chiefly to prevent Rup from taking any necessaries from the ports; but he had no want of anything, and therefore they were passed by. The malini had then recourse to a charm, whereby she made the boats dash against a Chur,[1] and Rup and the crew sank under water. Kanchan, being a Sati, was not only safe herself, but saved her husband and his men from a watery grave. The former, however, was under an hallucination; he attributed the good office to the malini and her niece, though they remained invisible.
The boats sailed on until a town was reached where a Puja[2] was going on, the object of worship being a goddess fond of human flesh and blood. Rup was taken out of his boat, selected as the sacrifice, and carried to the place by the side of a tank where the offering was to be made. His head was cut off and rolled on the ground. Kanchan, who had run after him, reached the cruel spot, and sitting by the pool of blood, took the head upon her lap and rent the air with her lamentations. Her cries reached the ears of Shiva and Durga, driving through the air in their chariot, and they in pity descended and restored Rup to life. But the wicked malini and her niece were still in his mind, as his good angels.
The boats again set out on their voyage, and reached a country where a terrible famine raged. For seven months Rup and his men were hardly able to get their food. At last Kanchan, obtaining the favour of Annapurna,[3] managed to get the best dishes for her husband and his people, and the fool Rup, instead of thanking her, expressed his gratitude to his unseen friends the malini and her niece. There is a proverb, "Talk of the Devil, and he is sure to be there," and it was true in this case. The malini, with her niece, got into Kanchan's boat, and cast her into the water to be drowned. Rup was then told by the malini to take off the covering from his eyes, and this was the first time he had done so since he had left home. He beheld a lotus leaf floating, and taking it
