of her tears fell into the hole of an old Seven-headed Cobra, who lived on the river-bank.  This Cobra was a very wise animal, and seeing the maiden, he put his head out of his hole, and said to her:  “Little girl, why do you cry?” “Oh, sir,” she answered, “I am very unhappy; for my father is from home, and my stepmother has sold me to the Ranee’s people to be the wife of the Muchie Rajah, that great fish, and I know he will eat me up.”  “Do not be afraid, my daughter,” said the Cobra; “but take with you these three stones and tie them up in the corner of your saree;” and so saying, he gave her three little round pebbles.  “The Muchie Rajah, whose wife you are to be, is not really a fish, but a Rajah who has been enchanted.  Your home will be a little room which the Ranee has had built in the tank wall.  When you are taken there, wait and be sure you don’t go to sleep, or the Muchie Rajah will certainly come and eat you up.  But as you hear him coming rushing through the water, be prepared, and as soon as you see him, throw this first stone at him; he will then sink to the bottom of the tank.  The second time he comes, throw the second stone, when the same thing will happen.  The third time he comes, throw this third stone, and he will immediately resume his human shape.”  So saying, the old Cobra dived down again into his hole.  The Fakeer’s daughter took the stones and determined to do as the Cobra had told her, though she hardly believed it would have the desired effect.

When she reached the palace the Ranee spoke kindly to her, and said to the messengers:  “You have done your errand well; this is a dear little girl.”  Then she ordered that she should be let down the side of the tank in a basket to a little room which had been prepared for her.  When the Fakeer’s daughter got there, she thought she had never seen such a pretty place in her life (for the Ranee had caused the little room to be very nicely decorated for the wife of her favorite); and she would have felt very happy away from her cruel stepmother and all the hard work she had been made to do, had it not been for the dark water that lay black and unfathomable below the door and the fear of the terrible Muchie Rajah.

After waiting some time she heard a rushing sound, and little waves came dashing against the threshold; faster they came and faster, and the noise got louder and louder, until she saw a great fish’s head above the water—­Muchie Rajah was coming toward her open-mouthed.  The Fakeer’s daughter seized one of the stones that the Cobra had given her and threw it at him, and down he sank to the bottom of the tank; a second time he rose and came toward her, and she threw the second stone at him, and he again sank down; a third time he came more fiercely than before, when, seizing a third stone, she threw it with all her force.  No sooner did it touch him than the spell was broken, and there, instead of a fish, stood a handsome young Prince.  The poor little Fakeer’s daughter was so startled that she began to cry.  But the Prince said to her:  “Pretty maiden, do not be frightened.  You have rescued me from a horrible thraldom, and I can never thank you enough; but if you will be the Muchie Ranee, we will be married to-morrow.”  Then he sat down on the doorstep, thinking over his strange fate and watching for the dawn.