He thanked her, took the dish, went a little way, and set it down
under a fig-tree on the edge of the pond. Then he washed his hands
and feet in the pond, rinsed his mouth, and joyfully drew near to
eat the good food.

At that moment a hawk settled on the tree, carrying a black snake
in his beak and claws. And the snake died in the grasp of the hawk,
and his mouth opened, and a stream of poison came out. This
poison fell into the dish of food.

But Hariswami did not see it. He came up hungry, and ate it all.
And immediately he felt the terrible effects of the poison. He
stammered out: "Oh, when fate goes wrong, everything goes
wrong. Even this rice and the milk and the melted butter and the
candied sugar is poison to me." And he staggered up to the
Brahman's wife and said: "Oh, Brahman's wife, I have been
poisoned by the food you gave me. Bring a poison-doctor at once.
Otherwise you will be the murderer of a Brahman."

And the good woman was terribly agitated. But while she was
running about to find a poison-doctor, Hariswami turned up his
eyes and died. Thus, though she was not to blame, though she was
really charitable, the poor wife was reproached by the angry
Brahman who thought she had murdered her guest. She was falsely
accused for a really good action. So she was dejected and went on
a pilgrimage.


When he had told this story, the goblin said: "O King, who