THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES aotjji icta CAB. I. TABOKIS "/ INDIAN FAIRY TALES. >Verfumes, so he packed up the best of his scents and essences, find repaired to the palace. He showed the king attar of roses, and attar of jasmine, and various other kinds of perfumes, and whatever he showed the king purchased. When the perfumer had exhibited all his wares, the king called him near, and said, "Sir Per- fumer! there is something more that I desire. Will yon give it me ? " The perfumer thought THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 23 to himself, " What is it the king can want ? " So he answered cautiously, " Your Majesty ! if it is mine to bestow, certainly I will give it." The king repeated his question, " Sir Per- fumer, what I desire, will you give me ? " The perfumer replied as before, " Your Majesty ! if it is mine to give, I will give it." Then the king said plainly, " Sir Perfumer, I want your daughter for my son : will you bestow her ? " The perfumer answered, " My Lord ! the daughter belongs to the mother : it is for her to bestow her." The king bade the perfumer go home, and inquire of his wife, and return the next day, with her answer. When the perfumer reached home and told his wife, they both began to weep and lament, for their daughter was a fairy and might not wed a mortal, and yet if they refused, they feared 24 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. the king's anger. Their daughter heard them weeping, and entered. When she learned the cause, she cast down her eyes, and stood silent for the space of three minutes ; then she raised her head, and said, " Father ! I will marry the prince, but on three conditions." When she had thus spoken, she took a pen and paper, and wrote the conditions, and folded and sealed the paper, and gave it to the per- fumer. The next morning the perfumer pre- sented himself before the king and said, " My Lord ! my daughter will marry the prince, but on three conditions," and then he presented the paper. The king broke the seal and read. The first condition that the daughter had written was this, that she should come to the palace in seven veils, each veil reaching to her feet The second condition was, that the prince should THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 25 not lift one of the veils, no, not so much as to see even the sole of her foot. The third condition was, that she should leave the palace each day at sunset, and remain the night in her father's house. When the king had read the conditions he was wroth, for he thought that the perfumer was mocking him. But the prince insisted that the conditions should be accepted. So the prepara- tions for the marriage were commenced. When they were completed the prince repaired in great state to the perfumer's house, and the bride came forth in her seven veils, and entered a golden palanquin, and was conveyed to the palace. At night the city was illuminated, and all the poor were feasted. When the prince assented to the conditions, he did not think that the princess would long 26 THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. insist on them. He made sure that she would soon raise her veils of herself. And when she had seen the grandeur of the palace, he did not expect that she would care to return to her father's shop in the lane. But in these expecta- tions he was disappointed. One month passed, and three months passed, and still the princess came each morning in her seven veils, she never lifted even one the livelong day, and always as the sun set she returned to her father's house. When four months had thus gone by the prince began to pine ; soon he fell ill. Physicians were sent for, but they did him no good. The prince said, "I shall never get well till the princess lifts her veils and allows me to behold her face." The king and the queen were filled with grief, and so also was the prince's companion, the chief THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. 27 minister's son. One day the minister's son was lamenting, when his servant said, " My Lord ! I have heard that beyond the forest, by the river, there dwells a Fukkeer, a holy man who practises austerities, and has acquired the knowledge of secrets. May be, he would give a charm to cause the princess to raise her veils." The minister's son told the prince, and the prince resolved to set out and seek the Fukkeer. So he obtained permission from the king to hunt for seven days, and then he and the minister's son mounted their horses and secretly left the city. They rode through the jungle and through the forest ; on the third day they reached the river. The Fukkeer was seated in a circle of fire ; he had long hair, and his body was covered with ashes. The prince advanced and saluted him, 28 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. and made his request. The Fukkeer bade the prince rest for the night ; on the morrow, he said, he would give him the charm. The prince and the minister's son remained the night in the Fukkeer's hut. The Fukkeer stayed without and performed incantations. All night the rain fell, and the wild beasts roared. In the morning the Fukkeer gave the prince a silver ring. The Fukkeer told the prince, that when the princess left the palace, he should slip the ring on his finger and follow her home, and he would see her face. " But," he said, " for your life do not touch her, or let her see the ring, or know that you have been here and obtained it." The prince promised to observe these direc- tions, then he thanked the Fukkeer and bade him farewell, and he and the minister's son mounted their horses and returned to the palace. " The Fukkeer stayed svithout and performed incantations." Page 28. THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 31 When the prince entered his chamber the princess began to question him, and to inquire where he had been and who he had seen. The prince gave evasive answers; the princess re- peated her questions. Suddenly she looked up, and saw that the sun had set. She hurriedly called her attendants, entered her palanquin and returned home. The prince slipped the ring on his finger and followed. As the prince passed the palace gates he noticed that the guards did not salute him, and he found in the street that no one made way, and then he perceived that he had become in- visible. When the princess reached her- father's house she alighted and entered. And as she entered, the prince slipped in unnoticed behind her. As the princess entered, her mother said, " Daughter, 32 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. how late you are to-day ! " The princess replied, " I stayed to question the prince, and he would not answer." Then she added, "Mother! the prince has been to the forest, and I mistrust that he reached the river, and has learnt my secret." The prince thought to himself, "What secret is it that she is hiding from me ? " Then the princess said again to her mother, " Mother, bring my supper quickly, for the time passes, and I am hungry." The perfumer's wife brought a dish of rice and lentils and set it before the princess. The princess ate slowly, for she had to pass the food beneath her seven veils. The prince also was hungry, he stretched out his hand and helped himself. Before the princess had eaten three mouthfuls, lo ! the dish was empty. The princess was puzzled. She called to her THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. 33 mother to refill the dish, but her mother replied, "Daughter, all that was prepared you have eaten. But wait, and I will cook more." The princess answered, "How can I wait, mother, when the time is passing ? " and as she spoke, she arose and went up to her chamber. The prince followed, and as he followed he wondered and thought, "Is she going anywhere that she cannot wait ? " When the princess reached her chamber, she took off one by one her seven veils, and the room was illumined with the radiance of her beauty. The prince gazed in wonder, for she was fairer than the moonshine or the flowers. When the princess had taken off her seven veils, she commenced to adorn herself. She put on a dress of silver tissue and covered her hair with diamonds. The prince, as he looked, was c 34 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. filled with doubts and jealousy, "Is it to meet a lover," he thought, u that she thus arrays herself?" When the princess had adorned herself, she passed through the doorway to the terrace, and sat down on a bed with railings. The prince placed himself at the other end. Then the princess began to sing, and as she sang, the bed rose. The bed rose, and rose, above the roofs, above the towers, and then it flew and flew, over the plain, and over the forest, till it reached the river, and stood above the stream. The princess leaned over the railing and called, "Sister Rose! Sister Rose I, come quickly, for the night passes, and the king awaits us." As the princess spoke, there came a ripple on the water, and a fairy appeared, and floated up- wards. The fairy was clad in red, and had rubies THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. 35 in her hair; she carried in her hand a dish of fruit, and seated herself beside the princess. The princess took an orange, and the fairy took a citron : the prince stretched out his hand, and seized the rest of the fruit. The princess looked, and lo ! the dish was empty. The princess was puzzled, but she thought that perhaps the other fruit had fallen out. The princess sang again, and as she sang the bed rose, and flew, and descended above a ruined well. The princess leaned over the railing, and called, "Sister Emerald! Sister Emerald! come quickly, for the night passes and the king awaits us." The prince wondered, " What king can she mean ? " He thought, " There is no king in all this region but the king my father." As the princess called, the water rippled, and a fairy rose from beneath the surface, and floated 36 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. up and seated herself by the princess. She was clad in green, and wore emeralds in her hair, and in her hand she carried a dish with seven cakes. The princess took one cake, the two fairies took each another. The prince reached out his arm and seized the remainder. Presently the princess looked, and lo ! the dish was empty ! The princess was puzzled, but she thought as before, that perhaps the rest had fallen. Then she sang again, and the bed rose, and flew, and lighted down in the garden in the forest that had no gate nor entrance. The garden was illumined with ten thousand lamps, the birds sang, and the fountains sparkled, and the flowers exhaled the most delicious per- fumes. It seemed to the prince as if he had entered the gardens of paradise. The princess and the fairies sauntered through the garden, THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. 37 and rested in the pavilion. Presently the prin- cess looked up, and said, " Sisters ! let us hasten, for the night passes, and the king will be angry." The princess and her companions then seated themselves on the bed, the prince placed himself in the vacant corner. The princess commenced to sing, and as she sang the bed rose. The bed rose and rose, above the trees, above the clouds, till it reached the blue sky and the milky way. Then the princess sang louder, and the bed began to fly along the milky way. It flew and flew faster than the wind, faster than a rocket, till at length it arrived at a great palace. Ten thousand lights streamed from the windows, a thousand guards stood before the gateway. The princess and the fairies alighted, the prince followed. They went through one court and another and came to a great hall. At the end 38 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. of the hall, on his throne of jewels, sat Raja India, the king of the skies. Beside him were his guards and nobles, and before him, ready to commence their dance, stood the thousand fairies. King Indra's brow was clouded ; as the princess entered he exclaimed " Fairy of the diamonds ! Fairy of the diamonds ! why have you delayed your coming ? " As King Indra spoke the thousand fairies trembled, on the earth below it seemed to thunder. The princess and her companions took their place among the fairies, the music struck up, and the thousand fairies commenced to dance. As the dancing continued, King Indra's brow began to clear, then he smiled, next he laid down his wand and beat time to the music. The prince crept softly behind, and stole the wand away. THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 39 The fairies danced till the night was nearly spent ; then King Indra gave the signal, the music ceased, and the thousand fairies left the hall. At the gateway the princess and her two companions seated themselves on the bed ; the prince did the same. The prince looked: the lights had gone out, the palace had vanished, and the bed was descending through the air. The bed descended and descended, till it reached the earth and hung over the ruined well. The Emerald fairy rose ; she said, " Sisters, good-night," and sprang lightly down. The prince heard the water splash, he leaned over and saw it circling in rings, but the fairy had disappeared below the surface. The princess sang, the bed flew on, and stood above the river, and there the Rose fairy bade the princess adieu and vanished in the stream. The princess sang again, 40 THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. the bed rose and descended on the terrace of the perfumer's house, before her chamber door. The princess arose and entered her chamber, the prince followed. The princess took off her dress of silver tissue, and the diamonds from her hair. She threw a shawl over her head, and exclaiming, " I am weary ! I am weary ! " she lay down on a sofa and fell asleep. The prince descended the stairs and passed through the doorway of the house. As the day began to dawn he reached the palace. The prince sought his own apartment; he removed the silver ring from his finger and hid it in his bosom, then he summoned his attendants. The prince said that he was weary and would sleep again, and forbade that any should arouse him. As the second watch of the day commenced, THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 41 the princess arrived at the palace ; she inquired for the prince ; the attendants said that he was sleeping, and must not be awakened. The princess waited : she waited one hour, she waited two hours, then she lost patience and entered the prince's chamber. The prince was lying on his sofa, a shawl was over his head. The princess called, and said, " Awake, my Lord ! Awake ! for the noon approaches," and as she spoke she drew the shawl from off him. The prince started up, and seized his sword and made believe to draw it. Then seeing the princess he exclaimed, "If it had been another than you, my love, I would have struck and slain him, for arousing me from my delicious dream." The princess said, "Was the dream so very pleasant ? Then tell it me." The prince replied, " That if he told it, she 42 THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. would be angry." The princess grew curious, and began to coax and to tease, and to promise not to be offended. She coaxed and teased till at length the prince yielded ; he made her sit beside him on the couch, and thus commenced his story : " Last night," the prince said, " in my sleep I seemed to follow you when you left the palace, and it seemed to me that I had become invisible, for the guards at the gate did not salute, nor the people in the street make way, and when I entered the house after you, neither did your mother appear to perceive me." As the prince said this, the princess moved and started. The prince continued, " Then I thought in my dream, that your mother placed before you a dish of rice and lentils, and that while you ate THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 43 I reached over and helped myself. Then it seemed that you went to your chamber and that I followed, and that you took off your seven veils, one by one." Here the princess rose and laid aside her outer veil. The prince went on, " And then I thought that you arrayed yourself in a robe of silver tissue, and put diamonds in your hair, and sat on a bed on the terrace, and that I placed myself beside you, and that you sang, and as you sang, the bed rose and flew away to the river." Here the princess stood up, and drew off her second veil. The prince continued, and related how the Rose fairy had risen from the river and the Emerald fairy from the well, and how they had 44 THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. gone to the garden in the forest, and from thence to the milky way and the palace of King Indra, and how the princess had danced among the thousand fairies, and how, as the morn ap- proached, the palace had vanished and the prin- cess had returned to her home. In short, under the guise of a dream, the prince described all he had seen. As the prince proceeded in his story, from time to time the princess arose and laid aside another and another of her veils, till as the story ended but one remained. Then the princess said, " My Lord ! now tell me true, was this a dream or did you see it?" The prince made no reply. The princess asked again, and now her voice was angry. The prince was frightened; he thought that if he offended her, perhaps on the 1 As she spoke, she rose from the terrace, and floated upwards." Page 47. THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. 47 morrow she might not return. In his fear the prince forgot his promise and the Fukkeer's warning, and told the princess how he had ob- tained the silver ring and had really seen her. Then he said, " And now lift your veil, my love, that I may behold your face again." The prin- cess said, "First give me the ring." The prince answered, " No, first lift your veil." And so they disputed, and all the while the princess was walking towards the window. The princess reached the window, and stepped through it to the terrace. Then she turned and said, "For the last time, give me the ring." The prince answered as before, " First, my love, let me see your face." The princess lifted her veil, and said, " Yes ! you shall see my face now, and never again." And as she spoke, she rose from the terrace, and floated upwards. The 48 THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. prince ran to seize her, but she was already above the palace towers ; as he gazed, she van- ished in the clouds and the sky. The prince uttered a cry of despair, and fell fainting to the ground. PART THE SECOND. the prince's cry, the attendants ran in and found the prince lying senseless on the terrace. They sprinkled his face with water, and laid him on his couch. When he came to himself, they sent for the king and queen. When the king and queen learnt what had occurred, they summoned the perfumer. But the perfumer knew nothing of his daughter, he could only suppose that she might have alighted in some forest or waste. The king sent nies- D 50 THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. sengers and horsemen, and searched the wastes and the forests, but no trace of the princess could they find, When a month had passed, the prince began to pine : he ceased to hunt, he ceased almost to speak, he passed the days in sighing and in tears. Next he fell ill, and it seemed as if he was about to die. The king and the queen mourned and grieved, and all the court was sad, and saddest of the court was the prince's com- panion, the chief minister's son. When the minister's son perceived that the physicians did the prince no good, but rather that the prince grew worse and worse, then he resolved to go to the river, and consult again the Fukkeer. The Fukkeer was sitting as before, in the circle of fire. As the minister's son told his story, the Fukkeer listened and sighed. Then THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 51 he said, " The beasts of the forest obey ine, and the spirits of the lower air, but over the fairies Raja Indra alone has power, only he can restore the princess." The minister's son answered, " And who can influence Raja Indra ? " The Fukkeer said, " In the mountains lives the Great Master. For six months he sleeps, for six months he remains awake and practises aus- terities : he can influence King Indra." The chief minister's son returned and told the prince, and said that he would repair to the mountains, and seek for the Great Master. But the prince answered that he would go himself. So the prince took gold and jewels and hid them about his person, and bade farewell to the king and the queen, and then he mounted his horse and set out for the mountains. 52 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. The prince rode through the wastes and through the forests ; at length he arrived at the mountains. The mountains were so high that they seemed to touch the heavens, and they were full of rocks and torrents and precipices. At the foot of the mountains the prince got off his horse: he said, " Horse ! Horse ! eat the grass and drink the water, and wait here till I return." The prince wandered among the mountains a month, he wandered for two months; the rain fell, and the clouds thundered : at the end of two months he came to a cave. At the end of the cave a lamp was burning, and by it, on a bed of leaves, an aged man was lying asleep. The prince lifted his eyes and gave thanks ; for he said, " I have found the Great Master ! " The prince remained in the cave. He made a brush of twigs, and every morning he swept the THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 53 floor, and prepared food for the Master when he should awake. After ten days the six months expired and the Master awoke; he found the cave swept and clean and the food ready, and a young man standing to receive his orders. The prince continued to attend on the Master. He swept the cave and prepared the food, and when the Master ate the prince stood behind and fanned away the flies. At the end of three months the Master ad- dressed the prince and said, " My son ! ask a boon of me, and I will grant it." The prince said, "Holy father! restore me the princess my wife ! " and then he related to the Master his story, and how the princess had left him. When the prince had concluded his story, the Master said, " At the full of the moon 54 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER, fairies will come and bathe in the lake by the ruined palace, a thousand leagues away ; we must go thither and wait." Then the Master raised his staff, and bade the prince take hold of the end. The Master walked in front, the prince followed after. Before the sun set they arrived at the lake. The prince cut down branches and young saplings and built a hut in the forest and roofed it with grass and reeds, and the prince and the Master dwelt in the hut till it came to the full of the moon. On the day of the full moon, the Master ad- dressed the prince and said, "At midnight the princess and the thousand fairies will come and bathe in the lake before the ruined palace, but first they will lay their shawls on the terrace." Then he bade the prince repair to the palace and hide among the ruins, and watch where the THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 55 princess placed her shawl, and steal it away as she bathed, and bring it back to the hut. The Master told the prince not to fear though the fairies followed and threatened; "but," he said, " for your life do not stop nor turn, nor restore the princess her shawl." The prince promised obedience, and when the night arrived he repaired to the palace and hid among the ruins. The moon rose and began to ascend the sky the moon ascended higher and higher till it reached the zenith then there came a sound of rushing in the air ; the prince looked, and saw that the thousand fairies were descend- ing from the sky. The fairies alighted on the terrace, and laid aside their shawls ; then they plunged into the lake, and disported themselves like the swans or the wild fowl : they swam, they dived, they $6 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. splashed the water on each other. Meanwhile the prince crept softly up and stole the princess's shawl away. The fairies disported themselves in the lake till the moon began to wane, then they returned to the terrace, and each fairy sought her shawl, for without their shawls the fairies could not fly. But the princess could not find her shawl. She searched here, and she searched there, and all the while the fairies were calling, " Haste ! sister, haste ! for the night passes and the king awaits us." The princess wrung her hands and cried, "Help me! sisters, help me! for some one has taken my shawl away ! " The thousand fairies commenced to search. Presently one ex- claimed, " A mortal has been here : see here are his footprints. It is he that has taken our sister's THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. 57 shawl away." And the thousand fairies started in pursuit. The prince had not got but half-way through the forest when he heard behind him a rush- ing sound, and then the voices of the fairies calling on him to stop. But the prince only ran the faster. The fairies drew nearer; first they threatened, then they begged; then came the voice of the princess weeping and imploring. She cried and said, " My lord ! my love ! oh, stop and turn but once, and I will follow and be your slave for ever." The prince's heart was touched, he forgot his promise and the Master's warnings : he stopped and turned. The princess said, " Give me my shawl." The prince replied, " But if I give it, will you follow me ? " The princess answered as before, "I will follow and be your slave for ever." 58 THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. The prince held out the shawl ; the princess took it, and as she took it she touched the prince's hand. At her touch the flames as of a thousand fires darted through him. The prince sank on the ground a heap of ashes, and the princess and the thousand fairies, laughing, floated upwards to the skies. As the night passed and the prince did not return the Master became anxious : he mistrusted that the prince had forgotten his warnings, and had stopped and turned. Presently the Master took his staff and set out for the lake. As he went, he looked on this side and on that side till he perceived the heap of ashes, and then he knew what had occurred. The Master approached the heap and touched it with his staff, and uttered the words of a spell And at the touch and the words, the prince rose up, well and whole as before. THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 59 The prince implored forgiveness, and that an- other trial might be permitted him. .The Master consented, and they returned together to the hut, and waited there for the next full moon. When the day of the full moon at length arrived, the Master bade the prince go again to the palace, and hide in the ruins as before. But the Master warned the prince that another trial would not be given him. " If now," the Master said, " you turn and look, my power cannot avail, and the princess will be lost to you for ever." The prince promised obedience and departed, and concealed himself in the ruins, and watched and waited. At midnight there came again the rush- ing sound, the fairies descended on the terrace, and laid aside their shawls, and plunged into the lake as before. The prince watched his oppor- tunity, and while the fairies were disporting in 60 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. the water, he crept out, and stole the princess's shawl away. The prince ran and ran, but he had not passed the forest, when he heard the fairies in pursuit. They called and threatened, and they coaxed and entreated, and the princess wept, and promised, and implored. But the prince only stopped his ears and ran the faster. The prince pressed on till he reached the hut. As he crossed the thres- hold the fairies stopped, for within they dared not enter. The fairies stood around the hut, and entreated for the shawl. They entreated and they begged. In the end they promised to yield the princess if only, among them, the prince could find her. The prince was overjoyed, but the Master warned him that his hardest task was now before him. The Master said, " The fairies will change THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. 61 their appearances. "What form the princess would assume," the Master said, that he could not tell, only this he knew, that " around her neck there would be a slender thread of gold." Then the Master warned the prince again, and told him that whosoever of the fairies he now chose would be his for ever. If he failed to choose the princess, no power on earth or in heaven, not even Kaja Indra himself, could restore her. When the Master had finished speaking, he bade the fairies sit down in rows, and the prince stepped forth to select his bride. The prince passed along the first row : the fairies were lovely as the flowers, but the princess was not among them, nor was she in the second row, nor in the third, nor in the fourth. The prince passed row after row ; when he reached the last row, his heart 62 THE PERFUMER'S DAUGHTER. began to sink. At the end was a negress ; she had thick lips and woolly hair, and her skin was wrinkled like an elephant's. She sat with her head bent, and a coarse shawl thrown over her. The prince bade her lift her shawl. As she moved, in the creases of her neck, there seemed a glimmer : the prince looked, and saw the thread of gold ! As he saw it he exclaimed, " This is my choice and the bride I select." Then he re- turned towards the hut, and the negress followed him. The fairies came after, laughing and jeer- ing : then they pretended compassion, and offered the prince that he might choose again. The prince reached the hat. He crossed the threshold ; the negress did the same. The prince turned and looked : the negress had vanished, and in her place, all blushing and with downcast eyes, the princess stood before him ! The prince THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. 63 opened his arms to embrace her, but the Master drew him back, and warned him that the prin- cess was still a fairy, and to touch her, for a mortal, was to die. The Master bade the princess seat herself apart, and then he delivered the shawl to the fairies, and, with wailings and sad lamentations, they flew away to the clouds and the sky. When the sun had risen, the Master spread his carpet before the hut, and sat himself on it and placed the prince and the princess on either side. Then the Master ordered, and the carpet rose, and flew till it reached the milky way and the palace of King Indra. King Indra was repos- ing in his chamber. The Master entered with the prince : the princess he left without. At the Master's entrance King Indra rose, and bowed his head, and asked the Master's pleasure. 64 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. The Master said, " This, my disciple, is a prince, the son of one of the kings of the earth, and desires a fairy for his bride." King Indra spoke the words that call the fairies. At the summons they left the mountains and the rivers, the forests and the ruined wells. In the space of half-an-hour, they were assembled before the throne. Then King Indra said, " The thousand fairies are assembled : let the prince select his bride." But the Master said, " King Indra ! one is absent," and as he spoke he called, and the princess entered. At the sight of the princess, King Indra's brow was clouded, for above all the thousand fairies it was she that King Indra loved. The king made no sign, and sat silent on his throne. Then the Master drew forth the wand that the prince had stolen, and said, " King THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. 65 Indra ! grant the prince his boon, and receive again your wand." King Indra cast down his eyes, and thought and sighed : then he said, " Great Master, I consent ; restore the wand," for without his wand King Indra could not rule the storms. The Master gave the wand. King Indra signed the princess to approach. With the wand he touched her shoulders and her hair. At the touch her wings fell off", and with them her fairy power departed ; she became again a mortal, and a mortal might touch her and live, but, by the favour of King Indra, her fairy beauty remained. The Master then bade King Indra farewell, and seated himself again on the carpet, and the prince and the princess sat beside him, and the Master ordered, and the carpet flew and conveyed them all to the palace of the king, the prince's father. E 66 THE PERFUMER'S DA UGHTER. At the news of the prince's return, the king and the queen came forth and embraced their son and his bride, and marvelled at her beauty. Throughout the whole palace there were rejoic- ings, and at night the city was illuminated. To the prince and princess were born sons and daughters, and when the king died, the prince succeeded him on the throne. Also, the son of the chief minister became minister in his father's room. The prince brought back his horse from the forest, and built him a stable of marble and a silver manger. But though many kings and nobles sought for him, the Great Master was not seen on earth again. THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. fcN a certain city there once lived a mer- chant ; when he was about forty years of age, a son was born to him. Soon after, he set out on a journey, and it happened that as he passed through a desert, he was attacked by robbers and slain, and his goods plun- dered. But one of his servants escaped, and brought the news to his wife. When the merchant's wife learnt that her husband was dead, she put off her jewels and ornaments, and mourned for a period of forty 68 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. days. Then she commenced to look after her affairs, and to busy herself in the education of her son. When her son came to be eighteen years old, his mother desired that he should choose some occupation, and she advised him that he should enter into the service of the king. But the young man replied, that he would not enter into the king's service, or choose any other occupation, but only he would be like his father, a merchant of the sea. His mother tried to dissuade him, for she feared that on his journeys some evil would befall him ; when, however, she found him deter- mined, she gave him her blessing and eighty pieces of gold. The young man took the eighty pieces. With ten of the pieces he bought a horse and saddle, ten more he expended on a sword and dagger ; the THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 69 remainder he put aside for trade and the ex- penses of the journey. Then he bade his mother farewell, and set out for the sea. The young man rode on his horse, and his servant ran behind him, and so they went on and on, till at length they arrived at the sea-shore. On one side were the tents of the merchants, and on the other side were the huts of the divers. The young man un- saddled his horse, and remained for the night among the merchants. In the morning, the divers came near and inquired if any of the merchants would employ them. The merchants inquired the charge. The divers answered, that the wind was high and the waves were rough, therefore they could not dive for less than a hundred pieces of gold. But none of the merchants were willing to give this sum, and so the divers returned to their huts. 70 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. The next morning the divers came again, and when the merchants inquired their charge, they replied, that the wind had fallen and the sea was calm, and so they would dive for fifty pieces of gold. On this, many of the merchants gave the divers the gold, and desired them to dive for them. But none of the divers found any trea- sure. One brought up a stick and another a stone, the rest only mud or shells. On this the merchants became discouraged, and returned to their tents. But the young man thought that now was his opportunity. As the other merchants had failed perhaps he might succeed. So he gave one of the divers his fifty pieces of gold, and desired that he should dive for him. The diver rowed out three furlongs from the shore, and leaped into the sea. He remained under the water for one minute, THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 71 when he came up he had in his hand a green parrot. When the young man saw the parrot he was in despair, but the divers consoled him. They told him that this was not a common parrot, but a parrot of the sea, and would certainly, in due time, bring its possessor some good fortune. So the young man bought a cage for the parrot ; then he mounted his horse, his servant ran behind him, and he returned home to his mother. His mother was overjoyed at his return. But when she found that he had brought home only a green pam>t, she was much disappointed. How- ever she hung up the cage on a hook, and every day she gave the parrot seed arid water. After six months had passed, the young man desired to try his fortune once more. His mother endeavoured to dissuade him, but when she found 72 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. him determined, she gave him eighty pieces of gold as before, and he set out for the sea. The young man rode on his horse and his servant ran behind him, and at length they arrived at the sea-shore. The merchants were in their tents, and the divers in their huts, and the young man remained the night among the merchants. In the morning the divers presented themselves and offered to dive. First they asked a hundred pieces of gold, next they asked fifty pieces, and then the merchants began to employ them. But none found anything save mud or stones. The young man thought again, that now was his opportunity, so he gave his fifty pieces of gold, and desired one of the divers to dive for him. The diver rowed out two furlongs, and re- mained under the water for two minutes ; when he appeared on the surface, he had in his hand THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 73 a white cat. The young man was furious and would have flung the cat back into the sea, but the divers restrained him. They told him that this was a cat of the sea, and was certain to bring him good fortune. So the young man took the cat, and mounted his horse and returned home to his mother. His mother embraced him and wept for joy at his return, but at the sight of the cat she was much disappointed. However, she gave it bread to eat and milk to drink, and it remained in the house with the parrot. After six months more had passed, the young man desired to go again to the sea. When his mother could not dissuade him, she gave him eighty more pieces of gold, and he mounted his horse and departed. But when he arrived at the shore, the season of storms had commenced, and 74 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. the merchants had left, and the divers remained in their huts. The wind blew for forty days, then there came a calm, and the divers came out of their huts, and offered to dive. The young man gave his fifty pieces of gold, and one of the divers rowed out one furlong and dived. The diver remained under the water for three minutes, when he came up he had in his hand an ii-on pot ; on the mouth of the pot there was a cover, and the cover was fastened and sealed. The young man was eager to break the seal, but the divers restrained him. They told him that he should break the seal only in his own house, for within the pot there might be a talis- man ; so the young man gave the pot to his servant to carry, and mounted his horse and returned home. THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 75 When the young man reached home, it hap- pened that his mother was absent, for she had gone to the market. The young man placed the pot on the floor, and went to seek for her. While he was seeking his mother returned. She saw on the floor an iron pot, she drew near and per- ceived that it was tied and sealed. As she looked she became curious, she broke the seal and lifted the cover, then she screamed and fainted, for within the pot she beheld, lying coiled, a black snake ! The young man sought for his mother in the market, and he sought for her through the streets. When he could not find her, he returned home. He entered, and there was his mother lying faint- ing ; the iron pot was open, and out of it had risen a black snake. The snake was moving its head, and hissing and darting its tongue. But at 76 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. the sight of the young man, it sank down into the pot. The young man ran and put on the cover and fastened it, and then he attended to his mother. He lifted her up, and sprinkled water on her face ; presently, she came to herself, and told him all that had happened, and they consulted what they should do with the snake. The young man pro- posed to kill it, but his mother forbade him, for she said that the snake had done them no harm. So they decided to let it loose in the forest. Next morning, the young man rose early ; he took the pot in his arm, and went away to the forest ; he put the pot on the ground, took off the cover, and set out on his return. He had not gone far when he heard behind him a hissing. He looked back and saw that the snake was pur- suing him ; he was seized with terror, and fled. THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 77 The young man ran, the snake followed ; but presently, the young man's foot caught in a root, he stumbled and fell, and the snake glided up and stood over him. When the young man beheld the snake stand- ing over him, he thought that his last hour had arrived. But the snake, instead of hurting him, opened its mouth and addressed him. The snake first blessed the young man, and called him his preserver ; then it related to him its story. The snake said, that he was the brother of Raja Bashtub, the king of the serpents, and that a thousand years ago a Jin had seized him and cast him into the ocean, and now he desired to return to his own country. But the snake said that he could not return alone for fear of the Jin, so he prayed the young man to accom- pany him. 78 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. The young man agreed, and they set off to- gether. The snake went in front to show the way, the young man followed ; at midnight he slept, and the snake kept guard. If robbers approached or wild beasts came near, the snake raised himself and hissed, and at the sound of the hiss, the robbers fled, and the wild beasts scampered away in terror. Thus they went on and on, till at length they came near the dominions of Raja Bashtub, the king of snakes. There the snakes began to abound : there were black snakes and blue, and green snakes and yellow. When the young man saw how their eyes glistened and their tongues darted, and the venom dropped from their jaws, his heart failed him, and he felt faint with apprehension. But the snake bade him take courage, for while he was with him they dare not harm him. THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 79 As they went on, the snakes became more and more ; at length they lay so thick that they almost concealed the ground, and the young man had to pick his way to avoid them. Next, they saw flying dragons in the air, and then they arrived at the palace of King Bashtub. King Bashtub had the head and hands of a man, but his body was that of a serpent. At the sight of his brother, he rose from his throne and embraced him. When he had heard his brother's adventures he swore vengeance against the Jin, but to the young man he declared his gratitude and entertained him for forty days. At the end of the forty days, the snake ad- dressed the young man in private and said, " To- morrow my brother the king will give you leave to depart, and he will offer you great presents, 8o THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. but accept nothing, only the copper ring that be wears on his left hand." In the morning the king sent for the young man and bade him farewell, and desired that he should ask of him a gift. The king promised to give him whatever he should wish for, gold or jewels, or aught else, even to the half of his kingdom. But the young man answered as the snake had instructed him : he said that he desired nothing, only the copper ring that the king wore on his finger. When the young man had spoken the king sighed deeply ; nevertheless, on account of his promise, he gave the ring. Then the king sent for a flying dragon. The young man mounted the dragon, and the dragon carried him through the air beyond the region of the serpents, and set him down at the confines of the king's dominions. THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 81 Then the dragon returned to King Bashtub, and the young man proceeded on his way. As he went he began to regret that he had chosen the ring. He thought to himself that he might have taken home gold and jewels, as much as he liked, but now he should return as poor as he left. As he thus reflected he heard a rustle in the grass, and the snake, King Bashtub's brother, appeared before him. The snake bade him not to regret his choice, and then the snake explained to him the virtues of the ring. The snake told him, that whatever he touched with the ring in the name of King Bashtub would turn to gold. When the snake had said this, he glided into a bush and disappeared, and the young man continued his journey. The young man went on and on, till at length he came to a great city. Before he entered he F 82 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. made trial of his ring. He picked up a stone and rubbed it, and as he rubbed he uttered the words the snake had taught him : " Ring ! ring ! obey the orders of Raja Bashtub, the king of the snakes, and turn this stone to gold." As the young man spoke and rubbed, the stone became yellower and yellower, and heavier and heavier. In the space of a minute it was changed into a lump of gold. The young man hid the lump of gold in his girdle, and went on to the city ; he passed through the gates and put up in the cara- vanserai. While his dinner was preparing, he sat down under a tree that grew in the court-yard. As the young man sat under the tree, he heard a bird chirp in the branches ; he looked up and saw a drum suspended, and by it a stick. The young man called to the woman that waited on the travellers, and inquired of her what the drum THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 83 meant, and why it was hung there. The woman answered that the drum was hung there, that any might strike it that desired to marry the king's daughter. But whoever struck the drum must make the princess a palace of gold, other- wise he would be put to death. On that account no one ventured to strike the drum. The young man waited till it was dark, then he went out to the princess's palace, and rubbed the ring against the walls, and said, " Ring ! ring ! obey the orders of King Bashtub, and turn this palace all to gold." Immediately the walls began to get yellow, and soon the palace was changed to gold. When the young man saw that the palace was turned to gold, he went back to the caravanserai and lay down and pretended to sleep. But in the middle of the night he rose and reached the stick and struck the drum. The 84 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. noise resounded through all the city, it even reached to the king's chamber. In the morning when the king awoke and made inquiry, he found that the drum had sounded in the night time, and that the palace of the princess was turned to gold. The king sent his guards to the caravanserai. When he discovered that the young man had struck the drum, he had him clothed in royal attire and brought to the palace. The king approved of the young man, and the princess fell in love with him, and so as soon as the prepara- tions could be completed the wedding of the young man and the princess was solemnised with great magnificence. The king bestowed on the young man the title of prince, and also appointed him heir to his dominions. PART THE SECOND. JjHEN the prince had been married six months, one day he went a hunting. On his return he was tired and lay down and slept, and the princess sat beside him and fanned away the flies. And so it happened, that as the princess sat and fanned, her hair became unfastened, and some of it fell down and rested on the prince's hand and touched the magic ring. Now as the prince slept he dreamt, and in his dream he seemed to be again approaching the 86 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. city, and to be trying- on the stone the virtue of the ring, and as he thus thought, he whispered in his sleep the words of the charm. As he whis- pered, the princess felt her hair become heavy ; she looked, and it was turned to gold. The princess was frightened, and cried out. At her cry the prince awoke, and to console the princess for she thought herself bewitched he told her his story, and the secret of the ring. The princess was comforted, and in time she became proud of her golden hair ; but she kept it concealed by a veil, and suffered no one but only her nurse to dress or to comb it. And so it came to pass that one day, as the princess sat in her balcony and the nurse combed the princess's hair, that a single hair broke off and fell into the stream below. The hair lighted on a twig and twined itself around it, and the THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 87 current swept them both away. The current carried them on and on, past the cities, and past the towns, to the palace of another king a thou- sand leagues beyond. As the twig floated by the palace, it happened that the king's son was fishing in the river. He drew in his line, and on it was a broken twig, and twined around the twig was a single golden hair. The prince gazed at the hair and wondered whose it could be ; then he pictured the lady in his mind, and with the picture he fell in love, and for love he began to sicken and to pine. The king and queen grew anxious, and sum- moned the physicians. The physicians came and prescribed, but their remedies did the prince no good. Then the king became more anxious, and sent for a wise woman. The wise woman saw the prince, and said, " The prince is ill for love 88 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. of the lady with the golden hair, and till he sees her he will not recover." The king desired the wise woman to discover who the lady was to whom the hair belonged, and where she resided. The wise woman went home, and made an image of clay and placed the golden hair before it and performed incantations. At midnight the image began to speak. The woman said, " Image ! Image ! tell me whose hair is this?" The image answered, " It is the hair of a princess." The woman asked again, " Image ! Image ! where does the princess live ? " The image replied : " The princess lives in a golden palace, up the river, a thousand leagues away." In the morning the wise woman presented THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 89 herself before the king and said, " I will find, and bring the lady with the golden hair, but I must have a boat of ebony, shaped and hollowed by fire." The king gave the order, and the carpenters went to the forest, and cut down a tree of ebony, and hollowed and shaped it with fire. Then the wise woman said, " I must have the blood and fat of a tiger that has not left its mother." The king told the huntsmen, and they took bows and arrows and went to the jungle, and shot a young tiger that had not left its mother, and brought back the blood and fat. The wise woman took the blood and fat, and smeared the boat of ebony from stem to stern. Then the wise woman asked for a bottle of water from the king's well, and for two loaves of bread from the 90 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. king's kitchen. She took the loaves, and the bottle of water, and clothed herself in a nurse's dress, and sat in the boat and began to sing. As the wise woman sang, the boat began to move, faster and faster, up the stream and up the stream. When the morning dawned, it came in sight of the golden palace. Then the wise woman ceased to sing, the boat drifted to the shore, and the woman hid it among the reeds. The woman remained all day among the reeds ; she ate of the loaves and drank of the water. At night she went to the palace, and sat below the princess's chamber, and made lamentation. In the morning the princess inquired who it was that had wept all night below her chamber. The attendants asked, and informed the princess that it was a nurse from the north, and she wept THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 91 because her husband had been killed by robbers and all her goods plundered. The princess took compassion on the woman, and sent for her and made her one of her attend- ants. In the end the woman became a favourite, and the princess confided to her the secret of the ring and of her golden hair. And so it happened one day, that the prince had gone again to the chase, and lest he should lose the ring in the forest he placed it on the princess's finger, and charged her not to leave the palace. So the princess sat in her balcony and the nurse sat beside her, and presently the nurse began to sing, and as the nurse sang, the boat came out from among the reeds, and floated and stood below the princess's chamber. The princess looked down, and there was a boat of ebony below her in the river. 92 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. The princess desired to enter the boat, only she feared that the prince might hear and be dis- pleased. But the nurse persuaded her. The nurse said : " My lady ! It is noon-time, and the guards are all asleep. We can go and see the fishes swim, and return before the guards awaken." So the princess arose, and went down the secret stairs, and the boat drifted to the terrace. The nurse and the princess entered the boat ; the nurse sat in front and paddled, the princess sat behind and dabbled her hands in the water, and watched the fishes as they swam. Presently, the princess looked up, and the boat was passing the reeds. The princess called to the nurse, " Nurse ! Nurse ! See, we are passing the reeds : let us return, or the guards will wake and see us." But the nurse only answered, " The Nurse ! Nurse ! See, we are passing the reeds." Page 92. THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 95 guards will not wake yet awhile : let us go on, and see the water-lilies." So they paddled past the reeds. Presently the princess called out again, " Nurse ! Nurse ! See, we are passing the water-lilies. Let us return, or the guards will awake and see us." But the nurse only answered, " The guards will not awaken yet awhile : let us go on and see the water-fowl." So they paddled on towards the water- fowl. But when the princess looked up again, the palace was out of sight, and the nurse was singing, and the boat was flying through the water like the wind. The princess threatened; then she wept and entreated, but the nurse paid no heed. The nurse sang, and the boat flew on and on. When the morning dawned, it reached the palace of the king a thousand leagues away. The king's son, when he beheld the princess, 96 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. was overwhelmed with joy; but the king his father, when he had heard her story, was greatly perplexed, for the nurse said : " The princess is not really married : she makes pretence, that she may be sent home to her parents." In the end the king sent a messenger to ascertain the truth, and if the princess was really married or not. Meanwhile the king kept the princess secluded in a garden, and he appointed the nurse, the wise woman, to attend on her. But while the princess slept, the wise woman stole the ring away. When the prince returned from the chase, and found the princess gone, he summoned all his attendants, and searched the palace from end to end, and the gardens and all the country round, but no trace or tidings of the princess could he obtain. The prince searched for a week, he THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 97 searched for a month, and then he abandoned himself to despair : he put off his royal robes, he clothed himself in sackcloth, he sat the live- long day with downcast eyes, lamenting for his vanished bride. So here we have the messenger crossing the hills and the plains, and the princess grieving in her garden, and the prince mourning in his golden palace. And now we must return to the widow, the prince's mother, and the cat, and the parrot. PART THE THIRD. IS the day went by, and her son did not return, the widow became anxious : so at night the cat went out to inquire. The cat asked the jackals, and the jackals searched the forest, but the young man was not in the forest. Then the widow thought that perhaps he had gone again to the sea, and would return in six months as before. But six months passed, and her son did not come back. Then the widow opened the door of the parrot's cage, and the THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 99 parrot came out, and he and the cat set off to search for their master. The parrot flew through the air, and looked to the right and the left, the cat ran on the ground and examined the grass and the thickets. At night the parrot rested on a tree, and the cat kept guard ; and so they went on and on, till at length they came to the golden palace. At the sight of the palace, the parrot ex- claimed, " I have been in the East, and I have been in the West, but a palace of gold never yet have I seen." The parrot desired that they should enter the palace, but the cat was prudent and cautious. She told the parrot first to fly over, and see that all was safe. So the cat hid in the field, and the parrot flew over the palace wall. The parrot flew over the walls and over the roofs, and lighted ioo THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. down on a tree in a courtyard. Below the tree, a young man was seated. He was clothed in sackcloth, he kept his head bent, and wept, and lamented. Presently the parrot spoke ; the young man looked up, and the parrot saw that it was his master, the widow's son. The parrot flew back to the field, and told the cat ; but the cat was prudent and cautious ; she bade the parrot return and make sure, and then, the cat said, she would enter the palace. The next morning the parrot perched again on the tree, and began to talk, and the young man looked up as before. The parrot hopped lower and lower, from one branch to another. The young man called to it, but the parrot answered that he went only to his master, never to strangers. In turn, the young man inquired who was his master, and the parrot asked the young THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 101 man why lie wore sackcloth and sat all day below the tree lamenting ? To make a long story short, by dint of question and answer, the parrot learnt all the young man's story, and made sure that he. was his master. Then the parrot returned to the field, and brought the cat, and the parrot and the cat disclosed themselves to the prince, and they all three consulted how they might find and recover the princess. The cat said that she would ask the foxes and the jackals. If the princess had gone by land they would have seen her. But the princess had not gone by land. Then the parrot said that he would inquire of the birds and the bats. If the princess had been carried away through the air, they would know of it. But the princess had not been carried through the air. 102 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. Then the cat and the parrot said that the princess must have gone by the water, and they told the prince that they would follow the river to the sea and find her. The prince wrote a letter, and tied it to the parrot's wing, and the parrot and the cat bade the prince farewell, and set off to seek for the princess along the river. The parrot flew all day in the air, and looked into every house and garden. At night the cat kept guard while the parrot slept, and so they went on and on, till at length they arrived at the garden where the princess was kept confined. The parrot perched on a tree, and began to talk: the princess looked up and saw a green parrot, and a letter tied beneath his wing. The princess called the parrot : the parrot came near, and the princess unfastened the letter. When the princess had read the letter, she wept for joy. 1 The princess called the parrot." Page 102. THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 105 She wrote an answer, and bade the parrot fly away and never rest, till he had delivered it to the prince in the golden palace. The parrot asked for the ring as a token, and then the princess related how the nurse had stolen it. The parrot told the cat, and the cat desired the parrot to watch and observe where the woman hid it. The parrot watched all day. At night he saw the woman take the ring from her bosom, and hide it in her mouth while she slept. Next day the cat concealed herself. At night, when the wise woman slept, the cat jumped out and scratched her face. The woman screamed, and as she screamed she dropped the ring. The parrot seized it, and rose in the air, and flew and flew, till he reached the golden palace, and there he delivered the letter and the ring to the prince. io6 THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR, When the prince learnt that the princess was alive, and in safety, he was overwhelmed with joy. He rose up from beneath the tree and put off his sackcloth dress, and arrayed himself again in his royal robes. Next he assembled a great army and set out to bring home the princess. The army marched and marched, one day five leagues, one day four leagues, and so, marching and marching, it at length drew near to the city of the king and his son. When the king heard of the approach of the army, he was alanned, and delivered up the princess, and advanced to meet the prince with gifts and many excuses. When the prince had heard the whole story, and the princess entreated him, he forgave the king and also his son ; but the wise woman he took with him and cast into a dungeon. THE PRINCESS WITH GOLDEN HAIR. 107 As soon as the army had rested, the prince set out again and returned to his own dominions. At the arrival of the prince and princess there were great rejoicings. When the rejoicings were concluded, the prince sent for his mother, and assigned her apartments in the golden palace, and there she continued to reside with the cat and the parrot. THE MAGIC HORSE. a certain city there once lived a gold- smith, and near him, in the same street, there also resided a carpenter. The two were always quarrelling. At length their disputes arrived at such a height, that the neigh- bours assembled, and made a complaint to the king. The king sent for the goldsmith and carpenter, and inquired the cause of their contention. The goldsmith replied: "May it please your Majesty! every one knows that I am the THE MAGIC HORSE. 109 most skilful workman in the land; nevertheless this carpenter pretends to be my superior: on this account we dispute." But the carpenter answered, " Your Majesty ! this goldsmith is not speaking the truth : it is notorious that in work- manship he is altogether my inferior." And the two began to wrangle even before the king. The king said that the dispute could be easily settled. Each of the men should prepare a specimen of his handiwork, and bring it to the palace, and whosoever's workmanship should be found superior, to him should be adjudged the priority. Then the king inquired, in how long their specimens would be ready? The goldsmith replied that he had long been employed on a work that should display his skilfulness. In the space of four weeks it would be completed. The no THE MAGIC HORSE. carpenter answered to the like effect. So the king directed that on that day month they should present themselves again before him, with the proofs of their skill. In the meantime, he desired them to return to their homes, and abstain from quarrelling. When the month had expired, the goldsmith and carpenter appeared at the palace. The gold- smith had in his hand a small box, the carpenter carried a large bundle. The king first addressed the goldsmith, and desired him to exhibit what he had brought ; but the goldsmith begged that h.e might be permitted to display his handiwork in some place where there was water, for it was only in the water, he said, that its excellences would be apparent. The king assented, and adjourned with his courtiers to the garden. In the centre of the THE MAGIC HORSE. garden there .was a large marble basin full of water. The king and his courtiers stood by the basin; the goldsmith advanced, and opened his box, and drew from it a little fish. The body of the fish was of silver, the tail and the fins were of gold, and ornamented with jewels. At the sight of the fish all the courtiers ex- claimed, so exquisite a piece of workmanship they had never beheld. But the goldsmith said that the appearance of the fish was nothing : his skill would be seen in its performances. So say- ing, he came forward to the edge of the basin and stooped, and let the fish slip gently into the water. As soon as the fish was in the water, it com- menced to move its fins and its tail, and to swim and to dive, and to dart at the flies, and to eat the crumbs of bread that the goldsmith threw it. THE MAGIC HORSE. In short, it behaved itself in every way as if it was a real fish. When it had gambolled in the water for some time, it swam back to the edge of the basin, and the goldsmith lifted it up and returned it to the box. Then the king turned to the carpenter, and desired him to open his bundle, that the results of his handiwork might also be seen. But the carpenter replied that what he had made could not be properly exhibited in the garden, for it required a large open space for its display. On this, the king called for his travelling throne, and had himself conveyed to the great square in front of the palace. The king sat on his throne in the centre of one side of the square, his courtiers stood around him, and on the other three sides the people of the city arranged them- selves. Then the carpenter advanced before the THE MAGIC HORSE. 113 throne and opened his bundle. The courtiers murmured with disappointment, for the bundle contained only pieces of wood and brass, a velvet saddle, and a bridle. The carpenter begged them to be patient till he had put the pieces together. Then he joined the pieces, and there stood before the king the perfect image of a horse. The carpenter placed the velvet saddle on the horse's back, and put the bit in its mouth. Then he stroked the horse's neck, and patted its head, and took hold of its bridle, and the horse began to move and to walk, like a living horse. The carpenter led the horse round the square and halted hirn again before the throne, and inquired if any of the courtiers or of the people would mount the horse, so that its further excel- lences might be displayed? But none of the courtiers, nor of the people, nor of the king's H H4 THE MAGIC HORSE. guards would venture to place themselves on such a horse. The king's son was standing by the throne. When he saw that no one else would mount the horse he ran forward, and before the king could stop him he had vaulted into the saddle. The prince rode once round the square : the horse trotted and cantered ; the prince rode twice round the square : the horse pranced and curvetted ; next it arched its neck and shook its head, and commenced to champ its bit and to rear. When the carpenter perceived that the horse had begun to rear and to champ its bit, he ran forward and begged the prince to dismount, for the horse, he said, was becoming excited, and might cast him off, or fly away with him into the air. But the prince only laughed. Then the carpenter threw himself before the throne, and THE MAGIC HORSE. 115 besought the king that he would desire the prince to cease riding, or some evil might befall him. The king was alarmed, and called to the prince to dismount ; but the prince replied that he would first ride once again round the square, and as he spoke he jerked the bridle, and pressed his heels against the horse's sides. No sooner had the prince's heels touched the horse's sides than the horse gave a snort and a bound. The carpenter rushed forward, but before he could seize the bridle, the horse had sprung upwards and was flying through the air. The horse flew up and up, till it looked no bigger than a ball, then it seemed a speck, and then it vanished out of sight altogether. As the horse flew away with the prince, the courtiers, and all the people, shouted with terror. Ii6 THE MAGIC HORSE. As for the king, he groaned and wept, and rent his garments, in grief and despair. The carpenter endeavoured to comfort the king. He assured him that the horse would presently become fatigued and descend, and that the prince, in the course of a few days, would return in safety. But days passed, and the prince did not come back, and though the king sent letters and messengers in all directions, no tidings whatever could he obtain of the prince or of the horse. When a month had gone by, the king and the queen abandoned hope, and mourned for their son as for one who was dead. But the prince was not dead. As the horse flew up, the prince continued to press his sides harder and harder, lest he should fall, and as the prince pressed his sides the horse mounted higher and higher. But presently the prince became THE MAGIC HORSE. 117 fatigued, he ceased to press the horse's sides, and let his feet hang loose, and then the horse ceased to rise, and began to fly onwards through the air. The horse flew and flew over the mountains and over the plains, and all the while the prince was begging and coaxing it to stop. The prince stroked the horse's neck, and patted its head and said, " Good horse ! kind horse ! do stop, and take me back to the earth, or I shall fall ere long and be dashed to pieces." And so it happened, that as the prince patted the horse's head, by chance his hand touched a silver stud that was between its ears. No sooner had the prince's hand touched the stud, than the horse ceased to fly forwards, and began to descend gently. It descended lower and lower, till at length, as the night came on, it lighted down in the midst of a garden. ii8 THE MAGIC HORSE. The prince was hungry, but he feared to move in the darkness, lest he should fall into some pit or well. So he took the horse to pieces, and tied the pieces in a bundle, that it might not fly away ; then he laid his head on the bundle, drew his shawl around him, and presently fell asleep. Now the garden in which the prince had alighted was near to the city where the king of the country resided. The king had an only child, a daughter, and lest she should fall in love against his wish, the king kept her secluded in a palace, and every morning the widow of the king's chief gardener weighed the princess against a garland of flowers, and if the princess had not seen the face of a man within the palace, by virtue of the flowers, the garland weighed her down. In the morning the widow went out as usual to gather her flowers; she gathered from one THE MAGIC HORSE. 119 garden, and she gathered from another garden ; at length she came to the garden where the prince was sleeping. To her surprise she beheld a young man lying on the pathway ; a shawl was drawn around him, his head was resting on a bundle. As the widow looked, the prince awoke. The widow inquired of the prince who he was, and from whence he had come. The prince replied, that he was a traveller and had lost his way in the dark. And then he begged the widow to show him where he could procure food and a lodging. When the widow saw that the prince was young and handsome, her heart went out towards him, for she was childless. She conducted him to her own house, set food before him, and gave him a chamber to dwell in. Then she wove her flowers in a garland and went away to the palace. 120 THE MAGIC HORSE. After some days had passed, the prince became curious about the garlands : he wondered why the widow wove them, and where she took them. At length he made bold and asked her. He said : " My mother ! why do you trouble to gather flowers every morning, and to make them into garlands, and to whom do you give the garlands ? " The widow only laughed, and made excuses. But as, day by day, the prince pressed her, at length she became weary of refusing, and, under promise of secrecy, she confided to him the princess's story. "When the prince had heard the story he was filled with a longing to see this princess who could be weighed against the flowers. " She must be a Sylf," he thought, "or a fairy, to be lighter than a garland." He pondered and re- THE MAGIC HORSE. fleeted, how he might contrive to enter the palace and behold her. At length he resolved to make use of the magic horse. So one night, when the widow had gone to rest, the prince took the bundle and ascended to the house-top ; there he put the horse together, the bit in its mouth, and the saddle on its back. Then he mounted the horse, stroked its neck and pressed its sides, and bade it carry him away to the princess. As the prince spoke and pressed its sides, the horse began to rise : the horse rose and rose, and flew and flew, over the walls and over the towers, till it lighted down on the terrace before the princess's chamber. As the horse descended the guards and the sentries, the princess and her maidens, in short, all the inmates of the palace, fell into a deep slumber. The prince crossed the terrace, and 122 THE MAGIC HORSE. entered the princess's chamber. The princess was lying sleeping on her couch, a veil was over her face, her maidens were slumbering on the floor around her. The prince approached and raised the princess's veil. When he saw her face, he was enchanted with its beauty. He knelt and remained gazing, half entranced, till the dawn was near arriving. Before he left, the prince desired to express his love, so he took the princess's handkerchief that lay on her pillow, he pricked his arm with his dagger, and he wrote with his blood on the handkerchief, " O lady, I love you ! I love you ! " Then he softly left the chamber, mounted the horse, and returned to his lodging in the widow's house. In the morning, when the princess woke and saw the writing on the handkerchief, she THE MAGIC HORSE. 123 wondered who could have done it. She resolved, that night, to keep awake and watch. But try as she would, when the second watch arrived, she fell into a slumber, and again, in the morning, were the same words on her handkerchief "0 lady, I love you ! I love you ! " and this went on for seven days. Each night at the second watch the princess fell asleep, each morning she found the same writing on her handkerchief. On the eighth day the princess determined that she would remain awake. So she took a needle and scratched her finger, and rubbed salt into the wound, and the smart kept her from sleeping. The princess lay still and listened ; as the gong struck the second watch, she heard a footfall on the ten-ace. Presently the curtain of the door was raised, and a young man, richly attired, entered the chamber ; he advanced to the i2 4 THE MAGIC HORSE. couch and raised her veil. Then the princess started up and laughed, and demanded of the prince who he was, and why and how he had entered her chamber ? The prince in reply told her, how he was the son of a king, and how he had mounted the horse and been carried through the air, and had alighted in the garden ; in short, he related to the princess all his adventures. Then he declared his love, and besought the princess to betroth herself to him. In this manner the prince and princess sat conversing till the dawn was near to breaking; then they embraced and bade farewell, and the prince mounted the horse, and flew back to the widow's house. But in the morning, when the widow arrived with her flowers the princess weighed the garland down. LiiiiiPE^ -**" -^rn nr e nav?ers, sfje refunded f)orr)e arjxious arjd perplexed. S^je f^ou^^l, rniql)} W irj \Jyl flower-;, and sa' tr>e next njornirjg sl)e v?s Jei^y care|ul ii) zlectina l^err). Still tl}ev did net u(7eigr) t^f princess, nar did \\yty tlje dj np ttje dN a certain city, long ago, there dwelt a scribe. He had much property, and Providence had also bestowed on him the blessing of offspring ; he had seven sons, and the name of the youngest was Khoob Lai. Now, it came to pass, in process of time, that the scribe died, and his sons began to dispute about his inheritance. The dispute grieved Khoob Lai. He said to himself, " If a man should live a thousand years, in the end he must die, and then all that he has 254 THE HOLY TIGER. enjoyed will be as though it had not existed. Why then dispute for that which thus passes away?" Having thus reflected, Khoob Lai re- solved to abandon the world, and devote his life to religious contemplation. So he made over his share of his father's wealth to his brothers, and he put on a yellow dress, and allowed his hair to grow, and departed from the city, and took up his residence in a forest. There he became a Goshine, and assumed the name of Anunt Gire. For seven years Anunt Gire practised austeri- ties; in the end he became a Karamatee,* and acquired power over spirits and animals, and the secrets by which diseases are cured. Now it fell out that the Raja of that country became ill, and, though he consulted many phy- sicians, none were able to cure him. One day * One who has acquired the power of working miracles. THE HOLY TIGER. 255 the Raja's servants said to him, "It is evident that physicians are of no avail to cure the illness of our Lord. Instead of consulting them, let the king apply to some holy man acquainted with secrets." They also said : " There is, in the forest, a holy man, a Goshiue. He has practised austeri- ties and become a Karamatee. Doubtless he will find a remedy for the king's malady." The king hearkened to the advice of his ser- vants, and sent a message to Anunt Gire. And An unt Gire wrote a charm, and also he recom- mended that the king should go on a pilgrimage, and should perform certain other acts of devotion. Anunt Gire also himself practised some difficult austerities, on the king's behalf. In the end the Raja was cured, and recovered of his illness. The Raja sent to Anunt Gire gold and silver in token of his gratitude, but Anunt Gire refused 2 $6 THE HOLY TIGER. the gold and silver. " What use," he said, " are treasures to one who, like me, has abandoned the world ? " But the Eaja insisted. Then Anunt Gire said, " If the Raja desires to do aught, let him build me a temple." So the Eaja sent masons, and workmen skilful in the carving of stone, and they built for Anunt Gire a temple by the side of his shed in the forest, and also a tank for sacred fishes and a terrace, and it became the habit of Anunt Gire to sit on the terrace and meditate. But when the winds blew, the dust and the leaves fell on the terrace and covered it. So Annnt Gire made a broom of leaves, and each morning he swept the terrace. Now it happened one day, that as Anunt Gire was sweeping the terrace, a tiger came out of the forest and stood by and beheld. As the tiger THE HOLY TIGER. 257 looked, his heart was smitten with compunction, and his conscience was pricked. He said to himself, " See ! this holy man, aged and feeble of body, is sweeping with pain and labour, and I, the strongest of beasts, am standing idle." When night came, and Anunt Gire had retired to his shed and was sleeping, then the tiger ascended and sat on the terrace and moved his tail from side to side, and this he did till the morning. The next day, when Anunt Gire had performed his devotions, he came out and sat on his terrace, and lo ! it was swept clean, and there was on the pavement neither leaves nor dust nor any other impurity. When this had continued for six months Anunt Gire called the tiger, and gave him thanks, and blessed him and pronounced over him a charm, so that in the future arrows should not hurt him, 258 THE HOLY TIGER. nor could he be entrapped nor caught in pitfalls. Then the tiger came forward and bowed his head, and rubbed his forehead reverently on the terrace, and took an oath, that henceforward he would abstain from destroying men or devour- ing their cattle, but would satisfy his hunger on the deer and the wild animals, and this oath the tiger fulfilled ; also, so long as he lived, he came each night and swept the terrace. FOLK LORE. THE MAN WHO INCREASED HIS APPETITE. [HERE was once a Fukkeer who had dis- covered the secret of doubling things. People brought him silver and gold and jewels; he performed incantations, and the things became doubled in amount. In place of one silver coin, the owners found two coins ; 260 A MAN WHO INCREASED HIS APPETITE. and in place of a single piece of gold, one double the size. It happened, after a time, that a man came to the Fukkeer. The Fukkeer inquired of him what he had brought : " Give it to me, my son," he said, "and I will double it." The man answered, " I have brought nothing, holy father ! only iny appetite : that is what I desire to have doubled." The Fukkeer performed his incantations, and the man returned to his home, able to consume twice as much food as before. For some time he was very happy ; he spent most of the day in eating and drinking. But presently he became uneasy. Though his appetite had doubled his means remained the same, and he daily had to en- croach on them to obtain the additional food he now required. In the end he spent all that he A MAN WHO INCREASED HIS APPETITE. 261 had accumulated, and then he began to suffer hunger. He did not die, for he earned enough to satisfy his natural appetite ; but he passed the rest of his life in torments from the cravings of the appetite he had acquired artificially. THE GREAT ELIXIR. [HE great Elixir is white and resembles silver, but it is soft and can be cut with a knife and eaten. Whoever eats any of the great Elixir has a renewal of life. While the effect of the Elixir continues, he suffers neither from pain, nor sickness, nor sorrow. If he can continue to obtain the Elixir he will live for ever. It is said that some of the Fukkeers who reside in the jungles and forests understand the secret of preparing the Elixir. Many monarchs THE GREAT ELIXIR. 263 have desired to procure the Elixir, but it is not known for a certainty that any have obtained it save only the Emperor Mahoinmed Shah. The manner of his obtaining it is thus related. The Emperor was holding audience in the palace at Delhi on the occasion of the anniversary of his coronation. His chiefs and nobles stood before him doing homage and presenting gifts. Some gave pearls, some gave diamonds, others shawls and golden coins, swords and armour. Whatever thing rich or rare was to be found in Hindostan, that the chiefs and the nobles presented. The Emperor lifted up his eyes, and lo ! before the throne stood a Fnkkeer. He had long hair plaited and twisted round his head ; his body was naked and smeared with ashes of wood ; over his shoulders was thrown a coarse shawl of goat's 264 THE GREAT ELIXIR. hair. The Emperor smiled, and addressing the Fukkeer, lie said, " Sir Fukkeer ! do you too bring a gift ? and is it diamonds or pearls ? " The Fukkeer answered, "Yes, O Asylum of' the World ! I bring a gift, but it is more precious than diamonds, and as compared with it pearls are of no account." So saying, the Fukkeer advanced near to the Emperor's throne ; he placed his hand in his girdle and drew forth a stick resembling silver. With his knife he cut from the stick a slice the thickness of a visiting card ; he gave the slice to the Emperor and commanded him to eat it. As the Emperor ate there ran through his veins as it were the stream of life. The Emperor stretched out his hand for more, but the Fukkeer was not there. None had seen him enter, none saw him depart. The effect of the Elixir lasted for THE GREAT ELIXIR. 265 many years. During all that period the Emperor continued as strong and as vigorous as he was on the day he ate the slice, nor did he in appearance become older. But when the power of the Elixir had become exhausted, then the Emperor died. TRANSMIGRATION. lE who knows the secret of transmigra- tion can call the soul of a disciple into his own body, and convey his own soul into the body of the disciple. It is therefore dangerous to study this science ; never- theless the Emperor Akbar desired to attain it, and he became the disciple of a Fukkeer and learnt the mystery, and thus the Fukkeer acquired power over him. But the soul can only be called when the disciple is unaware, therefore the Emperor re- TRA NSMIGRA TION. 267 mained constantly vigilant. But it happened after a time, that one day at noon, the Emperor was reposing negligently and without thought of the Fukkeer, or of guarding his own soul. The Fukkeer saw the opportunity, and uttered the mystic words, and immediately the souls were exchanged : the soul of the Fukkeer entered the body of the Emperor, and the soul of the Emperor was transferred to the body of the Fukkeer. Then the Fukkeer arose, and, in the body of the Emperor, he entered the palace and pro- ceeded to the apartments of the Empress, the Lady Miriam. The Empress was perplexed : the form was that of the Emperor, but the words and movements were those of another. The Empress was filled with apprehension, and fled away and concealed herself. The Fukkeer then commenced to walk to and 268 TRA NSMIGRA TION. fro through the palace ; as he passed, all bowed and prostrated themselves. When the Fukkeer beheld the riches and splendour of the palace, and observed the homage and reverence of the nobles and servants, he became filled with pride and exultation, and he forgot the Emperor, and that he must keep guard against him. The Emperor now perceived his opportunity and pro- nounced the magic words, and in an instant the souls returned to their own proper bodies. When the nobles and ministers learnt the story, they recommended that the Fukkeer should be put to death, but the Emperor was merciful and spared him ; however, by the assistance of learned men the Emperor deprived the Fukkeer of his power. THE MAN WHO CALLED THE SOUL. is known to the skilful in mysteries that men have two souls : one is the real soul, the other is the soul that animates the body. When a man sleeps there are spells that will call out this second soul from the body, and oblige it to disclose secrets. There was once a man who desired to acquire this power. So be went to the forest to a Fukkeer and served him, and in return the Fukkeer taught him the spell. The man returned to his home exultant. He said to himself, "I shall 270 THE MAN WHO CALLED THE SOUL. now know all secrets, and where are the hidden treasures." When night came he uttered the spell, and summoned the soul of his neighbour. He said to the soul, " Soul ! tell me some place where gold and silver are hidden." The soul answered, "In the mound, near the dry well, there are ingots of gold, and several pots filled with silver coins." The next day the man went to the mound, and dug in the place where the soul had directed him, and found the silver coins and the gold ingots. So he became rich, and bought land, and built himself a house, and had servants and carriages, and horses and elephants. And still, ever and anon, he continued to summon the sonl of his neighbour, and learnt from it other secrets. But one day, as he was passing by, he heard THE MAN WHO CALLED THE SOUL. 271 two Brahmans conversing. The one said to the other, " Those who call souls are foolish : in the hour of death they are terrified, and afterwards they are tormented." The man when he heard this was alarmed ; he went again to the forest and sought the Fukkeer, and inquired of him if what the Brahman had said was true. The Fukkeer answered and said, "What you have heard is correct. At the hour of your death the souls you have called will appear to you in terrible aspect ; and after death your own soul will become their servant, and undergo suffering and torment." The man inquired, "Is there no means, by which I can loose my power over the souls that I call, so that at the time of death they may not appear to me ? " But the Fukkeer replied, that he knew of no spell by which he who ouce called souls could 272 THE MAN WHO CALLED THE SOUL. loose his power over them. Then the man re- turned to the city, and applied to the Brahmans. The Brahmans recommended austerities. So the man gave over his goods and his houses and his lands to his children, and he put on the dress of a Fukkeer, and abandoned his home, and abode in solitary places, and went on pilgrimages, and practised austerities. But whether he succeeded in loosing his power over the souls he had called, is not known. THE NORTH OF HINDOSTAN. you travel north and north, you come at length to the mountains of Shewalic. They are so called because they con- sist of one hundred and twenty-five thousand peaks. They are full of rocks and precipices, torrents, forests, and wild beasts, and a savage race of men live in the valleys. On the summit of the mountains abide the gods and the fairies. Beyond the Shewalic mountains are the Heemalah, that is, the necklace of snow. On these mountains the snow does not ever melt ; and the great deities reside. The mountains are s 274 THE NORTH OF HI N DOST AN. so high, that the birds cannot fly over them. Men cannot ascend them on account of flowers that grow below the snow. Whoever inhales the scent of these flowers becomes giddy, his breath fails, and from his mouth and nostrils the blood bursts forth ; if he does not descend, he dies. On one of the high peaks the deity Budree Narain resides; he guards Hindostan on the north. When Budree Narain descends the mountain, the rocks on which he places his feet become gold and silver, but to the sight of men they still appear as stones and rocks. Beyond the Heemalah is the region of Cheen. Men can reach Cheen, through the passes of the Heemalah, but they cannot go beyond Cheen, for there is a wall of mountains higher than the Heemalah, and through these mountains there are no passes. On the highest mountain a bird THE NORTH OF HINDOSTAN. 275 sits ; at each watch of the day and night he calls out once " Around are rocks, below is grass, Beyond me never foot can pass." On the other side of the mountains is the kingdom of Maha Cheen. Each morning the Emperor of Maha Cheen mounts his throne. When he is seated, he looks around and exclaims, " In all the world, is there any king like me ? " Then the four ministers come forward and prostrate themselves before the throne, and answer, " Asylum of the Universe ! there is no king like you ! " and the nobles and the guards, and the courtiers and the great chiefs and the people all answer likewise, " There is no king like you, O Emperor of Maha Cheen, no king! no king!" and this ceremony is repeated every morning. THE FAIRIES. JMONG the mountains of Komoun is a hill having three peaks. This hill is lofty and precipitous, and is fre- quented by the fairies ; on this account the herdsmen avoid it, for the fairies are malignant to men and animals, although they are beloved by the deities. If the cattle stray on this mountain, they are sure to meet with some misfortune; either they fall over precipices, or they are torn by wild beasts, or they contract diseases. And if THE FAIRIES. 277 by accident men happen to meet with the fairies they do not live for long afterwards. In former times a herdsman resided in a village near the foot of this mountain. It happened, in the season of the rains, that he drove out his herd of cattle to graze. The clouds and mists hung low on the hill-sides and obscured the paths, and unawares the herdsman ascended the hill of the fairies. Presently he came to an open space, and there he beheld three women. They were tall and very beautiful, and arrayed in silk dresses and jewels ; the herdsman had never seen women so beautiful or so richly attired. In the evening when he returned home he appeared to be affected in his mind. He spoke continually of the beauty of the three women he had seen on the mountain. He spoke of 278 THE FAIRIES. them continually for three days without ceasing, neither eating, nor sleeping, nor drinking; on the fourth day he died. The fairies have the appearance of women but are larger, and on their shoulders they have wings with feathers. The fairies dance before the gods and entertain them. At night they frequent the court of Iaja Indra the king of the skies. HOW ALEXANDER THE GREAT OB- TAINED TREASURES FROM THE SEA. 5|T is reported, that when Alexander the Great entered Hindostan, he devised a scheme for obtaining treasures from the sea. He had tents pitched on the shore ; at night they were lighted up, musicians played, and women danced to the sound of the music. After a time the lights and the music attracted the mermen. First they came to the shallow water and listened, next they raised their heads 280 HOW ALEXANDER THE GREAT above the surface and looked, finally they grew bolder and came on the shore. In the course of a month they lost fear and approached close, and gazed on the faces of the women and watched them dancing. The king of the mermen had seen nothing like it before : he was enchanted. When he learned that Alexander the Great had provided him this amusement, he desired to express his gratitude. He inquired of the dancing women what he could do for the Emperor in return. The women answered, that he should desire his mermen to fetch pearls and gems from the ocean. The king gave his orders to the mermen, they plunged into the sea, and brought pearls and jewels from the hidden depths and laid them before the women. The women and the musi- cians bade farewell to the mermen, and returned OBTAINED TREASURES FROM THE SEA. 281 to Alexander tbe Great, and gave to him the treasures they had received. So the Emperor in this manner acquired trea- sures and gems, the like of which had not been before seen on the face of the earth, nor have been seen since. When the story of what Alex- ander the Great had done became spread abroad, then other monarchs endeavoured in like manner to obtain gems from the sea. They sent tents and musicians and dancing women to the shores of the ocean, but they did not, any of them, succeed in attracting the mermen. THE SANDAL-WOOD TREE. jNAKES may be killed, bat of themselves they do not die. They live for a thou- sand years ; then wings appear from their shoulders, and they turn into dragons, and fly away to the ocean. They fly and fly over the ocean till they come to an island in the South where the sandal- wood tree grows, and they twine themselves around it. There is only one tree of sandal-wood in the whole world, and no one has ever beheld it. It grows in the midst of this island ; a forest is all THE SANDAL-WOOD TREE. 283 around it; the perfume it exhales is so strong, that it scents all the trees of the forest. The merchants come to the island, and cut the outer trees, and sell them for sandal-wood; but they are not really sandal-wood, they have only become scented from the odours of the real tree. If any man ventures far into the forest, he feels the fiery breath of the dragons, he faints and falls senseless ; if he goes further, he dies. This is the cause why no one has ever seen the sandal- wood tree. THE KING OF THE JACKALS. former days the jackals had no king. It happened that after a time, one of the jackals said to his fellows, " Let us have a king like the other beasts." The rest approved, and made him their king. Then they said, "How shall we know our king?" The new king answered, " I will fasten a red staff to my tail, and by this you will know me." So he fastened a red staff to his tail by a string. For some time all went well, and the king was very proud of his red staff, and of the honour WHAT THE JACKALS SAY. it procured him. But at length the villagers assembled and came with their dogs to hunt the jackals. The jackals fled away to their holes. All the rest got in safely, but the king came last, and his red staff stuck at the entrance. The villagers saw it, and the poor king was dragged out and killed. WHAT THE JACKALS SAY. the jackals wander at night, the chief of the pack exclaims, " I am the king in the night time ! I am the king in the night time ! " And the other jackals answer, " You are ! you are ! you are ! " If any one listens attentively, he can distinguish these words. PRECIOUS STONES. [HERE are eighty-four varieties of gems, but of these only nine are regarded as precious. These nine stones are, the diamond, the emerald, the ruby, the sapphire, the cat's eye, the topaz, the coral, the turquoise, and the pearl. These nine precious stones have each different virtues, but they all avert the evil eye and conduce to prosperity. Different stones are adapted to the different temperaments of men. A man when he has purchased a precious stone should wear it for PRECIOUS STONES. 287 the period of one year. If during that time it does not avert some evil, or produce some good fortune, he should exchange it for a stone of a different kind, for it is evident that it is not in harmony with his temperament. There was formerly a precious stone termed the " Eed : " it was of the description of the ruby, but larger and more beautiful. How- ever, for many ages this stone has not been seen. Diamonds are found in the province of Gool- cund, and rubies are brought from the kingdom of Pigou, but emeralds came from above. The manner of their descent is thus related. It was told to an Emperor that the king of the Jins had a green vase, of a stone very precious, and so large that a child might bathe in it. The emperor obtained power over the Jins by 288 PRECIOUS STONES. means of incantations, and sent a command that the vase should be brought him. The king of the Jins gave the vase to a Jin and bade him bear the vase quickly to the Emperor. The Jin took the vase and flew with it through the sky, but in mid-air he was encountered by a demon. The demon endea- voured to wrest away the vase ; the Jin resisted. In the struggle, the vase was dropped and fell to the earth, and was broken into ten thou- sand pieces; and these pieces are the emeralds now on earth. THE THREE LEARNED MEN* [HREE learned men once went for a walk, and as they went they disputed which among them had attained to the highest knowledge. As they talked they came to a spot where lay scattered the bones of a dead tiger. Said one of the learned men, "I can bring these bones together." He uttered a spell, and the bones moved and joined, and the skeleton of the tiger lay before them. * This story was taken down from oral narration, but I rather think it has been printed in some of the vernacular works. T 2QO THE THREE LEARNED MEN. Said the second learned man, " I can do more than this." So saying, he uttered a spell, and the skeleton was clothed in flesh and skin, and a dead tiger lay before them. Then said the third learned man, " I can do still more," and he uttered a spell, and the spirit came again into the body of the dead tiger, and it rose up and devoured the three learned men. When their fate became known, the people exclaimed, " What the sages of old have said is true, the most learned men are not alwavs the wisest." THE WALL OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. [HEN Alexander the Great invaded Hindostan he found that the region of Bengal was infested by ghosts and evil spirits, jins and demons. Alexander the Great drove away the spirits and demons to beyond the rivers into the country of Brimmah, and, to prevent their returning, he erected a barrier of hewn stone, and this barrier received the name of the wall of Alexander the Great. The position of this wall is not now known ; 292 GHOSTS. and among the learned and among travellers there are disputes as to whether the wall itself still exists. GHOSTS. no lamp is lighted in a house for the period of fourteen days, the ghosts enter in and make it their dwelling. When the ghosts have once acquired possession of a house, it is not easy to expel them. The most dangerous of ghosts is that termed the " Churale." It has the appearance of a young woman ; but it can be known by the position of its feet, which are turned the wrong way. It appears in the daytime, and endeavours to entice men into solitary places ; then it assumes the form of a devil, and tears them to pieces. THE AS ABE. jEALTH obtained by fraud does not remain, and it also produces calami- ties and subjects the possessor to the visitations of the spirit termed the "Asabe." This spirit also afflicts the descendants of the person, even to the third generation. There was once a man, who had a brother, and when the brother died, the man became guardian to the brother's children, and in pro- cess of time he defrauded them of their inherit- ance. In consequence, an evil spirit began to 294 THE AS ABB. afflict him. The spirit overshadowed him at night and in solitary places ; in the end it disturbed his intellects. The sons of the man, and also his grandsons, were in like manner troubled by the spirit, and gradually they lost the wealth that the man had thus fraudulently acquired. THE ENGLISH CEMETERY. ?EAR a certain city in Upper Hindostan is a deserted cemetery, where English soldiers were formerly buried, and near the cemetery is a garden. A man of the name of Punchum had charge of the garden, and lived in a hut within it. It happened one night, that Punchum heard sounds in the cemetery as of men calling, and he also perceived lights. He crept cautiously up to the wall of the cemetery, and looked over. He saw that the English soldiers had come 296 THE ENGLISH CEMETERY. out of their graves, and were eating and drink- ing, and conversing. Some called for wine, some for meat, and others for loaves of bread; they also sang. Their dresses and arms were of an ancient pattern, and their countenances very fierce. At the sight of them, Punchum was filled with terror, his heart died within him, and he fell senseless to the ground. When he came to himself, the lights were extinguished, and the sounds had ceased. Punchum often afterwards heard the noise of shouting from the cemetery, and perceived lights, but he did not again venture to see what was going on. THE END. JUi MA 1 M 'INT :IHR Form L University of California Library Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.