'On earth I was even as thou,
My turban awry like a king,
My head with the highest, I trow,
Having my fun and my fling,
Fighting my foes like a brave,
Living my life with a swing.
And, now I am dead,
Sins, heavy as lead,
Will give me no rest in my grave!'
So the night passed on, dark and dreary, while Rasâlu sat in the
graveyard and talked to the headless corpse. Now when morning broke
and Rasâlu said he must continue his journey, the headless corpse
asked him whither he was going; and when he said. 'to play
_chaupur_ with King Sarkap,' the corpse begged him to give up the
idea, saying, 'I am King Sarkap's brother, and I know his ways. Every
day, before breakfast, he cuts off the heads of two or three men, just
to amuse himself. One day no one else was at hand, so he cut off
mine, and he will surely cut off yours on some pretence or another.
However, if you are determined to go and play _chaupur_ with him,
take some of the bones from this graveyard, and make your dice out of
them, and then the enchanted dice with which my brother plays will
lose their virtue. Otherwise he will always win.'
So Rasâlu took some of the bones lying about, and fashioned them into
dice, and these he put into his pocket. Then, bidding adieu to the
headless corpse, he went on his way to play _chaupur_ with the
King.