ightened
and did not dare let the ball go, for fear Ganga, who he knew was very
angry, should take her own form and bring a great flood to drown him.
So he went quickly to Mahadeo, and gave the ball to him. Mahadeo said,
"Why not keep her yourself?" "I cannot," said King Burtal, "for my
hair is too short to tie her into; and I cannot hold her, for she is
too strong for me; but your hair is long, and so you can hide her in
it." Then Mahadeo had a round box made of bamboo, and in this box was
a hole into which he dropped the ball. And he let down his long hair,
and it reached to the ground, and was thick--so thick; he put the box
in his hair on the top of his head, and rolled his long hair all round
his head and over the box just like a turban.

Jamna finding her sister did not follow her, came up from the bottom
of the river to look for her, and she asked whether any one had seen
her, and at last some one said, "King Burtal has taken her away."
Jamna set off to King Burtal and said, "Give me my sister Ganga, for
our father is dying and wants to see her." "It is true that I took her
away," said King Burtal, "but I have not got her now; she is with
Mahadeo." So Jamna went to Mahadeo,--"Give me my sister quickly, for
our father is dying and wants to see her." (Now Ganga was in a great
passion inside her box.) "I cannot give you Ganga," said Mahadeo, "for
she is so angry that if I let her loose she will flood the country
with water." "No, she will not; indeed, she will not," said Jamna. "If
I give her to you, you will not be able to keep her," said Mahadeo.
"Yes, yes, I shall," said Jamna. "I do not think you will," said
Mahadeo; "but here is the box in which said is. Hold it tight, and be
careful that neither you nor any one else mentions her name on the
journey." Jamna said she would be very careful, and took the box; but
she had to pass through a jungle in which were a number of cowherds
and holy men, one of whom was called Ganga. Just as Jamna passed by,
one of these men called to this man by his name, Ganga, and instantly
Ganga burst the box and flooded the country with water. The holy men
and the cowherd called to her to have pity on them, and so did Jamna;
but Ganga was too angry to listen to them or speak to them, so she
drowned all the holy men and the cowherds, and when she got to her
father's house and found he was dead, she was in such a rage that she
declared she would send a still greater flood to ruin the coun