Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 2, 1891.djvu/102

 94 then turn ascetic; so Bhuridatta allowed them to depart, telling them that if they changed their minds and came back, he would give them further riches.

The Brahman and his son return home, and on the road see a pond, in which they bathe; and as soon as they do so all their fancy garments fall off and disappear, and their old clothes are restored to them. Seeing this, Somadatta wept, but his father consoled him by pointing out the pleasure of hunting.

When they got to the house, the Brahman's wife came out to welcome them; and they told her where they had been, but, on hearing they had brought back none of the splendid things that were given them, and that the old Brahman had even refused a splendid ruby that would give everything that one wished for, she flew into a passion, abused her husband, and drove him out of the house.

About that time a Garula (fabulous eagle) was looking out for Nágas (their hereditary enemies), and having seized one, carried it off towards the Himavanta forest. The serpent, in its struggle, caught hold of a banyan-tree in the country of Benares, at the foot of which a hermit was sitting. The Garula carried off both serpent and tree to Himavanta, and, after eating the fat of the serpent, discovered he had brought the tree too. Recognising the tree, he was terrified lest the hermit should lay a curse on him. So he went to the hermit and questioned him as to whether the Garula who carried off the tree was to be blamed. Finding that the hermit was not angry with the Garula, he admitted that it was he who had unwittingly done it, and taught the hermit the charm for subduing serpents.

Not long afterwards, a poor Brahman came to this hermit and served him, and in return the hermit taught him the snake charm. The Brahman then went off, and as he was travelling along one morning, he came across a number of