Having built and given him a house on the edge of the river, he gave him a hundred-weight of sugar and a large pot of butter monthly.
Seven times in succession he planted seven trees. Seven times the seven trees were washed away by the river.
During the time while he was there in that way, the other friend having come, asked, “Where is the tree?”
Then the friend who had planted the tree says, “Either the King, or I, or the river.”[1]
The words that he said meant, “Either His Majesty the King will die; if not, I shall die, because of no means of subsistence.”
“Having cheated the King I get a living. When it is so, the foolish King has been caught by my trick.”
Durayā. North-western Province.
[1] Rājā hō, mā hō, gangā hō. “Either the King, or I, or the river” [floods] will come to an end (naeti wenawā). He meant that if the periodical floods in the river did not come to an end, the job would last during the King’s life-time, and that if he gave it up he had nothing else to live upon. [↑]