The wonderful dream was fulfilled, and the mother and aunts called the
boy Putraka. Every morning they found the gold pieces under his pillow,
and they took care of the money for him, so that when he grew up he was
the very richest man in the whole country. He had a happy childhood and
boyhood, his only trouble being that he did not like having never seen
his father. His mother told him about the famine before he was born,
and how his father and uncles had gone away and never come back. He
often said, “When I am a man I will find my father and bring him home
again.” He used his money to help others, and one of the best things he
did was to irrigate the land; that is to say, he made canals into which
water was made to flow in times when there was plenty of rain, so that
there was no danger of there being another famine, such as that which
had driven his father and uncles away. The country in which he lived
became very fruitful; everybody had enough to eat and drink; and
Putraka was very much loved, especially by the poor and unhappy. When
the king who ruled over the land died, everybody wanted Putraka to take
his place, and he was chosen at once.
5. Will you describe the kind of man you think Putraka was?
6. Do you know of any other country besides India in which everything
depends on irrigation?