into it of itself."

When his wicked wife saw the flower, she said nothing; but her heart
told her it was the beautiful girl she had pushed into the well. The
prince laid the flower on his pillow, and was very glad and happy. As
soon as he had gone out, his wife seized the lotus-flower, tore it to
bits, and threw them far away into the garden.

In a few days a bel-tree was growing on the spot where she had thrown
the pieces of the lotus-flower. On it grew one big bel-fruit, and it
was so fine and large that every one in the village and the palace
tried to gather it; but no one could touch it, for the fruit always
went just out of reach. The King and his six elder sons also tried,
but they could not touch it. The youngest prince heard of this fruit,
so he said to his wife, "I will go and see if I can gather this
bel-fruit that no one can even touch." The wicked woman's heart said
to her, "In the bel-fruit is the Bel-Princess;" but she said nothing.

The prince went to the bel-tree; the bel-fruit came into his hand, and
he broke it off the tree, and brought it home to his wife. "See," he
said, "here is the bel-fruit; it let me gather it at once." And he was
very proud and happy. Then he laid the fruit on a table in his room.

When he had gone out the wicked wife came, and took the fruit, and
flung it away in the garden. In the night the fruit burst in two, and
in it lay a lovely, tiny girl baby. The gardener, as he went round the
garden early in the morning, found the little baby; and he wondered
who had thrown away the beautiful fruit, and who the lovely baby girl
could be. She was so tiny and so pretty, and the gardener was
delighted when he saw her, for he had no children, and thought God had
sent him a little child at last.

He took her in his arms and carried her to his wife.

"See," he said, "we have never had any children, and now God has sent
us this beautiful little girl." His wife looked at the child, and she
was as delighted with her as her husband was. "Yes," she said, "God
has sent us this child, and she is certainly most beautiful. I am very
happy. But I have no milk for her; if only I had milk for her, I could
nurse her and she would live." And the gardener's wife was very sad to
think she had no milk in her breasts for the little child.

Then her husband said, "Let us ask God to send you milk for her." So
they prayed to God and worshipped him. And God was pleased with them
both, and sent the gardene