Slay  him  as  soon  as  he  reaches  you,  and  let  me  not  hear  of
him  any  more.'"  The  boy  trembled  as  he  heard  these
terrible  words,  but  he  would  not  break  his  promise  to  the
king,  and  was  resolved  to  fulfil  His  Majesty's  wishes
though  it  should  cost  him  his  life.  So  the  faqir  destroyed
the  queen's  letter,  and  wrote  another  after  this  manner : —
"This  is  my  son.  When  he  reaches  you  attend  to  his
needs,  and  show  him  all  kindness."  Giving  it  to  the
lad,  he  said,  "  Call  the  woman  '  grandmother,'  and  fear
nothing."


THE  OGRESS-QUBEN.  49

The  lad  walked  on  and  on  till  he  reached  the  rdlcshas-Cs
house,  where  he  called  the  rdkshasi  ''  grandmother,"  as  the
faq'ir  had  advised  him,  and  gave  her  the  letter.  On  read-
ing it  she  clasped  the  lad  in  her  arms  and  kissed  him,  and
inquired  much  about  her  granddaughter  and  her  royal
husband.  Every  attention  was  shown  the  lad,  and  every
delicious  thing  that  the  old  rdJcshasi  could  think  of  was
provided  for  him.  She  also  gave  him  many  things,
amongst  others  the  following : — A  jar  of  soap,  which
when  dropped  on  the  ground  became  a  great  and  lofty
mountain ;  a  jar  full  of  needles,  which  if  let  fall  became
a  hill  bristling  with  large  needles ;  a  jar  full  of  water,
which  if  poured  out  became  an  expanse  of  water  as
large  as  a  sea.  She  also  showed  him  the  following  things,
and  explained  their  meaning : — Seven  fine  cocks,  a  spin-
ning-wheel, a  pigeon,  a  starling,  and  some  medicine.
