ed riches and honours upon him. But some of the
wise men at the court suspected that he was really a deceiver, and
set about trying to find out all they could about him. They sent
for the man who had been on guard at the prison, and asked him many
questions. He did not dare tell the truth, for he knew he would be
terribly punished if he let out that Jihva had been allowed to see
his prisoner; but he hesitated so much that the wise men knew he
was not speaking the truth. One of them, whom the king loved, and
trusted very much, whose name was Deva-Jnanin, said to his master:
"I do not like to see that man, about whom we really know nothing,
treated as he is. He might easily have found out where the treasure
was hidden without any special power. Will you not test him in some
other way in my presence and that of your chief advisers?"

The king, who was always ready to listen to reason, agreed to this;
and after a long consultation with Deva-Jnanin, he decided on a very
clever puzzle with which to try Hari-Sarman. A live frog was put into
a pitcher; the lid was shut down, and the man who pretended to know
everything was brought into the great reception room, where all the
wise men of the court were gathered together round the throne, on
which sat the king in his royal robes. Deva-Jnanin had been chosen
by his master to speak for him; and coming forward, he pointed to
the small pitcher on the ground, and said: "Great as are the honours
already bestowed on you, they shall be increased if you can say at
once what is in that pitcher."

13. What kind of man do you think the king was from his behaviour
to Hari-Sarman?

14. Was it wise or foolish of Hari-Sarman to remain in the city after
his very narrow escape?

CHAPTER VIII

Hari-Sarman thought whan he looked at the pitcher: "Alas, alas, it
is all over with me now! Never can I find out what is in it. Would
that I had left this town with the money I had from Jihva before it
was too late!" Then he began to mutter to himself, as it was always
his habit to do when he was in trouble. It so happened that, when
he was a little boy, his father used to call him frog, and now his
thoughts went back to the time when he was a happy innocent child,
and he said aloud: "Oh, frog, what trouble has come to you! That
pitcher will be the death of you!"

Even Deva-Jnanin was astonished when he heard that; and so were all
the other wise men. The king was delighted to find that after all h