but all in vain.  The other women laughed at her efforts and she protested that it was the fault of the spinning wheel:  it did not know her; her mother’s spinning wheel knew her well and she could spin capitally with that.  They jeered at the idea of a spinning wheel having eyes and being able to recognise its owner; however one day the young woman went and fetched her mother’s spinning wheel and tried to spin with that.  She got on no better than before, and could only explain it by saying that the spinning wheel had forgotten her.

Whatever the reason was, the other women all finished their spinning and received their new clothes, while she had nothing to show.  Then her father-in-law scolded her and told her that it was too late to make other arrangements and as she could not get any new clothes the best thing for her to do would be to smear her body with Gur and stick raw cotton all over it.  A parrab soon came round and all the other women got out their new clothes and went to see the fun.  The clumsy bride had no new clothes and she took her father-in-law’s advice and smeared her body with gur and covered herself with raw cotton and so went to the parrab.

Her husband was very angry that she should have taken her father-in-law’s jest in earnest, and when she came home he gave her a good beating and turned her out of the house.  And that was the end of the “industrious” bride.

CIV.  The Boy and His Fate.

There was once a Raja and Rani who had had three sons, but they had all died when only three or four months old.  Then a fourth son was born, a fine handsome child; and he did not die in infancy but grew up to boyhood.  It was however fated that he should die when he was sixteen years old and his parents knew this and when they saw him coming happily home from his games of play, their eyes filled with tears at the thought of the fate that hung over him.

One day the boy asked his father and mother why it was that they were so sorrowful:  and they told him how his three little brothers had died and how they feared that he had but little longer to live.  On hearing this the boy proposed that he should be allowed to go away into a far country, as perhaps by this means he might avoid his fate.  His father was glad to catch at the faintest hope and readily gave his consent:  so they supplied him with money and mounted him on a horse, and off he set.

He travelled far and settled down in a place that pleased him.  But in a short time the messengers of death came to the Raja’s palace to take him away.  When they did not find him, they followed in pursuit along the road which he had taken; they wore the likeness of men and soon traced out the Raja’s son.  They presented themselves to him and said that they had come to take him home again.  The prince said that he was ready to go, but asked them to allow him to cook and eat his rice before starting.