“Birbar then asked, ‘Is there any such remedy for it, whereby the king may escape, and live a hundred years?’ She said, ‘Towards the east, at a distance of four kos (eight miles), is a temple sacred to (the goddess) Devi; if you will cut off your son’s head with your own hand, and offer it to that goddess, then the king will reign a hundred years precisely as he now reigns, and no harm of any kind will’ befall the king.’”
“As soon as he had heard these words, Birbar went home, and the king also followed him. To be brief, when he got home, he awoke his wife, and minutely related the whole story to her. On hearing the circumstances, she roused the son alone; but the daughter also awoke. Then that woman said to her boy, ‘Son! by sacrificing your head the king’s life will be saved, and the government, too, will endure.’ When the boy heard this, he said, ‘Mother! in the first place, it is your command; in the second, it is for my lord’s service; thirdly, if this body come of use to a deity, nothing in the world is better for me; in my opinion, than this: it is not right to delay any longer now in this business. There is a saying, ‘If one have a son, to have him under control,—a body, free from disease,—science, such that one benefits thereby,—a friend, prudent,—a wife, submissive,—if these five things are obtainable by man, they are the bestowers of happiness and the averters of trouble: if a servant be unwilling, a king parsimonious, a friend insincere, and a wife disobedient, these four things are the banishers of peace and the promoters of misery.’”
“Birbar again addressed his wife, saying, ‘If thou wilt willingly give up thy child, I will take him away and sacrifice him for the king.’ She replied, saying, ‘I have no concern with son, daughter, brother, kinsfolk, mother, father, or any one; from you it is that my happiness proceeds; and in the moral Code, too, it is thus written,—‘A woman is purified neither by offerings nor by religious offices; her religion consists in serving and honouring her husband, no matter whether he be lame, maimed in the hands, dumb, deaf, blind of both eyes, blind of one eye, a leper, hunch-backed,—of whatever kind he be, if she perform any description of virtuous action in the world, while she does not obey her husband, she will fall into hell.’ His son said, ‘Father! the man by whom’ his master’s business is accomplished—his continuing to live in the world is attended with advantage; and in this there is advantage in both worlds.’ Then his daughter said, ‘If the mother give poison to the daughter, and the father sell the son, and the king seize everything, then whose protection shall we seek?”’
“The four, deliberating with one another somewhat after the above fashion, went to the temple of Devi. The king also secretly followed them. When Birbar arrived there, he entered the temple, paid his adoration to Devi, and joined his hands in supplication, and said, ‘O Devi! grant that by the sacrificing of my son the king may live a hundred years.’ Saying so much, he struck such a blow with the sword that his son’s head fell upon the ground. On witnessing her brother’s death, the daughter struck a blow with the sword on her own neck, so that her head and body fell asunder. Seeing her son and daughter dead, Birbar’s wife struck such a stroke with the sword on her own neck, that her head was severed from her body. Further, seeing the death of those three, Birbar, reflecting in his mind, began to say, ‘When my son is dead, for whose sake shall I retain service? and to whom shall I give the gold I receive from the king?’ Having reflected thus, he struck such a blow with the sword on his own neck, that his head was severed from his body. Again, beholding the death of these four, the king sajd to himself, ‘For my sake the lives of his family have perished; accursed is it any longer to govern a realm for which the whole family of one is destroyed, while one holds sovereignty; it is no virtue thus to reign.’ Having deliberated thus, the king was on the point of killing himself with the sword; in the meantime, however, Devi came and seized his hand, and said, ‘Son! I am well pleased at thy courage, and will grant thee whatever boon thou mayest ask of me.’ The king said, ‘Mother! if thou art pleased, restore all these four to life.’ Devi said, ‘This same shall take place,’ and on the instant of saying it, Bhawãni brought the water of life from the nether regions, and restored all four to life. After that the king bestowed half his kingdom on Birbar.”
Having related so much, the sprite said, “Blessed is the servant who did not grudge his life, and that of his family, for his master’s sake! And happy is the king who showed no eagerness to cling to his dominion and his life. O king! I ask you this,—Whose virtue, of those five, was the most excellent?” Then King Vikramãjït said, “The king’s virtue was the greatest.” The sprite asked, “Why?” Then the king answered, saying, “It behoves the servant to lay down his life for his master, for this is his duty; but since the king gave up his throne for the sake of his servant, and valued not his life at a straw, the king’s merit was the superior.” Having heard these words, the sprite again went and suspended himself on the tree in that burning-ground.
TALE IV.
The king, having gone there again, bound the sprite and brought him away. Then the sprite said, “O king! there is a town named Bhogwati, of which Rüpsen is the king, and he has a parrot named Chürãman. One day the king asked the parrot, ‘What different things do you know?’ Then the parrot said, ‘Your majesty! I know everything.’ The king rejoined, ‘Tell me, then, if you know where there is a beautiful maiden equal to me in rank.’ Then the parrot said, ‘Your majesty! in the country of Magadh there is a king named Magadheshwar, and his daughter’s name is Chandrãvatï; you will be married to her. She is very beautiful, and very learned.’”
“On hearing these words from the parrot, the king summoned an astrologer named Chandrakãnt, and asked him, ‘To what maid shall I be married?’ He also, having made the discovery through his knowledge of astrology, said, ‘There is a maiden named Chandrãvatï; you will be married to her.’