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74 her lover out. When her husband came back, she met him with a firebrand in her hand and said: " My dear ! it is all right ! I have killed the ghost with this firebrand."

SOMEWHERE or other — it matters not where, there is a cemetery called Bhûtavana, and in it dwelt two demons whose names were Kurâla, and Uttâla. They each had a wife and a dispute arose between them, whose wife was the best-looking. They were out for a walk with their wives one day, when they came across a certain Mûladeva. They promptly seized him by the arms, and said that unless he told them at once which of the two ladies was the more beautiful, they would certainly kill him. Now the two ladies in question were both of them very old and absolutely hideous: so it was quite evident that if Mûladeva told the truth he could not possibly escape destruction. So he reflected a minute, and then he said: "He who has a charming wife, to him she is the most beautiful thing in the world." At these words the two demons were delighted and immediately let the tactful Mûladeva go free.