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COWS.
At sunset she came home tired, and had to perform her household duties. As she worked like this every day, she became exhausted by the excessive burden of her family duties. One day, being quite broken down by the burden of household service, she said to her father: Father, bring to the house another mother, in order that I may be comfortable. When he heard this speech of his daughter's, he married another wife. She threw all the burden of the house on Vidyutprabhá, and gave her whole attention to anointing her body with unguents, bathing, and personal adornment.* Vidyutprabhá said to herself: 'Alas! I got my father to bring another mother into the house with the hope of gaining relief for myself; but since this lady came I have been especially afflicted by increase of my labour, while this mother of mine sits with her feet crossed in perpetual ease.' Living a life of such hardship, she reached the age of twelve years. Now, about this time it happened that one day she threw grass before the cattle, and went to sleep. Then a huge black snake came near her in a state of the greatest terror, and, waking her up, began to say to her with a human voice: 'I am exceedingly terrified, and have come to you for protection. If these wicked snake-catchers follow me up, they will take me and throw me into a basket, so do you, my darling child, put me in your own lap and cover me up with your outer garment.' Then Vidyutprabhá fearlessly did as he said. Immediately the snake-catchers arrived with potent herbs in their hands. The snake-catchers said to the girl: Girl, have you seen a snake coming this way?' The Brahman's daughter said to the snake-catchers: 'I was asleep, so I know nothing about it.' The snake-catchers said to one another: This girl has seen the snake, and is frightened out of her life.' So the snake-catchers departed. She said to the snake: 'All the snake-catchers are gone, so dismiss your fear and depart.' Then the snake abandoned its snake body and became a manifest god, and said to that maiden: 'My
*The behaviour of the stepmother is of the true folk-lore type. Compare Ralston's Russian Folk-Tales,' p. 150.
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