Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 2.djvu/398

 358 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [Decembeb, 1873. “ I have given away everything I possessed, there is nothing left in my store; my priest has asked for a touchstone, and I am very anxious about it, because if I do not give it my vow will be broken.’' On hearing this his son said, “ I will bring you the touchstone; do not trouble about it, only ask the priest to grant yon six months’ time.” The king made the request and said to his son, “ The Brahman has granted me the six months : do yon go now and bring tho stone.” So his son started on his quest, and when he had travelled three or four days’ journey from his home he came to a forest, through which ho travelled till evening, and then he found himself surrounded on every side by dense impenetrable forest, where there was no chance of meeting any one, and moreover he was without food and the night was very dark; so he was much cast down, and as he was very tired he sat down under a tree where the cool breeze blew on him, and being worn out with the fatigue of his journey he soon fell asleep. Now a pair of birds had made their nest in that tree, and the hen-bird seeing him said to her mate, “ Why has this man come to our tree P he is our guest, and if we let him remain here without food we shall be guilty of a great sin.” The cock-bird answered, “ I do not know why he has come, and I don’t see how we can show him any attention as a guest: have you any plan ?” She replied, “ You go and catch a fish and I will stay here and watch over him; I have made my plans.” So the cock went to catch the fish, and tho hen woke the prince and told him to collect the sticks that were lying undor the tree and light a fire. The prince did so, and in a short time the bird camo back with the fish, and told him to roast it and make himself comfortable. The prince re¬ plied, “ I have made a vow, and until that vow is fulfilled I will take no food.” Then the bird said, “ I know the cause of your coming; you may take food ; you have come for a touchstone, and I will give it you.” At theso words the prince took food, and when he had eaten he asked for the touchstone. Now the shell of the eggs of these birds will not burst unless it be rubbed with a touchstone, and for this reason they had brought one from over the sea, and this stone they gave to the prince. In the morning the prince took the touchstone and went on his way home. In the third watch of the day he came to a place inhab¬ ited by robbers. Now the people of that village were magicians, and by their enchantments they brought people under their power, and at night killed them and plundered their goods. Amongst them was a chief robber who had a daughter named Prann&sini and five sons, who, the instant they saw any traveller, pretended that he was tho husband of Pr&nn&sini and took him to their house, and at night she would take him into the sleeping-room and at midnight throw him into a state of insensibility by magic and then kill him with a knife. These men met the king’s son with the touchstone, and invited him to their house, and said to him, “ Sir, you married our sister when you were very young, and then went away and left her: up to this time wo have not been able to find any trace of you. We did not know where you lived, so that we could come and fetch you and take care of you; and we are very glad that have come here to-day.” The king’s son was very much astonished to hear it, and began to think, “ It may be sothen again he thought, “ I can never have been married: had it been so, my father and mother would certainly have told me.” Thus he did not know what to believe, but at last decided that he would know about it soon: so he remained in the house. The robber gave him some food, and after he had eaten he went and sat in a veranda in front of the house. Now opposite the balcony was the house of another robber, and directly he saw the prince he knew by his magical arts that ho was in possession of a touch¬ stone, and as he wished to get it ho put on an ap¬ pearance of honesty, and in a conspicuous placo in front of his house he planted a basil-tree and call¬ ed upon Hari and paid his devotions before it. When the king’s son saw this, ho thought he must be an honest man, and felt sufficient confi¬ dence in him to deposit the touchstone with him, so he asked him to take care of the stone for that day. The robber replied, “ Good God ! I have never touched any riches in my life, and here is this wretch come to deposit his wealth with me.” On hearing this the confidence of the king’s son was greatly increased, and he became very importunate, so that at last tho robber said, “ Very well, put it in the window.” The prince did so and went back to the balcony. In the meantime Pr&nn&sint came, as if she were really his wife, and took him into the inner room with the intention of killing him, and after they had shut the door they went to sleep; but when she saw how handsome he was she deter¬ mined that she would not kill him, so she said to him, “ All the people here are robbers, and I help them, and princes have been killed by my'aid : now I wish you to marry me, and if you. will do so I will promise faithfully that I will behave kindly to you, and will not take your life.” When the prince heard that, he took courage and married her. After the marriage Pr&nn&sini made magical calculations and discovered that the prince had