विक्रम चरित (उज्जैन सम्राट् विक्रमादित्य - पराक्रम, न्याय एवं ३२ पुतलियों की कथा सटीक)

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with some heavy loss; she did not therefore venture to question him. Charoo bathed himself and worshipped the household deity, after which he partook of his supper and went to bed. His wife then ventured to ask him the cause of his great uneasiness, which, she said, altogether changed the expression of his features, and rendered him unusually dull and melancholy. Charoo could not withstand the affection which prompted the enquiry, so he revealed every- thing. ‘This morning,’ said he, ‘I lost a great deal of money in gambling, and when I had nothing left I borrowed a thousand rupees from an acquaintance, which soon went the same way as the rest. The creditor made a demand for instant payment, and, not having any money of my own left, I took him to my brothers, and begged of them in turn to pay it for me. They had not only the cruelty to refuse me, but heaped terms of opprobrium and abuse on my head; and, to add to the indignity, they told me never more to set foot within the family mansion. Hereupon I applied for assistance to those who called themselves my best and most intimate friends, towards whom I had on all occasions been most liberal and true, but I fared no better. I am sensible now of the value of money. My brothers would never have treated me in the manner they did had I still possessed my wealth, or even a portion of it; nor would my friends, as they called themselves, have disregarded my application to them. I am certainly to blame for my folly in squandering away my inheritance. I might have been trusted to any extent had I not proved so fickle and weak- minded. I now repent of my past conduct, and will try to atone for it in future. My present difficulty is how to meet the debt I have to-day incurred. The man will assuredly be here to-morrow, and I have no means of paying him. What shall I do? Whither can I look for assistance?’ Charoo's wife was a model of beauty and virtue, and could not but feel deeply for her husband's misfortune. In her affection she said to him, ‘I pray you not to give the matter another thought, but take the trinkets I now wear,