Page:The Katha Sarit Sagara.djvu/525

 Then there came from the Dekhan four heroes, who, having heard tidings of her, were eager to obtain her, and they were furnished with the qualities which she desired. They were announced by the warder and introduced, and then king Mahávaráha asked them in the presence of Anangarati; " What are your names? what is your descent, and what do you know?" When they heard this speech of the king's, one of them said— " I am Panchaphuttika by name, a Śúdra; I possess a peculiar talent; I weave every day five pairs of garments, one of them I give to a Bráhman, and the second I offer to Śiva, and the third I wear myself, and as for the fourth, if I had a wife, I would give it to her, and the fifth I sell, and live upon the proceeds." Then the second said, " I am a Vaiśya named Bháshájna; I know the language of all beasts and birds.*

Then the third said, " I am a Kshatriya named Khadgadhara, and no one surpasses me in fighting with the sword." And the fourth said, " I am an excellent Bráhman named Jívadatta: by means of the sciences which I possess by the favour of Gaurí, I can raise to life a dead woman." † When they had thus spoken, the Śúdra, the Vaiśya, and the Kshatriya one after another praised their own beauty, courage and might, but the Bráhman praised his might and valour, and said nothing about his beauty.

Then king Mahávaráha said to his door-keeper— " Take all these now and make them rest in your house." The door-keeper, when he heard the order, took them to his house. Then the king said to his daughter Anangarati, " My daughter, which of these four heroes do you prefer?" When