Suddenly, a storm arose. The sky turned black, the wind blew fiercely and the ship shook. Before long the ship sank. WWW．FＡiＲy－TAｌE.ｉＮＦｏなっǒㄘ

Heavy winds carried the merchants to an island. The merchants crawled ashore and were overjoyed when they discovered they had all been saved. ムYτРWｗW．FａIry－Tａｌe．ＩｎfO

Now this island was inhabited by demons called rakshashas, who transformed into beautiful maidens and ran to shore to greet the men. ォ⊥ｗWW．ｆAIｒY-ＴAlＥ。iNFＯっ々aけМūみ

The men gazed at these beautiful women. The rakshashas not only were beautiful, they had also brought with them a feast of food and drink and treasure.

Only the captain stood back. "Men," he said, "we must rebuild our ship and sail home." +ùδВWｗW。ｆＡiＲＹ－ＴＡlｅ．iNｆｏ∵き∑+

The merchants laughed. "Why work when there is such pleasure to be had?" they said.

"Come home with us," the maidens said to the men. "But you must promise never to visit the northern part of this island." "We promise," the men said, and so the rakshashas invited them to their village. WＷＷ.ＦＡｉRｙ－ｔalE.inＦｏ4КX

The captain did not trust this outpouring of hospitality . He feared it might be a trick.

When the others had departed with the maidens, the captain went to the northern side of the island. There he spied a tall stone tower. From inside he could hear men wailing. /ホúキㄜｗｗw.fAiRY-tａLE.ｉｎｆＯ∝ききㄅ

The captain climbed a tall tree, and from the very top he could see into the tower. "Who's there?" he cried.

The men told their tale. They were shipwrecked merchants, who had been taken in by the beautiful maidens.

ì∈∧WWw。ＦａIｒy－tＡＬE。ＩｎｆＯㄠZ

And then, when the maidens saw the captain's ship at sea, they transformed back into the hideous demons, locked men in the tower and planned to eat them.

"Save yourself," the men said, "and save your men. You must fly away." Ｗｗｗ.ｆaiRy-tale.IｎＦoǐㄣБねЬu

"We have no ship," the captain protested. "And we cannot fly." せＷWW.ＦＡiｒy－tale．InＦｏāμБマㄑ⊙&

The captive merchants told the captain how he could fly to freedom.

%≯∽(ｗWｗ.ｆaIRｙ－ｔＡLe．infoλXㄣШㄑ

The captain then searched until he found the narrow pass the prisoners had described. There he saw golden sands surrounding a turquoise pond and an emerald green meadow. òr!ㄖwＷｗ.FＡIｒＹ－tａｌＥ.IｎＦＯГρθ∫Ю

He hurried to the village where his men had gone. He told them, "You must come with me tomorrow night. We must escape." ZッǐDκＷＷw．ｆaiｒY－ｔAｌｅ．InＦｏン℃ㄒ낱

The merchants laughed, but they agreed to follow him.

The next night while the maidens slept, the captain led his men to the place of the golden sands. eな』めWＷW．ｆAＩRｙ－tALＥ.ｉＮFo&

There, the giant horse king Balaha galloped down from the sky. Balaha approached the men.

んzｗｗW.ｆａirY-ＴＡLe.ＩＮｆｏノトωJなとこ

"Climb upon my back, close your eyes, and I will take you home. But you must not look back," Balaha said.

The captain mounted and took hold of Balaha's mane, and he waited while the men climbed on.

ДＷww。fＡIrＹ－ＴＡLE．IＮFｏシち9

Then Balaha leaped into the sky. üサwWW。ｆaｉｒＹ-TＡｌe.ＩｎFo€ィíAヰ

The rakshashas awoke, and when they saw the horse king carrying their new prisoners away, they ran to the beach. "Do not leave," they called. "Look, the feasts and comforts and treasures that are yours ..." ゑ3ＷｗＷ。Ｆａｉrｙ-ｔａＬＥ．IＮfＯJ

Some men turned to look, and when they did, they fell. The rakshashas then removed their disguises and ate each man as he fell.

When Balaha reached the far side of the ocean, he turned to the captain. "Now you may dismount," and so the captain did. ЕㄧㄎЩＷＷw.ＦaIＲＹ-ｔAＬe．iNfO∝ωTB√

But he saw that not one of the merchants remained. He began to weep. ξتر『ㄔúWＷＷ．ＦａIｒｙ－Taｌe。INｆｏ≡

"Remember," Balaha said, "those men died because they clung to their desire."

ｗWｗ.ＦAＩｒＹ－ｔａｌE.IｎＦO!ソふ∪òㄋc

Balaha instructed the captain to pass along this story as a warning to his friends and family, and ever since people have understood they must not cling too tightly to their desires. ぅοひwＷw。ＦAiRY－tａlE.ｉｎFOォゥEЭ≡