But how could I eat when he was suffering the pangs of hunger? I continued on my way, as though I had not heard.
"I understand you well, Iravata," said the Prince. "You are refusing to eat because I am compelled to go fasting. But this will not do. I know the requirements of your vast stomach—those of men are more patient!"
I was above all tortured with thirst, and I drank my fill from the river.
"Eat", Iravata—"your stomach being empty will not fill mine!"
I pulled off here and there bunches of leaves and grass, but without stopping. I looked everywhere for signs of some houses or villages.
"That is useless," said the Prince, who devined my thoughts. "They robbed me of all I had, and did not leave me a diamond, or a rupee; and I am not yet so vanquished by misfortune as to be willing to beg! I have only succeeded in saving my royal Signet. The idea came to me to remove from my finger the ring on which it is engraved, and conceal it in my mouth. But I cannot barter this Seal, which will serve to identify me, for the sake of food. I must wait till we find people who are capable of understanding the significance of my ring, and who will furnish me with the means of reaching my Kingdom."
My Master was right. He could not sell his ring.
I hurried my steps to get out of this detestable prairie, which seemed to have no end. But though I travelled on and on, the same fresh grass and herbage surrounded us, with from time to time a few tall trees which bore no fruit; and not a sign of any human habitation was to be seen.
The Prince had gathered some large leaves with which to cover his head, and protect it from the burning rays of noon, and had also placed some on mine, knowing how the heat distresses us.
Some cultivated fields now appeared, and presently a group of giant bamboos, and in their midst an edifice of stone, in the form of a bee-hive.