Himalayan Times (1960)

Six

Himalayan Times

October 23, 1960

him, ah.l crawled down a
hole in tha grouud. Dit-
mounting and tying his
bow and. quiver to his
saddle, h« placed hia hat
on top of them, tyijig the
dog to the bridle, so that
neither of them should
runaway. Suddenly, bow-
ever, the fox bolted from
the hole, frightening the
p my so that the hat fell
on its head. The dijig,
also excited, gave chase,
dragging the horse after
him. ill three animals
then disappeared in the
distance. The lezy man
followed as fast as he
could, but soon lost sight
of them.

As he was crossing
a Pass, he met a party
of travellers, and asked
them if tbey had seen a
fox with a white hat,
pursued by a dog drag-
ging a pony. The trave
Hers decided that anyone
who asked such questions
must surely be mad, and
beat him unint rcifully,
finally stripping him of
his clothes and leaving
him naked by the road-
side. When-- he had re.
covered a little, he thought
that the only thing to
do was to go rn and
seek shelter, and this ho
did, arriving eventually
in a farmyardv which be-
longed to the king of
that country Here he
hid himself among the
piled hay, to rest'. He
hed not been there long,

bflfere he saw a beauti-
ful lady approaoh, t:ia
king's daughter, and, as
she b*nt to ti* her boot
string, a wonderful tor
quoise fell from her head-
dress. She did not notioe
this, ant soon walked
away.

Later on, wh»n the
cattle were driven in for
th.i night, a cow trod
the jewel into the mire,
tnus hidinr it. In the
morning, when the poor
naked man awoke, he
saw a cowherd who wns
cleaning up the yard,
throw a spadeful of r ling,
containing the turquoise,
up against a wall, where
it struck

When the "Princess
noticed her loss, she told
the king, who had a
search made in nil likely
places, without finding
the gem He therefore
summoned his magicians,
and told them to divine
its whereabout!-.

While the lazy man
was silting up in the hay,
a servant of the king
entered the yard, and,
seeing him, asked him
who he was, and if he
knew aught of the miss
ing turquoise. He further-
more informed him that
all the magicians and
sorcerers of tie country
had been summoned to
locate its whereabouts, sr
the king's good fortune
was bound . up in it "I
am a magician !" replied

the lazy one. "I am well
versnd in divination Hut,
before 1 can oome to the
palace, 1 must bare olo-
thes." The servant report-
ed this to the monarch
immediately, and was sent
back with a gift of robes,
and a summons to the
palaoe. When the sluggard
arrived before the king,
he was asked what he
needed in order to per-
form his magic, and de-
manded the head of a
large boar, which had to
b» adorned with silk of
five different colours, and
rice for offerings. These
were pro 'ided, and, as
soon as they arrived, he
made a large mound of
rice, on the top of which
he placed the decoiated
boar's head. Then, for
three days, with beating
of drums and clashing of
cymbals, he performed
certain ceremonies to the
gods. When these were
finished, he requested the
king to summon all ibe
people, and, when he had
carefully examined each
one, he told the monarch
that none of his subjects
had atoU'ii the jewel.
After this, as though by
divination, he' led the
king ■ to the farmyard,
and pointing to the heap
of muck which was piled
against the wall, spoke
ii the king thus,—"Your
Highness !" he said "You
will find yotir lucky tur-
quoit-e in ' that heap."