Page:Tales from the Indian Epics.djvu/83

Rh queen mother sadly, and she ordered a chariot for Queen Damayanti. And Damayanti, escorted by a strong band of horsemen, returned with Sudeva to Vidarbha. Then King Bhima greeted her joyfully, and he bestowed on Sudeva a thousand kine, a hundred fields, and a village as large as a city. And over and above this, the promised reward, the king gave him a great treasure of gold.

When Queen Damayanti had seen her parents and her children her heart still ached, for she missed her gallant husband King Nala. At last she said to her mother, "My mother, bring King Nala to me or I shall die!" Urged by his queen, King Bhima again sent out several hundred Brahmans in all directions. When the Brahmans were about to start, Damayanti sent for them and said, "Holy Sirs, repeat these words wherever you go and to whomever you meet, 'O King, O Gambler, O Beloved, your devoted wife, whom you forsook asleep in the forest, still loves you and still awaits you.' Should any one answer you, tell me of him, but do not let him know that it was I who sent you." The Brahmans promised to fulfil Damayanti's command and scattering in all directions they began to search for King Nala. At last a Brahman, Parnada by name, came back to King Bhima's city and sought out Damayanti. "O Queen," he said, "after many days of travel I came to the city of Ayodhya which is ruled by King Rituparna. And after gaining an audience with the king I said in his presence and his court the words which you told me. But neither the king nor any of those with him answered me or grasped the meaning of my words. But after my audience, the king's charioteer, Vahuka by name, came close to me and said to me in a broken voice, 'Fair Sir, a wife, even though forsaken by her husband, should for-