340 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XVIII, 
she said : ‘‘ Daughter-in-law, is it vou who have taken the gul- 
gulas from this?’ The daughter-in-law replied: ‘ 1, mother 
I have not taken any. Who knows but that the cat may 
have takenthem, she has been that way.’ The cat, then, ee 
‘‘ All right, you wretch, I am not a cat if Ido not wash y 
out altogether. ! You took them and attributed the theft ri 
‘Thereafter when it became dark *, the queen arranged her 
bedding and lighted the lamp. hen she saw that there was 
some delay in the king’s return home from the court she said 
to herself: ‘‘ Let me sleep for a while.”” Having said so she 
went to sleep. And what did the catdo? She brought some- 
body’s turban and placed it on her bedstead and took some- 
body’s sword and placed it there. She also brought somebody’s 
shoes and put them under the bedstead. She put these things 
there and went away. 
When the king returned from the court he saw that there 
were somebody’s shoes and somebody’s sword and_ turban. 
From it he concluded that some man had come to the queen. 
On this he drew os sword in order to kill her. The lamp 
spoke out: ‘“O king, learn the truth before you kill her.” 
The king thrice drew “the sword out and the lamp forbade * him 
all the three times. He then put down the sword, took the 
loia* and went away to attend to nature’s call. 
Meanwhile the queen woke up and put out® the lamp. 
There was a well before the door (of the house) of the lamp. 
The king was rinsing his mouth there. When the lamp reached 
home, his mother said: ‘‘ My son, you are very late to-day, 
I have all along been sitting with the food ready.” The lamp 
replied : ‘‘ Dear mother, do not ask anything, great calamity 
has befallen the queen.’ The king stood there and listened. 
The mother asked: ‘‘ What is the matter, dear son?” The 
lamp related everything that had happened. The king heard 
down came home and having covered himself up, lay 
own 
When it became morning, the mother again prepared food 
of fifty-six- pone and asked her son to eat it. The king 
asked her to serve She served one dish, He asked her to 
serve another. She served another. He asked her to serve 
athird. The old lady said to him: ‘Come, let us take our 
meal: the daughter-in-law may eat food afterwards.” But 
the king said. “No, serve a third dish also.’? When the third 
——— 

| tint pani se dhoi dyGhai—lit. shall wash you away with three 
——— i.e. mire you | complete tely. 
he 

3 tirbacak dihiti Pg three times, i.e. in a decisive manner. 
M 16t@ is a small r bronze vessel to contain water 
& barhai askin (it. insctbend or developed) is a euphemism for 
extinguished 

