She smelt danger in them, and one night she buried them under a clump of bamboos a little way off from the palace.
One day a labourer came to the place and cut off two bamboos, and great was his surprise to find an egg in each of them, one red and the other blue. Fearing that they were the eggs of a snake, he hurriedly left the spot, and when he had gone, out of the blue egg came Kushum, and out of the red Ajit. The two brothers, leaving their father's kingdom behind, set out for the dominions of another king. His kingdom was infested by Khokkoshes,[1] who devoured his subjects in hundreds. One night he dreamt that he was to be freed from the hands of the marauders by two princes, whom he should reward by giving to them his two daughters in marriage with the half of his kingdom. His dream was soon fulfilled. Kushum and Ajit, now named Neelkamal (blue lotus), and Lalkamal (red lotus), after the colours of the eggs out of which they had come, presented themselves before him, and on his telling them his dream, they at once volunteered to kill the Khokkoshes. Their plan was to await the giants in a room which they haunted at night, and accordingly they took their places there at nine o'clock. For a long time, however, there was no sign of them, and it was not until it struck twelve that they came to the door of the room, which was shut, and demanded to know who was inside. Neelkamal was awake at the moment, and Lalkamal asleep. The latter had, however, before retiring, told the former that if the Khokkoshes came during his vigil, he must not say that it was he alone that was watching, but that he had his brother awake with him. True to his promise Neelkamal, when challenged, said, "Force your way in, and you will find Lalkamal and Neelkamal with their swords ready to receive you." The name of Lalkamal produced terror in the Khokkoshes, because they knew that the blood of a Rakkhashi flowed in his veins, and they withdrew a few paces. But to verify what they had been told, the head Khokkosh said in a
- ↑ A tribe of monsters akin to the Rakkhushes, but more ferocious than they.
