Page:Tales from the Indian Epics.djvu/29

Rh hermitage. With his heart burning with hatred against Prince Takshaka he made his way to the court of King Janamejaya the Bharata, who ruled in Hastinapura.

 

there lived in India a great king named Prajapati. He had two beautiful daughters, both of whom he gave in marriage to a king no less great than himself, Kashyapa by name. And Kashyapa cherished them both and loved them dearly. One day he said to them, "O my Queens, ask each of you a boon and it shall be granted to you." Queen Kadru, who was the elder, answered first: "My lord King, the boon that I would ask is this; let me be the mother of a thousand snakes." King Kashyapa said, "Queen Kadru, the boon is granted to you." Then he turned to Queen Vinata. "My lord King," said the younger queen, "grant that I become the mother of two sons who shall be equal in strength to the thousand snakes born of my sister." King Kashyapa said, "Queen Vinata, the boon is granted to you."

In due course Queen Kadru gave birth to a thousand eggs, and from them issued a thousand snakes. Queen Vinata gave birth to two eggs. But from Queen Vinata's eggs nothing came forth. At last Vinata, ashamed that Kadru should have borne a thousand sons and that she herself remained without offspring, broke open one of the eggs. At once there rose a strange shape from the broken egg. Its head and upper part had the form of a