But the Raja sent his soldiers and they seized Kuwar and bound him to the post in the middle of the tank; and then a song was sung dedicating him to the tank and as the water rose around him the princess wept bitterly; but the Raja said “Do not cry I will arrange for your support and will give you part of my kingdom and you shall live in my palace.”  The princess said “Yes:  hereafter I may stay with you, but let me now watch Kuwar till he is drowned;” so Kuwar fixed his eyes on the princess and tears streamed down his face until the waters rose and covered him; and the princess also gazed at him till he was drowned.  Then the Raja’s soldiers told her to come with them and she said “Yes, I am coming, but let me first offer a libation of water to my dead husband;” and on this pretext she went into the water and then she darted to the place where Kuwar had been bound and sank beneath the surface.  The Raja bade men rescue her but all were afraid to enter the water and she was seen no more.  Then the Raja gave all the coolies a feast and scattered money among the crowd and dismissed them.  And this is the end of the story.

XVIII.  The Laughing Fish.

There was once a merchant who prospered in his business and in the course of time became very rich.  He had five sons but none of them was married.  In the village where he lived was an old tank which was half silted up and he resolved to clean it out and deepen it, if the Raja would give it to him; so he went to the Raja and the Raja said that he could have the tank if he paid forty rupees.  The merchant paid the money and then went home and called his family together and said that they would first improve the tank and then find wives for all his sons.  The sons agreed and they collected coolies and drained off the water and began to dig out the silt.  When they had drained off the water they found in the bed of the tank a number of big fish of unknown age:  which they caught and two of them they sent to the Raja as a present.  When the fish were carried into the presence of the Raja they both began to laugh:  then the Raja said “What is the meaning of this?  Here are two dead fish, why are they laughing?” And he told the men who brought the fish to explain what was the matter or else to take them away again.  But they could give no explanation.  Then the Raja called all his officers and astrologers and asked them what they thought it meant:  but no one could give him any answer.  Then the Raja told the men to take the fish away again, and to tell the merchant that, if he could not explain why the fish laughed, he would kill him and all his descendants; and he wrote a letter to the same effect, and fixed a day by which the merchant was to explain the matter.  When the merchant read the letter he fell into the greatest distress and for two or three days he could not make up his mind whether to go on with the work on the tank or no; but in the end he resolved to finish