Then said the Khan's son, "Come out of the box, and I will take thee
to be my wife."
But the maiden answered, "I come not out of the box except some other
be put into the same."
To which the Prince replied, "That shall be done," and he commanded
that they put the tiger into the box; but the maiden and the jewels
he took with him.
Meantime the poor man had completed the prayers and the ceremonies
'to make suddenly rich,' and he said, "Now will I go and fetch the
maiden and the treasure." With that he traced his way back over the
steppe to the place where he had buried the box, and dug it out of
the sand, not perceiving that the Prince's servants had taken it up
and buried it again. Then, lading it on to his shoulder, he brought
the same into his inner apartment. But to his wife he said, "To-night
is the last of the ceremony 'for making suddenly rich.' I must shut
myself up in my inner apartment to perform it, and go through it all
alone. What noise soever thou mayst hear, therefore, beware, on thy
peril, that thou open not the door, neither approach it."
This he said, being minded to rid himself of the maiden, who might have
betrayed the real means by which he became possessed of the treasure,
by killing her and hiding her body under the earth.
Then having taken off all his clothes, that they might not be soiled
with the blood he was about to spill, and prepared himself thus to
put the woman to death, he lifted up the lid of the box, saying,
"Maiden, fear nothing!" But on the instant the tiger sprang out upon
him and threw him to the ground. In vain he cried aloud with piteous
cries. All the time that his bare flesh was delivered over to the
teeth and claws of the unpitying tiger his wife and children were
laughing, and saying, "How is our father diligent in offering up
'the Prayer which makes suddenly rich!'"
But when, the next morning, he came not out, all the neighbours came
and opened the door of the inner apartment, and they found only his
bones which the tiger had well cleaned; but having so well satisfied
its appetite, it walked out through their midst without hurting any
of them.
In process of time, however, the maiden whom the Khan's son had
taken to his palace had lived happily with him, and they had a
family of three children; and she was blameless and honoured before
all. Nevertheless, envious people spread the gossip that she had come
no one knew whence; and when they brought the matter before the king's
council it was said, "How shall a Khan's son whose mother was found
in a box under the sand reign over us? And what will be thought of
a Khan's son who has no uncles?"
These things reached the ears of the Khanin, and, fearing lest they
should take her sons from her and put them to death that they might not
reign, she resolved to take them with her and go home to her parents.
On the fifteenth of the month, while the light of the moon shone
abroad, she took her three sons and set out on her way.
When it was about midday she had arrived nigh to the habitation of
her parents; but at a place where formerly all had been waste she
found many labourers at work ploughing the land, directing them was
a noble youth of comely presence. When the youth saw the Khan's wife
coming over the field he asked her whence she came; answering, she
told him she had journeyed from afar to see her parents, who lived by
the temple of Chongschim Bodhisattva on the other side of the mountain.
"And you are their daughter?" pursued the young man.
"Even so; and out of filial regard am I come to visit them," answered
the Khanin.
"Then you are my sister," returned the youth, "for I am their son; and
they have always told me I had an elder sister who was gone afar off."
Then he invited her to partake of his midday meal, and after
they had dined they set out together to find the lowly dwelling
of their parents. But when they had come round to the other side
of the mountain in the place where the lowly habitation had stood,
behold there was now a whole congeries of palaces, each finer than the
residence of the husband of the Khanin! All over they were hung with
floating streamers of gay-coloured silks. The temple of the Chongschim
Bodhisattva itself had been rebuilt with greater magnificence than
before, and was resplendent with gold, and diamonds, and streamers
of silk, and furnished with mellow-toned bells whose sound chimed
far out into the waste.
"To whom does all this magnificence belong?" inquired the Khanin.
"It all belongs to us," replied the youth. "Our parents, too, are
well and happy; come and see them."
As they drew near their parents came out to meet them, looking hale and
hearty and riding on horses. Behind them came a train of attendants
leading horses for the Khanin and her brother. They all returned to
the palace where the parents dwelt, all being furnished with elegance
and luxury. When they had talked over all the events that had befallen
each since they parted, they went to rest on soft couches.
When the Khanin saw the magnificence in which her parents were living
she bethought her that it would be well to invite the Khan to come
and visit them. Accordingly she sent a splendid train of attendants
to ask him to betake himself thither. Soon after, the Khan arrived,
together with his ministers, and they were all of them struck with
the condition of pomp and state in which the Khanin was living,
far exceeding that of the Khan himself, the ministers owned, saying,
"The report we heard, saying that the Khanin had no relations but the
poor and unknown, was manifestly false;" and the Khan was all desire
that she should return home. To this request she gave her cordial
assent, only, as her parents were now well-stricken in years, and it
was not likely she should have the opportunity of seeing them more,
she desired to spend a few days more by their side. It was agreed,
therefore, that the Khan and his ministers should return home, and
that after three days the Khanin also should come and join him.
Having taken affectionate leave of the Khan and seen him depart,
she betook herself to rest on her soft couch.
When she woke in the morning, behold, all the magnificence of the
place was departed! There were no stately palaces; the temple of
the Chongschim Bodhisattva was the same unpretending structure it
had always been of old, only a little more worn down by time and
weather; the lowly habitation of her parents was a shapeless ruin,
and she was lying on the bare ground in one corner of it, with a
heap of broken stones for a pillow. Her parents were dead long ago,
and as for a brother there was no trace of one.
Then she understood that the devas had sent the transformation to
satisfy the Khan and his ministers, and, that done, every thing had
returned to its natural condition.
Grateful for the result, she now returned home, where the Khan received
her with greater fondness than before. The ministers were satisfied
as to the honour of the throne, all the gossips were put to silence
from that day forward, and her three sons were brought up and trained
that they might reign in state after the Khan their father.
"Truly, that was a woman favoured by fortune beyond
expectation!" exclaimed the Khan. And as he let these words
escape him the Siddhî-kür replied, "Forgetting his health, the
Well-and-wise-walking Khan hath opened his lips." And with the cry,
"To escape out of this world is good!" he sped him through the air,
swift out of sight.
Thus far of the adventures of the Well-and-wise-walking Khan the
eleventh chapter, concerning "The Prayer making suddenly Rich."