STORY OF THE BURONG GERUDA. 113 



ly overhead. Then the Emperor and his great men who were feast- 

 ing inside were terribly frightened. They began to tremble, and 

 no man knew what to do or what was going to happen. However, 

 the Geruda did not do them any harm, but simply pulled down 

 part of the wall of the palace and put in his head and seized the 

 box as the Princess had told him, and flew away with it back to 

 Langka Puri. The Princess was not a little glad to get back her 

 box ; she pulled out all the things and looked at them and 

 choosing some of the best she gave them to her nurse to take to 

 the Prince, as soon as the Geruda should be out of the way. 



At last the Prince was fit to meet the Princess, and dress- 

 ed out in his fine clothes like a Eaja the Princess thought she 

 had never seen a young Prince like him. 



So they embraced and kissed each other, and sat hand in 

 hand, dreading the time when they would have to separate for 

 fear of the Geruda. But there was no help for it — at evening 

 they had to go, both weeping and lamenting their sad condition. 

 Thus day after day, till at last the Geruda told the Princess 

 that he was going to present himself before the Nabi Suleiman 

 and that she must behave well in his absence. When after 

 flying for many days, the Geruda arrived before the throne of 

 the Nabi Suleiman bending low he told him how he had pre- 

 vented the marriage of the son of the Sultan of Eum with the 

 daughter of the Emperor of China, and whatever else had hap- 

 pened. Then said the Nabi : " But suppose the Prince of 

 Rum should be alive, what then Geruda?" The Geruda 

 answered : " Should this be so and the Prince meet the Princess 

 O Nabi, let the former vow take effect, let me depart from all 

 the habitations of men and from beneath the sky, and from 

 the face of the round world." At this the Nabi smiled and 

 bade him who ruled over the Imps or Spirits and whose name 

 was Herman Shah take 100 of his Imps and mentris and fly 

 off to Langka Puri, to seize whomsoever they might find there, 

 put them into a large box and bring them back at once. On 

 their return, the Nabi ordered the box to be opened in his 

 presence and that of the Geruda. Out came the Prince of Eum, 

 the Princess of China and the two attendants ! 



R, A. Soc , No. 54, 1909, 



*8 



