Page:The Katha Sarit Sagara.djvu/393

 can convince him? Then Śringabhuja, beholding those brothers departing, with his eyes full of tears produced by pity, thus addressed his father. " Father, pity their one fault, have mercy upon them." Having said this, In; fell at the feet of that king. And the king, thinking that that son was able to bear the burden of sovereignty, being even in his youth like an incarnation of Vishnu, full of glory and compassion, hiding his real sentiments and cherishing his anger against them, nevertheless did what Śringabhuja asked. And all those brothers considered their younger brother as the saviour of their lives. And all the subjects, beholding the exceeding virtue of Śringabhuja, became attached to him.

Then the next day, his father, king Vírabhuja, anointed as crownprince Śringabhuja, who was the oldest in virtue of them all, though he had elder brothers. And then Śringabhuja, having been anointed and having obtained the leave of his father, went with all his forces to conquer the world. And having brought back the wealth of numerous kings, whom he overcame by the might of his arm, he returned, having diffused the splendour of his glory through all the earth. Then bearing the weight of the realm with his submissive brothers, the successful prince Śringabhuja, giving pleasure to his parents, who remained in the enjoyment of comfort free from anxiety, and bestowing gifts on Bráhmans, dwelt at ease with Rúpaśikhá as if with incarnate success.

"Thus virtuous women serve their husbands in every way, devoted to them alone, like Gunavará and Rúpaśikhá, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law." When Naraváhanadatta, in the society of Ratnaprabhá, heard this story from the lips of Hariśikha, he was much delighted and exclaimed, " Bravo !" Then he rose up, and quickly performed the religious ceremony for the day, and went with his wife into the presence of his father, the king of Vatsa, and after eating, and whiling away the afternoon with singing and playing, he spent the night with his beloved in his own private apartments.

In a Norwegian tale, called " The Widow's Son," page 295 of Thorpe's Yule-Tide Stories, will be found an incident closely resembling the pursuit of Śringabhuja by Dhúmaśikha. The widow's son has, contrary to the orders of a Troll, in whose house he found himself, entered several chambers, in one of which he found a thornwhip, in another a huge stone, and a water-bottle. In the third he found a boiling copper kettle, with which he scalded his finger, but the Troll cured it with a pot of ointment. In the fourth room he found a black horse in a stall, with a trough of burning embers at its head, and a basket of hay at its tail. The youth thought this cruel, so he changed their position. The horse, to reward him, informed him that the