     
          The other King was named Vikram. King Vikram was so generous, he 
     would give anybody anything they asked for--a jewel, a horse, even a 
     palace. His fame spread far and wide and even the animals knew of him. 
          One day, while Vikram was strolling through his palace garden, 
     two white geese landed at his feet. 
          "Good King Vikram, we are starving!" cried the gander. "We beg 
     you to feed us!" 
          "Certainly," said Vikram, twirling the tip of his jet-black 
     moustache. "I will send for seed at once." 
          "We cannot eat seed," said the female. "We come from a sacred 
     lake in the mountains of the north. There, we eat only fresh pearls." 
          "Then pearls it shall be," said Vikram. He sent for a basket of 
     his finest pearls and fed the geese from his hand. 
          Each morning, Vikram fed the geese. But one morning the gander 
     noticed that one of the pearls was pierced. 
          "Look!" he cried to his mate. "These pearls are not fresh!" 
          "Not even King Vikram can feed us forever," she said. "Let us fly 
     elsewhere." 
          Before Vikram could protest, the geese rose into the air. But as 
     they soared they cried, "Thanks, thanks to Vikram, the most generous 
     king of all!" 

