bathing with their attendants, and when they saw
the packet they tried who could fish it out and it was the younger
princess who caught it. Then they measured the hairs and found them
twelve cubits long. The princess who had taken the packet from the
water went home and took to her bed and said that she would not
eat until the man was found to whom the hairs belonged. Her father,
the Raja, sent messengers in all directions to search for the man
but they could not find him. Then he sent a parrot and the parrot
flew up high and looking down saw Ledha with the buffaloes in the
forest; but it did not dare to go near, so the parrot returned and
told the Raja that the man was in the forest but that no messenger
could approach for fear of the wild buffaloes. However a crow said,
"I can bring him if any one can," so they sent the crow and it went
and perched on the backs of the buffaloes and began to peck them;
then Ledha threw stones at it, but it would not go away; then he threw
a stick at it and last of all he threw his flute. The crow caught up
the flute and flew up to a tree with it. Ledha ran after it, but the
crow kept flying on a short distance and Ledha still pursued until he
came to the Raja's city. The crow flew on till it entered the room
where the princess lay, and dropped the flute into the hands of the
princess. Ledha followed right into the room and they shut him in
and the princess gave him his flute after he had promised to marry her.

So he stayed there a long time, but meanwhile the buffaloes all got
weak and ill for want of some one to look after them. One day Ledha
set off to the jungle with his wife to see them and when he saw how
ill the buffaloes were, he decided to build a house in the jungle
and live there. And the Raja sent them money and horses and cattle
and elephants and servants and they built a palace and Ledha subdued
all the jungle and became a great Raja; and he made a highway to his
father-in-law's home and used to go to and fro on it.

IV. The Cruel Stepmother.

There was once a Raja whose wife died leaving him with one young
child. He reared it with great care and when it could toddle about
it took a great fancy to a cat; the child was always playing with it
and carrying it about.

All his friends begged the Raja to marry again, but he said that he
was sure that a stepmother would be cruel to his child; at last they
persuaded him to promise to marry again, if a bride could be f