The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
Then king Trivikramasena went back again to that asoka-tree, and
saw the Vetála in the corpse again hanging on it as before, and took
him down, and after showing much displeasure with him, set out again
rapidly towards his goal. And as he was returning along his way, in
silence as before, through the great cemetery by night, the Vetála
on his shoulder said to him, "King, you have embarked on a toilsome
undertaking, and I liked you from the moment I first saw you, so
listen, I will tell you a tale to divert your mind."
Story of Somaprabhá and her three suitors.
In Ujjayiní there lived an excellent Bráhman, the dear dependent
and minister of king Punyasena, and his name was Harisvámin. That
householder had by his wife, who was his equal in birth, an excellent
son like himself, Devasvámin by name. And he also had born to
him a daughter, famed for her matchless beauty, rightly named
Somaprabhá. [298] When the time came for that girl to be given away
in marriage, as she was proud of her exceeding beauty, she made her
mother give the following message to her father and brother, "I am
to be given in marriage to a man possessed of heroism, or knowledge,
or magic power; [299] you must not give me in marriage to any other,
if you value my life."
When her father Harisvámin heard this, he was full of anxiety,
trying to find for her a husband coming under one of these three
categories. And while so engaged, he was sent as ambassador by king
Punyasena to negotiate a treaty with a king of the Dekkan, who had come
to invade him. And when he had accomplished the object, for which he
was sent, a noble Bráhman, who had heard of the great beauty of his
daughter, came and asked him for her hand. Harisvámin said to the
Bráhman suitor, "My daughter will not have any husband who does not
possess either valour, knowledge, or magic power; so tell me which
of the three you possess." When Harisvámin said this to the Bráhman
suitor, he answered, "I possess magic power." Thereupon Harisvámin
rejoined, "Then shew me your magic power." So that possessor of
supernatural power immediately prepared by his skill a chariot that
would fly through the air. And in a moment he took Harisvámin up in
that magic chariot, and shewed him heaven and all the worlds. And he
brought him back delighted to that very camp of the king of the Dekkan,
to which he had been sent on business. Then Harisvámin promised his
daughter to that man possessed of magic power, and fixed the marriage
for the seventh day from that time.
And in the meanwhile another Bráhman, in Ujjayiní, came and asked
Harisvámin's son Devasvámin for the hand of his sister. Devasvámin
answered, "She does not wish to have a husband who is not possessed of
either knowledge, or magic power, or heroism." Thereupon he declared
himself to be a hero. And when the hero displayed his skill in the use
of missiles and hand-to-hand weapons, Devasvámin promised to give him
his sister, who was younger than himself. And by the advice of the
astrologers he told him, as his father had told the other suitor,
that the marriage should take place on that very same seventh day,
and this decision he came to without the knowledge of his mother.
At that very same time a third person came to his mother, the wife of
Harisvámin, and asked her privately for the hand of her daughter. She
said to him, "Our daughter requires a husband who possesses either
knowledge, or heroism, or magic power;" and he answered, "Mother,
I possess knowledge." And she, after questioning him about the past
and the future, promised to give the hand of her daughter to that
possessor of supernatural knowledge on that same seventh day.
The next day Harisvámin returned home, and told his wife and his son
the agreement he had made to give away his daughter in marriage;
and they told him separately the promises that they had made; and
that made him feel anxious, as three bridegrooms had been invited.
Then, on the wedding-day, three bridegrooms arrived in Harisvámin's
house, the man of knowledge, the man of magic power, and the man of
valour. And at that moment a strange thing took place: the intended
bride, the maiden Somaprabhá, was found to have disappeared in some
inexplicable manner, and though searched for, was not found. Then
Harisvámin said eagerly to the possessor of knowledge; "Man of
knowledge, now tell me quickly where my daughter is gone." When the
possessor of knowledge heard that, he said, "The Rákshasa Dhúmrasikha
has carried her off to his own habitation in the Vindhya forest." When
the man of knowledge said this to Harisvámin, he was terrified and
said, "Alas! Alas! How are we to get her back, and how is she to
be married?" When the possessor of magic power heard that, he said,
"Be of good cheer! I will take you in a moment to the place where the
possessor of knowledge says that she is." After he had said this,
he prepared, as before, a chariot that would fly through the air,
provided with all kinds of weapons, and made Harisvámin, and the
man of knowledge, and the brave man get into it, and in a moment he
carried them to the habitation of the Rákshasa in the Vindhya forest,
which had been described by the man of knowledge. The Rákshasa, when
he saw what had happened, rushed out in a passion, and then the hero,
who was put forward by Harisvámin, challenged him to fight. Then
a wonderful fight took place between that man and that Rákshasa,
who were contending for a woman with various kinds of weapons, like
Ráma and Rávana. And in a short time the hero cut off the head of
that Rákshasa with a crescent-headed arrow, though he was a doughty
champion. When the Rákshasa was slain, they carried off Somaprabhá
whom they found in his house, and they all returned in the chariot
of the suitor who possessed magic power.
When they had reached Harisvámin's house, the marriage did not go
forward, though the auspicious moment had arrived, but a great dispute
arose between the man of knowledge, the man of magic power, and the man
of valour. The man of knowledge said, "If I had not known where this
maiden was, how would she have been discovered when concealed?--So
she ought to be given to me." But the man of magic power said,
"If I had not made this chariot that can fly through the air, how
could you all have gone and returned in a moment like gods? And
how could you, without a chariot, have fought with a Rákshasa,
who possessed a chariot? So you ought to give her to me for I have
secured by my skill this auspicious moment." The brave man said,
"If I had not slain the Rákshasa in fight, who would have brought
this maiden back here in spite of all your exertions? So she must be
given to me." While they went on wrangling in this style, Harisvámin
remained for a moment silent, being perplexed in mind.
"So tell me, king, to whom she ought to have been given, and
if you know and do not say, your head shall split asunder." When
Trivikramasena heard this from the Vetála, he abandoned his silence,
and said to him; "She ought to be given to the brave man; for he won
her by the might of his arms, at the risk of his life, slaying that
Rákshasa in combat. But the man of knowledge and the man of magic power
were appointed by the Creator to serve as his instruments; are not
calculators and artificers always subordinate assistants to others?"
When the Vetála heard this answer of the king's, he left his seat on
the top of his shoulder, and went, as before, to his own place; and
the king again set out to find him, without being in the slightest
degree discomposed.
NOTE.
The above story bears a slight resemblance to No. 71 in Grimm's
Kinder- und Hausmärchen, Sechse kommen durch die ganze Welt; see
the note in the 3rd volume of the third edition, page 120. Cp. also
the 74th story in Laura Gonzenbach's Sicilianische Märchen, Part II,
page 96, and the 45th story in the same book, Part I, p. 305, with
Köhler's notes. The 9th story in Sagas from the Far East, p. 105, is
no doubt the Mongolian form of the tale in our text. It bears a very
strong resemblance to the 47th tale in the Pentamerone of Basile,
(see Liebrecht's translation, Vol. II, p. 212,) and to Das weise
Urtheil in Waldau's Böhmische Märchen. In this tale there are three
rival brothers; one has a magic mirror, another a magic chariot,
a third three magic apples. The first finds out that the lady is
desperately ill, the second takes himself and his rivals to her, the
third raises her to life. An old man decides that the third should
have her, as his apples were consumed as medicine, while the other two
have still their chariot and mirror respectively. Oesterley refers us
to Benfey's articles in Ausland, 1858, pp. 969, 995, 1017, 1038, 1067,
in which this story is treated in a masterly and exhaustive manner. He
compares a story in the Siddhikür, No. 1, p. 55, in Jülg's version,
which seems to be the one above referred to in Sagas from the Far
East. The 22nd story in the Persian Tútínámah (Iken, p. 93,) which
is found with little variation in the Turkish Tútínámah (Rosen, II,
p. 165,) closely resembles the story in our text. The only difference
is that a magic horse does duty for a magic chariot, and the lady is
carried away by fairies. There is a story in the Tútínámah which seems
to be made up of No. 2, No. 5 and No. 21 in this collection. [No. 22,
in Somadeva.] It is No. 4 in the Persian Tútínámah, (Iken, p. 37,)
and is also found in the Turkish version, (Rosen I, p. 151.) The
lady is the work of four companions. A carpenter hews a figure out
of wood, a goldsmith adorns it with gems, a tailor clothes it, and
a monk animates it with life. They quarrel about her, and lay the
matter before a Dervish. He avows that he is her husband. The head of
the police does the same, and the Kazi, to whom it is then referred,
takes the same line. At last the matter is referred to a divinity,
and the lady is again reduced to wood. This form is the exaggeration
of a story in Ardschi Bordschi translated by Benfey in Ausland, 1858,
p. 845, (cp. Göttinger gel. Anz. 1858, p. 1517, Benfey's Panchatantra,
Vol. I, p. 490 and ff.) A shepherd boy hews a female figure out of
wood, a second paints her, a third improves her [by giving her wit and
understanding, according to Sagas from the Far East,] a fourth gives
her life. Naran Dákiní awards her to the last. (Oesterley's Baitál
Pachísí, pp. 192-194). The story in Ardschi Bordschi will be found
in Sagas from the Far East, pp. 298-303. The story which Oesterley
quotes from the Tútínámah is still found in Bannu, as appears from a
review of Mr. Thorburn's book in Melusine (1878), p. 179. The reviewer,
M. Loys Brueyre, tells us that it is found in the Bohemian tales of
Erben under the title, Wisdom and Fortune.
CHAPTER LXXX.
(Vetála 6.)
Then king Trivikramasena again went to the asoka-tree, and carried
off from it that Vetála on his shoulder, as before, and began to
return with him swiftly in silence. And on the way the Vetála again
said to him, "King, you are wise and brave, therefore I love you,
so I will tell you an amusing tale, and mark well my question."
Story of the lady who caused her brother and husband to change heads.
There was a king famous on the earth by the name of Yasahketu, and
his capital was a city of the name of Sobhávatí. And in that city
there was a splendid temple of Gaurí, [300] and to the south of it
there was a lake, called Gaurítírtha. And every year, during a feast
on the fourteenth day of the white fortnight of the month Áshádha,
large crowds came there to bathe from every part of the world. [301]
And once there came there to bathe, on that day, a young washerman
of the name of Dhavala, from a village called Brahmasthala. He saw
there the virgin daughter of a man named Suddhapata, a girl called