When he had said this, he disappeared with his companion, and the boar and elephant, touched by the hand of the king, became for him a sword and a shield. Then the woman, being questioned about her history, spoke as follows:
“I am the wife of a great merchant in Ujjayiní named Dhanadatta. One night, as I was sleeping on the top of a palace, this elephant came and swallowed me and brought me here; however this man was not inside the elephant, but when its belly was torn open, he came out of it with me.”
When the woman said this in grief, the king said to her, “Be of good courage: I will take you to your husband’s house: go and journey along in security with my harem.” When he had said this, he made the Vetála take her and hand her over to the queen Madanasundarí, who was travelling by a different path.
Then, the Vetála having returned, we suddenly saw there in the wood two princesses, with a numerous and splendid retinue. And the king sent me and summoned their chamberlains, and they, when asked whence the two maidens came, told the following story;
Story of the two princesses.
There is a dvípa named Kaṭáha, the home of all felicities. In it there is a king rightly named Guṇaságara.[9] He had born to him by his principal queen a daughter named Guṇavatí, who by her beauty produced astonishment even in the Creator who made her. And holy seers announced that she should have for a husband the lord of the seven dvípas; whereupon her father the king deliberated with his counsellors; and came to this conclusion, “King Vikramáditya is a suitable husband for my daughter; so I will send her to marry him.”
Accordingly, the king made his daughter embark in a ship on the sea, with her retinue and wealth, and sent her off. But it so happened that when the ship came near Suvarṇadvípa, it was swallowed, with the princess and the people on board, by a large fish. But that monstrous fish was carried by the current of the sea as if by the course of Destiny, and thrown up on a coast near that dvípa, and there stranded. And the people of the neighbourhood, the moment they saw it, ran with many weapons in their hands, and killed that marvellous fish, and cut open its belly.[10] And then there came out of it that great ship full of people; and when the king of that dvípa heard of it, he came there greatly wondering. And that king, whose name was Chandraśekhara, and who was the brother-in-law of king Guṇaságara, heard the whole story from the people in the ship. Then the king, finding that Guṇavatí was the daughter of his sister, took her into his palace, and out of joy celebrated a feast. And the next day that king put on board a ship in a lucky moment his daughter Chandravatí, whom he had long intended to give to king Vikramáditya, with that Guṇavatí, and sent her off with much magnificence as a gift to that sovereign.
These two princesses, having crossed the sea, by advancing gradually, have at length arrived here; and we are their attendants. And when we reached this place, a very large boar and a very large elephant rushed upon us; then, king, we uttered this cry, “These maidens have come to offer themselves for wives to king Vikramáditya: so preserve them for him, ye Guardians of the World, as is meet.” When the boar and the elephant heard this, they said to us with articulate speech, “Be of good courage! the mere mention of that king’s name ensures your safety. And you shall see him arrive here in a moment.” When the boar and the elephant, who were, no doubt, some heavenly beings or other, had said this, they went away.
“This is our story,” said the chamberlain, and then, queen, I said to them, “And this is the king you seek.” Then they fell at the king’s feet rejoicing, and made over to him those two princesses Guṇavatí and Chandravatí. And the king gave orders to the Vetála and had those two fair ones also taken to his queen, saying, “Let all three travel with Madanasundarí.”