Page:Folk-lore of the Telugus.djvu/103

95 appeared respectfully before the sannyasin and asked him what he wanted him to do. The sannyasin said:—O king! you do not fail to abide by your promise. I am very glad you have come here. Whenever I intend to perform a tapas, one Bethala throws as many obstacles as he can in the way, and never allows it to reach completion. As you are the strongest and bravest of men, if you will bring Bethala here, tied hand and foot, there will be no one to throw obstacles in the way of my tapas. If you talk to Bethala while bringing him here, he will assuredly run away. You should, therefore, not talk to him at all." Vikramarka then enquired the whereabouts of Bethala, went and tied him up and carried him on his back. Bethala said to him that he would put him a question which if he knowingly failed to answer, would break his head into a thousand pieces:—

"O king ! In days long gone by there lived a king named Yasakethu, who held sway over Sobhavatipura according to the dharmas laid own in the Sastras, Close to the town was