the son and the
+daughter-in-law of her own daughter. And as time passed, sons and
+daughters were born to each pair.
+
+
+When the goblin had told this story, he asked the king: "O King,
+when children were born to the father and daughter, and other
+children to the son and mother, what relation were those children
+to one another? If you know and do not tell, then remember the
+curse I spoke of before?"
+
+When the king heard the goblin's question, he turned the thing this
+way and that, but could not say a word. So he went on in silence.
+And when the goblin saw that he could not answer the question, he
+laughed in his heart and thought: "This king cannot give an answer
+to my Great Puzzle. So he just walks on in silence. And he cannot
+deceive me because of the power of the curse. Well, I am pleased
+with his wonderful character. So I will cheat that rogue of a monk,
+and give the magic power he is striving after to this king."
+
+So the goblin said aloud: "O King, you are weary with your
+comings and goings in this dreadful cemetery in the black night,
+yet you seem happy, and never hesitate at all. I am astonished and
+pleased at your perseverance. So now you may take the dead body
+and go ahead. I will leave the body. And I will tell you something
+that will do you good, and you must do it. The monk for whom you
+are carrying this body, is a rogue. He will call upon me and
+worship me, and he will try to kill you as a sacrifice. He will say:
+ Lie flat on the ground in an attitude of reverence.' O King, you
+must say to that rascal:  I do not know this attitude of reverence.
+Show me first, and then I will do likewise.' Then when he lies on
+the ground to show you the attitude of reverence, cut off his head
+with your sword. Then you will get the kingship over the fairies
+which he is trying to get. Otherwise, the monk will kill you and get
+the magic power. That is why I have delayed you so long. Now go
+ahead, and win magic power."
+
+So the goblin left the body on the king's shoulder and went away.
+And the king reflected how the monk Patience was planning to
+hurt him. He took the body and joyfully went to the
+fig-tree.
+
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+So King Triple-victory came to the monk Patience with the body
+on his shoulder. And he saw the monk along in the dark night,
+sitting under the cemetery tree and looking down the road. He had
+made a magic circle with yellow powdered bones in a spot
+smeared with blood. In it he had put a jug filled with blood and
+lamps with magic oil. He had kindled a fire and brought together
+the things he needed for worship.
+
+The monk rose to greet the king who came carrying the body, and
+he said: "O King, you have done me a great favour, and a hard one.
+This is a strange business and a strange time and place for such as
+you. They say truly that you are the best of kings, for you serve
+others without thinking of yourself. This is the very thing that
+makes the greatness of a great man, when he does not give a thing
+up, though it costs his very life."
+
+So the monk felt sure the he was quite successful, and he took the
+body from the king's shoulder. He bathed it and put garlands on it,
+and set it in the middle of the circle. Then he smeared his own
+body with ashes, put on a cord made of human hair, wrapped
+himself in dead man's clothes, and stood a moment, deep in
+thought. And the goblin was attracted by his thought into the body,
+and the monk worshipped him.
+
+First he offered liquor in a skull, then he gave him human teeth
+carefully cleaned, and human eyes and flesh. So he completed his
+worship, then he said to the king: "O King, fall flat on the ground
+before this master magician in an attitude of reverence, so that he
+may give you what you want."
+
+And the king remembered the words of the goblin. He said to the
+monk: "Holy sir, I do not know that attitude of reverence. Do you
+show me first, and afterwards I will do it in the same way."
+
+And when the monk fell on the ground to show the attitude of
+reverence, the king cut off his head with a sword, and cut out his
+heart and split it open. And he gave the head and the heart to the
+goblin.
+
+Then all the little gods were delighted and cried: "Well done!"
+And the goblin was pleased and spoke to the king from the body he
+was living in: "O King, this monk was trying to become king of the
+fairies. But you shall be that when you have been king of the
+whole world."
+
+And the king answered the goblin: "O magic creature, if you are
+pleased with me, I have nothing more to wish for. Yet I ask you to
+make me one promise, that these twenty-two different, charming
+puzzle-stories shall be known all over the world and be received
+with honour."
+
+And the goblin answered: "O King, so be it. And I will tell you
+something more. Listen. When anyone tells or hears with proper
+respect even a part of these puzzle-stories, he shall be immediately
+free from sin. And wherever these stories are told, elves and giants
+and witches and goblins and imps shall have no power."
+
+Then the goblin left the dead body by magic, and went where he
+wanted to. Then Shiva appeared there with all the little gods, and
+he was well pleased. When the king bowed before him, he said:
+"My son, you did well to kill this sham monk who tried by force to
+become king of the fairies. Therefore you shall establish the whole
+earth, and then become king of the fairies yourself. And when you
+have long enjoyed the delights of heaven and at last give them up
+of your own accord, then you shall be united with me. So receive
+from me this sword called Invincible. While you have it,
+everything you say will come true."
+
+So Shiva gave him the magic sword, received his flowery words of
+worship, and vanished with the gods.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Twenty-Two Goblins, from Sanskrit
+
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