drop it,
do not forget it, mind it carefully and take it home." On the way
the sun-god came in the guise of a cowherd and stole the stick. When
the boy got home his mother asked him what he had brought. He said,
"Fortune gave, but Karma took away." On the third Sunday a third son
went and stood by the village tank. His aunt received him like the
others and had him bathed, clothed, and fed. As he was going away,
she gave him a hollow cocoa-nut stuffed with gold coins and said,
"Do not drop it, do not forget it, but mind it carefully and take it
home." On the way back he put down the cocoa-nut on the edge of a well,
and it toppled over and fell into the water with a great splash. When
he reached his mother's house she asked him what his aunt's present
was. He said, "I have lost everything which fortune brought me." On
the fourth Sunday the fourth son went. His aunt welcomed him like
the others, and had him bathed and fed. When he left she gave him an
earthen pot full of gold coins. But the sun-god came in the guise
of a kite and snatched the pot away. When the boy reached home his
mother asked him whether his aunt had given him anything. He said,
"I have lost everything which my aunt gave me." On the fifth Sunday
the mother herself got up and went to her sister's village and stood
by the tank. The minister's wife took her in through her back door
and had her clothed and fed. Then the minister's wife told her that
all her trouble had come through not listening to her father's story,
and the minister's wife repeated it to her. The king's wife listened
to it, and stayed with her sister until the following month of Shravan,
or August, when she did fitting worship to the sun.

Instantly good fortune came to her. After years of weary fighting, her
husband, the king, at last overcame his enemies, and after taking great
wealth from them turned homewards with his army. As he went towards his
capital, he passed the village where the minister's wife lived. There he
learnt that his queen was with her sister, so he sent for her with a
befitting escort. "O auntie, auntie," cried all the queen's little
nephews and nieces, "umbrellas have come for you, and horse-tails and
guards and foot-soldiers." Every one rushed out to see, and the king and
queen greeted each other after years of separation. The sisters gave
each other gifts of clothes, and the king and his queen went away
together. At the first halting-place the servants cooked the f