and they had to go home thirsty. By chance a Gosavi, or holy man,
came that way and saw the queen, and she told him her story. The
holy man took her to his house and treated her as his own daughter,
and she did her best to serve him faithfully. But, at whatever thing
she looked, it would either disappear or become full of worms and
maggots. At last the holy man searched for the cause of this by means
of his inner knowledge. And thus he learnt that she had incurred the
sin of spoiling the worship of Shiva, which the Apsaras had first
taught the priest. Unless that sin were atoned for, her evil glance
would never be purified. So the holy man prayed to the god Shiva,
and the god was pleased with him; and when the holy man interceded
with him on the queen's behalf, the god said that he would forgive her
if she began and completed properly the rites which she had spoiled
when her husband was performing them. The queen did so, and the god's
anger vanished. Suddenly there rose in the heart of her husband, the
king, a wish to see his queen, and he sent out messengers on every
side to look for her. At last one of the messengers saw the queen in
the holy man's hermitage and went back and told the king. The king
was overjoyed, and, taking his chief minister with him, he journeyed
to the hermitage. He threw himself at the holy man's feet and then
loaded him with presents. And the holy man was pleased and said,
"O King, I have treated your wife exactly as if she had been my own
daughter. She has lived here just as if she had been in her father's
house. Now take her with you back again and once more go through the
marriage ceremony with her." The king consented, and both he and the
queen prostrated themselves before the holy man, and then they both
returned to Atpat. And they celebrated their home-coming with the
greatest splendour. And the rest of the king's reign was as happy as
possible. And we shall be just as happy if we honour Shiva like the
King of Atpat did.