XIX.
MUCHIE-LAL.
ONCE upon a time there were a Rajah and Ranee who had no children. Long had they wished and prayed that the gods would send them a son; but it was all in vain, their prayers were not granted. One day a number of fish were brought into the royal kitchen to be cooked for the Rajah's dinner, and amongst them was one little fish that was not dead; but all the rest were dead. One of the palace maid-servants, seeing this, took the little fish and put him in a basin of water. Shortly afterwards the Ranee saw him, and thinking him very pretty, kept him as a pet; and because she had no children she lavished all her affection on the fish, and loved him as a son; and the people called him Muchie-Rajah (the Fish Prince). In a little while Muchie-Rajah had grown too long to live in the small basin, so they put him in a larger one; and then (when he grew too long for that) into a big tub. In time, however, Muchie-Rajah became too large for even the big tub to hold him; so the Ranee had a tank made for him in which he lived very happily, and twice a day she fed him with boiled rice. Now, though the people fancied Muchie-Rajah was only a fish, this was not the case. He was, in truth, a young Rajah who had angered the gods, and been by them turned into a fish and thrown into the river as a punishment.
One morning when the Ranee brought him his daily meal of boiled rice, Muchie-Rajah called out to her and said, 'Queen Mother, Queen Mother, I am so lonely here all by myself. Cannot you get me a wife?' The Ranee promised to try, and sent messengers to all the people she knew, to ask if they would allow one of their children to marry her son, the Fish Prince. But they all answered, 'We cannot give one of our dear little daughters to be devoured by a great fish, even though he is the Muchie-Rajah, and so high in your Majesty's favour.'
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