OLD DECCAN DAYS
I.
PUNCHKIN.
ONCE upon a time there was a Rajah who had seven beautiful daughters. They were all good girls; but the youngest, named Balna,[1] was more clever than the rest. The Rajah's wife died when they were quite little children, so these seven poor Princesses were left with no mother to take care of them.
The Rajah's daughters took it by turns to cook their father's dinner every day,[2] whilst he was absent deliberating with his Ministers on the affairs of the nation.
About this time the Prudhan[3] died, leaving a widow and one daughter; and every day, every day, when the seven Princesses were preparing their father's dinner, the Prudhan's widow and daughter would come and beg for a little fire from the hearth. Then Balna
