Page:Bengal Fairy Tales.djvu/223

Rh out his instructions even for a moment. Hastening home she did as he had told her.

Next day the Brahmin, elated with success, and with his forehead spotted with vermilion, saw the king; and after muttering some unintelligible jargon, told him that the necklace was lying in the tank near to the palace. The king then sent men to fetch it, but it could not be found, even after the minutest search. Who could now look at his wrathful frown without a tremor? The Brahmin was ordered to be put in chains. But he knew that the thief had not deceived him, and he stuck to his former assertion. At his importunity the tank was dragged, and an earthen pot, not a harhi, but a smaller one, was brought up, and the necklace was found inside it. The king and the Brahmin were transported with joy, and the former embraced the latter, appointing him chief scholar in his court. Presents and gifts of the most precious kind were made to him, and he passed his days in affluence. Daily he took his seat in the king's court. No one even of the greatest scholarship could venture to lift up his head in his presence, and the king and queen daily laid flowers at his feet.