and the two lived happily together for a long time.

21. Do you think that if Putraka had flown home on his wonderful
shoes, taking his staff and bowl with him, his, father and uncles
would still have tried to kill him?

22. How could Putraka have prevented them from doing him harm if he
had returned to his home?



CHAPTER XII


The old woman grew very fond of Putraka, caring for him and waiting
on him as if he had been her own son. She was so anxious that he
should be happy that she became afraid he would become tired of
living alone with her. So she said to him one day: "My dear adopted
son, you ought to have a wife to keep you company. I know the very
one for you, the only one really worthy of you. She is a princess,
and her name is Patala. She is so very lovely that every man who sees
her falls in love with her and wants to carry her off. So she is most
carefully guarded in the top rooms of a great palace, as high as
the summits of the loftiest mountains." When Putraka heard this he
was all eagerness to see the princess, and at once determined to go
forth to seek her. He was more than ever glad now that he had stolen
the shoes, because he knew that they would carry him even to the top
of the highest mountains.

23. What qualities did the old woman show when she told Putraka about