ond of the girl,
but in their despair at seeing their labour wasted they agreed to give
the advice of the Jogi a trial. So they told their mother the next day
that, when their sister brought them out their midday meal, she was
to be dressed in her best and carry the rice in a new basket and must
bring a new water pot to draw their water in. At midday the girl went
down to her brothers with her best cloth and all her jewellery on; and
when they saw their victim coming they could not keep from tears. She
asked them what they were grieving for; they told her that nothing was
the matter and sent her to draw water in her new water-pot from the
dry tank. Directly the girl drew near to the bank the water began to
bubble up from the bottom; and when she went down to the water's edge
it rose to her instep. She bent down to fill her pot but the pot would
not fill though the water rose higher and higher; then she sang:--

"The water has risen, brother,
And wetted my ankle, brother,
But still the _lota_ in my hand
Will not sink below the surface."

But the water rose to her knees and the pot would not fill, and
she sang:--

"The water has risen, brother,
And wetted my knees, brother,
But still the lota in my hand
Will not sink below the surface."

Then the water rose to her waist and the pot would not fill, and
she sang:--

"The water has risen, brother,
And wetted my waist, brother,
But still the lota in my hand
Will not sink below the surface."

Then the water reached her neck and the pot would not fill; and
she sang:--

The water has risen, brother,
And wetted my neck, brother,
But still the lota in my hand
Will not sink below the surface."

At last it flowed over her head and the water-pot was filled, but the
girl was drowned. The tank however remained brimful of sparkling water.

Now the unhappy girl had been betrothed and her wedding day was just
at hand. On the day fixed the marriage broker came to announce the
approach of the bridegroom; who shortly afterwards arrived at the
outskirts of the village in his palki. The seven brothers met him,
and the usual dancing began.

The bridegroom's party however wished to know why the bride did not
appear. The brothers put them off with various excuses, saying that
the girl had gone with her friends to gather firewood or to the river
to draw water. At last the bridegroom's party got tired