The Katha Sarit Sagara or Ocean of the Streams of Story Part 53

And when he had entered, he beheld another splendid city, which seemed like a garden where all the enjoyments of the world had agreed to meet. In it Sattvasila saw that maiden sitting on a couch studded with gems, and he went up to her, and sat down by her side. And he remained with his eyes fixed on her face, like a man in a painting, expressing his pa.s.sion by his trembling limbs, the hairs on which stood erect. And when she saw that he was enamoured of her, she looked at the faces of her attendants, and then they, understanding the expression of her face, said to him, "You have arrived here as a guest, so enjoy the hospitality provided by our mistress, rise up, bathe, and then take food." When he heard that, he entertained some hope, and he rose up, though not without a struggle, and he went to a tank in the garden which they shewed him. And the moment that he plunged into it, he rose up, to his astonishment, in the middle of a tank in the garden of king Chandasinha in Tamralipti. [311] And seeing himself suddenly arrived there, he said to himself, "Alas! what is the meaning of this? Now I am in this garden, and a moment ago I was in that splendid city; I have exchanged in an instant the nectarous vision of that fair one for the grievous poison of separation from her. But it was not a dream, for I saw it all clearly in a waking state. It is clear that I was beguiled like a fool by those maidens of Patala."

Thus reflecting, he wandered about in that garden like a madman, being deprived of that maiden, and wept in the anguish of disappointed pa.s.sion. And the gardeners, when they beheld him in that state, with body covered with the yellow pollen of flowers wafted by the wind, as if with the fires of separation, went and told king Chandasinha, and he, being bewildered, came himself and saw him; and after calming him, he said to him, "Tell me, my friend; what is the meaning of all this? You set out for one place and reached another, your arrows have not struck the mark at which they were aimed." When Sattvasila heard that, he told the king all his adventures, and he, when he heard them, said to himself, "Strange to say, though this man is a hero, he has, happily for me, [312] been beguiled by love, and I now have it in my power to discharge my debt of grat.i.tude to him." So the brave king said to him, "Abandon now your needless grief, for I will conduct you by the same course into the presence of that beloved Asura maiden." With these words the king comforted him, and refreshed him with a bath and other restoratives.

The next day the king entrusted the kingdom to his ministers, and embarking on a s.h.i.+p, set out on the sea with Sattvasila, who shewed him the way. And when they had got to that half-way spot, Sattvasila saw the wonderful flagstaff rising out of the sea with the banner on it, as before, and he said to the king, "Here is that great flagstaff with such wonderful properties, towering aloft out of the sea: I must plunge in here, and then the king must plunge in also and dive down after the flagstaff." After Sattvasila had said this, they got near the flagstaff, and it began to sink. And Sattvasila first threw himself in after it, and then the king also dived in the same direction, and soon after they had plunged in, they reached that splendid city. And there the king beheld with astonishment and wors.h.i.+pped that G.o.ddess Parvati, and sat down with Sattvasila.

And in the meanwhile there issued from that glittering enclosure a maiden, accompanied by her attendant ladies, looking like the quality of brightness in concrete form. Sattvasila said, "This is that fair one," and the king, beholding her, considered that his attachment to her was amply justified. She, for her part, when she beheld that king with all the auspicious bodily marks, said to herself, "Who can this exceedingly distinguished man be?" And so she went into the temple of Durga to pray, and the king contemptuously went off to the garden, taking Sattvasila with him. And in a short time the Daitya maiden came out from the inner shrine of the G.o.ddess, having finished her devotions, and having prayed that she might obtain a good husband; and after she had come out, she said to one of her attendants, "My friend, go and see where that distinguished man is whom I saw; and entreat him to do us the favour of coming and accepting our hospitality, for he is some great hero deserving special honour." When the attendant had received this order, she went and looked for him, and bending low, delivered to him in the garden the message of her mistress. Then the heroic king answered in a carelessly negligent tone, "This garden is sufficient entertainment for me: what other entertainment do I require?" When that attendant came and reported this answer to the Daitya maiden, she considered that the king was a man of a n.o.ble spirit and deserving of the highest regard.

And then the Asura maiden, (being, as it were, drawn towards himself with the cord of his self-command by the king, who shewed a lofty indifference for hospitality far above mortal desert,) went in person to the garden, thinking that he had been sent her by way of a husband, as a fruit of her adoration of Durga. And the trees seemed to honour her, as she approached, with the songs of various birds, with their creepers bending in the wind like arms, and showers of blossoms. And she approached the king and bowing courteously before him, entreated him to accept of her hospitality. Then the king pointed to Sattvasila, and said to her, "I came here to wors.h.i.+p the image of the G.o.ddess of which this man told me. I have reached her marvellous temple, guided to it by the banner, and have seen the G.o.ddess, and after that, you; what other hospitality do I require?" When the maiden heard that, she said, "Then come, out of curiosity, to see my second city, which is the wonder of the three worlds." When she said this, the king laughed and said, "Oh! he told me of this also, the place where there is the tank to bathe in." Then the maiden said, "King, do not speak thus, I am not of a deceitful disposition, and who would think of cheating one so worthy of respect? I have been made the slave of you both by your surpa.s.sing excellence; so you ought not thus to reject my offer."

When the king heard this, he consented, and taking Sattvasila with him, he accompanied the maiden to that glittering enclosure. And the door of it was opened, and she conducted him in, and then he beheld that other splendid city of hers. The trees in it were ever producing flowers and fruits, for all seasons were present there at the same time; [313] and the city was all composed of gold and jewels like the peak of mount Meru. And the Daitya maiden made the king sit down on a priceless jewelled throne, and offered him the arghya in due form, and said to him, "I am the daughter of Kalanemi the high-souled king of the Asuras, but my father was sent to heaven by Vishnu, the discus-armed G.o.d. And these two cities, which I inherit from my father, are the work of Visvakarman; they furnish all that heart can wish, and old age and death never invade them. But now I look upon you as a father, and I, with my cities, am at your disposal." When she had in these words placed herself and all that she possessed at the king's disposal, he said to her, "If this be so, then I give you, excellent daughter, to another, to the hero Sattvasila, who is my friend and relation." When the king, who seemed to be the favour of the G.o.ddess Durga in bodily form, said this, the maiden, who understood excellence when she saw it, acquiesced submissively. When Sattvasila had attained the wish of his heart by marrying that Asura maiden, and had had the sovereignty of those cities bestowed on him, the king said to him, "Now I have repaid you for one of those amalakas which I ate, but I am still indebted to you for the second, for which I have never recompensed you." When the king had said this to Sattvasila, who bowed before him, he said to that Daitya maiden, "Now shew me the way to my own city." Then the Daitya maiden gave him a sword named "Invincible," and a fruit to eat, which was a remedy against old age and death, and with these he plunged into the tank which she pointed out, and the next thing that happened to him was, that he rose up in his own land with all his wishes gratified. And Sattvasila ruled as king over the cities of the Daitya princess.

"Now tell me: which of those two shewed most courage in plunging into the water?" When the Vetala put this question to the king, the latter, fearing to be cursed, thus answered him; "I consider Sattvasila the braver man of the two, for he plunged into the sea without knowing the real state of the case, and without any hope, but the king knew what the circ.u.mstances were when he plunged in, and had something to look forward to, and he did not fall in love with the Asura princess, because he thought no longing would win her." When the Vetala received this answer from the king, who thereby broke silence, he left his shoulder, as before, and fled to his place on the asoka-tree. And the king, as before, followed him quickly to bring him back again; for the wise never flag in an enterprise which they have begun, until it is finished.

CHAPTER Lx.x.xII.

(Vetala 8.)

Then king Trivikramasena returned to the asoka-tree, and again caught the Vetala, and put him on his shoulder, and set out with him. And as he was going along, the Vetala again said to him from his shoulder, "King, in order that you may forget your toil, listen to this question of mine."

Story of the three fastidious men.

There is a great tract of land a.s.signed to Brahmans in the country of Anga, called Vriks.h.a.ghata. In it there lived a rich sacrificing Brahman named Vishnusvamin. And he had a wife equal to himself in birth. And by her he had three sons born to him, who were distinguished for preternatural acuteness. In course of time they grew up to be young men. One day, when he had begun a sacrifice, he sent those three brothers to the sea to fetch a turtle. So off they went, and when they had found a turtle, the eldest said to his two brothers,--"Let one of you take the turtle for our father's sacrifice, I cannot take it, as it is all slippery with slime." When the eldest brother said this, the two younger ones answered him, "If you hesitate about taking it, why should not we?" When the eldest heard that, he said, "You two must take the turtle; if you do not, you will have obstructed our father's sacrifice; and then you and he will certainly sink down to h.e.l.l." When he told the younger brothers this, they laughed, and said to him, "If you see our duty so clearly, why do you not see that your own is the same?" Then the eldest said, "What, do you not know how fastidious I am? I am very fastidious about eating, and I cannot be expected to touch what is repulsive." The middle brother, when he heard this speech of his, said to his brother,--"Then I am a more fastidious person than you, for I am a most fastidious connoisseur of the fair s.e.x." When the middle one said this, the eldest went on to say, "Then let the younger of you two take the turtle!" Then the youngest brother frowned, and in his turn said to the two elder, "You fools, I am very fastidious about beds, so I am the most fastidious of the lot."

So the three brothers fell to quarrelling with one another, and being completely under the dominion of conceit, they left that turtle and went off immediately to the court of the king of that country, whose name was Prasenajit, and who lived in a city named Vitankapura, in order to have the dispute decided. There they had themselves announced by the warder, and went in, and gave the king a circ.u.mstantial account of their case. The king said, "Wait here, and I will put you all in turn to the proof:" so they agreed and remained there. And at the time that the king took his meal, he had them conducted to a seat of honour, and given delicious food fit for a king, possessing all the six flavours. And while all were feasting around him, the Brahman, who was fastidious about eating, alone of all the company did not eat, but sat there with his face puckered up with disgust. The king himself asked the Brahman why he did not eat his food, though it was sweet and fragrant, and he slowly answered him, "I perceive in this cooked rice an evil smell of the reek from corpses, so I cannot bring myself to eat it, however delicious it may be." When he said this before the a.s.sembled mult.i.tude, they all smelled it by the king's orders, and said, "This food is prepared from white rice and is good and fragrant." But the Brahman, who was so fastidious about eating, would not touch it, but stopped his nose. Then the king reflected, and proceeded to enquire into the matter, and found out from his officers [314], that the food had been made from rice which had been grown in a field near the burning-ghat of a certain village. Then the king was much astonished, and being pleased, he said to him, "In truth you are very particular as to what you eat; so eat of some other dish."

And after they had finished their dinner, the king dismissed the Brahmans to their apartments, and sent for the loveliest lady of his court. And in the evening he sent that fair one, all whose limbs were of faultless beauty, splendidly adorned, to the second Brahman, who was so squeamish about the fair s.e.x. And that matchless kindler of Cupid's flame, with a face like the full moon of midnight, went, escorted by the king's servants, to the chamber of the Brahman. But when she entered, lighting up the chamber with her brightness, that gentleman, who was so fastidious about the fair s.e.x, felt quite faint, and stopping his nose with his left hand, said to the king's servants, "Take her away; if you do not, I am a dead man, a smell comes from her like that of a goat." When the king's servants heard this, they took the bewildered fair one to their sovereign, and told him what had taken place. And the king immediately had the squeamish gentleman sent for, and said to him, "How can this lovely woman, who has perfumed herself with sandal-wood, camphor, black aloes, and other splendid scents, so that she diffuses exquisite fragrance through the whole world, smell like a goat?" But though the king used this argument with the squeamish gentleman, he stuck to his point; and then the king began to have his doubts on the subject, and at last by artfully framed questions he elicited from the lady herself, that, having been separated in her childhood from her mother and nurse, she had been brought up on goat's milk.

Then the king was much astonished, and praised highly the discernment of the man who was fastidious about the fair s.e.x, and immediately had given to the third Brahman who was fastidious about beds, in accordance with his taste, a bed composed of seven mattresses placed upon a bedstead. White smooth sheets and coverlets were laid upon the bed, and the fastidious man slept on it in a splendid room. But, before half a watch of the night had pa.s.sed, he rose up from that bed, with his hand pressed to his side, screaming in an agony of pain. And the king's officers, who were there, saw a red crooked mark on his side, as if a hair had been pressed deep into it. And they went and told the king, and the king said to them, "Look and see if there is not something under the mattresses." So they went and examined the bottom of the mattresses one by one, and they found a hair in the middle of the bedstead underneath them all. And they took it and shewed it to the king, and they also brought the man who was fastidious about beds, and when the king saw the state of his body, he was astonished. And he spent the whole night in wondering how a hair could have made so deep an impression on his skin through seven mattresses.

And the next morning the king gave three hundred thousand gold pieces to those three fastidious men, because they were persons of wonderful discernment and refinement. And they remained in great comfort in the king's court, forgetting all about the turtle, and little did they reck of the fact that they had incurred sin by obstructing their father's sacrifice.

When the Vetala, seated on the shoulder of the king, had told him this wonderful tale, he again asked him a question in the following words, "King, remember the curse I previously denounced, and tell me which was the most fastidious of these three, who were respectively fastidious about eating, the fair s.e.x, and beds?" When the wise king heard this, he gave the Vetala the following answer, "I consider the man who was fastidious about beds, in whose case imposition was out of the question, the most fastidious of the three, for the mark produced by the hair was seen conspicuously manifest on his body, whereas the other two may have previously acquired their information from some one else." When the king said this, the Vetala left his shoulder, as before, and the king again went in quest of him, as before, without being at all depressed.

NOTE.

The above story resembles No. 2, in the Cento Novelle Antiche, and one in the Addition to the Arabian tales published by Mr. Scott. (Dunlop's History of Fiction, Vol. I, p. 415; Liebrecht's translation, p. 212 and note 282.) See also Liebrecht, Zur Volkskunde, p. 203. In the Cento Novelle Antiche a prisoner informs the king of Greece, that a horse has been suckled by a she-a.s.s, that a jewel contains a worm, and that the king himself is the son of a baker.

The incident of the mattress reminds one of the test applied by the queen to her son's wife in "The Palace that stood on Golden Pillars,"

(Thorpe's Yuletide Stories, p. 64). In order to find out whether her daughter-in-law is of high birth, she puts first a bean, then peas, under her pillow. The prince's wife, who is really the daughter of a peasant, is apprised of the stratagem by her cat, which resembles Whittington's. Rohde in his Griechische Novellistik, p. 62, compares a story told by Aelian about the Sybarite Smindyrides, who slept on a bed of rose-leaves and got up in the morning covered with blisters. He also quotes from the Chronicle of Tabari a story of a princess who was made to bleed by a rose-leaf lying in her bed. Oesterley refers us to Babington's Vetala Cadai, p. 33, and the Chevalier de Mailly's version of the three Princes of Serendip. The three are sitting at table, and eating a leg of lamb, sent with some splendid wine from the table of the Emperor Behram. The eldest maintains that the wine was made of grapes that grew in a cemetery, the second that the lamb was brought up on dog's milk, the third says that the emperor had put to death the vazir's son, and the latter was bent on vengeance. All three statements turn out to be well-grounded. There are parallel stories in the 1001 Nights (Breslau). In Night 458 it is similarly conjectured that the bread was baked by a sick woman, that the kid was suckled by a b.i.t.c.h, and that the Sultan is illegitimate. In Night 459 a gem-cutter guesses that a jewel has an internal flaw, a man skilled in the pedigrees of horses divines that a horse is the offspring of a female buffalo, and a man skilled in human pedigrees that the mother of the favourite queen was a rope-dancer. Cp. also the decisions of Hamlet in Saxo Grammaticus, 1839, p. 138, in Simrock's Quellen des Shakespeare, 1, 81-85; 5, 170; he lays down that some bread tastes of blood, (the corn was grown on a battle-field), that some liquor tastes of iron, (the malt was mixed with water taken from a well, in which some rusty swords had lain), that some bacon tastes of corpses, (the pig had eaten a corpse), lastly that the king is a servant and his wife a serving-maid. Oesterley refers also to the beginning of Donatus' life of Virgil, and to Heraclius Von Otte, also to the parallels quoted above from Liebrecht. The brother, who was so fastidious about beds, may be compared with a princess in Andersen's Tale of "The Princess on a pea," Gesammelte Marchen, Part III, 8, 62, (Leipzig, 1847). This is identical with a tale found in Cavallius' Schwedische Volkssagen und Marchen, German version, Vienna, 1848, p. 222, which resembles No. 182 in the older editions of Grimm's Kindermarchen. (Andersen's story is clearly the same as Thorpe's referred to above.) Nearly akin is Diocletian's test in the Seven Wise Masters. His masters put an ash-leaf under the bed; and he remarks, "Either the floor has risen, or the roof sunk." (Oesterley, p. 215.) In the version in Simrock's Deutsche Volksbucher, Vol. XII, p. 122, it is an ivy-leaf. See also Ellis's Metrical Romances, p. 412.

CHAPTER Lx.x.xIII.

(Vetala 9.)

So king Trivikramasena again went to the asoka-tree, and taking the Vetala down from it, placed him on his shoulder, and set out. Then the Vetala said to him; "King, this wandering about in a cemetery at night is inconsistent with your kingly rank. Do you not see that this place of the dead [315] is full of ghosts, and terrible at night, and full of darkness as of the smoke of funeral pyres. Alas! what tenacity you display in this undertaking you have engaged in, to please that mendicant! So listen to this question from me which will render your journey more agreeable."

Story of Anangarati and her four suitors.

There is in Avanti a city built by G.o.ds at the beginning of the world, which is limitless as the body of Siva, and renowned for enjoyment and prosperity, even as his body is adorned with the snake's hood and ashes. [316] It was called Padmavati in the Krita Yuga, Bhogavati in the Treta Yuga, Hiranyavati in the Dvapara Yuga, and Ujjayini in the Kali Yuga. And in it there lived an excellent king, named Viradeva, and he had a queen named Padmarati. The king went with her to the bank of the Mandakini, and propitiated Siva with austerities, in order to obtain a son. And after he had remained a long time engaged in austerities, he performed the ceremonies of bathing and praying, and then he heard this voice from heaven, uttered by Siva, who was pleased with him, "King, there shall be born to thee a brave son to be the head of thy family, and a daughter, who with her matchless beauty shall put to shame the nymphs of heaven." When king Viradeva had heard this voice from heaven, he returned to his city with his consort, having gained all he desired.

There he first had a son born to him named Suradeva, and after a time queen Padmarati gave birth to a daughter. And her father gave her the name of Anangarati, on the ground that she was beautiful enough to inspire love in the breast of Cupid. And, when she grew up, in his desire to procure for her a suitable husband, he had brought the portraits of all the kings of the earth, painted on canvas. And as no one of them seemed a match for her, he said to his daughter, in his tenderness for her; "I cannot find a suitable match for you, my daughter, so summon all the kings of the earth, and select your own husband." When the princess heard that, she said to her father, "My father, I am too modest to select my own husband, but I must be given in marriage to a good-looking young man, who is a perfect master of one art; I do not want any other better man."

When the king heard this speech of his daughter Anangarati, he proceeded to search for a young man, such as she had described, and while he was thus engaged, there came to him from the Dekkan four magnificent men, brave and skilful, who had heard from the people what was going on. Those four suitors for the hand of the princess were received with respect by the king, and one after another they told to him in her presence their respective acquirements.

The first said; "I am a Sudra, Panchaphuttika by name; I make every day five splendid pairs of garments: The first of them I give to my G.o.d, and the second to a Brahman, the third I retain for my own wearing, [317] the fourth I should give to my wife, if this maid here were to become my wife, the fifth I sell, and procure myself meat and drink: as I possess this art, let Anangarati be given to me."

When he had said this, the second man said, "I am a Vaisya, Bhashajna by name, I know the speech of all beasts and birds; [318] so let the princess be given to me."

When the second had said this, the third said, "I am a Kshatriya king, by name Khadgadhara, renowned for might of arm: my equal in the art of swordsmans.h.i.+p does not exist upon the earth, so bestow this maiden on me, O king."

When the third had said this, the fourth said, "I am a Brahman, named Jivadatta, and I possess the following art; I can restore to life dead creatures, and exhibit them alive; [319] so let this maiden obtain for a husband me, who am renowned for daring exploits."

When they had thus spoken, the king Viradeva, with his daughter by his side, seeing that they were like G.o.ds in shape and dress, remained lost in doubt.

When the Vetala had told this story, he said to king Trivikramasena, menacing him with the before-mentioned curse, "So tell me, king, to which of these four ought the maiden Anangarati to be given?"

When the king heard this, he gave the Vetala the following answer; "You are thus repeatedly making me break silence simply in order to waste time; otherwise, master of magic, how could you possibly ask such an absurd question? How can a woman of Kshatriya caste be given to a Sudra weaver? Moreover, how can a Kshatriya woman be given to a Vaisya? And as to the power of understanding the language of beasts and birds, which he possesses, what is the practical use of it? And as for the third, the Brahman, who fancies himself such a hero, of what worth is he, as he is a sorcerer, and degraded by abandoning the duties of his caste? Accordingly the maiden should be given to the fourth suitor, the Kshatriya Khadgadhara, who is of the same caste and distinguished for his skill and valour."

When the Vetala heard this, he left the king's shoulder, as before, and quickly returned by the power of his magic to his own place, and the king again pursued him, as before, to recover him, for despondency never penetrates into a hero's heart, that is cased in armour of fort.i.tude.

NOTE.

This story is found on page 498 and ff of Vol. I. It bears a close resemblance to Tale 5, and many of the parallels there quoted are applicable to it. In the 47th tale of the Pentamerone of Basile, the sons boast of their accomplishments in a very similar manner.