him somewhere and throw him into a blind well. I will pay you the
money he owes."

So the gamblers picked Moon-lord up and went far into the forest,
looking for a well. Then one old gambler said to the others: "He is
as good as dead. What is the use of throwing him into a well now?
We will leave him here and go back and say we have left him in a
well." And all the rest agreed, and left him there, and went back.

When they were gone, Moon-lord rose and entered a deserted
temple to Shiva. When he had rested a little there, he thought in
great anguish: "Ah, I trusted the rascally gamblers, and they
cheated me. Where shall I go now, naked and dusty as I am? What
would my father say if he saw me now, or any relative, or any
friend? I will stay here for the present, and at night I will go out
and try to find food somehow to appease my hunger."

While he reflected in weariness and nakedness, the sun grew less
hot and disappeared. Then a terrible hermit named Stake came
there, and he had smeared his body with ashes. When he had seen
Moon-lord and asked who he was and heard his story, he said, as
the youth bent low before him: "Sir, you have come to my
hermitage, a guest fainting with hunger. Rise, bathe, and partake of
the meal I have gained by begging."

Then Moon-lord said to him: "Holy sir, I am a Brahman. How can
I partake of such a meal?"

Then the hermit-magician went into his hut and out of tenderness
to his guest he thought of a magic spell which grants all desires.