..续本文上一页ned for him to stop. Then she said, "Now jump up and down." Again the general did as he was told without thinking. Finally the princess told him, "Come here and massage my feet." He sat in front of her and began rubbing her feet.

　　Suddenly she put her foot against his chest and kicked him down the royal staircase. She turned to her ladies in waiting and said, "This fool has no common sense. He thinks the only strength is in running around and jumping up and down and following orders without thinking. He has no strength of character. He lacks the will power needed to rule a kingdom. So throw him out of here at once!"

　　Later the general was asked about his meeting with Princess Sivali. He said, "I don”t want to talk about it. She is not human!"

　　The same thing happened with the treasurer, the cashier, the keeper of the royal seal and the royal swordsman. The princess found them all to be unworthy fools.

　　So the ministers decided to give up on the princess and find someone who could string the bow that only a thousand men can string. But again they could find no one. Similarly, they could find no one who knew the head of the royal square bed, or who could find the 16 treasures.

　　The ministers became more and more worried that they could not find a suitable king. So they consulted the royal family priest. He said to them, "Calm down, my friends. We will send out the royal festival carriage. The one it stops for will be able to rule over all India."

　　So they decorated the carriage and yoked the four most beautiful royal horses to it. The high priest sprinkled the carriage with holy water from a sacred golden pitcher. He proclaimed, "Now go forth, riderless carriage, and find the worthy one with enough merit to rule the kingdom."

　　The horses pulled the carriage around the palace and then down the main avenue of Mithila. They were followed by the four armies - the elephants, chariots, cavalry and foot soldiers.

　　The most powerful politicians of the city expected the procession to stop in front of their houses. But instead it left the city by the eastern gate and went straight to the mango garden. Then it stopped in front of the sacred stone where Prince Fruitful was sleeping.

　　The chief priest said, "Let us test this sleeping man to see if he is worthy to be king. If he is the one, he will not be frightened by the noise of the drums and instruments of all four armies." So they made a great clanging noise, but the prince just turned over on his other side, remaining asleep. Then they made the noise again, even louder. Again the prince simply rolled over from side to side.

　　The head priest examined the soles of the feet of the sleeping one. He said, "This man can rule not only Mithila, but the whole world in all four directions." So he awakened the prince and said, "My lord, arise, we beg you to be our king."

　　Prince Fruitful replied, "What happened to your king

　　" "He died," said the priest. "Did he have any children

　　" asked the prince. "Only a daughter, Princess Sivali," answered the priest. Then Prince Fruitful agreed to be the new king.

　　The chief priest spread jewels on the sacred stone. After bathing, the prince sat among the jewels. He was sprinkled with perfumed water from the gold anointing bowl. Then he was crowned King Fruitful. The new king rode in the royal chariot, followed by a magnificent procession, back to the city of Mithila and the palace.

　　Princess Sivali still wished to test the king. So she sent a man to tell him she wished him to come at once. But King Fruitful ignored him, simply continuing to inspect the palace with its furnishings and works of art.

　　The messenger told this to the princess and she sent him back two more times with the same results. He reported back to her, "This is a man who knows his own mind, not…

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