SIXTEENTH GOBLIN

The King who died for Love of his General's Wife; the General
follows him in Death. Which is the more worthy?

Then the king went back under the sissoo tree, put the goblin on
his shoulder as before, and started. And the goblin said to him: "O
King, I will tell you another little story to relieve your weariness.
Listen."


Long ago there was a city named Golden City on the bank of the
Ganges, where a quarter of the old perfect virtue still lingers in
these evil days. There was a king named Glorious, and he deserved
the name. His bravery kept the world from being overflowed, like
the shore of the sea.

In this king's city lived a great merchant, who had a daughter
named Passion. Everyone who saw her fell in love and went mad
with passion.

When she grew to be a young woman, the virtuous merchant went
to King Glorious and said: "Your Majesty, I have a daughter, the
gem of the three worlds, and she is old enough to marry. I could
not give her to anyone without consulting your Majesty. For you
are the master of all gems in the world. Pray marry her and thus lay
me under obligations."

So the king sent his own Brahmans to examine her qualities. But