1. The Magic
Pitcher
2. The Story of a
Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard and an Owl
3. A Royal
Thief-Catcher
4. The Magic
Shoes and Staff
STORY I
The Magic Pitcher.
CHAPTER I
Long, long ago
there lived far away in India a woodcutter called Subha
Datta and his
family, who were all very happy together. The father
went every day to
the forest near his home to get supplies of wood,
which he sold to
his neighbours, earning by that means quite enough
to give his wife
and children all that they needed. Sometimes he took
his three boys
with him, and now and then, as a special treat, his two
little girls were
allowed to trot along beside him. The boys longed to
be allowed to
chop wood for themselves, and their father told them that
as soon as they
were old enough he would give each of them a little axe
of his own. The
girls, he said, must be content with breaking off small
twigs from the
branches he cut down, for he did not wish them to chop
their own fingers
off. This will show you what a kind father he was,
and you will be
very sorry for him when you hear about his troubles.
All went well
with Subha Datta for a long time. Each of the boys had
his own little
axe at last, and each of the girls had a little pair
of scissors to
cut off twigs; and very proud they all were when they
brought some wood
home to their mother to use in the house. One day,
however, their
father told them they could none of them come with him,
for he meant to
go a very long way into the forest, to see if he could
find better wood
there than nearer home. Vainly the boys entreated him
to take them with
him. "Not to-day," he said, "you would be too tired
to go all the
way, and would lose yourselves coming back alone. You
must help your
mother to-day and play with your sisters." They had
to be content,
for although Hindu children are as fond of asking
questions as
English boys and girls, they are very obedient to their
parents and do
all they are told without making any fuss about it.
Of course, they
expected their father would come back the day he
started for the
depths of the forest, although they knew he would
be late. What
then was their surprise when darkness came and there
was no sign of
him! Again and again their mother went to the door
to look for him,
expecting every moment to see him coming along the
beaten path which
led to their door. Again and again she mistook the
cry of some
night-bird for his voice calling to her. She was obliged
at last to go to
bed with a heavy heart, fearing some wild beast had
killed him and
that she would never see him again.
1. What do you
think had become of Subha Datta?
2. What would you
have done when he did not come back?
CHAPTER II
When Subha Datta
started for the forest, he fully intended to come
back the same
evening; but as he was busy cutting down a tree, he
suddenly had a
feeling that he was no longer alone. He looked up, and
there, quite
close to him, in a little clearing where the trees had
been cut down by
some other woodcutter, he saw four beautiful young
girls looking
like fairies in their thin summer dresses and with
their long hair
flowing down their backs, dancing round and round,
holding each
other's hands. Subha Datta was so astonished at the
sight that he let
his axe fall, and the noise startled the dancers,
who all four
stood still and stared at him.
The woodcutter
could not say a word, but just gazed and gazed at them,
till one of them
said to him: "Who are you, and what are you doing in
the very depths
of the forest where we have never before seen a man?"
"I am only a
poor woodcutter," he replied, "come to get some wood to
sell, so as to
give my wife and children something to eat and some
clothes to
wear."
"That is a
very stupid thing to do," said one of the girls. "You can't
get much money
that way. If you will only stop with us we will have
your wife and
children looked after for you much better than you can
do it
yourself."
3. What would you
have said if you had been the woodcutter?
4. Do you think
the fairies really meant that they could do as they
offered?
CHAPTER III
Subha Datta,
though he certainly did love his wife and children, was
so tempted at the
idea of stopping in the forest with the beautiful
girls that, after
hesitating a little while, he said, "Yes, I will stop
with you, if you
are quite sure all will be well with my dear ones."
"You need
not be afraid about that," said another of the girls. "We
are fairies, you
see, and we can do all sorts of wonderful things. It
isn't even
necessary for us to go where your dear ones are. We shall
just wish them
everything they want, and they will get it. And the
first thing to be
done is to give you some food. You must work for
us in return, of
course."
Subha Datta at
once replied, "I will do anything you wish."
"Well, begin
by sweeping away all the dead leaves from the clearing,
and then we will
all sit down and eat together."
Subha Datta was
very glad that what he was asked to do was so easy. He
began by cutting
a branch from a tree, and with it he swept the floor
of what was to be
the dining-room. Then he looked about for the food,
but he could see
nothing but a great big pitcher standing in the
shade of a tree,
the branches of which hung over the clearing. So
he said to one of
the fairies, "Will you show me where the food is,
and exactly where
you would like me to set it out?"
At these
questions all the fairies began to laugh, and the sound of
their laughter
was like the tinkling of a number of bells.
5. What was there
to laugh at in the questions of Subha Datta?
6. What is your
idea of a fairy?
CHAPTER IV
When the fairies
saw how astonished Subha Datta was at the way they
laughed, it made
them laugh still more, and they seized each other's
hands again and
whirled round and round, laughing all the time.
Poor Subha Datta,
who was very tired and hungry, began to get unhappy
and to wish he
had gone straight home after all. He stooped down to
pick up his axe,
and was just about to turn away with it, when the
fairies stopped
their mad whirl and cried to him to stop. So he waited,
and one of them
said:
"We don't
have to bother about fetching this and fetching that. You
see that big
pitcher. Well, we get all our food and everything else
we want out of
it. We just have to wish as we put our hands in,
and there it is.
It's a magic pitcher--the only one there is in the
whole wide world.
You get the food you would like to have first,
and then we'll
tell you what we want."
Subha Datta could
hardly believe his ears when he heard that. Down he
threw his axe,
and hastened to put his hand in the pitcher, wishing
for the food he
was used to. He loved curried rice and milk, lentils,
fruit and
vegetables, and very soon he had a beautiful meal spread
out for himself
on the ground. Then the fairies called out, one after
the other, what
they wanted for food, things the woodcutter had never
heard of or seen,
which made him quite discontented with what he had
chosen for
himself.
7. What would you
have wished for if you had had a magic pitcher?
8. Would it be a
good thing, do you think, to be able to get food
without working
for it or paying for it?
CHAPTER V
The next few days
passed away like a dream, and at first Subha Datta
thought he had
never been so happy in his life. The fairies often went
off together
leaving him alone, only coming back to the clearing when
they wanted
something out of the pitcher. The woodcutter got all kinds
of things he
fancied for himself, but presently he began to wish he
had his wife and
children with him to share his wonderful meals. He
began to miss
them terribly, and he missed his work too. It was no
good cutting
trees down and chopping up wood when all the food was
ready cooked.
Sometimes he thought he would slip off home when the
fairies were
away, but when he looked at the pitcher he could not
bear the thought
of leaving it.
9. What sort of
man do you think Subha Datta was from what this story
tells you about
him?
10. What do you
think was the chief cause of his becoming discontented
after he had been
in the service of the fairies for a few days?
CHAPTER VI
Soon Subha Datta
could not sleep well for thinking of the wife and
children he had
deserted. Suppose they were hungry when he had plenty
to eat! It even
came into his head that he might steal the pitcher
and take it home
with him when the fairies were away. But he had not
after all the
courage to do this; for even when the beautiful girls
were not in
sight, he had a feeling that they would know if he tried
to go off with
the pitcher, and that they would be able to punish him
in some terrible
way. One night he had a dream that troubled him very
much. He saw his
wife sitting crying bitterly in the little home he
used to love,
holding the youngest child on her knee whilst the other
three stood
beside her looking at her very, very sadly. He started up
from the ground
on which he lay, determined to go home at once; but
at a little
distance off he saw the fairies dancing in the moonlight,
and somehow he
felt again he could not leave them and the pitcher. The
next day,
however, he was so miserable that the fairies noticed it,
and one of them
said to him: "Whatever is the matter? We don't care
to keep unhappy
people here. If you can't enjoy life as we do, you
had better go
home."
Then Subha Datta
was very much frightened lest they should really
send him away; so
he told them about his dream and that he was afraid
his dear ones
were starving for want of the money lie used to earn
for them.
"Don't worry
about them," was the reply: "we will let your wife know
what keeps you
away. We will whisper in her ear when she is asleep,
and she will be
so glad to think of your happiness that she will
forget her own
troubles."
11. Do you think
what the fairies said to the woodcutter was likely
to comfort him
about his wife and children?
12. If you had
been in Subha Datta's place what would you have said
to the fairies
when they made this promise?
CHAPTER VII
Subha Datta was
very much cheered by the sympathy of the fairies,
so much so that
he decided to stop with them for a little longer
at least. Now and
then he felt restless, but on the whole the time
passed
pleasantly, and the pitcher was a daily delight to him.
Meanwhile his
poor wife was at her wits' end how to feed her dear
children. If it
had not been that the two boys were brave, plucky
little chaps, she
really would have been in despair. When their father
did not come back
and all their efforts to find him were in vain,
these boys set to
work to help their mother. They could not cut
down trees, but
they could climb them and chop off small branches
with their axes;
and this they did, making up bundles of faggots and
selling them to
their neighbours. These neighbours were touched by
the courage they
showed, and not only paid them well for the wood
but often gave
them milk and rice and other little things to help
them. In time
they actually got used to being without Subha Datta,
and the little
girls nearly forgot all about him. Little did they
dream of the
change that was soon to come into their lives.
13. Was it a good
or a bad thing for the boys that their father did
not come back?
14. If you think
it was a good thing, will you explain why? and if
it was a bad
thing, why you think it was?
CHAPTER VIII
A month passed
peacefully away in the depths of the forest, Subha
Datta waiting on
the fairies and becoming every day more selfish
and bent on
enjoying himself. Then he had another dream, in which he
saw his wife and
children in the old home with plenty of food, and
evidently so
happy without him that he felt quite determined to go and
show them he was
still alive. When he woke he said to the fairies,
"I will not
stop with you any longer. I have had a good time here,
but I am tired of
this life away from my own people."
The fairies saw
he was really in earnest this time, so they consented
to let him go;
but they were kind-hearted people and felt they ought
to pay him in
some way for all he had done for them. They consulted
together, and
then one of them told him they wished to make him a
present before he
went away, and they would give him whatever he
asked for.
15. What do you
think it was that made Subha Datta determine to go
home when he
found his wife and children could do without him?
16. What would
you have chosen if the fairies had told you you could
have anything you
liked?
CHAPTER IX
Directly the
woodcutter heard he could have anything he asked for,
he cried, "I
will have the magic pitcher."
You can just
imagine what a shock this was to the fairies! You know,
of course, that
fairies always keep their word. If they could not
persuade Subha
Datta to choose something else, they would have to
give him their
beloved, their precious pitcher and would have to
seek their food
for themselves. They all tried all they could to
persuade the
woodcutter to choose something else. They took him to
their own secret
treasure-house, in an old, old tree with a hollow
trunk, even the
entrance to which no mortal had ever been allowed
to see. They
blindfolded him before they started, so that he could
never reveal the
way, and one of them led him by the hand, telling
him where the
steps going down from the tree began. When at last the
bandage was taken
from his eyes, he found himself in a lofty hall
with an opening
in the roof through which the light came. Piled up
on the floor were
sparkling stones worth a great deal of gold and
silver money, and
on the walls hung beautiful robes. Subha Datta was
quite dazed with
all lie saw, but he was only an ignorant woodcutter
and did not
realize the value of the jewels and clothes. So when the
fairies, said to
him, "Choose anything you like here and let us keep
our
pitcher," he shook his head and said: "No! no! no! The pitcher! I
will have the
pitcher!" One fairy after another picked up the rubies
and diamonds and
other precious stones and held them in the light,
that the
woodcutter might see how lovely they were; and when he still
only shook his
head, they got down the robes and tried to make him
put one of them
on. "No! the pitcher! the pitcher!" he said, and at
last they had to
give it up. They bound his eyes again and led him
back to the
clearing and the pitcher.
17. Would you have
been tempted to give up the pitcher when you saw
the jewels and
the robes?
18. What made
Subha Datta so determined to have the pitcher?
CHAPTER X
Even when they
were all back again in the clearing the fairies did
not quite give up
hope of keeping their pitcher. This time they gave
other reasons why
Subha Datta should not have it. "It will break very
easily,"
they told him, "and then it will be no good to you or any
one else. But if
you take some of the money, you can buy anything
you like with it.
If you take some of the jewels you can sell them
for lots of
money."
"No! no!
no!" cried the woodcutter. "The pitcher! the pitcher! I will
have the
pitcher!"
"Very well
then, take, the pitcher," they sadly answered, "and never
let us see your
face again!"
So Subha Datta
took the pitcher, carrying it very, very carefully,
lest he should
drop it and break it before he got home. He did not
think at all of
what a cruel thing it was to take it away from the
fairies, and
leave them either to starve or to seek for food for
themselves. The
poor fairies watched him till he was out of sight,
and then they
began to weep and wring their hands. "He might at least
have waited
whilst we got some food out for a few days," one of them
said. "He
was too selfish to think of that," said another. "Come,
let us forget all
about him and go and look for some fruit."
So they all left
off crying and went away hand in hand. Fairies do
not want very
much to eat. They can live on fruit and dew, and they
never let
anything make them sad for long at a time. They go out of
this story now,
but you need not be unhappy about them, because you
may be very sure
that they got no real harm from their generosity to
Subha Datta in
letting him take the pitcher.
19. Do you think
the woodcutter was wrong to ask for the pitcher?
20. What would
have been the best thing for Subha Datta to ask for,
if he had decided
to let the fairies keep their pitcher?
CHAPTER XI
You can just
imagine what a surprise it was to Subha Datta's wife
and children when
they saw him coming along the path leading to his
home. He did not
bring the pitcher with him, but had hidden it in a
hollow tree in
the wood near his cottage, for he did not mean any one
to know that he
had it. He told his wife that he had lost his way in
the forest, and
had been afraid he would never see her or his children
again, but he
said nothing about the fairies. When his wife asked him
how he had got
food, he told her a long story about the fruits he
had found, and
she believed all he said, and determined to make up
to him now for
all she thought he had suffered. When she called the
little girls to
come and help her get a nice meal for their father,
Subha Datta said:
"Oh, don't bother about that! I've brought something
back with me.
I'll go and fetch it, but no one is to come with me."
Subha Datta's
wife was sorely disappointed at this, because she loved
her husband so
much that it was a joy to her to work for him. The
children too
wanted, of course, to go with their father, but he
ordered them to
stop where they were. He seized a big basket which was
fall of fuel for
the fire, tumbled all the wood in it on the floor,
and went off
alone to the pitcher. Very soon he was back again with
his basket full
of all sorts of good things, the very names of which
his wife and
children had no idea of. "There!" he cried; "what do you
think of that? Am
I not a clever father to have found all that in the
forest? Those are
the 'fruits' I meant when I told Mother about them."
21. What would
you have thought about this wonderful supply of food,
if you had been
one of the woodcutter's children?
22. Was it a good
thing for those children to have all this food
without working
for it? If not, why was it not a good thing?
CHAPTER XII
Life was now, of
course, completely changed for the family in the
forest. Subha
Datta no longer went to cut wood to be sold, and the
boys also left
off doing so. Every day their father fetched food for
them all, and the
greatest desire of each one of the family was to
find out where it
came from. They never could do so, for Subha Datta
managed to make
them afraid to follow him when he went forth with
his basket. The
secret he kept from the wife to whom he used to tell
everything soon
began to spoil the happiness of the home. The children
who had no longer
anything to do quarrelled with each other. Their
mother got sadder
and sadder, and at last decided to tell Subha Datta
that, unless he
would let her know where the food came from, she would
go away from him
and take her little girls with her. She really did
mean to do this,
but something soon happened to change everything
again. Of course,
the neighbours in the wood, who had bought the
fuel from the
boys and helped them by giving them fruit and rice,
heard of the
return of their father and of the wonderful change in
their lot. Now
the whole family had plenty to eat every day, though
none of them knew
where it all came from. Subha Datta was very fond
of showing off
what he could do, and sometimes asked his old friends
amongst the
woodcutters to come and have a meal with him. When they
arrived they
would find all sorts of good things spread out on the
ground and
different kinds of wines in beautiful bottles.
This went on for
some months, Subha Datta getting prouder and prouder
of all that he
could do, and it seemed likely that his secret would
never be
discovered. Everybody tried to find it out, and many followed
him secretly when
he set forth into the woods; but he was very clever
at dodging them,
hiding his treasure constantly in a new place in the
dead of the
night. If he had only been content with getting food out
of his pitcher
and drinking pure water, all would most likely have
been well with
him. But that was just what he could not do. Till he
had his pitcher
he had never drunk anything but water, but now he
often took too
much wine. It was this which led to the misfortune
of losing his
beloved pitcher. He began to boast of his cleverness,
telling his
friends there was nothing they wanted that he could not
get for them; and
one day when he had given them a very grand feast,
in which were
several rare kinds of food they had asked for, he drank
too much wine--so
much that he no longer knew what he was saying.
This was the
chance his guests wanted. They began teasing him,
telling him they
believed he was really a wicked robber, who had
stolen the food
or the money to buy it. He got angry, and at last
was actually
silly enough to tell them all to come with him, and
he would show them
he was no robber. When his wife heard this, she
was half pleased
to think that now at last the secret would come out
of where the food
came from, and half afraid that something terrible
would happen. The
children too were greatly excited, and went with the
rest of the
party, who followed their father to the last hiding-place
of the precious
pitcher.
When, they all
got very near the place, however, some idea began to
come into Subha
Datta's head that he was doing a very foolish thing. He
stopped suddenly,
turned round facing the crowd that followed him,
and said he would
not go a step further till they all went back to
the cottage. His
wife begged him to let her at least go with him,
and the children
all clamoured not to be sent back, but it was no
good. Back they
all had to go, the woodcutter watching till they were
out of sight.
23. Would Subha
Datta have been wise if he had told has wife about
the pitcher?
24. Do you think
it would have been a good or a bad thing for the
secret to be
found out?
CHAPTER XIII
When the
woodcutter was quite sure that every one was gone and
nobody could see
where he had hidden the pitcher, he took it from the
hole in which it
lay and carried it carefully to his home. You can
imagine how
everybody rushed out to meet him when he came in sight,
and crowded round
him, so that there was danger of the pitcher being
thrown to the
ground and broken. Subha Datta however managed to get
into the cottage
without any accident, and then he began to take
things out of the
pitcher and fling them on the ground, shouting,
"Am I a
robber? Am I a robber? Who dared to call me a robber?" Then,
getting more and
more excited, he picked up the pitcher, and holding
it on his
shoulder began to dance wildly about. His wife called out
to him, "Oh,
take care, take care! You will drop it!" But he paid no
attention to her.
Suddenly, however, he began to feel giddy and fell to
the ground,
dropping the pitcher as he did so. It was broken to pieces,
and a great cry
of sorrow went up from all who saw the accident. The
woodcutter
himself was broken-hearted, for he knew that he had done
the mischief
himself, and that if only he had resisted the temptation
to drink the wine
he would still have his treasure.
He was going to
pick up the pieces to see if they could be stuck
together, but to
his very great surprise lie could not touch them. He
heard a silvery
laugh, and what sounded like children clapping their
hands, and he
thought he also heard the words, "Our pitcher is ours
again!"
Could it all have been a dream? No: for there on the ground
were the fruits
and cakes that had been in the pitcher, and there
were his wife,
his children and his friends, all looking sadly and
angrily at him.
One by one the friends went away, leaving Subha Datta
alone with his
family.
25. If you had
been Subha Datta's wife, what would you have done when
this misfortune
came to her husband?
26. What would
you have done if you had been the woodcutter?
CHAPTER XIV
This is the end
of the story of the Magic Pitcher, but it was
the beginning of
a new chapter in the lives of Subha Datta and
his family. They
never forgot the wonder-working pitcher, and the
children were
never tired of hearing the story of how their father
came to get it.
They often wandered about in the forest, hoping that
they too would
meet with some wonderful adventure, but they never saw
the fairies or
found a magic pitcher. By slow degrees the woodcutter
returned to his
old ways, but he had learnt one lesson. He never
again kept a
secret from his wife; because he felt sure that, if he
had told her the
truth about the pitcher when he first came home,
she would have
helped him to save the precious treasure.
27. What lesson
can be learnt from this story?
28. Do you think
it is easier for a boy or a girl to keep a secret?
29. Why is it
wrong to let out a secret you have been told?
30. What do you
think was the chief fault in the character of Subha
Datta?
STORY II
The Story of a Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard and an Owl.
CHAPTER I
This is the story
of four creatures, none of whom loved each other,
who lived in the
same banyan tree in a forest in India. Banyan trees
are very
beautiful and very useful, and get their name from the fact
that
"banians," as merchants are called in India, often gather together
in their shade to
sell their goods. Banyan trees grow to a very great
height, spreading
their branches out so widely that many people can
stand beneath
them. From those branches roots spring forth, which,
when they reach
the ground, pierce it, and look like, columns holding
up a roof. If you
have never seen a banyan tree, you can easily find
a picture of one
in some dictionary; and when you have done so, you
will understand
that a great many creatures can live in one without
seeing much of
each other.
In an especially
fine banyan tree, outside the walls of a town called
Vidisa, a cat, an
owl, a lizard and a mouse, had all taken up their
abode. The cat
lived in a big hole in the trunk some little distance
from the ground,
where she could sleep very cosily, curled up out
of sight with her
head resting on her forepaws, feeling perfectly
safe from harm;
for no other creature, she thought, could possibly
discover her
hiding-place. The owl roosted in a mass of foliage at
the top of the
tree, near the nest in which his wife had brought up
their children,
before those children flew away to seek mates for
themselves. He
too felt pretty secure as long as he remained up there;
but he had seen
the cat prowling about below him more than once,
and was very sure
that, if she should happen to catch sight of him
when he was off
his guard seeking his prey and obliged to give all
his attention to
what he was doing, she might spring out upon him
and kill him.
Cats do not generally attack such big birds as owls,
but they will
sometimes kill a mother sitting in her nest, as well
as the little
ones, if the father is too far off to protect them.
The lizard loved
to lie and bask in the sunshine, catching the flies
on which he
lived, lying so still that they did not notice him, and
darting out his
long tongue suddenly to suck them into his mouth. Yet
he hid from the
owl and the cat, because he knew full well that,
tough though he
was, they would gobble him up if they happened to be
hungry. He made
his home amongst the roots on the south side of the
tree where it was
hottest, but the mouse had his hole on the other side
amongst damp moss
and dead leaves. The mouse was in constant fear of
the cat and the
owl. He knew that both of them could see in the dark,
and he would have
no chance of escape if they once caught sight of him.
1. Which of these
four creatures do you think was most to be pitied?
2. Do you think
that animals ever hate or love each as human
creatures do?
CHAPTER II
The lizard and
the mouse could only get food in daylight; but the
lizard did not
have to go far for the flies on which he lived, whilst
the mouse had a
very dangerous journey to take to his favourite feeding
place. This was a
barley field a short distance from the banyan tree,
where he loved to
nibble the full ears, running up the stalks to get at
them. The mouse
was the only one of the four creatures in the banyan
tree who did not
feed on others; for, like the rest of his family,
he was a vegetarian,
that is to say, he ate nothing but vegetables
and fruit.
Now the cat knew
full well how fond the mouse was of the barley-field,
and she used to
keep watch amongst the tall stems, creeping stealthily
about with her
tail in the air and her green eyes glistening,
expecting any
moment to see the poor little mouse darting hastily
along. The cat
never dreamt that any danger could come to her, and
she trod down the
barley, making quite a clear path through it. She
was quite wrong
in thinking herself so safe, for that path got her
into very serious
trouble.
It so happened
that a hunter, whose great delight was to kill wild
creatures, and
who was very clever in finding them, noticing every
little thing
which could shew him where they had passed by, came
one day into the
barley-field. He spied the path directly and cried,
"Ha! ha!
Some wild animal has been here; not a very big one; let's
have a look for
the footprints!" So he stooped down to the ground,
and very soon saw
the marks of pussy's feet. "A cat, I do believe,"
he said to
himself, "spoiling the barley she doesn't want to eat
herself. I'll
soon pay her out." The hunter waited until the evening
lest the creature
should see what he was going to do, and then in the
twilight he set
snares all over the barley-field. A snare, you know,
is a string with
a slip-knot at the end of it; and if an animal puts
his head or one
of his paws into this slip-knot and goes on without
noticing it, the
string is pulled tight and the poor creature cannot
get free.
3. Was it right
or wrong of the hunter to set the snare?
4. Do you think
the cat was wrong to lie in wait for the mouse?
CHAPTER III
Exactly what the
hunter expected happened. The cat came as usual to
watch for the
mouse, and caught sight of him running across the end of
the path. Puss
dashed after him; and just as she thought she really
had got him this
time, she found herself caught by the neck, for she
had put her head
into one of the snares. She was nearly strangled
and could
scarcely even mew. The mouse was so close that he heard the
feeble mew, and
in a terrible fright, thinking the cat was after him,
he peeped through
the stems of the barley to make sure which way to
run to get away
from her. What was his delight when he saw his enemy
in such trouble
and quite unable to do him any harm!
Now it so
happened that the owl and the lizard were also in the
barley-field, not
very far away from the cat, and they too saw the
distress their
hated enemy was in. They also caught sight of the little
mouse peeping
through the barley; and the owl thought to himself,
"I'll have
you, my little friend, now puss cannot do me any harm,"
whilst the lizard
darted away into the sunshine, feeling glad that
the cat and the owl
were neither of them now likely to trouble their
heads about him.
The owl flew quietly to a tree hard by to watch what
would happen,
feeling so sure of having the mouse for his dinner that
he was in no
hurry to catch him.
5. What would you
have done if you had been the mouse, when you saw
the cat in the
snare?
6. Was the owl
wise or foolish to wait before he caught the mouse?
CHAPTER IV
The mouse, small
and helpless though he was, was a wise little
creature. He saw
the owl fly up into the tree, and knew quite well
that if he did
not take care he would serve as dinner to that great
strong bird. He
knew too that, if he went within reach of the claws
of the cat, he
would suffer for it. "How I do wish," he thought to
himself, "I
could make friends with the cat, now she is in distress,
and get her to
promise not to hurt me if ever she gets free. As long
as I am near the
cat, the owl will not dare to come after me." As he
thought and
thought, his eyes got brighter and brighter, and at last
he decided what
he would do. He had, you see, kept his presence of
mind; that is to
say, he did not let his fright of the cat or the owl
prevent him from
thinking clearly. He now ventured forth from amongst
the barley, and
coming near enough to the cat for her to see him quite
clearly, but not
near enough for her to reach him with her claws,
or far enough
away for the owl to get him without danger from those
terrible claws,
he said to the cat in a queer little squeaky voice:
"Dear Puss,
I do not like to see you in such a fix. It is true we have
never been
exactly friends, but I have always looked up to you as a
strong and noble
enemy. If you will promise never to do me any harm,
I will do my best
to help you. I have very sharp teeth, and I might
perhaps be able
to nibble through the string round your beautiful
neck and set you
free. What do you think about it?"
7. Do you think
there was any chance of a cat and a mouse becoming
real friends?
8. Can you give
two or three instances you know of presence of mind
in danger?
CHAPTER V
When the cat
heard what the mouse said, she could hardly believe her
ears. She was of
course ready to promise anything to anyone who would
help her, so she
said at once:
"You dear
little mouse, to wish to help me. If only you will nibble
through that
string which is killing me, I promise that I will always
love you, always
be your friend, and however hungry I may be, I will
starve rather
than hurt your tender little body."
On hearing this,
the mouse, without hesitating a moment, climbed up
on to the cat's
back, and cuddled down in the soft fur near her neck,
feeling very safe
and warm there. The owl would certainly not attack
him there, he
thought, and the cat could not possibly hurt him. It was
one thing to
pounce down on a defenceless little creature running on
the ground
amongst the barley, quite another to try and snatch him
from the very
neck of a cat.
The cat of course
expected the mouse to begin to nibble through
the string at
once, and became very uneasy when she felt the little
creature nestle
down as if to go to sleep, instead of helping her. Poor
Pussy could not
turn her head so as to see the mouse without drawing
the string
tighter, and she did not dare to speak angrily lest she
should offend
him. "My dear little friend," she said, "do you not
think it is high
time to keep your promise and set me free?"
Hearing this, the
mouse pretended to bite the string, but took care not
to do so really;
and the cat waited and waited, getting more miserable
every minute. All
through the long night the same thing went on:
the mouse taking
a little nap now and then, the cat getting weaker
and weaker.
"Oh," she thought to herself, "if only I could get free,
the first thing I
would do would be to gobble up that horrid little
mouse." The
moon rose, the stars came out, the wind murmured amongst
the branches of
the banyan tree, making the unfortunate cat long to be
safe in her cosy
home in the trunk. The cries of the wild animals which
prowl about at
night seeking their food were heard, and the cat feared
one of them might
find her and kill her. A mother tiger perhaps would
snatch her, and
take her to her hungry cubs, hidden away in the deep
forest, or a bird
of prey might swoop down on her and grip her in his
terrible claws.
Again and again she entreated the mouse to be quick,
promising that,
if only he would set her at liberty, she would never,
never, never
forget it or do any harm to her beloved friend.
9. What do you
suppose the mouse was thinking all this time?
10. If you had
been the mouse, would you have trusted to what the
cat said in her
misery?
CHAPTER VI
It was not until
the moon had set and the light of the dawn had put
out that of the
stars that the mouse, made any real effort to help
the cat. By this
time the hunter who had set the snare came to see if
he had caught the
cat; and the poor cat, seeing him in the distance,
became so wild
with terror that she nearly killed herself in the
struggle to get
away. "Keep still! keep still," cried the mouse,
"and I will
really save you." Then with a few quick bites with his
sharp teeth he
cut through the string, and the next moment the cat
was hidden
amongst the barley, and the mouse was running off in
the opposite
direction, determined to keep well out of sight of the
creature he had
kept in such misery for so many hours. Full well he
knew that all the
cat's promises would be forgotten, and that she
would eat him up
if she could catch him. The owl too flew away,
and the lizard
went off to hunt flies in the sunshine, and there
was not a sign of
any of the four inhabitants of the banyan tree
when the hunter
reached the snare. He was very much surprised and
puzzled to find
the string hanging loose in two pieces, and no sign
of there having
been anything caught in it, except two white hairs
lying on the
ground close to the trap. He had a good look round,
and then went home
without having found out anything.
When the hunter
was quite out of sight, the cat came forth from the
barley, and
hastened back to her beloved home in the banyan tree. On
her way there she
spied the mouse also hurrying along in the same
direction, and at
first she felt inclined to hunt him and eat him
then and there.
On second thoughts however she decided to try and keep
friends with him,
because he might help her again if she got caught a
second time. So
she took no notice of the mouse until the next day,
when she climbed
down the tree and went to the roots in which she
knew the mouse
was hidden. There she began to purr as loud as she
could, to show
the mouse she was in a good humour, and called out,
"Dear good
little mouse, come out of your hole and let me tell you how
very, very
grateful I am to you for saving my life. There is nothing in
the world I will
not do for you, if you will only be friends with me."
The mouse only
squeaked in answer to this speech, and took very good
care not to show
himself, till he was quite sure the cat was gone
beyond reach of
him. He stayed quietly in his hole, and only ventured
forth after he
had heard the cat climb up into the tree again. "It
is all very
well," thought the mouse, "to pretend to make friends
with an enemy
when that enemy is helpless, but I should indeed be a
silly mouse to
trust a cat when she is free to kill me."
The cat made a
good many other efforts to be friends with the mouse,
but they were all
unsuccessful. In the end the owl caught the mouse,
and the cat
killed the lizard. The owl and the cat both lived for
the rest of their
lives in the banyan tree, and died in the end at
a good old age.
11. Do you think
it is ever possible to make a real friend of an enemy?
12. What do you
think the mouse deserved most praise for in his
behaviour?
13. Which of the
four animals in this story do you like best and
which do you
dislike most?
14. Can an animal
be blamed for acting according to its nature? For
instance, can you
call it cruel for a cat or an owl to kill and eat
a mouse?
15. Is it always
right to forgive an injury?
16. Can you give
an example from history of the forgiveness of
an injury?
STORY III
A Royal Thief-Catcher.
CHAPTER I
In one of the
smaller cities of India called Sravasti the people
gathered together
on a very hot day to stare at and talk about a
stranger, who had
come in to the town, looking very weary and walking
with great
difficulty because his feet were sore with tramping for a
long distance on
the rough roads. He was a Brahman, that is to say,
a man who devoted
his whole life to prayer, and had promised to give
up everything for
the sake of pleasing the god in whom he believed,
and to care
nothing for comfort, for riches, or for good food.
This Brahman
carried nothing with him but a staff to help him along,
and a bowl in
which to receive the offerings of those who thought it
their duty to
help him and hoped by doing so to win favour in the sight
of God. He was
naked, except for a cloth worn about his loins, and his
long hair was all
matted together for want of combing and brushing. He
made his way very
slowly and painfully through the crowds, till he came
to a shady
corner, and there he sank down exhausted, holding out his
bowl for the
gifts of the people. Very soon his bowl would have been
full of all sorts
of good things, but he made it clear that he would
accept nothing to
eat except rice still in the husk, and nothing to
drink but pure
water. He was however willing to take money; and when
the people who
wished to help him found that out, they brought him
a good many
silver and gold pieces. Some who had no money to spare
gave him jewels
and other things which could be sold for money.
1. Can you
explain why the Brahman would only accept such food as
rice in the husk
and water?
2. Do you think
it was right or wrong of the Brahman to take money
and jewels?
CHAPTER II
As time went on,
the Brahman became very well known in Sravasti. His
fame indeed
spread far beyond the town, and people came from far away
to consult him
about all sorts of things, and he gave them good advice,
for he was a very
wise man. Those who wanted him to tell them what to
do paid him for
his advice, and as some of them had plenty of money
and were glad to
help him, he soon became quite rich. He might have
done a great deal
of good with all this money by helping the poor and
suffering, but
unfortunately he never thought of doing so. Instead
of that, he got
to love the money for its own sake. At night, when
all those who had
come to see him had gone to rest, and there was no
fear of his being
found out, he used to steal away into the forest,
and there he dug
a deep hole at the root of a great tree, to which
he took all his
money and jewels.
In India everybody
has a siesta, that is to say, a sleep in the
middle of the
day, because the heat is so great it is difficult to
keep well and
strong without this extra rest. So, although it is quite
light at the
time, the streets are deserted, except for the dogs who
prowl about,
trying to find something to eat. Now the Brahman loved
his money and
other treasures so much, that he used very often to
do without this
siesta and go to the forest to enjoy the pleasure of
looking at them.
When he got to the tree, he would bend down, clear
away the earth
and leaves with which he had hidden his secret hole,
take out the
money and let it slip through his fingers, and hold up
the jewels to the
light, to watch how they gleamed and glistened. He
was never so
happy as when he was alone with his riches, and it was
all he could do
to tear himself away from them when the time came to
go back to his
shady corner. In fact he was becoming a selfish miser
instead of the
holy man the people of Sravasti thought he was. By the
time the siesta
was over he was always back again in his place beneath
the tree, holding
out his bowl and looking as poor and thin as ever,
so that nobody
had the least idea of the truth.
3. Why was it
wrong for the Brahman to hide away his money and jewels?
4. Can anyone be
a miser about other things as well as money and
jewels? If so,
what other things?
CHAPTER III
For many months
the Brahman led this double life; until one day,
when he went as
usual to his hiding-place, he saw at once that some
one had been
there before him. Eagerly he knelt down, full of fear
of exactly what
had actually happened. All his care in concealing the
hole had been
wasted, for it was quite empty. The poor man could not
at first believe
his own eyes. He rubbed them hard, thinking that
there was
something the matter with them. Then he felt round and
round the hole,
hoping that after all he was mistaken; and when at
last he was
obliged to believe the terrible truth that there really
was not a sign of
his money and jewels, he became almost mad with
misery. He began
to run from tree to tree, peering into their roots,
and when there
was nothing to be seen, he rushed back again to his
empty hole, to
look into it once more. Then he wept and tore at his
hair, stamped
about and cried aloud to all the gods he believed in,
making all kinds
of promises, of what he would do if only they would
give him back his
treasures. No answer came, and he began to wonder who
could have done
such a terrible thing. It must, he felt sure, have been
one of the people
of Sravasti; and he now remembered he had noticed
that a good many
of them had looked into his bowl with longing eyes,
when they saw the
money and precious stones in it. "What horrible,
wicked people
they are," he said to himself. "I hate them. I should
like to hurt them
as they have hurt me." As he thought in this way he
got more and more
angry, until he became quite worn out with giving
way to his rage.
5. What would you
have done if you had been the Brahman when he lost
his treasure?
6. Is it wrong to
be angry when any one has done you an injury?
CHAPTER IV
After roaming
about in the forest for a long time, the Brahman went
back to the house
in Sravasti where some kind people had lent him a
room, glad and
proud to have such a holy man, as they thought he was,
living under
their roof. He felt sure they had had nothing to do with
the loss of his
treasure, because they had given him many proofs of
their goodness
and honesty. Soon he was pouring out all his grief to
them, and they
did all they could to comfort him, telling him that he
would very soon
have plenty more money and jewels. They let him see
however that they
thought it was mean of him to hide away his riches,
instead of using
them to help the poor and suffering; and this added
very much to his
rage. At last he lost all self-control and cried,
"It is not
worth while for me to live any longer. I will go to some
holy place of
pilgrimage by the banks of the river, and there I will
starve myself to
death."
A place of
pilgrimage, you know, is one where some great event,
generally
connected with religion, has taken place, to which
pilgrims go to
pray in the hope of winning some special favour from
God. The word
pilgrim means a wanderer, but it has come in course
of time to
signify any traveller who comes from a distance to some
such place.
Benares in India is a very famous place of pilgrimage,
because it is on
the River Ganges, which the Hindus worship and love,
believing that
its waters can wash away their sins. Hundreds and
thousands of
Hindus go there every year to bathe in it, and many
who know that
they have not long to live wait on its banks to die,
so that after
their bodies have been burnt, as is the custom with
the Hindus, their
ashes may be thrown into the sacred stream.
7. Can you name
two other places of pilgrimage, one held sacred by
Christians and
one by Hindus?
8. Will you
explain exactly why the two places you have thought of
are considered
holy?
CHAPTER V
The news of the
Brahman's loss spread very quickly through Sravasti;
and as is so
often the case, every one who told the story made it a
little different,
so that it became very difficult to know what the
truth really was.
There was great distress in the town, because the
people thought
the Brahman would go away, and they did not want him to
do that. They
were proud of having a man they thought so holy, living
amongst them, and
ashamed that he should have been robbed whilst he was
with them. When
they heard that he meant to starve himself to death,
they were
dreadfully shocked, and determined to do all they possibly
could to prevent
it. One after another of the chief men of Sravasti
came to see him,
and entreated him not to be in such a hurry to be
sure that his
treasure would never be found. They said they would
all do everything
they possibly could to get it back for him. Some of
them thought it
was very wrong of him to make such a fuss about it,
and blamed him
for being a miser. They told him it was foolish to
care so much for
what he could not take with him when he died, and
one specially
wise old man gave him a long lecture on the wickedness
of taking away
the life which had been given to him by God to prepare
for that in the
other world. "Put the idea of starving yourself out
of your
head," he said, "and whilst we are seeking your treasure,
go on as you did
before you lost it. Next time you have any money
and jewels, turn
them to good account instead of hoarding them up."
9. Do you think
the Brahman was of any real use to the people of
Sravasti?
10. In what
qualities do you think the Brahman was wanting when he
made up his mind
to starve himself to death?
CHAPTER VI
In spite of all
that any one could say to him, the Brahman was quite
determined that
he would not live any longer. He set off to the place
of pilgrimage he
had chosen, taking no notice of any one he met,
but just marching
steadily on. At first a number of people followed
him, but by
degrees they left off doing so, and soon he was quite
alone. Presently
however he could not help noticing a man approaching
from the
direction in which he was going. Very tall, very handsome,
very dignified,
this man was one whom no one could fail to admire,
even if he had
been only an ordinary person. But he was the king of
the whole
country, whose name was Prasnajit; and a little distance
behind him were a
number of his attendants, waiting to obey his
orders.
Everybody, even the Brahman, loved the king, because he took
such a very great
interest in his people and was always trying to do
them good. He had
heard all about the loss of the money, and was very
much vexed that
such a thing should have happened in his land. He had
also heard that
the Brahman meant to kill himself, and this distressed
him more than
anything else, because he thought it a very wicked and
terrible thing to
do.
The king stood so
exactly in the path of the Brahman that it was
impossible to
pass him by without taking any notice of him, and
the unhappy man
stood still, hanging down his head and looking very
miserable.
Without waiting for a moment, Prasnajit said to the Brahman:
"Do not
grieve any more. I will find your treasure for you, and give
it back to you;
or if I fail to do so I will pay you as much as it was
worth out of my
own purse: for I cannot bear to think of your killing
yourself. Now
tell me very carefully where you hid your gold and
jewels, and
everything about the place, to help me to make sure of it."
The Brahman was
greatly delighted to hear this, because he knew full
well that the
king would keep his word, and that, even if his own
treasure was
never found, he would have plenty of money given to him
by the king. He
at once told Prasnajit exactly where he had put his
store, and
offered to take him there. The king agreed to go with him
at once, and he
and the Brahman went straight away to the big hole
in the forest,
the attendants following them a little way behind.
11. If you had
been the king, how would you have set about finding
the treasure?
12. Was it a good
or a bad thing for the Brahman to have secured the
help of the king?
CHAPTER VII
After the king
had seen the big empty hole, and noticed exactly where
it was, and the
nearest way to it from the town, he returned to his
palace, first
telling the Brahman to go back to the house he lived
in, and wait
there till he received a message from him. He promised
to see that he
wanted for nothing, and sent one of his attendants
to a rich
merchant of Sravasti, who had already done a good deal
for the Brahman,
to order him to supply the holy man with all he
needed. Very glad
that after all he was not going to die, the Brahman
obeyed willingly,
and for the next few days he was taken care of by
the merchant, who
supplied him with plenty of food.
As soon as
Prasnajit was back in his palace, he pretended that he was
taken suddenly
ill. His head ached badly, he said, and he could not
make out what was
the matter with him. He ordered a proclamation to
be sent all round
the town, telling all the doctors to come to the
palace to see
him. All the doctors in the place at once hastened to
obey, each of
them hoping that he would be the one to cure the king
and win a great
reward. So many were they that the big reception
room was full of
them, and they all glared at each other so angrily
that the
attendants kept careful watch lest they should begin to
fight. One at a
time they were taken to the king's private room,
but very much to
their surprise and disappointment he seemed quite
well and in no
need of help from them. Instead of talking about his
own illness, he
asked each doctor who his patients were in the town,
and what
medicines he was giving to them. Of course Prasnajit's
questions were
carefully answered; but the king said nothing more,
just waving his hand
to shew that the interview was at an end. Then
the attendants
led the visitor out. At last however a doctor came,
who said
something which led the king to keep him longer than he had
kept any of the
others. This doctor was a very famous healer who had
saved the lives
of many of Prasnajit's subjects. He told the king
that a merchant
named Matri-Datta was very ill, suffering greatly,
but that he hoped
to cure him by giving him the juice of a certain
plant called
nagaballa. At the time this story was written, doctors
in India did not
give their patients medicine, or write prescriptions
for them to take
to chemists to be made up, because there were no
chemists in those
days, such as there are in all the towns of Europe,
who keep the
materials in stock for making medicines. A doctor just
said to his
patient, "you must take the juice of this or that plant";
and the suffering
person had to go into the fields or woods to find
the plant or else
to send a servant to do so.
When the king
heard that the doctor had ordered Matri-Datta to take the
juice of the
nagaballa plant, he cried "No more doctors need come to
see me!" and
after sending away the one who had told him what he wanted
to know, he gave
orders that Matri-Datta should be sent for at once.
13. Can you guess
why the king sent for the doctors?
14. Do you think
Matri-Datta had anything to do with stealing the
Brahman's
treasure?
CHAPTER VIII
Ill and suffering
though he was, Matri-Datta did not dare disobey the
king: so he came
at once. As soon as he appeared, Prasnajit asked him
how he was, and
said he was sorry to have to make him leave his home
when he was ill,
but the matter on which he wished to see him was
of very great
importance. Then he suddenly added: "When your doctor
ordered you to
take the juice of the nagaballa plant whom did you
send to find
it?"
To this
Matri-Datta replied trembling with fear: "My servant, O king,
sought it in the
forest; and having found it, brought it to me."
"Go back and
send that servant to me immediately," was the reply; and
the merchant
hurried away, wondering very much why the king wanted to
see the man, and
hoping that he himself would not get into disgrace
on account of
anything he had done to make Prasnajit angry.
15. Have you any
idea why the king wanted the servant sent to him?
16. From what the
story tells you so far, do you think Prasnajit was
a good ruler of
his kingdom?
CHAPTER IX
When Matri-Datta
told his servant that he was to go to the palace to
see the king, the
man was dreadfully frightened, and begged his master
not to make him
go. This made Matri-Datta pretty sure that he had done
something wrong
and was afraid of being found out. "Go at once," he
said, "and
whatever you do, speak the truth to the king. That will be
your only chance
if you have offended him." Again and again the servant
entreated
Matri-Datta not to insist, and when he found it was no good,
he asked him at
least to come with him to the palace and plead for him
with Prasnajit.
The merchant knew then for certain that something was
seriously wrong,
and he consented to go to the palace with his servant,
partly out of
curiosity and partly out of fear for himself. When the
two got to the
palace, the attendants at once led the servant to the
presence of the
king, but they would not let the master go with him.
Directly the
servant entered the room and saw the king sitting on
his throne, he
fell upon his face at the foot of the steps, crying,
"Mercy! mercy!"
He was right to be afraid, for Prasnajit said to him
in a loud voice:
"Where are the gold and the jewels you took from
the hole in the
roots of a tree when you went to find the nagaballa
plant for your
master?" The servant, who really had taken the money
and jewels, was
so terrified when he found that the king knew the
truth, that he
had not a word to say at first, but just remained
lying on the
ground, trembling all over. Prasnajit too was silent,
and the
attendants waiting for orders behind the throne looked on,
wondering what
would happen now.
17. Have you
guessed what the nagaballa plant had to do with finding
out who had
stolen the money and jewels?
18. If you had
been the king, what punishment would you have ordered
for the thief?
CHAPTER X
When the silence
had lasted about ten minutes, the thief raised his
head from the
ground and looked at the king, who still said not a
word. Something
in his face however made the wicked servant hope that
he would not be
punished by death in spite of the great wrong he had
done. The king
looked very stern, it is true, but not enraged against
him. So the
servant rose to his feet, and clasping his hands together
as he held them
up to Prasnajit, said in a trembling voice: "I will
fetch the
treasure, I will fetch the treasure." "Go then at once,"
said the king,
"and bring it here": and as he said it, there was a
beautiful
expression in his eyes, which made the thief more sorry
for what he had
done than he would have been if Prasnajit had said,
"Off with
his head!" or had ordered him to be beaten.
19. What do you
think is the best way to make wicked people good?
20. What is the
most powerful reason a man or woman or a child can
have for trying
to be good?
CHAPTER XI
As soon as the
king said, "Go at once," the servant started to his
feet and hastened
away, as eager now to restore what he had stolen
as he had been to
hide it. He had put it in another hole in the very
depths of the
forest; and it was a long time before he got back to
the palace with
it, for it was very heavy. He had thought the king
would send some
guards with him, to see that he did not run away,
and that they
would have helped him to carry the sack full of gold
and jewels; but
nobody followed him. It was hard work to drag the
heavy load all
the way alone; but at last, quite late in the evening,
he was back at
the palace gates. The soldiers standing there let him
pass without a
word, and soon he was once more in the room in which
the king had
received him. Prasnajit still sat on his throne, and
the attendants
still waited behind him, when the thief, so tired he
could hardly
stand, once more lay prostrate at the bottom of the steps
leading up to the
throne, with the sack beside him. How his heart did
beat as he waited
for what the king would say! It seemed a very long
time before
Prasnajit spoke, though it was only two or three minutes;
and when he did,
this is what he said, "Go back to your home now,
and be a thief no
more."
Very, very
thankfully the man obeyed, scarcely able to believe that
he was free to go
and that he was not to be terribly punished. Never
again in the rest
of his life did he take what did not belong to him,
and he was never
tired of telling his children and his friends of
the goodness of
the king who had forgiven him.
21. Do you think
it would have been better for the thief to have
been punished?
22. What lesson
did the thief learn from what had happened to him?
CHAPTER XII
The Brahman, who
had spent the time of waiting in prayers that his
treasure should
be given back to him, and was still determined that,
if it were not,
he would starve himself to death, was full of delight
when he heard
that it had been found. He hastened to the palace and was
taken before the
king, who said to him: "There is your treasure. Take
it away, and make
a better use of it than before. If you lose it again,
I shall not try
to recover it for you."
The Brahman, glad
as he was to have his money and jewels restored, did
not like to be
told by the king to make a better use of them. Besides
this he wanted to
have the thief punished; and he began talking
about that,
instead of thanking Prasnajit and promising to follow his
advice. The king
looked at him much as he had looked at the thief and
said: "The
matter is ended so far as I have anything to do with it:
go in
peace."
The Brahman, who
was accustomed to be honoured by every one from the
king on his
throne to the beggars in the street, was astonished at
the way in which
Prasnajit spoke to him. He would have said more,
but the king made
a sign to his attendants, two of whom dragged the
sack to the
entrance of the palace and left it there, so that there
was nothing for
the Brahman to do but to take it away with him. Every
one who has read
this wonderful story would, of courses like to know
what became of
him after that, but nothing more is told about him.
23. Do you think
that the Brahman learnt anything from his loss and
recovery of his
treasure?
24. Was the
Brahman more wicked than, the thief or the thief than
the Brahman?
25. Do you think
the Brahman continued to be a miser for the rest of
his life?
26. What were the
chief characteristics of the king--that is to say,
what sort of man
do you think he was?
27. Which of the
people who are spoken of in this story do you like
and admire most,
and which do you dislike most?
STORY IV
The Magic Shoes and Staff.
CHAPTER I
Far, far away in
a town of India called Chinchini, where in days
long gone by the
ancient gods in whom the people believed are said
sometimes to have
appeared to those who called upon them for help,
there lived three
brothers of noble birth, who had never known what
it was to want
for food, or clothes, or a house to live in. Each
was married to a
wife he loved, and for many years they were all
as happy as the
day was long. Presently however a great misfortune
in which they all
shared befell their native country. There was no
rain for many,
many weeks; and this is a very serious thing in a hot
country like
India, because, when it does not rain for a long time,
the ground
becomes so parched and hard that nothing can grow in
it. The sun is
very much stronger in India than it is in England;
and it sent forth
its burning rays, drying up all the water in the
tanks and
changing what had been, a beautiful country, covered with
green crops good
for food, into a dreary desert, where neither men nor
animals could get
anything to eat. The result of this was that there
was a terrible
famine, in which hundreds of people and animals died,
little children
being the first to suffer.
Now the three
brothers, who had none of them any children, got
frightened at the
state of things, and thought to themselves, "If we
do not escape
from this dreadful land, we shall die." They said to
each other:
"Let us flee away from here, and go somewhere where we
are sure of being
able to get plenty to eat and drink. We will not
take our wives
with us; they would only make things worse for us;
let us leave them
to look after themselves."
1. What do you
think of the behaviour of the three brothers? Was
there any excuse
for their leaving their wives behind them?
2. Do you think
the wives themselves can have been to blame in any
way in the matter?
CHAPTER II
So the three
wives were deserted, and had to manage as best they
could without
their husbands, who did not even trouble to wish them
goodbye. The
wives were at first very sad and lonely, but presently a
great joy came to
one of them which made the other two very happy as
well. This joy
was the birth of a little boy, whose two aunts loved
him almost as
much as his mother did. The story does not tell how
they all got food
whilst the famine was going on, though it is very
evident that they
were not starved, for the baby boy grew fast and
was a strong
healthy little fellow.
One night all the
three wives had the same dream, a very wonderful one,
in which the god
Siva, who is very much honoured in India, appeared to
them. He told
them that, looking down from Heaven, he had noticed how
tenderly they
cared for the new-born baby, and that he wished them to
call him Putraka.
Besides this he astonished them by adding that, as
a reward for the
unselfish way in which they had behaved, they would
find one hundred
thousand gold pieces under the little child's pillow
every morning,
and that one day that little child would be a king.
3. Do you think
the three women wanted to be rewarded for loving
the baby?
4. Is it a good
thing to have a great deal of money?
CHAPTER III
The wonderful
dream was fulfilled, and the mother and aunts called
the boy Putraka.
Every morning they found the gold pieces under his
pillow, and they
took care of the money for him, so that when he grew
up he was the
very richest man in the whole country. He had a happy
childhood and
boyhood, his only trouble being that he did not like
having never seen
his father. His mother told him about the famine
before he was
born, and how his father and uncles had gone away and
never come back.
He often said, "When I am a man I will find my father
and bring him
home again." He used his money to help others, and one
of the best
things he did was to irrigate the land; that is to say,
he made canals
into which water was made to flow in times when there
was plenty of
rain, so that there was no danger of there being another
famine, such as
that which had driven his father and uncles away. The
country in which
he lived became very fruitful; everybody had enough
to eat and drink;
and Putraka was very much loved, especially by
the poor and
unhappy. When the king who ruled over the land died,
everybody wanted
Putraka to take his place, and he was chosen at once.
5. Will you
describe the kind of man you think Putraka was?
6. Do you know of
any other country besides India in which everything
depends on
irrigation?
CHAPTER IV
One of the other
wise things Putraka did, when he became king, was to
make great
friends with his Brahman subjects. Brahmans are always very
fond of
travelling, and Putraka thought, if he were good and generous
to them, they
would talk about him wherever they went, and that perhaps
through them his
father and uncles would hear about him. He felt sure
that, if they
knew he was now a king ruling over their native land,
they would want
to come back. He gave the Brahmans plenty of money,
and told them to
try and find his father and uncles. If they did,
they were to say
how anxious he was to see them, and promise them
everything they
wanted, if only they would return.
7. Do you think
it was wise of Putraka to be so anxious to get his
father and uncles
back, when he knew how selfish they had been in
leaving his
mother and aunts behind them?
8. Can you
suggest anything else Putraka might have done in the matter?
CHAPTER V
Just what the
young king hoped came to pass. Wherever the Brahmans
went they talked
about the country they came from and the wonderful
young king who
ruled over it. Putraka's father and uncles, who were
after all not so
very far off, heard the stories about him, and
asked the
Brahmans many questions. The answers made them very eager
to see Putraka,
but they did not at first realize that he was closely
related to them.
Only when they heard the name of his mother did they
guess the truth.
Putraka's father knew, when he deserted his wife,
that God was
going to give her a child soon; which made it even more
wicked of him to
leave her. Now, however, he forgot all about that,
only thinking how
he could make as much use as possible of the son
who had become a
king. He wanted to go back at once alone, but the
uncles were not
going to allow that. They meant to get all they could
out of Putraka
too; and the three selfish men, who were now quite old,
set off together
for the land they had left so long ago.
They arrived
safely, and made their way to the palace, where they were
received, with
great rejoicings. None of the wives, said a word of
reproach to, the
husbands who had deserted them; and as for Putraka,
he was so
overjoyed at having his father back, that he gave him a
beautiful house
to live in and a great deal of money. He was very
good to his
uncles too, and felt that he had now really nothing left
to wish for.
9. Do you think
Putraka showed strength or weakness of character in
the way he
received the travellers?
10. How do you
think the king ought to have behaved to his father
and uncles?
CHAPTER VI
The three wives
very soon had good reason to wish their husbands had
stayed away.
Instead of being grateful for all Putraka's generosity,
they were very
unkind and exacting, never pleased with anything;
and whatever they
had given them, they were always trying to get
more. In fact,
they were silly as well as wicked; for they did not
realize that this
was not the way to make the king love them or wish
to keep them with
him. Presently they became jealous of Putraka,
and began to wish
to get rid of him. His father hated to feel that
his son was king,
whilst he was only one of that king's subjects;
and he made up
his mind to kill him, hoping that if he could only get
rid of him he
might rule over the country in his stead. He thought
and thought how
best to manage this, and did not at first mean to
tell his brothers
anything about it; but in the end he decided he
had better have
them on his side. So he invited them to go with him
to a secret place
to talk the matter over.
11. What
qualities did Putraka's father show in this plot against
his son?
12. Was there any
other way in which the king's father could have
gained a share in
governing the land?
CHAPTER VII
After many
meetings the three wicked men decided that they would
pay some one to
kill the king, first making the murderer they chose
swear that he
would never tell who had ordered him to do the terrible
deed. It was not
very difficult to find a man bad enough to take money
for such an evil
purpose, and the next thing to do was to decide
where and when
the deed was to be done. Putraka had been very well
brought up by his
mother, and he often went to a beautiful temple near
his palace to
pray alone. He would sometimes stop there a long time,
winning fresh
wisdom and strength to do the work he was trusted with,
and praying not
only for himself, but for his father, his mother,
his aunts and
uncles, and for the people he loved so much.
The murderer was
told to wait in this temple, and when the young king
was absorbed in
prayer, to fall suddenly upon him and kill him. Then,
when Putraka was
dead, he was to take his body and bury it far away
in the depths of
the forest where it could never be found. At first it
seemed likely
that this cruel plot would succeed. To make quite sure,
the murderer got
two other men as wicked as himself to come and help
him, promising to
give them a share in the reward. But the god who
had taken care of
Putraka ever since he was born, did not forget him
now. As the young
king prayed, forgetting everything in his earnest
pleading for
those he loved, he did not see or hear the evil men
drawing
stealthily close to him. Their arms were uplifted to slay him,
and the gleam of
the weapons in the light that was always kept burning
flashed upon him,
when suddenly the heavenly guardian of the temple,
who never left it
day or night, but was generally invisible, appeared
and cast a spell
upon the wicked men, whose hands were arrested in
the very act to
strike.
What a wonderful
sight that must have been, when Putraka, disturbed in
his prayers,
looked round and saw the men who had come to kill him,
with the shadowy
form of the guardian threatening them! He knew at
once that he had
been saved from a dreadful death by a messenger from
the god he had
been worshipping. As he gazed at the men, the guardian
faded away and he
was left alone with them. Slowly the spell cast on
them was broken,
and they dropped their weapons, prostrated themselves,
and clasped their
hands in an appeal for mercy to the man they had
meant to destroy.
Putraka looked at them quietly and sadly. He felt
no anger against
them, only a great thankfulness for his escape. He
spoke to the men
very sternly, asking them why they wished to harm him;
and the chief
murderer told him who had sent them.
The knowledge
that his father wished to kill him shocked and grieved
the young long
terribly, but he controlled himself even when he learnt
the sad truth. He
told the men that he forgave them, for they were
not the most to
blame; and he made them promise never to betray who
had bribed them
to kill him. He then gave them some money and told
them to leave
him.
13. What do you
think the most beautiful incident in this account of
the scene in the
temple?
14. What do you
suppose were the thoughts of the murderers when they
left the temple
after Putraka forgave them?
CHAPTER VIII
When Putraka was
alone, he threw himself upon the ground and wept very
bitterly. He felt
that he could never be happy again, never trust
anyone again. He
had so loved his father and uncles. It had been
such a joy to him
to give them pleasure, and yet they hated him and
wished to kill
him. He wondered whether he was himself to blame for
what had
happened, and began to think he was not worthy to be king,
if he could make
such a mistake as he now feared he had made in being
so generous to
those who could have such hard thoughts of him as
to want to take
his life. Perhaps after all it would be better for
his country to
have another king. He did not feel as if he could go
back to his
palace and meet his father and uncles again. "What shall
I do? What shall
I do?" he cried, his sobs choking his voice. Never
in all his life
had he thought it possible to be so miserable as he
was now.
Everything seemed changed and he felt as if he were himself
a different
person. The only thing that comforted him at all was the
thought of his
mother, whose love had never failed him; but even that
was spoiled by
the remembrance that it was her husband who had wished
to kill him. She
must never know that, for it would break her heart:
yet how could he
keep it from her? Then the idea came to him that
the best thing he
could do would be to go away and never see his own
people again.
15. What do you
think was wrong in Putraka's way of looking at
the past?
16. Was his idea
of leaving his country and his people a sign of
weakness or of
strength?
CHAPTER IX
In the end the
poor young king decided that he would go right away
as his father and
uncles had done; and his mind being made up,
he became more
cheerful and began to think he might meet with some
interesting
adventures in a new country, where nobody knew anything
about him. As
soon as it was light, he wandered off into the forest,
feeling, it is
true, very lonely, but at the same time taking a
certain pleasure
in being entirely his own master; which a king can
never really be,
because he has to consider so many other people and
to keep so many
rules.
After all Putraka
did not find the forest so very lonely; for he
had not gone far
in it before his sad thoughts were broken in upon
by his coming
suddenly to a little clearing, where the trees had
been cut down and
two strong-looking men were wrestling together,
the king watched
them for a little while, wondering what they were
fighting about.
Then he called out, "What are you doing here? What
are you
quarrelling about?"
The men were
greatly surprised to hear Putraka's voice, for they
thought that they
were quite alone. They stopped fighting for a minute
or two, and one
of them said: "We are fighting for three very precious
things which were
left behind him by our father."
"What are
those things?" asked Putraka.
"A bowl, a
stick and a pair of shoes," was the reply. "Whoever wins
the fight will
get them all. There they lie on the ground."
"Well, I
never!" cried the king, laughing as he looked at the things,
which seemed to
him worth very little. "I shouldn't trouble to fight
about such
trifles, if I were you."
"Trifles!"
exclaimed one of the men angrily. "You don't know what
you are talking
about. They are worth more than their weight in
gold. Whoever
gets the bowl will find plenty of food in it whenever he
wants it; the
owner of the stick has only to write his wishes on the
ground with it
and he will get them; and whoever puts on the shoes
can fly through
the air in them to any distance."
17. Which of
these things would you rather have had?
18. What lesson
do you learn from what the men said about the things
on the ground?
CHAPTER X
When Putraka
heard the wonders which, could be done with what he had
thought not worth
having, he determined to get possession of the three
treasures for
himself; not considering that it would he very wrong to
take what did not
belong to him. "It seems a pity to fight," he said,
"why don't
you race for the things, and let whichever wins the race
have them? That
banyan tree over there would make a good winning post
and I will be the
umpire."
Instead of
guessing what Putraka had in his mind, the brothers, who
were very simple
fellows, said at once: "All right. We won't fight,
we'll race
instead, and you can give us the start." Putraka agreed,
and directly they
were off he lost not a moment, but picked up the
bowl and the
staff, put on the shoes, and flew straight up into the
air with the
treasures. When the brothers came back, disputing about
which of them had
won, there was not a sign of Putraka, the bowl,
the stick, or the
shoes. They guessed at once what had happened;
and after staring
up in the air for a long time, they went home,
feeling very much
enraged with the man who had cheated them, and
ashamed of having
been so stupid as to trust him.
19. What do you
think of Putraka's behaviour in this matter?
20. If you could
have had one of the three things Putraka stole,
which would you
have chosen?
CHAPTER XI
On and on flew
Putraka, full of eager delight in the new power of
flight. How he
loved rushing through the air, cleaving it like a bird
on the wing! All
he wanted to make him perfectly happy was someone
to enjoy his new
powers with him. Presently he found himself above
a beautiful city
with towers and pinnacles and minarets gleaming in
the sunshine.
"Ah!" he thought, "that is the place for me. I will go
down there, and
see if I can find a nice house to live in, and some
people to make
friends with, who will not try to kill me or to cheat
me, but love me
and be grateful to me for any kindness I show them."
As Putraka was
hovering in the air above the town to which he had
taken such a
fancy, he noticed a little house which rather pleased
him; for though
it was poor-looking, there was something cheerful and
home-like about
it. Down he sped and alighted at the door. Only one
poor old woman
lived in the house, and when Putraka knocked and asked
if he might come
in, she said "Yes" at once. He gave her some money,
and told her he
would like to live with her, if she would let him
do so. She was
only too glad to consent, for she was very lonely;
and the two lived
happily together for a long time.
21. Do you think
that if Putraka had flown home on his wonderful
shoes, taking his
staff and bowl with him, his, father and uncles
would still have
tried to kill him?
22. How could
Putraka have prevented them from doing him harm if he
had returned to
his home?
CHAPTER XII
The old woman
grew very fond of Putraka, caring for him and waiting
on him as if he
had been her own son. She was so anxious that he
should be happy
that she became afraid he would become tired of
living alone with
her. So she said to him one day: "My dear adopted
son, you ought to
have a wife to keep you company. I know the very
one for you, the
only one really worthy of you. She is a princess,
and her name is
Patala. She is so very lovely that every man who sees
her falls in love
with her and wants to carry her off. So she is most
carefully guarded
in the top rooms of a great palace, as high as
the summits of
the loftiest mountains." When Putraka heard this he
was all eagerness
to see the princess, and at once determined to go
forth to seek
her. He was more than ever glad now that he had stolen
the shoes,
because he knew that they would carry him even to the top
of the highest
mountains.
23. What qualities
did the old woman show when she told Putraka about
the Princess?
24. What faults
of character did the young king show when he decided
at once to leave
the old woman who had been so good to him?
CHAPTER XIII
The very evening
of the day when Putraka heard about the princess,
he started on his
journey, taking with him his bowl and staff. The old
woman gave him
very careful instructions which way to go, and begged
him to come back
to tell her how he had got on. He promised he would,
thanked her for
all she had done for him, and flew away in a great
state of
excitement. She watched him till he was quite out of sight,
and then went
sadly into her lonely home, wondering if she would ever
see him again.
It was not long
before Putraka came in sight of the palace. It was a
beautiful night,
and the moon was shining full upon the room in which
the princess was
asleep. It was a very big one, with costly furniture
and priceless
tapestry hung round the walls, and there were doors
behind the
tapestry leading to other apartments, in some of which the
attendants on
Patala slept, whilst others kept watch lest anyone should
intrude upon
their mistress. No one thought of guarding the windows,
for they were so
high up that only a bird could reach them.
The young king
alighted on the ledge of the window of the princess'
room, and looked
in. There, on a golden bed, amongst soft cushions
and embroidered
coverings, lay the most lovely creature he had ever
beheld, so lovely
that he fell in love with her at once and gave
a loud cry of
delight. This woke the princess, who started up and
was about to
scream out aloud in her terror at seeing a man looking
in at the window,
when Putraka with the aid of his magic staff made
himself
invisible. Then, thinking she had been dreaming, Patala lay
down again, and
the king began talking to her in a low voice, telling
her he had heard
of her beauty and had flown from far away to see
her. He begged
her to allow him to show himself to her, and added:
"I will go
away again directly afterwards if you wish it."
Putraka's voice
was so gentle, and it seemed to Patala so wonderful
that a man could
fly and make himself invisible, that she was full
of curiosity to
see him and find out all about him. So she gave her
consent, and
immediately afterwards the young king stood within the
room, looking so
noble and so handsome that she too fell in love at
first sight.
Putraka told her all about his life and adventures, which
interested her very
much. She was glad, she said, that he was a king;
but she would
have loved him just as well, whoever he might have been.
After a long
talk, Patala begged him to leave her for fear her
attendants should
discover him and tell her father about him. "My
father would
never let me marry you," she declared, "unless you were
to come with many
followers as a king to ask my hand; and how can
you do that when
you are only a wandering exile?"
25. Was there any
reason to fear that Putraka would be discovered
when he could
make himself invisible at any moment?
26. What do you
think would have been the right thing for Putraka
and Patala to do
when they found out that they loved each other?
CHAPTER XIV
It was very
difficult to persuade Putraka to go, but at last he
flew away. Every
night after that, however, he came to see Patala,
spending the days
sometimes in one place, sometimes in another, and
using his magic
bowl to supply himself with food. Alas, he forgot
all about the
dear old woman to whom he owed all his happiness,
and she slowly
gave up hope of ever seeing him again. He might quite
easily have flown
to her cottage and cheered her with his presence;
but he was so
wrapped up in his love for Patala that everything else
went out of his
head. This selfishness on his part presently got him
into serious
trouble, for he became careless about making himself
invisible when he
flew up to the princess' window. So that one night
he was discovered
by a guardian of the palace. The matter was at once
reported to the
king, who could not at first believe such a thing
was possible. The
man must have seen a big bird, that was all. The
king, however,
ordered one of his daughter's ladies to keep watch
every night in an
ante-room, leaving the door open with the tapestry,
in which there
was a slit, drawn carefully over it, and to come and
tell him in the
morning if she had seen or heard anything unusual.
Now the lady
chosen loved the princess, and, like many of her
fellow-attendants,
thought it was very cruel of the king to punish his
own child for
being so beautiful, by shutting her up as he did. It
so happened that
the very first night she was on guard, Putraka had
flown a very,
very long way, not noticing where he was going, because
he was thinking
so earnestly of Patala. When at last he flew in at
her window, he
was so weary that he sank down on a couch and fell
fast asleep. The
princess too was tired, because she had lain awake
talking to her
lover so many nights running that she had had hardly
any rest. So when
the lady peeped through the slit in the tapestry,
there, by the
light of the night lamp, she saw the young king lying
unconscious,
whilst the princess also was asleep.
Very cautiously
the attendant crept to the side of Putraka, and took a
long, long look
at him. She noticed how handsome he was, and that he
was dressed in
beautiful clothes. She especially remarked the turban
he wore, because
in India the rank to which men belong is shown by
the kind of
turbans they wear. "This is no common man," she thought,
"but a
prince or king in disguise. What shall I do now? I will not
raise an alarm
which might lead to this beautiful young lover being
killed and the
heart of my dear mistress broken."
27. If you had
been the lady who found Putraka in Patala's room,
what would you
have done?
28. What could
Putraka have done to guard against being discovered?
CHAPTER XV
After hesitating
a long time, the lady made up her mind that she would
only put some
mark in the turban of Putraka, so that he could be known
again, and let
him escape that night at least. So she stole back to
her room, fetched
a tiny, brooch, and fastened it in the folds of the
turban, where the
wearer was not likely to notice it himself. This
done, she went
back to listen at the door.
It was nearly
morning when Putraka woke up, very much surprised at
finding himself
lying on the couch, for he did not remember throwing
himself down on
it. Starting up, he woke Patala, who was terribly
frightened, for
she expected her ladies to come in any minute to help
her to dress. She
entreated Putraka to make himself invisible and fly
away at once. He
did so; and, as usual, wandered about until the time
should come to go
back to the palace. But he still felt too tired to
fly, and instead
walked about in the town belonging to Patala's father.
The lady who had
been on guard had half a mind to tell her mistress
that her secret
was discovered. But before she could get a chance to
do so, she was sent
for by the king, who asked her if she had seen
or heard anything
during the night. She tried very hard to escape
from betraying
Patala; but she hesitated so much in her answers
that the king
guessed there was something she wanted to hide, and
told her, if she
did not reveal the whole truth, he would have her
head shaved and
send her to prison. So she told how she had found
a handsome man,
beautifully dressed, fast asleep in Patala's room;
but she did not
believe her mistress knew anything about it, because
she too was
asleep.
The king was of
course in a terrible rage, and the lady was afraid
he would order
her to be punished; but he only went on questioning
her angrily about
what the man was like, so that he might be found
and brought
before him. Then the lady confessed that she had put
the brooch in the
turban, comforting herself with the thought that,
when the king saw
Putraka and knew that Patala loved him, he might
perhaps relent
and let them be married.
When the king heard
about the brooch, he was greatly pleased; and
instead of
ordering the lady to be punished, he told her that, when
the man who had
dared to approach his daughter was found, he would
give her a great
reward. He then sent forth hundreds of spies to
hunt for the man
with a brooch in his turban, and Putraka was very
soon found,
strolling quietly about in the market-place. He was so
taken by surprise
that, though he had his staff in his hand and his
shoes and bowl in
the pocket of his robes, he had no time to write
his wishes with
the staff, or to put on the shoes, so he was obliged
to submit to be
dragged to the palace. He did all he could to persuade
those who had
found him to let him go, telling them he was a king and
would reward them
well. They only laughed at him and dragged him along
with them to the
palace, where he was at once taken before the king,
who was sitting
on his throne, surrounded by his court, in a great hall
lined with
soldiers. The big windows were wide open; and noticing this,
Putraka did not
feel at all afraid, for he knew he had only to slip on
his shoes and fly
out of one of the windows, if he could not persuade
the king to let
him marry Patala. So he stood quietly at the foot of
the throne, and
looked bravely into the face of his dear one's father.
This only made
the king more angry, and he began calling Putraka all
manner of names
and asking him how he dared to enter the room of his
daughter. Putraka
answered quietly that he loved Patala and wished
to marry her. He
was himself a king, and would give her all she had
been used to. But
it was all no good, for it only made the king more
angry. He rose
from his throne, and stretching out his hand, he cried:
"Let him be
scourged and placed in close confinement!"
Then Putraka with
his staff wrote rapidly on the ground his wish that
no one should be
able to touch him, and stooping down slipped on his
magic shoes. The
king, the courtiers and the soldiers all remained
exactly as they
were, staring at him in astonishment, as he rose up in
the air and flew
out of one of the windows. Straight away he sped to
the palace of
Patala and into her room, where she was pacing to and fro
in an agony of
anxiety about him; for she had heard of his having been
taken prisoner
and feared that her father would order him to be killed.
29. What do you
think would have been the best thing for the king to
do when Putraka
was brought before him?
30. If Putraka
had not had his shoes with him, how could he have
escaped from the
king's palace?
CHAPTER XVI
Great indeed was
the delight of Patala when her beloved Putraka once
more flew in at
her window; but she was still trembling with fear
for him and
begged him to go away back to his own land as quickly
as possible.
"I will not
go without you," replied Putraka. "Wrap yourself up warmly,
for it is cold
flying through the air, and we will go away together,
and your cruel
father shall never see you again."
Patala wept at
hearing this, for it seemed terrible to her to have to
choose between
the father she loved and Putraka. But in the end her
lover got his own
way, and just as those who were seeking him were
heard
approaching, he seized his dear one in his arms and flew off
with her. He did
not return to his own land even then, but directed
his course to the
Ganges, the grand and beautiful river which the
people of India
love and worship, calling it their Mother Ganga. By
the banks of the
sacred stream the lovers rested, and with the aid of
his magic bowl
Putraka soon had a good and delicious meal ready, which
they both enjoyed
very much. As they ate, they consulted together
what they had
better do now, and Patala, who was as clever as she
was beautiful,
said:
"Would it
not be a good thing to build a new city in this lovely
place? You could
do it with your marvellous staff, could you not?"
"Why, of
course, I could," said Putraka laughing. "Why didn't I think
of it
myself?" Very soon a wonderful town rose up, which the young
king wished to be
as much as possible like the home he had left,
only larger and
fuller of fine buildings than it. When the town was
made, he wished
it to be full of happy inhabitants, with temples
in which they
might worship, priests to teach them how to be good,
markets in which
food and all that was needed could be bought, tanks
and rivulets full
of pure water, soldiers and officers to defend the
gates, elephants
on which he and his wife could ride, everything in
fact that the
heart of man or woman could desire.
The first thing
Putraka and Patala did after the rise of their own
town, which they
named Patali-Putra [1] after themselves, was to get
married in
accordance with the rites of their religion; and for many,
many years they
reigned wisely over their people, who loved them and
their children
with all their hearts. Amongst the attendants on those
children was the
old woman who had shown kindness to Putraka in his
loneliness and
trouble. For when he told Patala the story of his life,
she reproached
him for his neglect of one to whom he owed so much. She
made him feel
quite ashamed of himself, and he flew away and brought
the dear old lady
back with him, to her very great delight.
31. Which of the
people in this story do you like best?
32. Do you think
Putraka deserved all the happiness which came to
him through
stealing the wand, the shoes and the bowl?
33. Can you
suggest any way in which he could have atoned for the
wrong he did to
the brothers whose property he took?
34. What is the
chief lesson to be learnt from this story?
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