IN a certain city there are two Princes, it is said. A flower-mother 1 cooks and gives food to the two Princes. The mother of the Princes is dead,- the father is alive. The King has married another Queen, and because the Queen is not good to the Princes they live with the flower-mother. One day, while they were living in that manner, the two Princes having gone to shoot birds with bows and arrows, walked until night-fall, but were unable to find any birds. As they were coming back, there was a Horse-radish tree {Murungā) 2 at the front of the King’s palace, in which was a turtle dove. The younger brother saw it, and said to the elder brother, “Elder brother, there ! There is a turtledove.” The elder brother shot at the turtle-dove, and it fell dead. Afterwards, the younger brother having picked it up and come back, said at the hand of the elder brother “Elder brother, are we to give this to our father the King, or are we to give it to the flower-mother ?” Then the elder brother said, “Why should we give it to our father the King ? We will give it to the flower-mother who gives us food and clothing.” Taking the tur'tle-dove, the two Princes came to the house of the flower-mother, and gave it into the flower-mother’s hand. On that day the King was not at the palace; only the [Page 80] Queen was there. The Queen remained listening to all that the two Princes said, and stayed looking [to see] if they gave the turtle-dove into the hand of the flower-mother. That being so, after the King’s return to the palace in the evening the Queen told at the hand of the King what the Princes said, and the fact that they gave the turtle-dove into the hand of the flower-mother. After that, the King settled to behead both Princes on the morrow. The flower-mother on hearing of it said at the hand of the Princes, “Children, the King said that he must behead you two to-morrow. To save both your lives go away somewhere.” Having cooked a bundle of rice in the night, she placed gem-stones at the bottom of the bag and the cooked rice above them ; and having tied up the bag she gave it into the hands of the Princes before it became light, and told them to go. The two Princes took the bundle of cooked rice and went away. Having gone on and on, being hungry they sat down in the shade of a great forest. For rinsing their mouths after chewing betel, before eating rice, there was no water. While they were seated there, a turtle-dove came and fell down, making a noise, “tas,” as it struck the ground. The younger brother asked, “Elder brother, what shall we do with this turtle-dove ?” Then the elder brother said, “Hide it in a heap of leaves, for us to eat it yet.” The younger brother hid it. Thereupon a Vaeddā came, and asked at the hand of the two brothers, “Anē ! Didn’t a turtle-dove fall here ?” The two Princes said, “No.” So the Vaeddā sought for it, continuing to say, “Anē ! After trying for seven years, I shot the turtle-dove with my bow and arrow.”