Page:Folk Tales from Tibet (1906).djvu/55

Rh So he set to work, and soon scraped out for himself a shallow grave in the soft soil. As soon as it was ready, he lay down in it and resigned himself to death.

A few minutes later one of the King's Servants, who happened to be passing by carrying an earthen jar full of oil for the King's palace, noticed the Boy lying on his back in the shallow grave, so he stopped and asked him what he was doing. The Boy replied:

"The soles of my feet are turning yellow, and that, as you know, is a sure sign that I am going to die; so I have prepared myself a grave, and am just waiting here till death comes."

"Oh, nonsense!" replied the Servant; "you could not talk like that if you were really dying. Come, get up, and help me to carry this jar of oil for the King, and I will give you a hen for yourself."

So the foolish Boy got up out of his grave, and taking the jar of oil on his back, he walked along the road with the King's Servant towards the palace. As they went along, he kept thinking to himself what he should do with his hen when he got it.

"As soon as I have got some eggs," thought he to himself, "I shall set the hen to hatch them. And then I shall have a nice lot of chickens. And when the chickens grow up into cocks and hens I shall sell them in the market. And with the money I get I shall buy a cow. And presently the cow will have a calf. And when the calf grows big I shall sell both the cow and the calf. And with the money I get I shall buy a nice little house. And when I have settled down in my house I