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84 He made up his mind to go and see for himself the truth of these stories, so one day he went and hid himself in a place where he could see everything, without being seen himself. What he found out led him to think that there must be some foundation for the stories which had been told him. The ploughman, however, had discovered somehow or other that his master had been looking on, so he said with a sigh: " What a life mine is ! Here I have to plough, to get out the weeds, to work from morning to night. I might as well be in the infernal regions. However, my master is a good man, and I must do the best I can for him; so here I am off to work." Sûrapala heard what the ploughman said, and so far from believing the scandalous stories that had been told him, thought the man absolute perfection.

There was a merchant of the name of Bhûdhara who lived in a town called Kundina. Unfortunately he lost all his money, and though it was not through any fault of his own, he was cut by all his family and relations. As it has been said —