Page:Swahili tales.djvu/161

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AN INDIAN TALE.

There was once an Indian sultan who had one son, and he loved him much. And when he was dying, he directed his vizirs, "Give the kingdom to my son, and love him much, even as myself;" and he died.

And they ended their mourning, and the lad governed. And the vizir had a son of his own, and those youths were very fond of one another, and they went on spending their property many days, and they spent the kingdom too.

Till one day the sultan's son said to the vizir's son, "Let us travel and see various towns." And he said: "Let us go." And they got ready a ship, and put in it provisions, and money, and soldiers, and set out on their journey.

While at sea they were wrecked, and many of the people died. The vizir's son was eaten by a shark, and one of his slaves carried away by the water. The sultan's son and one of his slaves were saved. And they fell in with a strange city.

When they reached the town, they stopped in the fields, and the sultan's son said to his slave: "Go into the town and look for food, and let us come and eat."

When he arrived in the town there were games going on, and many people were collected. The Sultan of the town had died, and they were looking for another Sultan to put in his place. They used to throw a lime, and whoever it struck three times he was the Sultan.