like me, all wearing dresses and necklaces which are exact
copies of each other, so that few can tell me from the others, Soon
you will be sent for to the great Hall and we shall all be together
there. My father will bid you choose your bride from amongst us; and if
you make a mistake all will be over for us. But I will wear my necklace
on my head instead of round my neck, and thus will you know your own
true love. And remember, my dearest, to obey no future command without
hearing from me, for I alone am able to outwit my terrible father,"

Everything happened exactly as Rupa-Sikha described. The prince
was sent for by Agni-Sikha, who, as soon as he appeared, gave him a
garland of flowers and told him to place it round the neck of the
maiden who was his promised bride. Without a moment's hesitation
Sringa-Bhuja picked out the right sister; and the magician, though
inwardly enraged, pretended to be so delighted at this proof of a
lover's clear-sightedness that he cried:

"You are the son-in-law for me! The wedding shall take place
to-morrow!"

13. Can you understand how it was that the magician did not notice
the trick Rupa-Sikha had played upon him?

14. What fault blinds people to the truth more than any other?

CHAPTER VIII

When Sringa-Bhuja heard what Agni-Sikha said, he was full of joy;
but Rupa-Sikha knew well that her father did not mean a word of
it. She waited quietly beside her lover, till the magician bade all
the sisters but herself leave the hall. Then the magician, with a
very wicked look on his face, said:

"Before the ceremony there is just one little thing you must do for me,
dear son-in-law that is to be. Go outside the town, and near the most
westerly tower you will find a team of oxen and a plough awaiting
you. Close to them is a pile of three hundred bushels of sesame
seed. This you must sow this very day, or instead of a bridegroom
you will be a dead man to-morrow."

Great was the dismay of Sringa-Bhuja when he heard this. But Rupa-Sikha
whispered to him, "Fear not, for I will help you." Sadly the prince
left the palace alone, to seek the field outside the city; the guards,
who knew he was the accepted lover of their favourite mistress,
letting him pass unhindered. There, sure enough, near the western
tower were the oxen, the plough and a great pile of seed. Never before
had poor Sringa-Bhuja had to work for himself, but his great love for
Rupa-Sikha made him determine to do his best