In
honour of the festival, one little daughter-in-law went to her
grandpapa's house, another went to her great grandpapa's house,
another went to her father's house, until at last only the youngest
daughter-in-law remained behind. Her father and mother were dead,
and she had no uncles and no aunts and no little brothers or
sisters. So the poor little daughter-in-law felt very sad and
sat down and cried in a corner. Then she remembered that it was
Nagpanchmi Day, and that it was a festival in honour of Nagoba, the
great snake-king. So she prayed under her breath, "Please, please,
snake-king, come and pretend that you have been sent to fetch me
to my father's house!" And the great snake-king heard the prayer
and felt quite sorry for the poor little daughter-in-law who was
crying in the corner. He assumed the guise of a Brahman and came to
the house where the little daughter-in-law was, and said that he had
been sent to fetch her to her father's house. Her father-in-law was
very much astonished. For he wondered why, if the new-comer really
was a relative of the little daughter-in-law, he had never paid him
a visit before.
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