d he
could not understand either why every morning his wives' clothes were
bloody, and bloody knives found on their beds.

When she had eaten all the animals, the demon said to the king, "I am
afraid your wives are very wicked women. They must have killed all
your cows and sheep, goats, horses, elephants, and camels. I am afraid
one day they will eat me up." "I have been married to them for many
years," answered the king, "and anything like this has never happened
before." "I am very much afraid of them," said the demon, who all this
time looked a most beautiful girl. "I am very much afraid; but if you
cut out their eyes, then they cannot kill me."

The king called his servants and said to them, "Get ready seven
palanquins, and carry my seven wives into the jungle. There you must
leave them; only first take out their eyes, which you must bring to
me." The servants took the queens to a jungle a long way from the
king's country. There they took out their eyes, and left them, and
brought the eyes to the king, who gave them into the demon's hands.
She pounded them to bits with a stone, and threw the bits away.

The seven queens in the jungle did not know which way to go; so they
walked straight on, and fell into a dry well which lay just before
them. In this well they stayed; and the day when they thought they
must die of hunger and thirst was drawing near. But before it came the
eldest queen had a little son. She and the five next wives were so
hungry, that they agreed to kill the child, and divide it into seven
pieces. They each ate a piece, and gave one to the seventh and
youngest wife. She said nothing, and hid the piece. These five wives
each had a son one after the other, and they killed and divided their
children as the eldest wife had done with hers. But the youngest wife
hid all the six pieces that were given her, and would eat none. Her
son was born last of all. Then the six eldest wives said, "Let us kill
and divide your child." "No," she said, "I will never kill or divide
my boy; I would rather die of hunger. Here are the six pieces you gave
me. I would not eat them. Take them and eat them, but you must not
touch my son." God was so pleased with her for not killing her child,
that he made the boy grow bigger and bigger every day; and the little
queen was very happy.

They all lived in the dry well without any food till the little prince
was five years old. By that time he was very quick and clever. One day