________________
280
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[OCTOBER, 1893.
but with no success. At last our hero said he would bring it, but all of them laughed at his folly, saying :- What a silly child you are. Boys bigger than yourself have failed to get it, and you say that you can bring it.' But the prince said he would bring it, though he was younger than the rest of the children. Upon this they laid a wager, to which the prince consented, and immediately dived headlong into the water, and in a few moments came on the shore triumph antly carrying the kambal, and thus won the wager. The prince then carried the kambal to his foster-parents, who asked him whence he got it, or whether he had come by it through stealing. The prince told them how, as he and other children were playing on the shore, they spied it floating on the water, and how, when all the children had failed, they laid a wager for it, opon which he dived into the sea and came out safely with the kambal.
“Now, in that conntry kambals were so rare, that even kings could seldom get them. The fisherman thought to himself :- This is a very beautiful kambal, but of what use can it be to a poor man like me? I will go and present it to the king.'
"So one day he took the kambal, and, going to the palace, made a present of it to the king. The king was certainly very much pleased with it, and asked the fisherman whence he had obtained it. The fisherman told him how, while his son and other children were playing on the seabeach, they saw it floating on the sea, and how, when all the children had failed in their attempts to get at it, his son succeeded in bringing it out. The king accepted the kambal at the hands of the fisherman with thanks, and rewarding him handsomely, dismissed him. Afterwards the king took the kambal and hung it on to his bed, but a maid-servant, who chanced to come into the room at the time, praised the kambal for its beauty, but said that if there two more hung up, then it would really lend beanty to the bed, and not otherwise. The king, thereupon, sent for the fisherman, and told him to order his son to fetch him two other kambals. The fisherman protested against the idea, saying:- My lord, it was by sheer chance that my son got that kambal, and it is simply impossible to get any more,' The king, however, would not be persuaded of the impossibility of getting more kambals, and told the fisherman that if his son failed to bring him two more kambals he would forfeit his head,
“Such, my lord, was the cruelty of the king. The poor fisherman went away downhearted, thinking upon the unreasonableness of the king. He went home, and, refusing to take any food or drink, took to his bed. Now, the love of the fisherman for the prince was so great that though he was now a lad of about eight years, he need to feed him like a child. That evening, therefore, the prince missed him at supper, and asked his foster-mother why his father did not come and eat with him. She said she was unaware of the reason why he did not take supper, lvut, perhaps, he was unwell. The prince, however, was not satisfied with the answer of bis foster-mother. So he went and asked the old man why he lay in bed, and why he did not j aim at supper; but the old man said :-'Go, my child, and take your supper. I do not w tany. Bat, father,' said the prince, 'yon fed me every day, and why don't you do so to-day? W at is the matter with you? What misfortune has befallen you that you look so downcast, and won't touch your food ? Tell me, father, all about your cares and anxieties.' The old man, thereupon, much pleased with the kind words of the prince, said :-My dear child, the kambal which you found in the sea, and which I presented to the king, is the cause of misfortune to me. The king took the kambal and hung it upon his bed, but a maid-servant, who chanced to come into the room, said that the kambal, no donbt, looked very beautiful in itself, but that, to impart beauty to the bed, there were required two more. The king, therefore, wants you to fetch him two more kambals. I tried hard to persuade him that it was impossible to get any more kambals, but in vain, for he will not convince himself of the impossibility, and says that, if you fail to carry out his orders, you run the risk of forfeiting your head. We have had no children, and God gave you to us in a miraculous manner in our old age, but this cruel king wants to deprive as of you. This, my child, is the cause of my grief, and I will rather starve myself to death, than see you snatched away from me. Go, my dear boy, and take your supper,
