little boy. And just as the Brahmans had begun to enjoy their dinner,
the child would die. So all the Shradh ceremonies had to cease,
and the poor Brahmans had to be sent away feeling most dreadfully
hungry. This happened regularly for six years. But, when the seventh
little boy was born only to die just as his guests were beginning
to enjoy their dinner, the poor Brahman lost all patience. He took
the newly-born child and placed it in his daughter-in-law's lap and
then drove her out of the house and into the jungle. The poor woman
walked along until she came to a great, dark forest. In it she met the
wife of a hobgoblin, [23] who asked, "Lady, Lady, whose wife are you,
and why do you come here? Run away as quickly as you can. For, if my
husband the hobgoblin sees you, he will tear you to pieces and gobble
you up." The poor woman said she was the daughter-in-law of a Brahman,
and explained how every year she had given birth to a son on the last
day of Shravan, how it had died in the middle of the Shradh feast,
and how at last her father-in-law had put the child in her lap and
had driven her from home and into the forest. The hobgoblin's wife
repeated, "If you value your life at all, go away." The Brahman
woman began to cry, until at last the hobgoblin's wife had pity on
her and said, "Do not be afraid; walk a little way until you come to
an altar to the god Shiva, Close by is a bel [24] tree; climb into it
and hide among the branches. To-night the serpent-maidens from Patâla
and the wood-nymphs, together with a train of seven demon Asuras,
[25] will come and worship at the altar. After making their offerings
to the god, they will call out, 'Is there any uninvited guest present
to whom we can make a gift?' You must then call out in reply, 'Yes,
I am here.' They will see you and question you, and you must tell them
all your story." The poor Brahman woman agreed. She walked on until
she came to the god Shiva's altar. She climbed into the branches of
the bel tree. She remained there until midnight came. Suddenly the