As he travelled he came to a city, the king of which had
just died without leaving any children or relatives. His subjects
did not know how to choose a successor. At last they gave a garland
of flowers to a she-elephant and turned it loose. The elephant walked
straight to the prince's son and put the garland round his neck. The
townspeople were very angry. They snatched away the garland and drove
away the prince's son. They again gave the garland to the elephant,
but the elephant again put the garland round the neck of the prince's
son. The townspeople again snatched away the garland. But when the
elephant put it round the young man's neck for the third time, they
lifted him high in the air and declared him to be their king. At first
he was so pleased at being king that he forgot all about his poor
little wife. But one night Budh and Brahaspati appeared to him in a
dream and reminded him of her and told him how poor she was. But he
could not leave his kingdom to go and look for her. So he thought that
he would dig a tank and call together labourers from every quarter.
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