cruel treatment. She had also walked to the temple twice before, and
her feet had got as hard as two little stones. But the king and his
relatives were tired to death; and their feet swelled up to the size
of an elephant's, and they became as full of thorns as the back of a
porcupine. And they muttered to each other, "How on earth does that
ugly little daughter-in-law manage to walk as she does through the
heart of the forest?" The ugly daughter-in-law at last felt sorry for
them. She prayed to the god Shiva to build a temple near at hand. The
god consented, and, with the help of the serpent-maidens of Patâla
and of the wood-nymphs, he created suddenly a beautiful temple all of
pure, yellow gold. Its pillars were studded with jewels, and the jars
in it were all of crystal. In the middle there rose from the ground
an altar to the god Shiva. And last of all the god revealed himself
to the king and his companions in all his glory and splendour. For
a moment only they saw him; and then he vanished. The king and his
companions stared, too astonished to move or speak. But the ugly
little daughter-in-law prostrated herself and offered to the god
flowers and incense. Then she cried out, "O God Shiva, please, please
vouchsafe my prayer and make my father-in-law and my mother-in-law,
my brothers-in-law and my sisters-in-law like me as much as they now
dislike me." When the king heard her prayer his heart softened to her,
and he spoke kindly to her and gave her jewelry and trinkets. In a
little while he took off his turban and, placing it on a peg, walked
out to look at a lovely lake which, unnoticed by any one before,
now stretched out close by the temple. And behind him strolled out
his companions. But when they had gone out of sight, the beautiful
golden temple by the lake vanished for ever. After looking at the
lake the king came back to fetch his turban which he had left in
the temple. But he could not find the beautiful temple all of pure,
yellow gold, with its jewel-studded pillars and its crystal jars. The