Page:Wonder Tales from Tibet.djvu/148

114 breadth of the land there was sorrow and anxiety. Fathers and mothers could scarce sleep for thinking that it might be the turn of their son or daughter to go to the head of the river and be cast into the cave of the monster serpents. Nowhere was there more unhappiness than in the family of the Khan, for he grieved for each lad or lass as if each were his own child. Seeing the care and sorrow in his father's face, the Khan's son, whose name, by the way, was Schalu, thought long and earnestly.

"Surely," he kept repeating to himself, "there must be some way in which I can help my father and free my country from this great curse!" But no matter how hard he thought, no way presented itself to his mind. The fateful time drew ever nearer, and finally the very next day was the dreaded one on which the serpent-gods would send a messenger, demanding by name some girl or boy in the kingdom.

That night Schalu could not sleep for