The legends of the Panjâb

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38 LEGENDS OP THE PANJAB.
Still the RSja went on at her " Come, Rani, and shampoo
me." So at last the Rani gave in, and sat on the bed and'
began to shampoo Raja Ras41il. And the Raja first turned
one side and then the other to her, and then he put his ring
under the bed clothes. After this he told the Rani to stop
shamppoing, and get him some dinner. So the Rani put some
rice and water into an earthen pot and placed it on her br,easts,
where by the miraculous power of the Raja it became cooked,
and the Rani, after adding some sugar and ghi, placed it before
the Raja and said,
"You are a holy man, so get some water for yourself at your
own command, that you may wash and eat.''
Whereon the Raja took up a stone, and from under it there
gushed a fountain of water. Then the Raja ate his fill and
said to Rani Chandni,
"You are as my sister and I your brother, but say nothing of
this to Mahita Chopra. He will find it out for himself presently.
I shall send for you and then you must come to me fearlessly
veiled from head to foot."
After this Raja RasaM went to his palace, and soon afterwards
Mahita Chopra came home, ate his dinner, lay down on his bed,
and told Rani CMndni to shampoo him. Suddenly the ring
ran into his back, and he put his hand under the clothes and
saw what it was. As soon as he saw it he was so overcome
with grief that he fell off his bed in a faint. The Rani picked
him up and made him sit down on the bed, but after a couple
of hours he fainted
again, whereon the Rkm asked him what
had enchanted him to make him faint so often.
Mahita Chopra replied, " You are the enchantress that have
made me faint so often."
" What have I done " said the R^ni. Then MahitS. Chopra
showed her the
clothes, saying,
ring which Raja RasiM had hidden under the
" This is your enchantment."
Rani Chandni replied, " That is no fault of mine, you must
have put it there yourself."