not knowing how close the Rakshas were. The
consequence was, that when the Deaf Man gave him this unexpected push,
he lost his balance and tumbled down on to the neck of the seventh
Rakshas, who was just then climbing up. The Blind Man had no idea
where he was, but thought he had got on to the branch of some other
tree; and, stretching out his hand for something to catch hold of,
caught hold of the Rakshas's two great ears, and pinched them very
hard in his surprise and fright. The Rakshas couldn't think what it
was that had come tumbling down upon him; and the weight of the Blind
Man upsetting his balance, down he also fell to the ground, knocking
down in their turn the sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second, and first
Rakshas, who all rolled one over another, and lay in a confused heap
at the foot of the tree together.

Meanwhile the Blind Man called out to his friend: "Where am I? What
has happened? Where am I? Where am I?" The Deaf Man (who was safe up
in the tree) answered: "Well done, brother! never fear! never fear!
You're all right, only hold on tight. I'm coming down to help you."
But he had not the least intention of leaving his place of safety.
However, he continued to call out: "Never mind, brother; hold on as
tight as you can. I'm coming, I'm coming," and the more he called out,
the harder the Blind Man pinched the Rakshas's ears, which he mistook
for some kind of palm branches.

The six other Rakshas, who had succeeded, after a good deal of
kicking, in extricating themselves from their unpleasant position,
thought they had had quite enough of helping their friend, and ran
away as fast as they could; and the seventh, thinking from their going
that the danger must be greater than he imagined, and being, moreover,
very much afraid of the mysterious creature that sat on his shoulders,
put his hands to the back of his ears and pushed off the Blind Man,
and then, (without staying to see who or what he was) followed his six
companions as fast as he could.

As soon as all the Rakshas were out of sight, the Deaf Man came down
from the tree, and, picking up the Blind Man, embraced him, saying:
"I could not have done better myself. You have frightened away all our
enemies, but you see I came to help you as fast as possible." He then
dragged the Donkey and the bundles of treasure out of the bushes, gave
the Blind Man one bundle to carry, took the second himself, and put
the remaining two on the Donkey, as before. Thi