Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/622

 sky, and saw a handsome* man fall from heaven in front of him. Keśața was terrified at first, but after some time he saw that he had nothing uncanny about him, so he said to him. " Who are you, Sir? " Then the man said, " First tell me who you are; and then I will tell you who I am." Hearing that, Keśața told him his history. Then the man said, " My friend, you are exactly in the same predicament as myself, so I will now tell you my history, listen.

" There is on the hank of the river Vená a city named Ratnapura; I am a Bráhman householder in that city, the son of a rich man, and my name is Kandarpa. One evening I went down to the river Vená to draw water, and I slipped and fell into it, and was carried away by the current. The current carried me a long way during that night, and when the morning came, as I was not doomed to die yet, it brought me to the foot of a tree that grew on the bank. I climbed up the bank by the help of the tree, and when I had recovered breath, I saw in front of me a great empty temple dedicated to the Mothers. I entered it, and when I saw before me the Mothers flashing, as it were, with brightness and power, my fear was allayed, and I bowed before them, and praised them and addressed this prayer to them, ' Venerable ones, deliver me a miserable man; for I have to-day come here as a suppliant for your protection.' When I had uttered this prayer, being exhausted with my struggles in the current of the river, I rested, my friend, till my fatigue gradually disappeared, and the day disappeared also. And then there appeared the horrible female ascetic called night, furnished with many stars by way of a bone-necklace, white with moonlight instead of ashes, and carrying the moon for a gleaming scull. " And then, I remember, a band of witches came out from the company of the Mothers, and they said to one another, ' To night we must go to the general assembly of the witches in Chakrapura, † and how can this Bráhman be kept safe in this place which is full of wild beasts? So let us take him to some place where he will be happy: and afterwards we will bring him back again; he has fled to us for protection.' When they had said this, they adorned me, and carrying me through the air, placed me in the house of a rich Bráhman in a certain city, and went away.

' And when I looked about me there, lo ! the altar was prepared for a marriage, and the auspicious hour had arrived, but the procession of bridegroom's friends was nowhere to be seen. And all the people, seeing me in front of the door arrayed in bridegroom's garments of heavenly splendour, said, ' Here is the bridegroom at any rate arrived ' Then the