s more pleased than ever
with the little daughter-in-law who had befriended
him. And so they all lived happily
ever afterwards. And may Saturn be pleased
with us all as he was with the little daughter-in-law.

CHAPTER VII

Mahalaxmi and the Two Queens

Once upon a time there was a town called Atpat. In it there lived
a king who had two queens. Of one of them he was very fond, but
the other one he did not care for. The name of the favoured one was
Patmadhavrani, and the name of the unloved one was Chimadevrani. Now
the king had an enemy called Nandanbaneshwar. Such a terrible enemy
he was too! He could jump into the clouds or dive into the bottom of
the ocean. At one moment he would shoot up into heaven. At another he
would sink down into hell, and through fear of his enemy, the king had
become as dry and as thin as an old bit of stick. One day the king, in
despair, assembled all his subjects and ordered them to seek out and
kill Nandanbaneshwar. All the subjects said, "Certainly, certainly,
O King," and began to search everywhere for Nandanbaneshwar. Now in
Atpat there lived a poor woman who had one son. On hearing the orders
of the king, he said to her, "Mother, Mother, give me some bread,
for I am going out to kill the king's enemy." The old woman said,
"Do not be silly; you are only a poor boy, and people will laugh
at you. Here, take this bit of bread and go and eat it behind a
tree." The boy said, "Very well," and took the bread. But, after
taking it, he joined the other villagers and went at their head to
seek out and kill Nandanbaneshwar. But when evening fell they had
not yet met Nandanbaneshwar, so all the villagers returned home. And
when the king heard of their ill-success he was greatly grieved. But
the old woman's son stayed in a wood outside the village. And lo
and behold! just about midnight the serpent-maidens from Patala [7]
and the wood-nymphs came close to where he was and began to worship
Mahalaxmi. The boy was at first terribly frightened, but at last he
plucked up courage enough to ask, "Ladies, ladies, what does one gain
by worshipping Mahalaxmi?" "Whatever you lose you will find," said the
serpent-maidens from Patala; "and whatever you want you will get." The
boy resolved that he too would worship Mahalaxmi. And he joined the
serpent-maidens from Patala and the wood-nymphs, and all night long
they blew on earthen pots to do the goddess honour; and the woods
echoed and re-echoed with the