Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/259

Rh think him the wicked little boy she had described.

"At last, wearied with his repeated complaints, and fearful, from Ma Qualoan's representations, that his son might prove a disgrace to his family, the unnatural father determined to rid himself of the child, whom he now considered a plague. Accordingly one day, when Aruman was seated sorrowfully by the banks of a stream, thinking sadly of his bitter lot, he perceived his father advancing towards him with a coil of rope in his hand. Impelled by a feeling of filial affection, Aruman rose to meet his father, who answered his affecionate greeting with a frown of displeasure, and throwing him down, secured his hands and feet, and then threw him into the river, saying, as he did so, 'Thou art the plague of my existence, begone from my sight for evermore!' 'Father! father!' cried the poor boy, 'you shall see me again!' Rh