has had built in the tank-wall. When you are taken there, wait, and be sure you don't go to sleep, or the Muchie-Rajah will certainly come and eat you up. But as you hear him coming rushing through the water, be prepared, and as soon as you see him, throw this first stone at him; he will then sink to the bottom of the tank. The second time he comes, throw the second stone, when the same thing will happen. The third time he comes, throw this third stone, and he will immediately resume his human shape.' So saying, the old Cobra dived down again into his hole. The Fakeer's daughter took the stones, and determined to do as the Cobra had told her, though she hardly believed it would have the desired effect.
When she reached the palace, the Ranee spoke kindly to her, and said to the messengers, 'You have done your errand well this is a dear little girl.' Then she ordered that she should be let down the side of the tank in a basket, to a little room which had been prepared for her. When the Fakeer's daughter got there, she thought she had never seen such a pretty place in her life (for the Ranee had caused the little room to be very nicely decorated for the wife of her favourite), and she would have felt very happy away from her cruel step-mother and all the hard work she had been made to do, had it not been for the dark water that lay black and unfathomable below the door, and the fear of the terrible Muchie-Rajah.
After waiting some time she heard a rushing sound, and little waves came dashing against the threshold; faster they came and faster, and the noise got louder and louder, until she saw a great fish's head above the water—the Muchie-Rajah was coming towards her open-mouthed. The Fakeer's daughter seized one of the stones that the Cobra had given her and threw it at him, and down he sank to the bottom of the tank; a second time he rose and came towards her, she threw the second stone at him, and he again sank down; a third time he came, more fiercely than before, when, seizing the third stone, she threw it with all her force. No sooner did it touch him than the spell was broken, and there, instead of a fish, stood a handsome young Prince. The poor little Fakeer's daughter was so startled that she began to cry. But the Prince said to her, 'Pretty maiden, do not be frightened. You have rescued me from a horrible thraldom, and I can never thank you enough; but if you will be the Muchie-Ranee, we will be married to-morrow.' Then he sat down on the door-step thinking over his strange fate, and watching for the dawn.
