HIKAYAT SERI RAMA. 11 
ing source of shame to the kingdom, and to banish him to a 
remote part of the forest where human foot had never yet 
trod. The Téménggong and Laksamana received orders to 
carry out this decree. The Princess wept and declared that, 
though banished, he was and should be, her son for all time. 
“She looked up and the tears gathered in her eyes, so that 
when she bowed her head they dropped in a shower, like the 
fruit of the bémban falling from ripeness, like grains of maize 
pouring on the drying floor, like the beads of a necklace when 
the string has snapped, like drizzling rain at morn. Such were 
the tears of the Princess weeping for her son.” The Téméng- 
gong and Laksamana, after a search, found the monkey up in 
a dukuw tree and told him of the King’s orders. He rather liked 
the idea of getting away into the open forest, and set off with 
the Téménggong willingly. After the usual “seven days” 
journey, they reached a spot where man had never trodden 
before, °° where no horse-fly or gad:fly, even, had ever been.” 
There they camped for a night, and on the following morning 
the Teménggong took his leave and returned, bearing dutiful 
messages to Séri Rama and the Princess from the little monkey 
now left alone in the forest. 
Kéra Kechil Imam Térgangga, abandoned to his own 
devices, soon got tired of the little hut which the Téménggong 
and his men had built for him, and he resolved to travel. 
Swinging himself from branch to branch, he made his way 
through the forest; fruit and flowers and tender shoots sup- 
pled him with food, and for three months and ten days he pur- 
sued his journey, travelling by day and resting at night. At 
last he reached the sea and skirted the coast until he came to 
a walled and fortified town, which was evidently the capital 
of some great Raja. He made his way to the palace, but no 
one was to be seen, and walking into the hall of audience, he 
seated himself on the throne “ with one leg tucked under him 
and the other hanging down.” Soon he became aware that a 
party of female attendants were watching him and he perform- 
ed all kinds of antics. They rushed off and told the head:nurse 
and she proceeded to awaken the Raja, who was no less a 
R. A. Soc., No. 55, 1909. 
