In due time I was publicly married to the princess, and reinstated her father in his kingdom.
I have now come here with an army to assist the King of Anga, and have thus obtained the great happiness of seeing you again.
The prince, having heard this story, said "Your cleverness has indeed been great, and your personation of the Siddha wonderful. May you long continue to possess such wisdom and prudence, combined with wit and cheerfulness." Then, looking at Visruta, he said: "It is now your turn;" and he forthwith began:—
ADVENTURES OF VISRUTA.
My Lord, as I was wandering one day in the forest of Vindhya, I met with a very handsome boy, standing by the side of a well, crying bitterly. When I asked what was the matter, he said: "The old man who was with me, when trying to get water from this well, fell in, and I am unable to help him. What will become of me?"
Hearing this, I looked down the well, which was not very deep, and saw the old man standing at the bottom, the water not being sufficient to cover him. By means of a long and tough stem of a creeper, I pulled him up safely; then using it again as a rope, with a cup made from the hollow stem of a bamboo, I drew water for the poor child, who was half dead with thirst; and finding that he was suffering from hunger also, I knocked down some nuts from the top of a high tree with a well-aimed blow of a stone.
The old man was very grateful for my timely assistance; and when we were all comfortably seated in the shade, he gave me, at my request, a long account of the circumstances which had brought him there, saying:—
"There was formerly a King of Vidarba remarkable for wisdom and justice, learned in the Scriptures, a protector of his subjects (by whom he was much beloved), a terror to his enemies, wise in political science, upright and honest in all his actions, kind to his dependents, grateful for even small services, and gracious to all. Having lived the full age of man, he died, leaving a prosperous kingdom to his son Anantavarma, a young man of great abilities, but caring more for the mechanical arts, music, and poetry, than for his duties as a ruler.