Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/136

 also believed that their wives had been visited by Vishnu, and held their tongues.

" In this way wicked and cunning females, of bad character, by concurring in one impossible story, deceive silly people, but I am not such a fool as to be taken in." The Yaksha by saying this covered his wife with confusion. And the mendicant at the foot of the tree heard it all. Then the mendicant folded his hands, and said to that Yaksha, " Reverend sir, I have arrived at your hermitage, and now I throw myself on your protection. So pardon my sin in overhearing what you have been saying." By thus speaking the truth he gained the good will of the Yaksha. And the Yaksha said to him, " I am a Yaksha, Sarvasthánagaváta by name, and I am pleased with you. So choose a boon," Then the mendicant said to the Yaksha; " Let this be my boon that you will not be angry with this wife of yours." Then the Yaksha said, " I am exceedingly pleased with you. This boon is already granted, so choose another." Then the mendicant said, ' Then this is my second petition, that from this day forward you and your wife will look upon me as a son." When the Yaksha heard this, he immediately became visible to him with his wife, and said, " I consent, my son, we regard you as our own child. And owing to our favour you shall never suffer calamity. And you shall be invincible in disputation, altercation, and gambling." When the Yaksha had said this, he disappeared, and the mendicant worshipped him, and after spending the night there, he went on to Páțaliputra. Then he announced to king Sinháksha, by the mouth of the doorkeeper, that he was a disputant come from Kaśmíra. And the king permitted him to enter the hall of assembly, and there he tauntingly challenged the learned men to dispute with him. And after he had conquered them all by virtue of the boon of the Yaksha, he again taunted them in the presence of the king in these words: " I ask you to explain this. What is the meaning of this statement, ' A man with a discus and mace comes out of the painted wall, and bites my lower lip, and scratches my chest, and then disappears in the wall again.' Give me an answer." When the learned men heard his riddle, as they did not know the real reference, they gave no answer, but looked at one another's faces. Then the king Sinháksha himself said to him, " Explain to us yourself the meaning of what you said." Thereupon the mendicant told the king of the deceitful behaviour of his wife, which he had heard about from the Yaksha. And he said to the king, " So a man should never become attached to women, which will only result in his knowing wickedness." The king was delighted with the mendicant, and wished to give him his kingdom. But the mendicant, who was ardently attached to his own native land, would not take it. Then the king honoured him with a rich present of jewels. The mendicant took the jewels and returned to his native land of Kaśmíra, and there by the favour of the Yaksha he lived in great comfort.