ams which used to fall down the
mountain-sides and irrigate the plains dried up; and the wells lost the
fountains which used to fill them with water. Everywhere the crops
failed, and the green herbage on which the cattle browsed was slowly
blasted by the burning rays of the sun.

"The common people suffered in their homes from want of food, and many
of the very poorest actually died of starvation. This was a source of
great sorrow to me, and every day my prayers went up to Heaven, that it
would send down rain upon the dried-up land and so deliver my people
from death. I knew that this calamity had fallen on my kingdom because
of some wrong that I had done, and so my heart was torn with remorse.

"One day while my mind was full of anxiety, a man suddenly appeared at
my palace and begged my ministers to be allowed to have an audience
with me. He said that it was of the utmost importance that he should
see me, for he had come to propose a plan for the deliverance of my
country.

"I gave orders that he should instantly be brought into my presence,
when I asked him if he had the power to cause the rain to descend upon
the parched land.

"'Yes,' he replied, 'I have, and if you will step with me now to the
front of your palace I will prove to you that I have the ability to do
this, and even more.'

"Striding out to a balcony which overlooked the capital, and from which
one could catch a view of the hills in the distance, the stranger
lifted up his right hand towards the heavens and uttered certain words
which I was unable to understand.

"Instantly, and as if by magic, a subtle change crept through the
atmosphere. The sky became darkened, and dense masses of clouds rolled
up and blotted out the sun. The thunder began to mutter, and vivid
flashes of lightning darted from one end of the heavens to the other,
and before an hour had elapsed the rain was descending in torrents all
over the land, and the great drought was at an end.

"My gratitude to this mysterious stranger for the great deliverance he
had wrought for my kingdom was so great that there was no favour which
I was not willing to bestow upon him. I gave him rooms in the palace,
and treated him as though he were my equal. I had the truest and the
tenderest affection for him, and he seemed to be equally devoted to me.

"One morning we were walking hand in hand in the royal gardens. The
peach blossoms were just out, and we were enjoying their perfume and