The Vidushaka, however, treats the whole as a dream, and reproaches the
king for his fickleness, as he had just before fallen in love with
Kuvalayamala, the princess of Kuntala, and recommends him to be content
with the queen, as "a partridge in the hand is better than a pea-hen in
the forest."
The prince and the Vidushaka then go into the garden by the back-door,
where, over the edge of a terrace, they see some of the fair tenants of
the inner apartments amusing themselves with swinging. Amongst them the
king recognises the countenance he has seen in his dream, but the party
disappear on the advance of the king and his friend.
The king then enters a pleasure-house or pavilion called the
_kelikailas_ or mountain of sport built for him by the minister.
It is a beautiful palace built of crystal, and decorated with statues
and paintings. One of the paintings is thus described:
"There is your Majesty at _pasa_ (dice) with the queen: behind you
stands one damsel with the betel box, whilst another is waving the
_chownri_ over your head: the dwarf is playing with the monkey, and the
parrot abusing the Vidushaka." The chamber also contains the portrait of
Mrigankavali, the damsel whom the prince has really seen in his supposed
dream. There is also a statue of her, whence the drama is named _Viddha
Salabhanjika_, meaning a curved statue or effigy.
The king discovers the statue. He thinks, "Who will carve on the wall
the person I dreamed of? No one was present when I dreamt. Has anyone
carved the statue out of his fancy? A real person may exist in this
world or how can an exact figure come here?"
He now verily believes the dream to be a reality. He then puts the
necklace of his dream on the neck of the carved statue.
Finally the lady is herself beheld through the transparent wall of the
pavilion, but runs away on being observed. The king becomes enamoured of
her. He and his friend follow her but in vain. The bards proclaim it at
noon, and the two friends repair to the queen's apartments to perform
the midday ceremonies.
Kuvalayamala, the object of the king's passion before encountering his
new flame, is the daughter of Chandramahasena, the king of Kuntala. She
has been sent to Vidyadhara Malla's queen, as the betrothed bride of the
supposed son of Chandraverma, who is the queen's maternal uncle.
Mekhala, the queen's foster-sister, practises a frolic on Charayana. He
is promised a new bride by the queen, and the ceremony is about to take
place when the spouse proves to be a "lubberly boy"; he is highly
indignant at the trick, and goes off threatening vengeance.
The king having followed and pacified his companion, they go off into
the garden, where they see the damsel Mrigankavali playing with ball:
she still however flies their advance. Presently they overhear a
conversation between her and one of her companions, from which it
appears, that notwithstanding her shyness she is equally enamoured of
the king.
Her dress is the contrivance of the minister, at whose instigation,
Mrigankavali is persuaded by Sulakshana to believe that she is to behold
the present deity of love, and is introduced by a sliding door into the
king's chamber. The consequence of the interview is to render
Mrigankavali passionately enamoured of the king.
One day, the queen, in order to deceive Charayana, manages to celebrate
a marriage between him and a son of a maid-servant veiled as a female.
The trick is discovered. He is highly indignant.
He now retaliates with the help of the king. He induces Sulakshana, one
of the female attendants of the queen, to ascend a _Bakula_ tree and
thence send a message in a nasal tone, as if from the sky, to Mekhala,
the foster-sister and chief attendant of the queen.
"Thou shalt die at this spot on the full moon day of _Baisakh_." After
many entreaties, the heavenly voice prescribes a relief, "Thou art safe
if thou canst pass through the legs of a Brahmin skilled in music and
gratified with a fee." Charayana, just the kind of Brahmin required,
arrives at this juncture. The king and the queen are present. Mekhala
and the queen, both overcome with concern, entreat Charayana to be the
Brahmin that shall preserve the life of the former. He consents. As
Mekhala tries to pass between his legs, he mounts on her back and says,
"you are now caught in your turn. You deceived me once. Now marry me."
He triumphs in the humiliation he has inflicted on her. The queen now
perceives the intrigue of the king, is in her turn incensed, goes off in
a pet and resolves to take revenge.
Chandamahasen, the king of Kuntala as a defeated prince now resides with
his daughter Kubalayamala under the protection of the victorious king.
The king sees her one day as she rises after bathing in the Narbadda. He
becomes enamoured of her and wishes to marry her. The queen gets scent
of the matter. To prevent the curse of co-wifeship, the queen now
resolves to get her husband married to the son of her maternal uncle so
that he may be ashamed into abandoning his polygamous tendency.
The king and the Vidushaka seek the garden, where it is now moon-light.
Mrigankavali and her friend Vilakshana also come thither, and the lovers
meet: this interview is broken off by a cry that the queen is coming,
and they all separate abruptly.
At dawn, Charayana's wife is asleep. In her sleep, however, she is very
communicative, and repeats a supposed dialogue between the queen and the
Raja, in which the former urges the latter to marry Mrigankavali, the
sister of the supposed Mrigankavarma, come on a visit, it is pretended,
to her brother--this being a plot of the queen's to cheat the king into
a sham marriage, by espousing him to one she believes to be a boy.
The Vidushaka suspects the trick, however, and wakes his wife, who rises
and goes to the queen. The Vidushaka joins his master. The king, who is
already the husband of the princesses of Magadha, Malava, Panchala,
Avanti, Jalandhara and Kerala, is wedded to Mrigankavali. As soon as the
ceremony is gone through, a messenger from the court of Chandraverma
arrives to announce:--
"O queen! His Majesty Chandravarma wishes it to be known that
Mrigankavarma is not his son but his daughter. In the absence of a son
he dressed her as such to satisfy his desire for a son. Now that a son
has been born to him, it is not necessary to keep up the pretence. The
king requests you to settle a suitable marriage for her. The sages have
prophesied paramount sovereignty for her husband."