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

22 trable thought and moody silence. Even the mass of the people seemed to have been infected with the melancholy the event here related had cast over the spectators ; and all was one continued chorus of pity and commiseration for the unfortunate widow who had thus devoted herself to a fate so painful. Not long after the crowd had dispersed from the scene where the widow had immolated herself despite the en- treaties of her friends, she contrived, by the influence of her art or by some occult means, to extricate herself from her apparently awful position, and to bring to life her de- ceased husband. She then informed him of all that had transpired during his absence. The warrior, now become whole, and complete in his limbs, instantly set out for the court, where he arrived, to the amazement and wonder of all, whilst they were yet engaged in the discussion of the event from witnessing which they had but just returned. Without much ado, and dispensing with all the courtly forms prevailing in those days, the warrior approached the sovereign, and, after the usual interchange of civilities, ad- dressed him to the following effect :—" Oh king! I am extremely happy in being able to inform you that in the battle fought recently in heaven, and in which I assisted the divine Angels with all my judgment and valour, the suc- cess has been all on our side. I have vanquishred the Asœrus. The war was fierce and bloody. The bravest troops of the enemy were either slain or wounded, and the remainder panic-struck with the valour I displayed, and the repeated onslaughts I made on them. Look!" added the warrior, "these are the rewards of my labour (point- ing to his rich attire, and the jewels with which his brow was encircled). I now entreat your majesty will grant me permission to remove my wife from under your protection ; the city of Auyodhea, where I live, being at a great dis- tance, I must return home immediately." At these words, the sudden resuscitation of a man whom they had considered dead, and his being unable to produce his wife, the king felt "

23 great consternation, nor were his minister and courtiers less astounded. He beckoned his minister, who approached him with unsteady steps, and with fear depicted in every linea- ment of his countenance. "What an unexpected danger is this!" exclaimed the king, as soon as he could give vent to the feelings of his heart; "whence comes this man? How did he become re-animated, and what expedient can we adopt?" The minister exhorted his master, as well as he could, to have patience for a while, and promised to devise some means of satisfying the warrior. He said he would speak to the man in private. With this he went towards him, and sought an interview. The minister entered fully into the particulars and circumstances of the events which, he said, they were even then deploring, and called the whole population to prove the accuracy of his statements. The warrior, however, instead of exhibiting symptoms of grief at the untimely fate of his wife, became furious and uncon- trollable. He threatened at once to appeal- to arms. "What!" said he, "am I right in hearing you? Was it ever before known that a woman immolated herself with her husband yet living? Oh no! I cannot believe what you say. I once took you to be a just, prudent, and vir- tuous man, but you appear no longer so. My wife has been basely dealt with, if not forcibly kept from me; and I will wage war to the death till I know more about it, and there remains nothing else for me to do. You know what I am capable of, and I warn you to beware of trifling with such an one as you know me to be!" The king heard the threats made by the warrior, and became pale with fear; and being no longer able to control himself, came up to the warrior and besought him to have pity on him. "Mode- rate your anger, sir," said he; "what my minister says is the truth. But if you are not satisfied with it, and as it is entirely out of my power to produce your wife, who is now reduced to ashes, you may, if you like, accept of my queen, in exchange for her. I will do anything else that I can for you, if you will only mention it. I desire to

24 preserve your friendship, so that you may, if I can achieve it, depart hence in peace." The warrior listened to the king with much attention, and then fell into a violent fit of laughter, which surprised all present. As soon as he had regained his gravity he said, "I pray your majesty to consi- der whether it would be sensible in me to accept of the queen in lieu of my wife. The queen is to me a mother— neither more nor less. I believe your majesty knows, or at least ought to know, that we are taught by divine law to consider our queen, our tutors' wives, our wives' mothers, and the mother who gave us birth, as standing one and all in the same relation to us—that of mother. How, then, can I take the queen to supply the place of my wife?" At this remonstrance the king became pale with shame, and suffered much inwardly for having committed so grave and serious an error. The warrior, observing the sudden effect produced by him, burst into another fit of laughter, and tried to infuse courage into the monarch. He said, "My worthy and renowned sovereign, I beg your majesty will not be surprised if I disclose to you now the deceit I practised on your majesty, and the causes which led me into it. But before I proceed to relate them, your majesty must grant me your full pardon." , "I will on no account refuse you my pardon," roplied the king, "whether justly or not." "Your majesty must know, then," said the individual who had so long palmed himself off as a brave warrior of high rank and renown, and who had made the king and his whole court tremble before him, "Your majesty must know, then, that I am a Bahooroopee, and reached this city about a month ago. I used all the wit I was possessed of, to no purpose, in endeavouring to se- cure your majesty's patronage to the performance of the peculiar plays that are involved in the calling I pursue. Being thus deprived of every means by which to turn an honest pice, and all the avenues being shut against me, I was induced to have recourse to the deception I have practised on your majesty." The king could not possibly

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bring himself to believe this statement. He said, “Since you are the same person, go and call your wife here instantly, that we may satisfy ourselves, by ocular proof, of the truth of your story.” Whereupon he shouted to his wife, “My dear wife! I pray you do not delay joining me here in the presence of our sovereign and his noble councillors and retainers, as they are very anxious to see you.” No sooner did she hear the voice of her husband than she made her appearance, her beauty, as if purified by fire, appearing still more attractive, which, with the graceful and sylph-like form she possessed, threw the whole court into an ecstacy of delight, so much so that each and all fell passionately in love with her. The king was mightily pleased with this delightful vision. He immediately ordered his treasurer to pay to the owner of so much beauty and attraction as much money as he required, and other pre- sents, such as rich suits of apparel, ornaments, jewels, &c. In addition to all this, he was allowed to perform his plays within the city without let or hindrance, and for as long a time as he might think proper. The ministers, nobles, and all the wealthier portion of the community, awarded him dresses of honor according to their respective rank and ability ; many of the poorer citizens also came forward and contributed their share towards increasing the riches that were showered upon this fortunate Bahooroopee, who was compelled to call in assistance to remove the wealth he had acquired in so short a period from the palace. He soon after retired to his dwelling, and the king's council dissolved. The Bahooroopee was transported with joy at the sudden and unexpected turn his fortune had taken. From being one of the most destitute of the human kind, he was now possessed of wealth and affluence, and could command the friendship even of the great and powerful. On his return to the humble dwelling of former days, he went to the parrot, who had been instrumental in enriching him far beyond his most unbounded wishes, and renewed his thanks and professions of perpetual friendship, after throwing him- E

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self at the feet of the discreet bird. The Bahooroopee com- mended the wisdom of the parrot in all sincerity and gra- titude. He said that it was to the tiny creature that himself and his companions were indebted for the wealth of which they were now possessed; and he entered into a minute detail of all that had happened since he parted from his feathery benefactor, and how he had become master of so great riches.* In short, the Bahooroopee acknowledged to the bird how great and immeasurable was the debt of gratitude under which himself and his compa- nions were laid to him, by the instruction which his com- passion and liberality had prompted him to impart, and swore undying friendship to him. On the following day the little parrot desired the Bahoo- roopee to take him to the market-place, and to sell him to any one who might be desirous to become a purchaser. The price to be demanded was his own weight in gold. The Bahooroopee, at this sudden resolution of the bird, was excessively grieved, and wished to be made acquainted with the cause of the whim which the parrot had taken into his head. He said that as favors and riches had been bestowed upon him through its aid, he had calculated upon being allowed the opportunity of repaying it in some degree, by a life of devotion to it, and by supporting it himself. The Bahooroopee entreated the parrot not to deprive him of that consolation. "I have plenty of money now," said he, "and it would argue ingratitude of the basest kind were I to agree to what you now propose doing. It would be like the story related of an alligator, which a traveller relieved

• As the Sudama brahmin was reduced to the extreme verge of poverty, and the Almighty Being, pleased with his pious life and humble deportment, vouchsafed to present him with a golden city. Bibishun, brother of Ravun, king of Lunka, having in all humility surrendered himself to Rama (who assassinated all Rakshasa), was throned by him in Lunka for all eternity. So the child Dhuroo was succoured by God, and placed in a state of bliss and great splendour in the unchangeable firmament. There are many instances similar to this.

27 from the most severe and painful agonies. I will recount it to you if you will favor me with your attention." He then took his seat near the bird, and commenced the fol- lowing TALE OF THE ALLIGATOR AND THE TRAVELLER. In one of the hottest periods of the year, while the sun was at its height, an alligator, extremely exhausted by the intensity of the heat, was unable to go back to the place whence he had been tempted to rove to a distance on the banks of the river Gunga. He was there observed lying, as if in pain, by a traveller who chanced to be passing that way at the time. Observing the man, the alligator addressed him in these words :—"Oh, my honest friend, you will render me an incalculable service, and one for which you will place me under a deep debt of gratitude, if you will plunge me into the river which you see before you. You will thus save my life, and I shall feel most thankful to you. The Almighty will reward you for your labour." The tra- veller replied, that should he do him this good office, he doubted whether the alligator, when he once found the man in the water with him, would allow him to escape with life. "Do not, my friend, entertain the least fear on that point," said the alligator, "for I swear to you you shall come to no harm." The traveller, placing implicit reliance on the alligator's word, and being at the same time moved with compassion at his sufferings, after wrapping him up in a cloth, raised him from the recumbent posture in which he found him, and took him up on his head. In this way he entered the water, and when he had proceeded a - short distance, the alligator inquired the depth of that part of the river where they then were, and on the reply being given that the water reached only up to the traveller's waist, the alligator said, "Convey me a little further." The deluded man went on as he was desired, without attaching any im- portance to the interrogatory that had been addressed to him, and which might have given rise to suspicions of no

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pleasing nature in those of greater experience in the ways of the world. However, as we said, the unsuspecting travel- ler went on till the water came up to his neck; he then set about releasing the alligator from the folds of the cloth he had wrapped round him. No sooner did the alligator find himself at full liberty and in his own element, than the ungrateful creature, turning briskly round to the man, said, “Now I have you, and shall devour you!” “Ah!” ex- claimed the traveller, “is it thus you repay the essential service I have rendered you? Would you, in return for the life I have saved, take that of your benefactor?” “I do not deny what you say,” replied the alligator, “but know you not that I am an enemy to man? You are an egregious fool for believing in my promises, which I was justified in making under the circumstances, but which are no longer binding when the necessity for them has passed away.” “But wherein have I offended you?” doled forth the miserable and now trembling traveller; “is this the reward for the services I have rendered you? Will no consi- deration induce you to act justly by me? Remember the injustice you are about to commit—to return evil for good. Remember your oaths. Spare me, I entreat you, and God will prosper you.” “Your whining discourse can have no weight with me,” rejoined the ruthless alligator; “prepare yourself to die!” The traveller, with the marks of terror in every line of his face, and his hair erect, falteringly be- sought the alligator in the most pathetic terms to allow him to depart in safety, but all to no purpose. He bitterly repented having turned from his path to succour the ungrate- ful reptile. At this moment, one of those creatures dis- tinguished by their peculiar cunning and sagacity, a fox, approached the river to quench his thirst. Hearing the lamentations of the traveller, he inquired the cause of so much grief. The alligator was the first to reply, and gave the fox his version of the case; but not satisfied with this he asked what the traveller had to say, who told his tale, and felt greatly relieved by the appearance of a third party

29 in the field, if on no other account than the establishment of a temporary truce. The fox, after pondering for awhile, and seeing the ingratitude of the alligator, was resolved to inflict on him some sort of punishment. He said, "How is it possible for me to give my judgment on this dispute, unless you point out the spot where your first meeting took place, and the position of the alligator?" The alligator undertook to show the place, on condition that the fox would promise to make the traveller bring him again into the water immediately he had done so, as he had business of importance to attend to at his own habitation. This was agreed to. The traveller accordingly took up the alligator a second time, and brought him to land, where, instead of entering into a discussion of the case, he, at a sign from the fox, left the alligator to shift for himself, and he and the fox went on their way. Here the Bahooroopee, addressing himself to the parrot, said, "You are now bidding me to act towards you in the same manner as the monstrous alligator treated the travel- ler." The parrot desired him not to think so, and said that the Bahooroopee would, on the contrary, show his gratitude and receive the parrot's thanks, by yielding to his wishes and selling him. The Bahooroopee could not now resist this direct appeal to his heart. He felt he should be dis- pleasing the parrot were he any longer to hold out against his wishes. Accordingly, in obedience to his patron's instruction and importunity, though at the same time he was greatly averse to part with him, with a heavy heart he took up the bird, and proceeded with him to the town of Sendoornuggry, in search of a purchaser. He walked with the bird in his hand, exposed to view, from one street to another, and from shop to shop, for a long time. At last a wealthy merchant named Dushwant, having observed the man and the handsome parrot, beckoned to him, and entered into a negotiation for the purchase. On asking the price, the Bahooroopee told him that he would part with the

30 bird for nothing less than its weight in gold, and under a promise from its future master that he would obey implicitly its directions. The merchant laughed at the latter part of the Bahooroopee's terms; he, however, agreed to the price and paid the gold. After the bird had changed hands, it only remained for the Bahooroopee to take his leave; and the parting was one that both remembered during the whole remainder of their lives. It was an affecting sight to wit- ness the manly and unfeigned grief of the Bahooroopee, who was indebted to so great an extent to the feathery crea- ture before him for all he possessed, and he wept loud and long. At last, with the mutual exchange of the most en- dearing expressions of feeling and sympathy, and with hopes of again meeting, they parted from each other. Dushwant, the merchant who now owned the parrot, was a very wealthy and pious individual, endowed with many good qualities, but withal mean in the extreme. He put the parrot into a good cage, however, and sent him home by his servant to his wife. On reaching home, the merchant's wife asked the servant where he had got the bird from, and he replied, that his master had just purchased him for her diversion. "This parrot, you must understand, good mistress, is remarkably clever, possessing as much sense and knowledge as any human being." The mistress was quite elated at the idea of possessing a bird of such extraordinary parts, and of so much beauty in appearance. She directed one of the slaves to place the cage on a chowrung* of a large size, where the cat could not reach it. The merchant's wife was a lady who could boast of a fair share of beauty, gentle in her manners, and very prudent. She was dressed in the simplest and most ordinary attire, which did not become her, and was quite unsuited to the gracefulness of her demeanour and the unpretending but yet radiant cast of her beauty. She was not treated by her husband as she deserved to be, but yet she was a most vir- tuous woman and a faithful wife. She was allowed but * A square stool.

31 little or no control in domestic concerns—not from any want of the necessary qualifications, but from the evil nature of her husband, notwithstanding his piety. These little explanations are necessary, to prepare the reader for what follows. After the parrot had been placed on the chowrung allotted to him, the mistress ordered one of her slaves to give some grain to the miller, to be ground for the use of the bird. Observing the grain to be of the most ordinary kind, and consisting of several different descriptions, the parrot asked his mistress if that was what they used daily for their own food. “Yes,” said she, “though we have all we can wish for in this house, and that too in abun- dance, the parsimonious nature of my husband deprives me of all control in the arrangement of his domestic concerns, and to act otherwise than I do at present would bring down upon me his ire.” The parrot judged from this that she was leading an unhappy life, so he said to his mistress, “Take my advice, and go you now and order the prepara- tion of everything good to-day to eat, after which put on your best and richest clothes, and adorn yourself with all the jewels you possess. Fear not; I will answer for you. Should your husband display any symptoms of anger I will appease him, and bring about such a change in his habits and life that he will never behave towards you as he has hitherto done.” This induced the mistress to do as she was bid. Having acted up to the instructions of the parrot so far, she came to him, and asked for further counsel. “Let your husband,” said he, “be sent for to take his meal a little earlier than is his wont.” A servant was sent forth in- stantly. The merchant was somewhat surprised to receive a call to his meal so unusually early; he, however, returned home. He was still more surprised and even enraged at the profuseness and richness of the repast that was prepared for him, and at the gaudiness with which his wife was decked out. After performing his ablutions, the merchant sat down to his meal, casting no friendly glance from time to time at his wife, and at the ornaments on her person; these

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.

33 In the same city with Dushwant resided a dancing-girl, named Kamsaina, who, having become acquainted with the high reputation which the merchant had attained for pro- fuseness and generosity, resolved upon calling daily at his house to amuse him with her singing. One day it occurred to her that she had dreamed over-night of Dushwant having injured her chastity. Under this impression she proceeded to the palace of the king, laid a formal complaint against the merchant, and demanded justice. The king, upon the girl's declaration, decided that Dushwant should pay the custom- ary fine for such offences—1,25,000 rupees. After the decision had been recorded, Dushwant was sent for to ap- pear before the king and his council, there to be subjected to interrogatories before the public assembly. As he was ignorant of the cause which procured him the honor of the king's summons, and being, as our readers will have per- ceived, innocent of any guilt, he was naturally enough thrown into a maze of perplexity ; and his astonishment may be better imagined than described, when the king made known to him the accusation that had been brought against him. By dint of cross-questioning and much labour he made the girl acknowledge, though not in direct terms, that her charge was founded on a mere dream, which had become so deeply rooted in her mind as to appear a reality. Having gained this advantage over his opponent, the mer- chant addressed the king in the following words :—" This being only, as your majesty has seen, a charge founded on a dream, or coined to extort money from me, I do not see that I am liable to the fine your majesty has been pleased to inflict upon me ; and I trust you will see the impropriety of enforcing it in a case, like the present, of an imaginary wrong said to have been done." The girl on this became so exasperated as to indulge in the most abusive epithets and unbecoming language towards Dushwant, notwithstand- ing that she was in the presence of the king and his whole court. This so affected poor Dushwant, that he agreed to pay the fine, and thus put a stop to the volley of abusive F o

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words that was directed against him; at the same time pro- claiming his innocence with a loud voice, and protesting against the whole proceeding as being illegal and informal, as well as unjust and tyrannical. He then sent for his cashier, and ordered the amount to be brought into court. While, however, Dushwant was in the act of making over the money, it occurred to him that he had not consulted once, throughout the whole of this proceeding, his invaluable and bosom friend, the parrot; he thought that by repre- senting the injustice of the case to him, the good sense and intelligence which the bird displayed on every occasion of emergency might perchance enable him to devise some means to extricate him from the dilemma in which he found himself placed; so he solicited the king to allow him time to send for the parrot, before paying down the money. Having obtained the king's consent to this step, a messen- ger was immediately despatched, and the bird brought into the presence of the king and the assembled courtiers. He was placed in an elevated position, and made acquainted with all the details of the occurrence. The parrot seemed much surprised at the revelations made to him, and still more so at the daring act of injustice on the part of the king, of whom he enquired, and of his councillors, how they could possibly be so blind as not to see through the guile of the girl, and the unworthy motives which led her into such an act. He begged the king to countermand the order for the fine, and then, in an address fraught with much politeness and good sense, entreated that his majesty would not permit himself to be thus hood- winked by a mercenary woman. So saying, the parrot desired that a large looking-glass, of which there were many in the palace, might be brought to him; when the domestic came forward with the glass, the parrot ordered the amount of the fine levied by the king to be placed in front of it, which having been done, he spoke in this wise, addressing himself in the first instance to the com- plainant in the case:—"Is it true, then, as you have

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advanced before his majesty and the council, that last night Dushwant appeared before you in a dream, and injured your person?" "Yes," rejoined the dancing-girl, with much impudence, "he positively did." "Very well, then," said the parrot, "you may take by way of compensation the cash reflected in the glass, but do not dare to meddle with the cash itself. The punishment will be of a like kind with the injury alleged to have been inflicted : you dreamed the injury done, and in like manner is the punishment reflected. Justice is satisfied, and so must you be." At these words the disappointed girl trembled violently, with a sensation of mingled rage and conscious humiliation; dis- appointed avarice no doubt contributed to the effect pro- duced. To be baulked when about to receive the reward (as she thought but a while ago) of her well-concerted and well-directed plan, was too much,—to grasp now only the shadow, while the substance which she had fully and confi- dently calculated upon, had fled. There she stood, the picture of despair and disappointment, eyeing alternately the heap of gold and, as she thought, her inveterate enemy the parrot, who had been the cause of so much mischief. At length the parrot broke the silence by saying to the girl, "As you cannot reach the money through the glass, no more could Dushwant have injured you in your dream. Begone, slut! and do not dare to present yourself again before the king." She was then ignominiously expelled, and all retired, well satisfied with the turn the affair had taken. The merchant directed his man to take the money he had brought, and returned home, accompanied by his now more than ever esteemed friend the parrot, extremely happy at the termination of so unpleasant an affair; while the king and his courtiers were lost in amazement at the extraordinary ingenuity and presence of mind of the handsome and clever little bird. The reputation of our feathery acquaintance spread with such rapidity after the decision he had made in the above case, as to become known throughout the length and breadth

36 of that populous town; and while all admired and praised him, there was one who conceived against him the deadliest hatred imaginable, and that person was the discomfited actress or dancing-girl against whom he had given his deci- sion. Nothing short of the life of the parrot would satisfy her. Many were the designs she revolved in her mind to effect this purpose, till at last, an opportunity offering itself, she hit upon the following plan. It came to her knowledge that Dushwant's wife was in bed sick, and she thought this a fine chance to seek a reconciliation with Dushwant, and then, by her wiles and deception, to gain a mastery over him; this object once attained, every facility, she thought, would be afforded her for executing her foul work. Accord- ingly, one night, she decked herself out in her best clothes, so as to set off her charms and symmetry of shape to the best advantage, and went into Dushwant's house. She entered his apartment by a secret door that was known to her, and noiselessly approached the bed on which Dushwant lay alone, and sat beside him. The unsuspecting Dush- want was fast asleep, and had been so for some time, as the night was far advanced when this temptress set out from her dwelling. Seated beside Dushwant, she began to bestow on him the softest caresses, and to call on him by the most endearing and loving epithets. Dushwant here- upon suddenly awoke, and was astonished to find a female form near him of such exquisite beauty, which the rays of the lamp that fell upon her displayed to great advantage, the mellowness of the light, added to the sombre shade of the room, rendering her smiling countenance and richly- jewelled bust like those of a houri, come to keep watch over the sleeping merchant in his now lonely bed-chamber. She appeared, indeed, the height of female perfection, and the softness of her manners and the ingratiating tone of her speech might have gone far towards overcoming a person of firmer principle than poor Dushwant. His first words were expressive of surprise at the visionary being, as he thought, before him. "Am I awake or asleep?" said he. After

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gazing at her for awhile, and feeling his resolution of having nothing to do with a strange woman fast failing him, he drew the bed-clothes over his face, and composed him- self to sleep, as if to shut out the temptress from his view. But she proceeded to address him, lavishing on him at the same time the most fond and melting caresses. “My dear sir,” said she, “this is not a dream, as you imagine, but a reality. The humblest of your slaves, and the most devoted of your servants, is here to offer her love at your feet.” The merchant rose in much anger at this announce- ment, and asked her how she dared clandestinely to enter his apartment at that unseasonable hour. “I have some slight notion of the reason,” said he; “it is the hope of securing the money you were prevented from extorting from me at the court the other day that has brought you hither, and you have some new design for effecting your purpose. I set no value upon a few gold pieces; but leave me,—leave me, I tell you, and never more approach me.” “I am in possession of much wealth,” replied she, “through your bene- volence and kind-heartedness. I no longer wish for more. Another and far more devouring passion has brought me here at the dead of the night;—I am dying of love for you! —it is fast consuming me,—and unless you give me proofs of its being reciprocated, alas! I feel I must inevitably perish, either by my own hands or with the fire within me. Say,” and she threw herself on her knees, “may I hope that you will deign to pity me—to ease my poor heart of the pain which is now fast rending it in pieces? Oh, speak to me!—let me hear at least a few words of conso- lation ere you doom me to death and to perdition!” and she burst into tears. A woman in tears is a moving and dangerous spectacle, which few can withstand; when to this were added the position of this designing creature and the beauty of her person—her eyes glistening with every demonstration of love, and her bosom heaving in a whirl- wind of passion, assumed though it was—we can well con- ceive the peculiar workings of the heart in one whose weak-

38 ness prompted him to concede at once to the lovely creature before him all she sued for; whilst a dread of the world, of his own household, of his wife in particular, bade him put an end to the meeting, and turn the frantic woman from his presence and the privacy of his room: Thus placed, need we wonder that a man of such weak parts as Dushwant was, should feel his scruples gradually fade away one after the other, until he was left wholly under the influence of a pretty and attractive woman, bathed in tears, and supplicating for his love in pathetic and forcible expressions? To cut the matter short, he was completely overwhelmed by her blandishments, and he fell into her embraces. Having spent the remainder of the night together, as the rays of the morn pierced through the flimsy curtains, Dushwant roused the partner of his guilt from the deep sleep in which she was plunged, and entreated her to be gone, lest the inmates of the house should suspect the occurrence of the preceding night, and thus render him not only the butt of all his friends, but, that which he most dreaded, the object of the just reproaches of an enraged wife. The actress slowly opened her eyes, and finding the merchant in just such a strait as she wished him to be in, asked for some token of their sojourn together; but she said that she did not wish for it then and there,—she only wanted him to pledge his word of honor that he would satisfy her on that head when she made the requisition; she said she was not sufficiently collected then to mention what it was to be, but would think over it, and name it on a future occasion. The merchant, anxious to rid himself of her presence, took the desired oath, and she went away chuckling inwardly at the success she had met with. She now repaired to her house in all haste, and having bathed and changed her apparel, returned not long after to Dushwant's house, to claim the fulfilment of the promise he had made to her that morning. She said, “Sir, may I request you will be pleased to ratify the promise you so generously made to me last night? I have called expressly

39 for the purpose." The daring effrontery of the woman utterly confounded and disgusted the merchant. He kept his temper nevertheless, as he knew he was now in the power of this unprincipled creature, so he asked her to name what she wanted' and to go her way, and never more to cross his threshold. With a smile of derision, and in tones of cutting sarcasm, she replied that her greatest ambition was to become the possessor of the parrot, owned by the merchant, who had but a short time ago exposed her to the ridicule of the whole court, and a very large audience besides. This request afflicted the merchant extremely, as the nature of his oath left him no way of escape from the obligation he had so unwisely entered into. Conscious of his error, he bitterly lamented the circum- stances which had led him into it. 'Alas!' thought he, 'how injudiciously have I not behaved!—not only shall I now be deprived of my best and wisest counsellor, but oh! horror!—must I also endanger his life?' for he well knew the object of the woman in desiring so anxiously to become possessed of the bird. 'Ah me! what incalculable injury have I brought on myself!—can no means be devised whereby to preserve my beloved bird?' He tried to remon- strate with the actress, but she was inexorable. In this wretched state of mind he approached the tiny parrot, ensconced in his pretty cage in a corner of the house, and revealed to him the sad dilemma in which he was placed, and which he said was all the more to be deplored as it originated in his own inexcusable imprudence. "I am certainly undone, as well as Dushruth and Rookmangud, who ensnared themselves by their promise," said he, "and have brought this dire misfortune on you." He spoke with such vehemence, and was so truly affected, that he fell down beside the parrot's cage in an agony of grief. When he came to himself, the parrot, pitying his distress, told him to deliver him up to the woman without hesitation, and rather let him (the parrot) run the risk of losing his life than that the merchant should violate his oath. "An

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oath," said the parrot, "is sacred, and must therefore be preserved inviolate. Do not break your promise on any account. You no doubt recollect the account given of the promises made by Shriyal and Chakravati—how faithfully they observed them, even to the very death. Listen to me," continued the parrot to Dushwant, "I will give you a brief account of king Myrodhwaj, who had commenced a certain sacrifice, when Kristna and Arjoon, assuming the guise of brahmins—the former that of a Gooru, and the latter as his disciple,—appeared before him. Myrodhwaj, seeing them, received them with great respect, and besought them with much entreaty to make known to him their wants. Kristna said, 'I, with my son and pupil, were passing through the wood, when a tiger pounced upon my son and seized him. Seeing him in this awful position; I besought the tiger with streaming eyes not to injure my son; I said that he was an only child, the prop of my old age. The fierce animal replied, that he had been without a morsel of food for eight days successively, and that he would release my son only on one condition,—that I should, in lieu of my son, supply him with the flesh of another living person. He awaits my return, with my son in his possession as a hostage for the due fulfilment of the promise I was com- pelled under the circumstances to give him. On my way I heard that you were about to perform a sacrifice, and this induced me to wait on you, and to seek your aid in releasing my son from the tiger, and restore me to my wonted ease.' The king hereupon ordered one of his attendants to get some flesh to appease the hunger of the ferocious denizen of the forest. The brahmin, hearing this mandate, cried out to the king, that the tiger would accept of nothing else than the flesh of a living being. There was a pause, and the minister, who was present, suggested to the monarch that one out of the many malefactors that were impri- soned might be offered as food for the tiger. The brahmin again raised his voice, and said that the tiger had some knowledge of the sacrifice the king was about to perform,

41 and expressed a desire to partake of the king's flesh, and said that his majesty would not hesitate to offer himself up to save a fellow-being, and he a brahmin's son. 'I regret very much,' said the wily brahmin, 'that it should be so, but consider, your majesty, this is an only son of mine, the sole object of my affection, and the support of my declining years. My life must inevitably end with his, if your majesty will not deign to stretch forth a helping hand in this my greatest hour of need.' The king paused awhile, as if in deep thought, and considering that if he declined compliance with the brahmin's request he would lose an opportunity of evincing his virtue of self-sacrifice, for which he was far and deservedly famed, consented to immolate himself for the brahmin's son. He ordered a saw to be brought, and with his own hand he courageously set about sawing himself asunder. When he had cleaved his head in two, and had reached to his gullet, Kristna assumed his usual form, and appeared before him in all the bright- ness and dazzling splendour of an ethereal being, and, with an approving smile, and with fondness depicted in every lineament of his face, embraced the king. The severed head became instantly healed, and, with many blessings upon the head of this valorous and high-minded monarch, Kristna disappeared. In like manner," continued the parrot, "should you preserve your promise intact, and deliver me up." The merchant could not possibly reconcile himself to the idea of parting with his favorite companion, but under the circumstances he had no alternative. So, after much time spent in bewailing his misfortune, and with tears and sighs, he made a desperate effort, and consigned the bird to his future mistress—murderess would become her better. No sooner did she receive the bird than she exultingly held the cage up to her face, and took a long and revengeful look at the author of her greatest humiliation, as she thought ; and she smiled with great satisfaction as she pondered on the revenge she had it now in her power to take upon this helpless creature. The parrot knew well that all this boded G