he village where the nephew had been married. As they were having
breakfast near the village tank, a maid-servant invited them to come
to the house which the girl's parents had built for the reception of
travellers. At first the uncle declined, but when a palki was sent
for them, he and his nephew entered it. When the little girl began to
wash her husband's feet, she recognised him. She tried on the ring,
which fitted his finger, and he in turn showed her the sweet-dish
which she had given him. The parents were as pleased as possible, and
they sent a messenger to invite the boy's parents. They came, and the
boy's mother threw herself at her daughter-in-law's feet and thanked
her for saving her son. Then there was a great feast and everybody
was very happy indeed, and at the end they all worshipped Parwati,
[5] so she became as pleased as everybody else.

CHAPTER IV

The Wednesday and Thursday Story

There was once upon a time a town called Atpat. In it there lived
a prince who had seven sons and seven daughters-in-law. Every day
there used to come to the prince's house two Brahmans, an uncle and a
nephew. But when they asked for alms the daughters-in-law sent word
that they were too busy to give them any. Some time afterwards the
prince lost all his riches and became very poor. The two Brahmans
again came to beg, but the elder daughter-in-law said to them,
"We are no longer busy, but we have nothing to give you. If we had,
we should give it to you." The youngest daughter-in-law, however,
was a clever little girl, and she thought to herself, "The Brahmans
will get very angry with us. When we had money, we gave them nothing;
and now we give them nothing because we have nothing to give." So she
fell at the elder Brahman's feet and said, "We have been very wicked
and have deserved to become poor. But please forgive us and tell me
how we may become rich as we were before." The elder Brahman said,
"Every Wednesday and every Thursday you must invite a Brahman to
dinner. And if you have no money to pay for the dinner, draw a pair
of cow's feet on your money-box. If you want grain for the dinner,
draw a pair of cow's feet on your corn-bin. Then worship the feet and
welcome the Brahmans. For you will find that you will have money in
your box and grain in your corn-bin. And in time you will all get as
rich as you were before." The little girl did what the Brahman told
her. And whenever she invited Brahmans to dinner, she dr