and invite him to the wedding. He does so, and is
pursued by the invited guest, from whom he escapes
only by throwing behind him earth, water, thorns, and
lastly fire, with all of which he has been provided by
his love. They produce corresponding obstacles which
enable him to get away from the uncle of his bride.
The demon now believes that his proposed son-in-law
must be a god in disguise, so he gives his consent to
the marriage. All goes well for a time, but at last
the prince wants to go home, so he and his wife fly
from her father's palace. Agnisikha pursues them. She
makes her husband invisible, while she assumes the
form of a woodman. Up comes her angry sire, and asks
for news of the fugitives. She replies she has seen
none, her eyes being full of tears caused by the death
of the Rakshasa prince Agnisikha. The slow-witted
demon immediately flies home to find out whether he is
really dead. Discovering that he is not, he renews the
pursuit. Again his daughter renders her husband
invisible, and assumes the form of a messenger
carrying a letter. When her father arrives and repeats
his question, she says she has seen no one: she is
going with a letter to his brother from Agnisikha, who
has just been mortally wounded. Back again home flies
the demon in great distress, anxious to find out
whether he has really been wounded to death or not.
After settling this question, he leaves his daughter
and her husband in peace. See Professor Brockhaus in
the "Berichte der phil. hist. Classe der K. Saechs.
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften," 1861, pp. 226-9, and
Professor Wilson, "Essays, &c.," ii. p. 136-8. Cf. R.
Koehler in "Orient und Occident," ii. pp. 107-14.]

In another story a king is out hunting and becomes thirsty. Seeing a
spring near at hand, he bends down and is just going to lap up its
water, when the Tsar-Medved, a King-Bear, seizes him by the beard. The
king is unable to free himself from his grasp, and is obliged to
promise as his ransom "that which he knows not of at home," which
turns out to be a couple of children--a boy and a girl--who have been
born during his absence. In vain does he attempt to save the twins
from their impending fate, by concealing them in a secret abode
constructed for that purpose underground. In th