TALE XVIII.
The sprite said, “Your majesty! There was a city named Kubalpur, the name of the king of which was Sudakshi. Now, a merchant named Dhanãkshi used also to live in that city, and he had a daughter whose name was Dhanvati. He gave her in marriage in her childhood to a merchant named Gauridatt. After a considerable time she had a girl, whom she named Mohani. When she attained to some years, her father died, and the merchant’s kinsfolk seized all his property. She, in her helplessness, left the house in the darkness of the night, and taking her daughter with her, set out for the house of her parents.”
“After proceeding but a short distance, she lost the road, and came upon a burning-ground, where a thief was stretched upon an impaling-stake. Her hand quite unexpectedly came in contact with his foot. He called out, ‘Who is it that put me to pain just now?’ On this she replied, ‘I have not willingly inflicted pain on you forgive my fault.’ He said, ‘No one gives either pain or pleasure to another; according as the Creator decrees one’s fate shall be, so he experiences; and those who affirm that they did such and such things, are very unwise; for men are fixed to the cord of fate, which draws them after it whithersoever it pleases. The ways of the Creator are utterly inscrutable; for men propose a thing to themselves, and He brings something quite different to pass.’”
“On hearing this, Dhanvati said, ‘O man! who art thou?’ He replied, ‘I am a thief; this is my third day on the impaling-stake, and life will not quit the body.’ She said, ‘For what reason?’ He replied, saying, ‘I am unmarried; if thou wilt give me thy daughter in marriage, I will give thee ten millions of gold-mohurs.’ It is notorious that greediness of gain is the root of all evil, pleasure the source of pain, and love the source of sorrow. Whoever keeps clear of these three lives happy. It is not every one, however, who can give them up. Eventually, Dhanvati, through greed, became willing to give him her daughter, and asked, ‘It is my desire that thou shouldst have a son; but how can this be?’ He replied, saying, ‘when she attains to womanhood, send for a handsome Brahman, and give him five hundred gold-mohurs, and place her with him; thus will she have a son.’”
“When she heard this, Dhanvati married the girl to him by giving her four turns round the stake. Then the thief said to her, ‘There is a banyan-tree near a large well of masonry to the east of this; the gold-mohurs lie buried beneath it; go thou and take them.’ He said this, and died. She went in the direction indicated, and on arriving there, took a few gold-mohurs from those buried» and came to her parents’ house. After relating her story to them, she brought them with her to her husband’s land. Then she built a large house and began living in it; and the girl increased in stature daily.”
“When she had become a woman, she was standing one day with a female companion on the house-top, and casting her eyes along the road, while just at that moment a young Brahman passed that way, and she, at the sight of him, was smitten with love, and said to her friend, ‘O my friend! bring this man to my mother.’ On hearing this, she went and brought the Brahman to her mother. She said, on seeing him, ‘O Brahman! my daughter is young; if thou wilt lie with her, I will give thee a hundred gold-mohurs for a son.’ On hearing this, he said, ‘I will do so.’”
“Whilst they were conversing thus, evening came on. They gave him food to his mind, and he supped. It is a well known saying that enjoyment is of eight kinds,—1. Perfume; 2. Woman; 3. Apparel; 4. Song; 5. Pan; 6. Food; 7. The couch; 8. Ornaments. All these existed there. To be brief, when the first watch of the night was at hand (or, was nigh passed), he repaired to the nuptial chamber, and spent the whole night in pleasure and enjoyment with her. When it became morning, he went home, and she arose and came to her companions. Then one of them enquired, ‘Say! What pleasures did you enjoy with your love in the night?’ She replied, ‘When I went and sat near him, a kind of tremour made itself felt in my heart; (but) when he smiled and took hold of my hand, I was quite overcome, and no consciousness of what took place remained to me. And it is said that if a husband be—1. possessed of renown; 2. brave; 3. clever; 4. a chief; 5. liberal; 6. endowed with good qualities; 7. a protector of his wife,—such a man a wife never forgets even in the world to come, much less in this world.”
“The gist of the story is, that on that very night she conceived. When the full time came, a boy was born. On the sixth night, the mother saw in a vision an ascetic, with matted hair on his head, a shining moon on his forehead, ashes of burnt cow-dung rubbed over him, wearing a white Brahminical thread, seated on a white lotus, wearing a necklace of white snakes, with a string of skulls thrown round his neck, and with a skull in one hand and a trident in the other, thus assuming a most terrifying appearance, come before her, and begin to say, ‘To-morrow, at midnight, place a bag of one thousand gold-mohurs in a large basket, and enclosing this boy therein, leave it at the gate of the palace.’”