Now when morning broke
and Ras??lu said he must continue his journey, the headless corpse
asked him whither he was going; and when he said. 'to play
_chaupur_ with King Sarkap,' the corpse begged him to give up the
idea, saying, 'I am King Sarkap's brother, and I know his ways. Every
day, before breakfast, he cuts off the heads of two or three men, just
to amuse himself. One day no one else was at hand, so he cut off
mine, and he will surely cut off yours on some pretence or another.
However, if you are determined to go and play _chaupur_ with him,
take some of the bones from this graveyard, and make your dice out of
them, and then the enchanted dice with which my brother plays will
lose their virtue. Otherwise he will always win.'
So Ras??lu took some of the bones lying about, and fashioned them into
dice, and these he put into his pocket. Then, bidding adieu to the
headless corpse, he went on his way to play _chaupur_ with the
King.
HOW RAJA RAS?‚LU SWUNG THE SEVENTY FAIR MAIDENS, DAUGHTERS OF THE KING
Now, as Raja Ras??lu, tender-hearted and strong, journeyed along to
play _chaupur_ with the King, he came to a burning forest, and a
voice rose from the fire saying, 'O traveller, for God's sake save me
from the fire!'
Then the Prince turned towards the burning forest, and, lo! the voice
was the voice of a tiny cricket.
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