Indian Antiquary Vol 18

Author(s): John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 33

JANUARY, 1889.]
was to act, when he bethought him of the old man and his scrap of paper, and the first sentence in it showed him a way out of his difficulty. It ran thus:-" Hesitate not, but tread boldly." So he went as close up to the palace as a boat could take him and then, to convince himself that it was really water that surrounded the palace, he plucked a piece of thread from his garments, and let it fall unperceived by any one upon what seemed to be the surface of the water, and to his great delight he found that the thread remained as dry as before, for it was not water that encircled the palace, but only a pavement of glass, so cleverly contrived as to resemble the water around, and thus deceive the unwary stranger's eye.
This contrivance not only served to attract attention towards the palace, but gave the owner, who was a bad character and enticed away unwary strangers into his den to rob them of their possessions, time to observe closely and form his opinion of the person to whom he offered his hospitality.
So when he saw our hero walking boldly on, as if he had found out the trick of the glass pavement, the bad man felt himself outdone for once, and thought he had to deal with one who might be more than a match for him. Nevertheless he welcomed him with great show of kindness, and pressed him to remain in his palace and consider it as his own till he could find suitable quarters for himself in the city.
The unsuspecting young man saw no reason why he should not accept the proffered hospitality; and ordering all his wares to be brought over to the palace, he took up his abode there with the minister and his daughter.
FOLKLORE IN WESTERN INDIA.
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He had a very pleasant time of it for some weeks, for his host and his daughter treated him with so much kindness and affability that he could hardly think of quitting their hospitable abode. There was one thing, however, which made the young man feel very uneasy as to his future. The sale of what few goods he had brought with him realized but a trifling sum of money, which melted away like snow in his hands in the face of the great expenses he had to incur to keep up appearances, and he had nothing left which he could invest once more in merchandise and thus try his luck again. So he wandered aimlessly from one part of the city to another in the hope of finding some suitable means of earning a livelihood.
One day as he was walking about the streets dressed in rather a homely suit of clothes and presenting a care-worn appearance, he happened to catch sight of his only sister, whom he knew had married into a wealthy family, and had often occasion to visit the city he was in, with her parents-in-law. She was standing at one of the windows of a large house, and their eyes met as he looked up, but she drew in her head and did not appear to notice him. So he went up to the door and desired one of the servants to go up and inform his mistress that her brother wished to see her. But the rich lady thought it beneath her dignity to acknowledge so near a relationship with one who went about on foot unattended by any servants or horses, and dressed in a style not at all becoming her father's son. So she sent him word that she did not want to see him or to have anything to do with him.
This hurt the poor fellow's feelings to the quick, and he walked away from the house in no very enviable frame of mind. He had not proceeded far, however, when he fell in with a person whose face he remembered as that of an old playfellow, the son of a man of very modest means, who had once been on very good terms with his father. The other recognized him also, and the two men, after greeting each other very kindly, began to talk of their private affairs. When this old acquaintance heard our hero's story, and learnt in what manner he had parted with the large sum of money placed at his disposal by his father, how he had been left amongst strangers without the means of subsistence, and how heartlessly his own sister had disowned him, he felt very sorry for him, and offered to place at his disposal a small sum of money which he had scraped together out of his slender earnings, saying:-"Take this, it is all I have; I am but a poor man's son, and can content myself with only the bare necessaries of life, but it is a different thing with you, who have been bred in the lap of luxury; make therefore what use you choose of this money, and do not concern yourself as to how you are to return it to me. First of all, provide yourself with suitable apparel, buy a good horse,