Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/618

 The Vetála returned immediately, and then, queen, the king went with him and myself by an out-of-the-way path. And as we were going along in the forest, the sun set; and just at that time we heard there the sound of a drum. The king asked, " Whence comes this sound of a drum?" The Vetála answered him, " King, there is a temple here. It is a marvel of heavenly skill, having been built by Viśvakarman; and this beating of the drum is to announce the commencement of the evening spectacle."

When the Vetála had said this, he and the king and I went there out of curiosity, and after we had tied up the horse, we entered. And we saw worshipped there a great linga of tárkshyaratna* and in front of it a spectacle with blazing lights. And there danced there for a long time three nymphs of celestial beauty, in four kinds of measures, accompanied with music and singing. And at the end of the spectacle we beheld a wonder, for the dancing nymphs disappeared in the figures carved on the pillars of the temple: and in the same way the singers and players went into the figures of men painted on the walls. When the king saw this, he was astonished, but the Vetála said to him, " Such is this heavenly enchantment produced by Viśvakarman, lasting for ever, for this will always take place at both twilights."

When he had said this, we wandered about in the temple, and saw in one place a female figure on a pillar, of extraordinary beauty. When the king saw her, he was bewildered by her beauty, and remained for a moment absent-minded and motionless, so that he himself was like a figure cut on a pillar. And he exclaimed, " If I do not see a living woman like this figure, of what profit to me is my kingdom or my life? " When the Vetála heard this, he said, " Your wish is not hard to gratify, for the king of Kalinga has a daughter named Kalingasená, and a sculptor of Vardhamána seeing her, and being desirous of representing her beauty, carved this figure in imitation ofher.† So return to Ujjayiní, king, and ask that king of Kalinga for his daughter, or carry her off by force." This speech of the Vetála's the king laid up in his heart. Then we spent that night there, and the next morning we set out, and we saw two handsome men under an aśoka-tree, and then they rose up and bowed before the king. Then the king said to them, " Who are you, and why are you in the forest? " One of them answered, " Listen, king, I will tell you the whole story."

Story of Dhanadatta.:— I am the son of a merchant in Ujjayiní, and my name is Dhanadatta. Once on a time I went to sleep with my wife on the top of my palace. In the morning I woke up and looked about me, and lo ! my wife was not