RAJA DON AN. ;25o 



ceremonies. He burned incense and fumigated his magic 

 flute to which, after a prayer to the Dewatas, he addressed 

 an invocation desiring it to play sweetly so that its sounds 

 might be heard in the palace of the Princess GANDA Iran, 

 seven days' journey off, by her and by her only. Then he 

 blew in it three times ; the first time the flute gave forth the 

 sounds of twelve instruments, the second time it played as if 

 twenty-four instruments were being sounded, and the third 

 time it played like thirty-six different instruments, and its 

 strains were so sweet and tender that the Princesses Che 

 AMBONG and Che MudA dissolved in tears and the music had 

 to be stopped. 



Now it happened one morning that the Princess GANDA 

 Iran was standing at her window. She had just got up and 

 was about to chew betel-nut. She had the betel-nut scissors in 

 her hands, one little chip of betel was already between her teeth 

 and she was just in the act of cutting off some more when 

 the sound of the distant flute, which was then playing with 

 thirty-six instruments, arrested the blades of the scissors in 

 the act of closing and they fell to the ground. Her old attendant 

 saw her change colour and asked the reason. The Princess 

 then described what she heard and bursting into tears vowed 

 that she would never be satisfied until she found out the play- 

 er of the magic flute. Then she went down into the garden 

 and walked about pondering how she could despatch some 

 messenger to the entrance of the port to find out the unknown 

 player. While so pondering she came across a squirrel and 

 she said " O dear, beautiful squirrel, will you get for me this 

 instant three betel-nuts grown facing the east on a tree which 

 is bearing for the first time and three leaves from the top- 

 most shoots of a sirih-vine which have just outgrown the 

 prop and are hanging over towards the east? If you are hun- 

 gry come with me to my chamber and I will give you sumbu 

 layang fruit to eat.'' The squirrel was much too devoted to 

 the Princess to want any reward, and he started off at once 

 and before evening was back again with the betel-nut and 

 sirih. These the Princess with her own fair fingers did up 

 into quids or mouthfuls in three different ways and put them 

 in a gold vessel which had been an heirloom for five genera- 



