Page:The jade story book; stories from the Orient (IA jadestorybooksto00cous).pdf/49

Rh with her words, and instead of punishing her, the Rajah married her; so she and her daughter came to the palace to live.

The new Ranee hated the seven poor Princesses, and wanted to get rid of them, so that her daughter might have all their riches. She was very unkind to them, and made them as miserable as she could, giving them only bread to eat and water to drink, and very little of either. This was very hard for the seven poor Princesses, who had always been used to the best of everything, and each day they would sit by their dead mother's tomb, and say:

"Oh, mother, cannot you see how unhappy and miserable your poor children are, and how our cruel stepmother is starving us?"

One day, while they were thus engaged, a beautiful pomelo tree grew up out of the grave, covered with fresh ripe pomelos, and the children certainly enjoyed the delicious fruit. And each day after this, instead of eating the poor food their stepmother provided for them, they would go to their mother's grave and eat the pomelos which grew there on the tree.