can fly through the air in them to any distance."

17. Which of these things would you rather have had?

18. What lesson do you learn from what the men said about the things
on the ground?



CHAPTER X


When Putraka heard the wonders which, could be done with what he had
thought not worth having, he determined to get possession of the three
treasures for himself; not considering that it would he very wrong to
take what did not belong to him. "It seems a pity to fight," he said,
"why don't you race for the things, and let whichever wins the race
have them? That banyan tree over there would make a good winning post
and I will be the umpire."

Instead of guessing what Putraka had in his mind, the brothers, who
were very simple fellows, said at once: "All right. We won't fight,
we'll race instead, and you can give us the start." Putraka agreed,
and directly they were off he lost not a moment, but picked up the
bowl and the staff, put on the shoes, and flew straight up into the
air with the treasures. When the brothers came back, disputing about
which of them had won, there was not a sign of Putraka, the bowl,
the stick, or the shoes. They guessed at once what had happened;
and after staring up in the air for a long time, they went home,
feeling very much enraged with the man who had cheated them, and