refused, saying, 'We cannot come, but we will wait here until you return; and if you find Mahadeo, pray for us also, that we may have children.'
So the Sowkar's wife went on her way, and the fire waves lapped round her feet as if they had been water, but they did not hurt her.
When she reached the other side of the river she came upon a great wilderness, full of wild elephants, and of bison, and lions, and tigers, and bears, that roared and growled on every side. But she did not turn back for fear of them, for she said to herself, 'I can but die once, and it is better that they should kill me, than that I should return without finding Mahadeo.' And all the wild beasts allowed her to pass through the midst of them and did her no harm.
Now it came to pass that Mahadeo looked down from heaven and saw her, and when he saw her he pitied her greatly, for she had been twelve years wandering upon the face of the earth to find him. Then he caused a beautiful mango-tree, beside a fair well, to spring up in the desert to give her rest and refreshment, and he himself, in the disguise of a Gosain Fakeer,[1] came and stood by the tree. But the Sowkar's wife would not stay to gather the fruit or drink the water; she did not so much as notice the Fakeer, but walked straight on, in her weary search for Mahadeo. Then he called after her, 'Bai, Bai, where are you going? Come here.' She answered, scarcely looking at him, 'It matters not to you, Fakeer, where I am going. You tell your prayer-beads, and leave me alone.'—'Come here,' he cried; 'come here!' But she would not, so Mahadeo went and stood in front of her, no longer disguised as a Fakeer, but shining brightly, the Lord of Kylas[2] in all his beauty, and at the sight of him the poor Sowkar's wife fell down on the ground and kissed his feet; and he said to her, 'Tell me, Bai, where are you going?' She answered, 'Sir, I seek Mahadeo, to pray him to grant that I may have a child, but for twelve years I have looked for him in vain.' He said, 'Seek no further, for I am Mahadeo; take this mango,' and he gathered one off the tree that grew by the well, 'and eat it, and it shall come to pass that when you return home you shall have a child.' Then she said, 'Sir, three women came seeking you, but two stayed by the river of fire, for they were afraid; may not they also have children?'
