Presently the merchant summoned his son-in-law， and having bestowed great wealth upon him， allowed him to depart. He also bade his daughter farewell， after giving her a palanquin and a female slave. And the parents took leave of them with wailing and bitter tears； their hearts were like to break. And so was mine.
For some days the hunchback travelled quietly along with his wife， in deep thought. He could not take her to his city， where she would find out his evil life， and the fraud which he had passed upon her father. Besides which， although he wanted her money， he by no means wanted her company for life. After turning on many projects in his evil-begotten mind， he hit upon the following：
He dismissed the palanquin-bearers when halting at a little shed in the thick jungle through which they were travelling， and said to his wife， "This is a place of danger； give me thy jewels， and I will hide them in my waist-shawl. When thou reachest the city thou canst wear them again." She then gave up to him all her ornaments， which were of great value. Thereupon he inveigled the slave girl into the depths of the forest， where he murdered her， and left her body to be devoured by wild beasts. Lastly， returning to my poor mistress， he induced her to leave the hut with him， and pushed her by force into a dry well， after which exploit he set out alone with his ill-gotten wealth， walking towards his own city.
In the meantime， a wayfaring man， who was passing through that jungle， hearing the sound of weeping， stood still， and began to say to himself， "How came to my ears the voice of a mortal's grief in this wild wood？" then followed the direction of the noise， which led him a pit， and peeping over the side， he saw a woman crying at the bottom. The traveller at once loosened his gird cloth， knotted it to his turband， and letting down the line pulled out the poor bride. He asked her who she was and how she came to fall into that well. She replied， "I am the daughter of Hemgupt， the wealthiest merchant in the city of Chandrapur； and I was journeying wit my husband to his own country， when robbers set upon us and surrounded us. They slew my slave girl， the threw me into a well， and having bound my husband they took him away， together with my jewels. I have no tidings of him， nor he of me." And so saying， she burst into tears and lamentations.
