Page:Old Deccan Days.djvu/254

 210 than either of the others, cried, 'So be it! so be it! We will eat him first for dinner, and afterwards we will eat all the other Demons.' The evil spirits hearing this, one and all flew away from the confusion, and left their Rajah to his fate; while he cried, 'Oh, spare me! spare me! I see it is all true; only let me go, and I will give you as much treasure as you like.'—'No, no,' said the Pundit; 'don't listen to him, friends; we will eat him for dinner.' And the Wrestler and the Pearlshooter kicked and beat him harder than before. Then the Demon cried again, 'Let me go! let me go!'—'No, no,' they answered; and they chastised him vigorously for the space of an hour, until, at last, fearing they might get tired, the Pundit said, 'The treasure would be no use to us here in the jungle, but if you brought us a very great deal to our own house, we might give up eating you for dinner to-day; you must, however, give us great compensation, for we are all very hungry.' To this the Demon Rajah gladly agreed, and calling together his scattered subjects, ordered them to take the three valiant men home again, and convey the treasure to the Pundit's house. The little Demons obeyed his orders with much fear and trembling, but they were eager to do their best to get the Pundit, the Pearlshooter, and the Wrestler out of Demon-land, who for their parts were no less anxious to go. When they got home, the Pundit said, 'You shall not leave until the engagement is fulfilled.'

Instantly Demons without number filled the house with riches; and when they had accomplished their task, they all flew away, greatly fearing the terrible Pundit and his friends, who talked of eating Demons as men would eat almonds and raisins. So, by never showing that he was afraid, this brave Pundit saved his family from being eaten by these evil spirits, and also got a vast amount of treasure. He divided the spoil into three equal portions: a third he gave to the Wrestler, a third to the Pearlshooter, and a third he kept himself; after which he sent his friends with many kindly words back to their own homes. So the Pearlshooter returned to his house laden with gold and jewels of priceless worth; and when he got there, he called his wife and gave them to her, saying, 'I have been a far journey, and brought back all these treasures for you, and I have learnt that your words were true, since in the world there are cleverer men than I; for mine is a cleverness that profits not, and but for a Pundit and a Wrestler, I should not have gained these riches. I will shoot the pearl from your nose-ring no more.' And he never did.