The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hindu Tales ... - Mandhata Global

was about to scream out aloud in her terror at seeing a man looking
in at the window, when Putraka with the aid of his magic staff made
himself invisible. Then, thinking she had been dreaming, Patala lay
down again, and the king began talking to her in a low voice, telling
her he had heard of her beauty and had flown from far away to see
her. He begged her to allow him to show himself to her, and added:
"I will go away again directly afterwards if you wish it."
Putraka's voice was so gentle, and it seemed to Patala so wonderful
that a man could fly and make himself invisible, that she was full
of curiosity to see him and find out all about him. So she gave her
consent, and immediately afterwards the young king stood within the
room, looking so noble and so handsome that she too fell in love at
first sight. Putraka told her all about his life and adventures, which
interested her very much. She was glad, she said, that he was a king;
but she would have loved him just as well, whoever he might have been.
After a long talk, Patala begged him to leave her for fear her
attendants should discover him and tell her father about him. "My
father would never let me marry you," she declared, "unless you were
to come with many followers as a king to ask my hand; and how can
you do that when you are only a wandering exile?"
25. Was there any reason to fear that Putraka would be discovered
when he could make himself invisible at any moment?
26. What do you think would have been the right thing for Putraka
and Patala to do when they found out that they loved each other?
CHAPTER XIV
It was very difficult to persuade Putraka to go, but at last he
flew away. Every night after that, however, he came to see Patala,
spending the days sometimes in one place, sometimes in another, and
using his magic bowl to supply himself with food. Alas, he forgot
all about the dear old woman to whom he owed all his happiness,
and she slowly gave up hope of ever seeing him again. He might quite
easily have flown to her cottage and cheered her with his presence;
but he was so wrapped up in his love for Patala that everything else
went out of his head. This selfishness on his part presently got him
into serious trouble, for he became careless about making himself
invisible when he flew up to the princess' window. So that one night
he was discovered by a guardian of the palace. The matter was at once
reported to the king, who could not at first believe such a thing
was possible. The man must have seen a big bird, that was all. The
king, however, ordered one of his daughter's ladies to keep watch
every night in an ante-room, leaving the door open with the tapestry,
in which there was a slit, drawn carefully over it, and to come and
tell him in the morning if she had seen or heard anything unusual.
Now the lady chosen loved the princess, and, like many of her
fellow-attendants, thought it was very cruel of the king to punish his
own child for being so beautiful, by shutting her up as he did. It
so happened that the very first night she was on guard, Putraka had
flown a very, very long way, not noticing where he was going, because
he was thinking so earnestly of Patala. When at last he flew in at