but he
had not the heart to kill them, for they were exceedingly beautiful,
and he left them in the jungle near their dead mother's grave. Then he
returned to the Rani, saying he had done as she wished, and she gave
him as much money as he wanted.

The poor Pomegranate Raja was very unhappy when he saw his children
were not in the palace, and that they could not be found. He asked his
Rani where they were, but she said she did not know; they had gone out
to play and had never returned. From the day he lost his children the
Pomegranate Raja became melancholy. He did not love the Rani any more;
he hated her.

Meanwhile the children lived in a little house built close to their
mother's grave. God had given her life again that she might take care
of them. But they did not know she was their mother; they thought she
was another woman sent to take care of them. God sent also a man to
teach them. Somehow or other the Rani Sunkasi heard they were still
alive in the jungle. She did not know how she could kill them. So at
last she pretended she was very ill, and she said to the Raja, "The
doctor says that in the jungle there are two children, and he says if
you will have them killed, and will bring their livers for me to
stand on when I bathe, then I shall get well." The Raja sent a second
sepoy to kill the children, and this man killed them and brought their
livers to the Rani. She stood on them while bathing, and then said she
was quite well. She then threw the livers into the garden, and during
the night a tree grew up there with two large beautiful flowers on it.
Next morning the Rani looked out and said, "I will gather those
flowers to-day." Every day she said she would gather them, and every
day she forgot. At last one day she said, "Every day I forget to
gather those flowers, but to-day I really will do so," and she sent
her servant to pluck them. So he went out, and, just as he was going
to gather them, the flowers flew up just out of his reach. Then the
Rani went down, and when she was going to pick them they flew up so
high that they could not be seen. Every day she tried to gather them,
and every day they went high up, and came back again to the tree as
soon as she had gone. Then the flowers disappeared and two large
fruits came in their stead. The Rani looked out of her window: "Oh,
what delicious fruits! I'll eat them all myself. I won't give a bit to
anybody, and I'll eat them by myself quite quietly." She went do