" And all day long they quarrelled
and screamed at each other, and the poor king was more uncomfortable
than ever. His face grew sad and careworn, and, from the time he got
up to the time he went to bed, he could think of nothing but the way
that his four queens were squabbling with each other.
One day the rishi, or sage, Vasishta [15] paid the king a visit. The
king prostrated himself before the great sage and gave him a throne
to sit upon. Vasishta looked at the king's face and saw how sad and
careworn it was. He asked the cause, and the king told him. Then
the rishi rose, and the king went with him to the palace of the
four queens. When they reached it, they called to the queens to come
out. The rishi then asked them why they quarrelled. The first queen
cried out, "Why should I have to do the dairy work?" And the second
queen cried out, "Why should I be only a cook-woman?" And the third
cried out, "Why should I have all the children to look after?" And the
fourth cried out, "Why should I have all the bother of sorting out all
the king's clothes?" The king said, "You must do these things because
I ordered you to.
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