ery black and ugly, and she had only one eye, and she was exceedingly
wicked. The Rani was very thirsty and she said to the woman, "Please
give me some water, I am so thirsty." "If you want any," said the
shoemaker's wife, "come to the tank and get it yourself." "But I
cannot," said the Rani, "for the Raja is sleeping in my lap." At last
the poor Rani got so very, very thirsty, she said she must have some
water; so laying the Raja's head very gently on the ground she went to
the tank. Then the wicked shoemaker's wife, instead of giving her to
drink, gave her a push and sent the beautiful Rani into the water,
where she was drowned. The shoemaker's wife then went back to the
Raja, and, taking his head on her knee, sat still until he woke. When
the Raja woke he was much frightened, and he said, "This is not my
wife. My wife was not black, and she had two eyes." The poor Raja felt
very unhappy. He said, "I am sure something has happened to my wife."
He went to the tank, and he saw flowers floating on the water and he
caught them, and as he caught them his own true wife stood before him.

They travelled on till they came to a little house. The shoemaker's
wife went with them. They went into the house and laid themselves down
to sleep, and the Raja laid beside him the flowers he had found
floating in the tank. The Rani's life was in the flowers. As soon as
the Raja and Rani were asleep, the shoemaker's wife took the flowers,
broke them into little bits, and burnt them. The Rani died
immediately, for the second time. Then the poor Raja, feeling very
lonely and unhappy, travelled on to his kingdom, and the shoemaker's
wife went after him. God brought the Phulmati Rani to life a second
time, and led her to the Indrasan Raja's gardener.

One day as the Indrasan Raja was going out hunting, he passed by the
gardener's house, and saw a beautiful girl sitting in it. He thought
she looked very like his wife, the Phulmati Rani. So he went home to
his father and said, "Father, I should like to be married to the girl
who lives in our gardener's house." "All right," said the father; "you
can be married at once." So they were married the next day.

One night the shoemaker's wife took a ram, killed it, and put some of
its blood on the Phulmati Rani's mouth while the Rani slept. The next
morning she went to the Indrasan Raja and said, "Whom have you
married? You have married a Rakshas. Just see. She has been eating
cows, and sheep, and chi