ughter," said the Cobra; "but take with you these
three stones and tie them up in the corner of your _saree_;" and so
saying, he gave her three little round pebbles. "The Muchie Rajah,
whose wife you are to be, is not really a fish, but a Rajah who has
been enchanted. Your home will be a little room which the Ranee has
had built in the tank wall. When you are taken there, wait and be sure
you don't go to sleep, or the Muchie Rajah will certainly come and
eat you up. But as you hear him coming rushing through the water, be
prepared, and as soon as you see him, throw this first stone at him;
he will then sink to the bottom of the tank. The second time he comes,
throw the second stone, when the same thing will happen. The third
time he comes, throw this third stone, and he will immediately resume
his human shape." So saying, the old Cobra dived down again into his
hole. The Fakeer's daughter took the stones and determined to do as
the Cobra had told her, though she hardly believed it would have the
desired effect.

When she reached the palace the Ranee spoke kindly to her, and said to
the messengers: "You have done your errand well; this is a dear little
girl." Then she ordered that she should be let down the side of the
tank in a basket to a little room which had been prepared for her.
When the Fakeer's daughter got there, she thought she had never seen
such a pretty place in her life (for the Ranee had caused the little
room to be very nicely decorated for the wife of her favorite); and
she would have felt very happy away from her cruel stepmother and all
the hard work she had been made to do, had it not been for the dark
water that lay black and unfathomable below the door and the fear of
the terrible Muchie Rajah.

After waiting some time she heard a rushing sound, and little waves
came dashing against the threshold; faster they came and faster, and
the noise got louder and louder, until she saw a great fish's head
above the water--Muchie Rajah was coming toward her open-mouthed. The
Fakeer's daughter seized one of the stones that the Cobra had given
her and threw it at him, and down he sank to the bottom of the tank;
a second time he rose and came toward her, and she threw the second
stone at him, and he again sank down; a third time he came more
fiercely than before, when, seizing a third stone, she threw it with
all her force. No sooner did it touch him than the spell was broken,
and there, instead of a fish, stoo