Page:The Katha Sarit Sagara.djvu/192

 of the Creator! Alas! he grudges a son to me who am rich, and shews affection to one who is poor ! I have not yet one son, but this woman has these twins." Thus reflecting, the queen, who was herself desiring a bath, gave orders to her servants to provide the Bráhman Woman with a bath and other restoratives. After she had been provided with a bath, and had had clothes given her, and had been supplied by them with agreeable food, that Bráhman woman was refreshed like the heated earth bedewed with rain. And as soon as she had been refreshed, the queen Vásavadattá, in order to test her by conversation, artfully said to her, " O Bráhman lady, tell us some tale," when she heard that, she agreed and began to tell this story.

Story of Devadatta.:— In old time there was a certain petty monarch or the name of Jayadatta and there was born to him a son, named Devadatta. And that wise king wishing to marry his son who was grown up, thus reflected— " The prosperity of kings is very unstable, being like a hetœra to be enjoyed by force, but the prosperity of merchants is like a woman of good family, it is steady and does not fly to another man. Therefore I will take a wife to my son from a merchant's family, in order that misfortune may not overtake his throne, though it is surrounded with many relations." Having formed this resolve, that king sought for his son the daughter of a merchant in Pátaliputra named Vasudatta. Vasudatta, for his part, eager for such a distinguished alliance, gave that daughter of his to the prince, though, he dwelt in a remote foreign land. And he loaded his son-in-law with wealth to such an extent that he no longer felt much respect for his father's magnificence. Then king Jayadatta dwelt happily with that son of his who had obtained the daughter of that rich merchant. Now one day the merchant Vasudatta came, full of desire to see his daughter, to the palace of his connexion by marriage, and took away his daughter to his own home. Shortly after the king Jayadatta suddenly wont to heaven, and that kingdom was seized by his relations who rose in rebellion; through fear of them his son Devadatta was secretly taken away by his mother during the night to another country. Then that mother distressed in soul said to the prince— " Our feudal lord is the emperor who rules the eastern region, repair to him, my son, he will procure you the kingdom." When his mother said this to him, the prince answered her; " Who will respect me if I go there without attendants?" When she heard that, his mother went on to say, " Go to the house of your father-in-law, and get money there and so procure followers, and then repair to the emperor." Being urged in these words by his mother, the prince, though full of shame, slowly plodded on and reached his father-in-law's house in the evening, but he could not bear to enter at such an unseasonable hour, for he was afraid of shedding tears, being bereaved of his father,