The sprite said, “O king! there-is a city named Madanpur, where was a
king named Birbar. Now, in that same country there was a merchant
named Hiranyadatt, whose daughter’s name was Madansenã. One day, in
the spring-time, she went, with her female friends, into her garden, to
stroll about and enjoy the scene. It so happened that, previous to her
coming out, Somdatt, the son of a merchant named Dharmdatt, had come,
with a friend, to take a stroll in the forest. On his return thence,
he came into that garden; (and) on beholding her, became enamoured, and
began to say to his friend, ‘Brother! Should she ever be united to me,
then my living will be to some purpose; and if not, then my living in
the world is in vain.’”
“Addressing these words to his friend, (and) being distracted by the
pangs of separation, he involuntarily approached her, and seizing her
hand, began to say, ‘If thou wilt not love me, I will sacrifice my life
on thy account.’ She replied, ‘Act not thus; that would be a sin.’ Then
he said, ‘Thy amorous glances have pierced my heart, and the fire of
separation from thee has consumed my body; my whole consciousness and
understanding have been destroyed by this pain; and at this moment,
through the overpowering influence of love, I have no regard for right
or wrong; but if thou wilt give me thy word, new life will enter my
soul.’ She said, ‘On the fifth day from this day my marriage will take
place; but I will first have intercourse with thee, and afterwards abide
at my husband’s.’ After giving him this promise, and taking her oath (to
keep it) she departed to her home, and he to his.”
“To be brief, on the fifth day her marriage took place. Her husband
brought her to his home after the marriage. After some days the wives
of her husband’s younger and elder brothers compelled her to go to her
husband at night. She entered the nuptial chamber, and sat quietly down
in a corner. In the meantime, her husband seeing her, took her hand, and
made her sit on the bed. In fine, as he was about to embrace her,
she; shook him off with her hand, and related to him all that she had
promised the merchant’s son. On hearing this her husband said, ‘If thou
really desirest to go to him, go.’”
“Having received her husband’s permission, she started for the
merchant’s place. A thief seeing her on the road, came up to her in
delight, and said, ‘Whither goest thou alone, at this midnight hour,
in this pitch-darkness, bedecked with such garments and jewels?’ She
replied, ‘To the place where my dearly beloved dwells.’ On hearing this
the thief said, ‘Who is thy protector here?’ She began to say, ‘Cupid,
my protector, with his bow and arrows, is with me.’ Having said this,
she then related her whole story to the thief, from beginning to end,
and said, ‘Do not spoil my attire; I give thee my word that, when I
return thence, I will deliver my jewels to thee.’”
“On hearing this, the thief said to himself, ‘She leaves me, in truth,
with a promise to deliver up her jewels to me; then why should I spoil
her attire?’ Thus reflecting, he let her go. (He) himself sat down
there, while she went to the place where Somdatt was lying asleep.
She having suddenly roused him as soon as she got there, he arose
bewildered, and commenced saying, ‘Art thou the daughter of a god, or
sage, or serpent? * Tell me truly, who art thou? and whence art thou
come to me?’ She replied, ‘I am the daughter of a man--the daughter
of the merchant Hiranyadatt; Madansenã is my name; and dost thou not
remember that thou didst forcibly seize my hand in the grove, and didst
insist on my giving thee my oath; and I swore, at thy bidding, that I
would leave the man I was married to and come to thee? I have come
accordingly; do unto me whatever thou pleasest.’”
* Nig is the name of the fabulous serpents (said to have a
human face), inhabiting Pãtala, or the infernal regions.
“On this he asked, ‘Hast thou told this story to thy husband, or not?’
She replied, saying, ‘I have mentioned the whole affair, and after
becoming acquainted with everything, he has allowed me to come to thee.’
Somdatt said, ‘This matter is like jewels without apparel, or food
without clarified butter, or singing out of tune--all these things are
alike. Similarly, dirty garments mar beauty, bad food saps the strength,
a wicked wife deprives of life, a bad son ruins the family. Whereas a
demon takes life on his being enraged, a woman, either as a friend or a
foe, is in both cases the occasion of sorrow. What a woman does not do
is of little moment; for she does not give utterance to the thoughts of
her mind; and what is at the tip of her tongue she does not reveal;
and what she does, she does not tell of. A wonderful creature has God
created in the world in woman.’”
“After uttering these words, the merchant’s son answered her, saying, ‘I
will have nothing to do with another’s wife.’ On hearing this she took
her way back home again. On the way she met the thief, (and) told him
the whole story. The thief, on hearing it, applauded her highly, and let
her go. She came nigh her husband and told him all the circumstances;
but her husband evinced no affection for her, and said, ‘The beauty of
the cuckoo consists in its note alone; a woman’s beauty consists in her
fidelity to her husband; and the beauty of an ugly man is his knowledge;
the beauty of a devotee is his patient suffering.’”
Having related so much of the story, the sprite said, “O king! whose is
the highest merit of these three?” King Vikramãjït replied, “The thief’s
merit is the greatest.” The sprite said, “How?” The king replied,
“Seeing her heart set on another man, her husband gave her up; through
dread of the king, Somdatt let her alone; whereas there was no
reason for the thief’s leaving her unmolested. Hence the thief is the
superior.” On hearing this, the sprite went again and suspended himself
on that tree; and the king also went there, took him down from the tree,
bound and placed him on his shoulder, and once more carried him away.