“Who are you who stop us?” And the voice answered “You have done evil and offended Karam Gosain by scalding him; this is why you have become poor and to-day have worked without food and without wages; he has gone to the Ganges and you must go and propitiate him.”  And they asked how they should propitiate him, and the voice said “Grind turmeric and put it on a plate, and buy new cloth and dye it with turmeric and make ready oil and take these things to the Ganges and call on Karam Gosain.”  And they believed the voice and the next day did as it commanded, and set off, leaving their children in charge of Karmu.  On the way they came to a fig-tree full of figs and they went to eat the fruit; but when they got near they found that all the figs were full of grubs, and they sang:—­

    “Exhausted by hunger we came to a fig-tree,
    And found it full of grubs,
    O Karam Gosain, how far off are you?”

Then they came to a mango tree and the same thing happened.  And they went on and saw a cow with a calf; and they thought that they would milk the cow and drink the milk, but when they went to catch it it ran away from them and would not let itself be caught; and they sang:—­

    “We go to catch the cow and it runs away,
    We go to catch the calf and it runs away,
    O Karam Gosain how far off are you?”

But the cow said to them—­“Go to the banks of the Ganges.”  Then they came to a buffalo and went to milk it, but it lowered its head and charged them; and Dharam cried but his wife said “Don’t cry” and sang:—­

    “If you go to catch the buffalo, Dharmu,
    It will kill you. 
    How shall we drink milk?  How shall we drink milk? 
    How far off are you, O our Karam Gosain?”

And the buffalo said “Go on to the bank of the Ganges.”  Then they came to a horse and they thought that they would catch it and mount it, but it kicked and snorted; and they sang:—­

    “Dharmu tries to catch the horse: 
    But it kicks and runs away. 
    How shall we reach the Ganges? 
    O Karam Gosain, how far off are you?”

And the horse said “Go to the banks of the Ganges.”  Then they saw an elephant but it would not let them approach, so they decided to push on straight for the river; and they saw under a banyan tree a large pot full of rupees, but they were so disheartened that they made no attempt to touch it; then they met a woman who asked where they were going and when she heard, she said “For twelve years I have had a pai measure stuck on my throat; ask Karam Gosain for me how I am to get rid of it,” and they promised; and going on they met a woman with a bundle of thatching grass stuck to her head; and she made them promise to ask Karam Gosain how she could be freed; then they met a woman with both her feet burning in a fire and another with a stool stuck fast to her back and they promised to enquire how these might be delivered.