Every day Jewel-neck the dragon-king would encircle him with his coils.
“Very well,” assented the ascetic, and went to his own leaf-hut. On the next day the dragon-king came and stopped at the hermitage. The moment he stopped, the ascetic asked: “Give me this jewel you wear.” Without so much as sitting down, the dragon-king fled. On the second day the ascetic, standing at the door of the hermitage, said to the dragon-king just as he approached: “Yesterday you would not give me the jewel; to-day I must have it.” Without so much as entering the hermitage, the dragon-king fled. On the third day the ascetic said to the dragon-king just as he came out of the water: “This is the third day I have asked; give me this jewel now.” The dragon-king, still remaining in the water, refused the ascetic, reciting these two stanzas:
My food and drink, abundant, choice,
I get by the power of this jewel.
This I will not give you,—you ask too much;
Nor will I even come back again to your hermitage.
Like a lad with sand-washed sword in hand,
You frighten me, asking for the stone.
This I will not give you,—you ask too much;