Page:Bengal Fairy Tales.djvu/206

182 was lying in the tank. A girl came to bathe in the tank, and touching the snail with her foot she brought it out of the water and broke it, and out of it the prince issued forth, enchanting her with his ravishing personal charms. The girl took him home, where he remained as her friend.

The Rakkhashi quickly divined all this, and invented a fresh scheme to bring about his destruction. She told her husband that she might recover on touching certain things that were to be found in her father's kingdom, the things being Hasan Champa (Champa flowers), a particular spindle called Natan kati, and a raw melon twelve cubits long with its stone thirteen cubits in length. She also said that the only person who could fetch them was a prince, hiding himself in a house not far away. The king at once ordered his men to find out the prince, and bring him to the palace. They fulfilled their mission, and he was instantly bidden to start after the things, even though he gave out the antecedents of her who was then the queen. He began his journey only under compulsion.

Days and months passed away, and at last the prince reached a splendid mansion. He entered, but there was no one to be seen. Finding a grand staircase in one of the apartments, he ascended it and entered the first room that he came to. Here he was surprised to find a girl of rare beauty fast asleep. He tried to rouse her, but in vain. At length he saw two sticks lying by her, one of gold and the other of silver. He had heard before of the wonderful properties of such things, and taking up the stick of gold he touched the damsel with it, and she awoke, and asked him if he were a god, for who but a god could come into a house infested by Rakkhashis. The prince told her who he was, and on what mission he had come, and expressed a desire to learn more of her. On this, the girl related her history, saying that she was the daughter of a king, to whom the house she lived in had belonged. A body of Rakkhushes and Rakkhashis had invaded his kingdom and devoured him with his queen and all his subjects, his horses