hated Hira and did what they could to torment her; one day they sowed
a basketful of mustard seed in a field and then told her to go and
pick it all up; she went to the field and began to lament, singing:--
"They have sown a basket of mustard seed!
Oh, how far away have my brothers gone to trade."
As she cried a flock of pigeons came rustling down and asked her what
was the matter, and when they heard, they told her to be comforted;
they at once set to work picking up the mustard grain by grain and
putting it into her basket; soon the basket was quite full and she
joyfully took it home and showed it to her sisters-in-law. Then they
set her another task and told her to bring them some bear's hair that
they might weave it into a hair armlet for her wedding. So she went off
to the jungle and sat down to cry; as she wept two bear cubs came up
and asked what was the matter; when she told her story they bade her
be of good cheer and took her into their cave and hid her. Presently
the mother bear came back and suckled her cubs, and when they had
finished they asked their mother to leave them some of her hair that
they might amuse themselves by plaiting it while she was away. She
did so and directly she had gone off to look for food, the cubs gave
the girl the hair and sent her home rejoicing. The sisters-in-law
were only made more angry by her success and plotted how to kill her,
so they ordered her to bring them some tiger's milk that they might
make it into curds for her wedding. Then she went off to the jungle
and began to weep, singing:--
"I brought the hair of a bear:
How far away have my brothers gone to trade."
At the sound two tiger cubs came running up and asked what was the
matter; they told her to be comforted and they would manage to give
her what she wanted; and they took her and hid her near where they
were lying. Presently the tigress came back and suckled her cubs and
as she did so she declared that she smelt a human being, but the
cubs laughed at her and said that it must be they whom she smelt;
so she was satisfied, and as she was leaving them they asked her to
leave some of her milk in an earthern pot so that they might have
something to drink if she were long in coming back. The tigress did
so and directly she was gone the cubs gave the milk to the girl who
took it home.--The story then continues as before.
XI. How to Grow Rich.
Once upon a time there was a woman
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