wanderings." So he arose and bathed.

On the next day he provided food and drink, and made a great
feast for the Brahmans, and gave them all he had except his piety.
Then he started to wander to holy places, hoping to find his wife.

As he wandered, the summer came on him like a lion, the blazing
sun its mouth, and the sunbeams its mane. And the hot wind blew,
made hotter yet by the sighs of travellers separated from their
wives. And the yellow mud dried and cracked, as if the lakes were
broken-hearted at the loss of their lotuses. And the trees, filled
with chirping birds, seemed to lament the absence of the spring,
and their withering leaves seemed like lips that grow dry in the
heat.

At this time Hariswami was distressed by the heat and the loss of
his wife, by hunger, thirst, and weariness. And as he sought for
food, he came to a village. There he saw many Brahmans eating in
the house of a Brahman named Lotus-belly, and he leaned against
the doorpost, speechless and motionless.

Then the good wife of that pious Brahman pitied him, and she
thought: "Hunger is a heavy burden. It makes anyone light. Look at
this hungry man standing with bowed head at the door. He looks
like a pious man who has come from a far country, and he is tired.
Therefore he is a proper person for me to feed."

So the good woman took in her hands a dish filled with excellent
rice, melted butter, and candied sugar, and courteously gave it to
him. And she said: "Go to the edge of our pond, and eat it."