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

32 glances betrayed a concentrated rage, mingled with grasp- ing niggardliness ; so furious was he that he could not give utterance to a single word. Thus, while he was occupied between eating his meal and stifling his passion, the thought occurred to him, that as the parrot he had recently purchased was a very knowing and extraordinary bird, his wife might probably have been put up to all he then wit- nessed by him ; he determined, however, to see how long she would carry it on. She kept it up, at the instigation of the parrot, for a whole month. The husband seeing the deter- mination with which his wife followed up her recent whim, thought it advisable not to come to an open rupture, but in his heart he secretly blamed her, though he had not the courage to tell her so. One day the parrot, finding Dush- want in a remarkably good humour, addressed him in a very soothing and winning tone, and asked him whether, since his arrival among them, he had become prosperous in his trade, or met with any reverses. The parrot desired the merchant to examine his books and accounts, and to satisfy him on this head, and the merchant ordered his head moonim* to ascertain this. The moonim reported that the whole concern had increased four-fold since the bird's arri- val. The merchant believed his good luck to have been brought by the parrot, for during the long period that he had been conducting his business, no such results, or any- thing like them, had ever taken place till now. . It is not in the power of language to describe the sensation of grate- ful emotion that rose in the merchant's bosom, as this con- viction flashed through his mind. He thanked the bird in terms as commendable as they were sincere and deep-felt. From that moment he was resolved upon living a new life —one of liberality and charity. He portioned out a certain amount to be set apart for daily distribution to the poor. With this change came others, and his house was soon one of the best regulated in that city, and he was esteemed by all for his benevolence and uniform good conduct. * An accountant or book-keeper.