So the Raja’s son set out, and after travelling for some days he found himself benighted in a dense jungle.  Wandering about, he at last saw a fire burning in the distance, so he went to it and sat down by it and began to smoke.  Now the Gosain was sleeping near by and the smell of the smoke awoke him, and he rose and asked who was there.

“O uncle, it is I.”

“Really, is it you my nephew?  Where have you come from so late at night?”

“From home, uncle.”

“What has brought me to your memory now?  You have never paid me a visit before.  I am afraid that something has happened.”

“You need not fear that, I have come to you because my mother tells me that you can help me to find the golden leopard and the golden snake and the golden monkey.”

At this the Gosain promised to help the Raja’s son to find the animals and then put the cooking-pot on the fire to boil; and in it he put only three grains of rice, but when it was cooked, they found that there was enough to make a meal of.  When they had eaten, the Gosain said “Nephew, I cannot tell you what you have to do; but further in the jungle lives my younger brother:  go to him and he will tell you.”

So when it was morning the Raja’s son set out, and in two days he reached the second Gosain and told him of his quest.  The Gosain listened to his story and put the cooking-pot on to boil and in it threw two grains of rice, and this, when cooked, was sufficient for a good meal.  After they had eaten, the Gosain said that he could not tell how the animals were to be found, but that he had a still younger brother who could tell.  So the next morning the Raja’s son continued his journey, and in two or three days he came to the third Gosain and there he learnt what was to be done.  This Gosain also put the pot on to boil but in the pot he only put one grain of rice and a bit of a grain, yet when cooked it was enough for a meal.

In the morning the Gosain told the Raja’s son to go to a blacksmith and have a shield made of twelve maunds of iron and with its edge so sharp that a leaf falling on it would be cut in two.  So he went to the blacksmith and had a shield made, and took it to the Gosain.  The Gosain said that they must test it, and he set it edgewise in the ground under a tree and told the Raja’s son to climb the tree and shake some leaves down.  The Raja’s son climbed the tree and shook the branches, but not a leaf fell.  Then the Gosain climbed up and gave the tree a shake and the leaves fell in showers and every leaf that touched the edge of the shield was cut in two.  Then the Gosain was satisfied that the shield was rightly made.