Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/602

 Story of the golden deer.:— Indra has a beloved son, named Jayanta. Once on a time, when he, still an infant, was being carried about in the air by the celestial nymphs, he saw some princes in a wood on earth playing with some young deer. Then Jayanta* went to heaven, and cried in the presence of his father because he had not got a deer to play with, as a child would naturally do. Accordingly Indra had a deer made for him by Viśvakarman of gold and jewels, and life was given to the animal by sprinkling it with nectar. Then Jayanta played with it, and was delighted with it, and the young deer was continually roaming about in heaven. In course of time that son of Havana, who was rightly named Indrajit, † carried off the young deer from heaven and took it to his own city Lanká. And after a further period had elapsed, Rávana and Indrajit having been slain by the heroes Ráma and Lakshmana, to avenge the carrying off of Sítá, and Vibhíshana having been set upon the throne of Lanká, as king of the Rákshasas, that wonderful deer of gold and jewels remained in his palace. And once on a time, when I was taken by my husband's relations to Vibhíshana's palace on the occasion of a festival, he gave me the deer as a complimentary present. And that young heaven-born deer is now in my house, and I must bestow it on your master.

And while the Yakshiní was telling me this string of tales, the sun, the friend of the kamaliní, went to rest. Then I and the ambassador of the king of Sinhala went to sleep, both of us, after the evening ceremonies, in a palace which the Yakshiní assigned to us. In the morning we woke up and saw, my sovereign, that the army of Vikramaśakti, your vassal, had arrived. We reflected that that must be a display of the Yakshiní's power, and quickly went wondering into the presence of Vikramaśakti. And he, as soon as he saw us, shewed us great honour, and asked after our welfare; and was on the point of asking us what message the king of Sinhala had sent, when the two heavenly maidens, whose history the Yakshiní had related to us, and the young deer arrived there, escorted by the army of the Yakshas. When king Vikramaśakti saw this, be suspected some glamour of malignant demons, and he said to me apprehensively " What is the meaning of this?" Then I told him in due course the commission of the king of Sinhala, and the circumstances connected with the Yakshiní, the two maidens, and the deer. Moreover I informed him of the hostile scheme of your majesty's enemies, which was to be carried out by all the kings in combination, and which I