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 194 One morning Koila heard the sound of singing in the distance, and it pleased him so well that he determined to try and discover who it was that possessed such an exquisite voice. For twelve days he journeyed on through the jungle, each day hearing the singing repeated louder and louder, yet still without reaching the place whence it came. At last, on the twelfth day, he got close to the Nautch people's encampment, not far from a large town, and there saw the singer (who was none other than Moulee), singing and dancing in the midst of a great crowd of people who had collected around her. In her hand she held a garland of flowers, which she waved over her head as she danced.

Koila was so charmed with the sound of her voice that he felt spell-bound, and stood where he was, far off on the outskirts of the jungle, listening, without going any nearer.

When the entertainment was over, all the people crowded round Moulee, saying, 'Why should you, who have such a beautiful voice, go away and leave our city? Marry one of us, and then you will stay here always.' Then, the number of her suitors being so great that she did not know whom to choose, she said, 'Very well, he on whose neck this garland falls shall be my husband.' And waving the flowers she held two or three times round her head, she threw them from her with her utmost force.

The impetus given to the garland was so great that it swang through the air beyond the crowd and fell upon the neck of Koila as he stood by the borders of the jungle. All the people ran to see who was the fortunate possessor, and when they saw Koila they were astonished, for he looked more beautiful than any of the sons of men; it was as if an Immortal had suddenly come among them. And the Nautch people dragged him back to their camp, crying, 'You have won the garland; you must be Moulee's husband.' He answered, 'I only came here to look on; I cannot stay. This is not my country; I have a wife of my own at home.'—'That is nothing to us,' they said; 'it is your destiny to marry Moulee,—Moulee the beautiful one, Moulee whose voice you heard, and who dances so well. You must marry her, for the garland fell on you.'

Now so it was, that though Koila was very kind to his wife, he did not love her as well as she loved him (perhaps it was that having been accustomed to her from a child, Chandra's goodness and beauty struck him less than it did other people), and instead of thinking how unhappy she would be if he did not return, and