kind playmate; there was nobody he cared for to tell him stories and amuse him. Then for four nights running he dreamed of a beautiful Glass Palace, in which dwelt a Princess white as marble, and he sent for all the wise people in the kingdom to interpret his dream, but none could do it; and, thinking upon this fair Princess and his lost friend, he got more and more sad, and said to himself, 'There is nobody to help me in this matter. Ah! if my Wuzeer's son were here now, how quickly would he interpret the dream! O my friend, my friend, my dear lost friend!' and when Chandra Rajah, his father, came in, he said to him, 'Show me the grave of Luxman, son of the Wuzeer, that I also may die there.' His father replied, 'What a foolish boy you are! You first begged that the Wuzeer's son might be killed, and now you want to die on his grave. What is all this about?' Rama Rajah replied, 'Oh! why did you give the order for him to be put to death? In him I have lost my friend and all my joy in life; show me now his grave, for thereon, I swear, will I kill myself.' When the Rajah saw that his son really grieved for the loss of Luxman, he said to him, 'You have to thank me for disregarding your foolish wishes; your old playmate is living, therefore be friends again, for what you thought were his eyes were but the eyes of a deer.' So the friendship of Rama and Luxman was resumed on its former footing. Then Rama said to Luxman, 'Four nights ago I dreamed a strange dream. I thought that for miles and miles I wandered through a dense jungle, after which I came upon a grove of Cocoanut trees, passing through which I reached one composed entirely of Guava trees, then one of Supari[1] trees, and lastly one of Copal trees. Beyond this lay a garden of flowers, of which the Malee's wife gave me a bunch; round the garden ran a large river, and on the other side of this I saw a fair palace composed of transparent glass, and in the centre of it sat the most lovely Princess I ever saw, white as marble, and covered with rich jewels; at the sight of her beauty I fainted—and so awoke. This has happened now four times, and as yet I have found no one capable of throwing any light on the vision.' Luxman answered, 'I can tell you. There exists a Princess exactly like her you saw in your dreams, and, if you like, you can go and marry her.' 'How can I?' said Rama; 'and what is your interpretation of the dream?' The Wuzeer's son replied, 'Listen to me, and I will tell you. In a country very far away from this, in the centre of a great Rajah's kingdom, there dwells his daughter, a most fair Princess; she lives
- ↑ Areca Catechu, the Betel-Nut Palm.
