Now we return to the adventures of Sahpri and the Princess Dewi Ratnasari.
One night Sahpri dreamed that he was on the top of a high mountain with Indra Bangsāwan, and that they slept together as they used to do, and when he awoke he was sad, desiring to seek his brother. And he told the princess that he must leave her for a time to search for Indra Bangsāwan, for he said that he had dreamed about him and that he must be sick and in need of him. So she said, "If that be so take this Bezoar stone,[1] which will even bring a dead man back to life. Dip it in water, and let the sick man drink of it, and also be bathed in it."
So Sahpri started for Anta Permana and journeyed towards the east, and when he came he beheld the city as it were a city of the dead, and disguising himself as a Sheikh[2] he accosted an old man, and hearing of the illness of the prince, and that it was indeed Indra Bangsāwan, he sent word to the king that he could cure the disease. And having been admitted he ordered them to bring vessels of water. Then he soaked the Bezoar stone in the water, and washed the body of Indra Bangsāwan, who straightway opened his eyes and rose and embraced his brother. Then Sahpri told him to wash the princess in like manner, and she got up, and great was the rejoicing. And Sahpri told the king all his adventures with the roc and his marriage with Princess Dewi Ratnasari, and the king was much astonished.
Now, after three days' rejoicing, they prepared to start, and Indra Bangsāwan called his brother Sahpri, telling him how grateful he was to him, gave him the magic jewel which the magician had given to him, and having summoned the two Dikars he gave them over to Sahpri, and the two Dikars bowed allegiance to their new master and returned with the jewel.
Then the king and queen started to convoy them on their
- ↑ These Bezoar stones, which are the concretions found in the stomachs of certain animals, especially those of the monkey and the porcupine, are regarded with extraordinary veneration by the Malays, who consider them to be possessed by a spirit. When ground down or soaked in water (which is drunk by the patient, to the accompaniment of incantations), they are firmly believed to work miracles, and they possess, on this account, an extraordinary value. See Skeat, Malay Magic, s.v. "Bezoar stones."
- ↑ A Sheikh is a man who is descended from one of the companions of the Prophet. (Wilkinson.)
