seen his son and his wife and daughter safe at home, he went back
that same night to the palace gate.

And King Shudraka saw all this and went back without being seen
himself, and climbed to the roof, and called: "Who is there at the
gate?" And Hero replied: "Your Majesty, I, Hero, am here. At your
command I followed the woman who cried. She must have been a
witch, for she vanished the moment I saw her and spoke to her."

When the king heard this, he was astonished beyond measure, for
he had seen what really happened. And he thought: "Ah, the hearts
of brave men are deep as the sea, if they do not boast after doing
an unparalleled action." So the king descended from the roof,
entered the palace, and passed the rest of the night there.

Then when the court was held in the morning, Hero came to see
the king. And as he stood there, the delighted king told all his
counsellors and the others the story of the night. And all were
amazed and confounded at hearing of Hero's virtues, and they
praised him, crying: "Well done! Well done!"

Then the king and Hero lived happily together, sharing the power
equally.


When the goblin had told this story, he asked King
Triple-victory: "O King, which of all these was the most worthy? If
you know and will not tell, then the curse I told you of will be
fulfilled."