
          Before long, King Karan arrived. When he found out what had 
     happened, he screamed at the hermit, "How could you give him the 
     coat?" 
          The hermit yelled back, "I thought he was you!" 
          "You should have known better!" roared the King. 
          "You're right!" howled the hermit. "You could never taste so 
     good, you old goat!" 
          King Karan stormed down the mountain. 
          Later that morning, there was no hundred pounds of gold to carry 
     to the palace steps. As promised, King Karan went back to bed without 
     a bite to eat. He stayed there all day, growing hungrier and hungrier. 
          Finally, Vikram came to the King's bedside. "Friend," he said, 
     "you need not starve any longer." He shook out the hermit's coat, and 
     the gold coins tumbled onto the floor. 
          King Karan cried out for joy. 
          Then Vikram told the King his story. "And, if you free the 
     goose," he said, "and promise to curry yourself for the hermit, I will 
     gladly give you the coat." 
          The King hung his head. "The geese were right," he said. "How 
     big-hearted you were to rescue a bird! And how small-hearted I was to 
     keep it in a cage!" 

