So she told the
serpent-maidens of Patala and the wood-nymphs that she would go with
them. They went deeper and deeper into the forest until at last they
came to a temple of the god Shiva. There the serpent-maidens and the
wood-nymphs offered to the god rice, betel-nut, incense, flowers, and
the leaves of the bel tree. The ugly little daughter-in-law did just
as they did. And when she had finished she cried out, "O God Shiva,
please, please vouchsafe my prayer also, and make my father-in-law
and my mother-in-law, my brothers-in-law and my sisters-in-law like
me as much as they now dislike me." That evening she went home and
fasted, and all the scraps which they threw to her from the king's
table she gave to her favourite cow. And then she sat by herself and
prayed to the god Shiva. The following Monday she once more ran out of
the palace and out of the town and into the woods as fast as her fat
little legs would carry her. There she met again the serpent-maidens
of Patala and the bevy of wood-nymphs and went with them to the
temple of Shiva in the distant heart of the forest.
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