The fourth Saturday it was once more the turn of the youngest daughter-in-law.  Again Saturn came in the guise of a beggar covered with sores and asked for hot water, oil, and food.  The little daughter-in-law gave them as she had done before, and the god blessed her, saying, “God will make you rich and happy.”  Then he folded up the leaves from which he had eaten and stuck them into a corner of the eaves.  When the little daughter-in-law went upstairs, she saw any amount of grain in the jars, and she prepared a splendid dinner.  So when the family came home they were delighted.  They could no longer restrain their curiosity, and exclaimed, “Where did all this food come from?” The little daughter-in-law told them about the beggar covered with sores and about his blessing.  To test her story, they looked for the folded leaves which he had stuck into a corner of the roof.  They found them, but when they pulled them out they were full of pearls and diamonds.  Then the old Brahman guessed that the beggar was Saturn in disguise, and he also understood why, when the other two daughters-in-law gave him nothing and were cursed by him, there was nothing for dinner.  So they all knelt down and prayed to Saturn, and the god forgave the two-daughters-in-law who had given him nothing.  And he was more pleased than ever with the little daughter-in-law who had befriended him.  And so they all lived happily ever afterwards.  And may Saturn be pleased with us all as he was with the little daughter-in-law.

CHAPTER VII

Mahalaxmi and the Two Queens

Once upon a time there was a town called Atpat.  In it there lived a king who had two queens.  Of one of them he was very fond, but the other one he did not care for.  The name of the favoured one was Patmadhavrani, and the name of the unloved one was Chimadevrani.  Now the king had an enemy called Nandanbaneshwar.  Such a terrible enemy he was too!  He could jump into the clouds or dive into the bottom of the ocean.  At one moment he would shoot up into heaven.  At another he would sink down into hell, and through fear of his enemy, the king had become as dry and as thin as an old bit of stick.  One day the king, in despair, assembled all his subjects and ordered them to seek out and kill Nandanbaneshwar.  All the subjects said, “Certainly, certainly, O King,” and began to search everywhere for Nandanbaneshwar.  Now in Atpat there lived a poor woman who had one son.  On hearing the orders of the king, he said to her, “Mother, Mother, give me some bread, for I am going out to kill the king’s enemy.”  The old woman said, “Do not be silly; you are only a poor boy, and people will laugh at you.  Here, take this bit of bread and go and eat it behind a tree.”  The boy said, “Very well,” and took the bread.  But, after taking it, he joined the other villagers and went at their head to seek out and kill Nandanbaneshwar.  But when evening fell they had