Page:The Katha Sarit Sagara.djvu/305



Then the artful minister Yaugandharáyana came the next morning to the king of Vatsa, who was expecting him, and made the following representation— " O king, why do you not immediately enquire about an auspicious moment for celebrating the happy marriage of your highness with Kalingasená, the daughter of Kalingadatta, the king of Takshaśilá ?"* When the king heard that, he said— " The same desire is fixed in my heart, for my mind cannot endure to remain a moment without her " Having said this, the simple-hearted monarch gave orders to a warder, who stood before him, and summoned the astrologers. When he questioned them, they, having had their cue previously given them by the prime minister, said, " For the king there will be a favourable moment in six months from this time."

When Yaugandharáyana heard this, he pretended to be angry, and the cunning fellow said to the king, " Out on these blockheads ! That astrologer, whom your highness previously honoured on the ground of his cleverness, has not come to-day, ask him, and then do what is proper " When he heard this speech of his minister's, the king of Vatsa immediately summoned that very astrologer with mind in an agony of suspense. He also stuck to his agreement, and in order to put off the day of the marriage he named when asked, after some reflection, a moment six months off. Then