duty to his king, the king’s admiration for his old morning visitor increased the more.
After presenting the fruit the Brâhmiṇ waited upon his sovereign till his pûja[1] was over, and then went home where his wife kept ready for him all the requisites for his own pûjâ. Pâpabhîru then partook of what dinner his wife had prepared for him. Sometimes, however, a Brâhmiṇ neighbour sent him an invitation to dinner, which he at once accepted. For his father, before he breathed his last, had called him to his bedside, and, pronouncing his last benediction, had thus advised him in Tamil:—
Kâlai sôttai taḷâde,
Kaṇṇil Kaṇḍadai s’ollâde,
Râjanukku payandu naḍa.
“Morning meal do thou never spurn,
Nor say thou what thine eyes discern,
But serve thy king for fame to earn.”
Thus it was that Pâpabhîru began his visits to the king, nor did he ever reject an invitation to dinner, though it might come at a very inconvenient time.
Now on a certain êkâdas’i[2] morning, Pâpabhîru went to the king to pay his respects as usual, with the lime and the benediction, but found that he had gone to his pûjâ and so followed him there. On
