Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 2, 1891.djvu/105

 Rh Sudassana mixes in the crowd, and follows. The snake charmer spreads his carpet, puts down his cages, and calls on the great serpent to come forth. Bhuridatta, recognising his brother, came out and made straight towards him. The people ran away, but Sudassana stood firm, and the serpent, having rested his head on Sudassana's instep, returned to his cage.

The snake charmer asked Sudassana if he was bitten, and told him not to be afraid, for he could at once cure him.

Sudassana answered, "Fear not, O snake charmer, thy serpent dared not bite me, for I am a very powerful snake charmer."

The snake charmer gets angry, and wants to know who he is; whereupon Sudassana offers to fight the serpent with his frog for 5,000 pieces of silver.

The snake charmer asks him to put down the money, or get a surety, whereupon Sudassana walks into the palace and gets the king to stand security. Seeing the king come out with Sudassana, the snake charmer tries to frighten Sudassana, but Sudassana tells him his serpent has no poison in his fangs, and cannot hurt.

At this the snake charmer gets more angry, and, after some further talk, Sudassana calls to Ajamukhi, and she hops down into his hand, where she lets fall three drops of poison. Then Sudassana, with a loud voice, cries out, "Now shall this kingdom of Benares be destroyed."

The king asks him to explain himself, and he says he cannot see anywhere that he can throw away the poison so as to prevent its doing harm. If he were to throw it on the earth, all the herbs and trees would be burnt up; if he were to throw it in the water, everything in the water would be killed. On begging him not to destroy the country, Sudassana tells the king to have three holes dug in a row. The first he filled with drugs, the second with cow-dung, and the third with some unknown charm; and, on bis casting the three drops of poison into the first hole,