_The King who died for Love of his General's Wife; the General follows
him in Death. Which is the more worthy?_
Then the king went back under the sissoo tree, put the goblin on his
shoulder as before, and started. And the goblin said to him: "O King, I
will tell you another little story to relieve your weariness. Listen."
* * * * *
Long ago there was a city named Golden City on the bank of the Ganges,
where a quarter of the old perfect virtue still lingers in these evil
days. There was a king named Glorious, and he deserved the name. His
bravery kept the world from being overflowed, like the shore of the sea.
In this king's city lived a great merchant, who had a daughter named
Passion. Everyone who saw her fell in love and went mad with passion.
When she grew to be a young woman, the virtuous merchant went to King
Glorious and said: "Your Majesty, I have a daughter, the gem of the
three worlds, and she is old enough to marry. I could not give her to
anyone without consulting your Majesty. For you are the master of all
gems in the world. Pray marry her and thus lay me under obligations."
So the king sent his own Brahmans to examine her qualities. But when
the Brahmans saw her supreme loveliness, they were troubled and
thought: "If the king should marry her, his kingdom would be ruined.
He would think only of her, and would doubtless neglect the kingdom.
Therefore we must not report her good qualities to the king."
So they returned to the king and said: "Your Majesty, she has bad
qualities." So the king did not marry the merchant's daughter. But he
bade the merchant give his daughter to a general named Force. And she
lived happily with her husband in his house.
After a time the lion of spring came dancing through the forest and
slew the elephant of winter. And King Glorious went forth on the back
of an elephant to see the spring festival. And the drum was beaten to
warn virtuous women to stay within doors. Otherwise they would have
fallen in love with his beauty, and lovesickness might be expected.
But when Passion heard the drum, she did not like to be left alone.
She went out on the balcony, that the king might see her. She seemed
like the flame of love which the spring-time was fanning with southern
breezes. And the king saw her, and his whole being was shaken. He felt
her beauty sinking deep in his heart like a victorious arrow of Love,
and he fainted.
His servants brought him back to consciousness, and he returned to the
city. There he made inquiries and learned that this was Passion whom he
had rejected before. So he banished from the country the Brahmans who
had said that she had bad qualities, and he thought longingly of her
every day.
And as he thought of her, he burned over the flame of love, and wasted
away day and night. And though from shame he tried to conceal it, he
finally told the reason of his anguish to responsible people who asked
him.
They said: "Do not suffer. Why do you not seize her?" But the virtuous
king would not do it.
Then General Force heard the story. He came and bowed at the feet
of the king and said: "Your Majesty, she is the wife of your slave,
therefore she is your slave. I give her to you of my own accord. Pray
take my wife. Or better yet, I will leave her here in the palace. Then
you cannot be blamed if you marry her." And the general begged and
insisted.
But the king became angry and said: "I am a king. How can I do such a
wicked thing? If I should transgress, who would be virtuous? You are
devoted to me. Why do you urge me to a sin which is pleasant for the
moment, but causes great sorrow in the next world? If you abandon your
wedded wife, I shall not pardon you. How could a man in my position
overlook such a transgression? It is better to die." Thus the king
argued against it. For the truly great throw away life rather than
virtue. And when all the citizens came together and urged him, he was
steadfast and refused.
So he slowly shrivelled away over the fever-flame of love and died.
There was nothing left of King Glorious except his glory. And the
general could not endure the death of his king. He burned himself
alive. The actions of devoted men are blameless.
* * * * *
When the goblin on the king's shoulder had told this story, he asked
the king: "O King, which of these two, the king and the general, was
the more deserving? Remember the curse before you answer."