palace gate; but the mare refused to move in that direction until forced to do so by whip and spur. As soon as they reached the tower at the gate, the princess, from the balcony, cast down a garland of flowers which encircled the young man's neck. The princes were much puzzled. The idea was forced upon them that the garland was of betrothal, and that therefore they could not harm him openly. They racked their brains, however, to discover some means of injuring him; and relating the circumstances to their father, asked him to call a council to determine the course to be taken. At the same time they bribed the councillors to advise him to do something that would remove the man they hated from their sight. They succeeded, and the decision was that the mali's son could marry the princess only on the condition of being after the wedding incarcerated for fourteen years. That night the nuptials were celebrated, and the wedded couple, after three days, were separated, and the bridegroom was cast into a dungeon, with an iron chain round his neck.
Malancha heard of the wedding in due time, but she was not at all displeased at the thought of having a rival. She thought, however, that it would have been better if she had previously informed Chandramanik of the relationship between them. But what had been done could not be undone, and she waited for the return of her husband. But four days passed, and he did not turn up. At length, on the morning of the fifth day, the mare returned without its rider, and the poor wife, suspecting something wrong, threw herself upon the ground in a paroxysm of grief. Recovering somewhat, she called the mare to her, and tied upon her neck a letter addressed to her husband's father, to the effect that his son was to be found in the kingdom of Raja Dudhbaran,[1] married to a princess, but cast into prison. She then left the malini, saying that she would go to her own country and drown herself in her father's tank, so deep was her grief.
In the course of her journey, she reached the place where
- ↑ The Raja of milk-white cornplexion.
