16 HIKAYAT SERI RAMA. 
He answered in the following stanza :— 
‘ How high soever the shoot of the plantain, 
_ Higher yet is the smoke of a fire: 
_ High though may be the mountain ranges, 
“ Higher still are the hopes I indulge.” 
To which the Princess replied :— 
“Tf the casting-net be skilfully thrown, 
“The fish are found together at the upper end of it; 
“Tf these words are said in earnest, 
“ Let us yield to fate and see what comes of it.” 
He retaliated with the following verse :— 
“The Méranti tree with a forked limb: 
“Shape the wood and make a drum of it. 
“The path that leads to death is often ventured on: 
Here I yield to fate, let what will come of it.”’ 
The Princess then invited him to chew betel, prefacing 
the invitation with Malay politeness by depreciating the quali- 
ty of what she had to offer. The betel-leaves are withered, 
the betel-nut decayed, the gambir smoked, the lime badly 
prepared, and the tobacco only fit to kill insects in the garden. 
This ceremony over, Maharaja Duwana had no difficulty in 
persuading the Princess to elope with him, and he carried her 
off to Pulau Kachapuri. 
Séri Rama, in the midst of the forest on a pitch-dark night, 
suddenly came to a sense of the absurdity of the enterprise he 
and his men had embarked on, and ordered a return to the 
town, which they reached a little before day-break. ‘The gate 
of the fort lay wide open; rushing on he found the outer and 
inner doors of the palace open, and passing through them he 
found his private apartments similarly unprotected and his 
consort’s bed empty. One terrified old woman was found who 
was able to relate circumstantially what had happened in his 
absence. On learning the truth, the King went out into the 
great hall and uttered three terrible screams. 
; ‘By the noise, the lamps in seven countries were 
extinguished; the earth at seven cockpits cracked in fissures ; 
Jour. Straits Branch 
