"Very  well.  Eest,  and  by  the  morning  I  will  show
you  the  cause  of  these  things."

His  Majesty  was  soon  sound  asleep,  and  the  wicked
queen  left  the  room.  She  went  to  the  sheep-pens,  and
taking  one  of  the  sheep,  killed  it,  and  filled  an  earthen
vessel  with  its  blood.  Then  she  returned  to  the  palace,
and  went  to  the  several  rooms  of  the  other  wives  of  the
king,  and  stained  their  mouths  and  clothes  with  the  blood
that  she  had  brought.  Afterwards  she  went  and  lay
down  in  the  room  while  the  king  was  still  sleeping.  As
soon  as  the  day  dawned  she  woke  him,  and  said  to  him,
"  I  find  that  your  other  wives  have  taken  and  eaten  the
animals.  They  are  not  human  beings ;  they  are  rdkshasis.
If  you  wish  to  preserve  your  life,  you  will  beware  of  them.
Go  and  see  if  I  am  not  speaking  the  truth."

The  king  did  so,  and  when  he  saw  the  blood-stained
mouths  and  garments  of  his  other  wives  he  was  terribly
enraged.  He  ordered  that  their  eyes  should  be  put  out,
and  that  they  should  be  thrown  into  a  big  dry  well  which
was  outside  the  city ;  and  this  was  done.
44  FOLK-TALES  OF  KASHMIR.
