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he said: 'Queen, what is this that has happened to your body?' Then her slaves said : The queen suffered from an unhealthy state of body.' Then the king was cast down, and said again: “Why do I not see the garden with you, queen ?' The supposed Árámaçobhá said : King, I have let it go to drink water. It will come after me as soon as I think of it.' Then the king said to himself : 'Is this the real Árámaçobhá, or some other woman ?' On another occasion he said to the queen : Queen, summon that garden.' She said: 'I will summon it when a convenient season comes. The king said to himself: Of a truth this is not the real Árámaçobhá; it is some other woman.' Then the real Árámaçobhá said to the god : ‘My lord, separation from my son afflicts me exceedingly, so arrange that I may see my son.' Then the god said: 'By my power go and see your son, but you must come back quickly before dawn; if you do not, I will never grant you an interview again. Now, with regard to this matter, this shall be a sign to you: you shall see in your hair a dead snake.' She said: So be it.' Having said this, Árámaçobhá immediately went to the palace in which her son was sleeping. She took up her son in her tender hands,* and after playing with him a time, put him back comfortably in his place. Then she repaired to her palace below the earth, and threw all round the prince a heap of flowers and fruits coming from her own garden. In the morning the nurse of that son related this occurrence to the king. The king, hearing it, went and saw it with his own eyes, and said to the supposed Arámaçobhá : Queen, what is this that I see? She answered : 'My lord, I brought all these flowers and fruits from my garden. The king said: “Then bring some now. The queen answered : 'King, I can only bring them at night, but not in the day.' When the king heard that, he said to himself: 'Surely there is some foul play
* In Grimm's Märchen No. 11,' Brüderchen und Schwesterchen,' the real queen comes three times to nurse her child. On the third night the king speaks to her. See also Ralston's Russian Folk-Tales,' p. 184.
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