physicians, the only reply made by the Rajah's son was the stereotyped words—"Now here, now gone! Now here, now gone!"
The Rajah, distracted with grief on account of the obscuration of his son's intellects, caused a proclamation to be made in the capital by beat of drum, to the effect that, if any person could explain the cause of his son's madness and cure it, such a person would be rewarded with the hand of the Rajah's daughter, and with the possession of half his kingdom. The drum was beaten round most parts of the city, but no one touched it, as no one knew the cause of the madness of the Rajah's son. At last an old woman touched the drum, and declared that she would not only discover the cause of the madness, but cure it. This woman, who was the identical woman that was gathering sticks near the tank at the time the Rajah's son lost his reason, had a crack-brained son of the name of Phakir Chand, and was in consequence called Phakir's mother, or more familiarly Phakre's mother. When the woman was brought before the Rajah, the following conversation took place:—
Rajah. You are the woman that touched the drum.—You know the cause of my son's madness?
Phakir's Mother. Yes, O incarnation of justice! I know the cause, but I will not mention it till I have cured your son.
Rajah. How can I believe that you are able to cure my son, when the best physicians of the land have failed?
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