r countries and buy food for myself and my ryots
during the twelve years' famine." So he said to the angels, "I will
choose the famine." Then the angels came into his palace; and the
moment they entered it, all the Raja's servants that were in the
palace, and all his cows, horses, elephants, and other animals became
stone. So did every single thing in the palace, excepting his gold and
silver, and these turned to charcoal. The Raja and Rani did not become
stone.

The angels said to them, "For three weeks you will not be able to eat
anything; you will not be able to eat any food you may find or may
have given you. But you will not die, you will live." Then the angels
went away.

The Raja was very sad when he looked round his palace and saw
everything in it, and all the people in it, stone, and saw all his
gold and silver turned to charcoal. He said to his wife, "I cannot
stay here. I must go to some other country. I was a great Raja; how
can I ask my ryots to give me food? We will dress ourselves like
fakirs, and go to another country."

They put on fakirs' clothes and went out of their palace. They
wandered in the jungle till they saw a plum-tree covered with fruit.
"Do gather some of those plums for me," said the Rani, who was very
hungry. The Raja went to the tree and put out his hand to gather the
plums; but when he did this, they at once all left the tree and went a
little way up into the air. When he drew back his hand, the plums
returned to the tree. The Raja tried three times to gather the plums,
but never could do so.

He and the Rani then went on till they came to a plain in another
country, where was a large tank in which men were fishing. The Rani
said to her husband, "Go and ask those men to give us a little of
their fish, for I am very hungry." The Raja went to the men and said,
"I am a fakir, and have no pice. Will you give me some of your fish,
for I have not eaten for four days and am hungry?" The men gave him
some fish, and he and his wife carried it to a tank on another plain.
The Rani cleaned and prepared the fish for cooking, and said to her
husband, "I have nothing in which to cook this fish. Go up to the town
(there was a town close by) and ask some one to give you an earthen
pot with a lid, and some salt."

The Raja went up to the town, and some one in the bazar gave him the
earthen pot, and a grain merchant put a little salt into it. Then he
returned to the Rani, and they made a fire under