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OCTOBER, 1893.]
FOLKLORE IN SALSETTE, No. 16.
281
and do not think about me.' Thus said the fisherman, and leaved a deep sigh, and shed tears in profusion.
"Upon this the prince said :-*Is this all that has caused you so much anxiety? Go and tell the king to-morrow that I promise to fetch him the kambals. He must, for that purpose. provide me with a ship titted out with servants and provisions to last for severnl months, and also an iron chain many yards long. Then I will yo and bring him the kumbuls. In the meanwhile, father, calm your fears, and get up and take your supper.'
“At these words the fisherman took courage, and, getting up, took his supper. The following morning he went to the paince and told the king that his son had offered to fetch him kumbals, provided the king supplied lim with a ship and everything else requisite for a long voyage, with provisions to last for several months, and also an iron chain several yards long. The king agreed to the conditions, and ordered a ship to be built. He engaged numerous workmen, and a job, that would take some months, was finished in about a fortnight. The ship was then manned by a number of khalásis and other servants, and the king did not forget to provide also a long iron chain. Provisions were also stored in the ship that would last, not for months, but for years.
“Everything was now ready, and the prince, taking a tender leave of his foster-parents, embarked on board the ship, and set sail. They went on and on for many days. When they had reached the middle of the sea, they cast anchor. The prince now hooked the iron chain to the side of the ship, and said to the khaláxis :-'I am now going into the sea. Keep hold of the chain till you feel extra weight on it, when you must pull it up, and return home. Thus saying, the prince descended along the chain, and disappeared under the waters.
"Did you hear, O king? Such was the cruelty of the monarch, that for the sake of two kambals, he was determined even to deprive the poor fisberman of a son, whom he had obtained 80 miraculously. Here ends my story, O king, and now let me go."
The king listened with wrapt attention, for he had now not the least particle of doubt that the story was his own. At the same time it gladdened liim to find that his son was miraculously saved and was living. He wished to know more about his son, and would not believe the supposed old man that that was the end of his story.
So he begged of him to tell the whole story, saying :-"0 ájjá, this cannot be the end of the story; do tell me the whole of it. An old man of your age must know more."
And thus he kept pressing him and begging of him to finish the story. Thereupon the supposed old man continueti, saying -
“After the prince had disappeared under the waters, he walked on and on, and came upon a beautiful country, where he saw large gardens full of fruit-trees of all sorts bent down with the weight of their fruit.
"Here he walked for a couple of hours and came upon a large but solitary mansion, furnished in a manner better imagined than described. He entered the mansion, in which he saw & damsel of unparalleled beauty, from whose mouth, as she spoke, fell kambals. Our hero asked her who she was and what she was doing there all by herself, for wherever he cast his eyes, outside the mansion, he could see no vestige of human beings. The damsel was at first. glad to see him, and she was also enamoured of bim for his beauty, but said with a sorrowful tone: -'I am the daughter of a rúnkhas, who has gone out in search of his prey, which consists of animals and such like things, and occasionally human beings, should any unluckily fall into his hands. I am certainly very glad to see you, but am still anxious about your safety, for should my father, the ránkhas, see you, he will, without fail, make a meal of you.'
«* Then tell me where I can go or conceal myself with safety,' said the prince. The girl then said: - See, I will transform you into a fly and put you up on the wall, where you must
