When they had gone, the little girl gave the
earthen jar with the snake inside it to her mother. The mother took
out the bodice, but instead of a snake a garland lay inside, and the
mother put it round her little daughter's neck. Some weeks passed,
but neither uncle nor nephew returned. So the little girl's parents
grew anxious. The sick boy who was to have been her husband recovered,
but she could no longer marry him, and the boy whom she had married
had gone away and might never return. In despair the parents built
a house, in which they entertained every traveller who passed by,
hoping that sooner or later one of the travellers would prove to be
their daughter's husband. To all of them the mother gave water; the
daughter washed their feet; her brother gave them sandal-wood paste;
and her father gave them betel-nut. But it was all in vain; none of
the travellers' fingers fitted the ring given to the little girl by
her husband, nor could any of them produce the sweet-dish which she
had given him in exchange.
In the meantime the uncle and nephew had reached Benares and had
given large sums in charity, and had visited all the holy places
and had received the blessings of all the Brahmans.
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