perish. What shall I do?"

He consulted his counsellors, and they said: "Your Majesty, the
first duty of a king is the preservation of the virtue of his people.
This is the fundamental principle, and is established as such
among counsellors. If the counsellor is lost, the fundamental
principle is lost; how then can virtue be preserved? So in this case
it would be sinful to destroy the counsellor through his son. You
must by all means avoid the loss of virtue which would ensue.
Give the Brahman's girl to the counsellor's son. And when the
Brahman returns, further measures will suggest themselves."

To this the king agreed, and promised to give the sham girl to the
counsellor's son. So Master-mind in his girl form was brought
from the chamber of the princess, and he said to the king: "Your
Majesty, I was brought here by somebody for a given purpose. If
you give me to somebody else, well and good. You are the king.
Right and wrong depend on you. I will marry him to-day, but only
on one condition. My husband shall go away immediately after the
marriage and not return until he has been on a pilgrimage for six
months. Otherwise I shall bite out my tongue."

So the counsellor's son was summoned, and he joyfully assented.
He made the man his wife at once, put the sham wife in a guarded
room and started on a pilgrimage. So Master-mind lived there in
his woman form.

When he realized that the counsellor's son would soon return,
Master-mind fled by night. And Root heard the story, and again
assumed the form of an old Brahman. He took his friend Moon,