enter, and she did not dare offer them any of the pearls she had with
her, lest they should think she was a thief. So she determined merely
to remain as close to the palace as possible, and wait till fortune
favoured her with the means of learning something further about her
sister. Just opposite the palace was a small house belonging to a
farmer, and the Princess went up to it and stood by the door. The
farmer's wife saw her and said, "Poor old woman, who are you? What do
you want? Why are you here? Have you no friends?" "Alas, no!" answered
the Princess. "I am a poor old woman, and have neither father nor
mother, son nor daughter, sister nor brother, to take care of me; all
are gone, and I can only beg my bread from door to door."

"Do not grieve, good mother," answered the farmer's wife, kindly. "You
may sleep in the shelter of our porch, and I will give you some food."
So the Princess stayed there for that night and for many more; and
every day the good farmer's wife gave her food. But all this time she
could learn nothing of her sister.

Now there was a large tank near the palace, on which grew some fine
lotus plants, covered with rich crimson lotuses--the royal flower--and
of these the Rajah was very fond indeed, and prized them very much. To
this tank (because it was the nearest to the farmer's house) the
Princess used to go every morning, very early, almost before it was
light, at about three o'clock, and take off the old woman's skin and
wash it, and hang it out to dry, and wash her face and hands, and
bathe her feet in the cool water, and comb her beautiful hair. Then
she would gather a lotus flower (such as she had been accustomed to
wear in her hair from a child) and put it on, so as to feel for a few
minutes like herself again! Thus she would amuse herself. Afterward,
as soon as the wind had dried the old woman's skin, she put it on
again, threw away the lotus flower, and hobbled back to the farmer's
door before the sun was up.

After a time the Rajah discovered that someone had plucked some of his
favourite lotus flowers. People were set to watch, and all the wise
men in the kingdom put their heads together to try to discover the
thief, but without avail. At last, the excitement about this matter
being very great, the Rajah's second son, a brave and noble young
prince (brother to him who had found the eldest Princess in the
forest) said, "I will certainly discover this thief." It chanced that
several