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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

Heavy winds carried the merchants to an island. The merchants crawled ashore and were overjoyed when they discovered they had all been saved.

Now this island was inhabited by demons called rakshashas, who transformed into beautiful maidens and ran to shore to greet the men. ωεセＷwW.FａIrＹ－ｔＡｌe．ＩｎfOカㄍメフゐ∥

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. タ±βｗWＷ。fAIＲＹ-ｔaＬe.iＮfＯ

Only the captain stood back. "Men," he said, "we must rebuild our ship and sail home."

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The merchants laughed. "Why work when there is such pleasure to be had?" they said. ㄨてwｗｗ.FａIRY－ｔａLｅ。ＩnＦoj∽

"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.

ネムｗwｗ。ｆａｉＲy-ｔａle。iNFOВぅsㄒ96

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.

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

ㄆЫㄌㄦǔｗWｗ.ｆａｉRy-taＬe.ＩnｆoH

The men told their tale. They were shipwrecked merchants, who had been taken in by the beautiful maidens. ツUφㄏクWｗW．ｆＡiｒＹ-ＴaLe.iＮfＯnūκ9

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. §wwW.ＦaIry-tａｌe。IＮFOЁО∥ッōタ

"Save yourself," the men said, "and save your men. You must fly away."

"We have no ship," the captain protested. "And we cannot fly."

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The captive merchants told the captain how he could fly to freedom. !ТｗｗＷ．ｆaiｒy-Ｔａlｅ。IＮfo

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.

WＷｗ.ｆAＩrY－TalＥ。ｉNＦo

He hurried to the village where his men had gone. He told them, "You must come with me tomorrow night. We must escape." ヵ♂Wｗｗ.ｆAｉrY－TＡｌｅ．iｎFｏkGに≮

The merchants laughed, but they agreed to follow him. ㄟ낱wＷＷ.fAirＹ－TＡle.ｉNfO◎ǖ5はaㄕЫ

The next night while the maidens slept, the captain led his men to the place of the golden sands.

There, the giant horse king Balaha galloped down from the sky. Balaha approached the men. MHجمㄏｗww.ＦaＩｒy－TＡＬｅ。Ｉｎfoㄍ∫τ℃ǎこM

"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.

Then Balaha leaped into the sky. ěwＷｗ.fAｉｒy－taＬe.Iｎfoγ%αoゑ

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 ..."

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

ㄈサみkУｗＷW.fAIｒｙ－TAlＥ。iＮｆoC

When Balaha reached the far side of the ocean, he turned to the captain. "Now you may dismount," and so the captain did.

But he saw that not one of the merchants remained. He began to weep.

˙ヒㄢwｗW.ｆＡiRｙ-Ｔalｅ。IｎFo∞ょKㄔむ

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

ōＷＷＷ．faＩRy-talＥ.IｎfOムìシ낱πヲ

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. んzｗｗW.ｆａirY-ＴＡLe.ＩＮｆｏノトωJなとこ

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