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A PEARL OF LEGEND
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wisely
and well. He encouraged his subjects to cultivate the land, to fish the
waters, and to trade with those who came by ship and overland bringing
all manner of things for barter.
Though
he and his people were devout believers in the Veda, yet did he
tolerate the faith of others, and considered the low-born, for
Brahmanism had not yet established the extremes of caste which came
later. He himself was a Kshattriya but he ruled the Brahmans and would
not permit injustice to the Sudras, therefore was he as a god among his
people.
And
this prince was good to look upon. Tall and straight as a tree of the
forest, the fine lines of his grave impassive face were made alive by
the light of eyes keen as an eagle's, inscrutable as those of a lion
when he looks beyond.
One
son only had he, for the others had all fallen in battle. The son was
like the sire, and the father's heart was knit to him as steel when it
is welded.
Now the time came when it was good that the young prince should marry, for he was man-grown and had been invested with the
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