ght him
gifts and said: "Your Majesty, I am the daughter of the great god
Black-wheel. But Vishnu sent my father to heaven. And I inherited these
two magic cities where one has everything he wants. There is no old age
or death to trouble us here. And now you are in the place of my father
to rule over the cities and over me." So she offered him herself and
all she had. But the king said: "In that case you are my daughter and I
give you in marriage to my brave friend good."

In the king's words she saw the fulfilment of her prayer, and being
sensible and modest, she agreed. So the king married them and gave all
the magic wealth to happy Good, and said: "My friend, I have paid you
now for one of the two mangoes which I ate. But I remain in your debt
for the second."

Then he asked the princess how he could get back to his city. And she
gave the king a sword called Invincible, and the magic fruit which
wards off birth, old age, and death. And the king took the sword and
the fruit, plunged into the pool which she showed him, and came up in
his own country, feeling completely successful. But Good ruled happily
over the kingdom of the princess.

When the goblin had told this story, he asked the king: "O King, which
of these two deserves more credit for plunging into the sea?"

And the king was afraid of the curse, so he gave a true answer: "Good
seems to me the more deserving, for he did not know the truth
beforehand, but plunged without hope into the sea, while the king knew
the truth when he jumped."

And as soon as the king broke silence, the goblin slipped from his
shoulder as before without being seen and went to the sissoo tree. And
the king tried as before to catch him. Brave men do not waver until
they have finished what they have begun.

EIGHTH GOBLIN

_The Specialist in Food, the Specialist in Women, and the Specialist in
Cotton. Which is the cleverest?_

So the king went back under the sissoo tree, caught the goblin just as
before, put him on his shoulder, and started toward the monk. And as he
walked along, the goblin on his shoulder spoke and said: "O King,
listen once more to the following story to beguile your weariness."

In the Anga country there is a great region called Forest. There lived
a great Brahman, pious and wealthy, whose name was Vishnu-swami. To his
worthy wife three sons were born, one after another. When they had
grown to be young men, specialists in matters of luxury, they were