Presently Dalim Kumar came down the steps of the temple and took Surai Bai’s hand.
“Who are you, beautiful one?” he asked. “Whence come you, and what is your name?”
“My name is Surai Bai,” answered the girl, “and I come from another country far away. My mother left me sitting by the gate while she went to find a lodging for us, but some noise frightened me, and I ran in here to hide.”
“That is a strange thing,” said the Prince. “In all the years I have been living here, the gates have never been unlocked before.”
“But do you live here alone?” asked the girl.
“Yes, all alone. Yours is the first face I have seen for years, and yet I am a Prince, and the son of a great Rajah.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I am here because my life was bound up in a golden necklace that lay buried under the roots of a tree in the jungle. I told the secret to a Ranee who was my enemy, though I did not know it at the time. She must in some way have gained possession of the necklace, and now she is using it for my harm. All day I lie there in the temple as though dead; no sound reaches me, nothing arouses me; only at night can I arise and come forth. I, a great prince, am as one both dead and alive.”
When Dalim Kumar pronounced these words Surai Bai could not refrain from giving a loud cry. She was overcome with amazement and confusion.
The Prince at once wished to know what had moved her so. “Why do you cry out and change color?” he asked. “And why do you tremble and look at me so strangely?”