86 CRADLE TALES OF HINDULSM
skilled in gambling. Offer him thy services as a charioteer. Give to him thy skill with horses, in exchange for his knowledge of dice. When thou dost understand the dice, thy wife and children will be thine once more. And finally, O King, when thou desirest to regain thy proper form, think of me and wear these garments." And saying these words that lord of Nagas gave unto Nala two pieces of enchanted clothing, and imme- diately became invisible.
And Nala made his way to Ayodhya, and entered the service of Rituparna the King, receiving great honour as the Master of the Horse. And all the stables and their attendants were placed under him ; for Rituparna desired nothing so much as that his steeds should be fleet.
But night after night the fellow ofi&cers of the charioteer — who was known in the palace of Ayodhya as Vahuka — would hear him alone, groaning and weeping, and listening they distinctly heard the words : *< Alas I where layeth she now her head, a-hungered and a-thirst, helpless and worn with toil, thinking ever of him who was unworthy ? Where dwelleth she now ? On whose bidding doth she wait ? " And once, when they begged him to tell them who it was that he thus lamented, he told them in veiled words his whole story. **A certain person," he said, ** had a beautiful wife, but little sense. The wretch was false. He
