Page:The Katha Sarit Sagara.djvu/487

 the queen to play on the lyre." Then Gunaśarman said, " I will do so, my sovereign, we will begin the practising on an auspicious day." Then he took leave of the king and went home. But he put off for many days beginning to teach the queen the lyre, seeing the changed expression of the queen, and afraid of some mischief.

One day he was standing near the king when he was eating, and when the cook was giving him some condiment, he prevented him, saying, " Stop ! stop !" The king asked what this meant, then the discreet man said, " This sauce is poisoned, and I detected it by certain indications. For when the cook was giving you the sauce, he looked at my face, trembling with fear, and with an eye that rolled apprehensively., And we can at once find out whether I am right; let this sauce be given to some one to eat, and I will counteract the effect of the poison." When he said this, the king made the cook eat the sauce, and immediately after he had eaten it, he became senseless. Then Gunaśarman counteracted the effect of the poison on the cook by a spell, and when the king asked the cook the truth of the whole matter, he said this " King, your enemy king Vikramaśakti, sovereign of Gauda, sent me here to give you poison. I introduced myself to your majesty as a foreigner skilful in the culinary art, and entered your kitchen. So to-day I have been discovered by that shrewd man in the act of giving you poison in sauce; your majesty knows what to do now." When the cook said this, the king punished him, and being much pleased, gave Gunaśarman a thousand villages for saving his life.

And the next day, as the queen kept vigorously pressing him, the king made Gunaśarman begin to teach her the lyre. Then, while he was teaching her the lyre, the queen Aśokavatí indulged in perpetual coquetry, laughter, and mirth. One day, wounded with the arrow of love, she scratched him with her nails frequently in secret, and said to the chaste Gunaśarman, who entreated her to desist, " It was yourself that I asked for, handsome man, under the pretext of learning to play the lute, for I am desperately in love with you, so consent to my wishes." When she said this, Gunaśarman answered her, " Do not talk so, for you are my master's wife, and such a one as I am should not commit such treason, desist from this reckless conduct." When Gunaśarman said this, the queen continued, " Why do you possess in vain this beauty and skill in accomplishments? How can you look with a passionless eye on me who love you so much?" When Gunaśarman heard this, he answered sarcastically, " You are right. What is the use of that beauty and skill, which is not tarnished with infamy by seducing the wife of another, and which does not in this world and the next cause one to fall into the ocean of hell?" When he said this, the queen said to him, pretending to be angry, " I am determined to die, if you do not do what I say, so being despised by you, I will slay