Page:Wonder Tales from Tibet.djvu/74

46 "My dear wife," said the Prince, "most grateful am I for this meeting, but now we must part again. The evil spirits have me in their power and have made me their water-bearer, and all day long I travel from the depths of the valley to the top of the mountain and back again, carrying water for them in a huge jug. And now I must return again to my labor."

"Let me stay with you!" cried Ananda eagerly. "Have I not gone to the ends of the earth to find you?"

"That may not be," replied the Prince; "nevertheless, since your love for me is so great, perhaps you can even yet win back my soul for me."

"How? Oh, tell me how!" said Ananda. "Nothing can be too hard for my love!"

"Go back, then," replied her husband, "go back to our palace cave and there build for me another golden cage and perch like those you burned. When they are finished, sit down before the cage and