so he wrapped it up in leaves and took it home; and his
daughter-in-law told him that he had done well and bade him hang
up the packet at the back of the house. A few days later he found
the slough of a snake and he took that home and his daughter-in-law
told to tie a clod of earth to it to prevent its being blown away,
and to throw it on to the roof of the house.

Some years after the Raja of the country was ill with cancer of the
face and none of the _ojhas_ could cure him. At last one _ojha_ said
that there was only one medicine which could effect a cure, but he
saw no chance of obtaining it and that was human excrement 12 years
old. Then the Raja sent messengers throughout the kingdom offering a
reward of 200 Rupees to any one who could supply excrement twelve years
old; and when a messenger came to the village where this family lived
the daughter-in-law produced the packet which the old man had brought
home and received the reward of 200 Rupees; and they were all delighted
at making so much money by what the old man had brought home in jest.

And again it happened that the son of a Raja was bathing and he left
his gold belt on the bank and a kite thought it was a snake and flew
off with it. The prince was much distressed at the loss but the Raja
told him not to grieve as the kite must have dropped it somewhere and
he would offer a reward of a thousand rupees for it. Now the kite had
soon found that the belt was not good to eat and seeing the snake's
skin which the old man had thrown on to the roof of the house, it
dropped the belt and flew off with the skin; and the daughter-in-law
picked up the belt and when criers came round offering a reward she
produced it and received the money. And they praised her wisdom and
by this means the family became rich again.

IX. The Oilman and His Sons.

There was once an oilman with five sons and they were all married
and lived jointly with their father. But the daughters-in-law were
discontented with this arrangement and urged their husbands to ask
their father to divide the family property. At first the old man
refused, but when his sons persisted, he told them to bring him a
log two cubits long and so thick that two hands could just span it,
and he said that if they could break the log in two, he would divide
the property; so they brought the log and then asked for axes, but he
told them that they must break it themselves by snapping it or twisting
it or standing on