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186
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MAY, 1891.
The king got into a rage, and roared out: "Thou liest. One tells me he saw a cat, another saw a tiger, a third saw a saitán; and you say you saw a bhujang. How can it be possible? Should you again tell me such tales, I shall send you all to the gallows! Why not say that you all went to sleep at your posts? Or, at any rate, tell me the truth another time."
Our heroine, however, was confident of what she had seen and done, and said: "Sire, pardon me for interrupting you. What I have told you is nothing but the truth, and I will prove it to you by shewing you the bhujang's head, which I brought with me after I had killed it."
"Very well," said the king, and away went our heroine to her house, and in a short time came back in triumph carrying the bhujang's head, which she placed before the king, who, on seeing it, was amazed at the bravery of his sipáhs, and praised him in eulogistic terms, and at the same made overtures for marriage with his daughter, also offering him half of his kingdom as promised. Our heroine, who did not wish to betray herself, willingly accepted the offer, and the king at once fixed on a day for the celebration of the auspicious event.
First of all the king erected a large palace for his daughter and son-in-law to live in after their marriage, and furnished it very handsomely. He also attached to it a large establishment of servants, such as befitted a royal couple. Next, the king made preparations on a very grand scale, and in due time the wedding was celebrated with great pomp and show, after which the married couple went to reside in the newly built palace. A few days afterwards, on enquiry from her mother, the bride complained of her husband's backwardness regarding the consummation of the marriage, and the queen in her turn told about it to the king, who remonstrated with his son-in-law.
Our heroine replied: "Father, I have made a vow to that effect for twelve years, in consequence of which, I trust, you will pardon my backwardness."
This answer satisfied the king, who never afterwards touched upon the subject. A few years later, the king made over the reins of government to his supposed son-in-law, who, on his part, governed the kingdom with great justice and benefit to his subjects.
To return to the pâtél's house. As soon as the youngest daughter-in-law was turned out of the house in the manner related above, the money and property, acquired by her industry, was soon spent, and the family became again sunk in deep poverty, and this to such an extent, that at times they had to live without a meal for several days together. Then the patel and his youngest son began to repent of their folly in listening to the tales of the other daughters-in-law, and in turning out of the house the youngest daughter-in-law, and leaving their house, wandered from city to city and country to country, in search of the youngest daughter-in-law.
Now our heroine, when she assumed charge of the kingdom, had privately sent some men to the patel's country to bring her news as 'to how her family were faring; but all returned saying that they could not trace his house, and that all that they could hear was, that the family was in a very deplorable state, and had left the place, and gone no one knew where.
One day it happened, that, as the patel and his youngest son were wandering, they chanced to come to the country over which our heroine was reigning. They were reduced to mere skeletons, and of clothing they had none, save little rags about their loins. In this state, the son, who was fatigued, sat down to rest himself not very far from the palace, while the pátél went about begging. Our heroine saw the old man and recognized in him her father-in-law, in spite of the state he was in, and sending a servant, ordered him into the palace. As soon as he arrived, she had him bathed, then she gave him some clean clothes to wear, after which she served him with food in the manner she used to do when at his house. After doing ample justice to his appetite, he exclaimed:
"Ha! Yes! This is exactly how my youngest daughter-in-law used to treat me. Now she is gone, I don't know where."
