a-

re

in

mct

ce

lr

g

id

STORY OF THE HONEST BUT RASH

HUNTER AND HIS FAITHFUL DOG.

There dwelt in a certain forest a hunter namedUgravira, who was lord of the woods, and as such,had to pay a fixed sum of money to the king of thecountry. It happened once that the king un-expectedly demanded of him one thousand fivehundred pons."* The hunter sold all his propertyand realised only a thousand pons, and was perplexedhow to procure the rest of the required amount.At length he bethought him of his dog, which wasof the best kind, and was beloved by him more thananything else in the whole world. He took his dogto an adjacent city, where he pledged him to amerchant named Kubera for five hundred pons,at the same time giving the merchant his bondfor the loan. Before going away, the hunter with

* A sum of money varying in different localities of theSouth of India. In the Chola grants" pon" also occurs.