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

11 to become mistress of the art I now possess, I solemnly de- clare I shall not thwart your inclination in this respect, nor in any other that you may ask me. I undertake to meet them all; but I recommend you to think well, and not insist on knowing that which, for reasons I cannot well explain, had best remain locked up in my breast. I do not wish to displease you, but I would fain not teach you the art of transmigration. I give you time to recall your thoughts, and ponder well upon what I have said; and if you still persist in knowing it, I will satisfy you." In his concluding remarks, the false king threw much warmth and some displeasure into his manner, unlike the true sovereign. In the latter, no trivial events, such as these, could have ruffled his temper in the slightest degree. This circum- stance did not pass unnoticed by the wise minister of those realms, and he could not but ask himself, what could have worked such a change in his sovereign? 'There is certain- ly,' thought he, 'a wide difference between his former car- riage and bearing and these he now displays;' and as he had some slight belief in the power of transmigration, he naturally enough concluded that he had only the body of the king before him, with some other soul inhabiting it for the present, a matter he was determined to ascertain. Mean- while the new king commenced a reign, marked by the grossest injustice, and the violation of all the rights and privileges which previously tended so much to the well-being and prosperity of each and all in the country, and to the stability of the government itself. This occasioned much bitterness and lamentation, where there formerly reigned peace and happiness. Where it was once customary to bestow commendations on the king, and to call down bless- ings on him, every mouth was now filled with the direst imprecations and curses. The minister, though much averse to be made a tool in the hands of such a despot, was, nevertheless, forced to submit to that which, under the cir- cumstances, there could be no means for effectually putting a stop to. All he could do, by his advice and suggestions, 3