Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/422

 you my own son Sushena; he will bestow on you with due ceremonies his sister Śaśánkavati; so you ought not, blameless one, to marry her in an irregular manner, if you value my friendship."

And when the prince had heard this message delivered in the royal hall of audience, his father the king himself gave this answer to the ambassador; " Who but king Karmasena would send such a gracious message? That excellent monarch is truly well-disposed to us; so let him send here his son Sushena; we will so order matters as that his daughter's marriage shall give him satisfaction." "When the king had given this answer and dismissed the messenger with due honours, he said to his son, and Śrutadhi, and the kings, " We had better go now to Ayodhyá; that is the place where the marriage can be performed with most eclat; and there we can entertain Sushena with becoming magnificence. And let king Máyávațu wait here for Sushena; when that prince arrives he can come on after us to Ayodhyá with him. But we will go on in front to make the necessary preparations for the marriage." And all present approved this speech of the king's.

Then, the next day, the king with the queen and his soldiers, and Mŗigánkadatta with the kings and his ministers, started off with Śaśánkavatí, exulting in their success, leaving Máyávațu to wait there for Sushena. Their army moved on a like a deep and terrible sea, agitated with hundreds of waves in the form of troops of bounding horses, filling all the horizon with a flood of countless marching footmen, rendering all other sounds inaudible with the confused din that arose from it. And gradually advancing, father and son reached the palace of Śaktirakshita the king of the Kirátas, that lay in their course.

There they and their attendants were courteously and generously welcomed with heaps of valuable jewels, gold, and splendid garments. And they stayed there one day with their army, taking food and resting, and then they set out and reached in course of time their city of Ayodhyá. It seemed like a hike in windy weather, as they entered it: for the ladies of the city that had climbed up to the windows of the palaces, us they moved to and fro, seemed like swaying full-blown lotuses, sending forth shoots of beauty; and their rolling eyes eager to behold the prince, who after a long absence had returned, bringing a bride with him, were like dancing blue lilies; it was crowded with assembling kingly swans; and tossing with wavy banners. And father and son looked grand, as they sat on thrones, being blessed by the Bráhmans, praised by heralds, and hymned by bards. And when the people there saw the great beauty of Śaśánkavatí, they exclaimed in their astonishment, "If they were to behold this daughter of Karmasena, the Ocean would cease to boast of the beauty of his