uit!" As soon as he put his hand into the water the
fruit came floating towards him, and floated into it. "I think this
fruit is quite ripe," said the Maharaja. "Quite ripe," said the
servants, and they struck it with a stone to break it open. "Oh, you
hurt us! you hurt us!" cried little voices from inside the bel-fruit.
"Gently, gently; don't hurt us." The Maharaja and all the servants
were greatly surprised, and the Maharaja went to Sunkasi Rani, and
told her all about the little voices. She at once guessed her
step-children were in the fruit, so she said to the Maharaja, "You
had better take the fruit to the jungle and there break it open with a
big stone, so that anything inside it may be crushed to bits." "I will
not do that," said the Maharaja. Then he went back to his servants and
made them cut the fruit's rind very carefully cross-ways and the fruit
broke into halves: in one half sat his little son, in the other his
little daughter. As soon as the halves were laid on the ground the
children stepped out, and at once grew to their natural size. Their
father was very angry when he saw them. "Why, I thought you were at
school," said he. "The Maharani told me you were at school. Why are
you not there? What funny (Dunkni's own word) children you are to get
into this bel-fruit! What made you like to live in a fruit?" But to
all his questionings and scoldings the children said not one word. At
last he sent them up to the palace, and there they stayed with him for
some three months. But the Maharani said to him, "These are not your
children. Yours are at school." "They _are_ my children," he answered.

All this time the Maharani hated them more and more, and at last she
went to them and said, "Now I really will kill you." "Just as you
please," answered the children; "we don't mind being killed. You may
kill us three times, four times, as often as you like: it does not
matter in the least; for God will always bring us to life again."

At this Sunkasi Rani flew into a rage and she called her servants and
said, "Kill these children, cut them into mince-meat and throw them to
the crows and kites. When the crows and kites have eaten them, they
cannot come to life any more." So the servants killed the children,
and chopped them up very fine and fed the crows and kites with their
flesh; and now the Maharani was very happy.

Some months later, as she was walking in her garden, she saw two
beautiful flower-buds on a large bel-t