Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/182

 to her both hopes and the face of the country, and stretched out the fingers of his rays to wipe away her tears. Then the princess, being a little consoled, wont on slowly by by-paths, avoiding the sight of men; and wounded by the spikes of kuśa grass, she at last reached with difficulty a certain forest, full of birds which seemed to be singing, " Come here, come here !" She entered the wood fatigued, and was, as it were, courteously fanned by the trees with their creepers waving in the wind. So she, full of longing for her beloved, beheld that wood in all the pomp of spring, where the cuckoos cooed sweetly on fragrant mango-trees in full blossom. And in her despondency she said to herself; " Although this breeze from the Malaya mountain, red with the pollen of flowers, scorches me like a fire, and these showers of flowers falling from the trees, while the bees hum, strike me like showers of the arrows of Love, still I will remain here worshipping with these flowers the husband of Ramá,* and by so doing purge away my sin." Having formed this resolution, she remained bathing in tanks and living on fruit, devoted to the worship of Vishnu, in order to gain Kamalákara.

In the meanwhile it happened that Kamalákara was seized with a chronic quartan fever. Then the wicked Kanakamanjarí, who personated Hansávalí, was terrified, and thought thus in her heart, " I have always one fear in my heart, lest Aśokakarí should reveal my secret, and now a second has come on the top of it. For the father of Hansávalí said to my husband, in the presence of a large number of persons, that the touch of his daughter's hand removed fever; and as soon as in his present attack he shall call that to mind, I shall be exposed, as not having that power, and ruined. So 1 will perform on his behalf with all due rites an incantation for obtaining control over an imp of the fever-demon, who has the power of removing fever, and who was mentioned to me long ago by a certain witch. And 1 will by a stratagem kill this Aśokakarí, in front of the imp, in order that the offering to him may be made with human flesh, and so he may be enlisted in my service and bring about the desired result. So the king's fever will be cured and Aśokakarí removed at the same time, and both my fears will be ended; I do not see any chance of a prosperous issue in any other way."

Having formed this resolution, she told Aśokakarí all the harmless points of her plan, taking care to omit the necessity of slaying a human being. Then Aśokakarí consented, and brought the necessary utensils, and Kanakamanjarí by an artifice dismissed her attendants, and, accompanied by Aśokakarí only, went out from the women's apartments secretly at night by a postern-door, and sword in hand, † made for a deserted temple of