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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[NOVEMBER, 1892
that brayed." "You lie," said the king, "I will go and ask him myself." When the king asked the sentry he made the same answer. So the king came back and said to the queen :"You must leave this to-morrow morning."
Next morning the queen went off in her litter and at last reached a jungle. Through excess of grief she had not slept a wink the whole night, and was so tired that she fell asleep in the litter. Then the bearers, seeing night coming and in dread of the wild animals, quietly put the litter on the ground and ran away. When the queen awoke, finding herself alone and hearing the roaring of the wild beasts, she trembled and closed the doors of the litter. As night advanced tigers, bears and wolves roared all round her, and she lay inside trembling with fear.
When morning broke all the beasts of the forest went back to their dens, and she got up and prayed to God to appoint her some place where she could live in quiet, and get bread and water for her support. The Lord heard her prayers, and when she got out of the litter she saw a house inside a dense thicket. Going there she found that it had only a single door, which was locked. Looking about she saw the key hanging on a peg. When she opened the door, she went in and found a lot of property lying scattered about. So she locked the door thinking ** the house may belong to some demon (déo), and if he sees me he will kill me."
When evening came a faqir, to whom the house belonged, arrived and found the door locked. He knocked and said: "Open the door. Who has dared to shut up my house?" The queen made no answer, and did not open the door. When he got tired of knocking, the faqir said: "Whether you are a jinn, or a pari, or a déo, or a haman being, open the door, and I won't hurt you." Then the queen told him the whole story and said: "Promise that we shall live as father and daughter; then I will open the door." So the faqir made the promise and said : "I will give you half of all I get by begging." The queep then opened the door, the faqir went in, and they lived there for some time happily.
Now when the queen left home she was with child, and after some time gave birth to a son, who was very beautiful. When the boy was three or four years old, one day the queen took him to bathe on the sea shore. As she was bathing him a merchant's ship appeared, and when the merchant saw the queen, he desired to take her with him. But she refused. Then the merchant secretly showed the boy some sweetmeats and the boy ran up to him. The merchant seized him and put him into the ship, and loosed it from the shore. Seeing this the queen wept violently and implored him to give back her son. The merchant said: "I will restore him only on condition that you come with me." When the queen saw that he wonld not restore the child and was taking him off, through affection for the boy she agreed to go: but when the merchant desired to take her to wife she refused. The merchant thought that if he killed the child she would marry him, so after going some distance be stopped the ship, and with a pretence of great affection took the boy with him and pitched him into & well. When he returned to the ship the queen asked where her child was; he said: "I don't know. I took him a short way with me, but he turned back to yon, and now I can wait here no longer." The queen was sure he had killed her son, and began to weep and be wail.
Now the fairies lived in the well into which the little prince had been thrown. They took him up in their arms and carried him quietly to their house. For two or three days the boy was quite happy, but then he began to cry and wanted to go back to his mother. But the fairies warned him, -"Don't go there, for the merchant will kill you." But he would not mind them. Then the fairies gave him two sticks, one white and the other black, and said: “When you smell the black stick you will become white as a leper, and when again you smell the white one you will get all right. So when you see your mother's ship, smell the black stick. If you don't, the merchant will take your life."
The moment the young prince got out of the well he ran in the direction where the ship had gone. The merchant from a distance saw him through his telescope (!) and recognised him. Then he got off the ship, took a sword and cut off his head, and then went on board again.
