ask the boy what his trouble was. "Do not be frightened," said father
eagle; "whatever your business, I'll help you to get it done. Do not
go to bed without supper. I'll bring you some fruit. Eat some of it
yourself and give the rest to your little sister."

The boy told father eagle what had happened, and how it was that they
had to cross the seven seas. Father eagle said, "I shall carry you
both across directly you wake up to-morrow, and I shall put you down
at Soma the washerwoman's door." Then the two children felt very happy
and thanked the god Shiva. And after eating father eagle's fruit,
they lay down under the tree and fell fast asleep in no time. Next
morning father eagle and mother eagle came down the tree, and father
eagle took the boy on his back, and mother eagle took the girl on
her back, and off they flew across the seven seas. The wind blew,
and the waves rolled mountains high, and the foam splashed over the
rocks. But father eagle and mother eagle flew straight on until they
came to the door of Soma, the washerwoman. There they left the boy and
girl and went back to the tree where the little eagles were waiting
for them. The boy and girl were too frightened to walk into Soma's
house, so they hid all that day, and next morning they got up at dawn
and they swept the courtyard and neaped the floor with cow-dung. And
then, before any one could see them, they ran away and hid. And this
they did every day for a whole year.

At last Soma one day called all her children and all her little
daughters-in-law and said, "Who among you gets up so early? Who sweeps
my courtyard? Who clears my floor?" All the children and all the
little daughters-in-law said, "It is not I," "It is not I," "It is not
I." Then Soma became very curious to know who it was. So the following
night she did not go to bed. She sat up, but nothing happened until