Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/595

 brihg them here; and do not give them back their garments, until they surrender to you this young nymph, named Kalávatí."*

When Thințhákarála had received this command from Bhairava, he went and carried off the garments of those heavenly beauties, while they were bathing; and they said to him, " Give us back our garments, please; do not leave us naked." But he answered them, confident in the power which Śiva gave, " If you will give me the young nymph Kalávatí, I will give you back these garments, but not otherwise." When they heard that, seeing that he was a stubborn fellow to deal with, and remembering that Indra had pronounced a curse of this kind upon Kalávatí, they agreed to his demand. And on his giving back the garments, they bestowed on him, in due form, Kalávatí the daughter of Alambushá.

Then the Apsarases departed, and Thințhákarála remained there with that Kalávatí in a house built by the wish of Śiva. And Kalávatí went in the day to heaven to attend upon the king of the gods, but at night she always returned † to her husband. And one day she said to him in the ardour of her affection, " My dear, the curse of Śiva, which enabled me to obtain you for a husband, has really proved a blessing." Thereupon her husband Thințhákarála asked her the cause of the curse, and the nymph Kalávatí thus answered him:

" One day, when I had seen the gods in a garden, I praised the enjoyments of mortals, depreciating the pleasures of the dwellers in heaven, as giving joys that consist only in seeing. ‡ When the king of the gods heard that, he cursed me, saying, ' Thou shalt go and be married by a mortal, and enjoy those human pleasures.' In this way has come about our union that is mutually agreeable. And to-morrow I shall return to heaven after a long absence; do not be unhappy about it; for Rambhá is going to dance a new piece before Vishnu, and I must remain there, my beloved, until the exhibition is at an end." Then Thințhákarála, whom love had made like a spoiled child, said to her, " I will go there and look at that dance unperceived, take me there." When Kalávatí heard that, she said, " How is it fitting for me to do this? The king of the gods might be angry, if he found it out." Though she said this to him, he continued to press her; then out of love she agreed to take him there.

So the next morning Kalávatí by her power concealed Thințhákarála in a lotus, which she placed as an ornament in her ear, and took him to the palace of Indra. When Thințhákarála saw that palace, the doors of which were adorned by the elephant of the gods, which was set off by the garden