Page:Indian fairy tales (1892).djvu/207

 and they laughed at her for choosing such a poor ugly husband as hers seemed to be, and said to each other, mockingly, "See! our sister has married this poor, common man!" Their six husbands used to go out hunting every day, and every evening they brought home quantities of all kinds of game to their wives, and the game was cooked for their dinner and for the King's; but the husband of the youngest princess always stayed at home in the palace, and never went out hunting at all. This made her very sad, and she said to herself, "My sisters' husbands hunt every day, but my husband never hunts at all."

At last she said to him, "Why do you never go out hunting as my sisters' husbands do every day, and every day they bring home quantities of all kinds of game? Why do you always stay at home, instead of doing as they do?"

One day he said to her, "I am going out to-day to eat the air."

"Very good," she answered; "go, and take one of the horses."

"No," said the young prince, "I will not ride, I will walk." Then he went to the jungle-plain where he had left Katar, who all this time had seemed to be a donkey, and he told Katar everything. "Listen," he said; "I have married the youngest princess; and when we were married everybody laughed at her for choosing me, and said, 'What a very poor, common man our princess has chosen for her husband!' Besides, my wife is very sad, for her six sisters' husbands all hunt every day, and bring home quantities of game, and their wives therefore are very proud of them. But I stay at home all day, and never hunt. To-day I should like to hunt very much."