just after dawn. Then she saw the little Brahman girl sweeping the
courtyard and her brother cleaning the floor. Soma got up and said,
"Children, who are you?" They replied, "We are Brahmans." "But I am
only a washerwoman," said Soma; "I am a low-caste woman, why do you
sweep my courtyard and neap my floor? It will be reckoned unto me
as a sin If I accept the service of Brahmans." The boy said, "This
is my sister, and a Brahman has told us that unless you come to her
wedding she will be widowed shortly after marriage. Our father and
mother told us to go and bring you back with us. So, in order to make
you pleased with us, we have been working as your servants." "Do not
work for me any more," said Soma, "I shall gladly go to your wedding,"
She then called to her daughters-in-law and said, "I am going to this
child's wedding. But if any one of our relations dies when I am away,
do not burn his body until I come back." She went with the two Brahman
children to the seashore. The wind was blowing, and the great waves
were rolling in, and the foam was splashing over the rocks. But Soma
took the boy under one arm and the girl under the other. She jumped
far up into the sky and right over the seven seas, and when she got
to the opposite shore she put the children down again. They led her to
their father's house. Their mother Dhanvanti welcomed the washerwoman
and fell at her feet to thank her for her coming. The youngest brother
then went to Ujjain, and after making inquiries brought back a boy of
suitable caste and age to be a husband for his sister. On an auspicious
day the wedding was celebrated. But as the bridegroom and bride were
throwing rice [14] over each other, the bridegroom fainted. He fell
on the ground and lay there motionless. The little bride did not know
what to do, she was so frightened. And all the grown-up people were
almost as frightened as she was. But Soma, the washerwoman, stepped
forward and said, "It is nothing, do not be afraid." She took some
water in her hand and sprinkled it over herself. Now the secret of