d built, her nest in it. He was a very
kind man, and so allowed the little bird to live there, and in gratitude
to the king this sparrow was in the habit of telling him all she saw as
she flew around the city from morn to night, and whenever the king
wished to find out anything that puzzled him, he would often call the
sparrow to tell him what to do.

He therefore now called the little bird and asked it what ailed the
tree, and the sparrow told him that the woman who was then in the royal
apartments and wearing the clothes of the _Nang Me Prah_ was not the
real queen, but a woman named Nang E, and seeing her approach, the brave
little bird began whistling, "This is not the _Nang Me Prah_, this is
Nang E, Nang E. Oh! Nang E!"

In a great rage the king commanded his servants to call the woman, and
when she was come into the royal presence she dared not open her mouth
to answer the king, for she was not so clever as her mother, who could
disguise her voice as well as her face, and she knew that if she began
to speak the king would see that she was not Nang Hsen Gaw, so she
remained silent. But this did not save her, for the king looked at her
and said:

"You wear the robes and jewels of my queen, but you have not the same
face, and you are afraid to speak to me," and he immediately called his
chief executioner to take her away and cut off her head.

But even this did not bring back the music to the tree, and the king was
disconsolate.

The next morning when the guard of the royal garden went to his post, he
saw, near the well, a beautiful _mawk moo_ flower, took it home with him
and placed it in the _chattie_ of water that every Shan keeps in his
house as an offering to the _hpeas_. The old mother Nai, soon after took
her basket and went to the bazaar to buy _puc_ for her son's breakfast,
but when she returned she was surprised to see that during her absence
some one had swept the house, cooked the food, and that the "morning
rice" was all ready to eat. The eating-tray was set out in the middle of
the room. The rice and curry was arranged in order on it, and the
drinking _chattie_ was full of scented water. She called her son and all
the neighbors to ask who had done this, but no one could tell her, and
in great amazement they sat down to their meal. That evening the same
thing happened again. While she was out, the house was again swept, the
food was prepared, and the tray arranged as in the morning. For several
day