Page:Folk-lore of the Telugus.djvu/109

101 on hearing this, once more disappeared.

Bethala was again brought, and again began to narrate a story. "In days long gone by there lived at Vijayanagara a king named Danduvakesa, who married Satyavrata, and was so wholly immersed in the luxuries of her charms that he was practically dead to the outer world. Tirthadarsi, his minister, was then guiding the helm of the State. It was rumoured abroad, however, that the minister had appropriated the State to himself, and he, not being able to endure the calumny, went away to a foreign place. The king then entrusted his government to another minister of his, and pursued his old habits. After wandering through various countries, Tirthadarsi reached a port, contracted friendship with a merchant there, and remained always with him. One day the merchant informed him that he was about to set sail to an island afar off, and asked him to look after his affairs till he returned. The minister, thereupon, said that he would accompany the merchant, as he could not endure the pangs of separation.