flame of love within us, left home and were married. Our married life has, till the present, been one of misfortune. See here the goat, which is my husband transformed by magic; and these bones are those of a thousand and one goats, into which as many kings and kotáls were changed."
The speech being ended, she followed the advice of the witch in her dying moments, and her late victims stood up in their natural forms, to the infinite surprise of the whole court. The gardener, in extreme horror, was heard to cry aloud:—
"O save me, Pushpa, my darling! In my former birth I was your father, but I could not recognize you till now. I have become a mali[1] for the sin of having violated the oath I made with regard to your marriage. My sin is now expiated to some extent, but at this moment I shall be changed into a ram. Only you will be able to bring me and your mother, who is now a jessamine flower close at hand, into human existence again, and this you can do by taking the flower off its stem and placing it on my head." In the twinkling of an eye there was a fierce-looking hairy ram in the gardener's place, and the whole court was in utter amazement. The sight was unbearable to Pushpa, who, leaving her husband to see that the ram might not go out, went in search of the flower, and having obtained it, she placed it on the animal's head. Immediately her father and mother regained their natural forms, and the king left his throne to receive them. After a friendly conversation it was settled that Pushpa and the kotál's son should be formally married. A priest was brought, and the wedding concluded with great rejoicings.
After spending a few days in that kingdom, Pushpa with her parents and her husband went to her own country, and the first thing she did was to revive the people there who had been destroyed by the witch. The old kotál and his wife rose into life again to embrace their son and daughter-in-law, and every one in the kingdom resumed his usual avocation. Pushpa's life after this was one of unalloyed happiness.
- ↑ Gardener.
