Page:Sagas from the Far East; or, Kalmouk and Mongolian traditionary tales.djvu/189



therefore the Well-and-wise-walking Khan saw that he had again failed in the end and object of his journey, he once more took the way of the cool grove; and having taken the Siddhî-kür captive as before in his bag, in which there was place for a hundred, and made fast the mouth of the same with his cord woven of a hundred threads of different colours, he bore him along to present to his Master and Teacher Nâgârg'una.

And as they went the Siddhî-kür asked him to beguile the way with a tale, or else give the signal that he should tell one. And when the Well-and-wise-walking Khan had given the signal that the Siddhî-kür should tell one, he began after this wise, saying,—

Long ages ago there dwelt in the neighbourhood of a city in the north part of India called Taban-Minggan a man and his wife who had no children, and nine cows for all possessions. As the man was very fond of meat