1891.] Karl Marx— Ild-shang-rgyal-po and Ug-tad, a Dialogue. 39 
Upon this the king considered : “ A wife is pleasant to give one 
food,’ this is truly said ; ‘ there is more pleasure in being a spinster, 
than in having a husband with an evil countenance,’ is true likewise. 
Such has been said unto me. ‘ Again he thought; ‘ Ug-tad (probably) 
did not kill the queen,’ so he said to Ug-tad ; ‘ for the sake of 
one single offence, to command you : “ kill the queen ! ” was not right; 
therefore, if the queen is not dead, I will make over my reign to you, 
(if) you go and bring 1 her (here).’ 
Ug-tad said : ‘ To raise a person from the dead, and to come and 
bring her (back), is a thing unheard of.’ 
The king said: ‘Is there any means of bringing her to life 
again ?’ 
TJg -tad said: ‘ None that I have. Had Your Majesty 2 not ordered 
me to kill her, I would not have dared to look at the queen [MS. w r ith 
my eyes] ; much less would I have dared to put her to death. If, for 
instance, you leave a 3 hatchet without a handle in an empty riverbed, 
then (surely) no wood will be cut. And I, just as little, have any 
means of bringing her to life again. I, too, was no party in her execu¬ 
tion; it was Your Majesty, 4 who put her to death.’ 
The king said : ‘ As it seems evident, that the queen is not dead, 
bring her here 5 !’ 
Ug-tad said: ‘ She is dead. This is very much like the stories of 
the dove and of the hoopoe in times gone by. 
‘ There once were two doves, a married couple, who, in autumn, 
hid some fine barley in a hole. In winter it dried up and grew less 
(in bulk). The husband (noticing this) said: ‘Wife, thou hast eaten 
it !’ and struck his wife with his bill and killed her. After spring had 
gone by, however, the hole was full again, and now the dove husband 
said : ‘ (Indeed,) thou hast not eaten it, stand up !’ But his wife being 
dead, a few maggots only came out. 
‘Also a hoopoe-couple once found seven peas. In order to eat 
(them some other time), they dug with their bills (in the ground) and 
hid (the peas) in the furrow. But the furrow closed up, and they 
o 
1 Orig. briflg and come. 
_ -v 
2 Orig. the king. 
_> c\ 
3 MS. adds ? b sharp, but its entire omission seems an 
improvement. 
4 IQTUSV3N’ 
* dyorw 
