The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
"Do you know, mother, a dentist named Sangrámavardhana?" When the
old woman heard that, she said to him courteously, "I know him well;
I was his nurse, and he has now made me attend upon his daughter as
a duenna; but I never go there at present, as I have been deprived
of my clothes, for my wicked son, who is a gambler, takes away my
clothes as soon as he sees them." When the minister's son heard this,
he was delighted, and he gratified the old woman with the gift of
his upper garment and other presents, and went on to say to her,
"You are a mother to us, so do what we request you to do in secret;
go to that Padmávatí, the daughter of the dentist, and say to her,
'The prince, whom you saw at the lake, has come here, and out of
love he has sent me to tell you.'" When the old woman heard this,
she consented, being won over by the presents, and went to Padmávatí,
and came back in a moment. And when the prince and the minister's
son questioned her, she said to them, "I went and told her secretly
that you had come. When she heard that, she scolded me, and struck
me on both cheeks with her two hands smeared with camphor. So I have
come back weeping, distressed at the insult. See here, my children,
these marks of her fingers on my face."
When she said this, the prince was despondent, as he despaired of
attaining his object, but the sagacious minister's son said to him in
private, "Do not despond, for by keeping her own counsel and scolding
the old woman, and striking her on the face with her ten fingers
white with camphor, she meant to say, 'Wait for these remaining ten
moonlight nights of the white fortnight, for they are unfavourable
to an interview.'"
After the minister's son had comforted the prince with these words,
he went and sold secretly in the market some gold, which he had about
him, and made that old woman prepare a splendid meal, and then those
two ate it with that old woman. After the minister's son had spent
ten days in this fashion, he again sent the old woman to Padmávatí, to
see how matters stood. And she, being fond of delicious food, liquor,
and other enjoyments of the kind, went again to the dwelling-house
of Padmávatí, to please her guests, and returned and said to them,
"I went there to-day and remained silent, but she of her own accord
taunted me with that crime of having brought your message, and again
struck me here on the breast with three fingers dipped in red dye, so I
have returned here thus marked by her." When the minister's son heard
this, he said, of his own accord, to the prince, "Do not entertain
any despondent notions, for by placing the impression of her three
fingers marked with red dye on this woman's heart, she meant to say;
'I cannot receive you for three nights.'"
When the minister's son had said this to the prince, he waited till
three days had passed, and again sent the old woman to Padmávatí. She
went to her palace, and Padmávatí honoured her and gave her food, and
lovingly entertained her that day with wine and other enjoyments. And
in the evening, when the old woman wished to go back to her house,
there arose outside a terrible tumult. Then the people were heard
exclaiming, "Alas! Alas! a mad elephant has escaped from the post to
which he was tied, and is rushing about, trampling men to death." Then
Padmávatí said to that old woman, "You must not go by the public road,
which is rendered unsafe by the elephant, so we will put you on a seat,
with a rope fastened to it to support it, and let you down by this
broad window here into the garden of the house, there you must get up
a tree and cross this wall, and then let yourself down by another tree
and go to your own house." After she had said this, she had the old
woman let down from the window by her maid into the garden, by means
of that seat with a rope fastened to it. She went by the way pointed
out to her, and related the whole story, exactly as it happened, to
the prince and the minister's son. Then the minister's son said to
the prince, "Your desire is accomplished, for she has shewn you by an
artifice the way you should take; so go there this very day, as soon
as evening sets in, and by this way enter the palace of your beloved."
When the minister's son said this, the prince went with him into the
garden, by the way over the wall pointed out by the old woman. There
he saw that rope hanging down with the seat, and at the top of it
were some maids, who seemed to be looking out for his arrival. So
he got on to the seat, and the moment those female servants saw him,
they pulled him up with the rope, and he entered the presence of his
beloved through the window. When he had entered, the minister's son
returned to his lodging. And when the prince entered, he beheld that
Padmávatí with a face like a full moon, shedding forth beauty like
beams, like the night of the full moon remaining concealed through fear
of the black fortnight. As soon as she saw him, she rose up boldly,
and welcomed him with affectionate embraces and other endearments
natural in one who had waited for him so long. Then the prince married
that fair one by the Gándharva form of marriage, and all his wishes
being now fulfilled, remained with her in concealment.
And after he had lived with her some days, he said to her one night,
"My friend the minister's son came with me and is staying here, and he
is now left alone in the house of your duenna; I must go and pay him
a visit, fair one, and then I will return to you." When the cunning
Padmávatí heard that, she said to her lover, "Come now, my husband,
I have a question to ask you; did you guess the meaning of those
signs which I made, or was it that friend of yours the minister's
son?" When she said this, the prince said to her, "I did not guess
anything at all, but that friend of mine, the minister's son, who is
distinguished for superhuman insight, guessed it all, and told it to
me." When the fair one heard this, she reflected, and said to him,
"Then you have acted wrongly in not telling me about him before. Since
he is your friend, he is my brother, and I must always honour him
before all others with gifts of betel and other luxuries." When she
had dismissed him with these words, the prince left the palace at
night by the way by which he came, and returned to his friend. And
in the course of conversation he told him, that he had told his
beloved how he guessed the meaning of the signs which she made. But
the minister's son did not approve of this proceeding on his part,
considering it imprudent. And so the day dawned on them conversing.
Then, as they were again talking together after the termination of
the morning prayer, the confidante of Padmávatí came in with betel and
cooked food in her hand. She asked after the health of the minister's
son, and after giving him the dainties, in order by an artifice to
prevent the prince from eating any of them, she said, in the course of
conversation, that her mistress was awaiting his arrival to feast and
spend the day with her, and immediately she departed unobserved. Then
the minister's son said to the prince; "Now observe, prince, I will
shew you something wonderful." Thereupon he gave that cooked food to
a dog to eat, and the dog, as soon as he had eaten it, fell dead upon
the spot. When the prince saw that, he said to the minister's son,
"What is the meaning of this marvel?" And he answered him, "The truth
is that the lady has found out that I am intelligent, by the fact
that I guessed the meaning of her signs, and so she has sent me this
poisoned food in order to kill me, for she is deeply in love with you,
and thinks that you, prince, will never be exclusively devoted to her
while I am alive, but being under my influence, will perhaps leave her,
and go to your own city. So give up the idea of being angry with her,
persuade the high-spirited woman to leave her relations, and I will
invent and tell you an artifice for carrying her off."
When the minister's son had said this, the prince said to him, "You
are rightly named Buddhisaríra as being an incarnation of wisdom;"
and at the very moment that he was thus praising him, there was
suddenly heard outside a general cry from the sorrowing multitude,
"Alas! Alas! the king's infant son is dead." The minister's son was
much delighted at hearing this, and he said to the prince, "Repair now
to Padmávatí's palace at night, and there make her drink so much, that
she shall be senseless and motionless with intoxication, and apparently
dead. And when she is asleep, make a mark on her hip with a red hot
iron spike, and take away all her ornaments, and return by letting
yourself down from the window by a rope; and after that I will take
steps to make everything turn out prosperously." When the minister's
son had said this, he had a three-pronged spike made, with points like
the bristles of a boar, and gave it to the prince. And the prince took
in his hand that weapon which resembled the crooked hard hearts of his
beloved and of his friend, which were firm as black iron; and saying,
"I will do as you direct," went at night to the palace of Padmávatí
as before, for princes should never hesitate about following the
advice of an excellent minister. There he made his beloved helpless
with drink, and marked her on the hip with the spike, and took away
her ornaments, and then he returned to that friend of his. And he
shewed him the ornaments, and told him what he had done. Then the
minister's son considered his design as good as accomplished.
And the next morning the minister's son went to the cemetery, and
promptly disguised himself as an ascetic, and he made the prince assume
the guise of a disciple. And he said to him, "Go and take the pearl
necklace which is part of this set of ornaments, and pretend to try
to sell it in the market, but put a high price on it, that no one may
be willing to buy it, and that every one may see it being carried
about, and if the police here should arrest you, say intrepidly,
'My spiritual preceptor gave it me to sell.'"
When the minister's son had sent off the prince on this errand, he
went and wandered about in the market-place, publicly showing the
necklace. And while he was thus engaged, he was seen and arrested
by the police, who were on the lookout for thieves, as information
had been given about the robbery of the dentist's daughter. And they
immediately took him to the chief magistrate of the town; and he,
seeing that he was dressed as an ascetic, said to him courteously,
"Reverend sir, where did you get this necklace of pearls which was
lost in this city, for the ornaments of the dentist's daughter were
stolen during the night?" When the prince, who was disguised as an
ascetic, heard this, he said, "My spiritual preceptor gave it me;
come and question him." Then the magistrate of the city came to the
minister's son, and bowed, and said to him, "Reverend sir, where
did you get this pearl necklace that is in the possession of your
pupil?" When the cunning fellow heard that, he took him aside and said,
"I am an ascetic, in the habit of wandering perpetually backwards and
forwards in the forests. As chance would have it, I arrived here, and
as I was in the cemetery at night, I saw a band of witches collected
from different quarters. And one of them brought the prince, with the
lotus of his heart laid bare, and offered him to Bhairava. And the
witch, who possessed great powers of delusion, being drunk, tried to
take away my rosary, while I was reciting my prayers, making horrible
contortions with her face. And as she carried the attempt too far, I
got angry, and heating with a charm the prongs of my trident, I marked
her on the loins. And then I took this necklace from her neck. And
now I must sell this necklace, as it does not suit an ascetic."