The king said, "Shall we gamble on the throw of the dice?" The priest, expecting to win once more, agreed. Just as before, the king recited his lucky charm: "If tempted any woman will, for sure, give up her faithfulness and act impure." As usual the priest added: "Except my woman faithfu l evermore!" But lo and behold the dice fell in the king's favour and he took the priest's money. The king said, "Oh priest, your woman is no exception! True faithfulness cannot be forced! Your plan was to snatch a newborn baby girl, lock her up behind seven gates guarded by seven guards, and force her to be good. But you have failed. Any prisoner's greatest wish is freedom! "She blindfolded you and then her playboy lover gave you that bump on your old bald head which proves your gates and guards were useless! The priest returned home and accused his lady. But in the meantime, she had come up with a plan of her own. She said, "No, my lord, I have been completely faithful to you. No man has ever touched me except you! And I will prove it in a trial by fire. I will walk on fire without being burned to prove I speak the truth." She ordered the old servant woman to fetch her son, the playboy. She was to tell him to take the lady by the hand and prevent her from stepping in the flames. This the woman did. On the day of the trial by fire, the priest's lady said to the crowd of onlookers, "I have never been touched by any man except this priest, my master. By this truth, may the fire have no power over me." Then, just as she was about to step into the fire, the playboy leaped from the crowd and grabbed her hand. He shouted, "Stop! Stop! How can this priest be so cruel as to force this tender young lady into a raging fire!" She shook her hand free and said to the priest, "My lord, since this man has touched my hand, the trial by fire is useless. But you can see my good intention!" The priest realised he had been tricked. He beat her as he drove her away forever. At last she was free of him and mistress of her own fate. Once upon a time, a very rich man was living in Benares, in northern India. He had a daughter who was one of the most beautiful women in the city. Her skin was as soft as rose petals, her complexion was like lotus blossoms, and her hair was as black as midnight. But unfortunately her beauty was only skin deep. For, on the inside, she was very cruel. She insulted her servants and even enjoyed beating them. She became known as the 'Wicked Lady'. One day she went down to the river for her bath. While she bathed, her servant girls played and splashed in the water. Suddenly it became dark and a heavy rainstorm came upon them. Most of the attendants and guards ran away. The servant girls said to each other, "This would be a perfect time to get rid of the Wicked Lady once and for all! So they deserted her there, still bathing in midstream. The storm became more and more terrible as the sun set. When the servant girls arrived home without the Wicked Lady, the rich man asked them, "Where is my precious daughter?" They replied, "We saw her coming out of the river, but since then we haven't seen her. We don't know where she went." The rich man sent out relatives to search for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile the Wicked Lady had been swept downstream by the ferocious flooded river. There just so happened to be a holy man living in the forest next to the river. In this peaceful area he had been meditating for a long time, until he had come to enjoy the inner happiness of a high mental state. Because of this happiness, he was quite sure he had left the ordinary desires of the world behind. At about midnight the Wicked Lady was carried past the holy man's hut by the raging river. She was crying out and screaming for help. When he heard her, the holy man realised a woman was in danger. So he took a torch