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DOEANI |
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And so the prince did as she wished, and stayed at home.
That evening the magic stool flew so unsteadily that they could hardly keep their seats, and at last the fairy exclaimed:
' There is only one reason that it should jerk like this! You have been talking to your husband !'
And Dorani replied: ' Yes, I have spoken ; oh, yes, I have spoken !' But no more would she say.
That night Dorani sang so marvellously that at the end the rajah Indra rose up and vowed that she might ask what she would and he would give it to her. At first she was silent; but, when he pressed her, she answered:
' Give me the magic lute.'
The rajah, when he heard this, was displeased with himself for having made so rash a promise, because this lute he valued above all his possessions. But as he had promised, so he must perform, and with an ill grace he handed it to her.
' You must never come here again,' said he, ' for, once having asked so much, how will you in future be content with smaller gifts ? '
Dorani bowed her head silently as she took the lute, and passed with the fairy out of the great gate, where the stool awaited them. More unsteadily than before, it flew back to earth.
When Dorani got to the palace that morning she asked the prince whether he had dreamt again. He laughed with happiness, for this time she had spoken to him of her own free will; and he replied :
' No; but I begin to dream now—not of what has happened in the past, but of what may happen in the future.'
That day Dorani sat very quietly, but she answered the prince when he spoke to her; and when evening fell, and with it the time for her departure, she still |
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