This made him very angry, and he ordered that the woman be brought before him.
This was done, but the widow spoke to him so very cleverly, saying that she had done this thing only that she might gain an audience with him, and so cunningly did she speak that she actually pleased him well with her words, and instead of punishing her, the Rajah married her; so she and her daughter came to the palace to live.
The new Ranee hated the seven poor Princesses, and wanted to get rid of them, so that her daughter might have all their riches. She was very unkind to them, and made them as miserable as she could, giving them only bread to eat and water to drink, and very little of either. This was very hard for the seven poor Princesses, who had always been used to the best of everything, and each day they would sit by their dead mother’s tomb, and say:
“Oh, mother, cannot you see how unhappy and miserable your poor children are, and how our cruel stepmother is starving us?”
One day, while they were thus engaged, a beautiful pomelo tree grew up out of the grave, covered with fresh ripe pomelos, and the children certainly enjoyed the delicious fruit. And each day after this, instead of eating the poor food their stepmother provided for them, they would go to their mother’s grave and eat the pomelos which grew there on the tree.
The stepmother was astonished that the seven girls should eat nothing and yet be well, so she told her daughter to watch them.
Next day the Prime Minister’s daughter followed them, and saw the Princesses gather and eat the pomelos.
Balna saw the girl watching them, and said to her sisters: “Let us drive that girl away, or else she will tell her mother all about it, and then we shall be worse off than ever.”
But they said: “Do not be unkind, Balna. The girl would never be so cruel as to tell her mother. Let us instead ask her to come and have some of the fruit.” So they called to her, and gave her some of the pomelos.
As soon as she could, however, she left the Princesses, and went to her mother, and told her all about the pomelo tree. She said she had eaten some, and they were the nicest she had ever tasted.