Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 6 · page 21 2101But you must not speak to him, if he is afraid of you; and should he be afraid of you, you will the next day become a little white dog."102He then told her what she must do as a little dog to regain her human form.103Laili stayed in the garden, hidden in the tall grass, till Prince Majnun and Husain Mahamat came to walk in the garden.104King Dantal was now a very old man, and Husain Mahamat, though he was really only as old as Prince Majnun, looked a great deal older than the prince, who had been made quite young again when he married Laili.105As Prince Majnun and the Wazir's son walked in the garden, they gathered the fruit as they had done as little children, only they bit the fruit with their teeth; they did not cut it.106While Majnun was busy eating a fruit in this way, and was talking to Husain Mahamat, he turned towards him and saw Laili walking behind the Wazir's son. "107Oh, look, look!" he cried, "see what is following you; it is a Rakshas or a demon, and I am sure it is going to eat us."108Laili looked at him beseechingly with all her eyes, and trembled with age and eagerness; but this only frightened Majnun the more. "109It is a Rakshas, a Rakshas!" he cried, and he ran quickly to the palace with the Wazir's son; and as they ran away, Laili disappeared into the jungle.110They ran to King Dantal, and Majnun told him there was a Rakshas or a demon in the garden that had come to eat them.111"What nonsense," said his father. "112Fancy two grown men being so frightened by an old ayah or a fakir!113And if it had been a Rakshas, it would not have eaten you."114Indeed King Dantal did not believe Majnun had seen anything at all, till Husain Mahamat said the prince was speaking the exact truth.115They had the garden searched for the terrible old woman, but found nothing, and King Dantal told his son he was very silly to be so much frightened.116However, Prince Majnun would not walk in the garden any more.117The next day Laili turned into a pretty little dog; and in this shape she came into the palace, where Prince Majnun soon became very fond of her.118She followed him everywhere, went with him when he was out hunting, and helped him to catch his game, and Prince Majnun fed her with milk, or bread, or anything else he was eating, and at night the little dog slept in his bed.119But one night the little dog disappeared, and in its stead there lay the little old woman who had frightened him so much in the garden; and now Prince Majnun was quite sure she was a Rakshas, or a demon, or some such horrible thing come to eat him; and in his terror he cried out, "What do you want?120Oh, do not eat me; do not eat me!"121Poor Laili answered, "Don't you know me?122I am your wife Laili, and I want to marry you.123Don't you remember how you would go through that jungle, though I begged and begged you not to go, for I told you that harm would happen to me, and then a fakir came and threw powder in my face, and I became a heap of ashes.124But Khuda gave me my life again, and brought me here, after I had stayed a long, long while in the jungle crying for you, and now I am obliged to be a little dog; but if you will marry me, I shall not be a little dog any more."125Majnun, however, said "How can I marry an old woman like you? how can you be Laili?126I am sure you are a Rakshas or a demon come to eat me," and he was in great terror.1 2← previousDemon With Matted Hair " 196, part 5next →Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 7↑ back to Indian Fairy TalesThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/12/page/2/