arch
for nuts as she walked under the trees, and her fame spread far and
wide.

At this time a hunter came wandering through the jungle in search of
game, and saw her standing at her door. He, like everybody else, was
struck with her wonderful beauty, and he thought to himself, "For a long
time I have been most unfortunate. I have caught but few animals, and
their furs have been poor and mangy. Now, if I tell the king of my
country about this beautiful girl, he will give me a great reward."

Thus reasoning he set out home and told the king what he had seen,
enlarging upon her great beauty till the king resolved to get her at any
cost.

He therefore set out, taking with him soldiers and attendants as became
such a mighty lord, and when he saw the object of his journey he
acknowledged that the hunter had not deceived him, and he determined to
take her back with him to the palace; but at the same time he made up
his mind to go about it in a cunning way.

Now this king had a wonderful fighting cock of which he was very proud,
and which had never been beaten. It had a beak of iron and spurs as
sharp as the knives that come from Lai Hka, and a voice so loud and
piercing that every morning when he crowed every other rooster in the
city scurried away in fright at the challenge.

The king, therefore, said that he and the woman's husband should have a
cock fight. He would wager his country against the other's wife. In
great sorrow the man went out into the jungle to think over his
misfortune, and while sitting on the ground in a most disconsolate
manner he heard a little bird calling his name, and looking up he saw
his brother, the kingfisher, perched above him.

"O brother, do not fear," said the bright little bird. "I do not forget
that you are my brother and have guarded me long, and now I will surely
help you in your trouble."

When the time came for the fight, therefore, and the king's fighting
cock stood proudly up, suddenly down from a tree flew the kingfisher,
pecked him with his long, sharp bill, and then flew away before he could
so much as turn his head. Time and again this happened till the king's
challenger finally stretched himself dead on the ground.

The fight ending in this way, however, did not suit the selfish king a
bit, and he therefore said it was not a fair fight, and brought out a
large, fierce dog. This dog was the terror of the State, but the king
said that it should fight any other dog that co