Indian Fairy Tales | Page 4

me where her country is."
"We do not know where it is," answered his father and mother.
"Then I must go and look for it," said the prince.
"No, no," they said, "you must not leave us. You are our only son. Stay
with us. You will never find the Princess Labam."
"I must try and find her," said the prince. "Perhaps God will show me
the way. If I live and I find her, I will come back to you; but perhaps I
shall die, and then I shall never see you again. Still I must go."
So they had to let him go, though they cried very much at parting with
him. His father gave him fine clothes to wear, and a fine horse. And he
took his gun, and his bow and arrows, and a great many other weapons,
"for," he said, "I may want them." His father, too, gave him plenty of
rupees.
Then he himself got his horse all ready for the journey, and he said

good-bye to his father and mother; and his mother took her
handkerchief and wrapped some sweetmeats in it, and gave it to her son.
"My child," she said to him, "When you are hungry eat some of these
sweetmeats."
He then set out on his journey, and rode on and on till he came to a
jungle in which were a tank and shady trees. He bathed himself and his
horse in the tank, and then sat down under a tree. "Now," he said to
himself, "I will eat some of the sweetmeats my mother gave me, and I
will drink some water, and then I will continue my journey." He opened
his handkerchief, and took out a sweetmeat. He found an ant in it. He
took out another. There was an ant in that one too. So he laid the two
sweetmeats on the ground, and he took out another, and another, and
another, until he had taken them all out; but in each he found an ant.
"Never mind," he said, "I won't eat the sweetmeats; the ants shall eat
them." Then the Ant-Raja came and stood before him and said, "You
have been good to us. If ever you are in trouble, think of me and we
will come to you."
The Raja's son thanked him, mounted his horse and continued his
journey. He rode on and on until he came to another jungle, and there
he saw a tiger who had a thorn in his foot, and was roaring loudly from
the pain.
"Why do you roar like that?" said the young Raja. "What is the matter
with you?"
"I have had a thorn in my foot for twelve years," answered the tiger,
"and it hurts me so; that is why I roar."
"Well," said the Raja's son, "I will take it out for you. But perhaps, as
you are a tiger, when I have made you well, you will eat me?"
"Oh, no," said the tiger, "I won't eat you. Do make me well."
Then the prince took a little knife from his pocket, and cut the thorn out
of the tiger's foot; but when he cut, the tiger roared louder than ever--so
loud that his wife heard him in the next jungle, and came bounding
along to see what was the matter. The tiger saw her coming, and hid the
prince in the jungle, so that she should not see him.
"What man hurt you that you roared so loud?" said the wife. "No one
hurt me," answered the husband; "but a Raja's son came and took the
thorn out of my foot."
"Where is he? Show him to me," said his wife.

"If you promise not to kill him, I will call him," said the tiger.
"I won't kill him; only let me see him," answered his wife.
Then the tiger called the Raja's son, and when he came the tiger and his
wife made him a great many salaams. Then they gave him a good
dinner, and he stayed with them for three days. Every day he looked at
the tiger's foot, and the third day it was quite healed. Then he said
good-bye to the tigers, and the tiger said to him, "If ever you are in
trouble, think of me, and we will come to you."
The Raja's son rode on and on till he came to a third jungle. Here he
found four fakirs whose teacher and master had died, and had left four
things,--a bed, which carried whoever sat on it whithersoever he wished
to go; a bag, that gave its owner whatever he wanted, jewels, food, or
clothes; a stone bowl that gave its owner as much water as he wanted,
no matter how far he might be