And that other thought, “It will be much better for me to go first. I shall travel on a road that is not cut up, the oxen will eat grass that has not been touched, and for the men there will be curry-stuffs, of which the best have not been picked; the water will be undisturbed; and I shall sell my goods at what price I like.” So he said, “I, friend, will go on first.” But the Bodisat saw that it would be better to go second: for thus it occurred to him, “Those who go in front will make the rough places plain, whilst I shall go over the ground they have traversed:--the old rank grass will have been eaten by the oxen that have gone first, whilst my oxen will eat the freshly grown and tender shoots:--for the men there will be the sweet curry-stuffs that have grown where the old was picked:--where there is no water these others will dig and get supplies, whilst we shall drink from the wells that they have dug:--and haggling about prices too is killing work; whereas by going afterwards, I shall sell my goods at the prices they have established.” So seeing all these advantages, he said, “Well, friend, you may go on first.” The foolish merchant said, “Very well, then!” yoked his waggons and started; and in due course passed beyond the inhabited country, and came to the border of the wilderness. Now there are five kinds of wildernesses, those that have become so by reason of thieves, of wild beasts, of the want of water, of the presence of demons, and of insufficiency of food; and of these this wilderness was demon-haunted and waterless.[243] So the merchant placed great water-pots on his carts, and filled them with water, and then entered the desert, which was sixty leagues across. But, when he had reached the middle of the desert, the demon who dwelt there thought, “I will make these fellows throw away the water they have brought; and having thus destroyed their power of resistance, I will eat them every one!” So he created a beautiful carriage drawn by milk-white bulls; and attended by ten or twelve demons with bows and arrows, and swords and shields, in their hands, he went to meet the merchant, seated like a lord in his carriage,--but adorned with a garland of water-lilies, with his hair and clothes all wet, and his carriage wheels begrimed with mud. His attendants too went before and after him, with their hair and clothes all wet, decked with garlands of white lotuses, carrying bunches of red lotuses, eating the edible stalks of water-plants, and with drops of water and mud trickling from them. Now the chiefs of trading caravans, whenever a headwind blows, ride in their carriage in front, surrounded by their attendants, and thus escape the dust; and when it blows from behind, they, in the same manner, ride behind. At that time there was a headwind, so the merchant went in front. As the demon saw him coming, he turned his carriage out of the way, and greeted him kindly, saying, “Where are you going to?”