The
Brahman's disciple at last got so frightened that he withered up until
he became as dry and as thin as a bone. At last the Brahman said,
"You have no wish to eat or drink; yet you are so thin. What is the
reason?" The boy replied, "I neither wish to eat, nor want to eat,
nor crave to eat. But I am frightened out of my wits. For whenever
I come back from my bath I hear a voice behind me call out, 'Shall I
come? Shall I come? Shall I come?'; but when I look round there is no
one there." The Brahman said, "Do not be afraid, and when you next hear
the voice, do not look behind you, but call out as boldly as you can,
'Come along, come along, come along.'" Next day the disciple went as
usual to his bath in the village pond. He worshipped the god Shiva,
and as he came home he heard the cry behind him, "Shall I come? Shall
I come? Shall I come?" The boy was very frightened, but he did not
look behind him. In a short time he mastered his fears, and then in
a voice like a bull roaring he cried out, "Come along, come along,
come along.
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