fully locked up in the room, she supposed that it was some special treasure, and being very inquisitive, one morning went to the room and unlocked the door. Nothing, however, was to be seen, for the king had thrown the head into a corner; but a laugh was heard, and then a voice, saying, "Your son is a jinn. Beware of him. He is a jinn. Some time he will kill you, as he killed me, your husband. Get him out of the palace, if you wish to live."
"Whence comes this voice? What say you?" asked the king's mother.
"Pretend to be unwell, and beg your son to get the milk of a tigress.[1] Bid him to go himself and try to get this," said the head.
The next morning, with a sad and heavy heart, the king might have been seen wending his steps in the direction of a certain jungle, wherein tigers and other wild beasts were known to roam. He soon saw a tigress, with her two cubs basking in the sunshine. He climbed a tree and aimed at one of the teats of the beast. This teat chanced to be one in which she had suffered much pain for several days, owing to the presence of a nasty abscess near the place. The king's arrow broke the abscess, and the pain was at once relieved. Grateful for this relief, the tigress looked up and entreated the king to descend and ask whatever he would like her to get for him. His Majesty told her that he wanted nothing but a little of her milk for his sick mother, who had taken a strange fancy for it. The tigress readily filled the cup that the king had brought with him, and also gave him a tuft of her fur, saying, "Whenever you are in any difficulty show this to the sun, and I will at once come to your aid."[2] Taking
- ↑ Cf. Indian Fairy Tales, p. 178; Indian Antiquary, Part cxc. p. 367; Bilochi Stories, p. 27; and the story of the "Ogress-Queen" in this collection.
- ↑ A favourite device for summoning the absent. Notice that these things have generally to be shown to the sun or to the fire. Cf. Wide-Awake Stories, pp. 32, 271; Legends of the Punjab, vol. i. pp. 42, 43; Indian Notes and Queries, vol. iv. p. 49; and Folk-Lore Journal, vol. ii. 104, re charms placed in the fire; Russian tale of "Naznaiko" in Afanasief's collection (vii. No. 10): also tale of "Good King Hátam" in this collection. Vide also "Survey of Incidents in Modern Indian Folk-
