Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 4, 1893.djvu/535

Rh donkey said: "The horse showed you a fine sight, now mount on my back, and I'll show you a sight, too." He mounted the donkey, and it flew off with him to his own father's town, and there he got down. The prince and Kismat Pari never met again, but they say they are still wandering about the world looking for each other.

XVIII. [This and the following story are related of Shah-Jehan, the celebrated Mughal Emperor, son of Jehangir and father of Aurangzeb. The first story is merely an example of the way in which old legends attach themselves to well-known names. The second story, on the other hand, is a popular version of an actual historical fact, the rebellion of Aurangzeb against his father. The allusion to Nur-Jehan, and the mysterious influence she had over her husband, is worth notice as a popular explanation of the power she exercised over her husband. Shah-Jehan is here substituted for his father Jehangir, who was Nur-Jehan's real husband.]

A certain man who had no son was accosted by a faqīr, who begged for alms, but he said: "I have nothing to give you; you faqīrs plunder the country. But if you will pray that I may have a son I will give you whatever you ask for." The faqīr said: "To-night I will rest at your house, and if I see anything I will pray for you, and if not, I will go my way." That night the faqīr slept there, and in the morning he arose and said: "By the divine order a son will be born to you, but when your son grows up, King Shah-Jehan will kill him." The other replied, "I cannot hide him from God, but I can hide him from King Shah-Jehan"; and with that he gave the faqīr a present, and he went his way.

By God's mercy a son was born to him, and he told his