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44
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ JANUARY, 1926
So the camelman went to the Emperor and said, "There is a wizard in thy prison. As I was going to buy dye for my son's wedding, he asked me to buy food for him : and when I refused, my son died; and the son of him who did his bidding came to life."'
So Akbar sent for Sulaiman, and when the messengers went into the prison, they found him sitting quite happy, with the bonds loosed from his hands and feet. So they brought him to the Emperor. And just then the Prince, who was supposed to be dead, rode up safe and sound. Akbar asked Sulaiman to explain what had happene!; and when he told the tale, he said: "All this happened through the might of the Lord Khwaja Khizr."
So Akbar restored him to favour and took his daughter to wife, and made him his Vazir. And when he went home, he found his house full of wealth as it was before.
Thus was he warned of the sin of disobeying the Lord and the merit of serving him.
83. The Sepoy and his faithless wife. (Recorded by Muhammad Husein of Chunar.)
There was once a sepoy who had a faithless wife, who fell into evil courses and had seven lovers. She wished to enjoy their society without trouble, so she went to the tomb of a saint close to her house and prayed to him :-"Lord, make my husband blind, and I will offer thee sweet cakes and an embroidered sheet." Every day she used to go and make the same prayer, until one day her husband missed her; and when she went to the tomb, he followed her and hid himself in a pit close by. When she made her usual prayer, he called out from the pit:"Feed your husband on chicken broth for forty days and he will lose his sight."
When she heard this, she was delighted and sent for her lovers and ordered each of them to provide a chicken by turns, till the forty days were over. Her husband had an excellent dinner every day, and when the forty days were nearly over, he began to grope about and feel his way with a staff, so that his wife believed that he was really losing his sight. She sent for her lovers and cooked a dinner for them and went to the tomb to make her thankoffering. Meanwhile her husband dosed the food with poison, and when her lovers came and ate it, they immediately died. The woman was sore afraid and knew not how to get rid of their corpses. Just then a beggar passed by, and she called him and said:" Shahji, remove this corpse for me and I will give you five rupees." He agreed, and she gave him one of the corpses, which he carried off on his back. Meanwhile she propped up another by the door, and when he came back for the money, she said:"You did not put the corpse in the right place and he has come back." He went off with the second corpse, and in this way she made him remove all the seven.
Just as dawn was breaking, he took the last corpse to a well and threw it in, and at that moment a water-carrier came to the well. When the Fakir saw him in the dark, he said:"You are the rascal that has been worrying me all night. Now I have you at last." And with these words he pitched the poor wretch into the well.
When he came back for his money, the sepoy was on the watch and slew him and his faithless wife with a sword. Then he left his house and became a Fakir himself. 84. The folly of the Cuckold.
(Told by Nazir Khan, Rajpût of Saharanpur.)
There was once a man who had a very pretty wife, of whom he was exceedingly jealous. So he used to lock her up every day in his house, when he went out on business. One day, as the woman was locked up in the house, she heard a man in the street calling out:"Mangoes to sell! Who will buy my mangoes?" So she went on the balcony and threw down some money, and asked the mango-seller to fling her up some mangoes. As she was buying the fruit, her husband returned and he was very angry.
"When a respectable woman talks to people in the street, what will people think of her ? " "Why do you watch me so carefully ?" said she: "If a woman chooses, she can make her husband bring her lover to her and take him away." "I defy you to do so," he retorted.
