For seven days no one saw him , but at the end of them he went out hunting , and helped his father rule his people . Only no one dared to speak to him of his wife and son . At last one morning , after the girl had been lying awake all night thinking of her husband , she said to her friend the snake : ` You have all shown me much kindness , but now I am well again , and want to go home and hear some news of my husband , and if he still mourns for me ! ' Now the heart of the snake was sad at her words , but he only said : ` Yes , thus it must be ; go and bid farewell to my father and mother , but if they offer you a present , see that you take nothing but my father 's ring and my mother 's casket . ' So she went to the parent snakes , who wept bitterly at the thought of losing her , and offered her gold and jewels as much as she could carry in remembrance of them . But the girl shook her head and pushed the shining heap away from her . ' I shall never forget you , never , ' she said in a broken voice , ` but the only tokens I will accept from you are that little ring and this old casket . ' The two snakes looked at each other in dismay . The ring and the casket were the only things they did not want her to have . Then after a short pause they spoke . ` Why do you want the ring and casket so much ? Who has told you of them ? ' ` Oh , nobody ; it is just my fancy , ' answered she . But the old snakes shook their heads and replied : ` Not so ; it is our son who told you , and , as he said , so it must be . If you need food , or clothes , or a house , tell the ring and it will find them for you . And if you are unhappy or in danger , tell the casket and it will set things right . ' Then they both gave her their blessing , and she picked up her baby and went her way . She walked for a long time , till at length she came near the town where her husband and his father dwelt . Here she stopped under a grove of palm trees , and told the ring that she wanted a house . ` It is ready , mistress , ' whispered a queer little voice which made her jump , and , looking behind her , she saw a lovely palace made of the finest woods , and a row of slaves with tall fans bowing before the door .
Glad indeed was she to enter , for she was very tired , and , after eating a good supper XXXXX fruit and milk which she found in one of the rooms , she flung herself down on a pile of cushions and went to sleep with her baby beside her .
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